Pbmom's Blog

The opening song for tonight’s show is “Baila Como Yo” by District 78 choreographed by Pharside and Phoenix. The costumes were so colorful. It was very, very impressive.

Yorelis, Darion, and Hailee were teamed up with choreographers Jonathan Platero and Oksana Dmytrenko to do a salsa to the song “Blucutu” by Saamara. That was making me dizzy there for a bit. Hailee and Darion hit the complicated move but the crowd didn’t go as crazy as they expected. I think Darion was challenged by the dance. It is a very different style from ballet where you are needing to keep you posture straight. Latin dancing requires a completely different skill set. But also to be fair, he had to handle two female dancers for a lot of complicated and fast moves. The ladies did great. I think Yorelis had a better bit with the music. Jason felt like he nailed the jumped but missed he spiciness. He missed the sexiness this number should have had. Jason thought for Darion it was a little bit less than okay. Regarding Yorelis he thought she did a great job. He did not comment on Hailee and Hailee’s face looked like “why?” Nigel thought the two girls were fabulous. Hot and spicy. Darion said he saw what Travis was saying about him sleeping behind the wheel a bit. While the two girls were being spicy, he was like the yogurt in the middle that calmed it all down a little bit. He thought one of the lifts went crazily wrong but he carried on and maybe some people didn’t notice. Paula noticed but she applauded Hailee for the recovery. She felt the ladies were extremely hot. She thought Hailee’s trump card was her laser focus. She thought Yorelis was phenomenal. Paula just saw Darion’s thinking process instead of being in the performance.

Interestingly, they are going to give results if they are in the bottom right after they dance. Based on last week’s votes for last week’s dance, Darion is in the bottom; Hailee and Yorelis are safe.

Derek and Ariana are teamed up for a jazz routine with choreographer Ray Leeper. It’s a story about two people who come together to share in the pain and misery of losing a loved one to the song “Cry Me a River” by Michael Bublé. That was a fantastic pairing. No goosebumps but I enjoyed it so very much. Paula said it is so glad to see a plain old jazz routine. Paula thought she nailed it for being something completely out of her genre. Derek’s technique is perfect. But both of them need to work on performance with their face and with their eyes, how they can learn to communicate with each other with just some emotional connection. Jason agrees with Paula. Ariana’s performance shocked him. He agrees they need to turn up the performance with their eyes. Nigel said it was wonderful to see someone on Team Street dance like this. He said Derek was wonderful but he didn’t have to have the “peeling onions” face on all the time. Change the emotions. Cat Deeley shares that Ariana and Derek are both in danger in their bottom six.

Alexia, Virgil, and Megz were put together with Dee Caspary. The contemporary dance is about the beauty and love coming from the girls is toxic for Virgil. The song is “Until We Go Down” by Ruelle. You could tell Megz and Virgil were not in their dance style; however, they did pretty good to make up for performance what they lacked in technique. Did I get “toxic” from the ladies? Maybe in some of Megz movements, but not consistently. I saw a lot of pursed lips from Alexia. I did like her ending glance. Virgil is like Fik-Shun. His personality makes people drawn to him. However, this is my favorite routine up to this point since the opening of the show. Nigel said he liked this routine for many reasons. Nigel said that Alexia is so good they should be shouting her praises and she is slipping under the radar because they aren’t. Nigel liked her ending glance too. As far as Megz and Virgil—WOW, WOW, WOW! Paula said that Alexia was beautiful, she adored Virgil, and Megz? “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” Jason said they earned that standing ovation though and through. Virgil became one of the top contenders after that. Cat Deeley tells them all they are safe based on last week’s dance and last week’s vote.

Lily, Burim, Gaby and Edson teamed up with Nakul Dev Mahajan to do a Bollywood routine to the song “Dhol Baaje” by Ek Paheli Leela (Soundtrack). My new favorite of the night. They all did so wonderfully but you know my eye is always drawn to Edson. Jason enjoyed it. It had a lot of energy. He thought the “slap the booty” move was fly. Nigel thought the girls were terrific. He didn’t learn a great deal from the boys though. Paula enjoyed this number. Lily’s face tells a beautiful story. She is proud of Burim and he was right in the middle of cheesy fun. Edson said he could give a little bit more but his technique was wonderful and Gaby should just get off the stage (a compliment). As far as their place in the competition. Lily is in danger; Gaby, Burim and Edson are safe.

