Second week of the competition and we’re into the thick of it. Thank god Natalie changed her hair this time; she looked like a lion last week. So what do the dancers have for us this time round?

Kate and Hilton up first with an inviting foxtrot. Despite being a newly formed couple (last week Hilton lost Courtney while Kate lost Khaly), the dance floor smouldered with their chemistry. Matt gave the thumbs up to the couple as Jason praised Kate’s sex appeal.

Even though I'm not enjoying Sermsah’s lack of confidence, he is slowly becoming one of my favourites. Camilla’s nicknamed him Sery! The beginning of their performance was energetic (being a couple of jail breaking crims) but it suddenly became obvious that it was very much two Australian people doing an African American hip hop routine. As Matt commented, it just didn’t sit well with both dancers. They lost the coordination of each other part way but you couldn’t fault them with their energy. Jason has stomped down on Sermsah’s self flagellating, saying he doesn’t wanna hear it anymore (he’s not the only one).

Cassie and Graeme were up next, going from last week’s lyrical hip hop to this week’s contemporary lyrical. Honestly, I didn’t notice too much difference especially with the costumes being almost the same but that might be just me. The quantity of the lifts was insane! But as Jason mentioned, the landings from the lifts were clunky and heavy and they should be nailing this genre of dance.

Going from jive to swing/ hip hop (known as swap) seemed like an interesting journey for Stephanie and Marko. With a psycho song and psychedelic costumes (different from last week though), I felt that Marko killed it again with lots of bounce. Stephanie looked rather blunt next to him. Some of the lifts and flips worked while others were only just pulled off. All three judges were not that responsive to the performance, especially Jason who came off a little harsh in regards to Stephanie’s beliefs about dancing.

Lovely technique began Laura and Anthony’s routine. I was on the edge of my seat, clapping all the way and when the lifts went up so too did my hand to my mouth in awe. Although Laura missed a few lines with her legs on some lifts, every moment was very exciting to watch. They even did research for their roles by watching Saturday Night Fever the night before. Anthony excubed a charisma worthy of Peter Allen. So far, I’ve noticed that the guys seem to be really acing their routines more so than the girls and I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that a male will win this show.

JD looked a bit stiff for his and Rhiannon’s routine. Matt noticed that Rhiannon “danced the pants” off him too. The choreography was great with an awesome choice of song (The Prodigy’s Breathe). Despite JD’s lack of technique, he was commended on his support toward his partner.

Jack and Demi tackled the samba, which was on another extreme to Demi’s b-girl style. I have to admit, Demi totally surprised me especially with her shimmy at the beginning. I was blown away! Demi was a completely different person tonight, heels and all. Jack should have been maybe a bit heavier and more masculine with his lines when stepping around Demi. Technique and choreo on this routine was spectacular. Even Jason was happy - “that went pop.”

Jemma looked like something out of Rocky Horror doing the jazz routine. Rhys was obviously completely in his element with the camp character acting as a vampire as well as the actual genre of dance. Although Jemma said this wasn’t her thing, she pulled it off well. I have no idea what Bonnie is talking about with the routine not quite hitting it. However Jason was right on the money when he said that when Michael (the choreographer) danced it, he provided the staccato punch that it lacked when Jemma and Rhys performed it.

Animation hip hop. If anyone can find what it actually means, please send me the wiki link. It scared Vanessa to death while Henry appeared to catch on. Matt didn’t think it would be a memorable performance but I definitely felt that both dancers took it on with a full bout of confidence and gave it 100 percent. Sometimes with Vanessa, as a ballet dancer, it was noticeable that she wanted to stop jerking and shuddering and just have smooth flowing lines. Jason gave a lot of the credit to Henry but I felt that Vanessa did a great job.

Overall, Laura and Anthony’s routine was the most amazing tonight with Demi and Jack being a close second. But I wonder who’s going home tomorrow?

Tags: So You Think You Can Dance