So You Think You Can Dance Top 8

I didn’t watch live last night because I was watching The Shining (for the first time!) with a friend. And I think I made the right decision. ;) Nice that Nigel at least offhandedly mentioned how important it is which choroegrapher each couple gets. I mean, we’re supposed to vote for our favorite dancer, but if everyone else is like me, then a lot of that comes down to what was my favorite routine. Which depends as much on the style and choreographer as on the dancers.

Video and commentary after the jump.

Sara and Danny
Argentine Tango

Little bit of tango, little bit of Broadway, I like it! Come on, Adam, Sara’s a perfect match with everybody, because she’s awesome. Her gimmick coming into the competition may have been being a b-girl, but she’s so entirely more than that that there’s almost no point anymore in thinking of her as a b-girl. She’s just a great dancer. And Danny has completely brought me around. His rehearsal clips are more engaging than ever, and I’m totally on his side now.

Lauren and Dominic
krump

Heh, “this routine is going to separate the elite from the mediocre.” Since Lauren and Dominic were each within one spot of getting kicked off last week, I’m not sure that bodes well for them. ;) On the other hand, Dominic is a b-boy, and Lauren has been strong in hip-hop routines in the past. Dominic was great, which wasn’t terribly surprising. Lauren didn’t seem quite in the pocket, though. Hee! I think I’m going to start calling 50 Cent “25 pence.” Honestly, 50 Cent embodies pretty much everything I hate about rap/hip-hop music.

Lacey and Neil
Latin jazz

Ooh, Shirtless!Neil. I think I prefer Shirtless!Danny, though. Overall, nice, but a little unsteady on some of the more grounded moves. I like Adam’s criticism – Lacey connects with the audience great, but she could connect with her partner more; and Neil overacts. Ouch, critical judges! I think that’s really the first time that they’ve criticized Lacey at all. They’re doing contemporary next, though, which is Neil’s style and which Lacey has done very well with before. Will they get Mia?

Sabra and Pasha
Broadway

Oh, no, they got the quickstep for their second dance! It hasn’t been quite the kiss of death that it was last year, and hopefully Pasha’s partnering skills will help, but man. But Broadway first. The quickstep is scary in general, but Broadway scares me for Pasha. Broadway requires a looseness that Russians don’t come by naturally. Hey, he managed pretty well. He got in character, was into it; maybe a bit stiff at moments, but it mostly worked. I was too worried about him to watch Sabra that closely, but when I was watching her, she was incredible. As usual. ;) I’ll have to rewatch for her. Okay, but was it really worth a Mary!scream?

Sara and Danny
hip-hop

Hey, I just noticed they aren’t doing solos at all. Were they not planning to, or did they get bad feedback on last week’s and decided to cut them out? Hmmm. Anyway. Yay, Sara gets to do hip-hop! I’m concerned about Danny and hip-hop, though. *fingers crossed* Hee. Not bad, but I must admit, my eyes went to Sara far more than to Danny. Can she just win it now? Lacey was my early favorite, and I still like her, but it’s all about Sara now. I do see what Nigel is saying about not being there together–they weren’t always, but Sara was doing it *right*.

Lauren and Dominic
rumba

Didn’t I hate the last rumba? I think I did. I think it was Dominic dancing it, too. Yeah, I remembered it being really slow and contained, which I thought was boring. It was a litle less boring this time, probably because I was expecting it to be slow. Also I think I liked the song better. Which is really superficial, but hey. And dude, he actually kissed her at the end! That’s really getting into character. ;) Yeah, that was hot. Also, what Adam said, re: the posing instead of dancing. I have no idea what a rumba is supposed to look like, because both this one and the earlier one focused more on posing than dancing. Nigel, thank you for saying you’re going to make the choreographers do the actual dances next week. I like when they put a bit of extra flavor in the choreography (because I certainly don’t want SYTYCD to look like ice dancing’s now-thankfully-retired compulsory figures), but I’d like to know that I’m seeing something like what the dance is supposed to be.

Lacey and Neil
contemporary

They DO get Mia! Woot! So Neil is Lacey’s dad? Hmm. So no Shirtless!Neil, I’m guessing. That was beautiful. Absolutely lovely. The thing is, what could you say bad about it, since it’s obviously so personal? Good thing they probably won’t have to, because the emotional content was so perfect, and supported so well by their effortlessness. My throat is catching a bit. And we have to go from that to a quickstep? Ugh. I don’t wanna.

Sabra and Pasha
quickstep

But it’s Pasha and it’s Sabra, so I guess I will. And that was awesome! I think the quickstep has lost its quality of doom; at least, no one can claim anymore than their quickstep sucked because the quickstep is impossible. I loved the twenties feel (although I was afraid they were going to start doing the Charleston instead for a second), and the movement was great.

Best Tonight (individually): Sara, Sabra, Pasha
Best Tonight (routine): Lacey/Neil’s contemporary, Sabra and Pasha’s quickstep
Going Home: Lauren and…either Dominic or Neil; probably Dominic

Results

Lauren should be in the bottom, but Sara shouldn’t. If Sara goes home, I’ll be seriously upset. Seriously. Upset. I might swear off the show. For, like, a whole week.

Danny’s safe! AWESOME! That means Neil’s in danger, and I pretty much agree. And PASHA’S SAFE! I love Dom, too, but I’m sorry, I love Danny and Pasha more. Wow, I just realized we’re about to be down to three and three. That’s…not very many. *sniff* I’m not ready for the show to be over and to have to wait another whole year for it to be on again!

NO!!! SARA BEAT OUT LAUREN??!! I’M SORRY I MAY HAVE TO USE CAPS LOCK FOR A MINUTE HERE. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. SHE HAS SHOWN MORE ADAPTABILITY TO MORE DIFFERENT STYLES THAN ANYONE ELSE. I SHOULD HAVE WATCHED AND VOTED LAST NIGHT INSTEAD OF WATCHING THE SHINING. Not that that probably would have made a difference.

I was prepared for Dominic’s leaving, but LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE TOTALLY HAD ME PULLING FOR SARA FOR THE WIN AND I AM SO UPSET. You know, this is about the point last year that all my favorites (Natalie, Allison) started getting voted off. Hmph. I’m sorry for all the capslock, guys. It’s compensation for the swearing that I’m not doing. I seriously cannot comprehend this.