April 1st, 2009 10:07 am

‘Dance’ Top 8 Perform/Results

The Top 8 week turned out to be one of the series most controversial weeks on ‘Dance’, and shook up the dancers in more ways than one.

Freaky, Slightly Skanky, & Controversial

The Top 8 Week turned out to be one of the series most controversial, and shook up the dancers in more ways than one.

Mid-week promos told us ‘One Dancer is forced to leave the competition’, and by the weekend it was revealed that everybody’s favorite cheerleader, Penny, sustained a Fractured rib during her routine last week, and the hard but best option was to leave the competition because as the Judges explained, If she continued the facture could puncture her lung, and it also wouldn’t be fair on her male partner worrying about how to perform lifts in her state.

The Top 8 Show opened with Natalie interviewing Penny onstage, and everyone’s thoughts on the situation, and an explanation of what was going to happen. As unfortunate and sad as Penny leaving is, Bonnie mentioned that ‘This happens, dancers get hurt but they come back stronger’, and Matt agreed that ‘There is life after So You Think You Can Dance’ and Penny was excited to get rested and well for the upcoming Top 10 Tour in July. She thanked everyone for their support, and after a touching farewell package, Retreated to the audience to watch the show. This meant as per the rules, Gianne was coming back to partner Charlie in tonight’s routines! Also along for the ride as guest judge this week for the second time this season was Jason Gilkison. And we were off!

An addition this week was the Guys & Girls group routines. Opening the Show were the Guys as Baseball players in a Broadway routine choreographed by Adam Williams in a tribute to Bob Fosse’s legendary production of “Damn Yankees”.

Jason G thought Timomatic was the “weakest technically” and “kept coming back to BJ”.

Bonnie said Tim didn’t have the technique but that meant he had to work twice as hard. Jason C said Timomatic was “out of your league” and he’d expected more of Charlie. BJ was “smooth” but “the actor within the dancer put that routine to Ben”.

Timomatic & Amy went back to the classroom as school kids in a contemporary routine choreographed by Sher Manu to Newton Faulkner’s “To the light”.

Matt thought Timomatic got to explore the Contemporary world a lot more, and that Amy had shown Australia what a “stunning technician” she is. Jason G could see Tim calculating in his head but his improvement was “steaming along”. Amy “put layers onto a performance” and there was “nothing you can’t do in this competition”.

The Beyonce Catalogue sure was getting a workout this season, with Talia & Ben dancing a popping hip hop routine to Beyoncé’s “Diva” in a routine choreographed by Rosa Agius that impressed the judges.

Bonnie thought they were in unison the whole time, and that they both worked hard at everything they do. Jason C didn’t think there was anything more Ben could have done, but that he’d been outdanced by a ballerina. “I actually didn’t know you had that in you, girlfriend”.

Matt thought they both got it “spot on”, and Talia was “killing every genre” .

Gianne & Charlie didn’t disappoint doing it for Penny burning it up with a Disco routine routine by Aleeta Blackburn set to the 70’s dancefloor classic “Le Freak” by Chic.

Jason C pointed out that the couple had one day less to rehearse but that it looked like they were “fighting one another” on their pretzels. Disco “sat well” on Charlie but it wasn’t Gianne’s best performance. Jason G found Charlie “a bit cheesy” and that Gianne had been “quite heavy” coming in and out of the lifts.

Bonnie disagreed with Jason G because she felt that “cheesy was very necessary” in this kind of routine.

BJ & Kat danced a Godfather inspired Foxtrot to “The Godfather” theme choreographed by Leeanne Bampton.

Jason G thought it was “probably one of the best displays of foxtrot technique” he’d ever seen in the competition. The “lifts were effortless” and it was “beautifully danced”. Given Kat & BJ are just 18 and 19, Matt thought the “sophistication on the stage was A-mazing”. They had an “elegance” and he got “the dreaminess of it”.

Round 2

Amy & Timomatic seemed to be a good pair for their second routine. Dancing a Project Moda routine to “Ease on down the road” from musical THE WIZ, with Tim in the role made famous by Michael Jackson. The routine was a mash-up of Hip Hop & Broadway, which were both genres either Tim or Amy had background in.

Matt had been worried whether Tim & Amy would gel but they had been “fantastic”. “MJ would be very proud” of Tim and Amy was going to have a “very long career” because she was “just brilliant”. Bonnie said Amy told a “different story every time she was on the floor” and she felt this was a rare occasion where Tim could relax.

