Aaaaaaaaand Billy Bell is back IN! After getting spanked for not dancing on the results show, that is. Seems that he was better on Thursday and said he wanted to wait it out. Good for him, I say. Gave America a chance to drool over some other dancers for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Billy Bell fan. It’s just…whatever–what happened last night you ask?

The top six performed again on SYTYCD, after the judges made a never before made decision to NOT cut anyone last week because they couldn’t make up their frackin minds. I don’t blame them, really, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking: “how much longer does Casanova Jose have? I mean really?”

Cat looked luscious in a drape-y python print number, much better than last week. Good work, kitty! This week the contestants get to talk and reveal secrets they now know about each other–which I find intriguing.

First up is little Kent, who has a Jean-Marc and France Cha Cha Cha with lovely Anya. His second Cha Cha! And I have to say, all face-pulling aside, the kid is an amazing dancer. Lots of head popping, though. And looks like a little slip in the lift near the end. The camera angle was wide, though, I could be mistaken. But a pretty exciting dance with a great song choice. Mia spanks Kent again for his face–which he still really needs to work on. He defends himself a little (guts, babe), but he agrees that he needs to change it.

Next on the floor is Robert, who drew a Contemporary with sweetie Kathryn and choreographer Stacey Tookey. I absolutely loved the very first movement of this piece with Kathryn’s leg coming up over the army bag (crazy extension) and Robert coming up behind her. Very tender and desperate. Very well danced by both and the story and emotion was right there for us to see. Robert is a super strong partner and this piece really showcased that. Did LOVE the twist at the end that it’s HER going off to war and not him. Great moment. Nigel praises Robert for his growth and maturity and I would have to heartily agree with him. He’s fab and definitely my second fave to win this season.

And then Mia went further with Robert to say this delicious item that pretty much all dancers should listen to: “Allow your emotions and the reality of what you feel be the catalyst of your movement. Allow that to let you begin to move from there. And then it won’t look like you’re dancing steps to then try to conform and speak through steps, you’re speaking through your soul. And then your steps are secondary. And that will take it even to another level.” Thank you, Miss Mia for that lovely Mia Michaels Dance Quote, that’s why I heart ya.

Jose’s solo is the first of the night, and here’s what his fellow competitors have to say about him:

• clueless in the cutest way (this is Lauren’s comment)
• he’s a fighter and like my brother
• smooth, explosive and kind hearted
• the most focused and determined person
• he’s like a wise tortoise

Pretty interesting. Safe to say they like him a lot. There’s that personality again. His solo is good and I love the music, but it’s so much more about his personality than his dancing now. I feel like his solos are exactly the same. Maybe that’s my unfamiliarity with break dancing but…

AdeChike picked a Tyce DiOrio Jazz routine with Courtney and Tyce says it’s the nightclub up in Spanish Harlem. Yummy! Dizzy Gillespie is the music, so here we go! This is fun and super well dance with a ton of sparks flying between the two. I think this some of Tyce’s finest Jazz choreography. I feel like I’m watching an early 60′s B movie with fantastic music and hot , out of control dancing where everyone wears shades and is possibly toking in the back room (you know those movies). And they looked like they had a ball. AdeChike is my babe, and his note from Nigel was to just let go. Have abandon and not make it look like moves. It’s a good note from him, because it’s what will give him the edge to win.

Lauren’s solo is next and here’s what her peers had to say about her:

• she’s the only girl
• she’s crazy, hyper, loving
• she has two bunny slippers she’s named Joshua and Leviticus
• she’s the baby sister, everyone wants to look after her
• she’s a ball of energy, hyperactive

Looks like Lauren is definitely the baby of the bunch that everyone wants to take care of. That’s good for the only girl in a group of guys. She does her “Natural Woman” dance, which is a great choice after all the things that were said about her. I love her when she dances to Aretha, she becomes part of the music and part of Aretha’s voice. Lovely.

Jose very luckily pulls a Hip Hop with Comfort choreographed by Marty Kudelka and Dana Wilson. From the video before you can see that Jose and Comfort have a great chase game kind of dynamic which should be great for the piece. They use “Try a Little Tenderness” by the great Otis Redding which goes right to my soul. Hip Hop to Otis? Love it more than words can say. Their costumes are just awesome, straight out of the late 60s old school, you think they just left a blues club and are ready to hook up or get a ride home. This is a great new spin on Hip Hop that is so refreshing. Low on tricks, high on story and charisma. I really loved this piece. As usual Jose loves and wants the girl, and his tone with her is very much the spirit of the dance. He does get smacked for the flappiness of his arms by Nigel, Mia thought there was no swag in him and Adam said dance from the intention of the piece (meaning Jose changed it). Ouch.

