What the… Hey!

SYTYCD for 8/3: Top 6 Perform August 4, 2011

This time around, there were three performances per contestant: with All Star, solo, and with another contestant.

All Star Performances

Melanie & tWitch (Hip Hop by Tabitha and Napoleon, danced to Roman’s Revenge by Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Wayne) Well, there had to be something that Melanie wasn’t great at; this was it.  The acrobatics were great, but the Hip Hop wasn’t.  She just didn’t hit hard enough, and her movement was too pulled in, not expressive enough. Still, the judges (including Lil C) gave her raves.

Sasha & Kent (Contemporary by Tyce DiOrio, danced to Fool of Me by Me’shell Ndegeocello) This was a hugely emotional performance, and Sasha hit all the high notes.  While I wasn’t particularly happy with the choreography, there was no denying that Sasha danced it superbly; she left the judges in tears.

Marko and Janette (Paso Doble by Dmitry Chaplin, danced to Zorongo (traditional) by Antonia Gomez, Eli “La Gambita”, Guillermo Basillisco, and Paco Pena)  I thought that Marko was too stiff. He was trying to express that machismo required for the Paso Doble, but didn’t achieve it. It was okay at best.

Tadd & Ellenore (Contemporary by Sonya Tayeh, danced to The Gulag Orkestar by Beirut) This was one of Sonya’s freaky dances, perfect for Ellenore, but Tadd had issues with it.  He never seemed to really commit to the performance and didn’t show enough emotion.

Ricky & Jamie (Contemporary by Dee Caspary, danced to Inside These Lines by Trent Dabbs) Those sticks confused me; they didn’t seem to serve any real purpose other than to distract the audience.  Once again, there seemed to be a lack of emotion by the contestant, Ricky this time.  This seemed more a collection of dance steps than an actual performance.

Caitlynn & Pasha (Samba by Dmitry Chaplin, danced to Drop it Low (District 7 Remix) by Kat DeLuna) I wanted a bit more hip from Caitlynn in the beginning, but she warmed up to it by the middle of the performance.  Overall, it was a great performance, with Caitlynn’s signature heat well represented. The judges had some comments about her facial expressions, but I didn’t notice it at all. I chalk it up to the required criticism of Caitlynn that’s been going on all season.

Solos

I’m not going to go into depth here, I’d expected them to be just more of the same that we’ve been seeing all along.  However, there were a couple of treats, one surprising:  First, Tadd was his usual best with a level of musicality that most of the other dancers didn’t come close to meeting.  Second was a huge surprise: Melanie did a marvelously choreographed solo that even beat out Tadd. It was so good that the judges were compelled to comment on it.

Contestant Partners

Sasha & Ricky (Waack by Kumari Surai, danced to Schoolin’ Life by Beyonce) This was interesting to watch, sort of the inverse of Contemporary dancing where the emphasis is on hand motion instead of leg oriented leaps and spins.  It was a fun dance, and both contestants handled it well.  There probably could have been an even higher challenge level to the dance, which would have stood the contestants in better position with the judges.

Melanie & Tadd (Broadway by Spencer Liff, danced to Love Story by Shirley Bassey) She’s back!  Melanie redeemed herself with this dance (as if her solo weren’t enough).  This was both an amazing story and dance at the same time. Both dancers brought a level of characterization and performance that should have been on the Broadway stage. It was easily my favorite performance of the night.

Caitlynn & Marko (Jazz by Sonya Tayeh, danced to Heavy in your Arms by Florence + The Machine) This was another explosive dance from Sonya. It was terrific to watch, both dancers were completely committed to the performance. The characterization was so different from what we’d seen either Caitlynn and Marko do that it made an even greater impression. It was right up there with Melanie & Tadd’s performance.

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As I said last week, this was probably Caitlynn’s swan song.  It would be a huge upset for either Sasha or Melanie to go home instead of Caitlynn. As good as Caitlynn is, and as good as she was this week, both Sasha and Melanie are just better dancers.

Regarding the guys, I have absolutely no idea who is going and who is staying, at least between Ricky and Tadd.  Both dancers had similar highs and lows in their performances, so it’ll come down to what the voters want: Ricky has the better classic technique and Tadd has the better characterization.