So I thought the show rocked tonight.  Adam Shankman almost totally redeemed himself from the "Danny is arrogant" debacle from last season by bringing relevant critiques and talking to the kids about actual . . . dancing.  I KNOW!  Cat was on fire bringing the snark and the whacked out fashion sense we know and love.  (And now I take a moment to picture a Cat and JC couple's fashion moment.  The mind reels!  Kittens, they should so hook up and form the ultimate awesomely badly dressed team)  Finally, with a very few exceptions, the kids did as our title suggests.  Let's get down to it so I can get in Shear Genius before bedtime.

Kherington and Twitch - OK, several eight counts in and they hadn't even started dancing yet.  And Kherington continued to smile inappropriately through the entire routine.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn't exactly what you'd call challenging.  This was not better than what you would see in a moderately challenging, open hip hop class at a decent studio.  I didn't hate it.  But I didn't really like it, either.  Kherington did a good job with it for the most part.  Except the shoulder sit which was ridiculous.  Just too much posing and mugging in the routine.  And Shankman was bringing some real critique, finally.  I don't know what kind of monkey crack the judges are smoking, but this routine was not all that.  Twitch was great but both Kherington and the choreography were just fair to middlin'.

Courtney and Gev - Rhumba?  Huh.  I would've bet money they'd get hip hop this week, but nope another close hold partner dance.   And oh my word was Gev's secret awesome!  He really did look like a tiny, very pretty little girl.  These two are a miniature ball of adorable together.  I am in love with this couple.  And yay!  Melanie got a last name!!! And she spoke!!  Finally, they recognize.  So, Gev's posture and carriage are unreal, for anyone, not just for a hip hop dancer.  He looked amazing in this.  I thought that was so beautiful.  And definitely the most technically difficult Rhumba I've seen on the show.  (BTW, Show, get off of Dom's jock)  The wardrobe was really great as well.  Loved the choreography, loved the dancing, loved them and everything about them.  And I am really loving on the Shankman.  Can we have him on the show every week?  He talked to the dancers like they are dancers.  Who knew? 

Chris and Comfort - I really tried to give Big Pasty one last chance to bring it and impress me.  Hmmph.  See what the benefit of the doubt gets you.  And in Secrets of the SYTYCDancers news, damn, they brought out the picture of Comfort with the Tootie mushroom -do?  That's cold.  Now, I normally really like Tasty choreographing jazz.  His Pasha/Baby Oil Girl bird jazz from last season was one of my faves.  So I had high hopes that this could be good.  And then the weirdness happened.  They had no intensity or fire in this piece.  The choreography was, in fact, really interesting, but they were both just . . . dull as dishwater.  They were doing the steps fine but I just . . . hmm.  I wish I had liked that more and at first I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't.  And then Nigel of all people completely nailed it.  No power behind the moves.  The judges were totally on point with their critiques on this routine. 

And then it was time for Doriana again.  So soon?  Noooo.  Make it stop!  Confession time, y'all.  I will watch Dirty Dancing any time it's on TV and no matter when I come into the movie, even if there's only a minute left.  And every time I watch, I try and figure out which one was Doriana.  I always think I know which one it is but then I second guess myself.  And then I get really sad because I look at what she's become now and I mourn for her younger self, whichever multi-ethnic camp kid she was.

Will and Jessica - He called Doriana "Miss Sanchez."  Soooo cute!  Yep, he's a total dance studio brat.  If I can just take a second, friends, I gotta give some love to Will's threads.  Overall, the costumes were sooo much better this week.  Now if only the cameramen would also step up.  Seriously, Will was so good in this.  He was really just blowing Jessica away.  You just kinda didn't watch her at all because he was fan-freaking-tastic.  The whole routine was actually going pretty well until she totally biffed that death drop.  But he's so strong as a partner that they still pulled it back together.  Yeah, overall that was so not good.  And it was mostly her fault.  Will did own it.  I wonder why the judges gave this the soft sell.  A little reverse psychology?  I, too, would like to get rid of Jessica, but is this really the best way?  And really, Shankdaddy should just be around all the time because he made Mary and Nigel bring some constructive criticism to the table and upped the level of the commentary considerably.  Once again they were on point that what draws the eye to Will, aside from his amazing technique, is his total commitment in every piece he dances.  He embraced the cheese.  He was the cheese.  I still want Jessica gone.

