And just what exactly did Alexander Graham Bell do to you!?

Well, last night was the final episode for the dancers to perform in their original pairs on So You Think You Can Dance. Tonight, two more will be cut and we'll finally have the top ten in hand. I have to tell ya, when the top twenty were revealed, I never in a million years thought I'd be pulling for the couples I'm pulling for right now... People I hated have somehow become my favorites and people I thought I'd love have already been eliminated.

Of course, my hatred for Mollee runs as deep and true as ever, so I guess some things never change...

Anyway, here's what I thought of last night's performances:

RYAN AND ELLENORE
I'm not totally sure when it happened, but I think this is my favorite couple. I know, I know, I'm as shocked as you are. I didn't know anything about Ellenore at the beginning of the competition and what I knew of Ryan I didn't particularly like, but these two have knocked it out of the park every single week (with the exception of their hip-hop routine, which I think had a lot more to do with the lameness of the routine itself rather than the way they danced it) and I last night I found myself really pulling for them. Their Lindy-hop was wonderful. I'm a sucker for that kind of dancing and have a certain affection for that time period, so I was thrilled when they nailed it. As much as I enjoyed their first dance of the evening, however, it was their Broadway number that cemented my allegiance. I only started watching this show in season 5, so I haven't have a ton of time with it, but what I've seen of their Broadway numbers I haven't enjoyed at all--and I'm a person who loves Broadway! I'm a Broadway baby through and through, but the performances on this show have just kind of, well, sucked. Based on Asuka and Vitolio's weird as hell clown director number, Evan and Melissa's tacky wedding piece, Phillip and Jeanine's Singin' in the Rain mishap (mostly due to Phillip, let's face it), and Kayla and Kupono's lackluster West Side Story number, I was really starting to think that Broadway might just suck. As it turns out, it's not Broadway dancing that sucks, it's Tyce D'iorio that sucks. Seriously, his routines have always felt a little flat to me and you can always tell that the judges are just trying desperately not to criticize the choreography (because apparently that's illegal or something), but it's true. Don't get me wrong, the dancers clearly didn't take to the style very well either, but I think it mostly hinges on the crappiness of the routines. Well, back on point, last night's kickass Razzle Dazzle routine was amazing. (Could that be because Tyce had nothing to do with it? Methinks, yes.) It reminded me of why I love Broadway so much. Ryan is just an excellent partner through and through. It's so nice to see a guy who can do all the lifts so effortlessly that you don't see them coming and you don't feel the strain. Along with that, he totally, totally embraces his characters and last night was no exception. For as wonderful a job as he did, it was Ellenore who did the major ass kicking. Her movements were perfectly timed to the music and the character she portrayed was flawless. Ellenore transforms herself into whomever she needs to be and with a support system like Ryan, she can do no wrong. I'll be pretty bummed to see this pairing break up because they work so well together and really jump into each routine with both feet. It really sneaked up on me, but like I said, I found myself really pulling for them last night, and it kind of surprised me.

ASHLEIGH AND JAKOB
Speaking of surprises, I went into this season expecting this pair to completely fall apart, mostly due to Ashleigh. Not only has she come through every single week, but the two of them seem to make each other better dancers. Jakob is an insanely talented dancer to begin with, so it was nice to see him need to lean on her skills a bit last night with the cha-cha routine. Now, I was one of those people who hated Ashleigh at first and didn't think she'd survive a single week. The primary reason I hated her was because of those stupid faces she'd make while dancing. Well, as it turns out, apparently those faces are part of they style! Who knew?! I really have to take back a lot of my criticisms now that I know that blue steel expressions, fake surprise, and cheesy pointing weren't really her idea at all, but are actually tennets of Latin ballroom dancing. I seriously had no idea. Anyway, their cha-cha was fantastic and it was a hell of a lot of fun to see Ashleigh doing what she does best. I thought Jakob actually did a pretty great job for having never done Latin ballroom before. The routine was fun and fast and well choreographed. Nice. I also really loved their Sonya-style Jazz routine. I'm not a big fan of contemporary dancing ("But look how much emotion I'm pretending to have whilst flailing my arms around like a mental patient!"), and this Jazz routine was a little closer to that I'd generally prefer, but this routine really made it work. It was slow, but powerful and engaging, even it's quietest of moments. It was really a great antithesis to the cha-cha and between these two routines, you got to see just what kind of a range this couple has. As with Ashleigh's husband and partner, I'm not sure when it happened, but I think this couple is probably my second favorite. Again, I'm as shocked as you are! They've just been so consistently awesome that I can't seem to hold anything against them. Even Jakob's purpleish pants... Which, leave it to Adam Shankman to say what everyone in the audience was thinking. :)

