Let me begin with a thought: patience pays, especially when waiting for So You Think You Can Dance details.

That said, we’re already dealing with the Top 12, which means we’re just one week closer to seeing our line-up for the season 6 tour–and, most importantly, one week closer to the more challenging part of the competition. Tonight’s the night we say goodbye to these pairs, for next week the shuffle begins. But it’s set to be a memorable night, all because the genres here are not exactly what you’d expect on the show.

This time around, the spoilers are courtesy of the folks at IDF, although the folks at SYTYCDism helped along too. As always, listings are in alphabetical order, and the rest are my thoughts, and you are, of course, welcome to toss in yours. Also, each pair does two dances this week. So, with all that over with, shall we?

Ashleigh Di Lello and Jakob Karr: Cha-cha (Jean-Marc Generaux)/Lyrical jazz (Sonya Tayeh)
Finally, Ashleigh gets to dance in her own genre! And from what we’ve seen of Jakob, it seems he can pull this off too, although inevitably all eyes will be on his partner, since ballroom is her specialty. Add to that a Sonya jazz routine, and this lucky power couple will inevitably shine tonight.

Ellenore Scott and Ryan Di Lello: Broadway (Spencer Liff)/Lindy hop (Carla Heiney)
Ellenore and Ryan are the other power couple this season, although their hip-hop routine two weeks ago was a big stumble. Interesting to see the lindy hop around here–correct me if I’m wrong, but this was last danced back in season 3, with Lacey and Neil in matching outfits and sneakers. There’s no reason to fear these two could go in the bottom three, though.

Karen Hauer and Victor Smalley: Argentine tango (Tony Meredith/Melanie LaPatin)/Hip-hop (Laurieann Gibson)
Some may argue that Karen should’ve been eliminated last week (in Abbey’s words, “sex beats skill”) and their tango this week might reinforce that. However, both are outside their comfort zones with hip-hop, and it’s not going to be easy, considering it’s Laurieann who’s doing it. It’s going to be heavy, and it could be disastrous. Could be, but Laurieann seems pretty pleased in her Tweets:

Kathryn McCormick and Legacy Perez: Jazz (Sonya Tayeh)/Waltz (Jean-Marc Generaux)
I’m amazed at how many unrelated style Legacy gets in the competition, but after four weeks of seeing him defy the odds, I won’t be surprised if he pulls this one off again. Kathryn, on the other hand, will be in more familiar territory this week with the jazz routine. Again, no need to be worried for these two, unless you factor in rumors that Legacy also suffered an injury.

Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasoras: Cancan (Tyce Diorio)/Hip-hop (Jamal Sims)
Yes, it is a cancan, the French dance which involves all those fast, high kicks, much like in Moulin Rouge. The forums were burning up with this detail, and turns out it’s actually true. Sure, the hip-hop could do them wonders–it’s young but it’s not really close to their styles–I bet everyone will be wondering how they’ll pull the cancan off. Either it’ll be totally wonderful or totally disastrous, like last season’s Russian folk dance.

Noelle Marsh and Russell Ferguson: Contemporary (Tyce Diorio)/Samba (Tony Meredith/Melanie LaPatin)
Tyce has a lot to live up to considering his last contemporary routine was the famed Breast Cancer dance of season 5. Luckily he has two dancers who could live up to the hype, Noelle and Russell have earned some plus points from the judges and Russell is the clear star of season 6. So, I’m a bit confident they’ll breeze through the routines. The samba’s got me curious. But not as curious as how they’ll fare with two power couples and fluctuating voting patterns has me.

Tonight’s vote is more crucial than ever, especially with the Top 10 looming. Fingers crossed things get pretty good this week. Last week, in Shanks’ words, the spark has been found. Tonight, it should become a burning flame. Yeah, cheesy.

(Image courtesy of Fox)

Henrik Batallones

Staff Writer, BuddyTV