SYTYCD Play By Play: Part Six

Wendy Garofoli | Jul 24, 2008 | 0

The top 8 dancers pose after last week's show.

Welcome to a special two-hour play by play with the accompaniment of my two best friends, Shauna and Jeff. I've known the both of them since high school and they are now married to each other. Shauna is a fellow dancer, and Jeff was dragged to more recitals and competitions than he can count. Congratulations to the two of them on the birth of their beautiful daughter (and my goddaughter) Ruby Mae on June 30!

Read on to hear all three of our comments on last night's top eight performances.

8:01: What's up with Katee's hair? Hello Amy Winehouse!

8:03: Toni Basil! I love her. What an impressive resume. Jeff says she looks like the brunette Calista Flockhart.

8:04: Man, I'm not happy about Will and Katee not dancing together again. Though, that would not have been very fair. Instead, he's paired up with Courtney tonight. Hmmmm...

8:05: This samba dance with Will and Courtney looks a little sloppy. Courtney's got a lot of great energy, and her footwork is fabulous, but she has no frame. Meanwhile, Will is not as impressive as he usually is. He's trying with the hips, but it's not quite working. Shauna says she's not feeling it, and Jeff says, "Yah, but you know the judges will kiss Will's butt." And, Nigel proves it by gushing right off the bat.

8:08: Why does Mary think Courtney is a contemporary dancer? She's a Knicks City Dancer. That's more like a jazz dancer with great hair.

8:15: Here comes Comfort's solo. Jeff: Here comes a waste of 30 seconds of my life. And, he was right. She's got a great hip hop style, but I'm always left wanting more.

8:18: Katee and Twitch are paired up! So excited. Ooooh, Mia Michaels! More excited.

8:19: Umm...that was a lot of face sucking. Shauna says, "Twitch wasn't doing a whole lot of dancing." And as soon as she said it, he busted out in front of the door. How did Katee survive that dance? I would have fallen over and died halfway through. It was awesome, though.

8:23: Could Mary Murphy be any more obnoxious? I can't even handle it. Enough with the screaming.

8:29: Will was inspired by Patrick Swayze, eh? That's cute. I love that jump off the stage into the double tour. I do that all the time ;).

8:31: Yay for Will's solo to James Brown! Jeff thinks this dance is wicked funky. So do I, and it was waaaaaay too short. They should extend the solos to at least a minute, no?

8:32: Mark picks Comfort. There's no way these two aren't going home this week. Comfort is getting on our nerves with her forced commentary. Jeff says, "Somebody break her other arm!" Ouch!

8:35: I love Tabitha and Napoleon's ography. Awesome lift! It was super seamless and just flowed. Mark held his own next to Comfort, but she still out dirtied him.

8:39: Toni Basil takes class with Tabitha and Napoleon? I can't fathom it. Then again, she was one of the original lockers.

8:44: Awwww! Katee was an adorable little dancer. Her solo was tons of energy, and her layout to start was stunning.

8:46: Did Chelsi just say "not?" I love it. Haven't heard that since the early 90s.

8:50: That was a fantastic routine for Chelsi and Joshua! Serious sizzle. "Hot dance," says Shauna. Chelsi's legs just seem to cut through the air like scissors. I found myself saying, "wow" out loud many times. As Mary Murphy starts talking, Jeff says he hopes the Hot Tamale train crashes into a ravine with Mary Murphy driving it.

8:52: I love Toni's commentary. She's so old school. The stuff she says is almost irrelevant, but you can't help but eat it up.

8:58: Shauna says Mark flits around the stage like a bird! I couldn't agree more. He's quite tweaky. I realized what makes Mark and Comfort's solos not quite all there. They do the same thing every week. When you see it the first time, it's really cool. When you see it the eighth time, it's old.

9:02: I already have the chills with Courtney and Will's "lyrical hip hop," but they aren't long lived. I'm feeling it so much with him, but Courtney's expressions aren't fitting the bill. Plus, I don't know what they did with her costume. The hat and bangs kind of ruined it for me. The routine could have been so beautiful, but she seemed stiff.

9:13: Chelsi looks like a diva in her old ballroom dancing photos. Go ahead, girl! Her solos are always brilliant. The ballroom girls have a tough time keeping us entertained in the solos, and I am never disappointed with her.

9:15: Cute, cute, cute. It's a sweet Broadway routine for Twitch and Katee. I couldn't help totally falling for Twitch in this number. He's a natural on stage. Shauna and I agree with Nigel: Katee knocks em dead every single time. And I take it back about Toni's commentary being irrelevant. People are hopping on the Katee bandwagon (self included), and she gave her a solid, constructive critique to deepen and dirty her expression to match the deep vocal of "Sweet Georgia Brown." Good call, Toni.

9:27: Holy heck. Joshua is off the hook. I am very impressed with the full split. Shauna says, "I can't wait until he gets his braces off!" Agreed.

9:30: Here comes Courtney, always with the messy pirouettes. The rest of her solo was gorgeous, to my surprise. I like to see her softer side, instead of watching her flail around the stage trying too hard. When she takes it down a notch, she really is a lovely dancer.

9:36: I love Twitch. Interesting to know he lived in South Korea for a while. The hip hop scene is off the hook there. Makes sense.

9:39: The footwork is not working out in this Foxtrot with Mark and Comfort. But, I love the way Mark is carrying himself. He looks so debonair. Still, Jeff says, "That was about as entertaining as a root canal."

9:50: Why do they still have disco on this show? Let's see how Chelsi and Joshua do with it. Yikes...rough landing on that crazy leg lift. But, Jeff says, and I agree, that it's not really their fault. The choreographer forced that tough lift on them and in a super fast span of music. Shauna is not a fan of the choreography at all, and I also have to agree. Down with disco!

Thanks so much to Shauna and Jeff for your help with the Play by Play this week! Tune in tomorrow to find out who stays and who goes. Who do you think should be the next two dancers to leave the show?

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