"So You Think You Can Dance" Top 12!

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 12 remaining finalist together to compete. Six male dancers and six female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other five couples. If they make it to next week, they will be picking their partner randomly from a hat.

America determines which couples will fall in the bottom three. Then tomorrow night the shows judges will determine which female dancer and which male dancer will go home after watching the bottom 3 couples dance for their lives. They each perform short solos that only last for about 30 seconds. When we get to the top 10 next week, the judges are taken out of the decision making process completely. Only America's votes will determine who moves on each week.

Each couple performs two numbers tonight, so let's get going:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing a Samba choreographed by Melanie Lepatin and Tony Meredith. I'm really surprised at how well these two dancers did not do. I thought they would really nail it, but they truly struggled. The Samba is suppose to be sensual not cutesy. They both struggled with flexibility in their backs. My Scores: Noelle - 8 Russell - 8 Their second dance of the night is a contemporary routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio. This was a beautifully quiet routine for me. Both dancers were right on, in the moment. This was their best routine this season, especially Noelle. My Scores: Noelle-10 Russell-10

27-year-old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) will be dancing a lyrical jazz choreographed by Sonya. Both dancers did very good, but the choreographer clearly gave Jakob the hardest moves. At times in the routine, he looked like he was dancing circles around her. That being said, Ashleigh gets stronger every week. I really enjoy watching her and she pulled her weight again. My Scores: Ashleigh - 10 Jakob -10 The second dance of the night is a Chachacha choreographed by Jean Marc Genereaux and France Messeau. These two did it again. They were hot. This was Ashleigh's style of dance so she should have been hot and she was. Jakob however danced just as well. I am more and more amazed by this couple each week. My Scores: Ashleigh -10 Jakob-9

27-year-old, Karen (ballroom), and 20-year-old Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a Tango choreographed by Melanie Lepatin and Tony Meredith. I didn't care for the music very much, but the dancers did a superb job. They related to each other very well especially considering that this was their first week dancing together. High difficulty level for these two dancers. My Scores Karen - 10 Victor - 9 The second dance of the night is a hip hop routine choreographed by Laurieanne Gibson. They're having problems dancing in unison. This is a slow hip hop routine and that helps with intensity, but it doesn't help with the hard hitting hip hop dance style. The dancers did a pretty good job with it, but the choreographer really let them down this time. My scores Karen -8 Victor -8

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be performing a Lindy Hop for their first number tonight with new choreographer Carla Heiney. This is a high energy routine and it contained a lot of hard lifts and throws that are very unique to this style of dance. They struggled with one of the lifts slightly, but covered it well. Both dancers did a good job of bringing us to the party and took us back to the days when they use to burn a rug. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 9 Their second dance of the night is a Broadway routine choreographed by Spencer Liff. This is about the temptation of fame. This is an interesting story line and performed beautifully by this strong couple. A combination of technique and drama performed dramatically. My Scores: Ellenore - 10 Ryan - 10

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a jazz routine choreographed by Sonya. This was a very unique routine. The choreography and the music was very different. Katherine and Legacy did a very good job. The related to each other well. The technique was very good and the level of difficulty was extremely high. My Score: Katherine - 10 Legacy -10 Their second dance of the night is a Waltz choreographed by Jean- Marc Genereaux and France Mosseau. This is a story about a guardian angel guiding a young man. Even though Legacy is struggling with some of the technique, he dances from the heart and Katherine can't dance a bad step if she tried. Overall this was one of the stronger routines of the night. The music helped to build the drama of the routine and then it finished softly. My Score Katherine -10 Legacy - 9

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing hip hop choreographed by Jamal Simms. It's all about phones and making a connection. These two dancers definitely have a connection and seem to really enjoy doing this dance. Molly doesn't hit her movement hard enough for hip hop, but Nathan is doing a good job in that respect. My Score: Mollee - 8 Nathan - 9 Their second dance of the night is a Can-Can routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio. This is a first for SYTYCD because a Can-Can had never been danced before on the show. Nathan had an incredible spin section that was done unbelievably well. His control was amazing. They both had a lot of high kicks and did them well. The routine was cute and unique, but not my favorite. They did a respectable job on this routine. My Score: Mollee 9 Nathan - 9

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Sonya's Lyrical Jazz danced by Ashleigh and Jakob, "Razzle Dazzle" performed by Ellenore and Ryan choreographed by Spencer Liff, and Tyce Diorio's lyrical "Paint" routine danced by Noelle and Russell.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ashleigh, Ellenore, and Katherine.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Ryan, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples are:

Karen and Victor

Mollee and Nathan

Ellenore and Ryan

The Two Dancers Eliminated this week: Karen and Victor

"Dancing With The Stars" The Final Three

Tonight we'll watch the top3 contestants vie for the coveted (or not so coveted) mirror ball trophy. The only man left standing is Donny. The two women left are Mya and Kelly. The personal favorite is Donny Osmond, but I'm from Utah and I grew up on Donny, so I'm prejudiced. The best dancer is clearly Mya. She was born to dance. I never thought Kelly would make it to the finals, and quite frankly I'm not sure why she's still here. The big surprise of the season was when she beat out Joanna last week. I've enjoyed watching Kelly grow throughout the season and I have nothing against her, but I don't understand why she is still in the competition.

