I’ll start this recap with a confession: I cried a lot during this episode. A LOT. Read my tweets from last night, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It wasn’t because of the “Who inspires you?” stories each contestant told (although those were sweet and some were truly touching). It wasn’t even because of the contestants for the most part.

It was the All Stars who left me wiping my eyes after nearly every performance. There was something so profoundly moving about watching their reactions to getting praise from the judges they once stood in front of as dancers. They all looked so genuinely appreciative of each compliment given and each kind word said. Those kinds of humble reactions are so rare on reality TV, and we saw it eight times last night.

And those compliments from the judges were well deserved; the choreography we saw was excellent. I also felt the All Stars did a fantastic job of showcasing their partners—much better than a lot of the regular choreographers when it comes to working with All Stars and contestants. It was exciting, entertaining, and a breath of fresh air to see these dancers come into their own as choreographers. The show felt different last night, and I mean that in the best possible way. It hummed with a new energy, and I loved every second of it.

In fact, the only thing I didn’t love was having to see someone go home. By the time the elimination results came, I wished both girls could have gone home instead of one of the guys. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t dislike either Jenna or Haley, but I like both Fik-Shun and Tucker so much more. I was ready for it to be Jenna’s time to leave, but it broke my heart to say goodbye to Tucker after two weeks in a row of truly beautiful dancing.

Now, let’s get to recapping; we have an outstanding bunch of routines to talk about!

Aaron and Chelsie: Jive
Before I start, I would just like to remind everyone that Aaron was dancing with a shoulder injury, quite possibly a torn labrum. I’m not totally sure why this wasn’t brought up since Aaron and Chelsie both tweeted about it, but it frustrated me to hear Mary critiquing his shoulders when that was where he was injured. However, I was impressed with his professionalism and determination to dance as well as he could. I thought his jive technique was solid, and his performance level was off the charts. While I did think some of the turns and lifts looked awkward, I was thoroughly entertained, which is what I’ve come to expect from this consummate pro and showman.

Fik-Shun and Allison: Contemporary
I love Allison. I love her relationship with Twitch. And I love any and all versions of “Skinny Love.” Needless to say, I would have loved this routine no matter who was dancing it with her. But there was something special about watching Fik-Shun raise his game in the presence of such a talented dancer. I thought Allison was smart for using Fik-Shun’s unique skills in her choreography (I also wonder if she was inspired by her fiancé and his ability to blend genres, as well as her own work with many different styles). While I couldn’t take my eyes off her while they were dancing apart (Allison is just ridiculously captivating), I was so pleased with his work in the side-by-side section. In fact, that was one of my favorite moments of the whole show last night. His technique is raw and imperfect, but he matched her beat for beat and put his whole heart into that section of choreography—and the result gave me the best kind of chills.

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I apologize for the unannounced hiatus—Saturday was my birthday (turned the big 2-5!), and I celebrated with a trip to Yankee Stadium with my sister and best friends. Hopefully now that I’m home and caught up on sleep I’ll be able to get back to my normal posting schedule. 

There’s something special that happens on So You Think You Can Dance once the All Stars arrive. And I’m not just talking about the special joy of getting to see dancers like Twitch, Neil, and Robert again (a trifecta of handsome, talented, charming men).

What’s special is the way putting new dancers with proven “beasts” (to use a favorite Nigel-ism) allows the audience to see who exactly is worthy of being considered an All Star from this current season. It helps us see how the Top 10 match up with some of the best of the best. And it creates some of the best moments on the show each season.

When I watched this season’s Top 10 dance with their All Stars, the results seemed divided into three categories: those who were overshadowed by their All Star; those who became a unit with their All Star, and (the rarest of them all) those who were flat-out better than their All Star. But who fell into which category?

Before I get to the answer to that question, let’s talk about the elimination for a moment because it was the hardest one yet. I was more than a bit frustrated with Nigel for acting like their solos didn’t matter and couldn’t have helped them. I would have liked to see all of them, especially Nico (who never got to do a solo), show America their talents again—even if it would have been as a swan song.

I was ready for Nico to be eliminated, but I was not prepared for how attached I’d become to Makenzie. I don’t think she’s worlds better than Jenna (I wish she danced with a bit more personality), but she is the better dancer, in my opinion. Jenna is versatile, but she’s yet to have a standout performance—while Makenzie has had a few (both of her contemporary routines and her jazz routine). It’s getting to the point, though, where almost anyone who goes home is going to break my heart, so I can’t be too angry with voters or the judges. Watching Nico cry after his elimination was difficult, as was seeing the remaining dancers crying over their friends’ eliminations. You can say what you want about this show, but I will always believe it’s one of the greatest reality shows on TV because of the genuine camaraderie between the contestants.

Now, on to the routines!

Amy and Brandon: Disco
Sometimes I really love disco on SYTYCD (Neil and Sara, Brandon and Janette), and sometimes it just doesn’t work for me. Sadly, this was closer to the latter category than the former. It was well-executed, and both of them had a ton of energy, which they kept up throughout the routine. However, there were points when I felt Amy was just being moved from trick to trick. She never looked completely comfortable in the style (which is understandable given the lifts she was asked to execute); her perennially adorable smile felt a little less authentic than usual. But my lack of enthusiasm for the routine might have just been a product of a truly horrific song choice. (“I Will Always Love You” for disco? It wasn’t even the right decade!)

