SYTYCD: Stumbling to the End

So You Think You Can Dance: Finale Performance Show

It's the Season 8 finale already. Time to close out a season that featured a lot of great dancers, if not a lot of especially memorable moments.

• Cat is wearing a peach-ish strapless mini with a bejeweled bodice. Paired with a lovely updo.
• The judges are Kenny Ortega, Katie Holmes, Mary and Nigel.
• I hope this doesn't me that we have to pretend that we think Kenny's remake of Dirty Dancing is a good idea. It isn't.

Marko and Melanie (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: You know, I was just thinking, "Gee, there hasn't been much disco this season. How pleasant!" and then, bam!
• The dance: Ok, nothing about Marko and Melanie says "disco" to me. This is easily the roughest routine this pair has done all season. I don't see anyone really selling this one (the music is too spacey), but their performance is rocky. They pulled off some hard lifts, but, yeah, no.
• The judges: Kenny tries to tell us it was good. Katie claims that she loved it and "believed the story they were telling," which suggests that she might not have been watching at all. Mary claims she adores disco and Doriana and Marko and Melanie, but finally speaks the truth that some of the lifts were rocky and that they went in and out of the style. Nigel totally agrees, saying "It was a little bit of a struggle." He says they seemed uncomfortable with the style and hopes they'll be better in other routines tonight. Mel and Marko look like they're glad it's over.

Sasha with Mark (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Well, this has "cool" written all over it. I hope Sonya brings it with the choreo this time; I wasn't sold on her Sasha/Mel number. Not to mention the chandelier thing last week. 
• The dance: EEESH! Mark's facial expression at the beginning was FIERCE. Does Mark ever wear shirts these days? Mark's one of the few dancers who can come up to Sasha's level of fierceness. I think he might be stealing the show a bit here though. She throws him to the ground at the end to try to make up for it.
• The judging: Mark does a royalty-style wave as he walks off stage. Katie loves everything about it, of course. Mary says "WOOHOOOOO!" Nigel says that Sasha has just thrown down Lady Gaga's principal dancer and has thrown down the gauntlet tonight.

Tadd with Joshua (Lil C hip-hop):

• The featurette: Lil C says this is about nothing but the hustle. I was afraid he meant The Hustle, as in "do The Hustle," and was concerned, but he is referring to another kind of hustle.
• The dance: I LOVE JOSHUA. There's a slight difference between how they're dancing, and I think Josh is more natural and organic, while Tadd is more, "Hey guys! I'm doing hip-hop!" He did a good job though. But the only thing these last two routines have accomplished is making me nostalgic for Season 4.
• The judging: Cat thinks Josh is so delicious that she grabs him by the face. Cat says from her outside perspective, Tadd was hustling hard. Mary says Tadd has a "sweetie factor" but did enough to overcome that and do a hard hip-hop number. Nigel tries to channel Lil C in his praise of Lil C. Nigel thought Tadd was good, but was a little too sweet. Not bad, but not as strong as Nigel would like it. Cat on Tadd's red shoes, "If Dorothy were in the 'hood, this is what she'd be wearing." I'm just going to ignore the comments of Kenny and Katie until one of them actually says something of worth.

Melanie with Robert (Stacey Tookey contemporary)

• The featuette: Ugh, it's unrequited love again. And I'm not buying it either. Mel, it's Robert. You can do better. ;-)
• The dance: They had to bring Robert back for this to make up for making him do Bollywood in purple pants earlier this year. And they had to give Mel an emotional contemporary to make up for that heinous disco. The highlight was the side-by-side leaps. Still, I've seen more impressive contemporary numbers from Mel: the one with Neil the other week, Travis' statue routine, etc.
• The judging: Nigel says beautiful choreo by Stacey and beautifully danced. Kenny would love to work with Mel. Hey, I hear he's doing a new Dirty Dancing (groan!). Cat even takes this moment to lobby for a part in Dirty Dancing for Mel, and Kenny agrees. Cat wants 20% of Mel's earnings. Mary says that Mel has a unique ability to draw the audience in and she's loved watching her from her first audition until now.

Marko and Sasha (Spencer Liff Broadway):

• The featurette: Yikes, first disco, now Broadway. At least it's a Spencer Broadway not Tyce. That should help a little.
• The dance: Aww, Marko's wearing glasses as part of his "serious waiter" costume. Sasha's doing some nice kicks and leaps (and a nice stomach spin on the table). Marko did a cool jump/fall thing and some flipping too. And does a good job of looking stunned at the end.
• The judging: Kenny says he didn't even recognize that it was Marko (that's a good thing). He says Sasha went from warrior princess to sophisticated lady, and he thinks she can do everything. Here's a banner piece of judging from Ms. Katie Holmes: "Marko, I loved when you jumped up." Ha ha ha. Mary says she barely recognized Marko too because he's such a little actor. Nigel wasn't blown away though. He thinks Sasha's a better warrior than vamp. And he didn't think Marko's character embodiment was as good as the others seem to think.

