So You Think You Can Dance: Top 8

Ryan & Kathryn
Disco by Doriana Sanchez
(Samantha Ronson Remix) Last Dance by Donna Summer
It was fun! Ryan can really move. I would think he'd be slowed down by his muscles and size, but he can get through those fast full movements with ease. Disco is like ballroom on speed, depending on the style, so it really suited him. I think I even noticed a samba role in there.

Cha Cha by Jason Gilkison
Put Your Hands On Me by Joss Stone
That was great! The part where she backed under his leg was ridiculous. I loved when she grabbed onto his leg and got dragged a bit. I also loved the ending when Kathryn was lifted and the last image is her completely upside. Kathryn looked so incredibly sexy, which I didn't think she could have pulled off at the beginning of the season. The Hot Tamale Train finally makes an appearance!! Karen made it on to the train in the first week and since then no one else was invited. Ryan and Kathryn totally deserve those first class seats!

Mollee & Jakob
Viennese Waltz by Jason Gilkenson
Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton
Love the use of the background and their costumes to tell a story. That was such a cute dance! I loved how happy and romantic it was. It was just beautiful.

Broadway by Joey Dowling
Easy Street by Annie (Samantha Ronson Remix)
I liked the costume change midway through the dance. The mix was really weird. It put in modern skipping and techno sounds to this old song, but didn't change much more. I don't like this new addition to the show. One of the things I love about the music on the show is that I can just download a song from a dance routine and about 95% of the time, it will sound exactly like it did on the show.

Legacy & Ellenore
Contemporary by Travis Wall
Machine Gun by Portis Head
It's like Mr. and Mrs. Smith! Wow, great lifts. The timing on the table had to be absolutely perfect and it was! Wow, amazing. You can't even tell Ellenore's dancing with a torn rotator cuff. Travis's response to the Emmy comments was priceless! I would love for Travis to be nominated for an Emmy - he's had many memorable numbers between

NappyTabs Hip Hop
People are Strange (Districk 78 Remix)
I loved the pre-dance video. Cool use of the masks, it really added to the weirdness. The rolls and jumps over one another were great. The weirdness just got kicked up a notch with all the weird alien language speech.

Jakob Solo
When You Say My Name by Mario Spinetti
He's just such a good dancer. His technique and skill blow me away.

Russell & Ashleigh (stand in)
Shane Sparks Hip Hop
Too Much Booty 2 By Soundmaster Remix
I wonder about Russell's partnering skills since Noelle and Ashleigh have both been injured while with him. That was a hard hitting routine. I'm sad we didn't get to see Ashleigh do Hip Hop, since she has proven herself in this genre so well before.

Bollywood by Nikul
Spirit of Rangeela from the Rangeela Soundtrack
There were some moments where Russell's face was just TOO happy, or whatever expression that was supposed to be. Maybe some of Ashleigh rubbing off on him? Great routine, overall.

Mollee
Heartburn by Alica Keys

Legacy
Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
At first, I wasn't too impressed. But once he did all those moves with the phone in his hand, just to prove that he could do all that with one hand, I was hooked. I'd be really happy if he makes it into the finale, but I honestly have no idea what guy is going home tomorrow.

Ellenore
I Got the Feelin' by James Brown
She really is always having fun. Her personality and exuberence

Russell
Holiday Buckness by The J Squad
I don't think his shoe was supposed to come off, but he went with and incorporated it into the dance.

Kathryn
ShadowFeet by Brooke Fraser

Ryan
Din Da Da
Kevin Aviance
Aw, I can't believe he just gave Ashleigh's number instead of his own. I don't think it will get her enough votes, but I know it just endeared him more to me and probably the rest of America.

Highlights: Jakob/Mollee's Viennese Waltz, Kathryn/Ryan's Cha Cha. I never thought that only ballroom numbers would be my highlights, since I'm a bigger fan of Hip Hop and Jazz. But, these two numbers will stand out against the season for me.

Predictions: I honestly have no idea who will be in the finale, since I would be happy with all of them making it to the end. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say Ashleigh and Russell would be going home. Just because of the severe disadvantage of losing your partner and of not being able to dance. Ryan's plea probably got her some votes, but I'm betting they got him more.

Chuck on CNN

Zachery Levi was on CNN promoting his appearance in Alvin and The Chipmonks: The Squeakquel. I love Chuck so much, I'll over look that particular career move.

Lady Gaga's "Christmas Tree"

Amazon is giving away a song a day in honor of the holidays. So far, they've all been Christmas themed so I haven't been taking advantage of the giveaways. I think having a birthday so near Christmas makes you a little bit of a scrooge, at least that's my excuse. Well, if you're in more of a holiday spirit, you can get all the downloads over at Amazon.com.

The one song I did download? Of course, Lady Gaga's track "Christmas Tree"! And honestly, it's terrible. If it weren't a Christmas song, I'd actually really enjoy it, but it manages to corrupt every Christmas saying on the books. If you're interested in checking it out, you can download it for free until Christmas by clicking HERE.

So bad, it's hilarious.

Glee: Top 5 Numbers

Glee is heading to sectionals tomorrow and then leaving us for FOUR MONTHS. I don't know how I'm going to handle that long of an hiatus! To help me get through this, I've been watching some of the best musical numbers from the season, all up on Hulu's Glee: A Dozen Musical Numbers page. Don't have time for all 12 before they expire? Well, here are my Top 5 numbers leading up to sectionals:

1. "It's My Life/Confessions"


I loved both the mashups in "Vitamin D", but the guys totally won this one. The best songs are the show are when the glee kids take a song and rearrange it. Otherwise, it's too similar to the original and just will never stand out in my mind. Give songs the "Glee" treatment and I'm there! Just sing a song exactly the same old way and I get bored fast.

2. "Lean on Me"


I'm a sucker for the sappy songs too. I almost put "Keep Holding On" here too, but then that would have been two Glee-cheers-up-Quinn-and-Finn moments and this list needed diversity. For

3. "Don't Stop Believing"


This was the routine that made Will believe New Directions could win Regionals and it was the routine that won over the viewers too. This number was strong enough to keep us on bated breath for the show's return 5 months after they aired the pilot in May. Let's hope they leave us with just as great a number tomorrow in the Fall Finale. I still can't believe we have to wait until APRIL.

4. "Hate on Me"


Mercedes can siiiiing. This was the first time she got her own song and it was great. She's usually just the diva-tastic cherry on top to the glee numbers, so this was a nice change of pace.

5. "Dancing With Myself"


Another great moment where a secondary character got to shine. I think Artie has the best voice out of the guys, so it was great that he finally got his solo. I also love when the songs are used to serve a storytelling purpose, instead of just shoe-horned in to have a musical number. This song was a great window into his loneliness as the handicapped friend, and transitioned Artie from an afterthought to a full character.

Update: Volume 2 comes out today. Check out the track listing!