A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

DID NO ONE MENTION THE OVERWHELMING BUFFITUDE OF DESMOND RICHARDSON? After some mostly TV-free R&R over the last couple of weeks, I'm back to the (so you think you can) dancing! Going into tonight's top twelve, I find myself oddly ambivalent about most of the dancers. Here's the state of the universe according to me:

• Kupono: Discount-bin Mark Kanemura.
• Kayla: All hype, no payoff. We had The Leg back in season one -- its name was Melody -- and beyond that I just don't get it.
• Brandon and Janette: I like their dancing fine, but the faces are killing me -- Janette's when she dances and Brandon's kind of vacant puppy dog smile. (Love me! Choose me!)
• Philip: We've had amazing hip hoppy dancers on the show before. This is nothing new. But unlike many of them (Hok and Twitch and some guy named Joshua Allen), Philip hasn't had a single breakout non-hip hop performance in four weeks. Can they give a guy a slot on the tour just to do one cool popping solo?
• Jeanine: The potential is there, and she's cute and likeable and all that, but thus far has labored under the shadow of her hoppy poppy partner. I'm keeping my eye on her for when the partners change up.
• Caitlin and Jason: I find Caitlin compelling, although I realize I am in a dwindling minority. It might just be that she's cute and I'm a sucker for a front aerial. As for Jason, he's another one I'm hoping will break out once he's got a new partner.
• Melissa and Ade: I'm missing something. I'm just missing something. They're great, they're lovely, they're dancing the pants off of most of the other couples, but not once have I felt moved to pick up a telephone on their behalf.
• Evan and Randi: I love them. This is the only pair about whom I legitimately care. I think they've gotten really lucky on their genre draws -- the butt, the jive, and the Rich Man's Frug (which I loved, incidentally, regardless of what Nigel said about Evan's wrists) are all the kinds of dances that get people dialing. I do harbor some concern that they may fall flat once they have to pair up with new partners, a concern I don't really have about Ade or Melissa.

Last year, when it came time to pick the touring ten, there were two couples who were head and shoulders above everyone else: (1) Twitch and Kherington and (2) Joshua and Katee. (Note that three of those four ended up being the top three overall.) So I guess we're in the same position now as then -- two couples leading the pack and everyone else scrambling to be noticed. I guess I just prefer Mark and Chelsie and Courtney and Gev to Kupono and Janette and Kayla and Philip.