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We freely admit to being not all that up on the world of dance. Even then, though, we've noticed that this show loves to compare dance routines to... well, strange things. Half of the time, the comparisons are tortured and border on the ridiculous. So what gems of the English language have been unleashed to describe this week's dances? Read on to find out.
So the show begins, once again, with the much-exaggerated intro and introduction of each and every one left. Really, isn't this intro getting old? Can't they do something else?
Anyway, Cat Deeley informs us that America will have some expert help this week... our judges. Considering that they actually kept Cedric in this thing, we have to wonder how much “expertise” they really have. Occupying the third seat beside Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe is dance legend Debbie Allen. We get quite a bit of talk between the judges and Cat. There's some shrieking from Mary, as expected. The “mute” button helps, we've found. And that's a suitably... distracting outfit Mary has on, too. It's a two hour show. They needed to do something to fill it out, right?
First pair up is Sara and Jesus. Before all that, though, it's time for the Cheesy Get-To-Know-You-Better Question of the Week. This time, it's: what are their ambitions besides dancing? Sara, it turns out, has a degree in public relations/journalism. She wants to go write about dancing. Jesus, meanwhile, wants to give back to kids. Good for him.
Last week they performed the strangest paso doble in the history of dance; this week they drew krumping. Time to break out the dictionary. Their choreography will come from Lil' C, one of the creators of krump. Okay. He describes it as unorthodox... which it definitely is. We still have no idea what krumping is about after the rehearsal clip is over.
On stage, it turns out to be reasonably okay. Our b-girl looks to be fairly in her element, and Jesus looks reasonable. High-energy, good crowd reaction A pretty good way to start the show in our book. Debbie likes it a lot as well, and thinks Jesus in particular did well. Mary has more good words, and Nigel makes it unanimous praise.
Next up is our “newest” couple, Shauna and Cedric. Of course, they both lost their partners last week, so they got paired up this week. This could be fun – if you like train wrecks. They'll be dancing to a Mia Michaels contemporary number. Yep, the train wreck factor is strong with this one.
Shauna, it turns out, has ambitions of being a techno singer. And she sings in the shower, and the car... let's hope her dancing is better than her singing probably is. Cedric, meanwhile, wants to own a toy company. According to Mia, this week's routine will be “a celebration of goodbyes”. Really, Mia, couldn't you have come up with a routine that hit a little less close to home?
It starts out in the audience, and Cedric still doesn't look all that comfortable in it. Bizarrely, the routine has him sitting down doing nothing right in center stage. Then again, that might be where he can do the least damage. It's a strange choreography, to be sure. But did we really expect anything else from Mia Michaels?
The same word could be used to describe the whole judging. Debbie likes it – she says Shauna is wonderful, and Cedric touched her. She also says that he's making it “cool” for other guys to do dance. A bit of a stretch, isn't it? Mary was unimpressed; she says they both danced their hearts out but it still wasn't as good as it should have been. She also thinks he let his partner down again, even if Mia's choreography was pretty good at hiding it. Mary's clear: she wants Cedric out of there ASAP.
This is where it gets... interesting. Cedric says the piece was a representation of his life, and the past three weeks in particular, and he'll learn and keep learning after his exit. Nigel agrees with both Debbie and Mary: he says Cedric is an inspiration, but the choreography was brilliant – for Cedric. He's having second-thoughts about whether they made the right call last week of keeping him. Cedric keeps saying he has to learn, that people have to take formal training... we get it. You're over your head. Debbie says the door is open for him to take classes at her dance school. Good. Can he take it up as soon as possible? And what is up with there being more talking than dancing? That's what it seemed to us.
Next up is Lacey and Kameron. In her case, a friend of hers died last week, just after the tapings. She wants to make people happy through dance. Kameron, meanwhile, just wants to pass on his love of dance to his family. Nice way to not answer the question. Tony Meredith returns to teach this pair the quick step.
As we all know by now, Kameron has no ballroom experience. To correct this, Tony brings out some strange contraption that's apparently supposed to help out. It looks like it's supposed to help stretch out the arms, or something like that. On stage, it works out pretty well. The chemistry is as good as any other pair, and you don't get the sense that either partner is carrying the other. Good energy and crowd reaction. Pretty good routine.
Debbie thinks it was fun to watch, and thinks the routine showed off their versatility. Mary is just as impressed, and Kameron gets particular praise for doing a good job for a contemporary dancer. Nigel makes it three for three. As Cat said: the torture device worked.
Anya and Danny are next. Her ambition is to set up an animal shelter, since she grew up with a lot of pets. Danny wants a career as a star – either behind or in front of the camera. Last week they did very well, earning a five-star scream from Mary (toned down a bit for the replay, thankfully). This time around, they'll be doing hip hop, with the routine coming from Dan Karaty. They seem to be doing well in rehearsal, but we'll have to see how they really do.
Unfortunately, the routine itself is... underwhelming. No real highlights, and it didn't have the entertaining/fun feel the others had. It's hard to say whether it's something they did wrong, or the choreography itself was bad. For a pair completely out of their comfort zone, it's not too bad.
Debbie, however, disagrees. She thinks they're the “dream team”, and loves the choreography as well. Mary thinks they were sensational together, and says Dan did a great job. Nigel disagrees with the others. He says they didn't look comfortable, and says he still wants them to improve.
