SYTYCD: Top Four

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 4 Performance Show

• So, this is the second-to-last performance show before the inevitable crowning of Kent as the Season 7 champion.
• Cat has a voluminous and somewhat disheveled faux bob and a bedazzled black mini dress with pink and green stripey accents around the neck.
• OH DEAR--as if the judges haven't been full enough of themselves this season, tonight the panel includes Tyce! Is it wrong that I'm actually not totally dreading having to listen to Tyce's insights tonight? He didn't annoy me as much at auditions this season as he has in the past. This will be a good chance to see if my hate affair with him has in fact cooled off.

Tyce Diorio group number:

• The featurette: Tyce: "The top four should be like fireworks! Bam! Bam! Bam!"
• The dance: This is really just working out to be a Lauren showcase--she's the one who gets to do the different moves. The guys are basically all doing the same things. Their moves might be more impressive than what she's doing, but they look like back-up dancers. Also, Robert's suspenders are terrible.
• The judging: Tyce thinks Kent stood out, and he wants to see the fight from AdeChike. Adam hopes they've had a great time. Nigel adds some more platitudes. Mia says nothing.

Lauren with Pasha (Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo Argentine tango):

• The featurette: PASHA!!!! It's been ages! Whoa, Pasha is smoldering. Oh dear, the dance begins with Pasha being sad in a night club. How upsetting.
• The dance: Well, my first thought--and this is not particularly fair--is that Lauren is not Chelsie Hightower. There's just something about Lauren's foot and leg placements that don't seem just precisely right. Still, though, she gave it a good effort and she was close.
• The judging: Couldn't Mary Murphy have been on the panel tonight? Nigel liked the passion and the control. Nigel: "And Pasha! I mean, I wanted to dance with you!" Tyce says Lauren gave the audience "the uh, the ah, the eh, the unh and the eeh" or something. I don't know. Mia says the choreo was incredible and that Lauren just became a women. It was simmering and mesmerizing. Adam starts talking about Prop 8 and then asks Nigel to marry him, which literally has nothing to do with Lauren or the dance. At least bring it up after a two-boy number or something. Adam says Lauren used her legs "like they were arms" which just sounds creepy.

AdeChike with Lauren (Sean Cheesman Afro jazz):

• The featurette: With a little Afro Caribbean thrown in. AdeChike used to be serious, but now he smiles.
• The dance: Lauren's bra-top and big flowly skirt look is pretty fierce. That skirt is everything, as Mia would say. Is AdeChike wearing a shrug? Whose idea was that? I think AdeChike's looking good in this routine, although admittedly nothing about either of their dancing is doing much to distract my attention away from the wardrobe.
• The judging: Cat: "Britney Spears would be proud of that crop top!" Nigel thinks AdeChike's back seems terribly straight sometimes, so it's not loose enough for the waves. Tyce says he loves Lauren. Tyce is talking about story lines and grounding centers and laying it DOWN. The upshot is that Tyce thinks AdeChike danced it well, but he should have taken it further. Mia didn't care for it. Because of the tightness in AdeChike's upper body, she thinks he wasn't expanding the performance to the heavens. Adam thinks AdeChike needs to lose himself in the dance and then blows him a kiss. Cat says "A-de-Chi-ke" like it's the first time she's ever said the name in her life.

Robert with Anya (Jonathan Roberts Viennese waltz):

• The featurette: Is this Jonathan guy from DWTS? It's his first time choreographing on SYTYCD. Jonathan doesn't think Robert is a ballroom expert. Robert is gunning to take Pasha's place though.
• The dance: If we're talking posture, I feel like there's something weird about Robert's when he's partnering someone in a ballroom routine. I'm wondering if it's because he's tall and he kind of stoops to be on the girl's level. Also, I think his outfits are often just a smidge too tight on him. There were some nice lifts in that routine.
• The dance: Nigel thought it was beautiful. Nigel thinks Robert worked very hard on the rise and fall. Nigel says Pasha didn't do a straight-arm lift tonight and Robert did. Uh, call Pasha back out here. I guarantee he can do a better one than Rob just did. Tyce says Robert "wore it like a suit." Mia looks like she just trucked in from the prairie. Her hair/outfit look like they were inspired by Sully from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Mia thought it was beautiful and she wishes Robert would relax and enjoy the ride. Adam thinks he was brilliant. Brilliant? Really? I guess they're trying to build Robert and Lauren up a bit so there's some suspense in the finale (I guess they're wanting those three instead of AdeChike).

We're doing like Miss America pageant-style interviews with the contestants between performances. It's unnecessary, in my opinion.

Robert's standing on the stage with a death-grip around Cat's ribcage.

