SYTYCD: A Near Perfect 10

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 10 Performance Show

It's the Top 10 plus All Stars, baby! Wohoo!

• I'll try to get it out of my system now: "PAAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHAAAA!"
• The camera man doesn't know where to point the camera during group shots now that Ryan's gone ;-)
• Cat is wearing a sequin-y black mini dress (silver at the bottom) with short sleeves, paired with long, very straight hair.
• The judging panel: It's Doogie Howser! Neil Patrick Harris will be holding down the fort, along with Nigel and Mary.
• Each of the Top 10 will dance with an All Star and do a solo.

 Marko with Chelsie (Jason Gilkison samba):

• The featurette: It's CHELSIE HIGHTOWER! This is exciting. Lol, Chelsie kicked Marko in the face a few times. 
• The dance: It's going to be hard for Marko to not get completely upstaged by Chelsie here. He's got to make sure it doesn't look like Dancing With the Stars. To that end, they try to give Marko a few little solo sections so we have to pay attention to him, and he did seem to be doing a pretty good job. And he got a kiss from Chelsie in the middle. 
• The judging: Neil says it was amazing and dirty. Neil: "She does that scissor kick around your face; I would have kissed her too by the end of it." