SYTYCD - Top 16

To those who are following the Sisterhood, Welcome! To those other loyal followers of my sadly neglected blog, I'm sorry if you're not into So You Think You Can Dance. And you're expecting more cute pictures of Eli. Or my still-not-finished nursery. Next time...

So, on with the Sisterhood! This is my first time recapping and I'm a bit nervous. Be kind. It's also a little last minute as I was called in as a sub. In fact, I should be honest and say that I haven't even watched the show since Vegas week. Not on purpose, though. Busy, busy, busy. I did my research and read all your recaps. However, I've decided to go into tonight giving all the dancers a fair chance. No preconcieved notions. (For the most part.) So these are my ramblings and impressions...

My first thought: Hey! New intro!

My second thought: What the heck, Cat??? Elvira? Really, I found her whole get-up very distracting all night.

On a similar note, after reading your recaps I was interested to meet this Karen girl and was disappointed to find out she was hotter than me. (Jim disagreed. He's such a good husband.)

Where was I? Right, Cat's crazy hair.

And a welcome/shout-out to last season's top dancers. It's been like a whole 2 months, right?

Then as Cat muffled a laugh while trying to compliment the joodges (did anyone else catch that?), Adam decided to wake up. Then way too much time cross-promoting various charities and shows. Cat doesn't seem impressed and almost falls asleep herself, I think. The coached applause from the audience only accentuated the boredom.

And then, as Cat said, "Back to tonight!"

First up, Karen & Kevin. Instantly Jim decides she's trying to channel JLo. Whatever. As long as she's not prettier than me. They do a hustle, which I didn't even know was a dance genre. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't too memorable for me. Afterwards Adams seems to just now notice that Kevin's in the competition. And Karen is a "quiet fire". And then he talked alot. Jim predicted a Train from Mary (who he refers to as Crazy Stupid Lady) and was almost right. I thought for sure it was coming and had my hands halfway to my ears. But no. Just more talking. Then Nigel.

Then commercials. To include Sonic commercials. I love me some Sonic commericals.

Jakob & Ashleigh are up next with a jazz piece. I would say they definitely didn't conquer the cane. And if the cane was the third character, than those spandex pants were the fourth. Yikes! I found the whole dance stiff and awkward. Which is too bad because I thought it was a fun concept and with the right dancers could have been great. I don't even think the audience bought it. But Adam apparently did. I couldn't have disagreed with him more. And I think he has a crush on Jakob. Is he still talking? Then Mary and Nigel liked it, too? Were they watching the same routine I was?

[Side note: When I watch this with my DVR friends, they always fast forward through the judges and I always bothered me. But I wish I'd had the button tonight.]

Pauline & Peter break out in a Hawaiian quick step. I thought it was cute. But maybe I'm a sucker for a guy in uniform... They weren't perfect, but I thought they brought it pretty well. The judges seem so-so. They point out the good and point out the bad, but I'm wondering if they're being too easy on the dancers this season... (Later I find out how wrong I am was.)

Kathryn & Legacy learn Broadway this week. Cute! I liked the storyline and thought they did a pretty good job. (And both Jim and I decide that the upper thigh is a random place to have a tatoo.) We also decided that Adam should not be allowed to call Legacy "Legs". Too, too weird. And poor Kathryn. They ripped her apart and I wanted to cry for her. I thought she did great. Then Nigel started to compliment Legacy (I think) but went on long enough with metaphors that the look on Legs' face was exactly what I was thinking: Wha?

Channing & Victor. (I love that she raced lawnmowers.) They pull out a great contemporary number. I really liked this. If they had performed this with a little more passion, it could have been awesome. But it still left me happy. If I remember correctly (my tired brain is getting a little sloppy) the judges seemed to like it, too. Except for the often boo'd Nigel. It's so funny how he interacts with the audience. Like he has to prove himself to a mass of people who have already proven that they'll clap at anything. Remember that five minute plug for Dizzy Feet?

Lil C is back with hip hop for Ryan & Ellinor. I like hip hop so I was hoping they'd be good. I think Mary (was it Mary?) nailed it when she said it got "sluggish half way through". Nigel had on his sour face. Come on, Nigel. I didn't think it was that bad! Sometimes he can be such a crotchety old man. I can't harp on the guy for having an opinion. It's his job. But he kept going on and on and on... I love that Cat always tries to keep things copacetic, trying to find just the right words to keep everyone smiling. She has such a charm about her, don't you think? Except for that hair...

Mollee & Nathan are challenged with the salsa. But before they even start to dance, I've decided that Mollee is, like, twelve. I'm already annoyed. They try their best, bless their hearts. Not even extreme yardage of yellow ace bandages wrapped around Mollee peek-a-boo body can distract us from, well, everything that went wrong. And the judges let them have it. Then I start to feel kinda bad for Mollee because she looks like she's going to cry as soon as Adam opened his mouth. I thought he summed it up pretty well, though. Really, it was just pretty bad.

Lastly we have Noelle & Russell with a newly made-up genre, Afro-jazz. I've been excited for this one all night. I vaguely remember Russell the Crumper from Vegas week so I was curious to see how he'd do. And I wasn't disappointed. I can see why he's a fan favorite. But as they are intro-ing the piece, I could't help but think I'd be bummed if I found out my spirit guide was a frog. Just sayin'. But they made it work. It was quirky and fun. So fun, that they get the Train. Thanks, Mary. And Nigel makes a jab at Russian Folk dancing again. It's obvious Russell is the judge favorite. And Cat's too, I think. Did anyone catch her checking him out when she was signing them off for commerical?

Overall I felt that that show was eternal. I didn't realize it was going to be two hours. Again, I've been out of the loop. And if I had to guess, I think Mollee and Nathan might go. And hopefully Cat's hairdresser. The two strongest dances were Channing & Victor, and Noelle & Russell. What do you think? Am I totally off? Let the discussion begin!