I’ll Be the Judge of That! – So You Think You Can Dance 6, November 3

Readers, I have a problem. I’m completely underwhelmed by this top 18. One of my readers was kind enough to tell me that the judges have been doing the season six edition of “This is the best top 20 ever,” and I absolutely don’t see it. I recognize that these dancers are talented, but so what? They’re supposed to be! I hope something really great happens soon, because this season is starting to look like a let-down.

Last week, I took away that I love Travis Wall’s choreography, Jakob is really good, and I can’t stand Ashleigh or Kevin. I don’t have that same feeling I get on Dance days. In the past, I knew I’d get greatness and hope for something magical. Tonight, I’m just hoping for something that doesn’t make me think producers should have waited until the summer for the new season. I’m curious as to what you all think.

I gave my DVR a dozen roses today to convince it to behave tonight so I can actually see all the couples dance. Fingers are crossed. Deep breaths have been taken. Jenn’s recap has been read. Let’s get it on!

Noelle & Russell – hip-hop

Poor Noelle’s first day back and she’s already thrown into hip-hop with her very talented hip-hop partner. This must be her “No pressure or anything!” week. Having said that, she looked really stiff! Her energy was completely there and she looked completely committed to the routine, so I want to give her credit where it’s due, but there was a lot lacking in the execution. It may not have helped that she was compared to Russell, who was great since this is his style, but Noelle looked like a cheerleader while she was dancing. As the routine progressed, though, the whole thing just got really messy. I’ll pick on the choreographer when I get to him, but the routine itself was fine. Just fine. Mary brought up a really good point, though, that Noelle did a great job of not looking injured.

Ashleigh & Jakob – Viennese waltz

I always hate watching failed lift sequences. It just makes me feel bad for the girl. What, is she too fat for you to pick up? I liked it. You all know how much of an Ashleigh fan I’m NOT, and she didn’t suck! I realize ballroom’s her style (even though she’s of the Latin variety – I think), but I never liked her little eight counts at the beginning of the show, and those are in more of her style than this is. She’s usually so lanky and I think the long skirt and the arms staying in hold helped take away from her awkward looking movements.

Jakob’s a great dancer, but I’m not crazy about all the extra stuff they had him do, even though it helped show him off. The leap Adam was talking about is called a “switch jete en tournant,” which means that he did a turn and then jumped up with one foot in front and the other in back, but then switched the legs in the air. We non-fancy people often call it a “switch leap.” I also thought Jakob was a little stiff, which is weird because I know the hold is really strong in a waltz so there has to be a certain amount of rigidity to it, but he looked a little too rigid. It was a pretty routine, though, so I don’t want to take anything away from that.

Bianca & Victor – Broadway

That was good! Maybe I’m not in a great mood, because I wasn’t completely blown away and “moved by the spirit.” (I said that before Adam!) Actually, the more the judges are talking about it, the more I completely agree with them. They, too, were really rigid executing the choreography. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, but I wasn’t sold on how they pulled it off. I’m surprised that Bianca just did okay as well. Actually, I expected a lot of drama from both of them and just didn’t get it. I didn’t know how to articulate why I wasn’t crazy about it, so thanks, judges for helping me out!

Mollee & Nathan – Bollywood

Hi, Mollee and Nathan! My DVR caused me to miss your routine last week, so this’ll actually be my first time seeing you two dance. Someone give the lighting people a raise! Wow! Okay, the dancing was wonderful. I’m always impressed by these dancers not passing out at the end of every Bollywood routine. They’re so insanely aerobic. I didn’t know Mollee was such a spaz, so good for her for having a poised and regal night. I wasn’t completely sold on her character, but it also doesn’t help that she looks twelve years old.

Nathan, wow! When Nigel said, “a la second,” that means that he did the pirouette (turn on one leg) with one leg out from his hip instead of the foot locked to the side of the knee. I’ll put the dance terms glossary at the end of the article so we can all learn things together. Back to Nathan, he really did everything beautifully. He’s got this exotic, mysterious quality to him that looked beautiful during this routine. Yay for them!

Channing & Phillip – samba

Daaaaaaaamn. I was going to boo the costume department for Phillip’s see-through shirt (I hate those) but then I saw Channing’s dress and I take all negativity back. It seemed like there was quite a bit of struggle going on toward the end of the routine (I said that before Adam!), which bummed me out a bit. I have no problem with them owning how much they struggled with it. I agree with Mary – these judges are making my job easy tonight – that it just didn’t seem fun. This seemed a lot harder on Phillip than it was on Channing. Nigel said it best when he looked really stiff and labored. These two seem really cute together, and I think I’m going to like Channing this season, but it wasn’t as amazing a routine as it could have been.