Whew. They finally got rid of Ryan. There were some strong dances on the show, and the chaff was definitely getting weeded out, and audience voting seemed to reflect it, and the judges couldn't fan Ryan on without losing some of the stronger other dancers, so she fell this time.
This was the last week of the established couples dancing; henceforth, it'll be individual scoring, the dancers paired with "all stars" from past seasons (debatable point -- I saw the names of some of the "all stars" they chose, and I have problems with a number of them, who are shameless attention hounds and stage hogs -- I almost pity the contestants who have them for their partners; you'll see).
These are my favorites of this week...
Melanie and Marko 1
Melanie and Marko 2
Melanie and Marko had two strong routines, naturally. The first one, a tango, went very well, of course. Their chemistry nailed it, but their moves were solid as ever. The second one was the drippy kind of contemporary dance routine that judges and audiences love. I mean, they danced it beautifully, and the routine was solid, but the emo contemporary stuff always chafes at me. I always feel like lyrical contemporary (or whatever they call it) is an easy category for them to dance, because you just crank up the emo and if you're halfway good at dancing, you can nail it. Since Melanie and Marko are both very good at it, it's a sure-fire win for them as a category.
Jordan and Tadd 1
This was one of my favorites of the night. Trippy and rhythmic. Jordan is not one of my favorites this season, but she's very good, just the same, and they nailed it with this piece. This was the darkest piece of the evening, and was just coolly conceived and executed. Nicely done.
Caitlynn and Mitchell 2
They pulled out the stops on this raunchy number, with Caitlynn busting about every move she had. And it worked very well with Janis Joplin's singing. This was easily the most brazen number of the season, but they carried it off well, and I think audiences dug it. Caitlynn's not quite as good as Jordan or Melanie, but she brings an athletic prowess to her style of dance and has that competitor's instinct that makes her a dark horse favorite. I don't think she can actually dethrone Melanie or Jordan, but she may get close.
Clarice and Jess 2
Clarice is another dark horse. She's better than Caitlynn, but I think is not quite up to Melanie and Jordan level. She is beautiful, and is very good, however, and definitely connects with the audience. The judges didn't quite like the above routine so much, but I dug it, thought it was dynamic, fun, and energetic, and Clarice owned it, and Jess partnered very well with her (Jess is the best showman of the guys, easily. Strong dancer with great performance chops). The above number was hot on its own merits, versus the overt bump and grindery of the Caitlynn and Mitchell number.
Sasha and Alexander 1
Sasha and Alexander danced well, but I feel like they are doomed. Neither of them is enough of a performer to secure a proper foothold with the audience, in my view. That's unfortunate, but it's abundantly clear -- Jess can mop the floor with Alexander, and Sasha's willowy razor-blade style comes up short against the petite riffola of all of the other gals, rather than standing out, somehow. In the above piece, Sasha totally makes Alexander her bitch, which probably cost both of them votes, in terms of audience expectations and what-not. Sasha looks like she would be comfortable as a dancer in Thunderdome or something.
