SYTYCD 14 Top 10 Pt. 2 Recap: Aliens Dropped Into Dancers' Bodies & Having Relationship Issues

Hello Dance Fans! We're back with the Top 10 once again. But this time it's the last time all the contestants will still be in the running for the title of America's Favorite Dancer. Tonight we get dances and solos from all of them and then the 10 will become 9. I'm sad to see any of them go! Let's get into it, shall we?

Top 10-All Star Opening Number. Saturday Night Fever The BeeGees, Choreography: Mandy Moore and Val Chmerkovskiy. Once again, they put the new balcony level and stairs to good use. I am really loving the new stage and studio set-up. It looks great on TV. The routine is a lot of fun. There are some big wigs on that stage. Marko is wearing this brown... mop, is really the only way to describe it. It looks like it was just pulled out of the plastic box that it came in from Ricky's. Most of the male All-Stars have fake hair, but the only male contestant to don a wig is Kiki. Even though she's in a huge blonde wig, Kaylee still gets blue highlights because that is her THING! This is a very fun dance. The style looks good on everybody. A very positive vibe to start the show.

Credits: Hey! We get a new intro! I see mostly All-Stars but also a few current contestants. Does everyone who's competing show up here? It doesn't seem like there's enough time, but I'll keep watching in the coming weeks to make sure. It ends on Kiki and Jenna striking a pose. Pimp spot!

The audience is ready. The judges are ready. Cat is defintely ready with big hair, a subdued Anine Bing shirt, Michael Kors disco ball trousers and Xivkarats jewelry. Someone WILL be going home tonight and it's sad! But we won't find out who's safe and who's in danger until the very end. Right now the main concern is who's gonna bring it tonight?

Mark Villaver and All-Star Comfort (Jazz) — Choreographer: Ray Leeper, Jazz “Hater” by Various Production. The point of this jazz routine is to be as steamy as possible and Mark and Comfort deliver. The wardrobe department decides Week 2 is long enough to go without us being able to commit all of the tattoos on Mark's torso to memory.  The chemistry they found last week is back on display here. It's very focused and intense. They attack the movement and it's exciting to watch. The judges note that Mark's known for his fun and bouncy energy but here he showed a commitment to a different type of character. Nigel points out that Comfort just gets better and better each year, which I mentioned last week. I'd watch a whole show that was just her. Time for a spin-off, Fox! Working title: "Too Close with Comfort!"

Lex Ishimoto and All-Star Gaby (Argentine Tango) — Choreographers: Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo, Argentine Tango “Red & Black (Rojo y Negro)” by Ryota Komatsu. I'll start first by saying that there were some impressively controlled lifts here. But the kicks throughout were very flimsy to me. I like Lex and I think he has the talent to win the whole thing, but he has not had a routine yet that brings out the best of his skill set. Gaby looks amazing here, but it's not about Gaby being a great dancer. She already won her season. The routines have to give Lex more of a spotlight. Mary says it was missing steam, and she's right. This routine was mostly a miss for me. Nigel says that people should go to tango class as couple's therapy. OMG that's the show that Comfort can host! Couples in trouble taking dance class together! You're welcome, America!

Kiki Nyemchek and All-Star Jenna (Hip-Hop) — Choreographer: Luther Brown, Hip-Hop “Caroline” by Aminé. Now I get why Kiki was wearing the wig in the opening number. He already had his hair colored green like the Joker for this number and they didn't want to have it be distracting/a total giveaway. In case you forgot, Kiki BOMBED hip hop at the Academy. Like, completely. He forgot the whole routine and just stood there. This routine is his chance for redemption. For the most part, he succeeds. He and Jenna are basically Mr. And Mrs Joker (I'd say "Harley Quinn" except Jenna also has green hair.)  He hits the choreo hard and the character suits him. I wish he had ditched the floor-length sleeveless coat at some point because at times I feel it obscures too much of his body isolations. There was also a moment with a gun that made it rain dollar bills (which had Nigel's face on them! Props budget must be huge!). It was both kind of awesome and a bit too much of a distraction from actual dancing. I thought this was a good showing for him given his previous hip hop disaster. Judges loved it. This should keep him safe another week.

