The next new couple is Ade and Janette. They take on hip-hop with Tabitha and Napoleon. Oh, by the way, Ade is the tallest guy and Janette is the shortest girl, so they have the opposite problem as Kayla and Evan. The story of this dance is that Ade is the funk-master, and he has to hypnotize Janette (with his comb) and make her funky, too, which they say is pretty much what is happening in real life, too. It's a cute idea and a cute dance, but something seems off about the performance, like they aren't quite in sync, and in a dance with that many sharp moves, it is kind of opposite. Nigel thanks "NappyTabs" for the fun dance and says that Ade has funk. Mary: "We've gotta get serious and just cut the crap: That was funkeeeeeee!" She also disagrees with me and call is "well-synchronized." Debbie says they wore her out and she wanted to join them on stage. She also tells Ade to keep his comb away from her daughter.

Then it's Randi's solo. Cat keeps trying to talk to her afterward, but she's just trying to breathe. After the break, Kupono solos, and he dances a lot more than the last time he did a solo.

Jeanine and Jason are both super-excited to be partnered together because they think they are complementary. Their choreographer is Travis Wall from Season 2, and they'll be doing a contemporary routine. It's about best friends, and the guy wants to give the girl his heart (represented by a heart on a chain, natch), but the girl doesn't think they are ready, so she fights him ... at first. This looks hard -- lots of jumps and lifts and emotion, but they pull it off. At the end it's a little too "get a room" for my tastes at the end, but they still do a really good job. So much that the judges give them a standing ovation (oh, and the audience, too). Nigel says sometimes this show shows "talent that goes nowhere" (yikes), so he is thrilled to see such amazing work from Travis, work that was only made better by Jeanine and Jason. He says they both became stars tonight, and they look moved. Mary is speechless. (Hooray!) She says it was great, and then she cries talking about how glad she is to see Travis' growth. She tells Jason that he went to a whole new level tonight and Jeanine that she hasn't missed a step. Oh, then the obligatory "hot tamale train." She does a silent scream. Debbie says this experience tonight means this show is more than a competition, but a conversation about the art of dance.

Melissa is next with her solo. It's kind of ... lacking in content besides turns. Then it's Evan's turn. His solo is definitely not lacking in content -- and it's full of personality. Kayla, too, has a lot of emotion as well as technical moves going on.

Randi and Kupono are another new couple. They are doing paso doble with Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin, who says they didn't hold back in the choreography at all. They do not look that comfortable during the performance, and Kupono doesn't seem to be showing the power and aggression that this style demands. Also, he drops Randi at the end. Nigel says it was good choreography from Tony and Melanie, but he doesn't think the dancing was as good as the choreography. He adds that Kupono didn't have enough strength, and he lost him about halfway through. He also wasn't sure about Randi's wig, and he thinks there was a lack of passion, but they did a good job on the death spiral. Mary says it was hard for everyone tonight and that they didn't rise to the challenge. Debbie thinks it was maybe that the trust wasn't there yet because they are new.

Ade's solo has a lot of tricks, and he's clearly having a lot of fun, but it's a little disconnected from the music ("Unchained Melody"). After the break, it's Jeanine's solo. (Isn't this the same music as the Argentine tango from the other week?) I didn't find it that memorable. Jason dances to Muddy Waters, and that alone makes him a bit more memorable.

The last new couple is Brandon and Melissa. Their first challenge is a Broadway routine with Tyce DiOrio, something from Hair. They work it out, but Brandon is so powerful, I find it tough to not watch him. I think Melissa was OK, too, but I didn't notice her as much. Nigel liked the routine, especially how it used their strengths. Mary thinks it was unbelievable and groovy. Debbie says they evoked "the real harmony" and that they were both powerful and technical and brilliant. 

Janette is the final soloist. She's the last partner dancer, and her solo has that weird quality of being a little odd since she doesn't have anyone to dance with. So it ends up being a show of hip action. Course, she's pretty good at that. 

The last performance of the night is an African dance with Jeffrey Page by the Top 5 guys. This looks tough, and on a number of levels. One of the most difficult things about it seems to be that it's all rhythm-based and not counts, and that it will look wrong if they start to rely on technique when they get lost, since it's supposed to be more raw. Rehearsal stops for a while so Jeffrey can talk them through it, and it seems to help because they pull it off well, but it just looks so unbelievably challenging. Nigel says he loves African dance, and that Jeffrey might be the meanest choreographers ever since that was so hard. Nigel talks to Evan: "You look like a dancing milkshake tonight. ... But nobody stood out like a sore thumb." Mary adored it and the energy and says Evan held his own even though he was clearly outside his comfort zone. Debbie says it's so important to have African dance on this show since it is the mother of hip-hop and jazz and so many other styles. She loved it. "You think you can dance, and then you get a challenge like this. ... You can't just get up and do this." 

So what did you think about the performances tonight? I could see Randi and Kupono and maybe Melissa being in trouble.

There were surely some memorable moments this evening, though. Both those group numbers were show-stopping, as were several of the partner dances.