SYTYCD – Top 16 Perform

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: L-R: Marko Germar and Melanie Moore perform a Hip-Hop routine to "I Got You," choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE airing Wednesday, June 29 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2011 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Adam Rose/FOX

Tonight Kristen Chenoweth sits on the panel as the guest judge. As a star of stage and the small screen (Tony and Emmy winner), she is an ideal judge. Cat tells us Kristin is releasing a country album on the 13th of September. That will be interesting to hear. Also joining Nigel and Mary tonight is Lil C – I love when his nutty self is on the panel! Should be fun.

There will be 10 dances tonight. All of the partners will perform and then two groups of eight will perform. The contestants will not be judged on the group dance, but it will be used in making the decision as to which dancetestant to keep tomorrow night.

Sasha, Chris, Ryan, Tadd, Clarice, Marko, Miranda, Mitchell – Broadway (Hit The Road Jack – Ray Charles) – Tyce Diorio choreographer. I love Tyce’s choreographing style, especially for Broadway – but I know many are not a fan. This dance was a real fight between the boys and the girls and I have to say that I think the girls won. It was a fun routine nonetheless.

Sasha and Alexander – Contemporary (Belong – Cary Brothers) – Dee Caspery choreographer. A love story remembered and it is centered around a piano…I hope Alexander can bring some emotion to it. These two are such physical dancers, you can see it in the way they throw each other around. There was almost a near miss when he threw Sasha up on the piano – she had to quickly right herself so as not to lose it. It was a pretty performance, but Sasha was stronger than Alexander was. It was supposed to be his memory, so I am shocked he did not bring it. Lil C used the word mellifluous…love it.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: L-R: Caitlynn Lawson and Mitchell Kelly perform a Samba routine to "Put It In A Love Song," choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE airing Wednesday, June 29 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2011 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Adam Rose/FOX

Caitlynn and Mitchell – Samba (Put it in a Love Song – Alicia Keys f. Beyonce) – Jean-Marc Généreux choreographer. Jean-Marc is hilarious! I like the way he inspires his dancers, “Use your hips like speakers”! This dance was an exercise in strength and sensuality. I really thought this was wonderfully danced. I am happy that Mitchell recovered from his injury because he and Caitlynn are a great pair.

Miranda and Robert – Broadway (It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) – from Sophisticated Ladies) – Tyce Diorio choreographer. Miranda is playing a high class lady of the night…I am sure she has a heart of gold. I actually quite liked the performance although the taps in the song were a bit disconcerting. I am sure there is a version of that song somewhere that is without taps. Robert is doing amazingly well in this competition considering he is the oldest male and he is a B-Boy. Miranda is always great. Nice performance.

Melanie and Marko – Lyrical Hip Hop (I Got You - Leona Lewis) – Nappytabs choreographers. Best friends who fall in love…a great theme. This has been my favorite dance thus far. I love the hand dancing that they did at the start of the performance and I loved her kicky little dress with leggings combo. I really felt the sadness that Marko was portraying and the kiss in the middle felt sincere and not staged. Nappytabs brings it again and these dancers stepped up to the challenge perfectly.

Ashley and Chris – Jazz (Lights Go Down – Telepathe) – Sonya Tayeh choreographer. Beetlejuice dances? Sonya makes the nuttiest concepts look amazing. They handled the intricate steps well but I did not love the music. I wonder if a Bjork song would have been more well-suited.

Clarice and Jess – Foxtrot (Fly Me to the Moon – Frank Sinatra) - Jean-Marc Généreux choreographer. I love this song. I am certain Jess can rock it, I hope Clarice and he can match up nicely. This was an elegant and strong performance with a great sense of “meet cute”. Clarice really surprised me, she was smooth and beautiful on the floor. This was perfectly in Jess’ wheelhouse and he performed as I expected he would.

Ryan and Ricky – Contemporary (With Every Heartbeat – Robyn) – Sonya Tayeh. Will the second time be the charm for Sonya’s choreography? This dance is a story of loss, the piece of fabric holding them is a lovely symbol. I really enjoy the bare staging of this dance. The fact that they were in dark colors with an acoustic song and a piece of fabric made me slip right into this story and not want to leave. Gorgeous.

Jordan and Tadd – Hip Hop (Memories – David Guetta) - Nappytabs choreographers. Another love story from Nappytabs, with a twist. Even though Jordan was not comfortable with the storyline of this dance, she and Tadd have an awful lot of chemistry. I could see them as a couple. The dance was precise and hit the right beats and tone. Nicely done.

Alexander, Robert, Melanie, Ashley, Jess, Ricky, Jordan, Caitlynn – Contemporary (Poison & Wine – The Civil Wars) - Dee Caspery. The ladies are trying to poison the men…be careful!  Dee took a very literal approach with the song and dance combination. This was a pretty dance, I enjoyed the subtlety of it. Really quite beautiful.

Tonight was less explosive than last week, but there were definitely some front runners.

Top 3

• Melanie and Marko – Lyrical Hip Hop (I Got You - Leona Lewis)
• Caitlynn and Mitchell – Samba (Put it in a Love Song – Alicia Keys f. Beyonce)
  
• Ryan and Ricky – Contemporary (With Every Heartbeat – Robyn)