Sydney Tormey and All-Star Paul (Contemporary) — Choreographer: Jaci Royal, Contemporary “The Letting Go” by Melissa Etheridge. This is a perfectly lovely routine. It's very well danced. Sydney and Paul have a nice connection. Really good transitions throughout. It's not really breaking new ground in terms of theme or composition though. It's the tale as old as time of a girl leaving a childhood love behind to pursue her dreams. It's solid, but it's not going to stand out from the crowd and I already thought Sydney was in trouble after last week. If she makes it to Top 9, I hope they give her something truly crazy next time, so she has a chance to surprise us. 

Logan Hernandez and All-Star Allison (Jazz) — Choreographer: Brian Friedman, Jazz Fusion “In the Morning” by Jaded. Concept: Blind dating in the future is truly blind! Until you take your mask off so you can see where you're dancing. Allison is back and Logan has a great chemistry with her. I'm glad her injury didn't sideline her for the whole season. Logan has dialed up the tricks to 11. They are 4 or 5 moves that defy gravity and the normal rules of how the skeletal structure of a human body should bend. This is a very strong performance right when he needed it. The judges are floored by what he can accomplish. I dont' think they'll be sending him home tonight!

Guys, we interrupt your regularly scheduled dances, for a special guest performance! This has happened so rarely ever since the results show got canceled, so it's great to see! Blessin, the stepper from the LA auditions is back, and she brought her whole crew with her! The Lethal Ladies are in the house. The All-Stars join in on the performance as well. It's a high energy love letter to the tradition of step. The girls are great. Cat tells us The Lethal Ladies can be seen in the new documentary STEP, so check your local theater listings!

Kaylee Millis and All-Star Cyrus (Hip-Hop) — Choreographers: Phoenix and Pharside, Hip-Hop “I’m Better” by Missy Elliot feat. Lamb. Kaylee's routine got the least amount of love from the judges last week, so it's her good fortune that Phoenix and Pharside are in her corner this week. Those two always come up with great stuff. Tonight Kaylee and Cyrus play aliens who have beamed into human bodies. Yes! YES, Phoenix and Pharside! Give me more of this!!! The two of them dive into this routine like nobody's business. Kaylee is acting the hell out of this routine through her eyes and her face, while she's also nailing the choreo. They create amazing shapes and perform really impressive tricks together. Cyrus drags Kaylee across the floor while she stands on her head. She balances on his back held up by her hands as he slowly elevates. The whole routine is cool as hell. The judges eat it up. They are so happy to see Kaylee come back so strong. Impavido is back, y'all! May she never leave us again! If Kaylee was in trouble tonight, she just guaranteed her safety.

Taylor Sieve and All-Star Robert (Broadway) — Choreographer: Al Blackstone, Broadway “The Man That Got Away” by Judy Garland. Last week's routine was so incredible, and everyone involved knows that this routine probably won't live up to it, but damned if Taylor and Robert don't give it their best try. The routine is good even if it doesn't offer the flashy tricks that some other routines tonight had. Taylor is conveying the feeling of the music. There's something about her breathing and her movement that feels very Broadway. She gets the style. She's telling the story. The judges seem to think they topped last week's department and I don't think it was that level of success. Nigel think's they're the couple to beat. That might be true, but this routine isn't going to find up at the top of my favorites ranking for the night.

Koine Iwasaki and All-Star Marko (African Jazz) — Choreographer: Sean Cheesman, African Jazz “Speaking in Tongues II” by Sheila Chandra. The routine starts with Kione wearing an ENORMOUS headdress. That thing looks so heavy! Thank goodness she gets to take it off before any intense movement happens. This is a delightfully inhuman routine with their bodies continually intertwined and somersaulting over each other. That keeps going until the end. I can't believe how continually they are flipping over each other. These two are a great partnership. Lots of power, lots of character and great energy between them. I don't know if Koine can take the crown, but I definitely consider her a contender for Top 4 in the finale.

Robert Green and All-Star Jasmine (Contemporary) — Choreographer: Stacey Tookey, Contemporary “Otherside” by Perfume Genius. I feel like the intro package didn't really connect with the meat and potatoes of the routine, but I liked what they did here. With so many routines dealing with relationship dynamics this week, this routine conveyed a deeper, heavier sense of pain than the others. I thought it was really strong, but I was worried the judges would be luke warm, because Robert's execution on some moves was a touch under what it should've been at times. It's not that he never had it. It was just inconsistent. Nigel didn't feel the emotion of it, but I think that's bonkers. The emotion was definitely there. Vanessa and Mary defend the passion that Robert put into it, but Mary agrees with me that some of the technique wasn't quite right. I thought it was cool that a dancer with so much natural swagger in his performance, brought a totally different character to this piece. They praised Mark for that earlier! I'm concerned with how this critique went.

Dassy Lee and All Star Fik-Shun (Bollywood) — Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan, Bollywood “Radha Nachegi” from Tevar (Soundtrack). I love Dassy. I think she's such a captivating performer. Her costume tonight is beautiful and she is radiating energy. And yet... something's not quite right. I felt it a little bit last week, and I feel it more this week. For me, it feels like Dassy and Fik-Shun are dancing next to each other instead of with each other. You know? They're both talented and Fik-shun has a stellar history with partnerships on this show, so I'm not sure what the disconnect is between them. Bollywood is complicated and they handle it well, save for a stumble coming out of a lift toward the end. It pains me to say I found the overall experience here underwhelming! The judges all gloss over the stumble, but I thought it was a mistake worth noting. Could she be in danger?

BOTTOM THREE: Cat reveals that the dancers in danger of going home are Logan, Sydney and Robert. I'm surprised about Robert. I definitely would've put last week's hairspray routine in the mid-to-top range of my favorites. If Kaylee wasn't in trouble last week, I don't think she's going to be in trouble for a good stretch of this competition. 

ELIMINATED: Robert - Ouch. This one actually stung. I didn't think he should've finished 10th overall. I thought his placement as the final dancer in last week's live show was a sign the producers believed in his ability to deliver. Did I think he was going to win the whole thing? No. But he was surprising and fun and had moves to back up his engaging personality. It wasn't a unanimous decision to get rid of him. He seems really sad about getting cut, but his dance out over the credits is still fierce. Thanks for bringing it, Robert! Next week, we're down to nine. 4 Contempos, 2 Ballers, 1 Popper, 1 Jazz Hands and 1 Breaker. Potential Bottom 3? Based purely on tonight's routines, I'd say Sydney, Lex and... Dassy? But it's never just based on routines. Beyond the popularity of the contestant, these All-Stars have fan bases that carry weight. This one's a tough call! Here's how I split my votes this week. Looking back, I should've given 1 point higher to Kaylee and 1 point less to Kiki, but I think she'll do okay without it. If Cat reveals she's in the bottom by one point, I will accept the blame.

My ranking of the routines from Favorite to Least Favorite:

1. Koine Iwasaki and All-Star Marko (African Jazz)
2. Kaylee Millis and All-Star Cyrus (Hip-Hop)
3. Taylor Sieve and All-Star Robert (Broadway)
4. Logan Hernandez and All-Star Allison (Jazz)
5. Kiki Nyemchek and All-Star Jenna (Hip-Hop)
6. Mark Villaver and All-Star Comfort (Jazz)
7. Robert Green and All-Star Jasmine (Contemporary)
8. Dassy Lee and All Star Fik-Shun (Bollywood)
9. Lex Ishimoto and All-Star Gaby (Argentine Tango)
10. Sydney Tormey and All-Star Paul (Contemporary)