Thanks to the scrappy Phillies, we have another two-hour performance show culminating in judges' cuts. And I'm grateful, because better the judges having to make these decisions than America. Even last week I thought there was only one clear loser, poor one-and-out Brandon. Unless somebody drops somebody, I'm just not sure how to identify who's going home.
On any given Tuesday, though, anyone might shine — and anyone might suck. So let's break it down couple by couple and see if anybody sinks to the bottom and makes the judges' job easier.
Noelle and Russell: Noelle is back from her knee injury, and back with Russell, in a fun hip-hop number based around a tennis match. I liked the routine, and laughed out loud in the brief "bullet time" sequence. Adam says that the choreography was dancing them, and in Noelle's case, I see his point. She was trying to go for it by aggressively attacking the moves, but she couldn't quite close the deal on most of them, especially the trickier ones. Maybe it was too much, too fast, no time for us to appreciate the moves; for two such big performers, the whole thing didn't quite gel.
Ashleigh and Jakob: These two beaming kids look like they stepped right off of the top tier of a wedding cake dancing the Viennese waltz to Etta James. Perfectly matched, with absolutely lovely performances — I am coming around on Ashleigh against my will. That was gorgeous with a capital gorgeous. The real story of this dance was that Adam Shankman criticized the choreography. And not just for a moment. Meredith and Tony, according to Adam, put in too many lifts and erred in allowing Jakob to do a split jette. I don't expect to be any more shocked until they cut Ryan before the top 10. Has this ever happened before? Shanks might just get a copy of the SYTYCD etiquette manual in his locker before next week.
Bianca and Victor: It's an Oreo Broadway number with a black gospel theme, and even though the performers work hard at it, I don't think they got it. It seemed frantic, but not ecstatic. The choreography was bouncy, but sometimes the couple seemed like they were bouncing instead of dancing. Mary implicitly takes a dig at the choreography for throwing in a dancerly leap for Victor while the music was going crazy. We have some bottom four candidates already, which ought to take the pressure off of …
Mollee and Nathan: It's always a happy moment when the Bollywood numbers bust out, and after this couple's sizzling disco routine last week, I'm expecting high energy. Nathan delivers — he's still a favorite, after all — but even though the judges didn't criticize her, I thought Mollee could barely keep up and seemed to be struggling with the sharp movements, broad movements, and high jumps. It was no Joshua and Kate, that's for sure, but Nathan proved himself, running away from Mollee in the process.
Channing and Phillip: Tony and Meredith throw a difficult samba at two dancers who might be least prepared for it. For the first part, Phillip seemed to be acquitting himself capably, but who could notice him with that blonde bombshell shaking her hips and hair in the spotlight? Until, of course, the awkward lifts and weird jumps started. It's impossible for me to know what that last Phillip-jumping-on-top-of-Channing move was even supposed to look like, and we saw them practicing it in the rehearsal footage. Noel commented at the end of the dance that Channing should be preparing herself to dance with Russell next week.