A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

ARE YOU RIDING THE HOT TAMALE TRAIN? With 10 couples dancing last night, this could be an extremely long SYTYCD post. But rather than do a blow-by-blow recap, I'll just make some minimally organized observations:

• I get the sense that the producers are really looking for a girl to win this season. Of the top ten girls, nearly all of them already had significant character/backstory development before they ever set foot on the big stage. (And thus I fear for Sabra and Shauna, the two girls coming into the finals relatively cold.) The guys haven't had nearly as much air time thus far.
• A few early favorites out of the guys: I love Hok. I just love him, his accent, his grins, and oh, yeah, his dancing. Jesus got a great edit tonight -- that story about the town rallying around the vineyard workers' kid was the kind of thing that can take you far on a show like this. He had the benefit of that amazing Wade Robeson choreography, too, but more on that in a minute. I have high hopes for Pasha -- it's so nice to have a ballroom guy who doesn't feel a need to have an open shirt constantly whipping around a bare chest. Danny (aka Travis Wall's sort-of-adopted-brother) and Jimmy were also worth noting.
• Anya! Anya! She reminds me of Jennifer Garner for some reason, which can never be a bad thing. Jaimie and Faina illustrated the point that some non-hip-hoppers get it (Jaimie) and others don't (Faina). Jessi managed to make me not hate a waltz. Sara was great (see prior comment re Wade Robeson), and Lauren isn't going home anytime soon despite the salsa problem, but I'm concerned for Ashlee after that painful tango -- she's much better than that. (When both Latin dances blow up in the same week, do you blame the dancers or the choreographer?)
• And then there's my personal favorite of the night: Lacey Sister-of-Benji-Not-of-David Schwimmer. If you think back to Benji's efforts with Mia Michaels last season, he struggled. Mia said all along that although Benji was the better performer, Travis was her preferred dancer. Lacey totally submitted to Mia's choreography and was astonishing to watch. We know she can do all the ballroom/swing/Latin styles that she'll need to get through that part of the competition, but she was a big question mark for hip hop and contemporary. We'll have to wait and see how she does with Shane and the rotating cast of hip-hop choreographers we're sure to encounter throughout the season.
• A question to long-time fans of the show, wasn't it great to see the work of all the choreographers again? I'll admit that I'm starting to find Shane a little tiresome - I think they overuse him and that of all the choreographers, he's the least mentoring of his weekly crop of dancers. But Wade Robeson is unfailingly original and brilliant -- remember the corpse group dance from last season? That plus tonight's vagabond cabaret (a vagabond cabaret??) make him one of my most highly-anticipated choreographers. Mia Michaels's work is always amazing and raw, and tonight was no exception. Whatsername the disco queen bores me, and I'm a little skeptical as to whether Alex da Silva has anything new to offer us in Latin land. I did like the new ballroom guy, though -- have we seen him before?
• And then there's one of my favorite things about SYTYCD: it rewards viewers who have been there since the beginning. Whether it's Nigel pointing out Season Two's Allison (a/k/a Mrs. Spacewoman's doppelganger) out in the audience as he mentions that Lauren Gottlieb reminds him of her, or Dan Karaty pointing out to Dominic that no one committed to cheesy disco dancing like Season One winner Nick Lazzarini, or the three siblings banging around in the top 20, this show builds on itself in a comforting, rewarding way.