Now here’s what everyone says about Mr. Billy:

• he’s messy, leaves clothing all over the place
• he’s helpful and willing to lend a hand
• he’s focused but can crack a joke
• he’s loud
• he is a crazy, sarcastic, outgoing, nutjob

Hmmmm…interesting. I would have not thought all that of him. But then I see his solo and I get that extra layer of him with those comments. Can’t quite explain it, but there it is.

Now we get to hear what’s been said bout Kent:

• he is the cutest little competitive farmboy
• silly and oblivious
• kind, generous and a great person to have around
• (Billy has to think of something nice to say)
• he’s a cool kid and a ladies man
• he’s a baby brother to me

He dances solo to “A Song For You” covered by Eliott Yamin, which I didn’t know he did. Very nice and the best since the original done by Donnie Hathaway. No face pulling here for Kent. This is a damn good solo. It just kinda goes to show how a dancer can really fully connect with a piece of music. Really, really good, I was moved.

Lauren draws a Broadway number by Tyce with All-Star Allison. Yea! A two gal piece, been waiting for this. And Lauren needs to really pull it all out, Allison is really the queen of Broadway. Lauren is great here, but I just can’t take my eyes off Allison, she’s really got the Broadway style and feeling down and gives it all. Fun piece, but not my fave of the evening. Judges gush over her, they love it. Nigel thinks she’ll be in the finale.

**Side note: has anyone noticed that Mia is much, much harder on the guys than on the girls? Not that Lauren ever deserved a beating, but I’ve never heard Mia say one negative thing about her. Agree? Disagree? Let me know!**

Now here we go, listen to what the contestants had to say about Robert:

• the songbird of our generation
• always singing and surprisingly well
• arrogant sideburns (what?)
• the class clown of the group
• goofy

Now, class clown is way different than a crazy nutjob and it makes me like Robert even more. His solo is great once again, he really knows how to channel the music and express it. Well done.

Billy gets to dance this week with Ade to a Stacey Tookey Contemporary. Yea, I love Ade! This is the story of a homeless man and a high-powered business man. And then they realize they are old friends. I’m very interested. This was an outstanding piece and I really loved it. The moment when they realized they knew each other could have been longer, but their discovery of each other and the emotions and frustration and anger that came out of them after the moment of discovery were really wonderful. There are far more girl and boy in love routines than something like this, which is another thing that makes it so special. Nigel notes that he’s glad they made their non-decision last week and kept him. I agree.

What does everyone say about AdeChike?

• a man of many names (Cheeky is one)
• Mr. personality, best friends with everyone
• ladies man
• flirtatious, loves to compliment the ladies
• a magician, puts a spell on the ladies

So AdeChike is the lady killer. Cheeky does his solo in jeans and I am wondering how do dancers dance like that in JEANS? Will someone tell me, please? Because I sure as heck can’t do lateral splits in my Gap 1969 jeans.

Next Jose draws Kent to do a Spencer Liff Broadway dance where the two of them are girl watching. Jose claims Kent has no game but is jealous of how he can simply turn his head and the girls scream. Very cute. And the piece is very cute as well, no doubt. I love this 50s style Donald O’Connor/Gene Kelly stuff. I can’t keep from looking at Jose, but for all the wrong reasons. Kent kills this piece and Jose, while his personality is completely present, dances the entire thing like a break dancer, which is not really what the piece calls for. All of Jose’s jumps were very compact, with his legs very close and bent towards his body, instead of length and air underneath them. And oddly enough, I am harder on Jose than Mia is this time around. Kent is named a contender for the title.

Lauren draws AdeChike to do a Foxtrot by Jean-Marc and France. Is this the first Foxtrot of the season? Will it be the kiss of death? We’ll see. It’s a sexy Foxtrot to “Fever” covered by Beyonce, so it’s not the normal dance. Definitely not your normal Foxtrot, but it just didn’t light my fire as much. I liked the last few moments though. I think the judges were right in that it wasn’t danced like a ballroom dance and so it just didn’t go right.

Robert picks Billy and they get a Bollywood dance choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajaan (love that name). This is Indian fused with western dance and the story is two actors vying for the same role in a Bollywood movie. The music is from “Bombay Dreams”, which I am excited to hear. They have to dance in sync in throughout nearly the whole dance and they are not always exactly together which is a little distracting. The two are super cute together and really attack the moves and this is a super challenging and endurance-testing dance form which they do really well. And apparently Robert is a big, cheesy hamburger. I will concur.

