So You Think You Can Dance: Top 12 Preview – Kherington Gets Buck
As we all get ready for the last week of competition before the crowning of this season’s Top 10, here’s a preview of So You Think You Can Dance this week. The couples compete for votes particularly hard this week because this show decides who gets to go on the tour. This week’s show might surprise some with the emergence of a couple very reminiscent of Sabra and Dominic last season, Courtney G. and Gev, who continue to improve, yet fly under the radar a bit.
There are some fun surprises in this week’s show as well with the return of a couple from last season, a little Kourtni L. in the audience, a first-ever on the show, and some interesting commentary from Mia Michaels in the guest judge chair. All in all, a great show and something to look forward to for all.
In my opinion, still the couple to beat at this point in the competition is Chelsie H. and Mark, who perform a Broadway routine, along with an Alex Da Silva Salsa routine that takes advantage of Chelsie’s Latin ballroom experience.
What truly separates this couple from the others is their ability to take on the characters that they’re playing that week. In the couple’s Broadway routine, Chelsie H. takes on the role of a strong-willed W-O-M-A-N who pushes Mark around, the opposite of the couple’s dramatic hip-hop routine a couple weeks ago. Chelsie’s footwork is truly something to watch this week and their Broadway routine is one of my favorites from a genre that is generally tough for me to like – definitely look out for the couple’s strong performances this week.
The judges are treating the leggy Chelsie H. as one of the frontrunner at this point and why not? She has done nothing but impress since her audition, where she WOWed the judges with her footwork – something that continues to be her strength throughout the competition.
Beyond the footwork, Chelsie commits to whatever role is presented to her – whether it be hip-hop, contemporary, or Broadway. From her moves to her facial expressions, Chelsie has shown no fear of any style of dance so far and that’s the attitude that will keep her in the competition well beyond the Top 10. Even more, Chelsie and Mark work extremely well together, are believable in numerous contexts, and dance as partners, not individuals.
Having a rough go at it this week from the judges was crowd favorite Twitchington – Kherington and Twitch. While the couple pull off what I believe to be the hottest Krumping routine ever on the show, their second routine was lacking the enthusiasm that made up for some synching problems in their high energy Krumping performance.
While the couple’s second routine is simply just “ok,” definitely look out for their Little C choreographed Krump that will have you rewinding your DVR a couple times just to watch how BUCK Kherington can get on stage (not to mention hot). Starting from Twitch’s HUGE leap on stage to kick things off, there is no doubt that Twitch’s energy helped Kherington pull off a Krump that would have looked ridiculous from any other couple, but Kherington’s commitment to “getting buck” during the dance is going to win over a lot more fans this week. Like Chelsie H., Kherington has proved a versatile talent on stage and she’s doing the impossible – not getting overshadowed by Twitch.
Katee and Joshua continued to perform at a high level with a Viennese Waltz and believe it or not, the show’s first-ever Bollywood routine. While nearly impossible in theory, Katee and Joshua’s ballroom routine (to Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris”) followed up Twitchington’s high energy Krump routine, but still held its own with the audience.
What everyone will be talking about this week, however, is the show’s first ever Bollywood routine by the couple. Interestingly, the performance is done with traditional Indian music, not popular music or any sort of remix to try and Americanize the style. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a trainwreck, but the only couple that I think could have pulled off this routine does so in a very big way. Bollywood will be a pleasant surprise to most, but I think it’s a genre that is not meant to be the next regular genre like Salsa or Hip-Hop on the show, and it should only be used sparingly because it could go very, very wrong with the wrong couple.
Something to look out for this week is the emergence of Courtney G. and Gev as a couple to be reckoned with. Unlike Twitchington, Chelsie/Mark, and Katee/Joshua, couples that started good and continue to be good, this couple has been forced to really step up to stay in the competition. Starting with their hip-hop routine a few routines back (anyone else not surprised that New York Knicks’ dancer Courtney got down in this performance?), the shortest couple in the competition proved that they have the potential to hang in for a big longer than anyone would have thought. Perhaps most of all, they’re likable, “MESSAGE!” will become part of your vocabulary after you watch their first promo this week.
In Mia Michaels’ words, the couple has “a great night” with two strong performances that will have you wondering if they could be one of the top couples left on the show at this point.
While they might find themselves in the Bottom 3 again this week, simply because the Top 3 couples are so strong in the competition I can’t see Courtney or Gev being sent home by the judges this week on the sole basis of their improvement and ability to find chemistry with one another. Whether they find chemistry with new partners after reaching the Top 10, no one can really predict, but there is absolutely no reason why either of these two should go home this week.
Going home this week: Comfort/Thayne/Jessica – Toss up between the girls, any guy other than Thayne going home this week would feel like highway robbery.
In my opinion, here’s how the current couples stand after this Top 12 Week
1) Chelsie H. and Mark
2) Katee and Joshua
3) Kherington and Twitch
4) Courtney and Gev
5) Jessica and Will (solid performances from Will again, along with one good one from Jessica)
6) Comfort and Thayne (who struggled throughout this week)
Overall, here’s how I’d rank the Top 5 overall contestants
1) Chelsie H.
2) Will
3) Kherington
4) Katee
5) Twitch
Look at this….
Sweet site dude, check out mine when you get a min……