peanut butter & mushroom sandwich

It's late, and I've had wine. Let's get right to it.

First: Cat Deeley's frocks this season overall have been better than last season's, but tonight's looks like some kind of sequined mermaid thing from the reject pile of the entire decade of the 1980's. OY.

Second: Guest judge is Adam Shankman, director and choreographer of Hairspray. Which, yay! But how much more fun would it be if they had the director of the original Hairspray, John Waters? I'm just saying.

Lacey & Kameron, hustle - Seriously, hustle gets its own dance genre? I mean, it does when the UNC Crew does it (holler!) but... what? Whatever, it's a gimicky name for a disco routine, and everyone knows that "disco" equates death on this show. As for the dancing, they were really tight as a couple, the performance was strong, but the overall routine was just kind of meh.

Shauna & Cedric, mambo - Honestly? Way better than I expected, and Alan agrees with me. Shauna is growing on me, and she was fabulous here, and Cedric really went after this style. When they came out of the partnering stuff and were dancing in unison? HOT. Hot. They weren't perfect, but they were hot.

Anya & Danny, contemporary - I love Tyce DiOrio. He just seems darling, and his routines are very fresh to me. He has a nice sense of the music he uses, which I appreciate. This routine is no different, and is my favorite contemporary routine of the season so far. The pair of dancers do a beautiful job again. But more and more, I find that they're almost too professional. They're cold. I don't connect with these individuals at all any more, and that will be problematic for them in the long run. Alan & Nigel argued about Danny a bit here, and I think they're both right--Danny needs to give viewers a reason beyond his technique to want to root for him, because right now it's missing.

Sara & Pasha, west coast swing - OMG how cute is Pasha? Benji Schwimmer is choreographing this number, which is... interesting. As is his... blond hair? Oh, dear. And, I was feeling kind of "Oh dear" all through the rehearsal footage and even when Fatboy Slim started up, but then suddenly? They became my new favorite couple. They were slick and fun and technically lovely, and the chemistry was there, and I did not see this coming, but yeah. Good, good stuff here.

Sabra & Dominic, hip hop - Dominic thinks Cat Deeley has a French accent, and dude? Why are you so lame? *sigh* BUT they got a Shane Sparks routine, whom I love love love. The routine is cute, and executed well. Everyone is usually all, "Ooh, Dominic, you're so amazing & growing so much!" But really, Sabra? Is the one growing on me on this show. She's been a slow burn, but I like her a lot lately.

Jaimie & Hok, waltz - Hok reveals in his interview that he plays the violin, so you know I love him even more now. Jaimie still bugs the crap out of me. And yet, when she dances? Lovely. I have a hard time buying Hok in these traditional styles, but I respect how much he throws himself into them as much as he does a hip hop or Wade Robson "jazz" routine. Sarah McLachlan's dreamy "Angel" really helps them as well, but ultimately it wasn't a super strong result from the pair.

Lauren & Neil, jazz - Ugh. I hate these two. I love Wade Robson. I love Wade Robson doing Roisin Murphy songs even more. WHAT TO DO?!? Well. The routine is totally rad, but these two made it seem twee. They mugged through some otherwise badass choreography, and it was basically what you would expect to see with two obnoxious, immature people doing brilliant choreography. It was like a peanut butter & mushroom sandwich. Love the peanut butter, hate the mushrooms. Love the routine, still don't love the couple.

Predictions this week are tough, but I'm going to go with:
1. Lacey & Kameron - safe
2. Shauna & Cedric - bottom 3
3. Anya & Danny - bottom 3
4. Sara & Pasha - safe
5. Sabra & Dominic - safe
6. Jaimie & Hok - bottom 3
7. Lauren & Neil - safe (I don't believe anyone's putting Wade in the bottom 3)
And if my bottom 3 couple predictions are right, then I think Anya & Hok, who were my two favorites at the onset of the season, could be the ones to leave. I know, crazy, but it could totally happen. We'll see.

I'm going to Santa Barbara tomorrow night so I may not get to blog the results & how right/wrong I was. So until I can blog again, I'll just say that the word safe has ceased to seem like a real, accurately spelled word to me. Safe. Safe safe safe. Safe. See?