It’s down to the top 10 on Dance! Show!, and I must admit, I am a wee bit excited. This past week’s top 12 show was — dare I say it? — really entertaining. There were some great numbers, some good dancing, and some quality chemistry. Either the cameramen are getting better at working with the new stage, or the dancing was so much better that I didn’t notice the crap filming — either way, the set didn’t bother me much this week.

Sonya was back, and rocking it with two incredible numbers, both of which I adored. And Jean-Marc was back too, not quite as rocking, but it was good to see him. And Tyce did a can-can! An actual can-can! Man, I could not stop laughing during that one — it was just impossibly entertaining. Gal Smiley asked to see it three times over, because she didn’t know that her mother could laugh that hard. In a good way.

Also, another great group number to start the results show — the hop-hop Alice In Wonderland one by Taboleon. The group numbers have really been outstanding this season, haven’t they?

Oh, I can’t wait for next week!

So in classic Turtlehead tradition, it’s time to rank the top 10. Remember, this is not the order that I think they fall according to quality of dancing; rather, it’s the order of their popularity, the way I think the audience will vote. Or should vote. If they listened to me. Okay, so it’s sort of somewhere in the middle.

1. Legacy. America loves the B-Boy tricks, and Legacy does not disappoint. And although he seems a little flaky in his interviews, his dancing has been great. He’s grown a lot, and the voters love a dancer that shows progress. If he can keep impressing every week, he’ll go far.

2. Russell. I KNOW. Russell really has shown a lot of growth. But come on America, he is NO JAKOB. However, the viewers of this show seem to have no end of love for this guy; ever since the judges put him in potential danger in the very first week, his fans seemed to have mobilized into an impenetrable phone-dialing army. His numbers with Noelle last week were weak, weak, weak, and yet, no bottom three for them. Noelle better hope she gets hooked up with Legacy next week or she’s in trouble.

3. Jakob. Okay, so he’s my personal favourite. My good vibes totally worked for Jeanine, didn’t they? Jakob is beautiful to watch and fantastic at getting into character. He rocks and deserves to be on top. AMERICA.

4. Kathryn. Although there are some good female dancers this season, I feel as though they are being overshadowed by the men. I’m ranking Kathryn here as the top girl dancer although I know a lot of people aren’t even aware she’s on the stage when she’s dancing with Legacy. I really feel like she’s special and has a sparkle about her; I hope that next week she’ll step away from Legacy’s spotlight a bit and show off her own shine.

5. Ashleigh. Probably the most divisive dancer this season; some love her, some hate her. Like Legacy, though, she has shown real growth and America sure does love that. She also has a great back story and could go far if she manages to warm up to the audience a bit. Don’t you hate it when Cat is giving the results on the results show, and Ashleigh never looks the least bit nervous, nor surprised when she finds out they are safe? More humility — real or fake — is required to sway the voters, girl.

6. Nathan. Although he and Mollee have landed in the bottom three a few times now, I still feel like the teenage viewing audience is squarely behind Nathan. I know that if Gal Smiley had access to the telephone, and lived in America, he’d have about three million votes by now. That girl is devoted, let me tell you. He’ll have to use next week to prove he can properly partner a real woman — not just a girl — if he’s going to win over the Soccer Moms, though.

7. Mollee. I actually think Mollee is a really good dancer. I hope that the teenage girls aren’t bitter at her for touching Nathan all the time. If she can put in a mature performance next week with a manly man, it’ll go a long way to changing everyone’s opinion of her.

8. Ellenore. Oh, how I love Ellenore. FameThrowa does too. She’s so beautiful, and her dancing is so cool. I never really felt that she clicked with Ryan, though, and the fact that she seems to be weak in the vote-getting department is a concern. The show itself seems to be doing her no favours by saddling her with both the Lindy Hop (SO impossible to learn in one week!) and Broadway (KISS. OF. DEATH.) last week. I worry that her personality is too offbeat to mesh properly with any of the men, which means something will always be missing from her performances on this show. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see her in the bottom two girls next week, unless she really blows us away (come back, Sean Cheeseman! Ellenore is a good cause!).

9. Ryan. Ryan is beefy and a good partner, but I feel that he hasn’t shown enough versatility. It could be just because he isn’t making it happen with Ellenore, but in any case, he seems like the weakest man to me. And yes, Nigel, he certainly does need to work on his solos.

