So You Think You Can Recap... Top 14 Dancers

Hey guys. Since we ran that Travis Wall interview just this week and he wound up on the So You Think You Can Dance judging panel immediately after, I figure that gives me an excuse to share some thoughts on last night's performance show. If you're a fan of the series please let us know in the comments.

Am I the only SYTYCD watcher who thought last night's installment felt a bit off kilter? It wasn't Carmen Electra. I thought she was perfectly serviceable as a guest. And it wasn't Travis's first stab at judging either. He seemed a little nervous at first, but I rather liked the technical advice he gave to the dancers. I hope he shows up regularly as a judge.

No, I think the discordant vibe came from an almost entire slate of new choreographers. What, are all the regulars on strike or something?

I feel like it might have been a better approach to rotate in the occasional single new choreographer rather than present us with three new guys all in one week. Honestly, of the three only one of them felt like a possible "be back."

And of the two veteran choreographers participating this week: Mandy Moore and Toni Redpath - only Moore contributed a solid number. The judges gushed over it, but on a stronger night it might not have seemed that remarkable.

Honestly, the most beautiful and intricately detailed thing on last night's show? Cat Deeley's dress. Okay, I also liked Travis' burgundy velvet jacket. So plush!

Best Performance of the Night

The judges gave a standing ovation to Mitchell and Caitlin for Mandy's contemporary number. It even brought Mary Murphy to tears. It certainly was energetic, and you felt the dancers really threw themselves into it. But I guess I was turned off a bit by the music selection: some bombastic Celine Dion standard. They might as well have been dancing to "My Heart Will Go On."

I actually preferred Ryan and Ricky's weird zombie number choreographed by new guy Charles "Chucky" Klapow. I loved the music (David Bowie's "Fashion). Also, the costumes were cool and Ryan and Ricky were uncannily synchronized throughout.

Worst Performance of the Night

Oh Gosh, there were several to choose from. For the most part I really hated the music selections, and I guess that colored my impressions. It occurs to me that a big part of Travis' success as a choreographer is his reliably stellar choice of music. Last night's selections ran from the hackneyed (Celine Dion) to the strident and unpleasant.

Music aside, if I had to pick a worst performance it would be Sasha and Alexander's limp hip hop routine. Nigel called it Hip Hop 101. He was right. It was dreadful. Weirdly, even while getting ripped by the judges, Sasha just grinned and mugged throughout the critique.

Based on that performance, Sasha and Alexander will definitely be in the bottom 3 and probably deserve to go home. But I'm thinking only one of them will.

Nigelisms

What I find so infuriating sometimes about Mr. Lythgoe is he's like the masculinity police or something. He cannot resist lecturing/shaming any male contestant who acts in any way less than traditionally hetero. There were two instances of this last night.

The first was directed at Marko, who shared in his interview that he once worked on a cruise ship in a drag act. "I wasn't the drag queen" he assured, "but in order to try out they made you dress up as a woman." Then they showed a picture of Marko in drag. Not surprisingly, he was really pretty. (That guy is adorable in drag or out).

I absolutely loved that Marko felt comfortable enough in himself to share that. But I instantly thought: "Hmm, what will Nigel have to say about it?" And sure enough, Nigel cocked his head sideways and asked, "You say you weren't a drag queen and yet you showed us a picture of you in a dress. What is that?"

Cat Deeley sprang to the rescue with, "He only wore it once. He didn't inhale!" (Brief aside, but I truly love that woman. If it were up to me she would be the host of everything: American Idol, The Tonight Show, all televised awards shows, the local Olive Garden, you name it.)

The second instance of Nigel playing masculinity beat cop came when Travis gushed over dancer Caitlin. Says Travis, "If someone would've told me back in Vegas that you would've grown so much on this show I would've said "Guuurl, you crazy!'"

That prompted Nigel to cut in with "I would've said it, and if someone had said to me 'Girl you crazy,' I'd have gone mad!"

Aargh. I guess after that little slap on the wrist Travis won't be saying "Girl, you crazy" on the judging panel again.

Predictions

I'm thinking the bottom three couples tonight will be:

Sasha and Alexander (for sure)
Jordan & Tadd (I love these two, but that American waltz number was a snooze.)
Ashley and Chris

Who's actually going home? That's tough because the show has recently received criticism for sending home paired couples each week. I suspect they will want to shake things up by eliminating members of different couples.

My guess: Alexander and Ashley go home, leaving Sasha and Chris as a new pair.

Do you agree or disagree? What did you think of last night's show?