Welcome to Saturday night reality TV at its finest – another live So You Think You Can Dance episode. SYTYCD has fast become one of my favourite talent competitions on TV this year, so I’m looking forward to some brilliant dancing from the couples and some physics defying solo routines to make me feel even worse about my couch potato existence!

Who’s left? Well, only 8 dancers remain, and it’s THE QUARTER FINAL!!! Charlie, Alastair, Lizzie, Robbie, Yanet, Tommy, Mandy and Drew are still in the running. Nigel repeats his Three P’s – Power, Personality and Performance.

The Girls

The female dancers do a routine from the Dreamgirls movie. I always enjoy these routines more than the guys group performances, because let’s face it, the girls are much nicer to look at! The colourful dresses have lots of little fringes on them, which makes them perfect for spinning around in, which they do plenty of in this routine!

Yet again, the numbers for each finalist have changed again, so whatever numbers you dialled last week no longer stand!

Yanet and Robbie

Sexy Yanet has selected lucky dog Robbie as her partner this week. And if you thought the sausage support campaign last week was over the top, you should see the dog jackets with “Vote Robbie” written on them!

Yanet speaks about the pressure of preparing for the live show – group performances to learn, solo dances and partner dancing. Robbie’s dressed as a mad scientist for this, while Yanet is dressed in what looks like a funky cheerleader outfit – I approve! It’s got a weird b-movie vibe about it, but the couple are definitely entertaining to watch!

Nigel: I thought it was great. Some of the lifts were a little bit tough for you, but I thought you kept the energy up. It was a pretty good opening routine. Could have been danced better, and you were more worried about the characters then the performance. Arlene: The both approached it very differently. Yanet, your performance wasn’t phenomenal. Robbie, your mad scientist was brilliant, but far too tense. Louise: Playing a character in dance is so hard. There were parts where you hit it, but I don’t think the character and the dance married together to make an overall performance. Sisqo: I thought you guys were struggling, and Yanet I think this really exposed you as the weakest girl.

Solo routines

Alastair’s one of my favourite acts – he comes out dressed entirely in white dancing to T-Rex’s Get It On. Lots of scissor kicks, smiles and charisma from Alastair. But 30 seconds is just not enough! Lizzie is next, and gets our attention with a sassy Lady Gaga routine dressed in bra top and shiny trousers. Very nice, modern and fun.

Charlie and Drew

Charlie got amazing critiques from the judges last week, and she talks about how that has raised her confidence. However, rumour has it that this dance may expose her weaknesses. Drew talks about his determination to make it through to the next stage – “Going home now is not an option”

Ah, they’re doing the old clown routine. Oh, this is just utterly charming – the staging is brilliant, and they dance together brilliantly in what looks like an elaborate mime routine. (They’re dancing to an Alicia Keys song, I think) Fantastic routine, I really enjoyed it!

Arlene: That was prop heaven that was gradually turning into prop hell! Drew you surprise me every week. Charlie, this is not your bag at all. Sisqo: With lyrical hip hop it needs to be softer around the edges. You guys committed to the characters, but in my opinion it was a catastrophe. Louise: You had loads to contend with, but I really enjoyed it. You both attacked hip hop very well. I believed you, I loved the emotion and the effortless way you portrayed the story. Nigel: I thought it was a lovely piece of entertainment. I loved it, I loved the characters. I thought it was a lovely piece of choreography for what they were asked to do there.

Solo routines

Martial arts fanatic Tommy gives us an entertaining 30 seconds of dancing to Blame It On The Boogie, it certainly raised a few smiles on our faces here. Next soloist is Mandy, and she does a ballet routine. It’s beautiful, graceful and flowing. Is it me, or have the dancers really raised their game tonight? After she tells Cat Deeley about her wedding anniversary, her husband hollers from the audience, “I love you babe!” Awww…

Lizzie and Alastair

Farm boy turned ballet dance Alastair gets a slightly embarrassing testimonial from his older brother “people don’t believe my little brother’s a ballet dancer – it’s not normal” I was waiting for him to call Alastair a “puff” on national TV! We take a little visit to Lizzie’s school for the obligatory cutesy classroom footage.

They dance to the Jordin Sparks song, No Air - it’s a great song choice, and the routine is captivating to watch. There are a few stiff, awkward moments in it though. It’ll be interesting to see if the judges note that.

Sisqo: What an amazing performance. Alastair, you were so sexy and convincing. Lizzie, it just showed how amazing and versitile you are. Louise: Lizzie you dance with such sincerity, there’s a real honesty in the way you dance. You’re getting stronger each week. Arlene: Alastair, you’ve been creeping through this competition – I feel – on your looks. You haven’t adapted to the styles given. You adapted to this like a duck to water. Lizzie, you were nothing but spellbinding. Nigel: It just shows you how subjective everything is. I thought the choreography was beautiful. But I for one, didn’t believe that you were completely in love with each other. I just didn’t feel it.

Solo routines

Robbie comes on and does an amazingly athletic routine. It was all over too quickly (dirty puns in the comments please!), but what I saw of it was impressive. Yanet is the next dancer – it’s a smokin’ hot Latin routine – her forte – and she sizzles all the way through it. What a beautiful woman – there’ll be no shortage of music video work for this lady after the show ends!

Mandy and Tommy

Tommy was in the bottom two last week and was narrowly saved. Mandy’s students are seen running a publicity campaign for her! It’s a musical theatre routine for these two tonight, and there’s a good amount of chemistry between the two. Tommy does a flip that almost convinced me he was on wires. Mandy’s a bit stilted and her feet – like I’m any kind of expert – seem a bit heavy in places.

Sisqo: That just proves to me, the audience, the judges, how versatile you are. If I don’t see you two in the finals it’ll be a crime. Louise: I think they’re both such accomplished dancers and you’re very strong together. I think you needed to do a bit more. For me, at this stage it wasn’t quite enough. Arlene: This dance exposes technique. You adapted to the style, but no more than that. It was functional, but it needed to be phenomenal. Nigel: Best act of the night. It was the best dancing, the best choreography. You’ve already done one of the best solos of the night Tommy. Mandy, you’ve grown week after week. We’ve taken a break dancer and given him a classical routine to do and he’s shone at it.

Solo routines

Drew wows us with a flamboyant routine which includes a prop telephone. It doesn’t get much weirder than that, and Cat Deeley says, “My friend, you seriously know how to work a prop.” And the next soloist to grace the stage is lovely Charlie – unfortunately, her solo routine wasn’t nearly as engaging as the others we’ve seen tonight.

Boys group dance

Matthew Bourne, described by one of the male contestants as “the Steven Speilberg of dance” is giving the guys a masterclass. They’ll be doing the Cygnet Dance from Bourne’s version of Swan Lake. The guys come onstage with their eyes blackened and wearing what look like the feathery version of MC Hammer’s famous trousers. It has to be said, the male group performance was far superior to the female dance at the start of the show.

That’s the first part of the show over – remember to catch up with Unreality TV later on for commentary on the results show.