TV: SYTYCD Top 9 Couples

My Tivo freaked out last night, so I missed two of the dances, but here follows the notes I have for the seven dances I did see:

1. Randi/Evan (Jive) – I thought they had good energy together and I liked it very much. I think the judges were too hard on Evan because they had such high expectations for him in this dance category (seeing as it’s so close to his Gene Kelly style).

2. Ade/Melissa (Jazz) – I thought it was a boring routine and that Sonia was this week’s Tyce (read: good choreographer giving bad routines to dancers). I was shocked by the judges kind words.

3. Caitlin/Jason (Hip Hop) – Jason is just so much fun to watch. He is pure energy. Remember Thayne’s goofy smiles when he danced last year? Jason is a smiler, but his don’t come across as fake, which Thayne’s most definitely did. As for Caitlin – was anything she did really considered “hip hop?” In any event, the routine was bad, but Jason did it very well.

4. Brandon/Janette (disco) – once again, I hate to make comparisons, but nothing will ever beat Neil and Sara’s disco routine from two seasons ago, which was just infectious and FUN (see clip below). This one was just too fast to be enjoyable.

5. Asuka/Vitolio (waltz) – this is where my Tivo cut out, so I missed this and
6. Max/Kayla (contemporary).

7. Jonathan/Karla (contemporary) – so it was a new choreographer and I was curious to see what she’d put out there for us. I think it helped that she picked one of my favorite songs right now (Falling Slowly from the movie “Once”) but fortunately it was still a good routine and turned out to be (IMO) the best of the night.

8. Philip/Janene (tango) – when Chbeeb is out of his element, he is REALLY out of his element. And tango is so far out of his element that the routine became boring. On the other hand – the clip package BEFORE the dance? Had me in tears laughing.

9. Ashley/Kupono (hip hop) – I had high hopes for them considering how much I unexpectedly loved them last week. I thought it was a decent routine that was danced very well. I was (once again) surprised by the dismay expressed by the judges. It was certainly better than the other Shane Sparks choreography earlier in the evening.

This is a tricky one. No one really stood out (will this season disappoint after such an amazing season last year??). I’ll say definitely in the bottom will be Max and Kayla just because the clip I saw at the end was horrendous. I’ll add Philip and Janene to the bottom as well – but Philip’s fan base may pull them out. And we’ll put Caitin/Jason down there as well – not because I felt they were bad, but they were in the bottom group last week and may not have generated enough goodwill last night in the followup.

Going home? Max and Kayla.