Tabitha and Napoleon D'uomo's hip hop routine on Karen Hauer and Kevin Hunte told a compelling story and had great costuming; but it took too long for the tempo to increase and the piece gradually lost some of its dynamism. Really, one can only do the "rollin' in my caddy" rhythm for a short period of time onstage. As an aside, Kevin's hair really is annoying (thank you for the cornrows!) but he performed exceptionally well in his genre. Although Karen does have the dance and "it" personality factor that, like Jeanine Mason, could put her over the top to become "America's favorite dancer", there was nothing exceptional about her gyrating hips while standing on Kevin's quads. I am starting to believe Karen has magical powers in her eyes that will make Adam straight by the end of this season!

Ah, Kathryn McCormick, Legacy Perez and choreographer, Stacey Tookey, what a surprise! Each capable in their own right but this was a stellar, contemporary performance to Patti Labelle's "2 Steps Away" which left me in tears and repeatedly hitting the rewind button. Kathryn carries this piece, as she works very hard in her positioning, stretches, leg lifts and graceful emergence from Legacy's capable arms. She holds up Legacy very well, too!

Legacy embraced the choreography and compensated for his lack of training by smoothing out his still-present hip hop body movements, like the dance-equivalent to LL Cool J's "I Need Love" (widely considered the first hip hop love song). Legacy also committed his body to mid-air spins and diving at Kathryn's feet. Mary might be right in that Legacy has grown the fastest in the history of the show, a true testament to So You Think You Can Dance.

Disappointingly, Wade and Amanda Robson's (pop jazz?) choreography was supposed to be "a work of art" personified from Van Gogh's painting, "Starry Night". Eclectic pieces are acceptable and Pauline Mata and Peter Sabasino danced their best to this piece; but like Sonya Tayeh's of last week, it was simply hard to judge. Although both dancers committed to their characters, neither Pauline nor Peter engaged in any real transitional movement as they spun from one set of strange dances to the next. Sure, it was memorable; but this could have sent either one of these dancers home---and not for good reason.

Ellenore Scott and Ryan Di Lello had the best performance of the night in a strikingly choreographed Argentine tango by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo. Ellenore appeared with her stunning, natural beauty and in the style of Josephine Baker while Ryan emerged as a phenotypically enhanced Agent 007. That Ellenore proved "the show must go on" by ignoring the way her dress caught onto her shoe for most of the dance is but a sidebar nod to her professionalism. Her attitudes (a dance term for a leg extended at hip height and bent at the knee) were strong and steady through her turns and, unlike Channing, she helped Ryan lift her. As true performers, they both stayed in character, their lines were stunning and they made all of their difficult moves and lifts appear effortless.

Once we moved into the bottom four, I found myself enamored by Noelle's backbends and her song choice (Zhane's "For a Reason") gave her the opportunity to best exemplify her flexibility and control. It appears that she, Jakob and Karen are the "invertebrates" of the season. Bianca's solo was amazing and, like Noelle, she exhibited mastery and chose an excellent (if not surprising) song by which to display it. She needed an exciting tune because Nigel already predicted the tremendous challenge (and downfall) of tap solos on this show. Phillip's performance was also stellar but his song choice was typical and simply no comparison to Victor's heel pirouette turns to any song from "The Matrix" series. Bianca and Phillip were both doomed from the start, which brings me to my final commentary for the evening...

Tonight's eliminations were predictable but sad. The fact is, if tap dancing was not going to be treated fairly, at least by the judges, if not by the viewers, then the genre simply should not have been allowed to be a part of this season's So You Think You Can Dance. The odds were stacked against the tappers and I am not sure what could have been done to rectify it. Nigel knew this a long time ago, which is why his heart is broken. At least he won't continue to mispronounce "Bienka's" name! And so it goes. We wish you well, Bianca and Phillip. Peter is next... but thank goodness you all have become a surrogate family for one another, especially for Mr. Attmore, who exhibited nothing but class and grace the entire season. Your father would, indeed, be proud.
 
Stay tuned and keep dancing!


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--Dr. Goddess, BuddyTV Guest Columnist
(Image Courtesy of FOX)

Dr. Goddess is a performing artist, dancer, choreographer, poet and scholar whose been dancing since seven years old, loves the art of dance and has been following So You Think You Can Dance since season one! In many other places in the world, she's known as Kimberly C. Ellis.