Tea and Krumping...

Welcome back to my weekly opinioncap of So You Think You Can Dance. You'd think the producers could have come up with a shorter title. It's a wonder Cat Deeley can remember all of that. God I love to talk smack about her. It's so easy.

Anyways...

First on the agenda is something new and different to the show. It's called krump and the lucky test subjects are Travis and Martha. Who really better to give this to than Nigel's frontrunners? Getting my first taste of this style of dance, I like it because it's kind of like hip hop, but it's more about the energy than the moves themselves. It IS very animalistic which is cool, but this comes across as something I would see in The Lion King musical not that that's bad but, I guess it's just not really my preferred style. As for how Travis and Martha did with it - Travis did great and his energy was there. Martha held back a little for me. All in all, they weren't as super as last week. Still love 'em though.

Next up was one of the bottom 3 couples from last week Jessica and Jaymz. I felt for them as they pulled foxtrot as their dance. Not a dance that makes it easy to get the audience excited about you. Did you ever notice that Jess looks a little bit like Sarah Jessica Parker? A little. The fact that they had a great song to dance to helped them. Very Jessica Rabbit-ish. I feel that their performance was enough to save them this week. I didn't expect to enjoy it and I really did. Heck, I'd give them a 9 out of 10. So I'm not expecting either of them to be engaging in another dance off tonight.

Moving on to our second remaining bottom 3 couple, Ivan and Allison. God, the producers and the dance gods must love Ivan so much that after narrowly surviving elimination last week, he gets to have his style of choice this week - hip hop. Granted, one would have been slightly worried because Allison is not "ghetto" but she seemed to take to it pretty quick. Unfortunately, I did not dig the routine. It didn't do for me what Shane Sparks did last week. Ivan and Allison made the most of it and I'm confident that they're safe, but I just didn't care for it. Me no likey East Coast hip hop.

Our next couple was Dmitry and Joy. They picked the Samba. I wouldn't have thought this would be such a problem for them. Unfortunately for them, it was Stanislav and Erin all over again. Dmitry was AMAZING. And I really think Nigel has it out for him. Help your partner more? What is he supposed to do for her? Seriously. The boy tried to pull everything out of her that he could. Joy unfortunately wasn't feeling the Samba and it showed. Stacey Keibler did a better Samba. If they are in the bottom 3 and I think they will be, Joy could be in real trouble.

Midway through we have the saucy, tempting Natalie and Musa. God they're hot. They get to do a contemporary routine. Eh. I'm just not a fan of that style but by golly if anyone can make me like it Nat and Musa can! So big sexy had a little bit of trouble getting the hang of this. I can forgive him. As long as they work it out on stage. And... whooo they did! They really do have chemistry. I thought they were gonna rip off their clothes and do it right there. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing much more of Musalie.

Next up is Natalie's admirer Ryan and his partner Heidi. Actually Ryan has decided he likes Heidi after all and he won't trade her for anything. Not even Natalie. Come on though, Heidi DOES look a little like Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon. That's hot stuff right there. They get to do a pop routine. What is pop? No, not that fizzy drink. Think N'Sync. Think Britney. This sure is a switch from the Viennese Waltz. They're really makin' Ryan and Heidi work. I personally thought it was hot. It showed personality and energy. If its good enough for Shane Sparks its good enough for me. However, I think there's a slight off chance they may be in the bottom 3. Maybe.

And now for the most fun couple that happens to get stuck with routines that don't work for them - Ben and Ashlee. Actually I think if Ben did the routine from Napoleon Dynamite the crowd would go bonkers. Anyways, they get stuck with the jive this week. It doesn't "jive" with either of them. I was thouroughly expecting a train wreck. Honestly, it wasn't all that bad. I was entertained. They danced the dance and had fun with it. A vast improvement from last week as Nigel said. Unfortunately, I see bottom 3 for them this week.

Up next were Jason and Amanda Peet, er Aleksandra. I get confused. They are also doing a hip hop routine. Great news from Jason. Not so great news for Alex. This is going to be "old skool" hip hop as opposed the routine done by Ivan and Allison. And the routine is still kinda crappy. Jason frickin' danced his ass off. Alex looked like Jessica Simpson trying to be "ghetto" or something. She did the moves but it wasn't coming off as very believable. They are probably in trouble this week. Well, Alex is anyways. I think Jay is here to stay. But I said that about Stanislav last week.

Closing out the show and bringing down the house were Benji and Donyelle. Did I ever mention I LOVE them? They picked the Cha Cha Cha of all things. Donyelle is worried about this. Hey - if Jerry Rice can do it so can you girlfriend! They were the only 10 for me of the night. They got the moves. They got the personality. They got my vote. And the judges dug it too. I think they're safe.

So now we wait. Who stays? Who goes? You, like me, will have to wait until tonight to find out.