WHAT. A. GREAT. NIGHT! So apparently I was in a happier mood than Nate because for a second week in a row, I saw things differently. (And we were doing so well for so long!) Oh well, to each their own. I thought the Top 10 was fab!: (re-posted from Tapeworthy).
So You Think You Can Dance - Top 10 Performance Night - Ep. 619
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman
Top 10! New Pairings! What an amazing night! With any complaints about S6 not living up to the buzz or bad choreographers, it was almost all excised this week. Click here to read the full recap...
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Ryan Di Lello
Dance #1
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo
Song: "Give It To Me Right" - Melanie Fiona
Grade: A
Man that was hot! If Ryan was naked and Noelle was a guy, this would be amazing gay porn. And with that tight shirt and pants Ryan was wearing, he practically was naked. HOT!
Nigel thought Ryan was a bit TOO strong, but I actually thought that Noelle probably danced it a bit TOO hard but I'd rather see that then not enough. Ryan was pure perfection. His dancing was perfect too! Seriously, his lines were smooth yet just angular enough for the style and he had the perfect tone down.
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Legacy Perez
Dance #1
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Garry Stewart
Song: "Poison" - The Prodigy
Grade: A
I don't really know what the choreo was but it looked hard and tiring and I thought Ashleigh and Legacy worked really well together. That Legacy armless headstand at the end was insane!
So much going on, and Legacy and Ashleigh did it all!
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Nathan Trasoras
Dance #1
Style: Broadway
Choreographed by: Spencer Liff
Song: "Choreography" - Danny Kaye
Grade: A
As the judges noted, this could have been a big problem for Nathan, but wow, I loved it and I loved Nathan and Kathryn here. As Adam said, Kathryn probably brought out some maturity in Nathan because he looks dapper and suave here and even his fake plastic style was perfect for the style (as Nigel mentions).
Always loved Kathryn and again, she's so smooth here, while Nathan finally shows us that early glimmer that initially caught our attention.
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Jakob Karr
Dance #1
Style: Quickstep
Choreographed by: Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin
Song: "Four Brothers" - Manhattan Transfer
Grade: A
Oh great, my favorite new pairing and they get the Quickstep?
Oh GREAT! They nail the quickstep! Jakob... is... just... WOOOONDERFUL.
And Ellenore, has this quirky elegance and manages to integrate it into the hoppy boppy movements of the Quickstep and makes it work!
I loved that they could even zoom into the feet and it looked pretty good. I don't the technical elements but it looked like they weren't messing up. Meanwhile, they still managed to throw that flair into the dance and make it look FUN!
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Russell Ferguson
Dance #1
Style: Lyrical Jazz
Choreographed by: Mandy Moore
Song: "It Must Have Been Love" - Roxette
Grade: A-
ROXETTE! I grew up on this song! I dreamed of Richard Gere coming to save me in a white limo.
Anyways, I thought Mollee and Russell strangely looked good together. I thought there might have been an overpowering element with Russell looming over prepubescent Mollee but they didn't. Russell worked down to Mollee's level and mellowed out to manage some great flowy movements.
And that catch was so smooth that I could forgive the slight fumble when he had to lower her in another section.
I still needed a bit more emotional connection between these two but they got all the moves down.
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Ryan Di Lello
Dance #2
Style: Smooth Waltz
Choreographed by: JT Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki
Song: "Jeux D'eau" - O - Cirque du Soleil soundtrack
Grade: A-
Weren't they just hard in the last dance? What a nice transition to the Smooth Waltz. I thought they did a lovely job and Noelle looked great and Ryan (and the chest that was about to bust out of that shirt) was strong but fluid.
Like Nigel said, it looked like the end of Disney movie.
Also, who is that choreographer? Hello Tomas!
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Legacy Perez
Dance #2
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Dave Scott
Song: "Slow Down" - Bobby Valentino
Grade: B+
Okay, so here's a perfect example of when I should really split the grade up for the choreography, and how they danced it. While I didn't hate the choreo as much as the judges and everyone else did, I could see that it seemed a bit "easy" and was a bit cheesy with the vampire story. I almost wanted to laugh at the end.
So it's telling that I thought Legacy and Ashleigh still sold it really well and that they managed to look as decent as they could through all the silliness. I thought Legacy had the perfect swagger to play his character while Ashleigh did a great job with what she was given.
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Nathan Trasoras
Dance #2
Style: Rumba
Choreographed by: Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin
Song: "Walk On By" - Aretha Franklin
Grade:B
The judges commented on the connection and passion here and I think a lot of that just has to do with Nathan's youth and the fact that he looked like a mime in that black costume. How can anybody be taken seriously wearing that? Nathan get's the moves down, but faking maturity here is a little harder.
I thought Kathryn looked pretty hot still and I think some more time with Nathan would have helped Nathan here.
