Top 8 Perform

This week, the all-stars are the choreographers!  What madness! What nostalgia!  What fun!

All-Stars representing their season.

Group Routine

We have a twisted magician's apprentice kind of a thing going this group routine.  I like it OK.  And who is the choreographer?  Mia Michaels!  I finally stopped guessing that she was the choreographer, and she's the choreographer.  My record this season is officially terrible.

Cat Deeley Outfit Review

We have a very on-trend look tonight.  According to the magazines I read on the airplane, the wet hair look is so hot right now, and I love the sparkly dark jumpsuit with the dark eye makeup.  So cool, so dramatic.  Might be polarizing, but I liked that she went for something more daring.

Guest Judge

The guest judge is ... Jenna Elfman?  Where did that come from?  And what has she done since Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place?  Cat Deeley gives us our dance pedigree, to prove how dancy and smart she is, but all her comments were pretty standard guest star celebrity fare.  Nothing much to say there.  It's just like Christina Applegate, with a little less dramatics.

The Danger Zone

We learn that the bottom guys are FikShun and Tucker, the bottom girls are Jenna and Hayley.  No surprises there.  But we get solos from all of them!

FikShun's solo is amazing - a great reminder why we loved him in the first place.  Hayley does a standard pretty-girl-contemporary piece.  Jenna's dancing is good, but her outfit and hair is a huge mess. I swear that's why she's so reviled by the internet.  Nothing to do with her dancing, it's how she looks when she dances.  Tucker does a beautiful routine, and throws in everything but the kitchen sink.  He knows he's leaving, basically, so he's going to give it all he's got.

She is her own worst enemy.

Dancing with the All-Stars

We learn that this week, the all-stars are the choreographers and the partners.  It's an interesting experiment.  I like that it gives some dancers a chance to try choreographing for the first time.  It meant that some of the routines were a little hit and miss.  But I'm guessing that it also meant the dancers got more time to perfect and change the routine, because they would be practicing with the choreographer.

Aaron and All-Star Chelsea - Jive

Song: Great Balls of Fire from Million Dollar Quartet

I thought this was great!  It's not easy to keep up with Chelsea in a red dress, and Aaron definitely drew my eye and kept the energy up.  I felt like the judges were too hard on him.  Mary had a few critiques of some of the style, which is fair, but I feel like the other judges just keyed off of that and didn't form their own opinion.

Also, we heard Cat Deeley say that Chelsea taught her how to tie a cherry stem with her tongue.  Scandalous!

FikShun and All-Star Allison - Contemporary

Song: Skinny Love by Birdy

I feel like Allison really choreographed this for herself - she was definitely the star of the number, but it was beautiful and FikShun did a good job.  The judges spent all their time talking about Allison - Mary even said that FikShun "laid the groundwork."  He was definitely a supporting character in the number.  But a good dance nonetheless.

Tucker and All-Star Courtney - Jazz

Song: Clarity by Zedd feat. Foxes

OH MY GOD!  Courtney has multiple sclerosis!  That is so sad :(  And we hear about how supportive Tucker's football-star father was of his dancing.  I'm crying.  It's official.  Most emotional pair of the night.

I don't really understand what this choreography had to do with Romeo and Juliet.  I mean, it was a love story?  Maybe.  But if you forget that it was about Romeo and Juliet and just watch it, I really liked it.  It felt more like a joyous celebration of dance than anything else.  Maybe it was the song, but I feel like I liked this number more than everyone else did.  I really enjoyed it.

Paul and All-Star Comfort - Hip Hop

Song: Dum Dum by Tedashi feat. Lecrae

Paul has such a pretty boy face, it's hard to take him seriously as a hip hop dancer at all, but he's got some swag.  And that routine was hard!  Very well done!!

Hayley and All-Star Dmitry - Rumba

Song: Meant by Elizaveta

We learn in the introduction that Hayley had insecurity issues.  In what universe does that happen?!  This was one sexy sexy dance - didn't look much like a breakup to me.  Hayley did an amazing job.

Nigel kind of apologizes without really apologizing to Dmitry for his comments a few weeks ago.  So OK, fine there Nigel.  Especially since you've spent the last three weeks praising everyone else for "being inspired by" different styles.  And then Nigel makes a gay joke, which is so much progress from the discomfort he displayed with homosexuality earlier in the show's history.  So yay, progress!

Jenna and All-Star Mark - Jazz

Song: I Am the Best by 2ne1

I loved this dance!  It was so fun and funky and original!  Despite the brilliance of Travis's piece later, this might be my favorite of the night.  It was just so new and different.  Also, I think this played to Jenna's strengths well - her face comes off as cartoony sometimes, and that was perfect in this number.  She killed it.

The judges love it too.  I feel pretty confident that Mark will be back choreographing again in the future.

Jasmine and All-Star Twitch - Hip Hop

Song: The Power by District 78

Jasmine is so good!  She really kicks butt in this piece, and she holds her own against Twitch in his own style, which is really hard to do.  I would just like to point out that her ex, Cyrus, certainly did not hold his own as well when he danced with Twitch last season.  Revenge!

Jasmine is someone who grows on me week after week.  Personality-wise, she's a little vacant on camera, but she dances with such expression.  She brings an extra style and substance to the number that is her own, but is still unique to the dance itself.  She's got the perfect technique, but also something a little distinctive.

Amy and All-Star Travis - Contemporary

Song: Wicked Game by James Vincent McMorrow

OK, so first, a caveat.  I was on vacation for a week before I saw this episode, and I had heard so much hype about this number already.  So I went in with hugely high expectations.  They were definitely met, the number was amazing, but I can't help but think I would have shared everyone's love for it a little more if I had just seen it when it aired, and not sat there saying to myself "OK, this is going to be the really amazing number now."  But yes, it was amazing and wonderful.  Nigel says Travis a genius. Amy has secured her place in the finale.

Elimination

Nigel is really confusing about how he announces the eliminations, I guess to point out that the eliminated will be back really soon for the finale, but to no one's surprise, it's Jenna and Tucker.  I guess now Nigel can stop having to defend keeping Jenna around.  But I always like an underdog, and I really liked her, so a little sad to see her go.

Partners til the end