Following their debut performances last week, the top ten dancers of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE season 14 had one last chance to dance before facing the season’s first live elimination. Each contestant performed twice: a solo in their own style and a duet, along with their all-stars, in whichever style the SYTYCD gods decided to force on them. At the end of the night, Cat Deeley revealed the bottom three based on last week’s results, leaving the judges to make the final, difficult choice of which dancer to send packing.
Check out our SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE recap to find out all about tonight’s performance and, perhaps more importantly, who won’t be performing again next week.
Intros, group dances, and all that jazz disco.
Given the great level of talent on this season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, the opening group dances are going to have to be better than tonight’s disco number.
Were the costumes great? Absolutely. Was the choreography? More or less. Was the whole thing a lot of fun? Sure, sure.
But the dancing? It felt sluggish. Quite frankly, that was a major disappointment — especially with the all-stars up there.
But Cat Deeley made the evening’s opening moments entertaining again by reminding everyone that the hot tamale train was back in the station: “If you haven’t heard she’s back, you just might want to get your ears checked.”
Girl, we’ve heard. We’ve. Heard. (And we need to get our ears checked.)
The first performance of the night came courtesy of Mark Villaver and Comfort Fedoke.
Comfort Fedoke, jazz, Ray Leeper. Once upon a time, those words, when put together, would’ve been a nightmare combination.
Not anymore.
I don’t know what kind of transformation Comfort has gone through since her days as a SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE contestant? But I’m here for it. The girl who was once quite familiar with being in the bottom three has no reason to fear that awful position right now
And neither does her partner.
Mark and Comfort had great chemistry and style in a jazz number that was, thankfully, actually jazz. Could the dancers have been sharper a few places? Totally. But did they do really well, just the same? Yep.
Judges’ comments. Vanessa Hudgens liked seeing “a bit more intensity” from Mark, rather than his usual, goofy personality. For Mary Murphy, there was “no hate — but love — here.”
Nigel Lythgoe was impressed by Mark’s focus and sharpness. But (like me!) he also had to take a moment to compliment Comfort for getting “stronger and stronger every season” before discussing this season’s contestant.
…and then it got very weird. Like, you know that thing that Nigel and Mary do? They kind of did that, but it also involved Mark Villaver thrusting his pelvis to show how excited he was to be a part of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE season 14.
Guys, help.
Up next, SYTYCD featured back-to-back solos by Koine Iwasaki and Logan Hernandez.
Both dancers showed off some unique, dynamic movement. Koine’s solo had some really nice highlights, like the slide across the floor and the articulation in her feet during an accented moment in her music.
But since nobody’s perfect, Logan and Koine also have some areas of technique that they could stand to work on. For Koine, it’s all about relaxing the shoulders.
And Logan…Did those scrunchy toes really come from the same studio that created Ricky Ubeda? Honestly? Let’s just hope the problem was isolated to a single episode of SYTYCD.
The evening’s second duet was an Argentine Tango from Lex Ishimoto and Gaby Diaz.
“This is the week that Lex becomes a man, even though he’s still wearing a ponytail.” Um. Can we not? Especially in the dance world, where outsiders already stereotype the men as “girly?”
Great. Now that we’ve moved beyond that little wrinkle, let’s talk about the actual performance.
There was a very big disconnect between the level of character that Gaby showed and the sort of wall that I felt Lex place between himself and his partner. Compared with Comfort and Mark’s chemistry, this performance was ice cold. Gaby, all weird pre-performance commentary aside, was putting forth all of the steam that the piece needed.
Unfortunately, the old saying about it taking two to tango is one hundred percent factual. And this tango only seemed to have one.
Judges’ comments. Mary thought there were “some awkward moments in there,” but she also talked about what a “hot, sexy” night viewers were in store for.
Nigel drew more attention to himself and Mary, as if the whole pelvic thrust via Mark didn’t make tonight’s episode of SYTYCD weird enough. After saying that any couples having trouble should do the tango together, Nigel turned to Mary and asked if she wanted to teach him how to tango.