First Round-Latin
Donny and Kym: Donny looked confident and like he was having the time of his life. He is a ham and he just can't help it. I think he did a great job and improved greatly on his posture issues throughout the season.
My score 9 Mom's score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Mya and Dmitry: Paso Doble-This was absolutely amazing. This was powerful choreography done to powerful music. Mya came out strong, and even though there were moments when her movement could have been bigger, overall she was phenomenal. She was so good, if you didn't know who the professional dancer was and who the star was, you would have a hard time deciding just by watching them dance.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Kelly and Louie: Argentine Tango-Kelly did a great job. She looked great in her sparkly outfit. She always looks like she's a little off balance and just half a beat behind Louie, but altogether she did a great job on this dance. She also lacks the self-confidence on the floor as she is performing. She does have a regal quality about her that is quite charming.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,8 Average Score 8.6

2nd Round-Group Dance-The dancers all danced together doing the exact same routine. The judges placed them in the same order we did
Mya-1st place-30 points
Donny-2nd place-28 points
Kelly-3rd place - 26 points

3rd Round-Free Style
Donny and Kym: Jg.
My score 10 Mom's score 10 Average Score 10
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Mya and Dmitry: The only problem I have with Mya is that, if it's not Latin, she tends to dance down. She doesn't dance full out. Her musicality is very good. She is coordinated and flexible, but her energy and motion did not meet the standards of the music. The music was the finale in Hairspray-very energetic.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Kelly started out pretty strong on this routine and then the mistakes began. She had a more confident approach to the dance even as the mistakes added up. She handled her stumbles really well! She looked absolutely adorable. Way to go Kelly!
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8


Donny & Kym
1st Round-9.5 & 9
2nd Round-9.3 & 9.3
3rd Round -10 & 10
Total= 57.1

Mya & Dmitry
1st Round-9.5 & 10
2nd Round-10 & 10
3rd Round-8 & 9
Total=56.5

Joanna & Derek
1st Round-8.5 & 9
2nd Round-8.6 & 8.6
3rd Round-8 & 8
Total=50.7

Kelly & Louie
1st Round-8 & 8
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=50.5

The Next Judge's "Top 3 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Donny
2nd Place Ranking: Mya
3rd Place Ranking: Kelly

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe 1st place will go to Mya or Donny and 3rd place will go to Kelly.

This is a surprise to me, but they're having each couple dance one more time to determine their final placement. I think that's stupid, but they didn't ask me. For one thing, we don't know where they're placed after America's vote, so it's kind of meaningless to us as an audience. I think it's just one more chance for America to get a good look at the top 3 one more time.

First of all they're dancing routines, they already danced earlier in the season. I think it's also just one more chance for the judges to really say nice things to each of the finalist also, because they're not even scoring them. In fact they're only commenting on their general transformations throughout the season. They're not commenting on the routine that was just performed at all.

Now that the judges have seen all three dances, they are conferring together to determine the final placement of each dancer. Their first place ranking will get 30 points, 2nd place 28 points, and 3rd place 26 points.
Kelly and Louie were placed in 3rd place
Mya and Dmitry were placed in 2nd place
Donny and Kym were placed in 1st place

The couple taking 3rd place for the Season 9 of "Dancing With The Stars" is Kelly and Louie

The couple taking 2nd place: Mya and Dmitry
The couple taking 1st place: Donny and Kym

I Will Never Watch the "American Music Awards" Again!

There is a lot of talk about Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards. I was appalled by what I saw on the AMAs on ABC, but it didn't start with Adam Lambert. No, quite the contrary, Adam Lambert was the grand finale. He was strategically placed there by the producers of the show. That's how it looks to me.

Let's start with the first act of the night. I haven't found anybody, in the news or on the internet, who is disgusted by Janet Jackson's performance. Holding your own crotch when dancing has become pretty acceptable in this day and age. It was shocking at first, but now many people have become desensitized by this move, because they've seen it so often, especially in hip hop dance choreography. Janet Jackson performed that move and her background dancers did , but what was a new low for me was when a male dancer that danced in front of her and stood with his legs extended in a V formation was fondled by Janet Jackson. She very clearly reached forward and underneath him and grabbed him in the crotch and actually pulled him back towards her. It was quick, and, if you blinked, you missed it, but it was there. That was the first routine of the night, and it went downhill from there.

As the night continued, it was like everyone was in on the secret except the viewing public. There was a feeling of competition or one-up-man-ship between some of the performers. Not the county music crowd. This was the Pop, RocknRoll, and hiphop crowd. For example: Lady Gaga is known for her crazy extreme outfits. She looked naked. She wasn't. She had flesh colored tights on with weird strapping around her legs and arms. She had lights strapped around her chest and head. Her dancers were wearing the same revealing and evocative apparel.

Midway through her performance, Lady Gaga smashes through a huge glass window to get to her piano, which by the way, catches on fire. While she's playing her piano, she doesn't sit at it in a normal manner. She has one leg under the piano and the other leg is opened up beyond a 90 degree angle. She is very flexible. She also, at times, is sitting in a reclined position, which brings the focal point of the audience to her crotch. There was no doubt what her intent was. There was no other reason on the face of this earth for her to sit in that manner while playing the piano and singing.

