Do they ever break up couples?

for as long as i've been watching(season 2 FWIW), they've broken couples up at the top 10 point. last season was goofy because of the All Stars. this year they've said they're bringing the All Stars back once they get to top 10. so they'll all be dancing with different partners at that point each week.

I know it's super hard to get these routines nailed down each week, and I couldn't do it. But all these other dancers can, and if he can't, he needs to go.

absolutely on all accounts.

Yes, I long for the methods of the first season, when they really did pick their partners and dances from the hat each week.

The non-variety for most couples is ridiculous: both Melanie/Marko and Ryan/Ricky have only done jazz (2), contemporary, and "lyrical" hip-hop and Sasha/Alexander have had only contemporary (2) and hip-hop (2). Are these couples ever going to get ballroom?

I don't love Ashley/Chris, but at least they've done 4 different styles (hip-hop, broadway, jazz, salsa) and Jordan/Tadd have done African jazz, hip-hop, Viennese waltz, and smooth waltz.

Bollywood is pretty much the kiss of death, isn't it? I'd have liked ... Yvetta and Nick? ... to have more time.

I noticed last week when the about to dance for their lives dancers were all waving and smiling at the camera just before a commercial, Chris looked terrified. And then he danced a good solo, so I didn't think much of it, but I think he knows he's out of his depth.

S1 they switched partners each week and they really did just pull out of a hat and you saw it and knew it was true. That said, some couples did wind up dancing together a lot (Blake/Ashle) but that was 'cause they kept picking each other. They also really did pick dances out of the hat which resulted in much more variety. They switched to fixed pairs through top 10 in S2 and hit on the Donyelle/Benji magic and I think that was a terrible thing. I mean good for them because Benjelle was magic, but bad for the show because it really was more interesting when they swapped each week. I miss almost everything about S1 except original host Lauren Sanchez.

So last night I was only half watching and I didn't even bother to take notes which I never do with SYTYCD but I was bored. I did appreciate all the new choreographers because they really, really need new blood. And the kids all danced pretty well again, even the ones I don't like, but there's just something missing with this crew. I like Melanie and Marko, but there's no one I love like I loved Danny or Alex or Allison or Kathryn or Billy or Jacob or Donyelle or . . . well anybody that I used to really love on this show.

So anyway, the best dance of the night was the girls group dance. Loved the choreo and the ladies killed it one and all. I realize that I've just started mentally blocking Ryan out so I have no idea how she did, but Sasha and Melanie were working that center and poor little Ashley finally got her time downstage and she turned it out. The highly stylized kick line? Love!

As far as partner dances, my faves in order from most to least:

Mitchell and Caitlyn/Contemporary/Mandy Moore - I thought this dance was beautifully choreographed and danced. I loved what Peanut had to say about dancing through the lifts rather than having the lifts pull the dance to a dead stop. (Peanut on the panel = love) Mitchell is just a gorgeous creature when he dances. I feel like he pulls my focus from Caitlyn, whom I find to be competent but not special. I didn't mind the Celine, but then again I never do. And it's very Mandy, so there's that.

Jess and Clarice/Contemporary/New Choreographer whose name I forget - I enjoyed this piece tremendously and thought Jess was better than Clarice here. He was sharp and clean and his whole body was committed in ways that I didn't necessarily feel from her. I will say that I underestimated him. He's not Evan 2.0. This type of dancing was very far away from his old school Broadway style, but I felt he captured it very well. And Clarice was good, too. The one move where she kind of dropped down onto his leg and then he popped her up? Insane. That's so hard. It was all legs and tummy and just pure muscle it up and she made it look light and easy. The romper was so, so unfortunate. She clearly pissed the wardrobe hos off this week.

Melanie and Marko/Jazz/New choreographer whose name I don't know - I did not like the piece at all. It felt like knock off Sonya. Quirky just for the sake of being quirky even when it didn't really flow or look good. The little walk forward was the best part of it and I think that's mainly because Melanie and Marko are fierce and they put their all into every piece of what they're given. They were really trying to sell this piece and I enjoyed their dancing in it. I agree that their partnering in this looked more tentative than in week's past. The costuming was ridonkulous. That would be true all night.

Ricky and Ryan/Jazz/Chucky - I still hate Ryan like whoa but I hated her less than I ever have before in this dance. She dances very heavy, I've decided, but that worked for her here. She could get down into the steps and really grind them out. I don't see her as a technical phenom at all. Let's just deal with her wobbly center, falling out of triple turns all tipsy tumbles. But she was kind of almost close to serving. And the out of control smile was mostly in control. She should play a heavy footed zombie more often. Ricky was turning it out. I would like (continued...)