So you think you can explain this judges’ panel?
Vanessa was kind enough to bring the commentary back to the shiny dancing: “You were shining up there. I love watching you dance.”
The next soloist was Taylor Sieve.
I’m just going to copy my notes word for word on this one.
Beautiful control. And we get it: You have great extension. But I want more. Now, let’s all hop on the Youtube and find some better solos from Taylor.
And then Kiki and Jenna attempted a Luther Brown hip hop number.
Dance gods, help us all. No, really. Luther himself even prayed to “our lords to send down the swag.”
Meanwhile, Jenna and Kiki thought they were going to be “the two coolest ballroom dancers doing the hoodest hip hop,” and Jenna said Kiki’s shot at redeeming himself in hip hop was going to be “lit.”
Girl, no.
The whole thing just needed to be stronger. Was Kiki better here than in his Academy hip hop fail? Yes…but that’s not exactly a high standard to set.
Judges’ comments. They all liked it, I guess?
Nigel “Money” Lythgoe (he was on a $100 bill, ok?) admitted to being surprised the all-stars kept Kiki because his showing at The Academy was “that bad.” But, somehow, he felt like Luther Brown’s prayers were answered here. He even asked Jenna if there was anything she wasn’t good at.
To which I say: Ummm, that?
Nigel wasn’t alone in his praise, though, so his words of encouragement weren’t caused by his money status. Vanessa Hudgens said it was lit, just like a youth would, and Mary called the duet “a game changer.”
Mary, honey, why?
Kaylee Mills’ solo was the perfect palate cleanser to follow Kiki’s “lit” hip hop.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you show off control without doing the same, stale extensions we’ve all seen a million times. The feet, on the other hand…Sigh.
Sydney Tormey and Paul Karmiryan were totally out of their element in contemporary. Somehow, though, it worked.
What an beautiful concept from Jaci Royal.
Sydney was actually excited to get contemporary, and she seemed to really connect with Jaci’s story about leaving behind the people you love to pursue your dreams. What Sydney managed to do, in terms of breath and suspension — and even stretched feet! — was impressive.
The performance lacked a certain connection between the partners, though. I feel like, given several more weeks of working together, Paul and Sydney would have made this into one of those SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE classics. As it was, the piece was beautiful; and both dancers had their own, individual moments.
The problem was that they were individual moments.
There was a certain sense of longing, of having to lose each other, that the partners just weren’t yet ready to attack. Should these two dancers last in this year’s competition for more than just a week or two, though, I’ve no doubt that their partnership will advance to the point where it could come back and revisit Jaci Royal’s choreography (finale night?) and absolutely kill it.
Judges’ comments. Vanessa loved seeing Sydney as a contemporary dancer, saying she really delivered on “such moments of stillness and silence that were really beautiful and super strong.”
Mary agreed: “It was sweet. It was tender. There was a freedom about the way that you moved, Sydney, that was just gorgeous.”
Nigel wasn’t about to be the odd man out here. He pointed out some of his favorite steps before reminding everyone of one of the best parts about being a dancer: “There’s nothing better than dance to put across emotions that you can’t talk about.”
Add it to the collection of dance quotes on my grave, folks.
Robert Green and Dassy both showed off their solos before the next duet.
Just like Cat Deeley said, Dassy was “here to pop her way into our hearts.” And Robert? His performance style is absolutely, without a doubt, the most fun SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE has had in a long time.
Logan Hernandez finally had the opportunity to dance with his all-star, Allison Holker. Bonus: The pair was graced with choreography from Brian, “we’re doing jazz, not contemporary,” Friedman.
Real jazz, twice in one night? Hashtag, so blessed.
The concept was totally bizarre — a blind date that involved actually blinding the participants — but it was so unbelievably good.
