SYTYCD: 'Super' Six

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 6 Performance Show"

My commitment to blogging about SYTYCD knows no bounds. The laptop is on the fritz, so I was reduced to watching the show in a (gasp) computer-less room. But, unwilling to forgo the my customary recap post at this important stage of the proceedings, I took notes by hand and am now typing them up for the blog. I know, the horror!


The play-by-play:

• Cat is wearing a fairly simple royal blue mini dress with super straight hair and a big punk bracelet with a large silver pyramid on it.
• During the intro, Brandon threw and all-out fit in his mini solo!
• Jeanine is again dressed for the bedroom (of a bordello).
• Right away, Cat calls third judge Lil C out on his overuse of big words.
• Lil C says the voting is down to people's preferences now.
• Mary wants us to consider ALL of a contestant's work, not just tonight's performances. Was that a tacit admission that last week's cancer dance messed up the show by allowing Melissa to stay an extra week?
• Nigel basically flat out acknowledges that whoever gets the marquee routine gets the votes, allowing less skilled/versatile/charismatic dancers to stick around longer than they should.
• Nigel's list of past standouts (in terms of star power): Twitch, Joshua, Katee, Courtney G., Gev and Benji.

Guys' group number (Sonya Tayah jazz):

• The featurette: Evan acknowledges that Brandon is amazing. Brandon says that Evan is hard to carry around the stage.
• The dance: The throw/jump of Brandon was freaking awesome, as was Brandon's front aerial (after all these back flips, it's nice to see someone mix it up a bit with the tumbling). All three guys can do back flips. (Is that why Jason had to go? Did he do back flips? I don't remember.) That was a cool routine, and they all danced it well. In fact, I'm surprised because I expected Evan to be a lot worse than he was.
• The judging: Lil C also thinks Evan was better than expected and calls Brandon and Ade "powerhouses." Mary just loved it, yes she did!! Nigel thinks that performance was of a standard that he doesn't think the top three boys could have achieved in other seasons, which is comparing apples to oranges, really. Could these three do a better jazz routine that Josh, Twitch and Mark? Probably. Could Josh, Twitch and Mark do a better hip hop routine than these three? Most definitely. Obviously the standard can go up when they perform in a style that is so close to all of their specialties.

Jeanine and Ade (Louis van Amstel samba):

• The featurette: Jeanine was "relieved" when she picked Ade out of the hat (obviously, because she didn't want to dance with Evan.) Ade's been on the Latin train these past few weeks.
• The dance: Well, Jeanine's outfit is something. There are a heck of a lot of feathers on her butt. This routine is okay, but really not that sexy (as they kept telling us it would be). In fact, Jeanine's "sexy face" is horrendous and not sexy at all. It looks more like the "undead face" that one would make when performing "Ramalama" or last week's zombie hip hop.
• The judging: Abruptly, we start with Mary, who proceeds to skewer their technique move by move! (She was particularly hard on Ade.) Lil C agrees and says that Ade was "frollicking." Nigel thinks Jeanine "looks great." Thanks, Nigel, that's helpful. Nigel gives Louis a shout out, which is quickly followed by another shot at Ade's technique.

Kayla's solo: To the music of The Fray. It was a bit boring and then she did some nice pirouettes. Still better than what she had been doing for solos earlier in the season.

Melissa and Evan (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: I was sooooooo hoping to see Melissa and Evan do a krump and a quick step. A Tyce Broadway routine isn't a krump, but it's probably the next best (worst) thing. I want to see these two get Tyced! They will perform to "Get Me to the Church on Time," and Evan's uncomfortable about having to marry a married woman. Melissa cannot stop laughing at Evan's faces.
• The dance: Melissa's getting married in a negligee? Classy... And I'm not sure that the socks/boxers look is the best way for Evan to go. They're not dancing this routine poorly, but I'm so freaking bored that I can barely pay attention at all. And the more you look at it, the more hideous Melissa's costume becomes.
• The judging: Lil C thinks Evan didn't take the helm and live up to expectations. Lil C doesn't quite know what the element that was missing was. (I think it was interesting choreography, personally.) Mary praises the routine in an attempt to keep these two from getting sympathy votes. Nigel says Melissa has been able to adapt to every style they've given her, and I say, "That's because you've never made her hip hop!!!"

Ade's solo: Nice straddle jump, good pirouette series, some nice musicality, shirt wide open.

Kayla and Brandon (Stacey Tookey contemporary):

• The featurette: This routine's not choreographed by Mia! I was sure that we were going to finally be treated to a Mia/Brandon collaboration. Stacey is Mia-esque though, so I guess this will have to do. The routine is very challenging, and Brandon says that they are always exhaling and never inhaling.
• The dance: At least, as the mistress, Kayla has an excuse for wearing a negligee. They need to turn up the set lights, because I can barely see the dancers (especially Brandon because he's not as blindingly pale as Kayla). Kayla really sold the facial expressions. The routine was performed very well, as you would expect from these two exceptional contemporary dancers.
• The judging: Lil C says, "That was beyond amazing!" Lil C also calls Kayla "a beast." Mary loved every second, yes she did!! Nigel says the girls have had it rough this year, what with having addictions, unplanned pregnancies, (and cancer), being strangled by a zombie and now being an abused mistress.

Melissa's solo: Walks a bit, stands around posing for a while, and then finally starts to move around and do splits right before the music ends.

