SYTYCD

Air Date: 7/15/09

Tonight, all of the couples that we have grown to know and love split up, and everyone gets new partners. This is when we find out who really are fantastic dancers and who were really being helped by their partnerships. This is also when we start voting on the dancers as individuals rather than as couples. The participants will all be dancing a duet, a group dance, and a solo.

Tonight's guest judge is Debbie Allen. I have liked her for years. Cat looks quite nice tonight, but I do tend to like her outfits better when they aren't strapless. Great color, though.

Girl's Group Dance: The top five girls danced a Bollywood routine. Honestly, no matter how much it pains me to say this, I thought Melissa was the weakest of the group. Not by much, mind you, but her movements just didn't seem as sharp and precise yet fluid as the others. This was overall a very fun number, with some excellent dancing and solid choreography.

Kayla and Evan: Pairing up the tallest girl with the shortest guy... this could be trouble. The couple performed a Tony Meredith Viennese Waltz. Fantastic song (Duff- This dance has nothing to do with Batman.) Gorgeous dress on Kayla, and the height difference didn't seem to cause any problems, but they did also have an ingenious solution to that problem. Also, during the rehearsal footage, seeing Evan dancing in heels was hilarious. I'm sure Mary's points were valid about the technique, but it was a very beautiful routine.

Brandon's solo: What can I say. He is just amazing. He's so good at everything kind of dance, I sometimes forget that he's actually a contemporary dancer. I really felt his passion for dancing through his solo.

Janette and Ade: The couple performed a Tabitha and Napoleon hip-hop number. I thought they inhabited their characters well. Parts of it seemed out of sync, but it could also just have been that Ade was more funky. He seemed more like a hip-hop dancer and really got down with it. Janette seemed to bring more of a traditional hip-hop style to the routine, and I think that's what the choreographers wanted. And incorporating the pick was perfect for Ade.

Randi's solo: Pretty, but I feel like I've seen most of this routine from her before.

Kupono's solo: I think that was one of the best solos I've ever seen from him. Regardless, it was so much better than the past several weeks. Much better music choice with much more dynamic dancing.

Jeanine and Jason: The couple performed the first Travis Wall contemporary number on this show. Travis is known as one of the final four in Season 2. Beautiful number, beautifully danced. Even the judges gave them a standing ovation. And I could see Travis all over that number. What is amazing was that he brought movements made known by him when he competed on this show to two other dancers. The chemistry that this routine needed was there, the passion was there, and the final kiss was amazing. It was sad to see Caitlin and Phillip leave last week, but these two look like they were made for each other. It seems that these two were really held back by their partners.

Melissa's solo: Beautiful. However, it wasn't as dynamic as some of the other solos we've seen tonight, and I thought the music kind of overpowered the dancing.

Evan's solo: Straight out of the classic Hollywood dance movies. It is great having a Broadway dancer on the show this season. It is just pure entertainment.

Kayla's solo: Very pretty, but it feels like she dances the same solo every time.

Randi and Kupono: This couple performed a Tony Meredith Paso Doble. With the hair extensions, I barely recognized Randi. I think this was the weakest routine we've seen tonight. The transitions weren't smooth, the dancing was awkward, and it just wasn't the best Paso Doble we've seen on this show. The passion wasn't there, the power wasn't there, and it was just poorly danced in general. I actually thought that Randi struggled more than Kupono, even though I agree with the judges that Kupono didn't portray the strength necessary for this type of dance. Maybe it was nervousness, but I'd worry if I were these two.

Ade's solo: He should always go shirtless, especially when dancing to Unchained Melody. I just love watching him move. Maybe not my favorite solo of the night, but well done nonetheless.

Jeanine's solo: For a girl's solo tonight, I thought that was very dynamic. Many of the girl solos, particularly those of contemporary dancers, tend to blend together for me. The music was an interesting choice and I think it worked well. I felt like she incorporated some of the ballroom that she has been learning into her own style to make it more hard-hitting, staccato, and interesting. The costume was gorgeous on her. She is having an absolutely great week.

Jason's solo: Very unique. I thought his costume was very era appropriate for the selected music. Most people would not have chosen to dance to Muddy Waters. I also thought that the hat was well-used as a prop.

Melissa and Brandon: I didn't realize just how short Brandon is. This couple performed a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine from the musical Hair. These two are still in my top four after this routine. Very interesting and unique number for a broadway routine on this show. It seemed much more like a contemporary or jazz routine than broadway, but that's more the music choice than anything else. The choreography was totally appropriate for this song, and beautifully danced. Tyce put these two into some very interesting positions, particularly in the lifts. Wonderfully done.

Janette's solo: Because of how good she is in all the other styles, you forget that she's a salsa dancer. This solo made me remember why she was selected, and showed off just how overtly sexy she is. And you will always remember she's from Miami.

Guy's group number: The guys performed an African dance number. Just hearing what style of dance this was, I was afraid for Evan, being the only (very) white guy in the group. Yes, Evan struggled a bit, but what bothered me more was that he kind of played it off jokingly. Maybe it was OK with the choreographer, but it seemed out of place to me. It just seemed wrong for this routine. Brandon and Ade seemed to get into it the most, but as a group I thought the guys did well.

The guys all really turned up the heat with their solos. Most of the girl solos blended together to me. Based on overall dancing tonight, not counting previous weeks, I would be sending Randi and Kupono home. No matter what, we have become attached to all of these dancers, so it will be hard every week to see two more go.

10 words or less: The bottom two really stood out to me tonight.