10. Noelle. I admit I have lingering dislike of her due to her flaking out in the first week (injury, sminjury!). Mollee has a twisted ankle and Ryan has a back injury and they’re still carrying on like troopers. No free pass for you! In actual dancing commentary, I do like how Noelle uses her face during her numbers — she’s so bright and expressive. But it’s not enough to make her stand out in the crowd — she always seems like a lesser version of Kathryn to me.

Who will win the partnership lottery next week? Can’t wait to find out!

I’m off to World Trivia Night tonight and the lovely and hilarious Bibliomama will be joining me! I’m awfully excited. And I’m sure the six bags of candy I bought are really going to help with that.

In the meantime, let’s take my mind off of trivia night with a little Dance! Show! Update!

This week I was all about the love. And the hate. The love-hate. Oh dance show, you do play with my emotions!

Loved It

Ashleigh and Jakob are totally clicking for me. I can see why some people really don’t like Ashleigh — there is something wooden about her in her everyday life. But I like her dancing, and I adore Jakob (he’s my fave right now), and they continue to get better every week. I loved their hip-hop and thought they kicked ass. Nat didn’t like it, though, so I may have some Jakob-love bias here. When I get that job as a judge on SYTYCD Canada, I better bring Nat along with me to provide counterpoint.

I also loved Legacy and Kathryn’s Paso Doble. The Paso is my favourite ballroom dance, if done well, and only the most committed dancers can do it well. I watched this one twice — the first time I was totally transfixed by Legacy, so I had to watch a second time to see Kathryn, but she was fantastic as well. This couple is strong and have The Chemistry and I hope they will go far.

I really enjoyed the Channing and Victor bird number — I think this may be my favourite Tyce choreography ever. I agreed with the judges that this was the first time I really felt I could see what Channing had to offer. I don’t think they deserved to be in the bottom three at all, and it’s a shame that Channing’s spark of personality came a little too late.

Lastly, I think I liked the contemporary by Ryan and Ellenore. This couple is still lacking some sort of magic for me — they need to work on The Chemistry, I think. But they both danced this piece well, and man, do I ever love Travis Wall as a choreographer. Often times, you go to the movies and you are struck by an actor’s great performance, or maybe the beauty of the cinematography. But it’s rare that you notice, during viewing, how awesome the writing is — I basically only ever feel the power of pure writing when I’m watching a Charlie Kaufman movie. I feel the same way about Travis — usually dance performances rest solely on the shoulders of the dancers, or maybe you’ll notice a great costume. It’s rare to feel the raw power of the choreography — to appreciate the originality of the movement and the idea of the choreographer himself, during the actual number. I feel that with Travis — I’m always blown away by the beauty of his ideas. So this number, while perhaps missing a little something, still blew me away.

Man, am I ever rambling today, eh?

Hated It

Mollee and Nathan are really going downhill. I understand why the judges gave them a second chance this week, but they just don’t seem to have the maturity and discipline to put together a powerful, moving performance. I love Laurieann Gibson as a choreographer so I put the blame on their crappy jazz number squarely on the shoulders of Mollee and Nathan. Nathan, in particular, I see as one of the weakest men and he’s on my hit list.

And what was up with the judges slobbering all over Noelle and Russell’s foxtrot? Noelle did show a lot of sparkle in her face and I like that they both seemed very confident and relaxed. But still, the movement was messy at times, they didn’t always seem to click as a couple, and I don’t know, it was just blah overall. They should have been in the bottom three for sure.

Lastly, Karen and Kevin…oh how sad you have made me. Their Broadway routine was the only one I really had no interest at all in watching twice. I think the Broadway style in general is quite impossible to hit — people always groan about the quickstep. but I can think of exactly one Broadway-style number that I have enjoyed, and that is Kayla and Jason’s from last season (she wore a gold dress and they danced around a stool — it was a Tyce, I think). I don’t know, something just isn’t working for this style, and the show needs to do something about it.

Anyway. I’m so very, very happy the judges decided to keep Karen this week, but Karen and Victor together does not seem like a good match, so I’m worried for them for next week. I think they should have kept Kevin, really — Victor is just a low-rent version of Jakob, and Jakob is AWESOME.

