Chehon and Witney: "Calling You" (a.k.a. The Bench)
Originally: Heidi and Travis, Season 2
Again: I don't get it the choice here. Chehon is a mountain of a man; how is he not going to look lumbering trying to do what Travis did? If you're not going to have them do the bed dance (which they should have), at LEAST give them the addiction dance. Honestly, what I wouldn't have given to see these two do Lacey and Kameron's "Dancing" from Season 3. Anyway, Chehon shouts out Melanie's audition from last year, while Witney wins a piece of my heart by mentioning Travis in drag during the season 4 auditions. Mia plans to tweak the routine a bit to fit her dancers' styles, which is good. This routine was Chehon's intro to the show, he says, and I am just going to eat the slightest bit of crow from earlier in that paragraph, because Chehon and Witney ONLY suffer by comparison to the original here.

If this was the first time I ever saw this routine, I'd have been enthralled. I think I kinda was anyway. There's a different energy to Chehon here, more assured and determined, where Travis was purposefully aloof, and both tell sliiightly different stories, but no less effectively. Nigel explains the story of the routine, which I only just read about earlier today, where Mia fell in love with a gay guy and tried to give him a flower and he got weirded out. I love that she turned that moment into her most heralded dance on the show. Mary praises Chehon for his strong center, and the Ballet Boys tell him he has a job with them whenever he wants. Raves all around, really.

Cole and Lindsay: "Gravity" (a.k.a. Addiction)
Originally: Kayla and Kupono, Season 5
UGH, I cannot deal with having Cole mug his way through my darling Kupono's part in this, my favorite routine this show has ever done. Also, nothing against Lindsay but she is NO MATCH for what Kayla was able to do. Cole's SYTYCD memory is Mark Kanemura. Just the entirety of Mark, I guess, because they're friends in real life. Lindsay, meanwhile, recorded a YouTube video of her and her friend reenacting Travis and Benji's nerd hip-hop from Season 2 when she was TWELVE. Everybody, bite down on your suicide pills NOW. Mia really gets on Lindsay's case to not be pretty in rehearsals, which she says was a challenge for Kayla as well. Kayla, of course, was up for any and all challenges.