Top Twelve Competition. Or, well, some of it.

I’m gonna be upfront and admit that I didn’t blog the entire episode, but I have a good reason. You see, my family’s in town. And so a little more than halfway through, I headed over to their hotel and watched the last two dances there. And I didn’t bother blogging, because the whole point of this blog is for me to say the things I normally say out loud to my mother. And, well, she was there. So I just said them out loud to her. I did see every piece except the can can, and I would be happy to share with you my opinions should you ask. But I doubt anyone will.

Here we go! This is the week we pick the top ten and, therefore, the last week the judges get a say. Thank goodness.

Cat actually looks decent, but it’s not Tuesday without mocking her, so…holy cow are those earrings eating her face or what?!

Couple One: ballroom dancer Ryan and jazz dancer Ellenore
Lindy Hop with Carla
First off, I’m loving all the new choreographers this season. But uh…the judges were watching a different dance I think. I thought that was kind of disappointing. Adam, he DIDN’T get through all those lifts. He almost dropped her every single time! The coffee grinders were good, yes, as were their expressions. But the footwork and all of the other stunts were just bad.

Couple Two: contemporary/lyrical dancer Kathryn and b-boy Legacy
Jazz with Sonya
OK, I may love new choreographers, but I am positively obsessed with Sonya’s choreography. This was absolutely brilliant. Their timing was so on! Ridiculous. And those stunts, with his strength b-boy skills and her flexibility, were just completely perfect. Their stamina is incredible-I’d have been on the ground in exhaustion halfway through that. This routine was just so cool!

Couple Three: ballroom dancer Karen and contemporary dancer Victor
Tango with Tony and Melanie
So here we have a new couple. This is the second time in this competition that Victor has had a new partner (his original partner, Bianca, got kicked off the second week). I’d say it worked out pretty well-the dancing was pretty good (as usual, I fail at critiquing ballroom). I did, however, find the music to be insufferably dull, even with the changeups. Probably just me though. I did expect to see more of a wow-factor with the dancing, what with Karen, you know, being a ballroom dancer and everything. She’s certainly not comparable to Shakira or Jennifer Lopez, Nigel.

Couple Four: contemporary dancer Nathan and jazz dancer Mollee
Hip hop with Jamal
I love it when choreographers find a way to focus Mollee’s energy so brilliantly. I guess it’s more the style, but I’m really glad this wasn’t some Tabitha/Napoleon emotional hiphop. I didn’t notice Mollee holding back at all like Adam said, but maybe that’s just because I wasn’t aware of her injury. Oh, on replay, I do kind of see it. It just wasn’t that noticeable on first watch. The concept here was great, but the lights and background were pretty distracting. Especially the neon green. A couple of the choreography points struck me as a bit odd, but I’m not a choreographer so whatever. Great ending, though. Overall good job.

Couple Five: Krumper Russell with contemporary dancer Noelle
Samba with Tony and Melanie
Repeat choreographers? Really? I mean, both numbers were wonderful, but give someone else a chance. Surely more people can choreograph tango and samba. I thought they were great, but her footwork wasn’t quick enough, she wasn’t moving her hips enough (on the parts where it wasn’t blatantly choreographed), and his upper body was too stiff. I think Adam’s right, though I hate this word when it comes to dance, but it wasn’t “dirty” enough. They were overall great, though, but of course they were going off of excellent choreography and had a killer stunt at the end.

Couple Six: Latin ballroom dancer Ashleigh and contemporary dancer Jakob
Lyrical jazz with Sonya
Again with the repeat choreographers! Argh! And again, it’s not like the pieces were subpar as a result, but jeez, let’s have some diversity. The dancing here was absolutely incredible. It’s not every day you see a guy do a penche or an extension like the ones Jakob has pulled off here. And, yes, any hatred I previously had against Ashleigh is now and forever (or, well, for now) gone. In their stunts and lifts and everything else it just looked like they were floating. And I love her dress. One downside (besides Jakob’s pants): That singer’s voice. WHAT WAS THAT??? Completely obnoxious. So high-pitched and breathy and ughhhh.

And here we go again…

Couple One: ballroom dancer Ryan and jazz dancer Ellenore
Broadway with Spencer
First of all, excellent music from an excellent show (Razzle Dazzle from Chicago). I’m not entirely sure I got the concept, though it became clearer as the dance went on. They definitely executed whatever it was extraordinarily well, though.

Couple Two: contemporary/lyrical dancer Kathryn and b-boy Legacy
Viennese Waltz with Jean-Marc and France
OK, so normally I hate the Viennese waltz. Despise it. But this really wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was pretty good! There was a story and everything! And yes, Legacy definitely just tricked the judges into being nice to him with that crying routine. But yes, he deserved it. They weren’t flawless, but they were wonderful.

Couple Three: ballroom dancer Karen and contemporary dancer Victor
Hip Hop with Laurie Ann
Ah, I KNEW we couldn’t have an entire episode with 12 dances and no emotional hip hop. That background has me seeing green spots on my computer screen now. Wonderful. Anyways, I seriously wrote down that they looked way too angry, and then Adam said it. I see he’s back to agreeing with me constantly. And no, that shouldn’t be the other way around. Their movements were sharp and they only got off from each other once or twice, but…yeesh. The emotion was awful.

Couple Four: contemporary dancer Nathan and jazz dancer Mollee
Can-Can with Tyce
Really? Tyce and Can-can? All righty then.
Oh my gosh, they’re dressed like candy canes

…and there ends this blog. A rather abrupt ending, yes, but an ending none the less.

Oh! Wait! Predictions!

Bottom Three Couples:
Ryan and Ellenore
Karen and Victor
Russell and Nicole

See you tomorrow. Maybe.