Kourtni and Matt - Oh my.  The guest choreographer was insane.  She looked like the lead singer from Bow Wow Wow.  But crazy brought super interesting choreography.  And Matt and Kourtni brought total commitment to the dance.  I really, really liked that.  I thought they danced incredibly well.  The costumes sucked boot-ay, but that's my only dig.  Still, somehow, I'm not really caring about this couple.  They're very pretty dancers, but they're not stars, no?

Thayne and Chelsea - Chelsea just did the Martha shoulder shake during the bumper to commercial.  I hated it when Martha did it in S2 and I hate it now.  I hope that doesn't mean she's going to dance to Gwen Stefani in an old gramma hat, bustier and capris for her elimination solo tomorrow night.  Aww, this was vey bad, as quick step almost always is.  I wish they'd stop having this style on the show because only Cam and Lacey from last season have ever really done it well.  Their foot work was awful.  There was no flow around the floor.  Thayne looked like a hopping chicken and Chelsea couldn't hold her top line.  Eeesh.  Really, really bad.  I definitely sense another trip to the B3. 

Chelsie and Mark - I would have been scared for these two when they drew hip hop, but I have seen Mark doing hip hop in his You Tube videos and he is so good it's scary.  What?  Of course I troll You Tube for video of the dancers.  Doesn't everyone?  I just adored that piece.  They smashed it.  Wow oh wow!!  It was so good, it even made me not want to cut off my own ears at hearing that horrible Leona Lewis song.  (Side Note: For the love of all that's holy, stop pushing her.  She is not now, nor will she ever be, one one thousandth of the diva that is Mariah Carey.  Just looking mixed race doesn't count)  Ahem, anyway.  I always love Mark but Chelsea was a revelation in this.  It was so good.  I don't even have any words.  I'm in love with this couple.  That one move where she put her arm out to the side and his head traveled down to rest on her shoulder?  Ridiculous.  I wanna see that again right now.  Lyrical hip hop was a great way to label that, with way more lyrical than hip hop.  Totally my new favorite dance of the season.  Tabitha and whatshisname are proving very hit or miss for me.  They did the Josh/Katee hip hop, which I also adored, but then they haven't done anything else I've liked.  Encore, encore!

Joshua and Katee - Oh, Katee.  Everyone can tell Joshua is a sweetheart.  That's not a secret, baby.  Joshua's secret about Katee was amusing, though.  I thought this would be a true challenge for these two and was interested to see how they would do.  It was creditable and they are really cute and likeable together, so that goes a looong way.  And then the judging.  Oh, the judging.  And we had been doing so well, relatively speaking.  What else can I say, but "Ewwww."  Nigel is really. . .the thing. . . with the dad. . . and the show me your culo?  I was sooo uncomfortable.  Back to the dancing, Katee was really good, better than Joshua but he held his own.  The dance itself?  Overpraised much?  I thought Kourtni and Matt were much better.  I guess these two got points for degree of difficulty, maybe?  Well that and for being the judges' pets.

Top Three - Now and forever Chelsie and Mark.  They can do no wrong in my book.  I've gotta put my little love bunnies Courtney and Gev here, but that's just because I like me some them.  I actually think the other two here should be Kourtni and Matt, who were technically flawless, and Twitchington, even though it pains me to type it AND she still had that cheese eating grin pasted on the whole damn dance.  (Oh yeah, Show Producers.  One, stop reading so many message boards and blogs.  And two, if you are gonna read and you want to address the shoe controversy, come correct.)  I could also see an argument for Joshua and Katee here who were not technically brilliant but are just so darn likeable.  (Katee likeable, what?)

Really, though, I loved the whole show tonight.  I was tremendously entertained by the entire thing.  Even the judges.  Well, until Nigel started to sexually harass Joshua's dad.  He desperately needs an attitude adjustment.

Bottom Three - Well, Big Pasty and Comfort and Thayne and Chelsea are gimmes.  The other one is really tough.  Will and Jessica were not great, despite what the judges were selling, so it certainly could be them.  I thought Kourtni and Matt danced really strongly tonight, but have to agree with Nigel that folks just might not get it - and they are hella boring.  So it could easily be them, too.  And I'm not sure that anyone else loves Courtney and Gev as much as I do, so they might also see B3 again this week. 

Going home - All my money is on Big Pasty for the boy boot.  I don't think the show is quite ready to let go of Comfort, so I think it's bye-bye Chelsea this week and we'll get our first non-couple boot.  Sadly, I don't think Comfort and Thayne will make a good pair.

And it's my first week where I'm no completely sure of my boot-ee predictions.  You better work, Show.  (But you do not want to get into a **** match with ABDC.  It will not go well for you)