‘Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition’ recap: Vegas Show Stoppers

It’s week four, and the nine dancers left in the competition would be performing Vegas themed routines to show off their flexibility.

The dancers and their moms arrived at this week’s challenge to find silks hanging from the ceiling – the strips of fabric that circus performers use to flip and swing through the air.

Abby announced that the theme of this week was Vegas, and the skill to work on was flexibility of the body and the mind.

For the challenge, the dancers had to learn a routine on the silks, choreographed by Shannon Beach. Abby announced that the prize for this challenge would be immunity. Nine-year-old Jojo didn’t know what “immunity” meant, but all moms realized their daughter had to win.

After learning the combination and performing it for Abby, the last two dancers were Trinity and McKaylee. Abby wasn’t sure who to pick – McKaylee’s ending pose wasn’t great, but Trinity’s mom, Tina, interrupted the class earlier to check on her daughter (who has back problems). Abby decided to let Trinity win despite her mom’s behavior, which meant no matter what, Trinity would not be going home this week.

The competitors went straight from the challenge to the studios to start learning their Vegas-themed competition routines. In order to test their mental flexibility, Abby wanted to see if they could pick up new concepts at the drop of a hat. She had some of the girls dancing in high heels for the first time ever, a sliding board incorporated into one of the routines, and costume changes in another.

Gianna and Haley’s moms were already complaining about their girls having to wear heels, when Abby strutted into their rehearsal and announced that the heels they were practicing in weren’t high enough. They would have to get even higher ones for the dance!

This led Gianna’s mom, Cindy, and Abby to get into an argument. Abby told off Cindy for mouthing to her daughter at the challenge earlier, but Cindy retorted that Abby didn’t understand because she’s never had kids.

After a day of practicing, it was performance night. Abby said she was looking for “Seven, seven, seven,” a jackpot.

Ally and JoJo’s duet was up first, entitled “Magic Hat.” In the number, Ally portrayed a magician, wearing a red top hat, tuxedo-like top, and white gloves. JoJo was her assistant, wearing a sparkly, girly ensemble. At the end of the number, Ally turned JoJo into a bird – JoJo had to quickly change costumes and then appear in a bird cage. I thought that Ally blew it away with her theatricality, but the judges didn’t agree. Richy thought Ally was concentrating too much, and it showed on her face. Abby went on to comment on that Ally’s hat sat too low on her head and shadowed her face. She should have put foam in it to hold to prop it up more (duh)! As for JoJo, the judges wanted to see more sass and higher leaps.

Let’s see if the next number was the jackpot Abby was looking for. It didn’t look too good, though, because right before they went on Gianna was hiding in the bathroom with her mom, complaining that she had blisters all over her feet. She didn’t show that she was in pain on stage, though. Gianna and Haley’s routine, “Show Stoppers,” was a sassy dance in which they wore feathery Vegas showgirl costumes and, of course, high heels. Abby thought Gianna did great, but Haley’s facial expressions weren’t good. Richy thought both of them were flirty and sassy, though.

The next dance was a hip hop trio with Tyler, Travis, and Kalani, called “Rat Pack.” The dancers used microphones as props as they popped and locked in top hats and suits – very Justin Timberlake. The judges weren’t too pleased, though. Tyler had to look more free when he danced, and Travis needed to stay bent in the knees. Hip hop isn’t Kalani’s strength, and it showed.

The last number of the evening was Trinity and McKaylee’s duet, “Flying High.” They were the only competitors to have the silks from the challenge in their routine, and they really showed their strength and gracefulness. However, Abby critiqued Trinity in the opening pose – her left leg was turned in and her foot was sickled, while McKaylee’s pose was perfect. Good thing Trinity had immunity!

After the judges deliberated, they called the dancers back out. This week, Tyler, Ally, JoJo, and Kalani were in the bottom four. The judges were disappointed because Tyler said hip hop was his thing, but he didn’t do well in his hip hop routine. They thought JoJo’s leap was awful and not far enough off the ground. Nevertheless, Tyler and JoJo were safe.

It was down to Ally and Kalani, but the judges chose Kalani to eliminate. Kalani was one of Abby’s favorites, but the other judges didn’t like her as much. Abby and Kalani both cried that she would be going home. Abby could have used her callback card to save her, but she chose not to.

That means next time, there will be only eight dancers competing. Watch them next Tuesday at 9/8c on Lifetime.

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