SYTYCD 14 Top 9 Recap: You're Not Just Going Home, You're Going on Tour!

Hello Again, Dance Fans! Isn't it nice to be back in the familiar rhythm of the live shows? Two hours of great routines, Cat being her amazing self in an amazing dress, judges being loud, wacky, emotional and occasionally critical - it warms my heart and calms my brain. Now that we're in Week 3 of the partnerships, we can start to see if connections are deepening between the contestants and their all-stars, and what performance strengths and weaknesses exist for those still vying for the title of America's Favorite Dancer 2017. 

Top 9 With All-Stars Performance - Tribal Fusion (?) Choreographer: Luther Brown, "Ya Yar" by Jonte'. No one specifically states what category or dance style this falls into. It seems to be a fusion of several things. It's got great energy! I have an easier time identifying the All-Stars here than the contestants here. The contestants blend together for me, with the exception of Lex who gets featured front-and-center for an extended period of time. He's very good. He's one of those dancers that the choreographers love to focus on in the group numbers. I never know how that contributes to vote counts, but it seems like it can only benefit him to get as much screen time as possible doing cool things.

Cat looks stunning as ever tonight in her dress by Balmain, shoes by Gianvito Rossi and jewelry by xivkarats. The big news of the night (other than the fact the President has to interrupt things to give a speech about how he's not going to tell us his actual plan for war in Afghanistan) is that the the National Tour is back on! Hopefully it's coming to city near you! Currently it won't be making it's way to NYC. Englewood, NJ is close, but the Beacon on the UWS would be a lot closer. Tonight the dancers will once again be performing routines with their All-Star partners (style chosen at random) and solos performed in their own style. I don't say a lot about the solos because there's not a lot of variation in them week after week. Lex, Logan, Mark, Dassy, Koine and Kaylee always impress. It's tougher on Kiki and Lyndsey to do ballroom without partners. Taylor's solos don't really wow me either. The solo offers a small shot of redemption in case a dancer bombs his or her routine, but the solos haven't really had a major impact on the outcome yet this season.

Logan and All-Star Allison - Jive. Choreographers: Emma Slater and Sasha Farber, “5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days” by Louis Prima. This jive takes us back to the time of World War II, when soldiers came home to marry the girl of their dreams and create the Baby Boom. Logan is trying to convince Allison that she's the girl for him. There's a lot of talk about needing "cheeky charm." Logan claims in the taped intro not to know what that means, and that carries over to the live performance. He's having fun, but it's very broad and his limbs are SO LONG, when he goes big, it can get really big. I think Logan's greatest strengths so far are his commitment to character and his undeniably impressive tricks. His greatest weakness seems to be his youth. There's a trace of immaturity to how he handles the expanse of his frame. That's something that will come with age. The judges are very complimentary. Mary says he had it all, but then adds, "If you get this style again..." which means there were enough technical problems that she's not willing to gloss over them. Don't think Mary won't call you out if you had a rough time with Ballroom. Not everyone gets an automatic ticket on the hot tamale train.

Koine and All-Star Marko - Hip-Hop. Choreographer: Dave Scott, “You Don’t Own Me” by Grace feat. G-Eazy. Koine plays a pageant girl who's stressed out and ready to leave that life behind. Marko is her Friend-Zoned buddy who's trying to support her. Well, that's how they describe it in the taped intro, but in performance, it doesn't seem like Koine is ready to let go at all. She's obsessed with her mirror. she's ignoring Marko and  she doesn't want to get out of her chair (You've got 90 seconds to dance! Get up and dance!). But when Koine does get up and dance, it gets awesome really fast. She is a complete performer and Marko is a fantastic partner for her because he's very skilled but not the kind of dude to steal focus. Also at the end of the routine, he manages to kick the chair back across the stage so that it slides right back to make up table perfectly. How did he do that? During judging, Mary wails, “WE DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE ANYMORE!” meant in a positive way. I really think this girl can make it to the final. She keeps elevating the choreo with great characterization and great partnering. If she has a weakness in the competition, I haven't seen it yet.

Dassy and All-Star Fik-Shun - Jazz. Choreographer: Ray Leeper, “Bring the Funk Back” by Big Gigantic. Ray really wants to work on the connection between them in this routine, and I think that is key. If Dassy has a weakness in this competition, it is that there seems to be a wall up between her and Fik shun. I'm not sure what's causing it, but it still looks like they are dancing next to each other instead of with each other. Aside from the parts where she was climbing over him, they might as well have been dancing in two separate rooms. I hope they can find a way to let each other in, because they are both fantastic dancers on their own. But we're at the point where I want to see their connection deepening and I don't see it. That's a disappointment for me and leaves me particularly unjazzed for this jazz routine. Vanessa, tells the Dassy she would've liked more, "rawr.” And I think she wanted that feeling directed more at Fik shun. I'm a bit concerned for these two.