KATHRYN AND LEGACY
And the surprises just keep on coming... to an extent. I'm enjoying this couple a lot more than I expected to, and I can recognize just how much Legacy has improved week to week, but at the end of the day, his technique just can't stack up to the other dancers. The choreographers do a really good job putting together routines where he can showcase his b-boy skills and kind of mask his technical shortcomings, but that Viennese Waltz needed some help. Kathryn did a hell of a job carrying the routine (a routine in which it was basically designed for her to lead--way to play to their strengths there, choreographers), and Legacy managed to keep up, but when someone with as untrained an eye as I have is thinking, "Oooh, his footwork is really sloppy and his stance is weak," you know you're in trouble. The judges were pretty forgiving, after some well timed waterworks, but I really think they were pretty underwhelmed by his technique. I still very much enjoyed the performance, so I guess I have to give him a bit of a pass as well... Their other routine was excellent. Sonya's Jazz routines are always pretty weird, but they're always interesting and leave me wanting more. This was an instance in which Legacy's b-boy skills were employed in awesome ways (rather than kind of forced ways). They both totally committed to their roles and while again, I think Kathryn kind of carried things, this routine was much stronger for Legacy and he managed to not only keep up, but seamlessly blend his technique with hers. This couple kind of reminds me of Phillip and Jeanine from last season. Once Kathryn gets a partner who can really keep up with her technical skills, I think she'll blossom even more. At present, she's having to do most of the heavy lifting, just as Jeanine did, and while Legacy is getting better week to week, I think he's kind of holding her back. I'll be interested to see how Kathryn does with a different partner, but I think Legacy will go the way of the Phillip. Soon as he pulls an Argentine Tango or something and is partnered with a partner who isn't quite so accommodating as Kathryn, I think it's all over folks.

NATHAN AND MOLLEE
Speaking of Mollee, I still hate her as much as ever and kind of hate Nathan by extension. The judges said how thrilled they'll be to see this couple pair up with more mature partners, but in Mollee's case, I think that has quite the creepy-icky potential. Seriously, just imagine her having to dance some sultry Samba or a smoldering Tango with someone like, say, Ryan. Or Legacy. Or pretty much anyone other than Nathan because Nathan is the only one young enough not to come off as some creepy old guy scamming on a 12-year-old. Fortunately, I'm quite confident that the pairings and dance choices are no where near as random as the show would have you believe, so I'm guessing it won't be an issue. Unless of course the show wants to showcase just how juvenile she really is... Hmmm... Anyway, back to last night, I really, really, really hated their hip-hop routine. Wow. I tell ya what, wow. Please refer back to the title of this post for my thoughts on this routine. Again, I think it had more to do with the routine itself than how it was danced, but this was just bad, lame, cheesy, and stupid from second one. Not that Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant trying to get a dial tone doesn't just scream "street" to me, but... well... yeah... Nathan really seemed to have fun with it and was hitting hard enough that he almost made it work, but Mollee kind of sucked it up with this one. She didn't hit any of her moves hard enough and kind of stumbled around the stage. Bad. This season has been pretty awful for hip-hop (with the shocking exception of Ashleigh and Jakob) and last night was no exception (you just wait till we get to Karen and Victor...). Fortunately, their can-can number was much, much better, but I don't think anything can save this pair for me. Their can-can was entertaining, and was far better choreographed than I could possibly have expected from Tyce, but for me, it's too little too late (even with Mollee's rather impressive ariel--in heels). I'm glad they've added it as a style and Mollee and Nathan did a fine job with it, but it just didn't seem anywhere near as naughty or scandalous as the can-can is supposed to be. I'm hoping to hell Mollee goes home and that Nathan can finally have a partner that isn't Cindy Brady's squeakier doppelganger.

