Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The Top 8 Perform!!

The guest judge for this week is Adam Shankman (director of Hairspray) joining us for a second time.

The contestants will once again be randomly paired up, but tonight they will perform two routines.

First up are Danny and Sara. They have Argentine Tango and Hip Hop. They start off with their Argentine Tango choreographed by Alex Da Silva. Very sexy routine. Sara was great and did you check out that twist move through Danny’s arm. Danny’s technique is exquisite and when he moves it like he is floating or spinning on ice when he does his pirouettes.

Dominic and Lauren are up next. They got Krump and Rumba. They are Krumpin’ first doing a Lil’ C routine. This should be a good one and for the most part I liked it. However they were out of synch at times. It felt more like a hip hop routine than Krump, but good job. Not the best we’ve seen.

Lacey and Neil got Latin Jazz and Contemporary. First they are doing their Latin Jazz routine choreographed by Maria Torres. I don’t know about the Crunch folks. It seems a little scary to me. You definitely have to have faith in your partner. I really liked the choreography. I wasn’t sure what to expect in a Latin Jazz routine. I really liked the music and that style of dance. I totally agree with Adam’s comments about Lacey needing to connect with her partners more. She focuses on the audience and that takes away from the connection with her partner and fully giving herself to the piece. The judges really tore into them and what they brought (or didn’t) bring to the routine. Will Neil’s bare chest get them enough votes? Not sure.

The final first round routine is with Sabra and Pasha. Can I just say that I love watching Sabra dance. She is my favorite girl hands down. They picked Broadway and the Quick Step. Their first routine is a Broadway choreographed by Tyce Diorio. That was a fun routine. And they got a Mary Murphy scream. Great reviews from all the judges and kudos to Tyce on his choreography. Nigel feels that they both deserve to be around next week.

Now its time for the second round of performances. First up are Danny and Sara with a Shane Sparks Hip Hop routine. Can Danny pull this off? Hip Hop is not his forte. This will be a cake walk for Sara. How did they do? Ok. That didn’t work for me at all. I don’t know if it was the choreography but the performances were not at the level that I thought they should have been. Danny looked a mess and was too worried about his little hat. Adam liked it but Mary called it like I saw it. If this were to be the first time that we saw them, I wouldn’t vote for them. This may affect them with the voting.

Lauren and Dominic are up next with a Tony Meredith Rumba. This is a sexy routine so they have to connect and show the chemistry. Bill Withers should help them out. How about that smooch at the end? I thought they did a really good job. They had the chemistry that was missing in Lacey and Neil’s routine. I can’t comment on whether it was a good Rumba, but according to Mary it was a different Rumba and they performed what Tony choreographed. They needed more hip action in their movements.

Next up is Lacey and Neil with a Mia Michael’s contemporary routine. A “Reunion in Heaven” with Mia and her dad. This will be a special one and as brilliant as her other pieces. That was absolutely beautiful and touching. Mia is so one of the best. Lacey and Neil were great with this. Lacey look like a giddy little girl.

Last up is Sabra and Pasha doing a Tony Meredith Quick Step. That just looks like a lot of work. Very fun and they did a great job. Nigel felt they were the best couple of the night for him based on both of their routines.

So who is going home? Post your thoughts.