Logan did a great job here, but his partner totally out-danced him. There’s a certain style of movement that has to happen in order for a dancer to really nail Brian Friedman’s choreography, and Allison’s just got it. With that being said, Logan Hernandez isn’t the first talented dancer to be overshadowed by Allison; and he definitely won’t be the last.
I’m still very confused by Logan’s feet, though.
Judges’ comments. Mary loved having Brian back (dude had better be like “same” out in that audience); and she gushed over Logan like only Mary Murphy can, calling him “a truly gifted, gifted young man.”
Nigel complimented Logan for diving forward into a side split, so Mary said Logan learned it from Nigel.
Me: “???????”
Oh, and there was also something about Woody Woodpecker in there. Youths can’t relate. He was a cartoon bird, kiddos. It was lit.
Vanessa was, yet again, in the awkward position of having to stop Nigel and Mary. This time, she did it by talking about how much she was blown away by Logan’s unique movement and strength.
Shine away, Logan. Shine. Away.
Just before the break, the Lethal Ladies of Baltimore hit the stage.
Everyone, please go see STEP. What an inspiring group of young ladies.
…but why did we need to water down their performance by adding the all-stars? We get it, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Your dancers can do just about anything. It doesn’t mean that they always have to show it.
Also: He’s amazing in his own style and all, but I’d be quite happy to never see Paul attempt stepping ever again. Just like I’d never want to see myself attempting it. (But if Blessin Giraldo wants to give me a call and teach me something, I’m down. Just don’t show it to anyone.)
Still with us? Click through to check on the last five duets and solos, as well as tonight’s big elimination!
Hour number two featured Lex Ishimoto’s solo.
The flow of this guy’s movement just can’t be taught. He transitions from one step to another so seamlessly and organically, but nothing about what Lex does seems natural for other dancers.
After a rocky contemporary performance with partner Kaylee Mills in the first SYTCYD season 14 live show, Cyrus Spencer was gifted with a hip hop number from Phoenix and Pharside.
Notes taken: Alieums! This is nuts. NUTS.
That about sums it up.
Judges’ comments. Nigel thought Kaylee was “too restricted and contained” in her previous week’s performance, but she wasn’t this time around. His advice? “Stay unique. I don’t know what happened to Impavido last week, but you’re back this week.
Same.
Vanessa was totally here for Kaylee’s high level of performance quality, and Mary said any doubts she might have had about this dancer were gone now.
If Cyrus and Kaylee were weak in week one, Robert Roldan and Taylor Sieve were the exact opposite. So, going into their second performance, a Broadway number from Al Blackstone, this couple had a reputation to uphold.
And they did.
Al Blackstone didn’t have to tell the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE audience that he’d choreographed a piece inspired by film noir: These two dancers embodied that classic sense of style far too well for their duet to have been anything but.
Judges’ comments. Vanessa Hudgens said Taylor Sieve was very good at making her cry, and she thanked Al Blackstone for bringing the classics to SYTYCD. She said the piece took her back to when she used to watch old theatre and experience a “magical quality of life where it seems like anything can happen.”
Mary Murphy simply didn’t want the performance to end, and she commented on how powerful some of the moments of “monumental stillness” were.
(See also: Stillness is just important in dance as movement — as long as it’s done with intent.)
Nigel Lythgoe, while not given a chance to be Tap Fanboy Nigel this evening, still managed to let his inner lover of all things dance out. He talked about his own choreography for ON THE TOWN and pointed out all of the “brilliant” detail work — like stillness, contractions, and soft hands — that Taylor and Robert brought to life on stage.
And forget about just being a fan of dance in general. Nigel is, without a doubt, a fan of Taylor Sieve and Robert Roldan: “You were excellent last week. You’re excellent again this week. You’re the couple to beat. I can see that.”
Sydney Tormey’s solo managed to be beautiful and engaging, even in a style that usually dictates the need for a partner.
That, dear readers, is no small feat. Especially when it follows an act like Taylor and Robert’s.