Melanie's interview and solo: Melanie's favorite moment of the season was when she got to launch herself at Neil. That was one of my favorite moments too! Her solo: Slow, lovely violin music. Another one of her solos that really should have gone on for about another hour.

Marko's interview and solo: Marko's favorite piece was the statue routine. Oh, yeah, I forgot again that Marko's the one who got shot. Thanks for bringing that up again, Marko! Ooh, solo to "The Fear You Won't Fall" (but a faster version). He's really kinda boogieing to this (usually) slow, melodic song. Marko's dad is here for the first time tonight.

Sasha and Tadd (Mark Ballas cha cha):

• The featurette: Now they're making Tadd and Sasha cha cha?! Are we even trying to put on a good show tonight?
• The dance: I'm very distracted by Tadd's super skinny pants and heels for a while. This cha cha is rather slow and un-cha cha-ish, in my opinion. I'm not impressed.
• The judging: Wow, I don't think Katie even liked it! She totally avoided discussing the dancing. Mary says she has to call it like it was: lots of missed hand connections and footwork and all kinds of problems. Nigel agrees. He thinks Tadd couldn't cope with the style at all. He thinks Sasha was somewhat better, but it still was not good for her. Kenny says they should just turn around and forget about it and come back strong in their next dances. Lol at Natalia's facial expression in the audience!

Marko with Lauren Froderman (Tessandra Chavez contemporary):

• The featurette: Hey! It's a doomed love story! No kidding!
• The dance: Lauren's dress is pretty. Now we're talking; this routine is actually cool. The choreography is actually intricate and looks like there was thought put into it. Lauren's looking awesome, but so is Marko. Very good.
• The judging: Mary says Marko thrusts greatness upon himself. She loved the soul in that performance. Nigel says he's been a little disappointed thus fair, but he thinks Marko just joined in the finale because that was fabulous. Kenny thinks Tessandra gave Marko and the audience a lovely gift of choreography. And he loves Marko with Lauren. Kenny was swept away and taken to another place and time. Katie loved the little moments and the pictures Marko created. Katie tells Marko to "keep doing it," which is great advice, because I'm sure Marko was really thinking about packing it in with 40 minutes left in the season.

Tadd's interview and solo: I think the show is trying to make Tadd the new Dominic, but I just don't buy into it. Tadd's favorite routine was Travis' vulture dance. We could really use some Travis Wall in this finale (darn Step Up 4!). Yeah, I really don't have anything to say about Tadd's solo.

Tadd and Melanie (Ray Leeper jazz):

• The featurette: Melanie has caught Tadd cheating on her.
• The dance: She throws a shoe at him. Now she's dancing with one shoe off and one on; that's a little tricky. Melanie' is creating some really nice lines here. Not sure that the overall choreography is maximizing her efforts though. I'd like there to be more to a routine than just her yanking off Tadd's clothes in a malicious fashion.
• The judging: Cat: "When all else fails, bring out a pair of comedy boxers." Nigel says that just brought his evening to life, which I think is a bit strong, but whatever. Nigel says Melanie had a character well before she even started dancing and that Tadd totally redeemed himself in that routine. Kenny liked the chemistry and the story. Katie loved it and thought it was fun and a breath of fresh air. Because Katie's just been hating everything else so far tonight... Mary thought Tadd was really sexy and that he was really hitting it. And as for Melanie, "Was that a strut across the stage, or was that a strut across the stage?!"

Sasha's interview and solo: Sasha's favorite moment was when Lady Gaga threw her shoe at them. Cat's favorite Sasha dance was the one with Twitch. Preach, sister! Sasha's solo: Slower than she sometimes does, but no less awesome. I like how she does most of her solo dancing an a crouching position (or on the ground). It's interesting.

Sasha and Melanie (Stacey Tookey contemporary):

• The featurette: This piece is about a pair of suppressed housewives from the 1950s. Hey, finally a premise that is actually different and interesting!
• The dance: Their Betty Draper-style dresses are fantastic. The white picket fence props may be a bit literal, but it's kind of cool. They allow for some Sound of Music gazebo-style stuff, which is cool. Most importantly, the dancing is great. Very lovely; I liked this one.
• The judging: Kenny calls them two actresses that can dance. He thinks it was a beautiful piece that was beautifully executed. Katie loved the exploration of friendship and the strength that two women can give to each other. And she loves their outfits. Mary enjoyed every single second of the piece. She said the movement just filled up every bit of the music. Nigel says it doesn't matter who wins, because either of them could grace any dance company in the country.

