Reality Check: Change Doesn't Come Easy on 'So You Think You Can Dance'

It was like being a kid in a messy divorce. Seeing the "So You Think You Can Dance" couples split up was hard enough; seeing them move on so quickly will take some serious adjusting.

Along with making everyone find a new partner, "So You Think You Can Dance" also forced all the contestants to perform a solo this week. This, for some, was an amazing treat, for others it was even more painful than finding chemistry with their new partners.

Ripping the Band-Aid right off, the toughest breakup to deal with was the first one we were forced to digest: Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian’s.

Did Courtney do well dancing with Joshua Allen? Sure. Did that make it any easier to watch her romp on stage with "another man?" No. But at least we didn’t have to watch the new pair start off with a mushy love dance.

No, instead we got a Bride of Frankenstein hip-hop freak fest that left me very entertained but also confused. Joshua was nothing short of amazing, but we already witnessed Courtney’s ability to lock like a gangster, so why wasn’t she? Not that she was bad, but she definitely didn’t hit it as hard as she did in her last hip-hop routine.

The only logical answer is it must have been too painful to pop without Gev, and I will hear nothing to the contrary. Moving on.

Seeing Gev dance with Chelsie Hightower was a little less jarring, but maybe that’s because they’re the same size. This is particularly weird, since Chelsie already told us she’s only 5 feet 2 inches tall.

Regardless, their contemporary routine was pretty, passionate and all things pleasant, and their jive was right up there, too. Chelsie’s solo was as bland as plain yogurt, but the judges love her so much they’d eat buckets full if it made her look good. And Gev’s solo was insanely good.

This pair should have never even been considered for the bottom two, unlike Kherington Payne and Mark Kanemura, who should have prepared their farewell speeches before even hearing the results. Formerly paired with favorites, Kherington and Mark have shined all the way through the competition. But without Twitch Boss to fly her freak flag a bit, Kherington dances the way she looks: perfectly pretty, nothing unique.

Then there’s Mark, who’s all types of unique. Weird is his thing. Embracing characters is, too, and I think he did that well, as usual. But it’s not easy to get points for that when your partner sucks the spotlight with her lack of personality. That, of course, puts more pressure on Mark’s solo, which, let’s face it, anyone can do.

It’s quirky and creative and a lot of fun things but, despite what the judges say, it’s not dancing.

Twitch’s solo, on the other hand, was dancing, gymnastics, action and entertainment all in one. It’s too bad he got stuck with Comfort Fedoke, who returned to the show in light of Jessica King’s newly announced broken ribs.

Not announced was the cause of her injuries, but I’m willing to bet that disco "death drop," where Will Wingfield did actually drop her, might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, Jessica’s out, Comfort’s in and Twitch is her partner. This leaves us with few options to come up with a new "Twitchington"-like nickname and even fewer options to find a number they’ll dance well together (Exhibit A: Wednesday’s waltz).

They were lucky to pull hip-hop for their second routine, which they expectedly nailed. But now that style’s done, leaving only a collection of dances Comfort can’t pull off. My only hope is that Twitch sticks around long enough to prove that, with another partner, he can.

Of course, they couldn’t all be matches made in hell, and Will and Katee Shean might as well be dancing with halos. This pair is so perfect the only thing that can keep them from the top two are the high expectations surrounding them … and maybe Joshua. But if they perform to their potential (and Will keeps taking off his shirt), they will be nearly impossible to dethrone.

Especially since even when they don’t perform to their potential the judges are going to hail them as savants, anyway. Their pas de deux routine, for example, was doubtlessly praise-worthy, but again a glaring mistake was made, and again the judges decided to gloss over it.

Which brings me to the judges. Will and Katee blatantly screw up: showered with praise. Gev makes no mistakes, shows great energy and passion in both routines and has the best solo of the night by a mile: peppered with pointless criticism.

Mark gets no love for remaining confident and in character, despite dancing with a weak partner. Comfort practically gets her own red carpet for dancing well in her own style, with one of the best hip-hop choreographers and hip-hop partners to boot. Talk about irreconcilable differences!

So the voting may have gone to America this week, but I blame the judges for Gev’s early exit. And while Kherington far from proved herself, past performances show she certainly deserved this more than Comfort did.

But alas, Gev is gone, "Twitchington" will never be again, Comfort is sticking around for at least another week and these new partnerships are here to stay. I may not understand it right now, but I’ll learn to cope.