Another episode of So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation and another elimination to get through. This week’s Top 9 is officially now the Top 8. The contestants paired up again with their All Star partners, getting back into their comfort zones with their style of dance. They also campaigned for votes before their solo performances, with answers going from cell phones for every kid to helping out the Earth by making each day of the week a day to do something good.
The show opened up with the contestants dancing a contemporary piece to “Me Too” by Meghan Trainor. They all danced dressed in suits and ties with a fedora hat to finish off the look.
The first pair to dance was Jake and All Star partner Jenna. They performed a difficult samba piece which Jake had no problem making look easy. The judges raved over the performance with Paula Abdul saying, “You are like a little ninja. There’s nothing you can’t do.” Jason Derulo quickly made things awkward by letting Jenna know if she wasn’t involved that he was definitely interested.
Tate and All Star Kathryn were next up to perform with a very intricate contemporary piece to “Get Here” by Oleta Adams. The stage was smoky with ribbons that were used in the dance. Jason said that if, “I didn’t know you both, I wouldn’t be able to tell who was the pro and who was….just starting out as the next generation”.
Kida and All Star partner Fik-Shun’s piece was choreographed as if Kida was a puppet wanting to become a real boy and Fik-Shun was his puppet master. Judges Nigel and Jason disagreed on how much Kida should have smiled during the performance but the judges all thought the performance was incredible.
Jordan and All Star Sasha performed a jazz piece to “Sax” by Fleur East. Despite the judges all agreeing on the pair having problems with staying in sync, Nigel tells Jordan that she gets better every week and that “no one can ask more of you for that”.
Shaedon and his partner Marko’s performance was to be seen as “two fly brothers showing off”. Between the moves and Shaedon’s use of facial expressions, the judge’s were amazed by the performance. Nigel said it was the best thing he has seen out of Shaedon while Paula told him that he is “a little old soul” and that he is “also very smart” with his performance.
Ruby and All Star partner Paul took on the Argentinian Tango to the song “Malevo” by Electro Dub Tango. The dance represented a brother passing down the torch of dancing tango to his younger sister. The judges were impressed by the footwork and thought the piece was beautiful.
Tahani and partner Comfort brought the Jamaican vibes to the stage for the first time performing to “Get Busy” by Sean Paul. The dance was Comfort as the big sister of Tahani. The judges loved the new style brought to the stage and Nigel said “you’re moving parts of the body I didn’t even know existed”.
Contestant J.T. and partner Robert performed an emotional contemporary piece using an empty mirror frame at the beginning. J.T. is Robert’s reflection of his younger self there to show him he does have purpose in life. The judges were all moved by the piece, with Nigel saying they are his favorite duo because of their bond and Maddie telling J.T. he has “just taken it to the next level every week and you will go so far in this competition..”.
The competition ended with duo Emma and her All Star Partner Gaby performing a women empowering tap dance to “Salute” by Little Mix. The judges were impressed with how Emma kept up with the quick and difficult footwork and used the word fierce to describe the performance.
The Top 9 did a contemporary group performance t0 “Wolf” by Tailor while the All Stars did a somewhat creepy contemporary dance to “Send in the Clowns” by Sarah Vaughan and the Count Basie Orchestra.
At the end, the elimination results were in, putting Shaedon and Ruby in the bottom two. The judges revealed it was Shaedon’s turn to leave the competition, which he handled very well. Tune into FOX Monday’s at 8pm ET for the next episode of So You Think You Can Dance.