Marko and Tadd (Chuck Maldonado gumboot stepping):

• The featurette: Dance style originally used in Africa to communicate in the mines, which is where stepping actually came from. Interesting.
• The dance: Wow, these outfits are rough. What kind of miners are they supposed to be?! Marko gumboot stepping is kinda like Ricky waacking. As in, it's not good. Tadd's not too bad though. I'd like to see Twitch give this a whirl. Um, awkward moment at the end there when the quitting whistle blows (I guess) and Tadd throws himself into Marko's arms. Uh, what?
• The judging: Katie appreciates that they gave it their all and the athletic ability it took. Mary says they looked like they were mining for gold, and she thinks they found it. Well, that was kind, Mary. She loves them both to pieces. Nigel thinks this style probably works better in a larger group. He says they weren't quite together. He thinks they stood up as well for themselves tonight as they could with the routines they had, but he still thinks a girl will win. Kenny says, "Guys, you did your job."

I know I've complained of being underwhelmed by SYTYCD finales in the past, but I don't know if I've ever been as thoroughly uninspired as I was by this one. It's a struggle for me to even pick my three favorite routines tonight. They gave them too many routines to do, and the quality of each routine suffered as a result. Plus, they picked the finale to finally give people some really out-of-comfort-zone styles to do (disco, stepping, cha cha), which seems like a bizarre choice. If there's ever a time to showcase the fabulousness of the remaining dancers, it's the finale.

My favorites:
Marko and Lauren's contemporary
Sasha and Melanie's contemporary
Joshua and Tadd's hip-hop / Sasha and Mark's jazz / I have no idea.

It's a tough call for me as to who I think should win. I usually end up changing my mind after I know the results anyway. (After the fact, I changed my mind and, to varying degrees, wished that Travis beat Benji, Twitch beat Joshua, and Jakob beat Russell.) One of the girls should obviously win. I've loved Melanie throughout the competition, but Sasha is pretty undeniable as well. Melanie's been pretty top-notch the entire time (except for disco tonight and last week's poorly choreographed hip-hop), while Sasha has had a few more peaks and valleys. But I have to wonder if Sasha's peaks didn't transcend Melanie's SYTYCD body of work. I don't know. It's a tough, tough call. Which is actually great, because we're faced with two fantastic dancers and everyone can just pick the one whose style he or she likes best. Either way, we'll have a great winner.

SYTYCD: Semifinals

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 6 Performance Show

• We're a week away from the finale already.
• Cat's dress is kind of a dusty pink with sheer long sleeves. She's got rather casual wavy hair.
• It's CHRISTINA APPLEGATE! She's also rocking long, wavy hair tonight.
• Plus Lil C, Mary and Nigel.
• Whoa! Much too plunging neckline on Mary Murphy!
• There seem to be an awful lot of famous actors who are huge fans of SYTYCD.

Melanie with Twitch (Napoleon and Tabitha hip-hop):

• The featurette: I'd be really excited about this, if not for NappyTabs. 
• The dance: Melanie's doing a good job of selling it, but this routine isn't doing anything for me, due mostly to the combo of the song and the choreo. Meh. Twitch is still adorable though, even when he's the Big Bad Wolf. 
• The judging: Lil C congratulates her for getting through that routine, because the music was extremely hard to dance to. Glad C noticed that too. I'm a bit confused about everything he was saying, but the overall point was that she started a little shaky but then got better. Christina says that every week Melanie dances like it's the only thing that can mend her broken heart. Mary says her brother compared Melanie to Shirley Temple. Nigel says Melanie is good at everything. He says, "Grandma, what a big talent you've got." I guess that was a compliment, but it's a little iffy.

Sasha with Kent (Tyce Diorio contemporary):

• The featurette: Why do I feel like Sasha's going to eat Kent alive? Ugh, is Sasha about to get Tyced? This should be emotionally overwrought enough to save her. 
• The dance: The two of them are sharing one set of pajamas. There's kind of an annoying cloudy wall at the back of the stage, and they run up it occasionally, but it seems unnecessary to me. It does allow for some bizarre-looking lifts, but I don't know how good of a thing that is. I'm sure everyone's going to love this one. It's good, the performances are good, but I'm not devastated by it or anything. 
• The judging: I kind of miss listening to Kent talk. Christina doesn't care so much about perfect technique, saying to Sasha, "But you put your finger against a wall, and it breaks my heart. And that's dance." Christina says Sasha's so brilliant. Mary says that routine was absolutely intoxicating. And Mary's choking up. Nigel says she communicates through dance brilliantly and passionately, and she's his favorite on the show again. Lil C is trying not to cry. I feel like the judges need to take a quick break and go have a group therapy session. He says she's now 20 notches past amazing.