Jeanine and Ade (Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop):

• The featurette: Bummer. I had felt like we've been having a nice (one week) break from NappyTabs. For the record, this is poor Jeanine's third NappyTabs hip hop routine. This one is about friends who get evicted from their apartment--I feel like we're scraping the bottom of the inspiration barrel here. Jeanine fell a lot during rehearsal.
• The dance: I can't see Ade's face at all, thanks to that hat, I guess. This routine is kind of boring, even by NappyTabs standards. The boxes aren't helping anything either. They made for a pretty stupid prop, in my opinion.
• The judging: Lil C: "I wish moving was always that fun. I would relocate everyday." Lil C says Ade finally rocked his innate "dirty groove," and that they both danced the routine well. Mary says that she forgot to tell Jeanine that she was really good in the samba. Nigel: "I thought Mary was a bit mean. She was like my ex-wife's divorce attorney." Too much information, Nigel. All of the judges are trying really hard to sell the idea that this routine was great (and the boxes were a fantastic prop). There is a general consensus that "they got down," whatever that really means. At least through this routine SYTYCD was able to spread some awareness about the suckiness of getting evicted.

Brandon's solo: He means business tonight--he's got his most dramatic music and his tiniest spandex shorts. His fantastic, powerful, and meticulously choreographed solo garners a standing ovation from the judges. Then there's a choppy cut to Nigel saying that that was one of the best solos ever on SYTYCD. (Who edited tonight's episode? It looks like a third-grader did it at times. Also, what did Nigel used to say in seasons 1 and 2 when "the best ever on SYTYCD" didn't mean all that much?)

Melissa and Evan (Louis van Amstel quickstep):

• The featurette: Didn't Evan use to be cuter? I mean, seriously. Evan can't lift Melissa without falling to the ground.
• The dance: Melissa's dress is either pretty great or hideous, and I'm not sure which. Very unvaried facial expressions, especially from Melissa. I think Melissa almost fell over completely at one point, and it looked like she ran completely out of gas during the Charleston portion. The routine was fun enough, but will it get them votes? Nah. I actually don't know if Evan was good or not; I just didn't notice him because I was having such problems with Melissa.
• The judging: Lil C thinks Melissa was fabulous and Evan danced bigger than ever. Mary says that Louis created a fabulous routine, yes he did!! Mary says that their performance lost all kinds of energy as it went on and it didn't live up to her expectations. Nigel reminds Melissa that she's only 29 and not Cloris Leachman on Dancing With The Stars. Nigel says that the Lindy Hop and Charleston sections dragged.

Jeanine's solo: She continues her string of skanky outfits. Other than a nice pirouette sequence, there wasn't much to like in this solo--unless you really dig a lot of hip wiggling and hair flips. (At this point in the competition, dancers should not be relying on moves that I can do, and I can do a mean hair flip.) Maybe she's tired? I've been wanting rid of Melissa for weeks, but Jeanine has been rubbing me the wrong way all night tonight (with her dancing; I like her fine when she's talking.)

Evan's solo: This is a quick turnaround here for him. Starts with a nice back flip and then proceeds with kind of a boring display of the usual. Ends with a string of pirouettes through to a nice straddle jump. At least he didn't wear a fedora and suspenders this time. That's a little variety anyway.

Kayla and Brandon (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: I swear that every time anyone does a disco on this show, it is called "one of the most difficult discos ever on the show." Can we just agree that they're all difficult? Brandon says he's not really as confident as he comes off. Kayla says this disco is more like a circus.
• The dance: Brandon starts with a tumbling pass. I don't think Brandon is looking as good in this routine as he did in the other disco--I'm not sure if it's the height issue, the frenetic choreo, the hideous, Elvis-esque costume or what. Both dancers look very tired by the end. Kayla does a death drop and then Brandon does one too! After the routine, Kayla says she can't breathe.
• The judging: Lil C realizes this is one of his last chances to speak tonight and proceeds to spew out all of the psycho babble that he's been saving up. Something about pockets of music, I don't know... Mary also thinks this was great. Yes, it was difficult and exhausting, but it was not that good, people. Mary says Brandon's self-esteem issues make her want "to get at" him and stands up and has to be restrained by Nigel and Lil C. That was frightening. Now Nigel jumps up, runs around and yells. Mary says, "Trying to jump down my back, yes he is!!" What the hell is going on?!

Girls' group number (Sonya Tayeh contemporary):

• The featurette: The routine has a superhero theme because Sonya always wanted to be a superhero. I hope Kayla's not too wiped from that disco to do this routine. Whoa! Jeanine nailed Kayla in the face in practice!
• The dance: It seems like Kayla's doing most of the heavy lifting here. Melissa didn't seem to have any breakout feature or get lifted up at any point. I think I liked Wonka better.
• The judging: Lil C says Sonya's in charge of PE at the Superhero School for Girls. Lil C: "You still gotta eat, and the stage is your bowl." C thinks the dancers were maybe holding back in favor of synchronization. Mary thinks Kayla stood out because she had a few harder moves. Mary thinks they should take this act to Comic-Con. Nigel: "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or is it an arabesque?" Nigel then again gets all pervy about how Jeanine looks.

During the end credit dancing, Ade actually took some time to play to the audience and not the camera! Imagine!

We got to see a rather extended dancing-during-the-credits sequence, so were the choppy cuts earlier in the show really necessary?

Coming into tonight's episode, I wanted Melissa and Evan to go. After tonight's performances, however, the only two I know I want in the finale are Brandon and Kayla. Honestly, I could do without all of the other four at this point.