SYTYCD Season 10 Top 6 Recap + Top 4 Finalists Revealed

It's the Guyliner

Finally, and to lots of shock, the Top 4 finalists are revealed.

We open with a Sean Cheesman African-Jazz-inspired piece. I love seeing the more West-African-inspired pieces on the show. The white costumes were a bit of a strange choice for me, but this was a great opportunity to again see how the 6 fare in a totally different genre. I've trained a little bit in West African, and, as many people know, the fluidity and organic movement of the limbs are probably the most important in this genre. Amy definitely nailed this one, but the other two girls weren't far behind. Paul was the strongest (which was surprising, because Latin Ballroom is probably the direct opposite from West African), with Fik-Shun following, and then Aaron. I just couldn't keep my eyes off Aaron in this piece, and unfortunately it's not a good thing. He was stiff and had his shoulders raised THE ENTIRE TIME.

Oh, and just to clear something up- there was no voting at all last night because there are two more episodes. Next week's episode will feature the Top 4 dancing routines, with that night's voting deciding who wins. The week after that is the finale, where we will see the best routines danced of the season again, and where we'll see who wins.

I'm going to keep my recap/review short because I have a lot to talk about at the end...

1. Paul and All-Star Kathryn McCormick - Tyce Diorio
JAZZ

A very ballroom-infused jazz number. Danced well, but kind of boring choreography that is easily forgotten. Nice to see Kathryn McCormick on the stage once again, though.







2. Amy's Solo
I love Amy to death, but I find her solos a bit dramatic for my taste. Gorgeous costume choice, though, and those pirouettes were super impressive.

3. Hayley and All-Star Joshua Allen - NappyTabs
HIP HOP

LOVED this number so much. Tonight was actually my favourite night of Hayley's, and I actually have started really liking her. It was wonderful to see Season 4 champ Joshua again, and he and Hayley absolutely nailed it. The concept was fun, the choreography was wonderful, and Hayley proved her versatility and her ability to do Hip Hop extremely well, after her Chris Scott Hip Hop dud.


4. Fik-Shun's Solo
Again, Fik-Shun proved his worth as a wonderful performer and entertainer. Definitely funnest solo of the night, and he comes up with some really, really creative stuff. The part where he bent all the way down to the floor and came back up was mind-blowing.

5. Aaron and All-Star Melanie Moore - Spencer Liff
BROADWAY

It was kind of neat for Spencer Liff to insert some talking and conversation in this piece. Melanie is absolute magic. At one point, Aaron dropped Melanie to the floor and had trouble getting her back up again, which is kind of scary at Top 6, but since this week is basically useless in the scheme of things it won't impact him too much. Again, his shoulders come to play and are raised a lot of the time.


6. Jasmine's Solo
Such a stunning solo, and Jasmine has the ability to really stand out from the sea of contemporary girls this show has seen. The music choice (a jazzed-up version of Amazing Grace), I feel like we've seen before, but nonetheless Jasmine really knows how to choreograph herself.

7. Paul's Solo
As far as Ballroom solos go, this one was pretty entertaining. He added that parallel-to-the-floor twisty turn that's become his signature aerial trick since he and Makenzie's Sean Cheesman jazz routine where it was originally added.

8. Fik-Shun and All-Star Witney Carson - No idea who the choreographer was, sorry
FOXTROT

This choreographer went for the entertainment value in this foxtrot, and I'm not sure it paid off in the judges' eyes. Mary said Fik-Shun had some technical issues, and his shoulders did seem a bit raised in this, but overall it wasn't a bad Foxtrot. I've never really been a fan of Witney, and this routine kind of solidified that for me unfortunately. Sorry.



9. Hayley's Solo
Not much to say. Pretty contemporary piece.

10. Jasmine and All-Star Neil Haskell - Tyce Diorio
Billed as JAZZ

The reason I put the genre down as "billed as Jazz" is because this was really a contemporary piece, if you're going by the show's guidelines. It was really pretty, especially with the pieces of paper and the wind machine blowing them around, and Neil Haskell is just perfection, but it wasn't standing-ovation-worthy for me. As tall as Jasmine is, Neil seemed to have zero issue partnering her as well. The problem with socially-aware pieces (this one was about natural disasters), is that they kind of have to be talked up as WONDERFUL even though the choreography wasn't stellar. Pretty piece, greatly danced, interesting issue, but not one of the greats.

11. Aaron's Solo
Great opportunity to see Aaron in what he is good at, and Tap is obviously his best genre by far. Fun to see some really fantastic tapping this far in the competition. I love Aaron as a tapper, I just don't really feel him in other genres. You feel me?

12. Amy and All-Star Alex Wong - Nakul Dev Mahajan
BOLLYWOOD

Love seeing bollywood, and this was one of the most intensive ones I've seen in a long time. Amy and Alex are both beasts, so this was, of course, a success. Besides including one of the strangest kisses I've seen in a routine in a long time, it was fun and upbeat and they never seemed to lose steam.