Rianna sang a song from her new album "Rated R". Her performance and most of the rap numbers were "silenced" at certain points, so much so, that we thought there was something wrong with our TV at first. We realized eventually that the words were being cut out. In one routine, you couldn't have known the lyrics, even if you wanted to, because there were so many holes in the audio portion of their performance that it was impossible to follow or make sense of.

In one performance, the dancers were pretty much dressed in S&M strapping. The pelvic thrust was the main repetitive motion in the routine. It wasn't enough to have 30 of these dancers on the stage performing this movement repeatedly in unison. To give it more power, dancers came down the aisle ways performing the same repetitive motions. They then turned sideways and danced directly into the faces of the audience. This lack of creativity in the choreography in this routine wasn't just some choreographer having an off day. It was on purpose and intentional. They had a message to get across and they knew exactly what they were doing.

Adam Lambert took the show to a new low that I have never seen on TV before. I am so disappointed in the AMAs and in ABC who is owned by Disney! I hate to even put it into words, because it was that offensive, but for those who did not see the show, I will describe it as discreetly as possible. I jumped out of my chair when Adam grabbed a riding harness that was harnessed to two male dancers crawling on their knees. Then Adam grabs the face of a male dancer who is on his knees and pushes it into his crotch. No I'm not kidding. No, I didn't misunderstand. That is exactly what he did. Then about 30 seconds later he was fondling the crotch of a female dancer who came down on a pole from above him. He just reached up and for about 5 seconds, just so no one would misunderstand, he fondled her.

The only redeeming thing that happened in this show is that Taylor Swift, who is not only a gifted singer, but also a song writer, and producer of her stage show, etc., won five awards last night. True talent can make it 's way through all the disgusting, competitive sleaze and violence, that was witnessed on this show last night.

There were also some very good performances. Kelly Clarkson performed her new hit. It was a ballad, and wow that lady can sing and she didn't have any gimmicks, sleaze, or violence. Just a solid voice and a beautiful ballad. Carrie Underwood, again a solid performance, although someone has talked her into more suggestive choreography and costuming then we are use to seeing from her. Be careful Carrie, you have so much talent, you don't have to go there. Keith Urban, another Country and Western artist, wowed the audience with his talent. He just got up and sang and played a guitar. But it was really good and the audience truly enjoyed him.

The only other redeeming thing that happened if I didn't misread it was the audience reaction to Adam's debut on stage. There were a lot of standing ovations that night for different performances, he wasn't one oft them. It appeared to be a very tepid response from an audience who are typically much more tolerant of this type of entertainment than I am.

I will never watch the AMAs again. I think we have to stand up and say "enough" and not support programs that trample on common decency this way. Some people called this "pushing the envelope". I call it revolting!

"So You Think You Can Dance" Top 14!

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 14 remaining finalist together to compete. Seven male dancers and seven female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other seven couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home.

America determines which couples will fall in the bottom three. Then the shows judges will determine which female dancer and which male dancer will go home after watching them dance for their lives. They each perform short solos that only last for about 30 seconds. When we get to the top 10 (or five couples) the judges are taken out of the decision making process completely. Only America's votes will determine who moves on each week.

Here we go, let's watch:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing a Foxtrot choreographed by Eddie Simon. This routine will discuss teamwork and partnership, something these two should know a lot about after what they've been through so far this season. Russell has problems with extension of his limbs. Noelle is doing fairly well, but there is no "WOW" factor. Russell appears to be working really hard on his smoothness of footwork and his posture, and he did a great double pirouette, but he also looked cautious mostly. I did not enjoy this routine as much as the show's judges did.
My Scores: Noelle - 8 Russell - 9

27-year old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dubo. These two dancers will be dancing out betrayal and forgiveness of a cheating man. In the beginning, Ashleigh was not one of my favorite dancers, but with each week, I get more and more impressed. It ends up she did not forgive him, and at the same time she impressed me. Jakob did well also, but I expected him to. He has been one of my favorites since day one. Good routine, great choreography, and great performance. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -9in

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary), and Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a Jazz routine choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. This routine is about two blackbirds. I think Tyce literally expects them to fly. We'll see. This was terrific choreography matched with great dancing. Thank goodness! the bird cage was a very unique prop for this routine. The lifts were so strong. The dancers have been really struggling this year with lifts, but they did very well. The technique was extremely good. Victor's spins and leaps were tremendous. My Scores Channing - 10 Victor - 10

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing a Broadway routine choreographed by (new to the show) Spencer Liff. Karen did a respectable job, but it wasn't her best. Kevin struggled. He looked like he was almost embarrassed. He didn't fully extend his movement. These two dancers are two of the best, but they clearly didn't really grasp the spirit of the routine. My Scores: Karen - 8 Kevin- 7

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a contemporary routine choreographed by Travis Wall. This routine is about a reunited couple. No problems with lifts here. If Ryan is anything, he is strong. Ellenore is flexible, strong, and has great technique. She is showing more emotion than Ryan, but they're both dancing very well. These two were in the bottom three last week, but this is a strong come back. If anyone can help to fill in the obvious absence of choreographer Mia Michaels this season, it's Travis Wall. My Scores: Ellenore - 10 Ryan - 9