For their second routine, Ben & Talia did a Samba Quickstep fusion by Natalie Lowe to Michael Bublé’s “It had better be tonight”.

After Natalie compared her Swishy Dress to Talia’s and exclaiming ‘Look! We Match!’, The Judges gave their thoughts.

Bonnie said they “just hit it”, that Ben had a beautiful body line and that they had great eye contact. Jason C thought Talia had done more tonight that he thought she was capable of and that she was “ramping up and up and up”. He said Ben had been a great partner and wanted the audience to understand that was a huge compliment.

Jason G said Ben had done heel leads in the Samba and toe leads in the Quickstep when it should have been vice versa. He disagreed with Bonnie, feeling they hadn’t maintained eye contact and that it had been a bit “cruiseship-ish”. Matt said it was “at the top of the Richter scale” in entertainment and they were “both on the train to the finale”. “Oo-ah-Tahlia” went her cheer squad.

Charlie & Gianne turned on the bizarre factor as ‘monsters’ complete with crazy wigs in an unbelievably intricate Hip Hop routine by Supple to Broadway Project’s The Wobble (Orange advert).

Jason C again reminded us of the pressures the couple had been under and thought Charlie was fantastic. “You’ve delivered, fella”. The “actor within the dancer” had served Gianne well and they’d both done a “great job”.

Matt said Charlie had been “absolutely brilliant”, Gianne was “fantastic” and that this was the routine that would make the audience remember them as a couple. Bonnie said the unison was perfect, that Charlie was “so getting it” and she had “always been a lover of Gianne”.

BJ & Kat took to the arena with a Circus inspired, comedic Jazz routine, choreographed by Jason C’s teacher, Sue Ellen Shook, to Fatboy Slim’s “Wonderful night”.

Jason G thought it was another great performance even if the last lift had him on the edge of his seat and was thinking they might ‘have a disaster’. He’d have preferred Kat in high heels but BJ was his “new favourite boy in the competition”. Matt thought Kat was “cute” but he’d like to have seen her go a little further and they had been “a little slow on the spinner”. He also thought BJ’s fake moustache was a good look.

Bonnie said Kat was “so good and getting better” but she could let go a little more. BJ was a “great partner” and everything he did was “first class”. Jason C told Kat to push harder and extend herself because her competition were fierce and gorgeous. He said the problem with their grip change had been that they had stopped spinning but that was their only mistake.

Topping the show off was the Girls group routine, in a controversial and risqué style known as ‘Dancehall’ , Choreographed by Tiana Joubert to Sean Paul’s “Watch dem roll”.

Matt said the problem with Dancehall was that it could look “hoochy” and that he liked it only in moderation. He also felt their search for aggression had put out their unison and that Kat had been the pick of the ladies. Bonnie decided to judge purely on personality, and on that basis Amy was the best.

Jason C totally agreed with Matt. He wasn’t a fan of watching girls do that for 2 mins and that Kat been the best dancer because she stayed in the centre of the beat. Jason G was still blushing but the stand out for him was Gianne because she was “so natural and easy”.

After another amazing show where the dancers pulled through despite having an exhausting week where the competition was ‘Shaken to the core’, who would be Dancing for their life on Monday night?

Monday night saw the Top 8 Performing another group routine by Jason G, and then the b4 was revealed. It was Kat & Gianne for the Girls, & BJ & Timomatic from the Guys.

After the break Kaiser Chiefs performed their new single, ‘Don’t Miss A Beat’. Folowing that the B4 danced what could be their last solos of the competition. Timomatic received by far the greatest reception from the audience, they went nuts.

The Australian Ballet company performed a routine, Then it was down to business. It was a bit like Déjà vu as this week mirrored last week’s decision and Gianne was going home while Kat was through to the Top 6. Natalie & The Judges congratulated her though and she was presented with a bunch of flowers in a touching moment for being such a trouper and coming back to the competition.

After that it was the Guys turn. Despite giving his best solo yet and that massive crowd reaction, Timomatic was going home tonight.

After the break the Top 6 picked their new partners for the final time in the competition, and here are the results:

BJ & Talia
Charlie & Kat
Ben & Amy

Now were really getting down to the pointy end. In a few short weeks, we’ll be crowning the winner of SYTYCDA 2009 after an electrifying finale. Be Watching 7:30 This Sunday Night to see how the Top 6 Fare as they make their bid to get to the Top 4 and this Year’s Finale of SYTYCDA!