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So You Think You Can DanceIt’s good and bad when you hit the top 10 portion of So You Think You Can Dance. It’s good because it means the dancing gets even better and because the all-stars arrive. It’s bad though because it means the season is almost done.

The top 10 kicked off solid this week as some of my favorite all-stars were on stage (yay Chehon!) and delivering some extraordinary dances (yay Chehon, again!). There were some flubs though. Disco bollywood was not enjoyable for me and the broadway number this week fell a little flat. Eliminations were also sad. I like Emilio and Bridget. I didn’t think they would win the show, but I was hoping for another couple weeks from them. It was even more disappointing that the vampire paso doble from last week somehow kept Zack and Jacque from going home.

It was tough to settle on a top three this week, but I’ve done it and here they are:

#1 (tie)  – Tanisha & All-Star Ryan – Argentine Tango – Choreographed by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo
and
Jacque and All-Star Chehon – Contemporary – Choreographed by Travis Wall:
Yes, another tie. I can’t figure out how to separate these two so they’ll share top billing this week.

Tanisha just keeps getting stronger and her pairing with Ryan this week sizzled from the moment the camera showed them on stage. Miriam and Leonardo can always be counted on for amazing choreography and this was no exception. The lifts (including a moment where she’s balanced on his neck) and all the intricate leg work make this one of the best Argentine Tangos the show has ever put on.

Jacque redeemed herself from last week’s paso with a sublime Travis Wall contemporary/ballet fusion danced with all-star Chehon (one of my all-time favorite SYTYCDera). Travis acknowledged in the rehearsal package that trying to fuse these styles could fail since it all had to look effortless, but it worked perfectly. The matching of this trio of artists created one of the most beautiful dances to ever grace the SYTYCD stage. Kudos to for SYTYCD‘s director who shot it with a single camera, which meant no cutting. The dance truly got to be showcased without any flashy media tricks, and that was wonderful.

#3 – Top 10 Group – Choreographed by Jamal Sims: What a burst of pounding energy to open the show with. The routine had a mix of styles and seemed to showcase each of the top 10 wonderfully. I absolutely loved all the intricate moves going on with everyone. I wish all the opening group numbers made you sit up and take notice like this one did. Loved the song too! “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj is already on my iPod.

More notes from this week:

  • It was even harder to say goodbye to Emilio after his rockin’ King Tut hip hop with All-Star Jasmine. So much intricacy there performed so well. It was a great number.
  • Rudy’s Cha Cha with All-Star Jenna was so good. Some of the judges dinged him for his mugging, but I thought his winks and grins were completely appropriate for this fun, high energy routine.
  • Ricky and Laruen were wow this week with a crazy jazz routine from Mandy Moore. Just look at this…
    sytycd11-rickey&lauren
    …and tell me this wasn’t spectacular. It was difficult not to have this in my top three for the week.
  • Jessica and Twitch were such a delight in the second NappyTabs number of the night. It says a lot when someone can keep up with Twtich, and Jessica did it.
  • Sonya Tayeh’s tribute to a friend was breathtaking. It gave Zack the opportunity to also get past that vampire shtick of last week. It was a beautiful, heartfelt piece.

In other SYTYCD news…the 2014-15 tour was announced this week. We’re trying to decide if we’re going to make the trip to Santa Rosa (about four hours south of home) to see the top 10. I’d be a blast to see them, especially Ricky, live.