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a Paso Doble choreographed by Tony Meredith. This dance is a fight to the finish for control of their partner. This is very dramatic music. Legacy was great in this routine, but Katherine was the star. They both had to be very dramatic in their posture and movement in order to pull off anything that would match the music. They did do that. It seemed that from a choreographic stand point, Katherine had a lot more demand, but regardless it was well done by both. My Score: Kathere - 10 Legacy -9

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Pop-Jazz routine choreographed by Laurieanne Gibson. This was a fast paced, hard hitting routine. Nathan didn't dance with as much heart as Mollee, but technically did a pretty good job. My Score: Mollee - 9 Nathan - 8

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Tyce DiOrio's "Black Bird" routine, Tony Meredith's "Paso Doble Fight" routine, and Travis Wall's "Reunited" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ellenore, Channing, and Katherine.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Victor, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples are:

Karen and Kevin

Channing and Victor

Mollee and Nathan

The Two Dancers Eliminated-Channing and Kevin

"Dancing With the Stars" Final Four!

Tonight we'll watch the top 4 contestants vie for the next weeks finals. The only man left standing is Donny. The three women left are Mya, Joanna, and Kelly. I think this will be Kelly's last week unless someone has an unexpected bad performance. I admit I said that last week and Aaron bit the dust and Kelly is still with us. I don't have anything against Kelly. In fact I think she has been a lot of fun to watch this season, but I think her time has passed. For the first time, each contestant will have to perform three full routines.

First Round
Donny and Kym: Tango-This was not a good routine for Donny at all. His partner got entangled in her dress, and then he got entangled in it. They were both making it up as they went. They got through it some how, but there was clearly something wrong. I couldn't tell that they were entangled; I could only tell that something was very wrong.
My score 7 Mom's score 7 Average Score 7
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,7,7 Average Score 7

Mya and Dmitry: Waltz-This was absolutely beautiful. Her quality of movement was on the level of a professional dancer. You would think she has danced ballroom all of her life. I loved this dance! Mya has beautiful lines. She doesn't have the natural long neck that Joanna has, but you couldn't tell in this dance. She was amazing.
My score 10 Mom's Score 10 Average Score 10
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,10 Average Score 9.3

Joanna and Derek: Viennese Waltz-Joanna does better on the Latin routines, but this was the best I've seen her do in actual ballroom. She was still a little stiff, her extension could improve, and there were some transition issues, but overall Joanna did very well.
My score 8 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Rumba-Kelly's hair is gorgeous. Her flexibility has improved, and her confidence has improved. The solo they did mid dance was a little strange, but other than that she did a good job. Her technique has also improved in a remarkable way throughout the season.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

2nd Round
Donny and Kym: Samba-Donny is BACK!!!. Donny didn't have any equipment or wardrobe malfunctions this time. It was an enjoyable routine danced to one of the Osmond's famous songs "One Bad Apple". He was able to do a lot of his signature moves which was fun to see. Great routine-Fun to watch.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Mya and Dmitry: Salsa-Again. Mya looks like she has been dancing the Salsa her entire life. She has got to be one of the best on this show in my opinion. She really kept getting some pretty rough scores from Len in past episodes, but even he is a Mya fan now. Her solo was clearly the strongest of all the solo sections we've seen tonight. Mya doesn't just dance the steps she's been taught. She performs them with joy. I love watching her.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Joanna and Derek: Chachacha-Joanna starts out with a very sexy solo. She has a cranberry red outfit that looks very good on her. As with any Latin routine, she does very well with this style. She is extremely flexible, especially in her back, but also her legs. Her sense of rhythm was also better than with the waltz.
My score 9 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Quickstep-Kelly is doing a surprisingly good job on this dance. I actually didn't expect her to. It's fast, and you're suppose to glide across the floor, which isn't her strength, but she's actually pulling it off. Was it perfect? No. There were several missteps, and the end pose was not good at all. That being said, it was mostly very good.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

3rd Round-Knockout Dances
Donny and Kym: Jitterbug-This is Donny's kind of dance, because he knows how to ham it up and have fun. He has no problem being funny either. These are short dances, but what he did do was entertaining.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Mya and Dmitry: Chachacha-Mya did a great job. She is just so strong at this point. In my opinion she should take the whole show.
My score 9 Mom's Score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Joanna and Derek: Salsa-This was well done also. This is after all her style. This wasn't her best though, but it was good enough. She should make it into the Finals.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Chachacha-This was Kelly at her best. She looked great with hot pink and black. She was sharp and precise. I was impressed!
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9


Donny & Kym
1st Round-7 & 7
2nd Round-9 & 8.6
3rd Round -9 & 9
Total= 49.6

Mya & Dmitry
1st Round-10 & 9.3
2nd Round-9.5 & 10
3rd Round-9.5 & 9.6
Total=57.9

Joanna & Derek
1st Round-8.5 & 9
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=53

Kelly & Louie
1st Round-8 & 8
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=50.5

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mya
2nd Place Ranking: Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Kelly & Donny

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe Kelly will probably be the one to go home. Donny had the worst showing tonight, but he's the only guy left, so Kelly might get fewer votes, if they end up getting divided up between the girls. I think Donny has a bigger following as well.