Hamburgers and Pizza aside, it’s not hard to deduce who will be going home tonight. Well, one at least. And I will be sorry to see him go. Who will be the second? Who? Who? ;o)

Yes, there have been a LOT of upsets on Season 7 of SYTYCD. Two of the best dancers are gone, and not because of lack of votes. My first pick for early choice to win is gone. The best female dancer on the show is gone. What NEXT? Billy Bell sidelined with a knee injury? Oh, what’s that? Billy’s injured? Oh.

Gorgeous, wonderful, teddy bear Kenny Ortega is a guest judge tonight which is really amazing and a great treat for us. Sa-weeeet!

Does anyone know what Cat Deely is wearing tonight? My husband said it looked like her original dress had static cling and picked up a red scarf. He has a point.

First up: Last girl standing Lauren and all-star Twitch with a Hip Hop routine. I’ll give this to Lauren she is one powerful dancer. She’s got muscles and she’s not afraid to use them. She works this dance within an inch of it’s life. What about that rollover she did–twice? What? Cool. Not my favorite NappyTabs number, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Judge’s love it and her. Nigel noted that Twitch looked like he’d been “ridden hard and put away wet.” Ooh, baby.

Jose is next with all-star Allison for a contemporary number with Sonya Tayeh. A sad, breakup contemporary number, which will be interesting to see Jose in, since he’s super good at loving the girl. And Allison says she melts when she’s around him. Hmmmm… The dance starts on the edge of the stage which is awesome, we’ve not seen that for a while. Jose really got nailed bad last week for his dancing and I’m not certain that he pulls it out here, either. He’s very into the acting and the moments with Allison, though, to his credit. But then again, there is not much dancing for him to do here. The piece is mostly acting. Very quaint and sweet. The judges have trouble critiquing it, as his performance was great but his dancing didn’t seem to shine because of what she gave him to do.

Robert is paired with Lauren for a Tyce DiOrio Jazz routine. The boys are fawning (or is that foaming) over Lauren and her juicy booty. Sexy dance indeed for the two of them, along with sexy music from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult…although I am left a bit unimpressed with the entire thing. It was good, though, don’t get me wrong. I just wasn’t blown away. Mia noted that it was refreshing to see just a strait jazz piece with no story. The choreography was good, but I do miss story (that’s my thang and all). Judges loved it and Robert.

Little Kent is matched with Kathryn for another Sonya Tayeh number, but jazz this time. Hopefully Kent can contain his love for the audience this time. I love this piece from the music to the costumes, to the great choreography. The chemistry is there between them, but is more like sister and brother rather than romantic. But it works for them because the both of them are so sweet. This is just tons of fun. And the song, “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae is just first rate music, I’m checking into her right now. Mia gets on his case for making the choreography “juvenile” with his facial expression. I really see her point, but it seemed to work in this piece. The other judges love him.

AdeChike gets to do a NappyTabs Hip Hop with Comfort next. This one is a bit more serious than the cowboy one, so it should be interesting. Not to mention she really smacked the hell out of him in the rehearsal (did you see the slowmo?). Lyrical Hip Hop? We’ll see. Oooh, props on the stage! Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’” lends itself so wonderfully to hip hop, yet is not the usual driving music. I liked it. I think that it needed a bit more of the softer side of the love to match the violence, but it was very good, especially Ade, he really was moved by the scenario, you could totally tell. It was very raw and real, and very cinematic, as the judges said. Nicely done by AdeChike!

Lauren and Robert are the first contestants to be paired together for the night, and get to do a Dmitry Chaplin Samba, set at a beach party. Lauren’s butt is a lethal weapon, ya’ll. I’ve never seen a behind cocked up and rolled so much. Pretty amazing stuff. She shot me with her butt. This was a non-traditional samba, pretty cool, though. I love Dmitry. They did a great job, very clean, precise and lots of shaking and rolls. Robert really looked like a ballroom dancer, wow!

AdeChike and Jose get to do a…Paso Doble together? Two guys, very interesting concept. Will Dmitry and the boys be able to pull it off with the concept of them fighting over the girl? I think the Paso is the most challenging dance anyone will ever do on the show for so many reasons. It is unfortunately clear who the more technically accomplished and undoubtedly better dancer is here, folks. It is kinda unfair to pair Jose with AdeChike. But on the whole, it was not so bad, they were both committed to the piece and had connection.

The last contestant pairing is Kent and Billy. Will Billy bring Kent down to earth or will Kent send billy up into the stratosphere? We’ll never know, will we? Nor will we ever get to see Billy do Step. And I’m disappointed, because for two contemporary/ballet boys to do straight rhythmic movement would be something to see. Twitch gets to do the routine with him which is fine, but defeats the purpose of having two ballet boys do it. I much prefer stepping with a large crowd of men, I think it resonates better and has more power. But I think it’s great we get to see a new style on the show, one that doesn’t get much air time on national TV (Tahitian dancing, Russian dancing, what’s next?) Not my favorite thing, but done pretty well. The judges gush over it and that’s…okay. Mia says Kent is the one to beat. Mia, love ya, but we’re not on the same page.

