So You Think You Can Dance 2008: Top 8 PERFORMANCE SHOW Recap

Only two more weeks until we find out who is America’s Favorite Dancer! I know, I know, the anticipation is killing me too… On to tonight’s show! The format is the same as last week’s show. Four couples are picked at random, each couple dances two routines, and each dancer performs a solo. America votes and the girl and guy with the lowest number of votes gets booted off. Cat introduces the judges, Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and singer, dancer, choreographer, and director, Toni Basil! Of course, I know her best from her song, “MICKEY.” (Which, by the way, was stuck in my head through the entire show.)

Courtney Galiano and Will Wingfield

Courtney and Will started off the show with a Samba choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux. They danced to I Fell In Love With The DJ by Che’Nelle. This was a good way to start off the show. It was a little slow, and not too sexy, but good nonetheless. Their next dance was a Hip-Hop routine by Tabitha and Napoleon Duma. Another slow dance to Like You’ll Never See Me Again by Alicia Keys. This was a sad story about a woman who misses her husband, boyfriend, lover, and the yearning for one more moment with him.

Katee Shean and Twitch

Twitch and Katee’s two styles were Contemporary and Broadway. You can tell these two to dance in potato sacks and it would still be awesome. Mia Michaels choreographed the first routine to Duffy’s Mercy. This dance had everything. Even a front door. Katee played a psycho exgirlfriend VERY well, and Twich was very cool. Was it me or did she look like Amy Winehouse? Their Broadway routine was choreographed by Tyce DiOrio to Sweet Georgia Brown. It was cute and had a lot of energy. I agreed with Toni “Hey Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind!” Basil when she said that the woman in the story needed to more sultry to match the woman’s voice in the song.

Comfort Fedoke and Mark Kanemura

Mark and Comfort danced the Foxtrot and Hip-Hop. Their first routine was choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon to Party People by Fergie featuring Nelly. They both did pretty well in this routine. The second was choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux to Lady Luck by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. I don’t have much to say about this dance besides the fact that I was a little bored with it.

Chelsie Hightower and Joshua Allen

Chelsie and Joshua had the Argentinian Tango and Disco. Dmitri Chaplin, finalist from Season Two, choreographed the Tango to A Los Amigos Forever Tango, and Dorianna Sanchez choreographed the Disco to Gloria Estefan’s Everlasting Love. These two dancers can dance to anything and have it be entertaining. However, I thought that it seemed like there were so many lifts in the Disco number to compensate for the lack of training on Joshua’s part. Dorianna knew he was very strong (Runningback strong in my opinion) so he’d be able to do lots of lifts. Overall, good dancing.

Here is my ranking for the FINAL 8:

8. Comfort - She’s a good dancer and all, in fact, she’s a great Hip-Hop Dancer, but I think that is where her talent is limited to. In all the other dances she’s done, she simply seems out of place. She’s lucky she had another hip-hop routine this week. Maybe that will save her like it did last week because she out shined Mark in hip-hop.

7. Mark - Even though Comfort was better in the hip-hop routine, Mark was better in the Foxtrot. I’m putting him ahead of her because I believe he is a better overall dancer. His talent isn’t limited to one style of dance. However, as I was taking notes about the show tonight the only thing I could put down while he was performing his solo was, “Weird.” His little intro was weird, the music was weird, and his dancing was weird. That’s it.

6. Joshua - This man can move his big hiney all over the place! His solo was great. He is awesome at hip-hop, but I did find his couples dances a little lacking though. He was a great partner for Chelsie in the Argentinian tango, but there wasn’t much too his part other than being her partner. Plus, he seemed a little off during the disco number when it came to the turns. I’m guessing that’s because he was concentrating on the many lifts in the number.

5. Chelsie - She has shown us what a good ballroom dancer should be like. Her moves are smooth and she seems fearless when it comes to the lifts. The reason why she is number five is not because she’s lacking talent. It’s because the top four are just that fabulous! Chelsie’s got some great legs, and as ZZ Top would put it, she knows how to use them. However, during her solo I was remembering Heidi from two seasons ago and I believe Heidi did a better job. I think Heidi even made it to the top 4…but I digress. On to number four!

4. Will - Will has moved down slightly in my opinion. He has great technique, and his emotions seem to flow through him while he’s dancing. I just don’t see the passion in him that I see in some of the other dancers. Even some that I’ve ranked lower than him. I know that he wouldn’t be on that stage if he didn’t have passion in his heart for dance, I just don’t see it oozing out of him. I’d like more of that please. Plus, the hand circles he did during his solo were odd.

3. Katee - I think it’s funny that Katee’s parents noticed her on her toes all the time so they put her in tap class. Wouldn’t you want to put her in ballet if she’s always on her toes?? Anyway, I can’t really say anything bad about Katee. She’s exactly what you’d want in a dancer. She’s in third place right now because even though her choreographed numbers were wonderful, I felt that her solo was lacking. There was a lot of jumps and twirls, but that was about it. I know, I know, there’s only a limited amount of time, but I still felt it needed more.

2. Courtney - This girl is a great dancer, has great personality and is beautiful. She kept up with “Technical Will” during their samba and hip-hop routines which speaks volumes about her skills. Plus, her solo was simply wonderful.

1. Twitch - This Dude Rocks! To learn that he started training years after everyone else in the competition and is this good makes me realize exactly how great a dancer he is. He brings so much energy into each dance. I believe I would buy a ticket to the tour just to see him dance. The kiss at the beginning of the Mia Michaels’ routine didn’t hurt either.

So there you have it America. If you haven’t already guessed, my prediction is that Comfort and Mark will be going home Thursday night. Do you agree with my ranking of the Top Eight? I’d like to hear your thoughts.

AnaDVR is an aspiring human television recording machine who enjoys watching good looking people dance on reality television programs while slowly being eliminated and never heard from again. She is also one of Pop Critic’s top commentors and can be found lurking on pages all over the site, leaving brief comments like little nuggets of information everywhere she goes.