Donny was safe, but the surprise of the night was that Joanna went home!

"So You Think You Can Dance" 16 Contestants Remaining

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 16 remaining finalist together to compete.Eight male dancers and eight female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other eight couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home. This is the first week America will get to vote.

Here we go, let's watch:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing Afro Jazz choreographed by, new to the show, Sean Cheeseman. In this routine, they are frogs. Russell was the strongest dancer of the two, but Noelle did a great job too. This was the most unique routine of the night. It was energetic and required a lot of strength on the part of both dancers.
My Scores: Noelle - 9 Russell - 10

27-year old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob will be dancing a jazz routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. A cane prop will take center stage with this couple. Not to take anything away from Ashleigh's talent (she's getting better every week), but I am a Jakob fan. He is phenomenal! That being said, this couple is finding their chemistry and hitting their stride together. I love Mandy Moore routines and Jakob actually reminds me of Neal who was in Mandy's "Table" routine. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -10

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary), and Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a contemporary routine by Stacey Tookey. This is about a couple who are in a toxic relationship and are tired from all the drama. This is my favorite routine so far tonight. This was Channing and Victor's first week as partners and their chemistry was phenomenal. Both dancers were on their game, and this is the best I've seen Channing do this whole season. They were technically beautiful and the performance of the characters was good. Did they become vulnerable enough to make me cry? No, but I was genuinely touched by the beauty and quality of the performance. My Scores Channing - 9 Victor - 8

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing the hustle tonight. Choreographer Maria Torres will take us to a girl's choice dance. Disco is back, baby. This was a great routine performed by a very strong couple. Kevin performed a leap like a ballet dancer. Karen was great as usual, but Kevin grabbed our attention also. Adam Shankman called Karen's slower moves "Quiet Fire", I like that, because it's true. Kevin struggled slightly with lifts, but overall did quite well. I wasn't as amazed as last week, but I still like this couple. My Scores: Karen - 9 Kevin- 9

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Lil C, one of my favorites. Their task tonight is to successfully rob a bank. Ellenore is actually doing a better job with the hard hits and the swagger than Ryan is. She clearly executes the routine more convincingly. That being said, Ryan did a respectable job. I felt Nigel was too harsh on the couple. I felt they did a better job, than he did. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 8

18-year-old Pauline (Jazz) and 21-year-old Peter (Tap) are dancing the Quickstep (known as the kiss of death on the show). Most dancers are not thrilled when they pull this dance out of the hat, and I must admit it's not one of my favorite dance styles. That being said, a quickstep well done can be very entertaining. A Quickstep not done well can mean the end of the road. Choreographer JT & Tomas are new to me. I'm not sure if they're new to the show. We have a soldier and a hula girl with a South Pacific theme which is very different for a Quickstep. This was okay, but it won't go down as my favorite routine of the night. The routine felt more like they were just rushing to keep up, but overall it was cute. My Scores: Pauline - 8 Peter - 8

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a Broadway routine tonight. Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler is giving our dancers characters to play. They will be fighting with each other. Let's see who wins. Well Katherine wins the fight, but they both needed to do a better job convincing us they were fighting. Legacy did a better job of establishing his character and is so convincing no matter what style he gets. Katherine, who I have loved from day one was more cutesy than anything else. My Score: Katherine - 8 Legacy -10

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Salsa routine by Gustavo Vargas. This routine was hot and cold. Mollee especially looked hot in the yellow outfit and she had some really hot moves. That was the good news. The bad news is that they made so many mistakes I couldn't keep up. I'm not sure who was messing up in each incident, but there were some clear problems with the lifts. Nathan was struggling the most out of the two. This is really too bad, because these two had a very good week last week. My Score: Mollee - 7 Nathan - 7

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Mandy Moore's "Cane" routine, Stacey Tookey's "Toxic Relationship" routine, and Sean Cheeseman's "Frog" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ashleigh, Channing, and Noelle.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Russell, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples

Karen and Kevin

Ellenore and Ryan

Pauline and Peter

Pauline was chosen to go home.

Peter was chosen to go home.

"Dancing With the Stars" Eigth Week - FINAL FIVE!

Tonight we'll watch the top 5 contestants vie for the semi-finals. The two men left are Donny and Aaron. The three women left are Mya, Joanna, and Kelly. I think this will be Kelly's last week unless someone has an unexpected bad performance. Each contestant will dance two full routines for the first time. One Latin routine and one ballroom routine must be performed by each couple.