13. Hayley and Paul - Dee Caspary
CONTEMPORARY

Definitely my favourite of the night. Dee's style is absolutely stunning - the costumes he always chooses seem to be kind of old-fashioned in neutral colours, and I love it. The song choice (a "500 miles" cover by Sleeping At Last, which seems to be a contemporary-favourite for band choice for this show) was so gorgeous, and Hayley and Paul's chemistry was absolutely spot-on. It's the only routine I've watched multiple times since the end of last night's show.

The thing I love most about Dee's style is his no-frills attitude. If there's any prop, it's simple and minimalistic, like a lightbulb or a ladder. And again, I kind of started to love Hayley and continued to do so with Paul. Nigel's comment about how he didn't like the point-to-flex in the feet was so unfair, because it was completely Dee's decision, and had nothing to do with critiquing either Paul or Hayley. And in any case, I kind of love flexed feet in contemporary.

14. Amy and Fik-Shun - Dave Scott
HIP HOP

Wonderful piece by Dave Scott. Amy and Fik-Shun killed it, especially because this was right up Fik-Shun's alley. I absolutely love the pieces Dave Scott has choreographed for the show so far.






15. Jasmine and Aaron - Sean Cheesman
BROADWAY

I'm gonna come straight up and say that I didn't like this piece whatsoever. Besides the beginning, neat trick in the mirror with Aaron covering Jasmine's reflection and then revealing it again, the entire piece felt disjointed. Sean's storyline about Jasmine being super vain and Aaron falling in love with her was nowhere to be found besides the very beginning. And I definitely don't think it was worth a standing ovation.

Anyways, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (this week's guest judge, and my all-time favourite), admitted to having a crush on Aaron, to which Cat replied "It's the guyliner. It's the guyliner." And there is this week's alternate title.



Alright, let's get down to business. The SYTYCD Season 10 Top 4 are; Amy, Jasmine, Aaron and Fik-Shun.

Which surprised almost everybody, because as adorable, entertaining and unique as Aaron is, he just doesn't compare to Paul's versatility and immense talent. Of the three guys, they actually revealed Aaron as the first finalist, and just by looking at Fik-Shun, you could tell that Fik-Shun thought he was going for sure, and that Paul would go through. It was supa cute too when Paul was saying "Congratulations, congratulations," and Fik-Shun was saying "You're amazing, you're amazing." #fikaul

I've raved about Paul enough in my other posts, so let's move on to Hayley.

Hayley, before these last couple weeks, had never really stood out to me as a threat to the other competitors. However, my opinion on her has done a complete 360. After her rumba with Dmitry, her Hip Hop with Joshua, and her contemporary with Paul, I now really wish she made it to Top 4. She has been thrown the hardest pieces. Here's an e-mail I got yesterday about Hayley;

I think your predictions may be incorrect.  Hayley has been called the Dark Horse of the season and has impeccable technique.  She is an incredible dancer and has been blessed with the gift of dance and remarkable beauty.  However, you nailed one thing on the head.  Amy has not been given a Dud routine yet.  Neither has Jasmine.  They have both been given their styles repetitively.  Even Nigel commented on that with Amy and Fik-shun.  However, the same can not be said for Hayley.  Although she has been absolutely stunning and amazing, she is the only girl that has received 3 ballroom dances.  She has excelled in all three.  She has actually excelled in all they have given her.  She also was given a DUD routine from Christopher Scott, the hip-hop.  Let's face it, that routine was not challenging enough for either of them and was not exciting.  This is through no fault of theirs.  I would not be surprised if the show intentionally did that to make it an even playing field as she was excelling far above and beyond, even without the judges giving her all the respect she deserves.  Nor has Hayley been given a heart touching contemporary!  She would blow it out of the water with one!

After yesterday's performances, I completely agree with your e-mail. I don't think the producers would purposely ask Chris Scott to dumb down the Hip Hop choreography he did Top 10 week (as I think you're insinuating?), however, I absolutely believe that this show, purposely or not, creates an uneven playing field within the competitors, especially because of either the huge amount or the huge lack of airtime these competitors received before Top 20. And although they show the pairs getting envelopes with the style they're getting, I have no idea whether it's actually a "draw" and completely random who gets what, or if the producers simply hand them the envelopes and choose the genres for the pairs every week.

Continuation of the e-mail;

I predict Hayley and Aaron.  The two black horses of the season.  I believe Hayley is the strongest dancer technically and has an amazing grace to her.  Paul is the strongest male, but the audience has connected to Aaron.  Fik-shun should have been gone before Nico, but he is charismatic.  Although they are all great, those are my opinions.  :)

That's funny, a lot of people have actually guessed Aaron as the winner. Personally, I hope this isn't the case because although he is a fantastic performer, I think Amy and Jasmine are stronger. I guess only time will tell.

What do you think about the Top 4 chosen? What genres do you hope the finalists will be given? Do you agree with the choice of finalists? Leave a comment down below or shoot me an e-mail; sytycdfansblog@gmail.com .

All performance photos from www.fox.com/dance/