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Jakob Karr
Dance #1
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Sonya Tayeh
Song: "Tore My Heart" - OONA and Dave Tweedie
Grade: A+
First of all, Ellenore and Jakob were the partnership I've been waiting for. Then Ellenore and Sonya was the dancer/choreo partnership I was waiting for. Okay, this is kind of a leg up for them over the other dancers, but what a perfect fitting!
Ellenore and Sonya were in their element and Jakob is such a great dancer that he was able to plug right into Sonya/Ellenore weirdness and it looked AMAZING.
The only problem? How can both these two dancers NOT WIN?
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Russell Ferguson
Dance #2
Style: Jive
Choreographed by: Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev
Song: "Land of 1000 Dances" - Jimmy Barnes
Grade: A-
I forgot that Mollee is so young here and thought that she did a great job here with Russell. Again, considering how opposite these two dancers original styles are, I think they someone make a great team together.
Plus, YAY Pasha and Anya!
Solos:
Mollee Gray
Song: "Rock The Beat" - L.M.*A.O.
Grade: B+
Those pants were NOT flattering. I still think her solo from 2 weeks ago was the best one yet. This one had some neat moves and power but felt a little scattered as well and those pants did NOT help.
Russell Ferguson
Song: "Outros" - Black Milk
Grade: A-
Scary! And those tricks? Way cool!
Noelle Marsh
Song: "Every Time It Rains" - Charlotte Martin
Grade: B+
Lovely contemporary solo, if sort of standard by now. Still, better than I thought she would do and now she just needs to take it to the next level.
Ryan Di Lello
Song: "Rock You Like A Hurricane" - Scorpions
Grade: B+
Ah, love the cheese and the chest!
Kathryn McCormick
Song: "Beautiful" - Bethany Dillon
Grade: B+
There were moments of brilliance in there and her dancing was fantastic, but she still needs a little work in putting a great solo together. But I think she will get better every week.
Nathan Trasoras
Song: "Golden Train" - Justin Nozuka
Grade: A+
Crap. That was AWESOME! First, for using Justin Nozuka again, and second for putting all that passion he has into it. Immature or not, that dance was very mature and very powerful.
Ellenore Scott
Song: "Beatbox Harmonica" - Yuri Lane
Grade: A+
YAY! My Ellenore is back! In all her weird and funky form!
Legacy Perez
Song: "No Air" - Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown
Grade: A+
I don't think I breathed during that solo. HOLY SH!T! Those tricks were SICK. And did you notice the movements actually seemed to coordinate perfectly to the beats in the song?
Ashleigh Di Lello
Song: "Batucada Por Favor" - Bob Azzam
Grade: A-
That was a lot of shaking and with the mid tempo change, it worked PERFECTLY and made it quite fun and sexy.
Jakob Karr
Song: "Always Midnight (Acoustic)" - Pat Monahan
Grade: A+
He's just. So. Beautiful.
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The Final Roundup:
Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ellenore and Jakob's Contemporary
Second Best Couples Routine of the Night: Kathryn and Nathan's Broadway
Third Best Couples Routine of the Night: Noelle and Ryan's Hip-Hop
Fourth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ashleigh and Legacy's Contemporary
Fifth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ellenore and Jakob's Quickstep
Sixth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Mollee and Russell's Jive
Seventh Best Couples Routine of the Night: Noelle and Ryan's Smooth Waltz
Best Male of the Night - Couples: Jakob Karr
Best Male of the Night - Solo: Nathan Trasoras
Second Best Male of the Night - Solo: Legacy Perez
Third Best Male of the Night - Solo: Jakob Karr
Best Male of the Night - Overall: Jakob Karr
Best Female of the Night - Couple: Ellenore Scott
Best Female of the Night - Solo: Ellenore Scott
Second Best Female of the Night - Solo: Ashleigh Di Lello
Third Best Female of the Night - Solo: Kathyrn McCormick
Best Female of the Night - Overall: Ellenore Scott
Worst of the Night - Couple: Kathryn and Nathan's Rumba by default
Worst Solo of the Night: Noelle Marsh by default
Predictions:
Lord, this is going to be hard.
Considering all 10 dancers were so strong tonight, I think most of the results will be determined from weeks past and not necessarily tonight since almost all the performances were so evenly good. I thought if anybody, only Nathan would be the only male option but he was outstanding tonight in his solo and Broadway and while I put his Rumba as the worst dance of the night, it was still pretty good. But it's gonna get close and I think fanbases will determine everything.
Bottom Four: Noelle, Ashleigh, Ryan, Russell
Should Go Home: Noelle and Russell (I guess? Can no one go home?)
Going Home: Noelle and Ryan?
At this point, this is how I rank all the dancers (#position from last week in parenthesis):
1. Jakob (1)
2. Ellenore (4)
3. Legacy (3)
4. Kathryn (2)
5. Nathan (10)
6. Ryan (5)
7. Ashleigh (6)
8. Russell (8)
9. Mollee (11)
10. Noelle (12)
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For more on my views of So You Think You Can Dance, Check out Tapeworthy !