Ballroom Round
Aaron and Karina: Foxtrot-Aaron looked stiff and a little uneasy. They might have had trouble practicing as much as they would have liked, because Karina caught the flu bug that has pretty much gone through the whole group the last couple of weeks. His footwork was very choppy, his shoulders were up, and he looked worried at times. The choreography might have been a little lax since Karina was ill as well.
My Score 7 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 7,8,8 Average Score 7.6

Donny and Kym: Vienesse Waltz-Donny's got reputation for having bad posture in his upper frame. That will be critical for this dance. I know I am a Donny Osmond fan, but this was maybe my favorite routine that he's done so far. He swept over the floor with grace and ease. He was confident, his posture was better, and he genuinely looked like he was enjoying herself.
My score 10 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,8,9 Average Score 8.6

Mya and Dmitry: Quickstep-This was a delightful energetic routine. Mya had complicated footwork that she performed very well. They flowed across the floor effortlessly and Mya is always easy on the eyes. Her gown was a shimmery peach that not too many could pull off, but she absolutely did. The biggest news about this dance is that Len gave Mya a perfect score of 10! Finally!
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,7,9 Average Score 8.3

Joanna and Derek: Quickstep-Joanna needs t0 elongate her neck more, but other than that she had fairly good posture. Her dress is a beautiful silver pink. When she runs across the room, she looks kind of heavy and off balance. Her footwork done in place looked very good. There were times when her footwork was off from Derek's especially when they were moving across the floor. Derek made the mistake of making her move across the floor several times and that was the move she didn't do as well.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,7,8 Average Score 7.6

Kelly and Louie: Foxtrot-I' m not sure I like the aqua blue dress she is wearing. The dress is beautiful, just not the color. Kelly has a natural elegance about her, so I actually like her better in the graceful ballroom dances rather than the Latin style. She is also more flexible than you would expect her to be. There were a couple moments where she looked a little stiff, but they were short moments.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,9 Average Score 8.3

Latin Round In the Latin round, each contestant, not only had to perform a specific style of Latin, but also from a specific era, like the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or the future.

Aaron and Karina: 90s Samba-Aaron looks confident and like he's actually on top of the world. They were able to utilize some of his moves from the 90s when he had hits on the charts. He felt right at home. They did a good job in welding the 90s and the Samba together from a choreography perspective! Aaron has matured over the weeks. He never gave up even when the judges were hard on him. Good for him.
My Score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Donny and Kym: 80s Paso Doble-Donny looks like Michael Jackson. Really! I'm sure that's what they were trying to do. It's hard to do a funny Paso Doble because it is usually a very dramatic dance. They were able to keep the drama and add humor to it. It wasn't his best dance, but it was definitely entertaining.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Mya and Dmitry: 70s Samba-Dancing the Samba to Donna Summer's "Bad Girl" is very different. A Samba with disco moves in it is different also. That being said, it was very good. They didn't lose the Samba and still managed to incorporate the 70s into it. Hats off to Dmitry for pulling that off. Hats off to Mya for dancing it very very well. Now that Len likes Mya, she has a very good chance of taking the whole competition. Two tens from Len!
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Joanna and Derek: Futuristic Paso Doble-This is the dance of the night. It was like watching 2 robots do the Pose Doble. The music was perfect. The choreography was unique and perfect. Derek has out done himself. Joanna performed the complicated routine perfectly. The competition is on!!! I'm sure that will be the favorite routine performed on tomorrow night's show.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Kelly and Louie: 60s Jive-Kelly has a bad habit of looking at Louie when she's dancing side by side.She didn't do it as much this week as she has in the past. There were some hard, complicated moves and, for the most part, she did them very well. The choreography was good once they got rid of the prop. It didn't fit what they were doing or the the theme. It just didn't make sense.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Aaron & Karina-
Ballroom-8 & 7.6 Latin-9 & 9 Total=33.6
Donny & Kym
Ballroom-9.5 & 8.6 Latin-8.5 & 8 Total= 34.6
Mya & Dmitry
Ballroom-8 & 8.3 Latin-9.5 & 10 Total=35.8
Joanna & Derek
Ballroom-7.5 & 7.6 Latin-9.5 & 9.6 Total=34.2
Kelly & Louie
Ballroom-8.5 & 8.3 Latin-8 & 8.6 Total=33.4

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mya
2nd Place Ranking: Donny & Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Aaron & Kelly

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe Kelly will probably be the one to go home. I was wrong. Aaron went home. Personally I will miss him, but even when the judges loved Aaron, America would put him in the bottom two or three. He just didn't have the following that Kelly has. Good luck to Kelly, Donny, Mya, and Joanna next week.

"So You Think You Can Dance" 18 Dancers Remain!

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 18 remaining finalist together to compete. Nine male dancers and nine female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other eight couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home. Because FOX is broadcasting the World Series, the judges will pick the one male and one female dancer that will be eliminated. Starting next week, America will start voting.

Several notes of interest: 1. Noelle is healed up and ready to dance this week. 2. Brandon will be able to audition for the Top 20 next season, despite the fact that they brought him into the show at the last minute last week to fill in for Billy Bell. 3. Billy Bell will be able to come in at the level of the Top 100 in Vegas next season. All these announcements seem very fair to me. 4. Paula Abdul is still a no show, so they moved her chair over by Adam Shankman to see if there would be a better draw. Only time will tell.