Aaron and Kathryn: Contemporary
Romantic contemporary pieces can start to feel repetitive after a while, but every so often a couple is able to breathe new life into the concept with their chemistry. That’s what happened with Aaron and Kathryn. Aaron is so present with his partners—you could feel his tenderness with Jasmine, and it was gorgeously evident with Kathryn in this routine. He dances with strength and a surprising grace, which worked beautifully with Kathryn, who dances with grace and a surprising strength. Their fluidity of movement was incredible and only added to the romance of the piece. It was probably one of the most fluid displays of contemporary partnership I’ve seen on this show, and that speaks to how well Aaron is able to disappear into different styles and stories every week. Could he go from alternate to winner? I don’t think it’s crazy to say it could happen.

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Now it’s getting good.

We’re starting to reach that magical part of each season of So You Think You Can Dance where I genuinely respect every dancer who’s left. We’d already reached that point in terms of the male dancers before this week’s eliminations, so it broke my heart to see Alan go (although he—along with Tucker—is probably the weakest link among the guys). And with Malece gone (I’m sorry—I could never warm up to her and grew tired of the unwarranted praise she often received from the judges), I really do like all of the girls left, too. Jenna may not be my favorite—and I am frustrated with the judges constantly saving her at this point—but I definitely respect her versatility.

I was going to format this like my usual SYTYCD recaps, but I have way too much to say about this week’s dances. I’d been waiting all season for an episode like this—a week where the choreographers were at their best and the dancers were, too. Besides one less-than-stellar routine, I enjoyed all of the routines we saw last night.

This week, I’m going to break down the episode dance-by-dance before picking my favorite dancers and routine of the night.

Nico and Haley: Broadway
This was a fantastic way to start what was a fantastic episode. While I am getting tired of the “Haley is sexy” shtick, there’s no denying that the girl has a sensual magnetism about her movements and presence that was perfectly suited to the choreography. (Also, does anyone else think she looks like Rachel Bilson?) She and Nico brought the best out of each other as many thought they would; I was especially impressed with the lifts the pair effortlessly executed, including the one where Nico flipped Haley over his back using only her leg. It wouldn’t crush me to see either of them go home in the near future, but this routine was proof that they both deserve their places in the Top 10.

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Well that was a bit of a letdown.

Up to this point, I’ve been pretty impressed with the quality of both the dancers and choreographers this season on So You Think You Can Dance. Two weeks ago, I could already see some chinks in the armor, but this week I can’t just be polite and say the show simply faltered a little.

It was a bad episode, as bad as I’ve seen from this show in a long time.

I had a bad feeling about what was to come when I saw Carly Rae “Call Me Maybe” Jepsen on the judging panel, and I’m sad to say my initial doubts about her were spot-on. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a guest judge on this show who was so uninformed about dance and couldn’t even fake it. As someone who takes dance and—by extension (for better or worse)— this show very seriously, I felt insulted that Nigel and Co. would make me sit through two hours of critiques from a woman who spoke as if she’s never watched a dance routine before in her life. It was laughably bad. At least get a guest judge with some knowledge of dance vocabulary next time—that’s all I ask.

The eliminations this week were the only thing I felt was right about the show. It was time for BluPrint to go home, and Mariah’s solo this week felt like a rehash of what she did in her last solo. I like both dancers, but their time had come. Mackenzie’s solo was gorgeously fluid, Curtis’s solo was very strong proof of his skills as a tapper, and Alan’s solo was simply…WOW. That’s the kind of male ballroom solo I’ve always wanted to see on this show—powerful, commanding, strong, and precise. His work with the cape was brilliant, and I loved his stage presence throughout.

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The first cut is the deepest…

…Or sometimes the first cut is just the most ridiculous.

I hate the new format for the eliminations on So You Think You Can Dance. I mean, I REALLY HATE it. I understand there’s no perfect way to eliminate contestants on the same night as a performance show, but cutting them from the competition at the beginning of the show and then forcing them to still dance with their partner later on just seems all kinds of wrong to me. It is horrible to the contestants (both the eliminated ones and the others who have to dance after seeing partners/friends be cut), and it simply casts a negative light on everything that comes after it.

It was especially hard this week because the wrong contestants went home. Mariah’s solo was terrible, and Jade is nowhere near the dancer Carlos is. I grimaced every time Nigel said that “America got it wrong” this week because America only put them in the bottom; it was the judges who—with no deliberation—sent Carlos and Brittany home. Why even have them dance solos if you’re going base the elimination on last week’s performances?

I think so much of my frustration with the eliminations comes from how well Brittany and Carlos did with their dances this week. Brittany was a firecracker full of stage presence in her Broadway routine (so much so that it made BluPrint’s obvious discomfort in the routine look even worse). And Carlos…Carlos was breathtaking. His performance in his contemporary routine with Mariah was incredible, and it brought out such a fearlessness in Mariah in terms of her emotional honesty (which I think was also aided by her obvious pain at seeing him go home).

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