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NOELLE & RUSSELL - I thought the idea behind this dance was just silly. I can't imagine a hip-hop piece about TENNIS that I would ever like, so I have a hard time blaming the dancers. Also, hip-hop has become such a broad style that it is crucial that the dancers are in the same world. Noelle was doing cheerleader hip-hop, while Russell was more street. Both are valid as hip-hop, but it was jarring seeing them together. Russell probably executed better than Noelle, but none of it was very exciting to me…

ASHLEIGH & JAKOB - I was very disappointed with this piece. If the story is that it is meant to be a couple's wedding dance, I expect to see romance. I got none. I expect to see passion. I got none. I expect to see connection. I got none. I think that Jakob is a lot like Danny in that he is a brilliant technician, but ultimately is a cold and insular dancer. I may be impressed, but yet remained completely unmoved by his dancing. Ashleigh disappeared for me, but I don't know if that is her fault, or if it is merely a by-product of her trying to connect with a partner who wasn't there for her EMOTIONALLY, even if he was there physically.

BIANCA & VICTOR - While I agree with most of what the judges said, I was at least more entertained by this piece than by the two that preceded it. Still, I think there were a number of technical problems the judges probably should have mentioned. Victor really needs to watch his center. He was bent at the waist and didn't compensate, and as a result, he often looked off-balance and ungainly. Also, because BOTH of them spent a good deal of the dance bent at the waist but the angles weren't the same, it made them look unmatched and out of synch. My favorite part was the last part where they would normally freeze in a pose. It seemed like they stopped doing choreography and were just free-styling. They needed to bring that feeling to the rest of the dance. If they had, the niggling technical issues wouldn't have mattered.

MOLLEE & NATHAN - My love affair with Bollywood on this show continues. Nathan was just flat out extraordinary. His control and his precision are so effortless that it is a joy to watch. Mollee needs to clean it up a bit and work on her precision, but what she lacked in that area, she made up for with her joyful personality. This wasn't as "wow" to me as Joshua and Katee, but I think a lot of that had to do with the newness of the style, as well as the fact that J&K did a more traditional Indian style. Nigel was right to point out the blend of East and West in this piece, but in a way, I liked how that blending of styles made use of the dancers' (mostly Nathan's) talents. My least favorite thing about this dance was that thing (henna tattoo?) around Mollee's belly button. It just looked distasteful…

CHANNING & PHILIP - At the very beginning, I was pleasantly surprised, particularly with Philip, but the wheels came off the bus QUICKLY. My God, were those lifts hard to watch, but it wasn't just that. The dancing in between, even the simplest things, were too stiff and completely lacking in joy from Philip (despite the plastered-on smile). Channing seemed to move better, but she is not very feminine and definitely not very sexy, so I don't think that Latin ballroom is a good style for her, even if she manages the steps…

KAREN & KEVIN - These two were my least favorite couple last week, but they are at the top (so far) this week. I thought that was a very, very good routine. Karen is smart in that she didn't focus on the choreography, but rather nailed the character and the ATTITUDE. That is not to say that she failed to hit the choreography, but merely that she wasn't (and consequently we weren't) thinking about it. Instead, it was just this hot, sexy creature having her way. Kevin was fine. He delivered in exactly the way he needed to in order to support his star partner. That's a good thing. I think Karen could get cast in a half dozen hip-hop videos tomorrow if she chose…

KATHRYN & LEGACY - I'm really unclear about what the judges were going on about with regard to Legacy's great growth, here. What struck me was how much the choreography was designed to allow him to dance like a B-boy within a contemporary framework. That's not his fault and he executed it beautifully, but I thought it was a bit of a cheat. I want to see the dancers be forced to show versatility, and this wasn't all that versatile for me. To Mary, who talked about Legacy growing more than anybody in previous seasons, I'd like to point out that both Ivan and Dominic danced contemporary routines in week two of their seasons, and had some of their best performances. And they were REALLY dancing in a contemporary style, not using a hip-hop vocabulary of movement. Kathryn, I thought, was exquisite and expressive, and between last week and this week, she has LEAPT up in my estimation among the women in this competition. Despite my quibbles about the judging, I thought that this piece had great choreography and great execution of that choreography.

PAULINE & PETER - In the very best Wade Robson routines, my favorite thing is how the dancers completely disappear as they transform themselves into their characters (or, frequently, into creatures that are not even human). That didn't happen, here. I think they danced it pretty well, but I continued to see Pauline and Peter rather than the interesting characters Wade's mind created. To me, Peter was more successful than Pauline, if only because he is naturally more charismatic. She needs to push much harder than him just to draw the eye. Nigel is right in his criticism of Peter's shoulders, but for this piece, I didn't mind it. Peter's shoulders were probably the "quirkiest" part of either of their performances…

ELLENORE & RYAN - I think it's a great tribute to how good a job Ellenore did that I didn't even notice the wardrobe malfunction until at least 2/3 of the way through. Looking back, I saw that her heel got caught almost at the top, but I wasn't noticing it until they zoomed in for the footwork. Why? Because Ellenore sold it with her face and her body and her movement. The dance was very much designed (as it should be) to showcase the woman, so Ryan didn't stand out to me. Perhaps if there was more light and we could see his face more, it would have helped. He partnered her very ably, so I guess that's all I should be asking of him. I have one question, though: Mary said that this wasn't Ryan's style, as he is a Latin dancer. What the hell is the Argentine Tango, then, if not Latin ballroom?!


Pairs Rankings:

1. KEVIN & KAREN
2. LEGACY & KATHRYN
3. NATHAN & MOLLEE
4. RYAN & ELLENORE
5. PETER & PAULINE
6. VICTOR & BIANCA (they get bumped up a notch or two for not being boring)
7. JAKOB & ASHLEIGH
8. RUSSELL & NOELLE
9. PHILIP & CHANNING


Without having watched the rest of the show, yet, I'd say that bottom 4 should be Philip & Jakob with Philip going home, and Noelle and Channing with Channing going home. I expect three of the four will be in the bottom, but they won't put Jakob there…

Oh, well. I got two out of four. I thought that MAYBE they'd give Bianca and Victor a little credit for being so damn good last week... I loved both of the contempo solos, and didn't like either of the tap solos, so I'm pretty pleased with the results, given the bottom four. Especially since I think Noelle was there for bad CHOREOGRAPHY, not bad dancing. On the other hand, I would have been happier had Channing been in the bottom and gone home. I don't get what they see in her in any of the three performances we've seen…

One last thing - out of four eliminees, three have been black and the fourth was Asian. Is this just color-blind eliminations or something more sinister? I can't decide…