flea,

I hate Jess the way Kat hates Ryan. I sooooo want him to pull hip-hop and look like a fool.

Ryan is absorbing my hate like a black hole, so once she goes, Jess will be my next target. I don't like him, but Ryan needs to GO.

My Top Ten Dancers:

Girls:

Melanie - Favorite girl. I've yet to see her take a wrong step on the show. She can be smooth. She can be sharp. She can soar on leaps and be incredibly centered and grounded on turns and spins. She can do anything, I think.

Sasha - Second favorite girl but she's not behind Melanie by much. You really can't pay attention to other people when she is dancing. She commands attention even just standing still. And her back is a thing of wonder. She is supple and strong and agile and powerful. All the things, she has in her toolkit. She's simply breathtaking and I think she might be in my top spot if she had a better partner.

There's a big drop off here to the rest of my top 5 girls

Jordan - I don't mind the sexpot ditz thing because she's 18 and I remember 18. Oh, dear. And the girl can flat out bring it. She's a firecracker. Great technique and gorgeous feet (love a good foot on a dancer). And she's a very appealing performer as long as she's not speaking.

Caitlyn - She is a lovely dancer, but she doesn't always pop. And she's got a little bit of the competition kid syndrome. She seems to know what to do but not why she's doing it. There's not always a lot of intention behind her movements.

Ashley - See Caitlyn, but for me she's a tick above Clarice who I think may be a better dancer than Ashley but is a total personality void.

Boys:

I know the judges are hyping this season as the year of the girl beasts, but my top boys are beasts in their own rights and I could easily see one of them taking this whole thing.

Marko - He is a bit raw and unfinished, but my word is this creature lovely to watch! So much power and so much fluidity and he just inhabits every dance. He dances all the way through his pinky toes and I love dancers like that.

Tadd - I would not have put him in my second slot for the boys at the beginning of the season, but he has been such a pleasant surprise. Also, shirtless hotitude. He's very versatile and he brings joy to his dancing.

Mitchell - I still think he should've gone home week one for not dancing. Dance or go home! That said, he has proven to be a 10 across the board. Technique and personality and presence and great partnering skills. Love him.

There's a drop off a cliff here to my final two.

Chris - He's not as talented as the other guys in this group. He is limited even in his own style. But he's a try-er and there is something so appealing and honest about his dancing. And he has surprising facility in other styles for a b-boy. He is busting out double turns like nobody's business these days! And he's a cutie patootie. If he makes top 10, I fully expect he'll be the first to go.

Jess - I know. I know. But I'll take him over Robert any day, all day. And as much as it pains me to say, Jess has brought it more over the past three weeks than my flippy jeans boy. Alex is lacking a performance quality that truly great dancers have. Jess is a great technician and he's a showman. An annoying showman, but a showman nonetheless. He makes my top 5 boys.

I wish I could have Nick instead of Jess in Top 5 boys. Of the girls we've lost, I'd sub in Missy for either Ashley or Caitlyn. Thanks again Nigel for the no vote off clusterfuck week.

I want to see Melanie dance with Mark (although I don't think he'll be an all star this season because of Gaga maybe?). I would love to see Melanie dance with Alex Wong so I hope he comes back as an all star rather than try for another season as a contestant. Marko and Kathryn? Umm, yes please. Sasha and Mark would also be groovy. Really Mark and anyone would be groovy. I would like to see Tadd dance with Allison, if she comes back. When are they giving up who the All Stars for the season are?

ETA:

Ryan is absorbing my hate like a black hole, so once she goes, Jess will be my next target. I don't like him, but Ryan needs to GO.

This is me also. I cannot with the creepy perma-smile girl. Until she goes, there's no room at the Haters Inn. Once she goes, I will target Jess, even though I just put him in my top 10, because he bugs the hell out of me.

I haven't noticed a single "woo" from Robert for a couple of weeks. I may have missed something, but it's a relief. Guess someone talked to him about it and he actually listened. yay

Nigel talked to him about it the very first week when he was still busting it out during the judges critiques. So one point for Nigel for doing us all a solid there.

ooh! it just occurred to me - maybe Nigel and Ryan trade toothy tips - how to get them bigger, whiter, shiner, show them off? I mean in addition to his penchant for the young blondes.

I'm caught up on Next Food Network Star that's on Hulu. i was mostly listening and watching for the actual food. I have a thing about certain types of voices and that show is full of contestants whose voices I can't handle. Like Alyssa (Alicia?-the Crying Woman), and Penny. And the curly haired judge, to me she sounds like she's trying to polite talk with her mouth full.

Also I forgot how obsessed Bob is with everyone having a story.

I think I like Master Chef better, just because over all there seems to be more time spent on the cooking.

kat,

I haven't noticed a single "woo" from Robert for a couple of weeks. I may have missed something, but it's a relief. Guess someone talked to him about it and he actually listened. yay

I got the sense the producers encouraged this kind of behavior during auditions and that they now are asking him to step it back.

Yeah, Nigel explicitly talked to him about it on air. I remember being pleasantly surprised because they have had annoying contestants on air before (*cough*Dom*cough*) and they have actually encouraged the bad juju. And at 31, I hope he'd be grown enough to take the hint that the Urkel thing was just not cute. He's also stopped wearing the Hulkamania t-shirt, so perhaps there's some hope for him. I still think he's the weakest boy dancer left on the show. His DoD was one of the worst things I've ever seen. Ever.

I can see two scenarios - he didn't do it that often, but the producers showed it a lot, or 2)that was his gimmick to get into the top 20, and now that he's here, he doesn't need it.

kat, do you not like Ricky on his own terms, or is the spillover from Ryan tainting him for you?

He seems young, but kinda pretty and very bendy to me. (Do I know dance? Not so much, really.)