Top 8 week stressed our dancers like never before. Not only did they have to perform 3 routines instead of 2, they had to farewell Penny, one of the competition favourites. But the show must go on, and with Gianne back on deck, our Top 8 delivered 10 stunning routines that turned up a new favourite.
Top 8 Sunday Night Summary
The standout couple were Ben & Talia who, according to Matt, were “both on the train to the Finale”. “Amazing” Amy put on a master class in technique and, with Timomatic channelling MJ, delivered the “favourite routine of the night”. Charlie and Gianne did remarkably in a day less of rehearsals, with Charlie “brilliant” on hip hop home turf. Kat delivered a “sophistication” beyond her years and Jason Gilkison declared he had a “new favourite boy” in the competition. That boy was BJ.
Farewell Penny
The show opened with the devastating news that everyone’s favourite cheerleader, Penny, had a stress fracture of her rib and was out of the competition. The only girl who had never been in the Bottom 3, Penny had formed a power partnership with Charlie and won the hearts of millions of Australians.
Jason Gilkison said she’d been a “breath of fresh air” and Matt said this was “a dancer’s worst nightmare”. Bonnie said Penny had made the show “so much richer” and Jason Coleman said that he, like the rest of Australia, “had embraced the Penny”.
Penny bravely came on stage and through tears watched her Journey Recap – and what a journey it was.
From that unforgettable “angry cheerleader” audition, to her tears on the Green Mile when she found she’d made Top 20, to the show-stopping “Single ladies” with Charlie, the breathtaking “You found me”, the moment she cracked up Mary Murphy by declaring “It’s all good!” as she squinted through her one good eye, to her beautiful bridal foxtrot, the revelation that she was leaving, and the floods of tears when Gianne appeared to replace her. But, as we all know, no-one will ever replace our Penny.
She said it had been one of the hardest weeks of her life and Nat summed it up by saying, “You’re such a great chick”. Farewell, Penny. But we know we haven’t seen the last of you.
#1 Boys Quartet Does Damn Yankees
The Boys danced together for the first time this season in a Broadway routine choreographed by Adam Williams in a tribute to Bob Fosse’s legendary production of “Damn Yankees”.
Jason G thought Timomatic was the “weakest technically” and “kept coming back to BJ”. Matt also thought Timomatic was behind the other boys and that Ben “got the character the most”.
Bonnie said Tim didn’t have the technique but that meant he had to work twice as hard. Jason C said Timomatic was “out of your league” and he’d expected more of Charlie. BJ was “smooth” but “the actor within the dancer put that routine to Ben”.
#2 Amy & Timomatic - Contemporary Back to School
After 4 appearances in the Bottom group, Timomatic was paired with “star” Amy in a contemporary routine choreographed by Sher Manu to Newton Faulkner’s “To the light” in a schoolhouse setting.
Matt thought Timomatic got to explore the Contemporary world a lot more, and that Amy had shown Australia what a “stunning technician” she is. Bonnie thought Tim had had “a really hard week” and that Amy “actually held it together”.
Jason C thought Tim had “committed with no fear” and that Amy was “an amazing technician”. Jason G could see Tim calculating in his head but his improvement was “steaming along”. Amy “put layers onto a performance” and there was “nothing you can’t do in this competition”.
#3 Ben & Talia – Hip Hop Diva
Talia’s last outing in Hip Hop wasn’t a great success. Could she do better now she was paired with “perfect partner” Ben? They were dancing to Beyoncé’s “Diva” in a routine choreographed by Rosa Agius.
Bonnie thought they were in unison the whole time, and that they both worked hard at everything they do. Jason C didn't think there was anything more Ben could have done, but that he’d been outdanced by a ballerina. “I actually didn’t know you had that in you, girlfriend”.
Jason G said Ben wasn’t just a perfect partner but “a great dancer” and Talia was “hot”. Matt thought they both got it “spot on”. Talia was “killing every genre” and Ben “couldn’t have done any better”.
#4 Gianne & Charlie – Disco
Gianne & Charlie, the couple who’d had the most stressful week, had to come out and put on their happy faces in a Disco routine by Aleeta Blackburn to the classic “Le Freak” by Chic.
Jason C pointed out that the couple had one day less to rehearse but that it looked like they were “fighting one another” on their pretzels. Disco “sat well” on Charlie but it wasn’t Gianne’s best performance. Jason G found Charlie “a bit cheesy” and that Gianne had been “quite heavy” coming in and out of the lifts.
Matt thought they both looked tired but that they’d done a “fantastic job” in the circumstances. Bonnie disagreed with Jason G because she felt that “cheesy was very necessary” in this kind of routine.
#5 Kat & BJ – Godfather Waltz
Old hip hop buddies Kat & BJ were paired for the first time in the competition in a Foxtrot to “The Godfather” theme choreographed by Leeanne Bampton. What would the God of Ballroom make of it?
