SYTYCD Top 10

Bold prediction before anyone even dances: 3 girls in the bottom tomorrow. It takes them longer to develop a following, and this sped-up format won't allow anyone to find their legs. Pun TOTALLY intended.

Marginally better intro - the camera style tonight seems to be "half her body, then full body shot, then garbled shot of the next dancer running up to take her spot". None of the dancing intros were that spectacular anyway. Most notable - Melinda wore horrid high-waist shorts. NO. Plus Robert needs to stop making goofy faces. He is too handsome to be that goofy - it just comes off as weird.

Instead of wasting all that time showing each and every person drawing all-star names out of a hat, how 'bout just giving us a dance routine with the left-over dancers? Because a Twitch and Neil number would be pretty kick-ass.

Cristina, Paso Doble: OK, now I think I see the difference between salsa and ballroom. Salsa is bent, and curvy, and in constant motion. Ballroom is straight, and has excellent posture, and requires effortless precision. Cristina is a salsa dancer, and not ready for the Paso Doble.

Adechike, Contemporary: Oh no, Mandy Moore, how is he supposed to smile when this crappy song is playing?? The smiling just made him look insane. I was too distracted by the shittiness of the song choice to even notice the dancing. So I guess it had lots of extensions and fluidity.

Alex, Broadway: See, now THIS guy was ready to do Paso Doble. But the jazzy Broadway wasn't his element - he's too precise, and too elongated. Yeah, he hit everything, but there was nothing dirty about it. And it should've been at least a leeeeetle bit dirty.

Ashley, Jazz: WOW. That was STELLAR. Granted, it's her wheel house, but she was terrific. Very quick, and fluid, and pretty, and fun. Oh wait - it was jazz, not contemporary. But Nigel was right - it wasn't jazz, anyway.

Billy, Crump: Well, no surprises there. It certainly could've been a lot worse, but it also didn't look like it came naturally. Some of the twists and jumps were actually really cool, and I think he had a good understanding of the physicality of the dance. He just ain't buck.

Robert, Argentine Tango: Well, he's a very pretty tango frame. But his flicks seemed to end too soon, and he wasn't as quick as the dance demanded.

Melinda, Contemporary: The word that kept coming to mind was "flat-footed". Which is weird, because she DID point her toes and all, so maybe it was just... flat.

Jose, Bollywood: The DVR has been on pause while I got distracted by a hundred other things, bc I am looking forward to this roughly... not at all. OK, pressing play and... you know what b-boy would've killed this? Legacy. Sigh. This kid is no Legacy. BUT - he was game, and I was actually rather impressed that he never looked LOST. Not as bad as I'd feared, and actually fun to watch. Y'know, if he hadn't compared himself to Legacy off the bat I might've been able to warm up to him quicker, bc he was pretty cute.

Lauren, Lyrical Hip-Hop: Well that wasn't very lyrical at all. I thought it was choppy, and didn't go as far as it could have with the story. It was too much set-up, and not enough delivery.

Kent, Jazz: Surprisingly awesome - he packs a lot more power than I had originally thought, and pulled off masculine better than I expected. Oddly enough, may have been my favorite this evening, even though it was a Tyce Joykiller DiOrio number.

Bottom 3: Cristina, Melinda, and... Adechike. Even though I did predict 3 girls, I think Ashley's number was really great, and people will respond to Lauren's dramatic talent (and it was late in the show).

The All-Stars were still SO much better than the contestants that it was often distracting.