So, chronologically, here is the partner reveal and top 20 recap;
1. Mariah/Carlos - Jason Gilkison
JIVE
Poor Mariah and Carlos had super rotten luck this week. They pulled a ballroom number and pulled the show opener... Ouch. Regardless, their jive was not terrible, it was super-high energy and their costumes were fun, and jive is sort of a lesser evil when it comes to ballroom on this show. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up in the bottom next week because of their chronological placing on the show and the critiquing from the judges. If worst comes to worst, I think they'll save Mariah, because she's showed to be super impressive so far and they haven't had a really good girl Hip-Hop/Krumper since Comfort.
2. Jasmine M./Alan - Travis Wall
CONTEMPORARY
I'll be the first to admit that Alan hadn't left an enormous positive impression on me during Vegas week; however in the group round Nigel said the same thing and that he was pleasantly surprised at his showing in the group routine. Dark horse this season? Maybe. This Travis Wall routine was absolutely stunning; it was my favourite of the night for sure. Jasmine's quality of movement in this piece was absolutely breathtaking- especially the first couple eight counts or so were just especially beautiful. The music, the premise, the added obstacle of the blindfolds were all brilliant. The couple have incredible chemistry and this piece has done them extraordinary favours in the competition already - if they had been chronologically placed where Amy and Fik-Shun were, a.k.a the end, they would have gotten a standing ovation. The song it was choreographed to by Ingrid Michaelson almost makes me cry on its own; if you're interested, it's Can't Help Falling In Love (Live at Daytrotter). Just beautiful.
3. Malece/Jade - Travis Wall
JAZZ
First of all, since when has Travis choreographed Jazz? Whatever. The premise was a little strange for me; I usually prefer routines that have less specific stories to them, but it worked. This one was that Malece and Jade were both 20s-era-ish movie stars, who starred in the same movie, and Malece got a better review than Jade had gotten. Malece could easily pull off the Daisy Buchanan-20s siren look, and Jade was a good support and partner to her. Jade comes off as a little cocky to me right now, but regardless he's a good partner. Not sure how memorable it was, but it certainly didn't hurt the couple.
4. Jenna/Tucker - Tyce Diorio
BROADWAY
Tyce's Broadway numbers all kind of blend together for me, and honestly, not sure if this one will stick out. Tucker and Jenna are both incredibly talented, and this was definitely a smart pairing. Their characterization was believable (especially Tucker's nerdy character) and the Broadway exaggeration and dancing style was spot-on, but just not sure how people will vote for this routine in the grand scheme of tonight's show.
5. Brittany/BluPrint - Sean Cheesman
AFRO JAZZ
Is African Jazz the only thing Sean Cheesman choreographs for SYTYCD nowadays? Not sure how culturally accurate these routines are, but Brittany and BluPrint definitely pulled it off. BluPrint especially was just really getting into this routine. Holy god, if he can continue dancing so well in other styles, he might make it as far as Cyrus got. The pair were perfectly synchronized and kept the same amount of energy throughout. Hopefully it's enough to keep them safe another week.
Okay, bit of a rant here - what the actual %^&# was Nigel talking about when he was critiquing BluPrint? Rambling something about how his ethnicity doesn't make this any easier for him or something - guess what, Nigel, we don't all think that way. "People should know you weren't born in a jungle, hah!" (or something to that effect...) WHAT?! By trying to show how anti-racist he could be, that remark basically just came off as racism.
6. Alexis/Nico - Chris Scott
HIP HOP
Okay, just right off the bat going to say that this choreography did not do either Alexis nor Nico any favours. I love Chris Scott to death, and his choreo usually leaves me in awe, but I had no idea what happened with this one. He tried to do that thing where he inserts parts of the dancers' own genres to give them a sense of expertise, but where he excelled to do this in the sand routine last week he fell flat with this one. Gah, I dunno. It's like if they stretch Chris too far and book him too many routines he pulls out a couple dud ones.
In any case, Alexis and Nico definitely did not perform this well at all. They were completely out of synch almost throughout the entire thing. Where Alexis could kind of have "swag", Nico just completely fell flat. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they both were kept out of the bottom next week. When Nico declared he was bilingual, if you listened quietly enough, you could hear the shrieking of thousands of teenage girls across the continent when he uttered those couple sentences in Spanish.
7. Makenzie/Paul - Jason Gilkison
VIENNESE WALTZ
I know absolutely next to nothing about ballroom, so like pretty much everyone else, I just assumed Paul would know how to do this immediately because Latin Ballroom = Standard Ballroom, right? Wrong. Anyways, Makenzie and Paul both made this look effortlessly beautiful. I did pick up on Makenzie's flexed feet, but it was really good of Mary to point out how stiff her shoes were - I had no idea that was even a thing so it was nice that Mary picked up on that to avoid her getting heck for it.
8. Jasmine H./Aaron - Sonya Tayeh
JAZZ
This had Sonya Tayeh written all over it. It was very well choreographed, well performed, well designed. All good, and memorable enough to keep them out of the bottom next week. Happy how Jasmine H. is coming out beyond her Cyrus'-ex-name-maker, because she is incredibly talented and does have the longest, most beautiful extensions ever. Aaron is knocking this all out of the park so far, so time will tell how long he will last in the competition as the perpetual "21st-choice". Whatever. He deserves to be there, and he is definitely showing it. By the way, I adored Sonya's music choice for this one; again, if you're interested, it's Bottom of the River by Delta Rae.
9. Hayley/Curtis - Chris Scott
HIP HOP
Not much to say for this one- it was a better piece of choreography than Chris Scott's other routine with Alexis and Nico, but it was still low of Nigel to call out Alexis and Nico like that in front of Hayley and Curtis, who were obviously uncomfortable. Hayley and Curtis could both "swag", obviously, but Curtis especially stood out to me. Will probably keep them both out of the bottom.
10. Amy/Fik-Shun - Sonya Tayeh
CONTEMPORARY
Amy has gotten an incredible amount of airtime and very flattering praise, and this routine at the end of the night will just keep racking her popularity points. Not sure why Fik-Shun was so surprising, when he basically blew all the rounds out of the water in Vegas, but whatever. In any case, it was an extraordinary routine and had a lot of breathtaking moments. Amy and Fik-Shun are both obviously talented, and they're drawing pretty large fanbases, so expect them to go VERY far. Like Top 4. Even if it was really unfair of Nigel to say that so early in the competition.
To wrap it up, I'll rank the routines of the night (all my personal opinion, of course)
1. Jasmine M. / Alan
2. Amy / Fik-Shun
3. Jasmine H. / Aaron
4. Makenzie / Paul
5. Brittany / BluPrint
6. Malece / Jade
7. Hayley / Curtis
8. Jenna / Tucker
9. Mariah / Carlos
10. Alexis / Nico
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