In any case, things are definitely heating up on dance show. I enjoyed this week’s dancing much more (also loved the Wade Robson group number, but that’s just obvious, isn’t it?), and I felt that the camera work was greatly improved. Keep going, Nigel!

Time for our weekly Dance! Show! update!

This week’s rising stars include Jakob and Ashleigh — loved, loved, loved their Choreographer Mandy Moore routine, it’s right up there with the famous table routine for me. Jakob in particular I thought was amazing — I loved his hunched shoulders and amazing leaps. He’s really growing on me.

Also on the upswing: Noelle and Russell, who were great this week. Although, it’s so easy to be great when you’ve got SEAN CHEESEMAN as your choreographer. Sean! I love you! Call me!

Actually I’m kind of divided about Sean’s recruitment to the American show. It’s just like when you have a small, alternative band and you go see them in secret clubs with your friends and lament about what geniuses they are and how they should totally be famous, and then they finally get a big record deal and get a song on the Billboard Hot 100 and then you spend all your time lamenting about how much cooler they were before they sold out to the man. You know? I just hope America doesn’t change you, Sean!

And I just remembered, they also stole Canadian Gustavo Vargas. I love him too. I hope he gets better dancers this week than Mollee and Nathan, who were SO AWFUL I just could not believe it. As expected, however, their cuteness and general popularity meant people voted for them anyway, and actually, they probably got a ton of extra votes just because the judges singled them out as being the worst. People afraid of their elimination were motivated to rush to the phone. Don’t do that, jidges!

On the wane this week: Karen and Kevin. I loved their hustle, I thought they were both outstanding, and in general they are two of my favourites. I hope the fact that they landed in the bottom two has more to do with the fact that they pulled first draw, than that America is stupid. I predict the show will give them the coveted pimp spot (i.e. going last) this week to encourage America to re-think its position.

Also down: Ellenore and Ryan, who were just SO very terrible. They absolutely deserved bottom three. Pauline and Pee-tah were also pretty bad — they’re both adorable and charming, but I thought they did deserve to go home.

In the meh category: Legacy and Kathryn, still two of my favourites but the Broadway style is so impossibly hard to succeed at; and Channing and Victor, who were performing in their own style and still made me yawn. I predict bottom three for Channing and Victor next week, unless Victor has some crazy teen girl following I don’t know about.

So far this season, I feel like the show is struggling to find a niche. The dancing has been okay, with a couple great numbers, but there are so many new choreographers and the new set is so terrible that I have yet to be really wowed. I miss the guest judges, too, I hope they start adding a few to the panel some weeks for new perspectives. A lot of the dancers this year are very, very young — I think almost half of them are only 18, the bare minimum age to be on the show — and I think it shows in the quality and maturity of their dancing.

Not that it’ll stop me from watching or anything. Dance! Show! Rocks!

Dance! Show! America! has been weird so far this season. Last week’s show featured the top 20 in their pairings, but there was no results show and no voting — instead, the judges just chose someone to boot. Although sometimes the voting part makes me angry, this judges-rule thing was worse — it seemed that they just chose the two that they thought were weakest from the audition rounds, and the actual top-20 performances had nothing to do with it. SHITTY.

And it was SO unfair that Noelle gets a free pass due to an injured knee, when she didn’t even dance! If you can’t dance on dance day, then you’re out. It should be that simple. There’s no way she should get to stay on the show for another week while Ariana goes home. And how much will it suck if Noelle can’t dance at all and has to drop out, and then they have to tell Ariana, oh sorry, big mistake, you can come back for one more week, and try to ignore that GIANT TARGET on your back?

NICE.

And while I’m being a whiny curmudgeon, let me just say that I really hate the new set. They have lost something by going with a traditional picture-frame stage, instead of the old format where the audience surrounded the whole thing. The connection between the performers and audience is missing, and it feels more like a high school musical than a semi-professional show. It just seems like no one watching is having any fun.

Plus, the new stage is a dark little cave — they need to up the lighting a whole lot — and the camera angles need work, too. They always seem to be too low (no more nostrils!) or too high (this isn’t a Busby Berkeley film) or too close or too far. Dance Show, you disappoint me!

It’s too early to talk about individual dancers (Phillip) or to pick out any favourites (Phillip) but overall, I felt that most of the dancers did a pretty good job (Phillip). It was nice to hear some actual constructive criticism from the judges (Shankman is being so much more useful this season!), and some of the dancers show real potential (Phillip).

