So You Think You Can Dance 6, November 10: On Second Thought, I Don’t Want to Be Like You

The voting finally begins tonight, which means the top 16 dancers have to impress the audience as well as the judges. That also means that starting this week, we’ll have shows on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. In other news, there is still no guest judge, but that means there is also no Paula Abdul.

There are, however, dancers from Season 5 in the audience. Nigel says they’ll be appearing in a Dizzy Feet charity performance with dancers from Dancing With the Stars and America’s Best Dance Crew. Mary teases that she might dance, and Nigel says she’ll be doing a samba with Dmitry Chaplin. Other performers will be an 11-year-old ballroom dancer and Quest Crew (featuring Ryan from Season 1 and Dominic and Hok from Season 3).

Kevin & Karen – hustle – Maria Torres

Tonight’s clip-package theme is “what should America know about you?” Karen decides to tell us what we already know about her – that she auditioned with her husband. Who she’s now divorcing. D’oh! Kevin has performed in Europe and Asia, and he uses different influences in his dancing.

Maria tells us the hustle is a partner dance from the ‘70s, and in this routine the girl is asking the guy to dance. Kevin notes that it’s going to be a big challenge to have to ignore Karen. He challenges her to try to seduce him. In the rehearsal, Kevin walks out in a pretend huff and Karen says she’ll dance by herself. Heh.

The song is France Joli’s “Come to Me.” There’s a lot of twirling. Yeah, I don’t know what this dance is supposed to look like, but it looks good to me. Karen definitely stars in this performance, but as we’ve been told before, the man’s job many times is to not distract from the woman, and I’d say Kevin does his job. It looks like a pretty complicated routine with lots of steps, and I think they nail it, as far as I can tell. Uh, except for when Kevin almost drops Karen at the end.

Cat asks Kevin if it was difficult not to follow Karen. He says it was. Adam says that the two of them made it work for themselves. He’s noticing Kevin for the first time. He and Karen both gave in the routine and partnered together very well. Karen performed with restraint and filled out moments that didn’t have a lot of movement. She gave the routine a lot of energy. Mary says this was a “Sadie Hawkins hustle” with the woman leading. Karen was a queen and Kevin gave a surprising amount of attitude and performance. He had some awkward body positions in the lifts, but his performance made up for it. Both dancers are still on the hot tamale train.

Nigel asks Kevin if he’s still in touch with friends from back home, and if they’re watching him. They must be really surprised by the moves he’s showing off. Nigel is delighted by Kevin’s dancing and how much he’s growing every week. He just needs to be careful about showing his nerves before lifts. Karen was awesome and added something of herself to Maria’s choreography, as she does every week. Nigel thinks she’s going to go a long way in the competition.

Jakob & Ashleigh – jazz – Mandy Moore

Ashleigh wants us to know she’s a nerd – she studied political science and history in college, and she interned for a Congressman in college. Jakob tells us that Jeanine is one of his best friends, and they grew up competing against each other in dance competitions.

Jakob’s excited to do jazz because he grew up doing it. Mandy informs the two dancers that there will be a cane in their routine, and it has to be a part of their movements. Ashleigh says timing has to be perfect for this performance. The cane can’t be in control and must be conquered.

Ashleigh, Jakob, and the cane dance to Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax.” Awesome. Mandy loves the ‘80s, doesn’t she? I’m not sure what the story is here, but maybe they’re fighting over the cane? It’s hard to tell. At one point Jakob uses the cane to control Ashleigh’s feet. His moves are a little like Neil’s in the “Night of the Dancing Flame” routine back in Season 3, that kind of maniacal exactness. Ashleigh looks strong and sure of herself. Again, I’m not sure what story we were supposed to be seeing, but both dancers perform really well.

Jakob tells Cat that the cane was the most difficult prop he’s ever worked with. Adam says Ashleigh belongs on the show. The partners are starting to breathe together and experience things simultaneously. At one point Jakob let go of the cane with one hand, but both dancers handled it well – so well that Nigel and Mary didn’t even notice the moment. Jakob denies that anything happened. Adam says Ashleigh was firey, and he likes how the choreographers try to find new jumps for him every week. He has a lot of control, strength, and flexibility.