Marko with Janette (Dmitry Chaplin paso doble):

• The featurette: Wow, we're pulling in some different All Stars tonight, and it's fun! But, even better, it's DMITRY!!! Looking lovely too. 
• The dance: This is the second time lately where Marko's done ballroom with a fantastic ballroom partner (Chelsie Hightower a couple weeks ago), and he's doing a pretty good job again, but the partner steals the show. I think it's just a bit hard for a boy to make a huge impression in ballroom, unless your Pasha. 
• The judging: Mary liked the style and arrogance he had (esp. in the beginning). But she notes that he did lose his footing a bit at times. She liked the "cape lift" they did and has never seen it done like that before. Nigel says it left him a bit cold. Lil C loves the way Marko performs. He loved Marko's commitment and stoicism. Christina is a big fan of Marko's and she loved his bravado.

Ricky's solo: Very low-key outfit of black pants and light blue/gray t-shirt. Nice leaps and pirouettes as usual, but he didn't totally rely on the "tricks" either. He's done better solos though.

Tadd with Ellenore (Sonya Tayeh contemporary?)

• The featurette: ELLENORE! I didn't even know I missed these people until they show back up! And Ellenore goes perfectly with Sonya's choreo. Sonya wants to find the dirtier side of Tadd. 
• The dance: To music from Beirut, no less! Whoa, there's a chandelier, and they're swinging on it. The whole thing's cool and all, and Tadd does some almost Cirque du Soleil stuff with the chandelier, but I'm not seeing a ton of dancing. 
• The judging: Nigel knew Sonya + Ellenore would be interesting. Nigel says, "I think I'd like to see a little more dancing," but he thought it was interesting. And I totally agree with Nigel, which is not especially common. Lil C liked the piece, but he didn't think Tadd lived in the moments and made them last long enough. Christina loved it and thought Sonya's piece was remarkable. Christina's impressed with his dancing, considering he's a b-boy. Personally, I didn't have the time to examine his technique, because he was swinging around most of the time. Mary thinks this was the most daring choreo of the season, considering the risk of the chandelier prop.

Caitlynn's solo: Black dress that comes the whole way down to her knees! I pretty much liked her solo, but she did rely an awful lot on bending forward at the waist and tossing her hair. Once was more than enough.

Ricky with Jaime (Dee Caspary contemporary):

• The featurette: Ooh, good partner draw for Ricky; Jaime is legit. Maybe I'm just jaded from watching seven seasons of this show, but I'm getting so tired of dances about couples with strained relationships. Even if they involve little sticks. 
• The dance: What is the point of the sticks, actually? Was that explained? Is he a conductor (like Twitch)? A puppeteer, I guess. If I didn't know better, I'd think the choreographers are mixing in unnecessary props tonight in a show of solidarity to NappyTabs after Lady Gaga called them out (twice) on their use of props last week. Ok, sticks aside, this is quite good. Jaime's amazing, and Ricky's right there with her. 
• The judging: Cat makes a joke about knitting, and I think she's spot on. Lil C says something I immediately can't process/remember, but he thought Ricky was a wonderfully magical puppeteer. Christina loved it, but thinks he could dance with just a little more clear intentions, which would make him even better. Mary says Ricky's been in the bottom and keeps rising from the ashes. Nigel thought he did a good job, but does still want him to dance lower. His lines are wonderful though.

Tadd's solo: I like his techno "Americano" music, but I can't say I'm blown away with the rest. Pink shirt and jeans, btw. Tadd does love his neon attire.

Sasha's solo: Dancing to Lady Gaga in black jeans, bra and jacket. This solo is all kinds of bad-ass.