I hope things settle down into a more familiar flow very soon, though. It’s good to have change but maybe there’s been a little too much change this fall so far.

Yesterday’s post on home allergy testing seems to be causing a stir, so out of fear of potential future lawsuits, just let me say this: if you honestly suspect you have a serious allergy to something, you should have your test done in a doctor’s office. That’s because there is a small but real chance of an analphylatic reaction. We felt confident doing our test at home because the Captain’s reactions are low and he’s never had a problem with prick tests in the past.

Thus ends today’s PSA.

In other news, I wasn’t planning on writing any more about So You Think You Can Dance, but the season feels unfinished without a few comments about the finale.

Let me just say this: I totally called it.

Also, I would like to complain about the selection of the finale dances. There were THREE selections by Louis Van Amstel. I know Nigel is psyched that he “stole” Louis from “that other dance show” (i.e. Dancing with the Stars, the one with much better ratings). But seriously? One number of his would have been more than enough. Louis was a far cry from a top choreographer this season and so many other choreographers were ignored in his favour. I hope Nigel is happy he took this childish opportunity to rub Dancing With The Stars’ face in it, because he also probably pissed off Sonya, Wade Robson, Tony Meredith, Laurie Gibson, Mandy Moore, Shane Sparks, Jean-Marc Genereaux, and any number of other workhorse choreographers for this show who were not featured AT ALL.

Nigel, you sucketh.

SYTYCD Canada has already started, and the next season of SYTYCD (are you ready for PRIME TIME?) starts September 16th, just a few weeks away. Yay, dancing!

Well, here we are, last week of Dance Show! I find I am not feeling my usual sad/excited mix that I usually feel when we get to finale week. I think this season has been pretty weak overall, and I just don’t care that much about the top 4. There’s no big personalities, great backstories, or even incredible, compelling dancing like last year. Seeing Twitch, Katee, Joshua, Chelsea, and Mark last Thursday, and their great routines (off the top of my head, I could easily name five or six others from last season alone that blew my mind) really highlighted how much this season has been lacking.

Remember Twitch’s interviews, and how you could just tell how much he wanted it? How he wasn’t afraid to say that he needed the win? This year, instead, we have a lot of really nice people who just smile a lot. And remember Joshua’s awesome back story, that made us fall in love with him? This year, all we hear is that Melissa is old, and Kayla has grandparents. Whoop-de-doo.

Last week’s show was weak all over. Other than the top-three-guys number, I yawned my way through it. Even the highly praised Brandon and Kayla numbers were ho-hum to me — the contemporary was same-old same-old (plus, was I the only one who noticed that they missed a lift?), and the disco was a pale, awkward imitation of Brandon and Janette’s rockin’ number from a few weeks back.

So, I’m not exactly looking forward to this week’s show, but let’s handicap anyway, shall we?

1. Jeanine. Jeanine is the only dancer this season who has shown actual personality. She’s cute, klutzy, and has a nice smile. Even Sir Monkeypants, who does not watch this show, considers her his favourite (although him noticing her “great rack” probably had something to do with that). Anyway, I think she will win, and I hope she wins — not because she is the best dancer but because she’s way and by far my favourite personality.

2. Evan. Oh heavens, please save us from an Evan win. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE.

3. Brandon. Seems like America is waking up and noticing that Brandon is awesome. Also, although his “I have no self-esteem” schtick probably won’t help him in the real world of dance, it works on a game show, and he’s selling it well. I actually think he is the best dancer, so if he winds up winning, that’s okay with me.

4. Kayla. I know the judges love her, and she does impress me with her ability to get into character. She’s the only female dancer who I’d hold on a par with Katee from last year. Still, her general dopiness and lack of sparkle means America ain’t voting for her.

Lastly, here are some of the numbers I’d love to see in the finale on Thursday this week.