Jason G thought it was “probably one of the best displays of foxtrot technique” he’d ever seen in the competition. The “lifts were effortless” and it was “beautifully danced”. Given Kat & BJ are just 18 and 19, Matt thought the “sophistication on the stage was A-mazing”. They had an “elegance” and he got “the dreaminess of it”.
Bonnie thought Kat “became a woman” and that BJ “never put a foot wrong”. It was “romantic”, and “dramatic” and they maintained eye contact. Jason C loved the routine but wanted Kat to “pull those shoulders back” and would like to see her dance it in 10 years’ time. BJ was “amazing”, “passionate” and “on fire”.
#6 Amy & Timomatic – The Wiz Hip Hop
Timomatic is the king of locking so this Broadway Hip Hop to “Ease on down the road” from THE WIZ was right up his alley. But how would he go literally following the footsteps of the master, Michael Jackson. Choreography was by Project Moda.
Matt had been worried whether Tim & Amy would gel but they had been “fantastic”. “MJ would be very proud” of Tim and Amy was going to have a “very long career” because she was “just brilliant”. Bonnie said Amy told a “different story every time she was on the floor” and she felt this was a rare occasion where Tim could relax.
For Jason C, this was his “favourite routine of the evening so far”. Amy was “just fantastic” and Tim had recreated the master. “I loved it, loved it, loved it”. Jason G thought it was “phenomenal” and that “the whole place just erupted” to what was also his “favourite routine”.
#7 Ben & Talia – Samba Quickstep
For their second routine, Ben & Talia did a Samba Quickstep fusion by Natalie Lowe to Michael Bublé’s “It had better be tonight”.
Bonnie said they “just hit it”, that Ben had a beautiful body line and that they had great eye contact. Jason C thought Talia had done more tonight that he thought she was capable of and that she was “ramping up and up and up". He said Ben had been a great partner and wanted the audience to understand that was a huge compliment.
Jason G said Ben had done heel leads in the Samba and toe leads in the Quickstep when it should have been vice versa. He disagreed with Bonnie, feeling they hadn’t maintained eye contact and that it had been a bit “cruiseship-ish”. Matt said it was “at the top of the Richter scale” in entertainment and they were “both on the train to the finale”. "Oo-ah-Tahlia" went her cheer squad.
#8 Gianne & Charlie – Supple Hip Hop
Gianne’s greatest challenge in rejoining the show was to match Charlie in an unbelievably intricate Hip Hop routine by Supple to Broadway Project’s The Wobble (Orange advert).
Jason C again reminded us of the pressures the couple had been under and thought Charlie was fantastic. “You’ve delivered, fella”. The “actor within the dancer” had served Gianne well and they’d both done a “great job”. Jason G thought the night was getting “better and better” and that this was the routine he needed to see from them. “Fantastic, really fantastic”.
Matt said Charlie had been “absolutely brilliant”, Gianne was “fantastic” and that this was the routine that would make the audience remember them as a couple. Bonnie said the unison was perfect, that Charlie was “so getting it” and she had “always been a lover of Gianne”.
#9 BJ & Kat – Sue Ellen Shook Jazz
After 4 ballroom routines in 7 weeks, BJ finally got to show us what he can do in his native Jazz, teaming with Kat in a routine choreographed by Jason C’s teacher, Sue Ellen Shook, to Fatboy Slim's “Wonderful night”.
Jason G thought it was another great performance even if the last lift had him on the edge of his seat. He’d have preferred Kat in high heels but BJ was his “new favourite boy in the competition”. Matt thought Kat was “cute” but he’d like to have seen her go a little further and they had been “a little slow on the spinner”.
Bonnie said Kat was “so good and getting better” but she could let go a little more. BJ was a “great partner” and everything he did was “first class”. Jason C told Kat to push harder and extend herself because her competition were fierce and gorgeous. He said the problem with their grip change had been that they had stopped spinning but that was their only mistake.
#10 Girls’ Quartet – Tiana Joubert Dancehall
It was the girls' turn to team up in a Dancehall routine by Tiana Joubert to Sean Paul’s “Watch dem roll”.
Matt said the problem with Dancehall was that it could look “hoochy” and that he liked it only in moderation. He also felt their search for aggression had put out their unison and that Kat had been the pick of the ladies. Bonnie decided to judge purely on personality, and on that basis Amy was the best.
Jason C totally agreed with Matt. He wasn’t a fan of watching girls do that for 2 mins and that Kat been the best dancer because she stayed in the centre of the beat. Jason G was still blushing but the stand out for him was Gianne because she was “so natural and easy”.
Vote to save your favourites
With Penny leaving, and Charlie’s world turned on its head, the competition has been shaken to the core. No-one can assume they are safe and all 8 dancers may have danced their last couple routine. If you want to see your favourites make Top 6, make sure you vote. And be sure to tune in Monday night at 7.30pm to find out who's going home.
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