You know, if the Canadians watch the American version, you'd think they could reciprocate so we can have more opinions in these threads. Ah well. Pretty good show tonight. Not as good as last week but pretty good. Mia Michaels and Dan Karaty were the guest judges. Each dancer had a solo, 2 duets and a group number (guys/girls).
Videos will be available here: http://www.ctv.ca/mini/dance2009/video/
I wonder if they'll show some of the rehearsal footage showing how Everett and Emanuel got injured or Melanie dancing the disco with Nico! The little bit they showed last night looked better than what Mel and Emanuel did.
All-guys number - Theatre (Melissa Williams): It was entertaining but not quite as sharp as it needed to be. I think the fact that Emanuel couldn't practice as much as the others didn't help matters.
TJ & Vincent - Rumba (Eric Caty). Another ballroom for both of these? (Her fifth?) That's just ridiculous now. I found it started off rather boring but got better as they integrated some nifty lifts. The judges flat out loved it.
Kim & Cody - Hip Hop (Luther Brown). Here I was thinking: why is everyone getting his or her own style again? but then I realized that they'd be dancing two. This was well done, energetic, tight and fun.
Mel & Emanuel - Contemporary (Sabrina Matthews). With some ballet elements thrown in. Again, Emanuel didn't practice enough to feel confident with this dance. Mel did very well as usual.
Jayme Rae & Everett - Mambo (Gustavo Vargas). This is her first Latin ballroom (I think they said that). JR nailed it. Everett was like the forgotten man in this piece which is essentially how the piece was designed. One of the best dances of the night.
Top 4 girls: Jazz (Sean Cheesman). Another great number by Cheesman. This was an excellent number. The synchronicity was spot on. Mia called these four the best top 4 female dancer from any season (Canada and US). I find it hard to disagree with Mia on this. Any of these girls can with this.
TJ & Vincent - Krump (Li'l C). This was surprisingly good. Vincent seemed a little stiffer at first but they both danced it very well, TJ a little bit better.
Kim & Cody - Smooth Waltz (Pierre Allaire). I think Mia said it all when she said that this was 'awful'. The audience, I think, expected this to be a fake out but, no, it was awful. Kim's first ballroom, too.
Mel & Emanuel - Disco (Melissa Williams). This was ok, certainly better than the previous piece but it would be easily ranked #7 for me for duets on the night.
JR & Everett - Jazz funk (Nico Archambault & Wynn Holmes). Best number of the night. They performed the hell out of this one. Sure, they were essentially type cast but hey what can I say. Everett makes a great nerd and Jayme Rae makes a great bad girl.
Solos: I generally don't care for the solos so anyone else can comment here.
Bottom 2: guys. Has to be Emanuel and Cody. Everett's the strongest guy this year. Who goes home? Depends if Canada wants to put Emanuel out of his misery. His injuries are becoming too much of a story. Still, Cody is the weakest dancer so I would say Cody goes home.
Bottom 2: girls. Melanie and Kim mainly because their partners dragged them down. Based on last night, Kim should go but it's too hard to call. It's top 8 so be ready for a surprise boot.
Final note: In rehearsals, they had Gustavo Vargas, Nico and national ballet second lead Jonathan Renna stand in for the injured Emanuel.