VICTOR AND KAREN
After last week's eliminations, I was pretty excited for this pairing to show their stuff. Having finally gotten rid of the duller-than-dirt Channing and just-kind-of-there Kevin, it was nice to see Victor and Karen finally have partners who could keep up with them. Their Tango was excellent. They were so synchronized and stayed in character so well that I was really starting to think this would be the new power couple. I hadn't really thought much about either of them prior, but that Tango made me really sit up and take notice. How great did Victor look, by the way? Anyway, they buoyed my confidence with their first number to a degree I could hardly have foreseen, but then they totally cut it back down to size with yet another dreadful hip-hop number. Seriously, last season had some wonderful hip-hop (Jeanine and Phillip, Jeanette and Brandon, Jeanette and Ade, etc), but this season has just been abysmal. It's weird, because when they showed clips of them rehearsing, I expected it to be really good. They were totally in sync and really feeling the movements in rehearsal, but when they actually performed, they were totally out of step with one another and the whole thing just felt empty and lame. Again, I have to hand it to Adam Shankman for having the guts to point out poor music choices and at least obliquely referring to choreography problems, but those were only the tip of a very poor iceberg in this case. It's really a shame they pulled such a bad routine, but I'm afraid it's what is going to send them both home, once and for all. As much as I'd like to see Mollee go home and as much as I think Legacy probably should go home, I'm confident it's going to be Karen and Victor, which I honestly won't be too broken up over.

RUSSELL AND NOELLE
This is a pairing that I like, but really wish I liked more. They're both wonderful dancers and they generally do a pretty good job week to week, but there's just something that isn't quite clicking for me. I think it's Noelle's Dallas Cowboy's cheerleader looks... As much as I try to see her disappear into a character, I just see can't. I adore Russell, but I think his technical shortcomings combined with her unlikability is really souring this pair for me. Their Samba was awful. You know you're in some serious trouble when even I'm thinking to myself, "They're gonna get nailed for those Samba rolls..." I'm none too versed in dancing, but I knew that was bad. Noelle's gyrations were frenetic and meaningless, and Russell just doesn't have the stance or footwork necessary to pull off that kind of ballroom dancing. The whole thing felt really forced and it really fell apart at the end. The music wound down and so did their energy. I was not impressed. I totally agree with Adam that they were just too nice with the whole thing. I didn't buy their characters at all and for a Samba, that's the kiss of death. I really hoped their second number would be better, and in a way it was, but really, I think I'd rather watch a bad Samba than a Tyce D'iorio contemporary piece (a combination of my least-favorite choreographer and my least favorite style) any day of the week. It was danced well and everything, but it was just so boring that I didn't really care about any of the technique. Oy. I miss Mia Michaels... I tend to judge routines based on how much I'd like to re-watch them, and this contemporary piece was only slightly above Karen and Victor's disastrous hip-hop number. Not good. Again, this has a lot more to do with the choreographer than the dancing. I'm not a fan of Tyce's work, plain and simple, and poor Russell and Noelle had to bear the brunt of it. Between a somnolent contemporary piece (complete with cheese-tastic swatches of paint--gag me) and a totally non-sexy Samba, I think this couple might be in trouble, even in spite of Russell's appeal.

Overall, last night had a lot better dancing than this season has really had to offer. Here's how I'd rank the routines from favorite to least favorite (roughly--some of the bad routines all kind of fall into the same level of blah):

Ellenore and Ryan--Broadway
Jakob and Ashleigh--Cha-Cha
Jakob and Ashleigh--Jazz
Karen and Victor--Tango
Kathryn and Legacy--Jazz
Ellenore and Ryan--Lindy-Hop
Nathan and Mollee--Can-Can
Kathryn and Legacy--Viennese Waltz
Russell and Noelle--Samba
Russell and Noelle--Contemporary
Nathan and Mollee--Hip-Hop
Karen and Victor--Hop-Hop

Well, this has officially turned into one hell of an epic post, but you'll just have to deal with it. A few notes that you've probably already noticed: I have no idea if dance styles are supposed to be capitalized, so it's inconsistent at best. Also, I was going to hyperlink to all the dances I reference, but that's a whole lot more effort than I'm willing to put in. I assume anyone reading this is familiar with everything already anyway. :)

Final thoughts?

Who should go home? Mollee and Legacy (I like Legacy, I really do, but technically, he just can't hold a candle to the other dancers)

Who will go home? Karen and Victor