Mary Murphy guest judges. Overall an excellent show last night. It was obvious how they stacked the deck though as almost every couple danced in the specialty of the other partner (the partner that didn't get their style last week). Another annoyance of the Canadian version? The product placements and advertising. But, hey, Jean-Marc has finally learned that the expression is "Give it up for ..." and not "Give it away ..." He also forgot to give the necessary shout out to the choreographer but Tre saved him.
The routines:
Melanie M & Cody - Krump (Li'l C) Cody's the hip hopper but Mel outdanced him. Melanie Mah-chine is a good nickname for her. It was a good start to the night.
Tara-Jean & Everett - Salsa (Melanie and Tony) The judges absolutely loved this. Mary put them (or at least her) on the hot tamale train. There was a part of this routine that looked awkward and we didn't like at all but the rest was good. Better than last week when many of their transitions were not fluid.
Emanuel & Kim - Theatre (Sean Chessman). This was surprisingly good. They are both good performers and she's quite strong.
Amy & Vincent - Contemporary (Blake McGrath). A good routine, performed very well. The choreo seemed to be a bit derivative stealing (inspired?) from 3 or 4 routines from the US season 5 but still a good routine.
Jayme & Daniel - Dance Hall (JaeBlaze). Another good routine. Lots of fun and energy here. This is the only pair that hasn't danced in either's style yet.
Anthony & Corynne - Paso Doble (Tony & Melanie). There was a table prop. I think it was to cover for Corinne's dancing. Anthony had a number of strong moments. He plays the part well but everything was overshadowed by a fall during a lift. Anthony recovered faster than Corinne but they lost 10 seconds or so.
Nicholas & Jenna - Hip Hop (Sho Tyme). By this time, I was able to predict the dance styles they would get. Decent routine. Judges were fairly harsh on Jenna.
Danny & Natalie - Jazz (Melissa Williams) Another quite good routine. Costume was a bit distracting but I thought they danced it well.
Austin & Melanie B - Smooth Waltz (Danny Quilliam) This was probably the worst routine of the night and in a night where the standard was high, this could be fatal. The judges were especially hard on Melanie. I did appreciate Jean Marc saying that the difference between Latin and standard ballroom is as big as the difference between hip hop and B-boy.
Bottom 3 prediction.
Austin & Melanie B.
Nicholas & Jenna
Anthony & Corinne
I think that Melanie will probably go. Austin's at risk, too, as this would be his second week in a row in the bottom 3. By contrast, Nicholas seems expendable as they have a couple of other male hip hoppers.