I don't know about too giggly, but Cat has gotten awfully commenty -- always putting her two cents in about the routines or attempting to lead the judges into claiming something one way or another. That's not her job. I'm not really that bothered by it (yet), just noticed it of late.

According to the judges, acting the part of a vixen is the only natural and correct response of a woman who seeks the attention of her boyfriend (which was the premise of Kathryn's routine) and there was no room for interpretation in her performance. I disagree, but even if the judges' criticism had merit, why did they then give Legacy so much credit (which was based solely on his tricks, flips and movement) when Kathryn alone was required to pull off an emotional need in the performance -- Legacy's character was only required to be a springboard for her performance (how hard is it to play bored and disinterested?). She shouldered the burden of selling the performance to make the routine work, not him. He couldn't go wrong with his characterization because it was completely reactionary and she moved just as well as he did, so the two were judged by a different set of standards. Boo to the judges, boooooooooo! Also, over praising Legacy week after week comes dangerously close to Kayla tongue-bath territory -- and if the judges really are surprised that Legacy is doing so well after every routine, why in the hell is he in the top twenty to begin with? Aren't the top twenty dancers supposed to be able to execute the routines? I actually enjoyed a Broadway routine, so I will not accept that Kathryn did a bad job. (I liked Legacy's performance as well, just not the judges' double standard in their judging.)

Another partnership I'm liking is Jacob and Ashleigh. They work extremely well together, and that's something I never would have guessed prior to seeing them perform. Obviously, I disagree with Ashleigh's many detractors who say she isn't pulling her weight.

Wow Nathan, way to prove me wrong, you're the best dancer EVER!

Your reactions to the routines coincided perfectly with mine except for one, which I didn't find as entertaining.

********** SPOILER ALERT **********

Kathryn wins this season.

Great recap once again Pottymouth!!!

I really enjoyed Russell/Noelle's Afro Jazz routine and just like you because I just love Russell. He could just sit there and not do anything and I'll probably love him. I also like Jakob/Ashleigh's dance moreso for Jakob. The guys really are outshining the girls this year.

I'm okay with Adam but I'm going to upset if we don't get any Debbie Allen commentary this season. I'm not going to say anything about the 1st person's comment cause clearly they are in their own little world! lol

So far Ashleigh's choreography has been far easier than Jakob's. The routines look good because he's doing all the work.

So far no one has made me really take notice like in years past. Maybe they should leave this show to just once a year.

I FF through Mary and Nigel's comments, so I didn't know they compared Jacob to Joel Gray (WOW!!), but I totally see it. He's my absolute fave this year.

I agree with cattyfan, too, that the choregraphers just aren't giving Assleigh that much to do; all of their dances have been about Jacob filling up the stage and Assleigh moving around quietly a little bit. I think they overly praise her because the second she's in the bottom, they're going to kick her off. (I hope)

Pottymouth, love your reviews--you are BRILLIANT. I look forward to them after every show.

Asseleigh did a respectable job, but I still watch Jakob more than I do her. He is clearly carrying her; had she been with a weaker partner, she might have gotten the boot sooner. But Jakob's brilliance carries them both through. I'll bet if she was paired with Hubby, she'd automatically shrink back to her old self, dancing in Ryan's butt--I mean shadow.

Boy, did Mowee's and Nathan's salsa TANK. It was awful! I don't feel Mowee is dancing with more maturity at all, and straightening her hair (a more "mature" look?) won't do the trick, either. Mowee looks and dances like a kid. She looked like she was playing dress-up in the salsa. The open mouth look? Perhaps she watched Natalie of Season 2 who also danced opened-mouth and thought that is what sexy is supposed to look like. Uh, no--it looked like a child aping an adult. She was having balance checks and other problems, but Nathan wasn't much better. I don't know why Mowee made the top 20, unless being in High School Musical 1,2,3 carries a lot of weight, especially with the pre-teen and teen vote. Nigel should have waited at least 10 years before selecting her for the top 20.
Yup, Nathan is in trouble because he thought their salsa was hot. Maybe he meant he was all hot and sweaty after hauling Mowee around the floor--LOL. I can't help but feel that Adam and Nigel mentioning how Mowee's and Nathan's fans will keep them in the competition was a reverse psychology mind game to ensure those two were "safe" and out of the bottom three. Had Nigel & Company NOT mentioned anything about the way the fans would vote, I'll bet Nathan and Mowee would have been in the bottom three, which is where they belonged for this week. I beg to differ with Mary's assessment that they are the "Dream Team." I think she meant "TEEN TEAM", because those two were coupled to appeal to the heavily teen demographic. But a Dream Team? Uh-uh. When I think of "Dream Team", Joshua and Katee come to mind, for starters.

