SYTYCD S11 - Top 8 Perform, 2 Eliminated

We're heading fast toward the finale here, aren't we? Which must mean we are also heading fast toward the end of summer, if you can believe it. Although here in Los Angeles, school is already back in session, making driving to work all the more annoying, so I guess summer is already sort of over for me. But let's get back to something much more fun than traffic - dancing! Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel this week is Jenna Dewan-Tatum for the special Michael Jackson tribute show.

Along with the partner dances with all-stars, we are also seeing everyone's solos as well.

Tanisha - Solo. Wow, talk about sexy. She just knows how to sell that.

Ricky and all-star Jaimie - Travis Wall contemporary. I'm not sure I entirely got the "message" of this dance where Jaimie was supposed to be depressed and Ricky was supposed to be the light, blah blah. I guess because she didn't seem that depressed in the beginning. It was beautifully danced, though, of course. I'm not sure there's anything he can do wrong. And of course he is safe, I mean if he wasn't safe, that would be the shock.

Zack - Solo. It's nice to finally see him do some tap. He's really great at the slide-y type moves. Very fun.

Valerie and all-star Ryan - Jean Marc Genereux samba. I think that's the most skin we've ever seen her show, whoa. I'm not sure I thought that was the best samba in the world. Those samba rolls could have used a little bit more work. The rest of it was pretty good, though. Mary gives her quite a few compliments, though, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Is she safe, though? Wow, she IS safe, even though they didn't much like her routine last week.

Casey - Solo. I mean, I love his music choice. He's definitely a strong dancer, but I always feel like I lack a little personality or something.

Rudy - Solo. His solo is all about strength rather than pure elegance, which plays to his strengths. Definitely a good solo.

Casey and all-star Comfort - Pharside and Phoenix hip hop. I am so distracted by the black widow marking on Comfort, ack. She is pretty much out-dancing him, though he does hold his own. He definitely had a lot more personality in this than he normally does, especially since the routine was pretty theatrical. Nigel makes a "whatever happens in the show" comment which makes me think he is in danger. And as Cat reveals, he is in the bottom.

Jacque - Solo. She is definitely the best when she is doing her ballet thing. Nice and elegant.

Tanisha and all-star Nick - Stacey Tookey contemporary. A nice little routine, I suppose, though I didn't find anything that was particularly memorable about it. I was honestly kind of distracted by the music in this one. And sadly it looks like Tanisha is going to be in the bottom just based on logic, boo. Nigel comments that she needs to show more of her vulnerable side, and I guess that is probably true in terms of gaining votes, as yes, she is in the bottom two.

Jessica - Solo. Man this is just full of the things that kind of bother me about her. Too much hairography and face pulling.

Rudy and all-star Allison - Ray Leeper jazz (? I guess it's considered jazz). Can we just have Allison in all of the things? I must admit I was watching her nearly the entire time. Yeah, Rudy was good, but I feel like it was just more of his strong stuff when they said he should be a bit more vulnerable? I really did like the routine on the whole, though, it was a great combo with the Dirty Diana song and the choreography. The audience is going crazy, so it's actually a bit of a surprise he's in the bottom.

Valerie - Solo. It's always fun to see Valerie tap as well, but if I had to choose I would probably pick Zack to watch? Not that I don't like her, I do!

Zack and all-star Mackenzie - Spencer Liff Broadway. You know, I really like Zack. He's become one of my favorites just because he is so versatile and it's always such a surprise when he does so well. That being said, I'm not sure I really liked this routine. It felt just slightly lackluster to me, though I'm not entirely sure that was his fault necessarily. Nigel seemed a bit lukewarm on the routine as well, though he was fairly complimentary. He IS safe this week, though, thanks to his great routine last week.

Ricky - Solo. I mean, this is why he is the frontrunner. There's just so much emotion in his movement, I don't even know how to explain it.

Jacque and all-star tWitch - Dave Scott hip hop. I mean, again tWitch is just so great that I just want to watch him the whole time. She did okay, but she could've hit harder and gotten down more as well. I'm not sure the judges are going to necessarily agree with me this time around, but eh. The judges have hardly any criticism lately, it seems. Is she in the bottom? She is, even though her routine last week was so good.

Jessica and all-star Will - Mandy Moore contemporary. Definitely a strong routine. I kind of forgot about Will, but he definitely brings a manly strength to the stage. We do already know that Jessica is safe this week, which I suppose is not a surprise considering she seems to have a lot of votes. She is apparently super popular, though I've never been the biggest fan personally, though I'm not sure I can say why exactly. The judges all love it, though.

Okay, now we get down the brass tacks. Who is going home this week?

Tanisha and Rudy

I mean... I guess Jacque had a better routine than Tanisha last week, but Tanisha is a better dancer than her in my opinion. Sigh. I do agree with the Rudy versus Casey showdown though. I feel like it's definitely going to be Jessica and Valerie as the top two girls, with Ricky and either Casey or Zack in the top two, it could go either way on those two. What do you think?

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