The standout solo of the night is the only one I’m going to comment on and that’s AdeChike’s solo to the infamous “Women’s Work” covered by Maxwell. This was an absolutely superb solo, and I could not take my eyes off him. I was a little nervous for him using the song that was already “done” two season’s ago with Tyce’s cancer piece, but no. He ripped his heart out and left it on the stage. Perfection. Ade is officially my new front runner and favorite dancer on the show. Can I get an amen?

That’s all for this week, it’s whittling down to the best of the best. Who will go home tomorrow night? Let’s hope it’s due to votes and not an injury. Cross your fingers, people.

Ok, this is a true testament to the fact that I have been completely OUT of it with all our travel, the wedding and moving into our new house. I didn’t realize that Mary Murphy and her famous Hot Tamale Train have been quietly absent from the judging panel this season on So You Think You Can Dance. Even more amazing that I don’t miss her that much.

It is unfortunate that the show loses it’s only ballroom expert judge (and of course we just lost the last ballroom contestant last week). Since they are having ballroom consistently on the show, they really should have a ballroom expert on the panel. Now it has been said by producer Nigel Lithgoe that Mary will possibly be returning sporadically as a guest judge and a guest choreographer. I’d actually like to see her choreography.

But what is possibly even worse than losing the ballroom judge is the fact that Miss Mia Michaels, who I was so gleeful at returning to the American SYTYCD after “retiring” last season, is actually the permanent replacement for Mary on the judging panel. Not only does this mean that we gain a super critical judge on the panel (and don’t get me wrong, I love Mia, she’s just a tough judge), we will NOT be getting any Mia Michaels choreography on the show. Buh-mer. Big.

This is yet another change on the show that I am a little disillusioned with. In contrast, I am liking the “all-stars” bit with dancers returning (although we have yet to see Russell Ferguson who we were promised), and they have also toned down the horrid gigantamous stage a bit by not projecting anything on the back screen, but just keeping colored lights back there. But this is one change that does NOT make me happy.

And ya’ll want to keep the Dancemomma happy, don’t ya? FOX? Hello? Anyone?

Well hello, once again! I thank you all for being so patient with me, we are fully in our beautiful new home and getting settled. Now that we have our UVerse cable installed (love it), I won’t be missing ANY more episodes of this season’s SYTYCD (whew)!

I’m so behind I don’t even know who was eliminated last week. Oh, Cristina. Sorry, doll, I liked you.

First up is AdeChike with Lauren doing a nerdy hip-hop. Very hip, cute and fun. And what’s THIS? Sexy nerds–right up my alley. Hip-hop with a gigantic measure of personality and hot chemistry mixed right in. A perfect recipe in my estimation. I wanna get up and move myself, I am enjoying this so much. Judges luh-huv it. A good sign for AdeChike, as it seems that he has finally “shown up” to the party. This is a great piece from choreographer Dave Scott, must get a mention in for him.

Next is Ashley and Ade doing a piece from newcomer Dee Caspary. The piece is very fast and flowy and has a lot of power. It seems to have all the right elements, but I still feel it’s missing something. Like it’s too fast the whole way through. There is a short pause, but for me it’s not enough give and take in the dynamics. Dee was true to his word, she does practically no movement without help from Ade. I watch it again just to be sure that I’m not missing something, and it still bugs me a little. Masterfully danced by the both of them, but possibly just too rough and tumble for my tastes and hard to digest visually. Judges love it, now I feel bad. Oh well. Purple breezes and glasses of scotch.

And oh, it’s been so long I forgot–SOLOS! Billy’s up first with amazing purple stretch jeans, amazing flexibility and a love to just get it all out there. Well done.

Robert is up next (wow, what a story with his mom, huh?) dancing a Sonya Tayeh jazz number with all-star Courtney. Sonya’s goal is to show America how wrong they were to put him in the bottom last week. These two are in great synch with each other; when they do the moment where they jete together, it’s perfectly in time. I don’t quite get the ferocity from Robert that Sonya really wanted from him, but they looked really go together. His main note is to study ballet. I take this moment to note that they actually don’t ever dance ballet on this show. Hmmm. Not exciting enough? What about traditional Russian dancing. Was THAT exciting enough? Just sayin’, is all.

Jose’s solo is up and he uses one of my fave super soul classics, James Brown’s “Super Bad”. And it’s the original, no sampling here. You go, Jose. He’s a cutie and his solo rocked.