Caitlynn with Pasha (Dmitry Chaplin samba):

• The featurette: Boy, does Pasha win the MVP award for the All Stars this season! They can't make it through a show without him. Not that I'm complaining! Wow, Pasha and Dmitry in the same room. How did Caitlynn handle this?! 
• The dance: Caitlynn's writhing up Pasha's leg, but Pasha stole the moment with his adorable grin. Not that it's her fault; nobody's going to outshine Pasha. Caitlynn's certainly got the hip wiggling down, even at a really fast tempo. 
• The judging: Christina thinks Caitlynn did a great job and seems pleasantly surprised about it. Mary says that when a contestant gets a second chance to do a dance, they expect it to be better, and this was. She loved the technique all-around, but does think Cailtlynn pulled her face too much. Mary: "But your body was dancing!" Nigel agrees--great dancing, iffy face situation. Lil C says she should swan dive into the sexy attitude, not cannonball. He thinks she can be more subtle about it, and that was an impressive bit of criticism from Lil C because it was both spot-on and understandable!

Marko's solo: I think they did this whole talk-to-their-families thing because of how much of a heartstrings-puller Marko's mom is. Khaki shorts, long-sleeved tee. I have nothing to declare re: the dancing, however. It was good, but nothing too exciting.


Melanie's solo: Grey dress with scale/petals. Fab pirouette into a split thing. I actually want to see more of her solo. The other person in that category tonight would be Sasha.

Sasha and Ricky (Kumari Suraj waack):

• The featurette: The first waacking number in SYTYCD history. Oh no, it's the dance that Princess Whoever did in audition that everyone flipped for, right? I could have lived without one of these, actually. 
• The dance: Sasha is wearing a bizarre, stiff transparent skirt. Sasha looks pretty good, but this isn't working for Ricky at all. I'm trying to decide if this would work for any boy, and I'm thinking it's unlikely. Parts of it looked like disco, and not in a good way. 
• The judging: Mary remembers Princess Lockeroo's name. Mary says she never really loved this style until she saw the level Princess took it too. She thinks they did a good job, but they're not up to the level of Princess. Nigel didn't think the waacking was lacking. Nigel enjoyed the fun of this. He thinks Ricky could relax more and not worry so much about it. OF COURSE HE'S WORRIED! HE'S A WEEK OUT OF THE FINALE AND HE HAS TO FREAKING WAACK! How could you not be worried?! I'm worried for him! Lil C thinks they were too focused on the steps and didn't get enough into the glamorous style. Christina thought it was good, but they could have waacked it harder.

Melanie and Tadd (Spencer Liff Broadway):

• The featurette: The best news for Ricky after that waacking disaster is that Tadd is about to get Broadway-ed. But it's not Tyce Broadway and he's with Melanie, so he'll probably be ok. There's a complicated director/actress plot line here that is reminiscent of aspects of Black Swan. 
• The dance: Mel is exquisite as usual. Continuing the prop theme, there's a chair, a towel and a giant mirror. The mirror is actually kind of cool because you can see more angles. I liked it, actually. So much better than usual Broadways, because it wasn't especially Broadway-ish. 
• The judging: Nigel has to take a minute to commend Mel on her solo, which he thinks was one of the best ever in SYTYCD history. Nigel thinks Melanie is a great actress, not just a great technical dancer. Now Melanie's his favorite again. Nigel says that for Tadd dancing with Melanie: "To say you didn't suck is good." Lil C loves that Melanie's artistry speaks for itself and that she has a quiet fire. Lil C says that she's sooooo buck and that her solo was "so beefy." C thinks Tadd's growing by leaps and bounds. Christina says they were literally banging the table during Melanie's solo. Christina says Melanie has taken dance to another level for her. She still likes Tadd too. Mary feels privileged to watch this kind of dancing.

Caitlynn and Marko (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Marko is an overbearing, controlling man, and Caitlynn's trying to get away. Boy, am I sick of dances about overbearing people too. 
• The dance: Reminiscent of Mia's addiction number and Tyce's bad dream number last week. Still good though--they're doing some nice lifts and climbing/flipping-over-each-other stuff. 
• The judging: Standing O from judges. Lil C says this routine was "double hashtag buck." It was so reckless and committed and murderous. Christina thinks Marko's a beast too. Christina thinks that was Caitlynn's moment. (I think we've deemed several other moments to be Caitlynn's "moment.") Mary says it was one of Caitlynn's best (so at least she remembers those other "moments"). Mary still maintains that Marko's her favorite dancer on this show. She thinks he's fearless. Nigel says this more than makes up for Sonya's chandelier routine (which made him a little upset). He thinks Caitlynn came of age (again) tonight. Nigel says Marko shows what a brilliant dancer he is every time he walks on the stage.

My favorites:
Ricky and Jaime's contemporary
Melanie and Tadd's Broadway
Caitlynn and Marko's jazz

Tonight felt fairly contemporary/jazz-heavy. I would have swapped one of the contemps out for another hip-hop.

Not sure which boy will be the odd man out, but if Melanie and Sasha aren't through to the finale, it's criminal!