So You Think You Can Dance 9 - Recap Live Blog - Top 14

8:00 - Sorry for the late start guys, the website was down right before the start of the show. Luckily we are back up and running, so let's get to it!

8:01 - Oh Cat, no. That dress. THAT HEM. The Heidi-of-the-Swiss-Alps hair. Is that a boa?! Did they skin a Muppet to make that atrocity? Just no. Love you girl, but no.

8:02 - Four dancers will be leaving us tonight; that is an expected development with the two weeks off and all.

8:03 - Wait what?! Just Mia Michaels' routines?! And past ones at that?!Awesome idea?! Terrible idea?! I cannot process this right now. Hell, I am still hung-up on Cat's horrifying, I mean horrifying attire.

8:05 - Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt are the guest judges tonight. Apparently they are ballet wonders. Just broadening my dance IQ here folks, along with you.

8:09 - That opening routine was interesting to say the least. I felt like the routine overreached a little too much. I love Mia's routines because they are so involved, but sometimes that is their biggest downfall. Too much to focus on and not enough time to do it.

8:17 - Eliana and Cyrus get Katee and tWitch’s Mercy routine from Season 4. Yeah this is definitely the correct routine for them, seeing as they can match up with Katee and tWitch perfectly when it comes to genre. And right away I am already fearing this night. Look, there is no way we are going to be unable to “disassociate the routines from the previous performers” as Nigel said. In other words, I expect to see a lot of lackluster performances in comparison to the original works. That is exactly what happened there. Sure they performed it, especially Eliana over Cyrus, but it totally lacked the chemistry of the original. I also think it is fair to compare it to the original, because we have seen the heights these routines can reach. If these dancers cannot get there, that is on them. That is a roundabout way of saying I was not really feeling this number from Eliana and especially Cyrus. Just felt so basic, and lacking in a lot of character. This piece is all about character, so I think these two might be in trouble next week.

8:38 - Tiffany and George are next with Katee and Joshua's Hometwon Glory from Season 4. It is good that they are getting Katee's pieces out of the way early, because nobody is going to live up to her. Girl was just dominant in every way. Well that was not terrible. In fact, that was really well done. I actually liked George more in this than I did Joshua, which I find a little surprising. I think the judges were hitting the nail on the head when it came to their partnering, because that felt a little lacking. All the way back in Season 4 Mia talked about how this dance was about two people walking different paths in their lives and then coming together. We definitely got the different paths part tonight, but we did not see the ultimate joining of the dancers like we should have.

8:44 - Amelia and Will get the Butt dance from Season 5's Randi and Evan. Speaking of another routine that needs a hell of a lot of character and performance to pull it off. I have no idea how they are going to do. I suspect okay, but I question if they can really perform it like it needs to be. Oooooooh Will just owned her. All season Amelia has been out-dancing and out-performing Will, and he brought it right back to her. Good for him. I like Amelia a lot, and think she should win this season giving what she has done so far, but I am glad to see Will push himself. Yeah, this routine cannot compare to the original, but I still think it was a job well done. I seriously think this night is about to be a bust, because those are going to keep being my same critiques I suspect.

8:56 - Janelle and Dareian take the stage with Kherington and tWitch's bed routine from Season 4. I am actually not a huge fan of the original, so they could actually do better than the first couple did. Look at pretty much all of my critiques from above, and then go ahead and apply it to this dance as well. So yeah, nice technique, decent performance, but just a big "meh" in the end. Although, I will call out the judges’ sudden insight that this dance is all about the male partner in it. Um, when was it not? In Season 4 it was all about tWitch, and Kherington was nothing more than a supporting role throwing around fake flowers. What exactly did they expect? And please, those two barely brought anything to the original. tWitch finished second in his season due to luck and having good partners. Kherington had one great turn in one solo, and that was about it.

9:02 - Audrey and Matt are the next performers of the night with Lacey and Neil's Season 3 Cancer routine. Oh boy, here we go. I understand the history and emotion that this dance has for Mia, being about her father and her reuniting. For that reason, I think it is one of the most highly overrated piece of any season. Yes, it is beautiful dance, but there is just no way to critique this number without seeming like a heartless s.o.b. I think part of the reason the judges cannot do anything but love the piece is because they are so personally attached to Mia--AND THERE YOU GO! Noticed how Nigel was asking Audrey and Matt questions about Mia's father that they could not answer but he could? It is because he has a deep and personally attachment to Mia and this dance, something the audience could never have unless they knew her on that same level. I just feel like it is a big disservice to the dancers to heap such personal expectations on them.