Russell & Noelle's Afro Jazz was a highlight for me. Wonderful. Wish more of the numbers were like that.

I still feel Legassy is OVERRATED--I guess having a previous connection to the show somehow elevates you in the eyes of the judges, but to me, he's still not that good. The judges act as if he's climbed Mount Olympus every time he's performed, piling on the praise until things start to smell. I felt sorry for Kathryn, because she didn't show "enough" improvement according to the judges, compared to their precious crybaby Legassy. Well, I guess the judges have a different set of standards for Legassy. Then again, he has a past connection to the show, so of course, expectations are drastically lowered for him. This way, he gets to stay in the competition a lot longer.
IMHO, I thought Kathryn did a GREAT job, especially since she's stuck with Legassy. Her problem is she doesn't have previous connections like he does. She's a zillion times better dancer, yet the judges heap the praise on Legassy. IMHO, he must have kissed TONS of butts to get himself in the top 20 for Season 6. I mean, he had all of Season 5 to do major butt-kissing, priming the pump, having access to the judges and choreographers (staff meetings, cast parties, anyone?), doing major politicking. Yes, he had to go through the entire audition process, but it was only a formality...he was slated for Season 6 no matter what. Yes, I know...it's happened before, with Lacey Schwimmer, etc. But this guy really annoys me.

If Season 6 is supposed to blow Season 5 out of the water, I'm not seeing it. It's been a letdown for me so far. I'm hoping it will get better.

I just started reading, but I had to give you a shout out, PottyMouth!

My real name is Iris Myandowski, the hand walking queer!

BEST BEACHES REFERENCE EVER!!!!

Nathan's about to be on my shitlist as well. I had high hopes for him. oh well. Though I can't wait til he picks hip-hop or contemporary. I saw a youtube video of him dancing with Twitch.

I'm thinking Jakob is gonna win. He's the most versatile and talented with a great personality & a sense of humor. Birds of the same feather, flock together I guess.

Jewel, I think you mean Lauren. She worked with Tyce? I can't remember.

Mowee and Nathan BOMBED. They seriously fucked up worse than any other couple I've ever seen on this show. I don't think anyone has done a worse job with a routine than these two knuckleheads.

Love love love Russel :) He's brilliant and his quality of movement makes me so happy.

Can we PLEASE get over showing the girl's bellies? I understand that dancing is supposed to be "sexy" but there is no need to have every girl on the show half naked all the time. The only people who watch this show are tween girls. You aren't going to get a male audience (aside from maybe tween boys) just from having some 18 year old wander about in a bra top. In past seasons the girls were far more covered up. *old lady rant over*

Ryan and Ellenore sucked too but I didn't think Ryan would do well in this style anyway and he just proved me right. The point of the show is that the dancers should be able to do every style but that isn't really a feasible request. There is always going to be some style that a dancer just is not suited for and will always look weird or feel weird doing. For Ryan, that is the real hip hop.

I feel if Ryan got say, watered down Jazz hip hop (Tabitha and Napoleon) he would have done better.

I wonder why they don't have Asian Hip Hop on the show...it's a totally legitimate off shoot of hip hop with a particular style and rhythm of it's own.

I believe Cat wore a lizard dress to confuse viewers switching between 'SYTYCD' and 'V'.

The atrociously performed Hip Hop routine by Lil C is an exact copy of a routine he choreographed for SYTYCD-Canada last season. You can find the video on YouTube. If Lil C was putting so little effort in his choreography, he was probably putting little effort in his training as well. This might explain why the Canadians did a better (not great) job of it. (I still think it was a sh*t routine.)

I think Karen was hoisted on her own petard for telling America that she's getting a divorce. I think that may have caused America to lose interest in Karen and her long tamale train running may turn out to be a short one.

I played Taps for the tappers, they didn't last too long.

Coming out of the box, this season doesn't seem as strong as Season 4 which had great personalities, fantastic dancers and incredible routines starting from week 1.