( continues...) to see him dance with someone else. I would like to see him have a better turn out when he's doing plies. I know he has one. He was a little too pulled up at some points in this routine but overall it was good.

Jordan and Tadd/Waltz/Toni Redpath - This dance was just alright for me. As the judges noted, both of them had great upper body positioning. The port de bras was lovely on the pair of them. There was a sever lack of dancing in hold, but that's always the way with ballroom on this show. When they were in hold, I felt it lacked the rise and fall and the flow I would've wanted to see. They were a little herky jerky for my tastes. Jordan especially needed more flow in her movements.

Sasha and Alex/Hip Hop/Shaun Evaristo(?) - This show desparately needs new blood in their hip hop choreo crew, but not this one. I did not enjoy the piece at all. As Nigel said, it was very Hip Hop 101. And I thought neither of them danced it all that well. Alex did about as well as I expected. I've definitely seen contempo kids bomb worse at hip hop. He kind of got the smooth, grooving parts, but he could not bring it hard and really hit when he needed to. Sasha had a weird lack of spark. It's the first time I felt like she didn't pop at all in the routine. And the stuff with the tree was just awkward and wrong. I can't tell whether it was them or the piece. Also, they have zero chemistry as a couple. I think they must secretly hate each other because they have anti-chemistry. They always seem like they are two strangers dancing up there.

Ashley and Chris/Salsa/Lilian(?) - This dance made me sad because the routine was fire. If they had nailed it, this would've been off the charts. But they didn't nail it. It was stiff, from both of them. The hip action was lacking. Ashley could hide it better because she made the dress do some of the work, but poor Chris in those skintight white pants was exposed in more ways than one. The lifts were tentative and here was a perfect example of what Travis was talking about with not dancing through the lifts. Everything came to a dead stop when they had to throw a trick. Ashley is a very light dancer and salsa needs an earthiness and sensuality that I've never felt from her and I think Chris is bumping up against the limitations of his talent. He got through this dance and he was terrible, in a bad, focus pulling way, in the boys group dance.

The boys group dance was pretty good. Marko was owning it. I felt he was head and shoulders above the other boys and not just because he was holding center. I wish Mitchell had been given more to do. Jess and Tadd were both surprisingly good. Chris was embarrasingly bad. He forgot the steps which I'm not sure I've ever seen a dancer do in a group routine on this show before, and he was out of time with the rest of the dancers almost throughout the entire routine. Even though the choreographer tried to hide him upstage and had him dance half the time with his head covered up by his sweatshirt, he still nearly ruined the dance.

Bottom couples

I don't see how Chris/Ashley and Sasha/Alex avoid B3. Personally, I'd round that out with Tadd/Jordan but I also think Jess and Clarice could wind up in the 3rd slot because I think there is still a lot of animosity out there towards Jess and Clarice seems to not have a super strong fan base.

Going home

For the girls, I believe Ashley will take her final bow. Wish it were Ryan, but I'm afraid there's no way to get rid of Nigel's token blonde before top 10. For the guys, it's tough. Nigel has had it in for Alex from week one, but Chris was clearly the worst this week. If Chris can pull a great solo out of his ass, Nigel might save him, but it's going to have to be epically great to overcome both the bad dancing from last night and the judges natural disinclination to split up couples before top 10.

I hate the "star" guest judges. Hate the four judge panel. None of the star judges have added any value, though Cheno came the closest. Make it stop.

Have they kicked off just half of a couple this season?

That's the only other way they've mixed couples - Dominick went threw a few partners because they'd end up in the bottom three but the judges wouldn't eliminate Dom they'd pick another guy, but Dom's partner would get eliminated.

Have they kicked off just half of a couple this season?

not yet. i've noticed in past years it's almost like they don't want to break up the couples that early in the game.

As the seasons have progressed, the judges have become more and more reluctant to break up partnerships. I remember it used to happen pretty frequently in S2-S3. In S2, Dmitry was a partner killer, taking out his female companions and winding up in new pairings for a couple weeks in a row and I think there were partner swaps in 3 of the first 5 weeks. And in S3 you had new partnerships created two weeks in a row also (Cedric!). But by the time S4 rolled around, you only see one partner switch happen before top 10 and only once in S6. And then S7 was All Stars, so there were no stable partnerships. S5 was kind of an outlier year because you had partner switches 2 of the first five weeks (just like S3) but I think that was mainly because Nigel kept trying to save Kayla and her permanent stankface from getting eliminated.