At the beginning of the show tonight, we learn that Jessica has broken two ribs and fractured another one, and is therefore out of the competition. Comfort has returned to the show in her place. Joy.
Tonight’s judges are Lil C, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. With that out of the way, and with the announcement that the original couples have been broken up this week and partners will be randomly drawn from now on, let’s begin.
Courtney and Joshua are up first with a hip hop routine. It’s very strange, and we could really do without the shaky camera effect… but despite those things, we still like it. It’s a high energy, engaging performance. Our rating: 9/10
From this point on, we’ll be voting for individual dancers rather than couples. Chelsie is up first with her solo, and sadly, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. We feel like we’re watching a repeat of all of Heidi’s solos from season 2 of the show. Our rating: 7/10
Next are Kherington and Mark, who are introducing us to a style new to the show: country two step. In theory it sounds really entertaining, but it turns out that it goes not so well. Kherington seems a bit unsure of both herself and her partner, and the whole thing seems uncomfortable. Our rating: 7/10
Up next with his solo is Gev. After the last solo he performed we’re really looking forward to this, but it turns out to be a bit of a letdown after that one. Having said that, it’s still good. He puts a lot into his solos and it’s obvious how much he wants to be a part of this competition. Our rating: 9/10
As we said, Comfort has returned to the competition after Jessica’s exit… and unfortunately, Twitch has been saddled with her as a partner this week. And on top of that, they’ve also drawn smooth waltz as their first style. Oh no. They look completely uncomfortable, there’s no connection between them, and Comfort’s complete lack of EVERYTHING brings them both down. The only saving grace of the entire routine is the amazing lift at the end. Our rating: 6/10
Now it’s time for Courtney’s solo, and she gives it her all, just like she did when she found herself in the bottom three a couple of weeks ago. She’s a passionate dancer and we always enjoy watching her. Our rating: 9/10
We never quite know what to think when we hear that we’re about to see a Broadway routine, but this one from Katee and Will is great. It’s a fun, infectious routine and the choreography actually suits the music, for once. It’s good to see Will with a different partner, and this is the first time we’ve seen a large amount of personality from Katee. Our rating: 10/10
Mark’s solo is just left of center, and we think it’s great. We keep hoping this will be enough to save him from the bottom three tomorrow night, but we’re just not sure. Our rating: 10/10
Ending the first round are Chelsie and Gev with a contemporary routine. Turns out Gev is much better at contemporary than we expected him to be. On top of that, he and Chelsie have great chemistry and look awesome together onstage. This is a really good performance. Our rating: 10/10
Next is Comfort’s solo. Oh, joy. We were hoping after last week we’d never again have to see her run back and forth across the stage, flail her arms and call it “dancing.” Unfortunately for us, she hasn’t learned from being cut last week, and she does the same thing she always does. Booooring. Our rating: 4/10
Right behind that is Twitch’s solo, which thankfully wakes us up. We love that he’s chosen a Wade Robson song as his music, since we first saw him on The Wade Robson Project many moons ago. His solo is amazing, as always. Our rating: 10/10
Ding, round two!
Courtney and Joshua are dancing a rumba this time around. We have high hopes for this, and we’re not disappointed. For a new couple, they have a great connection. This routine is really beautiful in just about every way. Our rating: 10/10
Katee’s solo is full of lots of good technique, but not a whole lot of anything else. Points for difficulty, we suppose. Our rating: 8/10
Kherington and Mark get jazz for their second performance, and our fingers are crossed that this one goes better for them than the first one did. Unfortunately, it’s a more energetic performance, but that’s about the only improvement on earlier. There’s still very little connection between them, and the whole thing just seems… blah. Our rating: 8/10
Will’s solo is set to the beautiful song “Dance With My Father,” and his performance suits the music very well. We love this! Our rating: 10/10
Mercifully, Comfort and Twitch have drawn hip hop as their second routine of the night. Hopefully this will be enough to save Twitch… and… YES! It is! What a great performance! Well, from Twitch anyway… at this point, we don’t pay much attention to Comfort one way or the other. Thank God for second routines. Our rating: 9/10
Kherington’s solo is neither energetic nor well suited to her music. She really seems to have lost something this week, and we’re a little afraid for her tomorrow night. Our rating: 5/10
Katee and Will are introducing us to another new style: the pas de deux. It’s good that these two got this style, since they’re arguably the most technical dancers on the show. They certainly need it for this routine- the difficulty level is high, but despite one mistake, they pull it off beautifully. We’re also amused that they dance to David Archuleta’s rendition of “Imagine.” Our rating: 9/10
As Joshua’s solo begins, it occurs to us that we always manage to forget he’s a hip hop dancer. He’s so versatile, but it’s nice to see him in his own style. His solo is very original, for a style that we’re generally not impressed with. Our rating: 9/10
Finally, Chelsie and Gev perform a jive routine to end the evening. Our first thought is, “Wow, this is REALLY fast!” And it’s also really entertaining. Despite a few small errors on Gev’s part, this is a great performance and we feel confident that both dancers will be safe tomorrow night. Our rating: 10/10
Tomorrow, for the first time, the viewers have the final say in who goes home. We think this is going to be incredibly tough, since there are so many great dancers this year. We’re hoping to be saying goodbye to Comfort AGAIN tomorrow night- but as much as we hate to think about it, we fear it may also be Mark getting the axe.
To launch new Snuggle with FRESH release, Snuggle is partnering with SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE to celebrate Happy Dances: fun, spontaneous moves that release the freshness of Snuggle.
