SYTYCD - Week 5

This week the group was whittled down to the Top 10!

Ade and Melissa:
Doriana Sanchez Disco - Fast, but not nearly as frantic as most of the disco numbers on the show, which I liked. They looked like they were having fun and I thought the lifts and spins were great. Solid performance.
Ron Montez Waltz - Nice and pretty, but nothing terribly memorable.

Kupono and Kayla:
Mia Michaels Contemporary - Hands down, my favorite number of the night. I had chills through the whole routine and started to tear up at the end. The emotion and strength that was shown in the routine was amazing. I love how they completely became their characters from the get-go. Just amazing!
Joey Dowling Broadway - It was okay. I'm not sure that either of them really has the personality to pull off that type of Broadway routine, one that requires a big, fun stage presence. And Joey Dowling still scares the crap out of me.

Jason and Caitlin:
Tony Meredith Foxtrot - Well, they looked beautiful, but I wasn't buying the emotion and chemistry. Nice routine, but a bit stale for me.
Mandy Moore Contemporary - Beautiful choreography, great song, but I would have preferred to see someone else dancing this routine. I just don't buy the chemistry between Caitlin and Jason, which is quite sad. As far as strict execution of moves, they did well. But, there has to be that emotional connection for a piece to really come alive and I just don't think they have it.

Phillip and Jeanine:
Youri Nelzine Russian Folkdance - Oh dear. This was just a bit of train-wreck, wasn't it? I'm guessing the producers are kicking themselves for having this on the show, especially this week. Just a rough routine all around. Moving on.
Tony Meredith Jive - Things didn't get much better with this routine. Jeanine is a spitfire and I love watching her. Phillip, though, is fading fast. So very sad.

Evan and Randi:
NapTab Hip Hop - Hmmm. Well, I like the song choice and choreography, as I think it tried to play to the fact that Evan and Randi are about as far removed from being hip hop dancers as you can get. I think they danced it fairly well, but it was far from fabulous.
Pasha/Anya Samba - Oh boy. Awk-ward. This was pretty uncomfortable to watch. I was a bit surprised that they couldn't bring the sexy for this number, as they did a great job with Mia's The Butt piece earlier this season. Much as I like both of them, they're starting to fade a bit.

Brandon and Janette:
Miriam/Leonardo Argentine Tango - Holy Crap!! This was HOT!!! Brandon is a straight-up chameleon - he seamlessly becomes whatever the routine requires of him. And Janette has done a beautiful job of keeping up with him. Fabulous number!
Wade Robson Jazz - So quirky. So cool. Loved how wacky Wade can be and how Brandon and Janette really made this routine come alive. I think this is one that could have easily fallen flat had the dancers not given it their all. Obviously, this wasn't the case. One of my favorite routines of the night.

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Another great group routine by NappyTab. They are firing on all cylinders this season, seriously. I felt like they really wobbled back and forth between genious and What the hell were you thinking?, but this year I've really enjoyed all of their work. Two thumbs up!

I was surprised that Melissa and Ade were in the bottom, as I thought it should have been Randi and Evan instead, but the other two couples made sense to me. Jeanine still has the best solos out of all these contests, in my opinion. I think Caitlin going home made sense. As much as I think she is a beautiful dancer, she never seemed to really get it all figured out on the show. She started off so strong with Bollywood the first week, but I think she has been fading ever since. It's really too bad. For the guys, much as I love him and his crazy poppin' ways, Phillip just wasn't progressing as quickly as he should and was having more and more trouble keeping up with increasingly difficult choreography. But, I will say that I'm happy to hear both will be alternates for the tour. At least there is an upside to all of this.

One last note - I cannot tell you sad I was that they were not able to get the rights to MJ's songs to do a tribute episode. Like, so sad! Can you imagine the possiblities?! I mean, you have a group of incredibly talented choreographers on the show who really respect MJ and all he did for music and dance. You know they would have come out with both guns blazing for something like this. I'm incredibly disappointed that we won't be able to see what they would have produced. :(