Here's how each couple did:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be taking instruction from choreographer Jamal Simms. We're going to be playing a round of tennis hip hop style. This routine is fast and Jamal handles it better than Noelle. From a choreography perspective, the props kind of become more of a burden towards the end of the routine. Both dancers do a good job, but they also look overwhelmed at times with the speed. That prevents them from really getting into the characters which is extremely important. Noelle really messed up on her aerial cartwheel. Her hand touched the ground and her legs were bent and all over the place. My Scores: Noelle - 7 Russell - 9

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary) and 25-year old Phillip (tap) will be dancing the Samba choreographed by Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. Channing looks hot in the pale blue outfit. The lifts are atrocious. It looks like Phillip doesn't have the strength to lift Channing, so I don't think it's her fault. Her dancing was also more convincing than Phillips. Bravo to her bravery for trusting a partner who clearly was not in control of the lifts. When Channing was just dancing, she executed several Samba motions with amazing expertise. My Scores: Channing - 8 Phillip - 6

27-year old Ashleigh Di Lello (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob will be taking their instruction form Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. We're going to a wedding and their performing a Waltz. It starts out with a "and now you can kiss the bride" kiss. Ashleigh is elegant and has beautiful lines both in her dancing and her lifts. Jakob can leap like there is no tomorrow. Their chemistry is good but I'm not totally convinced they're in love. The routine was suppose to be a Waltz, but there really was not a lot of actual Waltzing in the routine. That was a good thing for Jakob, because he was terrific at all the lifts, but his actual footwork in the Waltz was not good. The up and down motion and the movement across the floor was not dynamic enough. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -8

20-year-old, Bianca (tap) and 20-year-old, Victor (contemporary) will be chorographed by Tyce DeOrio. We're going to church now. This is a southern revival "praise the Lord" kind of church. The dance starts out great from the beginning. However, the music becomes more dynamic in speed and intensity, and the dancers don't. They had good technique and they were entertaining, but they were truly not converted, and neither were we. This could have been a great routine and it was just okay. My Scores Bianca - 7 Victor - 8

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dumo. We're going to a repair shop now, and Kevin is the mechanic. Karen is the sexy customer that comes into the shop. Karen is performing this routine like she's done hip hop all her life. She's even giving Kevin a run for his money and he is a hip hop dude. Nevertheless, they're both hot. They had amazing chemistry and they got the story. This could be my favorite routine of the night. We'll see. My Scores: Karen - 10 Kevin - 10

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a Argentine Tango routine choreographed by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barraionuendo. There are a lot of very hard lifts in this routine. Ellenore could work a little harder at relating to Ryan as well as he relates to her, but to her credit, her dress catches on the high heel of her shoe at the very beginning of the routine. That had to be very distracting, but she kept going. She danced beautifully. They performed the lifts flawlessly. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 9

18-year-old Pauline (Jazz) and 21-year-old Peter (Tap) are dancing inside Van Gogh's "Starry Night" choreographed by Wade Robison. They are literally turning the strokes of genius into characters and movement. The music was great and the choreography was very original. Wade Robison's routines are sometimes controversial, only because sometimes his artistic impressions don't always show the dancer's full potential. Having said that, he is brilliant and his work is entertaining. I love his work. Pauline and Peter both did a wonderful job on this unique piece. They were completely committed to a character that was a little hard to understand. My Scores: Pauline - 10 Peter - 9

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a contemporary routine choreographed by Stacey Tookey. This was a powerful song "Two Steps Away" sung by Patti LaBelle. Watching this powerful routine, you would never know that Legacy was a Hip Hop dancer. He and Katherine danced this routine about "Fear" in a convincing, fearless manner. The execution was clean and the performance was done with total abandonment to the feelings and characters of this routine. My Score: Katherine - 10 Legacy -10

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Bollyoood routine. Imagine that Mollywood will be dancing Bollywood in Hollywood. Sorry, Mollee thought that was cute. Let's see if her dancing is as cute. Nakul Dev Mahajan is the choreographer in charge and he tells a story of a warrior going off to battle and a lover who isn't very happy with that. This routine starts out so beautifully with the backdrop of a yellow moon. It just continues to go uphill from there. These two dancers gave this routine everything they had. They were sharp and dynamic. It showed off their skill levels very well, especially Nathan's. It ends with the same beautiful backdrop. I loved all of it and Mollee continues to mature as a dancer. My Score: Mollee - 9 Nathan - 10

Favorites of the Night My three favorite routines of the night are Stacey Tookey's "Fear" routine, Tabitha & Napolean Dubo's "Mechanic Shop" routine, and Nakul Dev Mahahan's "Bollywood Warrior" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Karen, Catherine, and Pauline.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Kevin, Legacy, and Nathan.

Dancing For Their Lives The four who have to dance for their lives are Bianca, Noelle, Phillip and Victor.

First up is Noelle dancing for her life. Great choice of music and her dancing was moving. Powerful solo.

Second up is Victor, one of my personal favorites, dancing for his life. He too dance in a moving an powerful manner. He reminds me of Brandon from last season.

Third up is Bianca dancing for her life. Bianca is a awesome tap dancer, but she didn't come close to Noelle in my opinion.

Fourth up is Phillip dancing for his life. Again, Brandon is a great tap dancer, but it's hard for a tap dancer to move you with the same power and emotion as Victor did.

Judges Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe will make the decision this week. There will not be a vote from America. Evidently the judges felt the same way I did because we just lost two of the three tappers. Bianca and Phillip have been eliminated.

