The Top 14 Perform

Host Cat Deeley promised at the outset that the final 14 dancers will face some changes and the competition would get more difficult for the final seven couples. She soon explained that each of the couples would have to dance twice for the first time this season. Hip hop choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo served as guest judges, joining regulars Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. Jessica & Will: Jessica and Will provided the first dance of the night, which was the jive. It came complete with an impressive flip that left the crowd in awe, but the judges pointed out some technical flaws. Mary said there were a lot of missed connections and Nigel harped on Jessica a bit, saying that she was a little lazy with some of her movements. For their second dance, the couple got a jazz routine that included using a shirt as a prop. Tabitha made some remarks about loving watching Will dance without a shirt on, but said she also enjoyed the dancing. Napoleon said he felt like Jessica was holding Will down, after saying Will could go far in the competition. Mary said it was fire, saying they were both outstanding and put them both on the "Hot Tamale Train." Nigel praised Jessica for overcoming her own worries about her ability, and said "everyone will be picking up the telephone" to vote for that routine. Comfort & Thayne: New partners Comfort and Thayne first performed a Broadway routine to "Cool" from "West Side Story." Tabitha said the new partners were a good match and that she was "lovin' it." Mary agreed that it was a "great new partnership." Nigel said the performance was meant to have big bursts of passion, and that "wasn't there." He said it wasn't good enough and that they would have been booed off Broadway. Comfort and Thayne's second dance was a waltz that was all about long lost loves. Napoleon said he wasn't a waltz expert, but he really enjoyed it. Tabitha said she wasn't crazy about Thayne. Mary said she is a waltz expert and she "loved it." Nigel agreed that it was great and said it was "tremendous." Kourtni & Matt: Contemporary dancers Kourtni and Matt took on a hip hop routine that Tabitha thought they did OK with, but Napoleon chimed in by saying that it wouldn't have worked at a hip hop competition. Mary said that even though it was groovy and slow, it still should have made the judges feel something. She said she liked it, but didn't "feel" anything. Nigel said there was nothing to get a hold of and called it "hip hop on sleeping pills." Kourt