Tapper Melinda’s inspiration is old time hoofer Dr. Harold Cromer whom she has studied with for a few years. It’s really fun to see a youngling studying with a true seasoned pro. She’s got to show her sexy side with a Salsa by Fabian Sanchez and with Pasha. Right out of the box she’s got the hotness, but her heel gets stuck in her dress and even though she has to get it out, she doesn’t miss a beat. Love the stuff on the floor. Ok, this is hot stuff and super super good. She’s really enjoying her self and who wouldn’t dancing with the Pash?? But wow, she gets crushed by the judges. What am I missing here? Plus, Adam Shankman and Mia Michaels both say that she should have been let go last week instead of Cristina. This really frustrates me and I’m going to move on now.

Kent has is solo next. He’s a super cute ball of energy, but it’s too much reaching out and up for me in the solo.

Alex comes out of the gate with his sheer perfection solo to music from Planet of the Apes (odd, but so right) and I have to rewind it twice. Love this guy, because not only has he got the chops that can’t stop, he has the emotion there and ready to go when its needed. Sigh.

Next Lauren and Neil are up with an Joey Bowling Broadway number, and I’m looking forward to this. Broadway always needs a huge amount of chemistry, a lot of back and forth between the couple and they had it, just not in spades. Mia points out that as an athletic dancer, Lauren needs more femininity, and I would agree with her. Just a little more sauciness. And yes, the dress broke, but then we’re just watching the dress and not her. I enjoyed the dance, though, Joey gives good Broadway.

Ashley gets her solo next, and I don’t quite get her first count of 8 because she barely moves. But then she’s gone and all over the stage. Powerful, but I don’t get her as a dancer in this infinitely short amount of time. Right about now is when I say that I think they should get rid of solos all together and just keep the dance for your life. It is really tough to find just the right combination of elements to please everyone yet show off the best of your abilities in 20 seconds. Give em a break.

Interestingly enough, Billy Bell’s inspiration is Legacy from season 6. Wow, that is actually super cool that a dancer who moves like Billy was inspired by a breaker who moves like Legacy. Neato. Billy and Katherine do a contemporay by Stacey Tookey. This piece is a great balance of dance and emotion through dance and connection–which they had the most of at the end moment, as Nigel pointed out. Katherine was there for him 100% of the time (damn she’s really good) and he didn’t quite match her with being there in the moment. Technique, check. Emotion,

Robert’s solo is next to Ray Lamontange, who I adore. His solo hit me in a good place (where would that be you ask), and I just was able to sit back, watch and enjoy. He’s really gorgeous to watch dance like that alone. Ahhh.

Jose’s influence was Bruce Lee, and this is not the first time I’ve heard a breaker talk about Bruce as an influence. It has been said that Bruce’s fighting style was the basis for the creation of break dancing. Jose gets to do a Samba with Anya (and Dmitry Chaplin, welcome back), and here we go. Right away he looks like a solid partner with the catch off the table. The arms aren’t quite there but he’s pretty darn good for a B-Boy doing frickin’ samba. And he loved dancing with pretty Anya. I actually couldn’t take my eyes off him. The judges echo my sentiments. Whew, I’m not completely crazy, huh.

Melinda does her tapping to Alicia Keys and I’m really not sure what the judges were talking about her musicality. Sounds perfectly fine here to me. I liked it.

Kent gets to tackle a jazz piece by Mandy Moore with Allison. Kent’s lesson is to be a MAN. While he held is own with Allison in the choreography, there was no sizzle between the two of them. Allison is such a hottie tottie and and she was right there for him, but he wouldn’t bite (to her, that’s to say; he loved to play to the audience). And the song is Heartburn for gawd sakes! Burn, baby burn!

AdeChike supposedly raised the roof with the dance for his life last week and I’m looking forward to this solo. Strength, power and beauty. That coupled with gentleness is what gives this guy his swag.

Lauren. Here is a gal who knows how to pack everything needed into a 20 second solo. Technique, passion, leaps, new stuff, emotion, audience connection, connection to the song, restraint. Pure satisfaction.

Alex’s NappyTabs hip-hop number with Twitch is probably the most anticipated tonight, since guys are rarely put together at this stage of the show. And I have to sincerely say, this is THE MOST enjoyable number of the entire show for me, I’m practically yelling at the screen “yeah!” at the top of my lungs. Excellent work done by Alex, I would have never known that he had no experience with hip-hop. He had the moves down, and was perfectly in synch with Twitch, and great chemistry with him to boot. The whole concept was a home run with the song “Outa Your Mind”, the story with the shrink/patient, the NappyTabs moves, throwing in Alex’s ballet, on and on and on. Amazing. Alex has sealed himself as my early front-runner favorite on the show. Early prediction, he could win it!