7th Week of "Dancing With The Stars" Season 9

Tonight's Show will garner new expectations for the seven remaining contestants. The first round of dancing will find our contestants dancing either the Foxtrot, the Quickstep, or the Samba. In the second round, they will be divided into two teams and compete one team against the other. They did that once last year, and it really wasn't that revealing. You can be on the winning team, but still be one of the worst dancers. This week will be another double elimination leaving only five couples for next week's competition.

One special note: Lacy Schwimmer caught the flu and is being replaced by Anna just for this week.

Aaron and Karina: Jive-Aaron is BACK! That was a high energy routine with footwork that is so hard and fast. His flicks were better than some of the professionals I've seen. His movement was controlled, but bigger than life. He was sharp, fast, and fun. I loved it. Even Len loved it. They had a colorful, pink purple look also, and it was as hot as the dance.
My Score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Mark and Lacey: Samba-Redheaded Anna is back filling for Lacey. I love watching her. This is a great routine, and despite what Mark has been through this week, he looks confident and is dancing very well. They put this together in 48 hours! The judges had mixed reviews for the performance, but I really enjoyed it.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 6,7,6 Average Score 6.3

Donny and Kym: Quickstep-The quickstep isn't my favorite ballroom dance, but I really liked this. Great choice of music. There were some mis-steps, but Donny covers them up well. The performance from a theatrical point of view was great, but there were clearly some errors. Their costuming was great, and Kym didn't hold back on degree of difficulty
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Mike and Anna: Foxtrot-Every week I expect Mike to go home, but he keeps surprising me. He gets better each week. I still think he has outlasted his actual talent. This week, he smiled, held true Foxtrot form very well, and actually performed some footwork. I'll be darned. Good for him. He also designed the costumes this week, and they were a beautiful burgandy dynamic duo.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,7 Average Score 7.6

Mya and Dmitry: Foxtrot-I don't know if Mya will ever catch a break from Len. I'm starting to think maybe it's Dmitry he doesn't like. which Mya doesn't control to a great degree. A lot of Len's remarks are about the choreography. I don't know, but it's starting to look like Len has something against this couple. Their outfits are purple pink and cream white. Again tonight Len goes after what he calls the "gimicky" parts of the choreography. Bruno, stuck up for her thank goodness. They had great flow and footwork in this routine. It won't be super memorable, but it was respectable.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,7,9 Average Score 8.3

Joanna and Derek: Rumba-The dance of love. Gold, white, and black costuming is out of this world gorgeous. Joanna is really hitting her stride. She struggled for a couple of weeks, but she looks like a pro tonight. The choreography isn't highly difficult, but Joanna knows how to do sultry and sexy. She has a balance issue on one of her poses, but overall did very well.
My score 8 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Salsa-In their practice session, Kelly states that this is the first time in her life that she can't talk her way out of this or dramatize her way out of it, although she gives it a good try. She knows she has to dance her way out of it and that will require discipline that Kelly has not been subject to before. Louie is gentle but firm with her. He is the epitome of a great teacher. He cares about his student, but doesn't let that blur his vision from expecting the best out of her. He gently pushes her over the cliff, so she can fly, the only problem is that she's afraid she'll fall. "Drama Queen" is the term that comes to mind. Having said that, I'm proud of Kelly. She's not giving up, even though she's afraid. Kelly starts out great, loses it in the middle of the dance, and finishes big. She still watches Louie a lot which makes her look unsure at times, but she did seem more confident and performed well tonight. She doesn't perform her movement big enough or sharp enough, but overall it was pretty good.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Aaron
2nd Place Ranking: Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Donny
4th Place Ranking: Mya
5th Place Ranking: Kelly

Round Two-Team Dance
Team Tango is Joanna, Donny, and Kelly
Team Paso is Mark, Aaron, Mya, and Mike

Team Paso takes the floor first-The black, red, and silver costuming has a great presence on stage. There are too many chefs in the kitchen. The choreographers should have had their you-know-what together before the team met. Competitors now become team mates. They are all depending on each other, because they're only as strong as their weakest link. Everyone did well in this performance. I think the two strongest were Mya and Aaron. Mike struggled and Mark was just okay.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Team Tango is next-black and red costuming. The choreographers worked better together than the last group. The team mates are sure of one thing. They don't want to be the weak link that brings the team score down. Donny and Kelly did a good job, but the strongest couple was clearly Joanna and Derek. I thought the choreography for this routine was much more dynamic than Team Paso.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,10 Average Score 9.3

This will help boost Donny and Kelly up the board, and solidify Joanna's lead.

As there was last week, there is a double elimination this week. The couple with the lowest overall score is eliminated immediately. The next two couples will participate in a dance off. Based on the dance off, the judges will determine which of the two couples will remain and which will go.

The bottom three couples are:
Aaron & Karina
Mike & Anna
Mark & Lacey (Lacey was absent for last night's show due to the flu)

Sidenote: Mark and Derek did more than dance tonight. They also sang a song from their first album. It's hard to dance and sing at the same time, but they did it quite well.

Getting back to the results:
Mike and Anna are sent packing.
Aaron & Mark will dance for their lives.

I choose Aaron as the winner of the Dance Off. The judges also chose Aaron!

Our Top Five Couples Left in the Competition for Season 9 are:
Donny and Kym
Mya and Dmitry
Aaron and Karina
Kelly and Louie
Joanna and Derek