And THAT is what will make this truly about dancing and not popularity.

I'm blown away by the choreographers they lined up for this year. I can remember watching Tony and his wife when they were ballroom champs. Mia Michaels is amazing! And while it hurt to look at her, Sonya choreographed one he** of a modern dance for Mark and Courtney.

Yes I am!

And as it should be about the dancing...

I have always been impressed with Mia Michaels as well as Tyce Deorio. But I am so happy that they have added other totally fantastic choreographers this year. I know what you mean about Sonya but unfortunately I see similar personas between my son and his motley crew of friends. Picture Sonya walking around with someone in a business suit and you can see my 19 year old son and myself. When someone from work sees me with him they can't believe it!! But he chooses to express himself in the physical sense - as long as he isn't doing drugs, drinking or being a juvenile delinquent he can express himself anyway he wants to!!

I find it funny that they keep saying he has no training. That's an out and out lie perpetrated by Nigel. In the first episode we saw Joshua, they commented that he had more training than he had let on at the audition, and he just smiled. Later he admitted to having taken some classes to prepare for SYTYCD. Granted, he hasn't trained for as long as some of the others, but he's not JUST a street dancer.

Your tolerance level is MUCH higher than mine, MM. Thankfully, my son stopped at ears pierced and a couple of tatoos. I hated the first two but the big American flag stating 'These colors don't run.' makes me feel better that if he had to do that at all, at least he picked one to be proud of.

I totally agree. I barely miss Shayne Sparks with the other people they have added. I don't think Tabitha and Napoleon are nearly as good as Sparks was, but....

He has toned down some, TR. The foot high purple mohawk was a bit much as well as the gauged holes in the ears. He did have to get rid of the snakebite piercings (another long story ) but he does have the bridge piercing and a small ring in the nose. I wasn't crazy about the smaller tatoos he started with but now his new one is an entire sleeve of roses and star gazer lilies.

And yes, I do have a pretty high tolerance level. But mostly that has to do with the fact that I have had to be both the mom and dad for most of the kid's lives. (my ex told me he just wasn't into this parenting thing like I was - couple that with the fact that he was a manic-depressive who refused medication and you can get the picture)

I almost forgot about Shayne Sparks!! Tabitha and Napoleon's choreography is on the lighter side but I really did enjoy the Conductor routine last night. The thing is that routine would not have worked without dancers that could get into the roles and really sell it. I think that is what has made the difference this season.

That alone speaks volumes for what we've seen so far. In the past seasons, Mia and Shayne's numbers were the ones to wait for!

Yes they were but I am so happy to have other creative minds entertaining me now!!

Oh, and how could we forget Cat putting that grill in her mouth! LOLoad!!

Last season I though she was annoying but now I really like her. She used to sound rather shrill but I think she has learned to speak in the proper tone of voice.

And I love her dresses (most of them anyway), and her hair.

OMG, califgirl, that was so funny!! (rather gross but funny). I feel the same way - last season I was ready to strangle her for being annoying but I like her now. And you're right, the wardrobe is phenomenal some nights. Except a week or so ago she had this wing thing happening on the right side of her head - I kept wanting to yell out to someone there to fix it. Couldn't she feel that????

I still hate her pregnant pause for the audience to say judges for her because she can't pronounce it right!!

I'm sad today, I really didn't want to see Chelsie go Then again, I liked all of the final six. I loved how the

... wait for it ...


judges told them all about how rejection was part of auditioning to be a dancer, and no matter who went home, they were all VERY talented and had received over 1,000,000 votes each. WOW.

I was really surprised that Chelsie went home, but at this stage of the game, everyone who goes home is still amazingly talented. All I want now is for Courtney to win. I really don't care for Katee.

I want either Joshua or Twitch to win.

Joshua is much more talented than Twitch, imo, but I love Kaytee too. Together, they are breathtaking to watch. Why can't a couple win? Wouldn't it be a hoot it they tied in votes? If not, my monies on Kaytee.

I'm betting we see Mark for sure real soon. Chelsie too will find someplace to make her presence known. Two extremely talented kids there.

I agree Joshua is more talented than Twitch. He's the one I would LOVE to see win.

The thing I like most about him is that he does not have the typical dancer's body. He's stout and strong.

Josh's strength is unbelievable. Watching him just flip his partners around and lifting them up effortlessly is amazing to watch. He doesn't have the typical dancers body and that may hinder him in his career with partnering. Luckily most of the dancers on this show have been short but put someone tall in heels and they would tower over him.

Truffle, I too would love to see a couple win. They really are beautiful to watch together.

I know you liked Chelsie, BF, but she was very limited on her solos since she is so used to having a partner in ballroom.

I was sad to see Mark leave - he may not have been the most talented dancer but he definitely was the most dramatic to watch.

Joshua! Joshua! Joshua!

His leaps last night had amazing elevation!

Seriously, I have to say that I almost wish it was possible for Joshua and Katee to tie for the win. Of course I still love Twitch too.

What was that awful mess they did to end the show? I realize it was a Mia Michaels piece...but was it supposed to be a joke or something? No doubt it was incredibly difficult and tiring, but it was neither pretty nor impressive, and add on the hideous tartan costumes and it was almost painful to watch.

I laughed at the judges for praising them for it! I totally agree it was one of the worst pieces I've ever seen on the show.

Of course my female friends seemed to LOVE the boys shirtless in kilts....

Thank you, Becca! I thought the same thing but there sat the judges, raving about it. Thank goodness Nigel didn't get it either.

Nigel was spot on about the jive too. I looked at the gran in the middle of it and told her they were flat footing it.

Did anyone else find the trepak lacking and flat too? Sure Josh jumped up and Twitch did some neat low work but they both did a lot of posturing and strutting that just isn't in a real trepak. And why didn't they switch and let Twitch jump at least once and show if Joshua could even do the low stuff?

I really thought Courtney did a better job than Kaytee in their dance. She seemed to be really into the energy and selling it. Kaytee was perfect but not as exciting.

And I forgot to vote and am traveling today. Hopefully I'll get to see the finale. Cirque rocks no matter what they're doing. Above mentioned gran is a Jonas Brothers fan too.

That was the only saving grace.

Did last night's entire show feel a bit half-arsed to anyone else?

ETA: I thought the judges were a bit lost for words after the Mia piece, and I think it was because they didn't want to say a Mia Michaels piece sucked. Mandy and Mary faked vague compliments about it and Nigel said he 'didn't get it' then went on to discuss the dancers instead of the dance. I thought it was very diplomatic of him. Did anyone else notice that it was the first time he didn't make a point of singing a choreographer's praises?

With the exception of the dance with the two boys, and Joshua and Katee's dance, YES!

Honestly, I didn't. Most of the time, when they do choreography for the show, it isn't "classic" (insert dance style). It is a creative version based on the classic style that fits the dancers. In this version, the goal was to use trepak influence and moves to create a street styled battle between the two. In that, I thought they did a good job. Why didn't they switch? In my mind, it is because Joshua can jump so much higher than Twitch that it would have made it easier for Josh to win. I would have prefered to see them mimic each other's moves as more of a battle, myself.