Whew! That was a whirlwind. Who will be in the bottom and who will be safe? We’ll find out tomorrow!

I’m still not certain how the new format for season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance is going to sit with me. All I know is, I had a frickin’ BLAST watching the introduction show, where all the dancers are showcased with their respective “all-stars”. No pressure this time around, no cutting this week, it’s all fun and hard work and lots of sparkling. The only thing I will say about cutting 20 down to 11 is that 9 new dancers lost out on the chance to be on the show. But we won’t get less dancing, so I guess I am satisfied.

The show stared off with a gigantic, explosive bang with a Wade (thank you gawd) Robson dance: Teaparty and Croquet anyone? Only Wade can turn something stuffy into a hawt, cutting edge dance. On grass. To “Fame” by David Bowie. I watched it three times in a row. Love. It. Let’s treat ourselves again, shall we?

This is most likely the last chance that we will get to see the Top 11 dance without (or nearly) a care with phone numbers or judges’ thoughts. And a dancer who dances with the knowledge that nothing negative will be said about their performance on prime-time TV is something special to see, ya’ll. Free expression and excitement on a level that is causing me to salivate in my Venti Iced Green Tea with 1PCL.

Let’s get going. First up is Lauren and Kent, dancing a Travis Wall number with all-stars Mark and Kathryn. How do you even describe this? The costumes are complicated and rock with parasols and cravats–and don’t upstage the dancers. Fierceness and grandness with fire in their eyes. Travis tells us it’s set in the 20′s in Paris and about the dark and twisted souls who come out at night, celebrating the fall of an empire. Totally got it. And Mr. Wall is now my favorite new choreographer for this season. I have my stand-bys with Wade and Mia, but am looking forward to much more Travis.

Alexie (finally made it!!) and Melinda are up next doing a Tyce DiOrio jazz number with all-stars Allison and Lauren. Ooo, and it’s a Sweet Charity number. A little predictable for four girls (or West Side Story), but he girls are pure pleasure to watch, and the song is so character driven how could they not get that much into it? The only thing I miss is the live singing (but that would be a different show). LOVE the dresses. The red one shouldered one on Allison is my favorite. Love that Cat wants to come up and pose with them on the stage. And even though I thought there would be no negative notes, Nigel felt the need for the critique for Melinda, shame.

Jose, the lone B-Boy in the top 11 is next doing a TappyTabs number with Comfort, Twitch and Dominic. What a crew. I love the beginning, bedcuase it’s Jose vs. the three all-stars, like they want him out, and it also makes it easy for him to dance solo. Sweet booty shake by Comfort! And OH what a move putting the feet inside the hoodie and doing a backwards somersault to reveal his shirt–he’s part of the group, ya’ll. Very cool, high, energy, great  stunts. Fresh NappyTabs, baby.

Did I just hear the words Jason Gilkison? Oh yes, I did, and it’s coming up for all-stars Pasha and Anya and newbie ballroom hottie Cristina. Two girls, one guy and a big competition. Amazing lift and flip of Anya over Pasha’s shoulder. Jason does it again with an incredibly hot ballroom number that breaks the mold. I’m getting chills. You get that they BOTH really want the guy and are fighting for him. Loved that they stretched out the ending and the girls led him on then pushed him to the floor. Go girls. (and another critique again, Nigel? Ugh.)

Celebrated returnees Alex and Billy are next dancing a Mia Michaels piece with Ade (love him). Mia gets to talk about the piece beforehand, and speaks about time and the journey of life for a man, from childhood to the infirm age. Billy is the boy, Alex is the man and Ade is the elder. Beautiful lines, amazing extension and a huge amount of emotion laced right in. “This Bitter Earth” plays and these three men dance their lives out on stage, this is a truly gorgeous piece and not overdone in any way, IMO. Storytelling at it’s best. Thanks, Mia.

Adechike, Ashley and Robert are the last three doing a Sonya Tayeh number with all-stars Neil and Courtney. The costumes leave a bit to be desired, but I love the combination of a little hip hop and classic jazz moves. Sony a knows how to do that best. Just plain fun. And I love Sonya because she loves dancers and loves making them give all they have.

Next week the competition stars for REAL. I hope my nails can grow a little more!  I’ll be there watching.

Didja love it, didja hate it? The stage is still the infernal new stage, but no video projections. What do you think? Let me know!

Finals night came in the blink of an eye on Dancing With the Stars last night. In fact, I was in the middle of a rousing rendition of “Ring My Bell” from the Wii game Just Dance with my family (we’re at a reunion) when I panicked and realized I was missing the show (DVR, I love you).