Jason and Jeanine — heart necklace dance, choreographed by Travis Wall
Brandon and Jeanine — battlefield jazz dance by Laurie Ann Gibson
Kayla and Kupono — addiction dance, choreographed by Mia Michaels
Kayla and Jason — broadway number with stool, by Tice Diorio
Jeanine and Philip — their first week hip-hop by Taboleon (because I must see the CHBEEB one last time)
Melissa and Ade — pink pants jazz routine by Sonya (or their Rhumba by Tony Meredith)
Evan and Randi — Derrierre routine by Mia Michaels (I’d also settle for their week one jazz by Tyce, or their week two jive by Louis Van Amstel)
Ashley and Kupono — crash test dummy routine by Wade Robson
Brandon and Janette — robbers routine by Wade Robson
Bradon and Janette — disco routine by Doriana Sanchez
Karla and Vitolio — quickstep (with the quick costume change) by Jean-Marc Genereaux (only because I LOVE Jean-Marc)

Many of the group dances were also fantastic. In particular I loved:
Top 18 – Higher Ground dance by Mia Michaels (that was the one with the spotlights shining out onto the audience and everyone in suits)
Top 16 – Hip-hop/latin combo dance by Dimitri and Taboleon (this was the one set in the moody cafe, where the girls danced on tables with water)
Top 8 – One by Mia Michaels (the one with the mirrors — I LOVED this, and I swear she only did it to show Tyce how a “broadway” routine really SHOULD be done — KICK ASS, Mia)
Top 6 – Send in the Clowns by Tyce Diorio (okay, okay, the ONE time I actually liked his stuff)

I’m so looking forward to SYTYCD Canada starting next week, only because we have exclusive access to Jean-Marc. I’ll be taking a blogging break, though, from dance analysis, unless there’s major demand.

Now imagine Mary screeching, and that’s a wrap.

So America…what the hell?

To someone tuning in late, the bottom four probably looked like the TOP four standing there, waiting for someone else to be eliminated. You got it seriously wrong.

Captain Jelly Belly was so miffed at the elimination of Jason, his favourite, that he started making immediate plans to visit his buddies The Conductor and E-Man in California, just so he’d be able to vote and take control of the situation. I mean, someone has to. Do Malia and Sasha know about this? Surely they could do something.

Anyway.

Here’s this week’s seedings.

Top Seed: Jeanine. I still contend that she is going to win. She is not the strongest dancer. But I so love her. It’s a combination of her musicality (she’s so bang on during her solos), her humour, and her facial expressions when dancing.

Second Seed: Kayla. Her star is on the rise — I see that the show has taken my note about letting her dance more, interview less. Good job. I thought her solo this week was much better than in weeks past — she’d obviously taken more care in interpreting the music and putting together a performance, not just a bunch of random steps strung together. And, she’s demonstrating that she’s a match for any partner. If Kayla and Jeanine turn out to be the last two standing, it’ll be the first time ever that two women were waiting to hear the announcement of the overall winner.

Third Seed: Evan. Okay, prepare yourself for a small novel here. I really like Evan. If he had not made the top 20 this year I was ready to lead an American Invasion, Operation KICK NIGEL’S ASS. And he did impress me the week of the Top Ten with his ability to partner Kayla. STILL. He is the weakest man left in the competition. He doesn’t have nearly the strength or the versatility of Ade or Brandon. He has not shown a lot of growth or improvement, and his solos are, literally, IDENTICAL every week. It’s like he’s not even making an effort anymore, and I don’t believe he even cares to win. The problem is that the judges also feel he has overstayed his welcome, and are getting more and more blunt about it every week, which is causing a backlash of Evan-love among the voters. When will the judges learn that the way to get someone off this show is to damn them with faint praise — “It was a good, solid performance. You worked hard and put in a great effort, overall a good job.” Evan is the third seed this week because after last week — when Janette paid the price for their weaker numbers despite Evan being at fault — I fear nothing will get the public to stop voting for him. So he’s more likely to make the final four than the other two men, which is only going to make me angry. Look, I LIKE Evan. Do not make me hate him because he went too far and stayed too long, okay?

Fourth Seed: Ade. It’s a tough call here between him and Brandon. I think Ade is more popular with the American public, though. and I think he will be paired with Jeanine this week, which will give him a popularity boost. Still, Ade — I cannot emphasize this enough — STOP DISCOING AT THE END OF YOUR SOLOS. It is obnoxious.

Fifth Seed: Brandon. Brandon was SO good this past week; I especially thought he was just dazzling in his army-pop-jazz number with Jeanine. His solo was better and he toned down the “So you think you can dance dance dance” solo-ending I-am-awesome arm pumps. Still, he landed in the bottom two, so…it is not looking good. I can only hope that America is NOT STUPID and sends home Evan instead, but I no matter what I expect Brandon to land in the bottom two.