Kent with Courtney (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: Can we just kabosh disco routines once and for all? Oh goodness, Courtney took a beating in that rehearsal.
• The dance: And now to top it off, Courtney has to go out on stage in a dress with a sparkly purple top and a bright orange skirt. Yikes. There are a lot of lifts; not much side-by-side dancing. Quite an exciting spinning lift at the end there. Cat says the last lift almost gave her a heart attack.
• The judging: Kent: "I was excited; and then I had to do a lot of lifts." Nigel wants to know how many lifts got taken out. Kent: "Well, I'm just not big!" Tyce thinks Courtney looks beautiful...and I can only assume that he means she looks beautiful despite the dress. Tyce thinks it was good but Kent needed to do more research into disco. Mia thought it was a little rough. She thought the partnering was solid, but that the non-partner stuff felt "bouncey, short and squashy." She says it was his worst routine of the season. Adam thinks it was Kent's most youthful performance yet, and he's not thinking that's a good thing. Adam needs to stop referencing "Blue Steel." Zoolander is not exactly "so hot right now."

Kent: "There aren't any male dancers around here (in Wapakoneta). I mean, there are barely girl dancers here."

Kent gets really excited while he's telling us that you don't have to be from a big city to make it on SYTYCD if you have the drive and believe in yourself.

Cat: "In two week's time, Kent will be running for president."

Lauren with Ade (Sean Cheesman jazz):

• The featurette: Oh look, Lauren's trying to seduce someone else. But now she's a deadly black widow.
• The dance: Lauren is wearing a full-body black lace see-through leotard. They almost blend into the wall behind them due to their all-black outfits. Very cool lift with an innovative entrance in the middle of the routine. Good routine.
• The judging: Nigel says it was really strong work. Masculine work that she did in a feminine way. Nigel thinks Lauren deserves to be in the finale. Tyce says she did a great job dancing in the heels. He thinks her ending position could have been more ferocious though. Mia says Lauren's a beast. Mia thought the sexual chemistry wasn't as evident as she would have liked it to be. Adam says he wants to hire her. Is Ade wearing a shirt, a sweater and a jacket? He must be warm.

AdeChike with Kathryn (Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rohden piece):

• The featurette: Desmond is AdeChike's idol. He was worked with Desmond and Dwight before at a summer camp.
• The dance: The problem I have with AdeChike is that--to me anyway--he almost always gets overshadowed by whomever he's dancing with. Kathryn stole this number in the first 5 seconds. Now, granted, Kathryn is going to steal the show from pretty much anyone because she's that good.
• The judging: Nigel thinks AdeChike lost a little bit of wind toward the end of the routine. But he says that AdeChike has done a wonderful job across the season. Tyce also wants to celebrate where AdeChike's at. They're trying not to be too mean, so he won't get sympathy votes. You can tell that Tyce wants to pick on him, but doesn't think he should. Mia wanted more. Mia says AdeChike has potential to be a superhero dancer, and she saw glimpses of it but then she also saw flaws that held him back. Adam thinks AdeChike has grown so much on this show. Uh, I guess...

AdeChike's bringing the tears in a lovely display of emotion (that I wish would shine through in his dancing more often).

Robert with Dominic (Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop):

• The featurette: The dance is about two clowns who are sad when they find out that their big top is closing. NappyTabs assure us that this is not your typical hip hop.
• The dance: This is Robert's first hip hop, I think, so this should be interesting. He's actually better than I was expecting. Dom's makeup makes him look like the Joker. Not sure I got the "the big top is closing" story from that, but whatever. It was a NappyTabs routine that I didn't hate, so that's something.
• The judging: Nigel hopes they'll do this routine on the tour. Nigel says Robert did everything that was asked of him and he was brilliant. Tyce says that Robert really showed up to this piece. Mia says Robert committed to everything. And she thinks he's had an amaaaaaaaaaaazing evening. Adam says Robert just out-danced Dom's ass. Everyone bristles because that seems a little unnecessarily harsh to poor, sweet, clowny Dominic.

Kent with Neil (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: The dance is about two best friends, but Neil needs to move on and then goes so far as to stab Kent in the back. Kent fights back, but then decides he needs to walk away. This is complicated.
• The dance: It's to DeVotchKa's "How It Ends"! Kent looks like a mannequin in the beginning. Wow, some dance fighting! It's like West Side Story. Kent and Neil are really well-matched dancers. Neil looks good in this one. His leaps and extensions are sheer sickness. I'm not going to buy the "Kent out-danced the All Star" line for this one.
• The judging: Cat tells Neil to pick on someone his own size. Nigel thought the piece was "inspirational." I'm not sure if "inspirational" is quite the word; "disturbing" maybe. Nigel thinks Kent just booked a ticket to the finale with that routine. Uh, Kent booked that ticket back in the auditions. Tyce says excellence in the dancer, the choreographer, and the All Star. Mia can't find words because it was "so real and so uncomfortable awful and that is what true, true genius in an artist is." Adam ducks his head and says that Travis is brilliant. Adam says if this were the finale, Kent would have just won the show. Uh, guys! Kent ALREADY won the show.

I wish they did this show without a judging panel. They seem so disingenuous so much of the time.

The last routine was good, but I wasn't super excited about anything else. I didn't like anything as much as the Billy/Ade routine last week.

Favorites: Kent and Neil's contemporary and, uh, Kathryn and AdeChike's piece?