9:16 - Witney and Chehon get the Bench dance from Heidi and Travis in Season 2, and truly and honestly they are fucked. Sorry, that was a bit brutal and crass but come on! There is simply no way that they could ever live up to what Heidi and Travis originally did with that, and who would expect them to? People argue this number as the best one ever from the show, so I just cannot see this as anything but unfair. Taken on its own and not noting anything about the original, I think they did a good job. Witney was smiling a little too much for somebody who was not getting her loved returned to her, and Chehon lost the tempo at the end and was too tight, but not a bad effort overall. Ugh, why could we not just have seven brilliant new routines from Mia? If there were one choreographer I could trust to do that, it would definitely be her. What a wasted opportunity.

9:25 - Lindsay and Cole finish the night out with Kayla and Kupono's Addiction piece from Season 5. Another iconic routine, and I am little nervous once again. Kupono was not the greatest dancer, but he simply owned this piece when he did it, and Kayla was/is an amazing dancer not questions about it. Damn. Well there you go guys, you just saw who is going to get crowned the male winner for this season. I am not sure if I liked Cole or Kupono's interpretation of the personification of addiction more, but I appreciate that he did something different. In fact, he was easily the smartest dancer of the night, because he gave us something different to consider. Cole is so far ahead of the other guys, I do not know if anybody can catch him. Lindsay was also wonderful; she just has the problem of being compared to Kayla's unreal technique and performance. Solid job from her, but nothing groundbreaking there. Either way, it was definitely the best routine of the night by far.

9:32 - George, Matt and Dareian are in danger for the guys, as are Amelia, Janelle and Lindsay for the girls.

9:35 - So Dareian is pretty much gone given his performance tonight and the fact that he barely saved himself last time. It is a toss-up between George and Matt, and I think it might be coming down to their solos. My gut says Matt is safe if he does something halfway decent for a solo. As for the girls, I am still betting on Amelia to still be safe. Janelle is definitely gone, because duh, but Lindsay could easily stay. She has been performing unbelievably well all season long, and tonight was not exception. My gut says Amelia will do something lovely for a solo and that the judges do not want to lose her before the tour, but who knows.

9:40 - Gorgeous solo from Amelia. Grace, beauty, poise, etc. etc. etc. Girl just owns the stage when she wants to. Janelle was actually quite dazzlingly as well, it is just her body of work cannot compare to Amelia or Lindsay. Such a shame that Lindsay is a ballroom girl right now, because they simply do not excel in solos for obvious reasons. She needed a Jeanine Mason solo there, and she did not have it. Still giving the edge to Amelia, but the judges could surprise me.

9:46 - I enjoy the fact that Dareian really fights in his solos to stay in the competition, but it is his time. George and Will had very nice solos themselves, and even similar in somewhat in tone. I am going to call Matt out as the one to stay, because I think he brought just a little more in terms of performance quality and control. But who knows.

9:50 - LINDSAY IS SAVED! WHAT A SHOCKER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

9:52 - GEORGE IS SAVED! COLE JUST WON! Yeah Cyrus might still catch him, but I think Matt was really the only one who was going to challenge him.

9:59 - In theory, I think tonight could have definitely worked. I think everyone should have approached their dances like Cole did and see what they could have changed to distinguish themselves, but hindsight is always 20/20. I think what I liked the least about tonight was the decision to try something like this when they were eliminating four dancers. If it went poorly, like it pretty much did, then I feel like we have really robbed some people of a last chance. Then again, everybody had to suffer that same fate, so I can only feel so bad.

10:05 - So who is going to win now? Can we really see George, Will or Chehon beating Cole or Cyrus? What about the girls? That race it totally open now, and I think Audrey just might take it all. Hell, Witney is now all of a sudden the dark horse there. How did that happen? Next week should makes things a lot more clear. Until then!