Sixth Seed: Melissa. Man, I just blanked out and totally forgot her name. That’s never a good sign. Melissa bought herself an extra week with the breast cancer dance, which I did really like, but was also completely untouchable in terms of comments and votes. I mean, you cannot POSSIBLY not vote for the breast cancer dance, so duh, safe. Still, I think she is less popular than Kayla and Jeanine, so although she is a dazzling dancer, I think this will be her week to go.

Matchup predictions this week: I must say, they have actually convinced me that the pair matching to this point has been random (although I still contend it was NOT random in previous years). I think, though, to produce a better combination of numbers for the tour, they will force these pairings this week:

Melissa and Evan
Kayla and Brandon
Jeanine and Ade

Just two more weeks of this nonsense and then I can return to a regular blogging schedule…although, there is season six this fall. READERS BEWARE.

Hey, I just remembered that Monday is supposed to be So You Think You Can Dance ranking day!

Bet you really, really, were hoping I’d remember that, weren’t you?

First off, let me say that I really dislike it when a dancer works very hard to create a serious mood during their solo, and then busts out into cheesy wamma-lamma-ding-dong rocking out during the “So you think you can dance…dance…dance…” cutoff music. The correct action is to pause your dancing, smile openly, and drop character, before politely and calmly walking over to join Cat. Seriously, Ade, Melissa, Brandon…you are ON NOTICE.

Anyway, this week’s rankings.

1. Jeanine. I know! It seems so unlikely! She just doesn’t have the moves or the tricks of most of the other dancers. Here’s the thing though: I love her. And this whole while I thought I was being clever and alternative with my pick, it turns out everyone else was secretly loving her, too. Crazy! Her momentum and style remind me of Sabra from Season 3. I think she has a real chance to win it.

2. Janette. I expected her solo to be weak, and while the dancing was good, it’s just a fact that ballroom dance solos are a lot of butt shaking and little else. As well, I found her hip-hop this week to be a little stilted. Still, she’s built up a lot of goodwill from her amazing performances of previous weeks; now she just has to remember that she has to keep earning our love every time.

3. Ade. I’m going to assume that Ade’s visit to the bottom four was some sort of crazy mass American mental fart, in which everyone assumed that everyone else would be voting for him, and so didn’t bother. Seriously, his solos are dazzling, he was so groovy with the hip-hop this week, and he seems like such a sweet guy — what could possibly be the problem? Plus, Captain Jelly Belly has taken to going around the house with no shirt on and insisting on being called “Ade.” Now that’s the love of the common people, right there.

4. Jason. Ooooh, Jason did not disappoint me this week. He and Jeanine were so good. At first I thought the necklace thing was going to be cheesy, but they sold it, in spades. Jason reminds me of Neil from Season 3 — cute, popular, good enough at everything to get through to the top 4.

5. Evan. Okay, I admit it, I was possibly a little premature in counting Evan out last week. Remember when I suggested it would be a disaster if he were paired with Kayla for some sort of dance involving grace and lifts? That’s exactly what happened…and Evan rocked it. Despite criticism from Mary for his style, I thought he was great. I’m totally with Debbie Allen, “You handled your big woman!” I’d like to see better solos (although, AWESOME taste in music, you cannot go wrong with Rufus Wainwright), but otherwise, Evan can stay.

6. Kayla. Holy moley, producers — stop giving Kayla onscreen interview time. Seriously. She is such a lovely dancer, and totally inhabits her characters. Yet when asked to speak as herself… she really comes across as dull. Even, as my friend Nat would say, “dumb as a post.” It is not good. Plus, her solos are still nothing to write home about.

7. Brandon. Brandon, you’re the best. You’re the king, you will definitely have a future as a professional dancer, you rock. However, I fear you will not win this show. There’s just something that’s not clicking with the audience, unfortunately. Plus, I was looking forward to a slam-wow solo, and instead there was too much frantic spasms. Unless Brandon hits it out of the park this week, I think he’ll be out.

8. Melissa. Again, Melissa, you are a fantastic and unique dancer, but for some reason, the voters just like the other gals better. I was happy to see Randi go home last week instead of her, but this week I think it’s her time.

