Encores & results...you know you want some

Posted: Friday, July 18, 2008 by Travis Cody in
18



The performance show Wednesday night was a bit uneven. We're looking for the pairs who make it through to the Top 8 to focus next week and bring the level up.

Disclaimer: Some of the videos are being disabled, most likely because the copyright monsters are running rampant again. So I say to you, I'm just posting the videos because I love dance! And I want to share that love! So move along because there's no profit motive to see in this space.

Now, on to the encores!

Katee & Will kicked off their tremendous night with a theatrical number choreographed by Tyce Diorio.


We really enjoyed Courtney & Joshua's Rumba. Courtney has moved into the #2 spot behind Katee as our second favorite gal. And Joshua has been one of our favorite guys from jump.


We lost Twitchington, but we gained this outstanding hip hop jam from Comfort & Twitch. It would have been our dance of the night...


...but then came this Pas de Deux from Katee & Will.


When it was good Wednesday, it was very very good.

We ranked the pairs last night so...

1. Katee & Will - two radically different dances, two brilliant performances
2. Comfort & Twitch - the first dance was forgettable, the second was outstanding
3. Courtney & Joshua - the first dance was good, the second excellent
4. Chelsie & Gev - the partnership is terrific and they had two solid dances
5. Kherington & Mark - off night, and it wasn't helped by a couple of sub par solos

And I ranked the individuals thus...

1. Twitch
2. Will
3. Katee
4. Courtney
5. Joshua
6. Chelsie
7. Kherington
8. Gev
9. Comfort
10. Mark

Pam switched up the top 4 like this - Will, Katee, Courtney, Twitch. The rest of her list matches mine.

So we have projected Kherington and Comfort as the bottom two gals, with Gev and Mark as the bottom two guys. We suspect that Comfort and Mark will be the ones to go.

We have a Bollywood group dance to begin the show.

Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Shane Sparks (for Transformers), Mandy Moore (for The Table), and Wade Robson (for Hummingbird) all received Emmy nominations for their work on the show last season. YAY!

Emmy winner Mia Michaels (for The Park Bench) has choreographed another brilliant piece, this time for the Top 5 gals. Wow. You can see the video here.

Oh man. We have to do bottom two for the gals after that beautiful dance. Chelsie is safe. Katee is safe. And Courtney is safe. That means Comfort and Kherington are in the bottom two. Well, we called it but this is just so tough. We really do like all of these dancers.

Now the Top 5 guys perform a dance made by a mystery choreographer. That was great! And that dance was made by Nigel Lythgoe! Excellent! See it here.

Drat. Two of those guys are in the bottom, and one of them has to go home. Joshua is safe. Will is safe. Twitch is safe. Which means Mark and Gev are in the bottom two.

Each of the bottom four gets a solo. They can't change the result, but the more dancing the better I say!

Comfort - She's really good at what she does, and with some training she can become more versatile. I have to think that this experience would make a dancer want to go to class and get better.

Mark - There's just something about his solo work that we're not connecting with. We enjoyed him with Chelsie as they improved each week. For us he was off this week. He is quirky and unique, but perhaps his style just isn't or us.

Kherington - She's a beautiful girl, but this week she just didn't show off what a beautiful dancer she is. This girl has the talent and the skill, but she missed this week. And perhaps we've forgotten how young she is...she's 18.

Gev - His musicality in that solo was tremendous. This is a talented kid, and he's going to benefit from his time on the show because he's incorporating the different styles into his dancing.

I could have filled up this post with video, but instead I just put in some links. If you're a fan of dance, I hope you have some time to check them out.

OK...here we go.

For the gals, Kherington is out and Comfort advances.



For the guys, Gev is out and Mark advances.



It keeps getting tougher from here. The Top 8 all need to bring it next week.

Have a fantastic weekend! Later babies!

18 comments:

  1. Anndi says:

    I think the judges comments about Kherington not being there as a partner for Mark in their first dance may have made a big difference. They certainly stuck in mine and I agreed with them 100%.

    People were given a second chance as far as Comfort was concerned and I guess this means they didn't agree with the judges. I think Kherington is a better dancer.. but what can you do?

    I'm not surprised about the guys, I have to say.

  1. Anonymous says:

    I don't watch this show but wanted to drop by and say, TGIF!

    :-D)

  1. DrillerAA says:

    We will see Kherington again. Nigel was absolutely right when he said that she has the whole package, including Hollywood looks. Personally, I think she and Kourtni are better dancers than Comfort. This week Kherington struggled with a couple of dance out of her comfort zone while Comfort finished strong and benefited from performing her favorite dance style with arguably the best hip hop partner in the competition. Twitch raised the bar and Comfort rose to the occasion.

  1. As always your analysis is spot on. You really give us an insiders look at a good show.

  1. Marsha says:

    I called Kherington and Mark as being the ones to go home and hubs called for Comfort and Mark to be the ones. I've always felt that Gev was stronger and easier to connect with than Mark, but guess I was wrong huh...lol

    Well anyway, Mark and Comfort are likely to be the ones going next week. That should get us down to the top six and my opinion, the BEST six dancers. THEN it gets interesting........

    Nice recap and love the videos!

  1. RW says:

    Thank for the break down Trav I missed it, you the man!

  1. Travis thanks for the next installment of "So You Think You Can Dance." Also thanks for commenting at my blog. Always like hearing from you! :) Have a good weekend!

  1. Sandee says:

    Have a great weekend Travis, Pam and Mr. Tucker. Big hug. :)

  1. Hope your picks win.

  1. Comfort should have gone. Period. Really she does NOT excel at anything outside of hip hop and I don't think she is all that and a bag of chips in that genre either.

    And methinks..no me knows....Will just moved to first for me. Sorry Twitch :P

  1. Liz Hill says:

    I haven't been watching much TV at all so I haven't seen this.

    Your recaps are as vibrant as ever.

  1. I think the voters got it wrong in both cases...Mark and Comfort should have gone home...

    Mark's dancing does nothing for me...Gev was much more entertaining and I think skilled...

    Comfort is just not up to the other women, including the woman she beat out this week...

  1. Ann: I think we're getting a much clearer indication of who the fans have liked. Kherington may have been surviving based on her partnership with Twitch. She's a tremendous dancer, but so was Danny last year and it took forever for fans to finally get it.

    Lois: And right back atcha!

    Drilleraa: Agreed.

    Jamie: I try.

    Marsha: Mark has an engaging quirkiness about his dancing. I don't connect with it, but I'm hearing that the style resonates with a lot of people.

    Roger: You are welcome Sir!

    Teach: I've been enjoying the photographs over at your place!

    Sandee: You too my dear!

    Charles: We shall see.

    Starr: Will is the best dancer on the floor. He excels at every style. He's a dancer. I'm still dialing for Twitch though.

    Turn: It's must see tv for me, as you know.

    V: I was beginning to connect with Mark when he danced with Chelsie. But this week it just wasn't there. As for Comfort, she benefited from dancing the hip hop toward the end of the show.

  1. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for posting the clip to the park bench. That was one of my favorite dances of all times on this show! :)

  1. Patti says:

    Hi Travis,

    This is random, but I really liked your comment over at Queen Mimi's about the words "shoes and toes"...and how they aren't pronounced the same!

    ;-D

  1. Julie says:

    Yeah it should have been Comfort and Mark.

    **walks off pouting**

  1. CWM: That was a great dance.

    Patti: Well, it's a puzzlement of the English language!

    Julie: Stop pouting now! **pops Julie on the behind**

  1. RW says:

    It has been a great series!

    Hey Trav I like your emergencies plan, good'en!