Random Thoughts I had while watching:

1. "we don't need another hero" wouldn't get out of my head until the Relax routine. I was laughing my butt off at the lyrical edit. Really, Fox, it's a 20 year old song, haven't we all heard it by now?

2. Really liked the eye painted on Russell's hand in his routine.

lol about the Mad Max comment. Coincidentally, Joe McHale made the same comment in his show.

I loved the caption:
Your mother system fans draws on protein for hundred milliliters of vodka - hurrah for bing translator!!

Russell or Jacob FTW!

Stacey Tookey, Sean Cheesman, and Gustavo Vargas are 3 choreographers from Canada's version of SYTYCD. Sean Cheesman occasionally sat as a guest judge. All 3 created some great work in the last 2 seasons of the show. The Canadian version just started auditioning for the 3rd season. Mary Murphy, Mia Michaels, Little C and Dan Karaty are occasionally judges. With the exception of Mary and Dan the rest of the choreographers and Tony & Meredith did choreographed for the Canadian contestants though out the season.

Pikey578,

Hi! I use Babelfish to translate and it seems more accurate. It comes up with:

'Your mother sucks on the balls of squirrels for vodka!'

I say that all the time. . .

I don't mind Ashleigh in her dances with Jakob. I think it's because Jakob is such a charismatic dancer that it's hard to even notice Ashleigh. There's something about Jakob's movement that makes it seem like he's always doing something interesting, even when he's doing something common.

I don't like Peter as a dancer, but it was hard not to like him after seeing his work with SPIN.

I liked the afro-jazz, I liked the Broadway number. I didn't like the hip-hop number but I thought Ellenore was just so-so rather than bad, though it did feel sluggish towards the end. I think Tabitha and Napolean choreograph - most of the time - around their dancers, so when they have someone who has trouble with the style and can't hit hard - say Randy and Evan - they can still put on a pretty good routine. Lil C just throws his dancers to the wolves. I with he'd adapt to his dancers more, but I think he's probably relatively new at choreographing for non hip-hop dancers and hopefully it'll come in time.

I think Nathan and Mowee's salsa might just have been the worst performance I've seen on this show. They were awful, especially Nathan. I mean, Mowee had to be sexy, and she's not, so she was fighting a losing battle. But Nathan just lacks something in his dancing outside of his style. Maybe it's emotional weight, I'm not sure, but he's awful. His disco was awful. This salsa was awful.

And I really liked Kevin during the auditions and Vegas, but on the show I've found him underwhelming. Does anyone else agree?

And please let Andy Blankenbuehler replace pissy-face Tyce. Please!

Gerritv, I think you're right about Cat's outfit being used as competition against V.

Thanks again for the recap, PM!

Nathan and Mowee should totally have been in the bottom 3! That was painful to watch. I do think there's a tie concerning the worst dance *ever* on this show, though. Remember season 3's tango with Ricky and Ashlee? Awkward! I'd say they're tied for the 'worst dance' honor. If Nathan ever does end up in the bottom 3, he'd better step up big time for his solo. I get the feeling Nigel is now jonesing for the opportunity to boot him off.

Please...worst dances on this show? Check out several of Phillip's from last season. They were horrifying to witness.

C'mon, Cattyfan, no matter how bad Phillip was, Jeanine was always great. And they always seemed like partners - mismatched in skill, but still partners. Nathan and Mowee had no chemistry and looked like two people who just ended up next to each other on the dance floor and weren't too happy about it. It was bad dancing, bad partnering, and bad acting.

I'm just curious as to Legacy's connection to the show. From what I understand, his only connection is that he has worked with Lauren from season 3. Does he have more of a connection than that or is that it? Because if that's all it is, Jakob has just the same connection being friends with Jeanine. I disliked Legacy as much as everyone else at the beginning but he has grown on me big time. Don't get me wrong, he's no Russell, who is by far my favorite, but I'm willing to give Legacy a second chance.

I don't know the history of Legacy's connection to the show. I've heard a few things that don't seem any worse than things that have happened with other dancers from previous seasons. In the end though, I don't think it matters whether a dancer makes it on the show through talent or connections. They still have to dance well or the voters won't vote for them. Legacy has proven so far that he can compete, so I don't have a problem with him being on the show.