Asaf, Kate, and Neptune met up with Spencer Liff to do a Broadway routine. They are going to be musicians but instead of having instruments, their instruments will be their bodies. We are into week 2 and Asaf’s easy frustration level is getting old. Once again, he had to be pulled out by tWitch to be talked to. Twitch is frank that his attitude is disrespectful to Spencer that he is not trying harder. The song is “All About the Bass” by Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox featuring Kate Davis. I don’t think Asaf’s heart was in this dance at all which is quite a shame. He has been given a tremendous opportunity here and he’s blowing it. Neptune did a good job, but my eyes were with Kate. However, I think the song really showcased the depth of her experience. Paula said she thought what Spencer did was very inventive and he did a great job. Neptune was creative, committed, innovative. She is proud of him because he is really showing up. Kate said she is a stunning bass. She thinks she can turn it on even more. Dial up the notch more. She thinks Asaf gets the “most improved.” She said he needs to turn his opposition to choreography and make it his best friend. She told him he needs to enjoy the process because he will never have anything like this again. Jason agrees. He said Kate was gorgeous, like a movie star. Jason wanted her to give him a little more. He is proud of Neptune especially where he comes from. Nigel said that sometimes Kate’s coolness can be misconstrued as not performing. Her technique is beautiful but he wants a little bit more. He felt Neptune threw himself into it and he really looked like a jazz performer. He said to Asaf that a negative mind will never create a positive life. Challenges are opportunities. Cat said that Neptune is in danger; Kate and Asaf are safe.

Christopher Scott took on Jim and JaJa for a hip-hop routine. The story is about a man’s compassion for a woman for the struggles she has that a man does not. The song is “No Woman, No Cry (Live Version)” by Bob Marley and the Wailers. That was lovely! Jim did a great job. It was very fluid and had a lot of emotion in it. Nigel got very emotional when he was describing street and stage coming together like the positive and negative of a battery that makes things work. He loved Jim’s rounded shoulders. Paula said it was beautiful. They proved that if they show up, commit and are present, it works. It was beautiful execution. She loved JaJa’s softness. She loved Jim’s ability to let go of his core. Jason said it was an unbelievable routine. He said those two are stars and he would pay money to see that. He said he saw a dancer in Jim, not a ballet dancer. He said JaJa that the feminine and softness was a side of her he absolutely loved. After last week’s votes, both are safe.

Marissa, Moises, and JJ joined choreographer Ray Leeper for a jazz number. The story is that Moises has been seeing both girls and they show up to confront him. The song is “I’m So Sorry” by Imagine Dragons. THAT is now my favorite routine of the night. They were cohesive, hard-hitting, and you could not tell who was street and who was stage. LOVED IT!!! Jason said it was very good. He thought Marissa adding a smile was not appropriate. The story was that she should be mad as hell at him. The smiles kind of took him out of the story. JJ had a frown on her face that had no levels; the dancing was good. Nigel said Jason said it all. He felt like Moises parted those two women as Moises parted the Red Sea. He was very proud of his strength tonight. His technique? No one should discuss it (but he will). He had beautiful feet and beautiful lines. Nigel said to the girls that Jason is right—they had a smile on their face every now and again. The routine he loved. Paula said she had a slightly different approach. Starting with the ladies, she thinks that in ganging up together, there is a slight amount of rejoice in the fact that you are ganging up on him. Paula said that it is from a female perspective instead of a male. She thinks JJ is friggin’ kryptonite. She said to both ladies that she doesn’t want to see them looking down—she wants to see them inviting them in. For Moises, Paula said he took notes and she is proud of him. Cat tells them the results: Moises is in danger; JJ and Marissa are safe.

Last week Team Stage pulled in 54% of the vote from last week’s dancing and Team Street pulled in 46% of the vote so Team Stage won last week.

Christopher Scott and Phillip Chbeeb from season 5 teamed up for the group number for Team Street. It’s a story about balance. And ugh–Asaf AGAIN complaining, complaining, complaining. I’m seriously tired of it. The song is “Time” by Nathan Lanier. That was quite the ambitious routine. No one fell off the see-saw so that is a plus.

Team Stage is taking on a “God’s At War” theme, choreographed by Travis Wall, to the song “Stabat Mater” by Woodkid. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goosebumps! I love you Travis Wall. It was incredible. The judges were on their feet.

The vote results time: Twitter saved Moises and Neptune from elimination this week. The judges decide to go with America’s vote on who they saved tonight. They decide to save Derek and Ariana. They say goodbye to Darion and Lily.