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!