I have also read a few comments from people who are not happy that Legacy has worked as a professional dancer prior to being on the show. Being a 'professional' dancer simply means that at some point in the past a person has gotten paid to perform in some capacity as a dancer. There are no stipulations in the rules that prevent professional dancers from trying out for the show, and in fact I would bet that of all the dancers who have competed on the show a larger percentage could be considered professional dancers than not.

PIxieGal262 said: " Can we PLEASE get over showing the girl's bellies? I understand that dancing is supposed to be "sexy" but there is no need to have every girl on the show half naked all the time. The only people who watch this show are tween girls. You aren't going to get a male audience (aside from maybe tween boys) just from having some 18 year old wander about in a bra top. In past seasons the girls were far more covered up. *old lady rant over*"

Only if the guys are never allowed to dance shirtless or expose their chests. With that stipulation I don't think you'll get much support for the idea. :D

In all seriousness, I think you're wrong on all accounts. For starters, you called yourself an old lady and then said that only tweens watch the show. I'm pretty sure from the level of maturity contained in the comments here and on other forums I have read that a very large portion of the audience is made up of adults. It's just that the tweens are the most apt to vote. Also, the number of male viewers may be significantly lower than the number of female viewers, but even if you put the percentage at a lowball figure of 10%, that's still a significant number of viewers. I'm a straight guy, and I've read many other comments from people who mention their wives and such, so I know I'm not the only one. Also, if you go back and watch footage from previous seasons you'll find that your perception of just how much clothes the dancers wear is wrong -- being half naked just seems to go hand in hand with dancing.

I can't fault you on your desire to protect the young women from overexposing themselves. That's your opinion and I suppose you should be commended for your desire to protect their integrity. I'm not going to argue whether your views are right or wrong, just that I think your facts concerning the demographics of the viewing audience are wrong.

I don't deviate from you much, Potty, but I have to say, I actually like Ashleigh. She may very well benefit from having a good partner, but she's not the first, nor the last.

I thought the hustle was so so, the Lil C number was really bad, and the Mowee/Nathan number was, to me, the worst routine ever done on this show. I strongly disagree about bringing Philip's name into that conversation (I was pulling for him, so I could be biased) but NOTHING in that routine looked good. Even simpler things like hand position was off, transitions were bad...this looked like the rehearsal footage they show before the routine.

Legacy/Kathryn was entertaining (thought both dancers were good), Russell and Noelle were great, and I acutally liked Channing/Victor this week. I think they will get better in time.

Johnny - totally agree with you on the Kevin observation. I was happy that he made it on the show, but I've been a bit underwhelmed. Don't know if it's him or the routines so far.

I agree with ohhyeah on the demographics. As a married male, I don't fit into the tween girl category, and there are a lot of us who watch the shows to spend time with our spouse, just like my wife would do with something like Monday Night Football. I don't vote, I do believe the majority of voters of both this show and AI are both tweens. Besides, I'm pretty sure Dancing with the Stars skews to an older demographic, and the girls there (dancers and celebs) wear as little there as here.

The judges not named Adam were seemingly less annoying this week...that, or I'm learning to tune them out better. It cracks me up that Nigel is STILL harping on the Russian Folk Dancing. In the battle for who gets more attention, Cat's outfit - 1, Cat's outfit - 0, leaving the overall season score outfits - 2, hair 1.

Lastly, love the Wolverine photo you found for the comparison. When I saw Ryan in the white tank talking about wanting to be a superhero, I knew you'd come up with something brilliant!

Good luck on getting tickets to the show, Potty.

Phillip's "tango" last season was a joke...and should stand as the worst dance ever done on this show.

As for Russian folk dance...perhaps if a more skilled dancer had been performing it, the dance would have been better. Imagine if it had been Phillip who had first performed a Bollywood number on this show. It would be the endless joke, like Russian folk dance has unfortunately become.

Just two random thoughts while reading:

1. About the "hustle" done by Kevin and Karen... where was the hustle part? That looked more like a generic disco dance to me. When the other disco choreographer does the hustle, you KNOW what they are dancing (75 death lifts or not).

2. The screen grab of Mary on page 2... how much does she look like Miley Cyrus right there? I don't know which is scarier... Miley or Mary.

Thanks for a great recap!

great recap as always.

1st, am i the only one who thinks Karen is really skanky?

2nd, wasnt there an afro jazz number in season 3 i think? im thinking Heidi was in it, maybe with Travis, but not sure.

Yes, there was an Afro jazz number danced on the show before, and yes, you are the only one who thinks Karen is skanky.

