"SYTYCD" Season 7: Top 6 Performances

As we settled in for “So You Think You Can Dance” last night, we were pumped to watch the top six dancers perform. So you can only imagine our disappointment when we learned that yet another dancer has joined the list of “SYTYCD” casualties. Billy Bell, a DS favorite, injured his knee during rehearsals and opted to sit out this week. Maybe they should rename the show “Last Dancer Standing.” But seriously, Nigel, please stop killing the dancers—you’re breaking our hearts every week. Get well soon Alex, Ashley and Billy!

In case you missed the show, here’s quick recap of what we loved and what we loathed. Let’s just say we definitely had mixed feelings.

Loved:

•    Cat Deeley. When do we not love Cat? She looked AMAZING in her red chiffon dress and she’s so sweet and funny. She was definitely one of the best parts of last night’s show.

•    Hearing from the dancer’s parents. It was so sweet to hear how proud they are of their kids and how much they love them. Jose’s parents were especially endearing. We may or may not have shed a few tears.

•    Adéchiké and Comfort’s lyrical hip-hip routine by Tabitha and Napoleon. Now this is the Nappytabs choreography we live for! No one does lyrical hip hop like they do. I was pleasantly surprised by Adéchiké’s attention to detail and his emotional performance. It reminded us a lot of Chelsie and Mark’s “Bleeding Love” routine from Season 4.

•    Kent and Kathryn’s jazz piece by Sonya Tayeh. It’s so refreshing to see a true jazz routine. It was high energy, technical and extremely well danced. Kent and Kathryn had great chemistry and their combined energy made for an amazing pairing.

Loathed:

•    Guest judge Kenny Ortega’s comments. He never commented on the actual contestant. It was all about the all-star or the choreographer or how amazing the show is. Please, please just give me something about the dancer.

•    Robert and Lauren Gottleib’s “seductive” jazz piece by Tyce Diorio. We have to disagree with the judges on this one—the choreography was awful. It was so frantic and all over the place. It was supposed to be seductive, but the chemistry was not there. Was Robert licking Lauren’s leg supposed to be hot? We just thought it was gross!

•    Adéchiké and Jose’s Paso Doble by Dmitry Chaplin. Yikes! For the first time we were able to see Jose in a somewhat technical number, and it was scary. His port de bras was terrifying and his feet were even worse. While Adéchiké was technically much better, he needed more “abandonment.” As Kenny said, “It was a valiant effort.”

•    Kent and tWitch’s stepping routine by Chuck Maldonado. Okay, we’re thrilled stepping and Chuck Maldonado have finally made it to the show. We love you, Chuck! BUT, Kent was awful. The judges must have seen a completely different routine, because what we saw was not praiseworthy. The steps were sloppy, the stomps muffled and Kent never found his groove. Kent’s homework: Go home and watch Stomp the Yard.

Somewhere in the middle:

•    Lauren and tWitch’s hip-hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. Their musicality was great and Lauren really got down and dirty, but it wasn’t our favorite Nappytabs number. The choreography and transitions weren’t quite as smooth as we’re used to. We did have to laugh when Nigel said Lauren was “nasty buck.”

•    Jose and Allison’s contemporary routine by Sonya Tayeh. Okay, we get it, everyone wants to play to Jose’s strengths, but isn’t this competition all about being challenged? Mia said it perfectly when she said that Sonya gave them “pedestrian contemporary that comes from a human place” rather than a technical ballet-based piece. They expect a contemporary dancer to get “nasty buck,” but give the b-boy a watered down contemporary. No fair!

•    Lauren and Robert’s samba routine choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin. Let’s just say it was one big, hot mess! Lauren looked fabulous in her sassy little costume, and Robert is the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Their dancing, however, was a little over the top. They threw away a lot of their movement, and there were way too many sloppy slip-ups. Again, what routine were the judges watching?

Who’s going home tonight
? Will Billy fall victim to the same fate as Alex and Ashley?  Check back tomorrow for our recap of the results show!