For the finals this year the stars need to perform an unprecedented FOUR dances (two on Monday, two on Tuesday). Tonight they must do a Redemption Dance, where they will attempt to redeem themselves for a dance the judges say they should have done better on, and the infamous Freestyle, who everyone says locks in the trophy.

SO! Were they redeemed or not? Let’s see…

First is Erin and Maks, and they must attempt to redeem themselves on the Samba. Ooh, tough one for the judges to pick for them. Bruno stops in to help her with her hip action, which (along with your arm work) is really the most important thing in the Samba (oh, along with the Par-Tay!). Bruno likes what he begins to see: “Look at the ass! So much better!”

As they begin the dance, Erin and Maks button UP Maks’ shirt. Very cute. Erin’s dress is fabulous, love the red flutters and her necklace. They did very well, but I feel this was not as earth-shaking as it needed to be. Improvement, yes, fantastic, no. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-9 (which will turn out for me to be the most surprising score of the night).

Evan and Anna is next. They get help from the Great Len Goodman for their Viennese Waltz, which they did all the way back in week one. Chemistry is what is needed here for the two of them here. Evan needs to put more focus and love on Anna, rather than thinking and going to the next move (yeah, Olympian).

Anna choreographed a really, really lovely intro for this Viennese Waltz (her dress is fab), and they kept the connection the entire time when not in hold. Truly lovely. Probably the best Viennese Waltz I’ve ever seen on DWTS. Great work and absolute redemption. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-9

Nicole and Derek have Carrie Ann come in and help out with their Rumba. When they did it the first time, Nicole’s nerves got the bes of her and it was probably her worst meltdown (among quite a few). Carrie Ann really pushes her to take the meltdown and convert it into vulnerability (so use it before rather than after). Really let go and show she’s more than a pretty face and a dancing machine.

Their Rumba is sensitive and beautiful. Nicole is vulnerable and connected to Derek, and Derek himself is more connected to any partner than I’ve ever seen. The choreography is solid and that hold at the end is new and very interesting (she wraps her leg around him and holds herself up, whew). They are completely redeemed here. Carrie Ann’s lift police rant is absolutely necessary here, and I wish she would have just shut up. Judges’ Score: 9-9-10

Freestyle: POP! or fizzzle…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is the most highly anticipated dance of the entire season, and somehow it is always a disappointment. Either the couples go crazy and do stuff that is just “not them”, or they play it safe and do stuff that they would normally do (like a pop star does hip-hop). What will happen for season 10?

For the first time ever, there is a Contemporary/Lyrical freestyle on DWTS. WHAT?? Erin has decided to do something different, and more of what she would do (she had years of ballet and jazz). They even call the lovely Ms. Mandy Moore (woo hoo) in to help out with the choreography. This is unprecedented (there’s that word again, she keeps on using it), and I am anticipating the performance highly.

I expected to love it, but I just…didn’t. And I’m really sorry I didn’t. Erin took a real risk with this and really showed what she wanted to do. I suppose it just looked too odd to me on the ballroom floor, and I felt that contemporary should just stay over on the Fox So You Think You Can Dance set. Plus, there was a bed AND a sofa. Too much, even for a contemporary piece. Off the mark for me personally. However, this dance gave us the best Tom Bergeron moment of the entire season: “In ten seasons, ‘It’s not the bed I rehearsed on’ is the my favorite excuse ever!” Judges’ Scores: 9-8-9

We see Evan and Anna butt heads for the first time this seaon, over the steps for their freestyle. Evan wants to take more chances, and Anna wants to stick to what they do best. They both really want to win, you can tell. Things smooth out when they bring in a choreographer in to help out and be the go-between.

Their freestyle is a prom theme from “Footloose” (this made me think what a great freestyle the prom scene from “Grease” would make). Lots of fun and a huge crowd please. They looked like they had a great time. Technically speaking (except for the impossible lift at the end) that the choreography was a little light, but still super fun. The judges, however, were uniformly disappointed. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8 Boo.

What, oh what will Nicole bring? Her Pussycat Doll card or something new? I adore their sparkle-y tux outfits with the chartreuse shoes and ties. Really popped. They chose “Little Less Conversation” by Elvis (love it) for their song and they just brought it ALL. This was super-fantastic and absolutely perfect (with a slight hesitation on the lift at the end). Clearly the Winner of the Freestyle Round, and Len hit it right on the nose: He saw all different styles of ballroom dance used together in a new and inventive way. Now THAT’S a freestyle! Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

So in a surprise on the leaderboard, Erin and Nicole are tied for first with 55 out of 60 points. Evan is second with 52 out of 60 points. The stars and their partners will do their third and fourth dances on the Results show. What will they do? My money is on one dance will be the stars pick and the other will be the judges’ pick. We’ll see. It’s shaping up to be an exciting and very interesting show Tuesday night. My early pick for the winner? Nicole Scherzinger. And she would deserve it. Tune in tonight!