As for this week’s couples, I was wrong last week on all counts. Do you think the couples were really drawn completely at random (with the caveat, of course, that none of the original couples would stay together)? And if so, do you think the styles were also really assigned at random? It does claim that both were completely random in the small print that they show at the end of the program (I checked). Truth, or legal technicality?

In any case, as they try not to repeat couples in this phase of the competition, it does get easier to predict who will be matched with whom. Or, you can use my predictions as a clear indicator as to who will NOT be matched with whom :).

Janette and Jason
Melissa and Evan
Jeanine and Brandon
Kayla and Ade

Time for your weekly handicapping of the So You Think You Can Dance dancers!

1. Janette. Oh yes, I went there. She may have little training, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping her at all. She anchored the tango this past week — I barely noticed that Brandon was on the stage — and was so cute in the Wade Robson number. Her one potential problem is that as a salsa dancer, her solos are bound to be a little weak. Still, I think she’ll definitely make top 4.

2. Jeanine. Oh yes, I went there too. I predict great things for Jeanine. Her solos have been just quirky enough to set her apart from all the other contemporary dancers out there, and I think she’s a great actress — she really shows her characters in her face. I think residual affection for Phillip in the crowd will help win her votes, too. If she can survive this week — when I predict she will be paired with the weaker Evan — then she’s a shoo-in for the top 4.

3. Ade. The internet is buzzing with talk of how fabulous his solo was from this week. Since Ade got zero coverage during the audition shows, this was the first time we’d ever seen him dance in his own style and…WOW. He’s sweet, he’s bashful, he’s a fantastic partner for the ladies, and with solos like this…he could take it all.

4. Brandon. I watched this past week’s episode at my mom’s house, and she doesn’t like Brandon because she finds him too arrogant. I think that’s totally false, but my mom does tend to reflect the general attitude of America so if my mom doesn’t like you…it’s a problem. Brandon is obviously the best dancer in this competition but that didn’t help Will from Season 4, Danny from Season 3, or Travis from Season 2. Brandon needs to break out his shell a bit more, chat a bit more, and turn in some dazzling solos if he wants to move up the ladder.

5. Melissa. Did you see her solo this week? That woman’s body is ROCK HARD. She is so powerful and in control. I think Melissa is the strongest female dancer in the competition (although, I just realized, we haven’t seen her try hip hop yet), but like Brandon, she doesn’t have a warm enough personality to come across the TV screen. Plus, she has a problem in that most of the remaining men are shorter than her, and won’t be able to perform the fantastic lifts with her that she is so good at.

6. Kayla. She’s growing on me. Her performance in the Mia Michaels addiction number from this past week was SO good. She seems to be slowly building a following, which may mean that she peaks in popularity at just the right time. Since the judges adore her, she’s bound to land all the best choreographers too. Now, if she could just put together a half decent solo, she’d be on her way up.

7. Jason. I expect great things from this kid now that Caitlin is gone and he’ll have a new partner. I predict he’ll be matched with either Janette or Kayla this week, so this is his big chance. He’ll either rock it, and bump himself way up in popularity…or chuff it, and it’s all over.

8. Kupono. Oh, Kupono, how frustrating you are. Sometimes you are so, so brilliant…and sometimes, so, so goofy. I think he’s been helped a lot by being paired with Kayla. I don’t see him making the top 4, especially given his crap solos, but if he works really hard and pulls out something good this week…there is potential there. He’s really a complete wildcard.

9. Randi. Randi is so cute, and clearly a good dancer, but I don’t think she is as great as the other four women in the top 10. She doesn’t have the versatility to pull off a wide variety of dances — almost every style has been described at some point or another as “out of her comfort zone.” She needs to get a much, much bigger comfort zone if she wants to be a professional dancer.

10. Evan. I love Evan’s personal style, but let’s face it, his latin ballroom dances have been weak and his hip hop was pretty awful. Now that they are mixing up the partners, too, he has a problem — he’s shorter than all the other women, which will make for an awkward dance. Can you imagine him doing a tango with Kayla, or maybe a pas-de-deux with Melissa? I didn’t think so.

My couple predictions for this week:
Evan with Jeanine
Jason with Janette
Brandon with Randi
Ade with Kayla
Kupono with Melissa