Sabra and Dominic follow this. Dominic's ambition is... either what he's doing right now, or spinning naked. Uh-huh. I see. Sabra, apparently, wants to be a stand-up comic, and she thinks she's pretty funny. We'll see. They'll be doing the rumba this week. Neither one isn't sure what it is, or even how it's pronounced. A rumba... isn't that a robotic vacuum cleaner? Oh, that's, a roomba. Right.
Jean-Marc Generaux describes the dance as being a passionate one. The rehearsals don't seem do be all that smooth, and Sabra falls twice. Hmm... is there a pattern we're seeing here? One thing for sure, the routine is a hot one. Or maybe Sabra's outfit had something to do with it. They're using a Pussycat Dolls song for this, and it works. It's another good routine – chemistry was excellent, the moves were good.
Debbie likes it – saying it was so hot, they should call the fire department. She thinks that being a b-boy actually helped Dominic out a fair bit. Mary says it's a remarkable partnership, and says Sabra looks effortless. She also says Dominic was there for her partner – Cedric, are you listening? She also unleashes a loud, prolonged shriek. We feel sorry for Nigel already. Nigel agrees, and points out that Dominic keeps growing every week.
We're down to the last three couples. Next up is Lauren and Neil. Lauren, apparently, has wishes to become an astronomer. Uhm, you can't exactly pick that up so suddenly. Neil just wants to be famous, either as a singer or actor. Let it not be said that this pair lacks ambition. Even if what they want isn't particularly attainable.
Jean-Marc Genereaux is back to do the choreography for the pair, who'll be tackling the tango. The routine is described as a cat-and-mouse one. Jean-Marc really knows how to describe things, doesn't he? They're having a fair amount of fun in rehearsal, and that's a good sign. Hopefully.
Things don't quite turn out that well. Both are quite competent dancers in their own right, but the chemistry is not just there. There's a feel of two soloists doing their own thing at the same time, not a real couple. Well, it did turn out to be a cat and mouse routine. And not in a good way.
Debbie seems to be the nicest judge in the world, and even for a routine so underwhelming she manages to hand out some praise, but it's not nearly as much as everyone else got. Mary isn't all that impressed, but we can't really understand exactly why. Nigel thinks it was good, but he thinks Neil overdanced it. He then points out that all the guys dance like... guys. That would seem to be a given, but apparently not.
Hok and Jamie are next, doing a jazz number by Wade Robson. Hok is apparently a creative fellow, and he seems to be a nifty painter. Meanwhile, Jamie is a writing type. Not exactly the types who you'd expect to end up in dance, do you?
Wade can come up with some strange routines, and this one isn't much different. The comparison, this time, is to a hummingbird and a flower. He sets the mood by putting in a few candles in the rehearsal studio – which is kind of useless with the big windows letting in the sun, you'd think. This should be interesting.
How exactly this was a jazz number, we have no idea. Nevertheless, it is a very good one. Anything we write to describe it won't do. Suffice to say, however, it was pretty good. A little odd, but that's hardly unusual. And the flower-and-hummingbird comparison did actually mean something. Good chemistry, superb moves – not much to criticize here.
Debbie loved it. She thinks Wade put together a brilliant choreography, and they both executed it very well. Mary thinks it was unusual and intriguing, but in a good way. Nigel's reaction is probably closest to ours: he had no idea what it was, but was wowed by it as it went on. He thinks it's a routine that will be remembered for a long time, in fact.
Last up is Pasha and Jessi. Pasha's ambitions have to do with family: he hasn't been able to see them in a few years. Jessi compares herself to Judy Garland and Julie Andrews, a “triple threat”. Ambitious, much? This week, it's cha-cha time.
The choreography will come from Tony Meredith. It's a Latin dance, so Pasha should be in familiar territory. The rehearsals look to be going well. Unfortunately, there's an interesting development. Jessi found herself in the hospital. What exactly for, we're not told. All we're told is that she had a hard time breathing and felt weak. What is it with Fox reality shows and people getting sick? First Hell's Kitchen, now this? Stepping into Jessi's shoes will be Melanie, Tony Meredith's “assistant”. There's an understatement.
Obviously, the chemistry isn't quite there, but Pasha does an admirable job overall. It's obviously a giant what-if, but crap happens. Was it a good routine? No, but considering everything he was against it was a good routine.
Our guest judge Debbie likes it, saying he didn't miss a beat. She gets in a rather cheap shot on Melanie in. Way to go, Debbie! *rolleyes* Mary likes it, accentuating it with another shriek. As she says, he was “hot, hot, hot”.
Nigel takes the time to clarify the situation with Jessi. She's still in the hospital, and if Pasha ends up in the bottom three he'll be dancing for his life. (That phrase is rapidly becoming a useless cliché. It's not dancing for your life unless there's a bunch of hungry lions backstage.) Whatever happens, she'll be doing that too tomorrow, if she can dance at all. Oh, and Nigel liked it, too.
So that's it for our third week of performances. AJane will take care of the results show. We'll see you next two weeks from now, when we find out if Shauna will actually have a new partner, or if the albatross around her neck named Cedric will still be around.
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Originally Posted by Leo;2457401; 
Great job as usual, Leo. 
Great recap, Leo!