Mark and All-Star Comfort - Contemporary. Choreographer: Talia Favia, “Ending” by Isak Danielson. This one is so intense. There is a raw energy coming through the movement. It almost feels like it's going to overwhelm the movement, but it doesn't. They manage to keep a hold on it so it feels really alive. Seriously, when am I getting my Too Close With Comfort spin off? These two are so dialed into each other. This could grow to be one of my all-time favorite partnerships on the show. For a dance that is so raw in emotion there are still some very difficult moves and lifts. When it ends, Comfort and Mark look spent. Mary is in tears, but tells them, “It was special tonight.” I agree. Nigel points out that Mark's biggest strength is his willingness to do whatever is asked of him and I think that's a core aspect of Comfort's artistry as well. I think that's one thing that makes them so successful together. 

Maddie Ziegler is here loving dance and promoting LEAP, a new animated movie about kids who love to dance. I think that's all there is to it. I haven't heard about this movie before tonight, but they showed a preview of it during the commercial break and it looked sweet! Check it out this weekend if you want!

All-Stars Group Number - Contemporary. Choreographer: Travis Wall, "Strange Fruit" Nina Simone. Oh man. I knew when the words, "Strange Fruit" came on the screen this one was going to be intense. The imagery is quite beautiful. The All-Stars infuse the movement with intention and a shared energy that comes with having worked together for so many seasons. It's nice that they get to perform together and create art that's not judged as part of the competition. 

Lex and All-Star Gaby - Broadway. Choreographer: Warren Carlyle, “Miss Otis Regrets” by Bette Midler. In the intro, Gaby mentions that Lex has stage experience and he mumbles about being in Billy Elliot, to the point where you almost can't tell what he says. Say it with pride, Lex! It must be hard to be an introvert trying to sell yourself to the public on a reality competition show. Public speaking doesn't seem to come naturally to him. For the dance, Lex wants to have dinner with Gaby but she's only concerned with looking gorgeous in a flapper dress. It's a very nice routine, if not a total "wow" for me. I still think their routines are putting too much spotlight on Gabby. Lex's greatest strength is his amazing moves that show up in his solos, but his greatest weakness is that the routines focus on his All-Star. This particular routine follows her journey the whole time. Lex is just a supporting player. He does do a very impressive leg swipe move at the end that never stops being impressive. My boyfriend Josh noted that we always see him do it one direction. I wonder if he can also do it on the other leg. Nigel points out that Warren Carlyle, choreographed the current revival of Hello, Dolly!, but unless you saw it on stage you haven't seen any of it since they don't believe in doing commercials with any content from the show. Putting that aside, I want to see a routine that really puts the focus on Lex. Hopefully next week he gets contemporary and he can show us really all he can do in a routine.

Sydney and All-Star Paul - Hip-Hop. Choreographer: Luther Brown, “Really? Yeah!” by Kyle. The concept is: Miami Vice 2025. I'm sorry to say it's cooler in description than execution. This is exactly what Sydney did not need at this point in the competition. It would've been better had she wound up with the routine that Kaylee winds up doing after this. Sydney spends her time on stage hidden behind giant sunglasses and a Pulp Fiction wig. She never look comfortable in the routine. Paul seemed more relaxed in it, but he can't really help her. This one's about their connection to the style more than their connection to each other. It's basically all swagger and the moves come out of that. Sydney's greatest strength is her technique and her ability to connect. She can't use any of that here. It's too bad. In judging, Mary puts forth a bunch of descriptions like  “sick,” “frozen,” “lit,” and "disgusting" but then says none of those applied to this performance. Yikes! Vanessa wanted more “stank face,” At this point, if Sydney is in the bottom 3 again, she's going home.

The Top 9 Group Routine - Jazz. Choreographer: Chirs Baldock, "Hey Pachuco!" by Royal Crown Revue. It's always nice to see the contestants getting to dance with just each other. This is a fun routine. Taylor gets a lot of featured screen time here and it occurs to me that her big smile reminds me a bit of Denise Richards as Carmen in Starship Troopers. The problem here is that while she looks beautiful, that mega-watt smile can tip over into "vacant-looking" if there isn't a lot of intention behind her movement. She has a trio moment with Kaylee and Sydney in this dance, and I feel like the other girls both have more of an idea about what characters they are playing behind their eyes than Taylor does. It just seems like its Taylor dancing with no character on top of that. I wonder if that issue will also present itself in her partner dance this week. I hadn't noticed that disconnect in her previous dances with Robert.