Cat is so giggly because of Ryan. Have you noticed how touchy feely she is with him? It just seems MORE with him for Cat somehow. My friend said she was the same way when Dmitry was on the show. Not that I can blame her. Beefcake is beefcake.

Also, Legacy is growing on me A LOT. I am just going with it.

ohhhyeah: Yeah, I’m in complete agreement with how the judges treated Kathryn. Legacy has been growing on me, but Kathryn is part of that equation also. Maybe we should start a pool with predictions for the winner and see who gets it right!

bigjr6633: I know! Russell just makes me smile when he gets on stage. I’m really hoping that he continues to shine throughout the entire season!

cattyfan: Exactly! Jakob is definitely doing all the heavy lifting in their numbers. I’m curious to see if that trend continues because I don’t think she’ll do well given more to do. Or maybe I just hate her.

here4beer: Jakob is definitely up there for me too (along with Russell). I really do hope Asseleigh is booted once she hits the bottom. I can’t imagine her pulling a decent solo out of her ass.

jewel54: Awww, thanks so much! I don’t et he dream team comments either, but I rarely agree with who the judges deem to be the dream team of the season. That salsa WAS atrocious – they had better pull out all the stops on their next routine!

slumrville: YAY!!! The funny thing is, I thought of that while watching her a couple of weeks ago and have not been able to get it out of my head! I was so glad to finally find a spot to put it in! And I’m so glad someone got it!!!!

chibby: I think they did Nathan and Mowee a big disservice pairing them together. I know other dancers are just as young, but they are both so immature they really need someone that’s going to force them to grow up a little.

PixieGal262: Yeah, Ryan would definitely have fared better with Tabitha and Napoleon, but I don’t care because I don’t really like him anyway. Is that too mean? ;)

gerritv: Hahahaha! I wish I had thought of that! Interesting bit about Lil C recycling his choreography. I’ll have to check that out.

zerocool: As soon as I heard the song start I KNEW they were going to edit the lyrics as well as the jiz-like sounds at the end. I liked that eye too!!

chibby: That is so cool and just made me so happy!!

Pikey578 & gerritv: I actually use babelfish for my translations, but the one from Bing made me laugh just for the sheer wackiness of it!!

bambinoitaliano: I’m glad they’re bringing these choreographers into the US show! I’ve never watched the other versions, so they’re all new to me and I am loving getting new blood on this show!

JohnnyLegs: I agree – I tend to watch Jakob and then I have to go back and FORCE myself to watch Asseleigh so that I can comment on whatever nothing she is doing this week. I agree about Kevin. Maybe it’s the partnership?

wcsdancer: I thought I had scrubbed the memory of that tango from my mind!!!! Eeekk!!

cattyfan & JohnnyLegs: I’m a little biased when it comes to Phillip because I really liked him and wanted him to do well. But I do agree that Jeannine kept most of the performances from tanking the way they would have with anyone else as a partner.

blazergirl: Jakob’s connection isn’t the same as Legacy’s. Jakob has a friendship with Jeannine, whereas Legacy has a professional connection to the show in that he assisted her in the choreography rounds of this show during last season’s audition process. I’m getting over my irritation at that because I’m actually liking what he’s done so far. Unlike my unending hatred for Lauren.

ohhhyeah: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with your comment about who watches the show versus who actually votes. Uh, Ryan can go right ahead and put a shirt on and BUTTON it too. Russell should burn every shirt he owns. ;P

LuckyLouie: Say it isn’t so!!!!!!! You like Asseleigh?? No!!!!!!!!!!! I’m sure you all knew I wouldn’t be able to resist as soon as Ryan said he wanted to be a superhero. :D I am nothing if not predictable when it comes to Hugh!

cattyfan: I never knew you were Phillip’s biggest fan! ;P

Snootchy Bootches: Holy Crap! – I did not even see that until you pointed it out. Super scary!!

rainbodragon: I don’t really find Karen to be skanky – sometimes I think she may be a little full of herself, but other times I think maybe she just has that quiet confidence. And yes, Heidi and Travis did what was billed as an afro pop routine, but I think they’re pretty close.

keenai: Cat better watch out – Asseleigh with kick her butt!!!!! I still don’t get his supposed hotness – he just doesn’t do it for me.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone! You guys are the best!

SWAK, PottyMouth