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Geez, it warms this tarding heart that Jason Gilkison, choreographer extraordinaire from the Australian version of SYTYCD made his way to the USA to choreograph a couple of numbers for tonight's show. Yes, I was jonesing for some SYTYCD action while Idol 7 was finishing its death spiral, so I ended up downloading and watching the entire first season run of the Australian version. And Jason had a stand out piece week in and week out, including this samba that was all kinds of crazy great. Now we just need Supple to come over (from London, actually) and I will be in SYTYCD tard heaven. Supple + Mark + Katee = Asian Overload. Don't you think Mark and Katee could pull off a number like this? Nigel & Co, ignore my suggestion at your (yellow) peril.

Speaking of which, isn't it becoming very evident that they're trying to engineer a Twitch/Josh/Katee/Chelsie top four? They've paired Mark with the least popular female left three weeks running, and then put them in the lead off spot. Then they're given a Waltz, the least memorable of the ballroom dances (although my man Jason did choreograph the best waltz this year). Mark was very good, and very elegant if a bit stiff in the upper body, but Courtney's performance was more workmanlike, lacking the kind of grace and elegance that Katee brought to her Waltz - I never felt like Courtney was dancing off of the floor or gliding - she was just meh for me.

If the Waltz isn't enough of a handicap, the couple also got saddled with a Sonya Tayeh piece. I know some people like her work, but I find it all purposelessly weird, and America isn't all that thrilled with her work either - Matt & Kourtni were bottom three after theirs and Gev got the boot after his. Being a known kiss of death choreographer, I wonder if Nigel & Co hired her just to derail Mark's attempt at unseating Twitch. Oh well - at least they didn't get a Cicley and Olisa hip hop number. Mark can pull off weird, and the odd movements seemed more natural coming from him. Courtney was a fish out of water for me. I didn't actually get anything she was trying or supposed to be trying to convey emotionally. Mark's lascivious expression to the camera while standing behind a bent over Courtney had more substance than pretty much all of Courtney's routines from this season put together. She's just kind of "there" for me, taking up space. And seeing how two weeks of scolding and criticism only served to increase Mark's vote totals through sympathy and judge backlash, the panel took a different tack tonight and actually praised his performances. Nothing like the kind of, "you're going to the finals!" stuff they dished out to Josh and Katee, but praise nonetheless.

On one hand, Tyce's contemporary piece for the reunited Katee and Joshua was chock full of interesting shapes and complicated lifts. On that level, it satisfied the trick whore in me, and I would definitely watch it again. As a work of art, however, it doesn't really do anything for me, as it seems more like a jumble of lifts and shapes. It seemed like Tyce's answer to Mia Michaels piece for Joshua and Katee, and compared to that one, this one lacked cohesion and purpose. I did think it was better than the Will & Jessica routine, however (and much, much better executed). Joshua is so strong, and Katee is fearless. Katee has been a part of the three most physically demanding pieces this season, and Joshua was there for her in two of them. I can overlook the slight booble on one of the last lifts. I mean, this isn't figure skating - one bobble doesn't negate the totality of the performance.

I know that Joshua appears to have some sort of hidden training, but the truth is, aside from a few summer courses here and there, Josh is not what you would call a formally trained dancer. Mia remarked in an interview that he's untrained and raw, but that he can fake it really well. It's still surprising to see him pull off some of the things he's been given - this Paso Doble was performed with authority, and whenever Josh and Katee have synchronized sections, I am always impressed with their synchrony. Tonight was no different, synchronizing two sections of footwork and spins perfectly. And Josh finally got the chance to dance with his shirt off - for some reason, I thought he would be a bit more doughy than he is. But no, he's actually all buff and cut - he looks like Baby Hulk. With manscaping.

I had to watch Chelsie and Twitch's mambo twice - the first time, it was all about Chelsie. Wow. Just smoking hot. The second time, I watched Twitch. Zero hip action, zero technical aptitude, terrible footwork, and quite frankly, a laughable performance. He mostly stood around as Chelsie danced around him, which is the only way Twitch could get away with a number like this. Is it really any wonder they saved this style of latin dance for Twitch until they could pair him with Chelsie to redirect any and all attention away from Twitch? Seeing as how this is the worst ballroom performance since Cedric, I was curious as to how the judges would comment. The thing is, they bent over backwards to give him props for degree of difficulty (which they stressed in the rehearsal piece), and that, in a nutshell, is total bullshit. Did they cut Mark and Kherington any slack for their miserable Two Step? Did they cut any slack to any couple for their Quickstep? Nope. So why this? It's disgraceful. Judges, have some semblance of neutrality. These double standards, and as they apply to Twitch, are making a mockery of the judging. "Sold it with his face" my ass. He tanked hard. Very hard. And she had to back lead him all the way. But that's okay, because whenever Twitch gets something he can't do, the judges make excuses and then give him a hip hop number to finish the night.

Speaking of which, that was the worst hip hop routine I've seen this season. I'd rather watch Will & Jessica's Cicely & Olisa routine over again that this mess. I'd rather see Rayven pull down Jamie's pants for a second time than sit through this idiotically conceived crap. For one thing, there was little actual hip hop dancing in it, and there was entirely too much standing around and mugging. I mean, having Twitch just stand around in Mia Michael's contemporary pieces is one thing - why is Twitch doing large swaths of nothing but waving his arms during a hip hop piece? Just how much protecting does he need? Chelsie was no better nor any worse than, say, Kherington. Then again, she danced in maybe a third of the time allotted for the routine, so who knows. Besides, she got her hot latin routine just like Twitch got his hip hop routine, but this piece could very well backfire for Chelsie, since neither of their routines were in the top half of performances. And the judges? Oh, they think Twitch was awesome. What sucky, sucky judges.

BTW, May's got to lay off the excessive tanning. She's starting to look all wrinkly and leathery like Magda from There's Something About Mary: