What a weird night of dancing. My opinions generally were the opposite of the judges – I was always surprised when they praised a mediocre routine and lambasted a decent one. Were they watching the same dances I watched?
Will and Jessica: First up was their Jive routine. I thought it had NO ENERGY whatsoever. None of that true “pop” that jive has. And I don’t know if it was because Jessica’s lack of self-esteem or the boring routine. Second was their lyrical jazz routine, which I thought was amazingly sexy. And it’s the first time I felt that Jessica had ANY confidence whatsoever. So when the judges were negative about it I was VERY surprised.
Thayne and Comfort: Now this is a much better partner for Thayne. Their first routine set to the “West Side Story” music was decent – not fantastic, but better than anything Thayne has done before. Their smooth waltz was AMAZING. I absolutely adored that routine and thought it had a lovely mood to it – the bird spin was lovely.
Matt and Kourtni: *sigh* I wish Matt could get Broadway because I think he’d nail it. As it is, the lyrical hip hop routine was a hot mess although the end sequence was very nicely done and perfectly in synch. And while the mambo they did lacked sizzle, I still couldn’t take my eyes off Matt. He’s such a marvelous dancer. He’s the Gene Kelly for our generation and sadly America just can’t see it or appreciate it. But I REALLY hope he makes it through tonight so I can see him on the tour.
Mark and Chelsie: I wanted to like their jazz routine, but I didn’t. And I was surprised by how much the judges gushed about it. Their technique was certainly spot on, but the routine itself was rather lackluster. Now, their foxtrot was fantastic. Mark had a couple bobbles wherein he looked like he was doing his contemporary dance moves, but they were brief enough that it didn’t detract in any way from the great choreography and excellent lines these two create when they dance.
Twitchington: I HATED the cape work in the paso doble, but the last half of the routine was fabulous. But again, the Mel C and Maks paso is still the best reality tv paso doble I’ve ever seen. As for the contemporary routine they did with the bed? Ugh. It was AWFUL! Just awful! There was VERY LITTLE dancing! My mouth dropped to the floor when the judges all ignored the fact that 1/2 of the routine was spent just writhing around on the mattress as opposed to actually dancing.
Joshua and Katee: This was another contemporary that had the strange judges’ reactions. They LIKED that? Sure, there were a few cool tricks in the routine, but it was still some pretty awful choreography. The last flip they did made me laugh though, because it’s the kind of flip I do to CootieBoy all the time. And don’t get me started on that West Coast Swing routine. Please, my 94 year old grandmother could have had more energy doing that lackluster routine. And it didn’t help that the music was an AWFUL choice. This was their first miss of the season.
Gev and Courtney: Now, the judges were harsh on Gev, but I thought he did a nice job. Courtney was fantastic and nailed it. The only reason why Gev looked “off” was because his hip hop style is much more smooth – he even said in the clip that west coast is completely different. So I’m sure he can’t help but switch to east coast smooth while doing ANY kind of hip hop. Their Broadway routine was just okay for me. [/Randy] I think Matt would have done a better job with it. I love “On The Town” and thought more could have been done (way too much pointing at the skyscrapers).
Bottom Three: Matt/Kourtni, Thayne/Comfort, Will and Jessica
Going home: Thayne and Jessica