Guest judge Christina Applegate had a lot to say about this week’s performances as the So You Think You Can Dance top 20 danced again and the first two contestants were sent home.
This week’s episode started off with eliminations, after which everyone, including the eliminated contestants, had to buck up to take the stage and dance. Guest judge Christina Applegate has appeared on the show before, and the Tony Award nominee proves she knows what she’s talking about, and gives very good criticism to the contestants.
The Eliminations
It was a tough start to the night as the first two contestants were eliminated from the competition: Carlos Garland and Brittany Cherry. Unfortunately, they didn’t even get a chance to cry about it, since they had to stick around to dance with their partners, Mariah Spears and BluPrint, who are still in the competition. They were both good sports, and danced beautifully, but it was too little too late.
The eliminations will be playing out a bit differently this year; the second season in a row without a results show. The bottom three girls and bottom three guys are revealed at the top of the show, the judges save two, the bottom four dance for their lives, and then the judges eliminate one girl and one guy: in this case Carlos and Brittany. The eliminations are based not only on their solos, but what the judges have seen from them thusfar in the competition, and what they’ve heard from the choreographers.
The bottom four’s solos were altogether pretty unremarkable, and the judges were left unimpressed. As the “dance for your life” performances have the dancers truly dancing for their lives as part of this competition, none of the bottom four contestants really seemed to be pulling out all the stops. Since the judges presented their decision immediately following the last solo, it seemed their minds were already made up before tonight’s “dance for your life” performances anyway.
The Performances
Top 20 group number
The top 20 opened the show with a Tyce Diorio contemporary routine, in which they all looked like turn of the century orphans, playing around and jumping on a bed. The group routines are always incredible to watch, and this was no exception. The way all of these dancers from so many different styles of dance can come together and let their talents shine together, working together like so many gears in a machine, is truly remarkable.
Hayley Erbert and Curtis Holland
Hayley and Curtis kicked off the show with an incredibly sexy Ray Leeper jazz routine to Jessie J’s “Mama Knows Best.” The song may say “Mama knows best,” but Nigel was wondering if Hayley’s daddy knew what she was up to, because it was an awfully risqué routine in a very sexy outfit. While Curtis did overcome his goofy tapper persona, no one could take their eyes off of Hayley, who overcame her shyness to be sexy for the second week in a row.
Jasmine Harper and Aaron Turner
Power couple Aaron and Jasmine performed a Nappytabs (Napolean and Tabatha D’umo) lyrical hip-hop routine to Alicia Keys’ “Tears Always Win.” The concept of this routine was that Aaron is a musician on the road who just shows up at Jasmine’s door, expecting her to welcome him with open arms, but Jasmine is frustrated with his “love ‘em and leave ‘em” ways. They struggled to develop a chemistry in rehearsals, but they certainly had it in spades for the live performance. The judges had nothing but raves for both of them, and Christina called them the couple to beat.
Malece Miller and Jade Zuberi
Malece and Jade had a big challenge this week, taking on a Bollywood routine, which is one of the more notoriously difficult styles on SYTYCD. While it seemed to not be one of the most challenging Bollywood routines we’ve seen on the show, it was still a step outside of the box for Malece and Jade, and they did an impressive job picking up the steps. They also seemed to be having a great time, with Jade in particular looking very smiley.
Alexis Juliano and Nico Greetham
Alexis and Nico, who received some tough criticism for their hip hop routine last week, took on a Stacey Tookey contemporary routine this week. The routine was a sequel to a season 7 routine featuring Robert Roldan and Kathryn McCormick. Kathryn was going off to war, and this time, Alexis, as the same character, has come back. It was a beautiful routine featuring impressive solo turns by both dancers. They really captured the emotion and passion necessary to the story, bringing these two characters to life.
Brittany Cherry and BluPrint
Though Brittany was already eliminated earlier in the night, she stuck around to support her partner BluPrint in a Spencer Liff Broadway routine set to Bjork’s “It’s All So Quiet.” It was a challenge for BluPrint, as this was way outside of his comfort zone. Much like we experienced with last season’s animator finalist Cyrus, it looked like the routine was kind of dumbed down for BluPrint, but he did a pretty good job with what he was given. The judges had some critiques, and hopefully he’ll be able to rise to the occasion next time.
Jasmine Mason and Alan Bernsen
Jasmine and Alan took on a technically difficult cha cha routine by Miriam and Leonardo. In this routine, Jasmine was an innocent beauty and Alan was an evil character set out to steal her innocence. Alan nailed the character, his evil persona reminiscent of Kupono Aweau’s creepy character in season 5’s iconic Addiction routine. The routine was challenging, but the lifts at the end were incredibly impressive, and Jasmine and Alan nailed them perfectly.
Makenzie Dustman and Paul Karmiryan
Makenzie and Paul took on a Sean Cheesman jazz routine in which Paul was a mad scientist and Makenzie was his sexy robot creation. Paul struggled to stay in character in rehearsal, because he’s quite shy in real life and was having trouble stepping outside of the box to portray this character. He nailed the character, and also brought some very impressive moves to the routine that you wouldn’t have expected from a ballroom dancer. Makenzie was no slouch either, even though she was dressed like a hooker.
Mariah Spears and Carlos Garland
Eliminated contestant Carlos returned to support his partner Mariah in an emotional contemporary routine choreographed by Stacey Tookey. The premise of the routine is that Carlos has lost his memory in an accident, but he is the love of Mariah’s life, and she is dealing with the aftermath. It was a beautiful routine, and Mariah did an incredible job of connecting to the story and selling the emotion. It’s a shame this routine didn’t count towards Carlos’ participation in the competition, because it just might have saved him.
Amy Yackima and Fik-shun
Front-runners Fik-shun and Amy took on a Napolean and Tabatha hip-hop routine. In this routine, Fik-shun and Amy were bellmen at what just might be the coolest hotel ever. They loved their jobs, and they loved messing around with each other. Fik-shun and Amy both have such great personalities, and are so smiley, that they proved incredibly likeable in this routine. Not only that, but while Fik-shun shined in his strongest style, contemporary dancer Amy proved she really is the beast of the competition, looking like she’s been dancing hip-hop all her life.
Jenna Johnson and Tucker Knox
Tucker and Jenna closed out the show with a Dmitry Chaplin cha cha routine. The concept was that Tucker knows everyone in the nightclub and acts like he owns the place, until Jenna comes a long and puts him in his place. Jenna impressed in her own style, and while Tucker struggled with the persona in rehearsals, he nailed it onstage, and even mastered some moves that many contemporary dancers wouldn’t be able to do.
The top 18 contestants will return to dance next week, after we find out which guy and girl will be going home.