"Step It Up & Dance" (1.03): The Taking It To the Streets Recaplet

And then there were three: After last week's dismissal of James for not being "manly enough", the competition is down to three gay dancers.

This week's theme was hip-hop and "street battles" (aka, "things Snicks has no interest in"). They introduced choreographer Dave Scott, who then made a big ta-doo about introducing ... the star ... of Step Up 2:The Streets ... none other than ... ROBERT HOFFMAN! 

... (sound of crickets playing in Snicks's head).

Now, if he had introduced the star of Breakin', Lucinda Dickey, or the star of Body Rock, "Oz" Alvarez, then i would have been excited. Robert Hoffman is introduced to lots of "ooohs" and "ahhhs", but to me, he danced like Jamie Kennedy in Kickin' It Old Skool. A couple of the dancers, like Jannelle and pretty boy Cody, were naturals for this kind of dancing, but most of the dancers had a tough time of it, including one of our gays. So lets' see how our guys did.

Yes, this IS a scene from Step It Up & Dance

Okay, we can't talk about Michael without mentioning the gay porn elephant in the room (and if you've seen the pics, you know how fitting that statement is). In my first recaplet, i mentioned that he reminded me of a gay porn star, and like many a reality show contestant before him, it turned out to be true. But hey, a guy's gotta eat, right? And besides, at least his past wasn't discovered while he was hitting other guys with giant Q-tips.

Mike was in his element this week, and danced better than he ever has on the show (and once again, Miguel's cattiness and jealousy about him showed up.) He ended up in the top two, and narrowly missed being voted best of the night (that honor went to Jannelle again). In my first recaplet, I said I didn't think he'd be around that long, but he's improved with each show, and I think he now has a legitimate shot to get to the finals. (And if it doesn't happen he can always get work as a tripod.)

See how our other two gay dancers fared after the break!

Oscar won last week's competition, and thus received immunity from being eliminated from this week's show. He needed it. Things did not bode well when he was chosen last for the dance teams (even behind basket case Jessica). I cringed for him when this happened, because it brought back awful memories of being in junior high, and being chosen last for kickball ... behind a mildly retarded kid, and a girl in a wheelchair. He took it in stride, though, and did his best (which with this kind of dance, was pretty horrible). This was probably the worst style of dancing to suit his talents, so it's for the best it happened the week he had immunity.

Miguel wasn't nearly as annoying this week; I think he's still reeling over the dismissal of James on the last show. He was on the same team as Oscar and Nick, and succinctly described the three of them as "an eccentric Mexican gay man", "an off the wall Italian diva", and "an all-American hick character". Like Mike, Miguel was in his element, and had no real problems sailing through the competition this week (although I am getting mighty tired of judge Nancy reminding him to "butch it up").

So, our three guys survived to the next round, but I do have some tragic news. My favorite dancer (and the show's resident basket case), Jessica, is gone. I knew she was in deep trouble when the only hip hop move she could do was "the worm", and I realized with horror that I could probably do it just as well as she did.

That's it for this week's show. Come back next week to see if our guys survive again, and make sure you tune in to John and Colin's Suck It Up & Dance! vlog for their own hilarious take on the show.