By Ashley Thompson

 

Only 9 couples remain and two more will be going home tonight. But before announcing the bottom six the dancers do a group number by Pharside and Krystal Meraz from the Academy of Villains to "How It's Done". It's like a chess match of Lorde-looking chess pieces street dancing.

 

Tonight with Nigel and Mary is ballerina Misty Copeland. Welcome back, Misty. And the bottom six are: Bridget, Emilio, Emily, Stanley, Jourdan and Teddy. These dancers have a chance to redeem themselves through their partner dancing tonight, however.

 

First up:
Jacque and Zach: A Keone and Mari hip hop routine to "Stay With Me". This ballerina and tapper do ok but maybe I loved it because who doesn't love Sam Smith? The bounces that hip hop usually give us to the beats were appropriately more like church meets soul hops in this dance. And it worked.

 

Marcquet and Jourdan: A Dee Casparay contemporary routine to "Disappear". Marcquet may becoming one of my favorites. He seems eager to do anything and is a great partner. Jourdan is so strong and impressive.

 

Jessica and Stanley: A Tyce Diorio jazz routine to "Funkier than a mosquitoes tweeter". This carpet ride was less than magical. Jessica's face didn't match the routine and Stanley is relying on his leaps.

 

Bridget and Emilio: A Pasha and Anya jazz routine to "Happy". Initially they have floppy legs but the technique seems to improve by the end. Their "happy" energy doesn't last, however, but it was a cute routine.

 

Emily and Teddy: A Tyce Diorio contemporary routine to "Ne Me Quitte Pas". I'm pretty sure during the first position change you can hear Tyce yelling "YEAH!" in encouragement from the audience. Although this number was supposed to be a desperate plea to stay, it seemed more like a couple in an argument. Gorgeous piece, though.

 

Brooklyn and Casey: A Bonnie Story jazz routine to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Sharp and energetic movements and it's totally believable. Brooklyn seemed tired towards the end but that many lifts would exhaust anyone.

 

Valerie and Ricky: A Lacey Schwimmer waltz to "I Won't Give Up". First impression is that Valerie's upper body is too stiff and with the lacy dress she's wearing she looks like a dancing doll. And with all that dress it's hard to even pay attention to Ricky. But Nigel gives them a standing ovation and Mary called the routine "magical". What do I know about ballroom anyways.

 

Serge and Carly: A Luther Brown hip hop routine to "Senile". You know those unitards with the skeletons on them durin gHalloween? Yeah they wore those. Serge wasn't as convincing as a hip hop dancer but Carly pulled it off as well as she could. Vote worthy?

 

Tanisha and Rudy: A Warren Carlyle broadway routine to "Sing Sing Sing". All I can think is 'don't drop the canes... don't drop the canes!!!'. But I like Rudy... he's a guys dancer, and along with Tanisha has performed the best routine of the night.

 

And now for the bad news. The judges have decided to go with America's vote and the one guy and one girl going home tonight are Stanley and Jourdan. Did you predict that?

 

Photo courtesy of FOX