BTW, Spoiler Alert for Season 11: Hugo “Hurley” Reyes wins!!! (thanks to Jimmy Kimmel’s Aloha to LOST show, which helped stop my tears over watching the final episode ;o)

Hallelujahhhhhh!! Miss Mia Michaels will be back for season 7 of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Exciting, exciting news in a week where big announcements about the show have me a little crestfallen.

So along with Mia’s luscious, tasty, emotional gorgeous choreography, we get others returning to the SYTYCD floor. These are two of the dance “All Stars” that will be partnering with the season 7 top 10:

The All Star for Popping/Locking, Krumping, Breakdancing, etc. is tWitch Boss from Season 4!

The All Star for Jazz, Contemporary, Broadway and Cultural is Kathryn McCormick from Season 6!

Producer and Judge Nigel Lythgoe will continue tweeting these All-Stars announcements through the next week or so. In fact, he asked for suggestions from fans on who should return. If you want to put in your two cents, poke him through Twitter: http://twitter.com/dizzyfeet.

More later folks!

In a follow-up to my post about big changes on So You Think You Can Dance, producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe held his press conference via phone yesterday.

Here’s the big change:

The reason that there will not be a top 20, only a top 10 is that the top 10 contestants will be paired with dancers from past seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. WHOA! WHAT?

I am so conflicted on how to think about this. On one hand, I love the pairings, the camraderie, the melding of two personalities into one duo. And I also love seeing so many dancers and their individualities as they develop and bloom into even better dancers and artists. On the other hand, the show would no longer be So You Think You Can Dance. It would morph into So You Think You Can Dance With the Stars (stars being the past pro dancers who now have celebrity status).

I do love the past contestants, It would be really cool to see them again after they have been out “in the real world” for some time. What have they been doing? Have they increased their skills? Are they as personable as before (or limp dishrags)?

A change this big can only signal one thing in my mind: the show is having troubles with ratings. This will most certainly boost it. But for how long? I don’t know if I like the change, I will have to experience it in season 7. But I sincerely HOPE that it WORKS. I want to keep dance on national television, so that it can continue to influence us–give us that injection of aesthetics, art and creation that this world needs so desperately.

Nigel, you’re playing your hand–will So You Think You Can Dance win? I hope so.

Looks like there are changes in store for the next season of So You Think You Can Dance–I at least hope that it’s a change back to the OLD STAGE ;o)

Judge and Producer Nigel Lythgoe has been tweeeeeting away about “shocking changes” for his show, and they include a shift back to rotating judges (I always liked new blood on the panel each week), only one person eliminated per week, different partners for the dancers every week with the dance styles being chosen for them and the last is the kicker. NO TOP 20.

I don’t know about shocking, but they are certainly big changes. Like I said about the judges, I did like a new choreographer coming in every week (even if they were just from their pool of choreographers). It changed up the predictability of what might be said. The only one person being eliminated per week is most likely tied to the no top 20 item. Might they only choose a top 10? Hmmm, but that makes no sense–when they have odd numbers one person will have to dance with two people (intriguing, though).

I agree with the change that the dancers will no longer be “choosing” their dance styles out of a hat. Even though it will take the randomness of drawing traditional Russian dancing out (that was an odd one), it will give the dancers more likelyhood that they will be given a dance that they look great in. Hence, better ratings.

But…then…where will the real competition be? Nigel Lythgoe has given me much to ponder. I believe he’s holding a press conference today on the changes, so I will return with more news!

It’s kinda a bummer that a bunch of So You Think You Can Dance videos got taken down. I realize that Fox owns the show, so they get to do what they wish with them. Oh well.

This one from my favorites list is still standing, however, so I get to write about it. I swear, Cat Deely and the Judges couldn’t say “cheeky” enough while talking about this dance. From season 5, Evan and Randi performing a Mia Michaels contemporary to “Koop Island Blues”.

This is a decidedly lighter side of Mia, and I love that as much as her darker side. I’ve always adored mismatched couples, and that’s exactly what you see the first moment in the dance, especially with Randi wearing those stilletto platforms (those come off eventually) and towering a half a foot over Evan. You can just see this slightly dorky guy who can’t believe his luck to get this curvy, sexy bubbly girl on his arm. And of course, the focus of his admiration happens to be her behind.

Mia uses clever and cute choreography to illustrate this admiration and tongue-in-cheek”iness” abounds.