Koine Iwasaki and Marko Germar were next up. Unlike last week’s contemporary duet, their African jazz performance was “definitely not a love story. Definitely not.”
Sorry, Nigel. No shipping tonight.
What an amazing, animalistic piece. It was another case of not needing a SYTYCD choreographer to tell the audience what he was trying to accomplish. Anyone watching Marko and Koine had to see the insects that inspired Sean Cheesman’s work wriggling and jiggling all over the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE stage. Wow.
Judges’ comments. Nigel was the first to critique the performance, and he spent a few seconds pointing out some of the intricate moves before getting to the heart of the matter. This piece featured the blending of many types of people, from the dance style to the choreographer and from the dancers to the musician.
As Nigel said, “it just shows you how music and dance can unite the world.”
What an important message at a time like this.
Vanessa also enjoyed the piece, even if she didn’t have any big statement to make about it. And Mary said it was one of her favorites of the whole night.
Mark Villaver’s solo in one word: Nuance.
In a few extra words, let’s just take a moment to appreciate the transitions and musicality that connected all of his tricks. Got it? Good.
Robert Green and Jasmine Harper performed a contemporary duet, courtesy of Stacey Tookey.
Robert is not at all trained in this style, but it was far less obvious than expected. In fact, his lack of technique kind of worked at creating a rawness, in some places, that might not have been possible — or at least would have been more difficult — for a dancer who was more at home in the style.
Dance, like any art, is open to interpretation. Personally, I felt something from Robert the second he started to move onto the SYTYCD stage. The judges, on the other hand, didn’t all agree.
And that’s ok.
Judges’ comments. Nasty Nigel came out to play, saying he “didn’t quite feel” Robert’s emotions here. (Spoiler alert: I just wanted an excuse to use the Nasty Nigel name. It really is totally fine to feel something different or, in this case, nothing at all.)
Vanessa disagreed, saying, “well, my heart hurts. So, that means you did something to me.” But when Vanessa mentioned Robert’s strength when holding Jasmine upside down, Nigel had to pop in to say something about Mary being held upside down.
New head canon: Nigel and Mary were the inspiration behind STRANGER THINGS. Just go with it.
At any rate, Mary played kind of a middle-of-the-road opinion here. She thought Robert did make a connection, but he was still going to have to “fight hard and grow.”
Hold that thought.
Kiki was the final soloist of the night…
Notes: “IDK. Someone ask Mary.”
..and the last duet was Fik-Shun and Dassy’s Bollywood.
Dassy showed great character work here, thus backing up her “I always wanted to do sexy” line from the pre-performance package.
But. Um.
Guys, there was a fall. Or a drop. However you want to call it, it was a big mistake.
Judges’ comments. Vanessa Hudgens loves Bollywood, and the style makes Mary Murphy happy.
Ok, Mary, we need to talk about the whole, “it was like a walk in the park for you” line. Did you mean it was a walk in the park where Fik-Shun tried to maneuver Dassy around a root, and she tripped over it anyway???
Or did you mean something that didn’t make sense.
Also, what happened to Nasty Nigel? He said this performance was “a great way to end the night,” and I’m like…Guys. Yes, the pair recovered extremely well after that mistake. But it was a still a very noticeable mistake.
Nobody wants the last performance of the night to have that.
Besides, the actual ending for the night was the elimination. Does anybody ever enjoy ending on that?!
After week one, the bottom three dancers were Logan Hernandez, Sydney Tormey, and Robert Green.
After much debate, the judges could all agree on one thing: keeping Logan safe. They were not, however, unanimous when deciding which dancer to send home. But, through some debate or another, Robert Green became SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE season 14’s first elimination.
Insert that gif of a speechless Richard Castle here.
Did America get the bottom three right? Did the judges send the right dancer home?
Sound off in the comments, and stay tuned for the next episode of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on FOX, airing Monday, August 21 at 8/7c to see if your remaining favorites will make the top 8.