Kaylee and All-Star Cyrus - Jazz. Choreographer: Spencer Liff, “Less Talk, More Art” by Vitro Fun & Koil. Fun with hats! Don't drop the hats. That's basically the mission in this dance, and Kaylee and Cyrus choose to accept it. I'm digging the style of this piece. They both look great. The hats are not dropped, but other moves wobble. They're not always together. Sometimes it seems like Cyrus is a half-second early. Other times it feels like Kaylee is a half-second late. Kaylee gets the character though. Is it possible she wants it too much and is psyching herself out? Sometimes she just looks so worried. Nigel compares
Kaylee to Gwen Verdon, and no offense to Kaylee, but that seems like a big leap. I don't think anyone in the competition should be compared to her. She's a legend! Since it's Solar Eclipse Day, it's decided that Kaylee eclipsed Cyrus in the routine and he's cool with it. I wish that it looked like these were having more of a consistently good time in the competition. 

Taylor and All-Star Robert - Samba. Choreographer: Jean-Marc Genereux, “Bun Up the Dance” by Dillon Francis & Skrillex. Taylor's greatest strength is that her incredible skill and connection to Robert. Those things have launched her to the front of the pack. That's also her greatest weakness, because when you're out front, the pressure to stay there can be intense. It gets to Taylor this week. She gets the samba, which Mary later says is the toughest of the ballroom styles. Taylor never looks comfortable. She's more focused on the steps than her connection with Robert which is the wrong way to go, because you can nail the chemistry even if you can't nail the steps. If you don't commit to the connection and then mess up the steps, you've got nothing! It's not a disaster, but it's a let down. The judges are sympathetic but they want more fire from Taylor. They know she can bring it. If they were going to have a stumble along the way, this is probably a safe week to experience it.

Kiki and All-Star Jenna - Contemporary. Choreographer: Mandy Moore, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by George Michael. I don't understand the deal with Kiki and his glasses. Why isn't he wearing contacts? Listen, on their own, Jenna and Kiki have sex appeal FOR DAYS so together they are smoking hot. Kiki's greatest strength is his ballroom partnering, but his greatest weakness is shaking those ballroom tendencies when dealing in other styles. They say this routine is contemporary, but it feels awfully like ballroom. Kiki is not being asked to do much beyond supporting Jenna, but he is doing it in expert fashion and looks damn good doing it. They might end the routine by make out on the floor. It's hard to judge from the camera angle. The judges love this routine. Standing ovations abound. Mary is crying again. Because of the way my DVR cut out and then restarted due to Trump's overlong speech, I don't hear everything they said, but i'll take a wild guess that it was all positive. Kiki is here to stay, If he doesn't do a solo or ballroom routine to "Let's Have A Kiki" before the end of the season, I will throw such a fit.

BOTTOM THREE: Dassy, Sydney and... Mark? WHAT? Dassy and Sydney, ok. I get it. But Mark was so strong last week and his partnership with Comfort is fantastic. I do not accept this. The studio audience is in shock. The judges immediately save him, so that leaves us with Dassy vs. Sydney and the writing is on the wall.

ELIMINATED: Sydney

This was the right call. Nigel makes a point to say that the women voted against him last week when he would've saved Robert, but since she's already been in danger and the hip-hop didn't work this week, it's here time to go. Sydney doesn't look surprised but looks very disappointed. The judges and Cat don't want her to think about home, but instead to think about the tour! The adventures don't have to end! They just won't be televised. 

So that's it for another compelling edition of SYTYCD. My bottom 3 guesses for next week are Kaylee, Dassy and Taylor. I'm hoping the ladies can bounce back next week! Here are my rankings for the night. See you next time, Dance Fans!

1. Mark and All-Star Comfort - Contemporary
2. Koine and All-Star Marko - Hip-Hop

3. Kiki and All-Star Jenna - Contemporary
4. Lex and All-Star Gaby - Broadway

5. Logan and All-Star Allison - Jive
6. Kaylee and All-Star Cyrus - Jazz
7. Dassy and All-Star Fik-Shun - Jazz
8. Taylor and All-Star Robert - Samba