Episode Guide
Now that the auditions are over, our first look at the top 20 finalists as they partnered up and got out of their comfort zones came last night.
Here's how the pairs rolled, as recapped by Entertainment Weekly:
Jaimie Goodwin and Hok Konishi
Jaimie, a contemporary dancer, admitted that ballroom and hip-hop were kind of foreign to her. Doing Shane Sparks' hip-hop routine next to Hok Konishi, who spends a good part of his life upside down on his hands, could not have been easy. But Mary Murphy had her lingo down: Jaimie could be a little bit tighter and hitting it a little harder. Nigel Lythgoe disagreed and thought Jaimie held her own against Hok.
Anya Garnis and Danny Tidwell
Anya, 25 and originally from Russia, has been a pro ballroom dancer for 17 years. This was the dancer Nigel dubbed "hot" during the auditions. She's still pretty smokin', that's for sure. We learned a bit more about her partner, Danny, the brother of last season's (Blake Lewis look-alike) Travis Wall; he was adopted when he was 12 by Travis' mom, a dance-studio owner. Anya and Danny learned the jive from Tony Meredith, who looks a lot thinner standing up than he does hosting ballroom-dance competitions on public TV. Great and surprising pairing of style of dance to song: Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend." Overall, a good performance, although we were distracted by Danny's low-waisted black skinny jeans and the white belt and untucking black shirt. Nigel called them a couple to be reckoned with.
Lacey Schwimmer and Kameron Bink
A swing and ballroom dancer and a professional krumper — seems a natural combination, no? Lacey is little sis to last season Benji Schwimmer, who won the top prize. I'd like the producers to interview their parents — how did they raise such incredible dancers? She's the stronger of her pairing, though the complimentary hair was a nice touch: Kameron has red stars in his hair, she had red streaks. Dan thought Kameron was merely a prop, and Mary wasn't certain what she was supposed to feel about the performance, choreographed by Mia Michaels: "Some kind of internal struggle going on there — I'm not sure what's going on in Mia's mind." Nigel wanted more of the story and compared it to seeing The Sopranos and missing out on the end.
Sabra Johnson and Dominic Sandoval
Sabra impressed the judges when she told them she'd only been dancing for 4 of her 19 years. She and Dominic, a breaker, tackled Doriana Sanchez's disco routine to classic Donna Summer. They did some pretty cool lifts, but I felt it lacked a certain amount of flow. Nigel reminded a finicky Dan that Sabra and Dominic learned in a matter of days the lift that took Baby and Patrick Swayze all summer to learn. Then Nigel said what we'd all been thinking: Dominic is a dead-ringer for John Leguizamo.
Ashlee Langas and Ricky Palomino
As soon as they showed up on Alex Da Silva's doorstep, I could see what the main problem was gonna be: Ashlee towers over her partner. Not exactly ideal conditions for Argentine tango, where the man really has to look in command. Explaining the move called the gaucho, where he gets a flick from Ashlee in between the legs, Ricky seemed a little nervous. Dan said it looked as if Ricky were dancing with his mother. Nigel chalked up their lack of chemistry to the height difference. Nigel knows how to get a laugh when he wants to: He played dumb and called the gaucho a gotcha.
Sara Von Gillern and Jesús "Chuy" Solario
Jesús gets the vote for most heartwarming backstory: He used to pick grapes with his mom in California; since they didn't have much money, he was only able to keep studying dance thanks to donations from his neighbors. They did Wade Robson's contemporary routine, and Wade did a much better job explaining the meaning behind his routine than Mia Michaels did. As Mary Murphy aptly commented: twisted, demented, and spectacular. Nigel complimented B-girl Sara on her adaptability.
Jessi Peralta and Pasha Kovalev
Jessi is already cleverly hyping her appeal to voters: Vote for me, rescue me from a terribly boring desk job, America! The event planner from Florida was fond of her props during audition time, but waltzing to Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me," she didn't need any — she relied on her beautiful extension and rise and fall (from a hip-hop girl, no less) and did beautifully. Pasha, normally a Latin dancer, led her nicely.
Faina Savich and Cedric Gardner
Poor Faina. The ballroom dancer who nearly passed out in Vegas, sister to Stanislav, who was the first to be cut last year, drew the short straw with having to do hip-hop. Cedric is the rubber-band-like hip-hop guy who Nigel Lythgoe thought would screw up all his partners. Whoever dances this style with Cedric is just going to pale in comparison. Dan said their dancing was soulless and they didn't feed off each other; Cedric was "ridiculous" in a good way. Yup. Her hot pants may increase her votes, though.
Lauren Gottlieb and Neil Haskell
Lauren, thank goodness, finally ditched her sweats and put on a sexy dress and heels for Alex Da Silva's salsa routine. She had fantastic Cuban motion. But the judges let Neil have it. Dan basically whacked him for not being into such a hot partner, and Mary said Neil was like a cheerleader - body movement all in his torso rather than in his pelvis. Nigel let it be known that Lauren is one of his favorite female dancers.
Shauna Noland and Jimmy Arguello
Dancing Tyce Diorio's Broadway-style routine to "Ease On Down the Road," from The Wiz, Jimmy was the perfect Scarecrow. But Nigel accurately said that her Dorothy-like white dress was drab and unflattering, and next to Jimmy, her dancing was just so-so.
Who's in danger of going home? On the girls' side, we would have to say Shauna or Faina; for the boys, Ricky or Neil. But a good job by all.
Rating: No Votes!
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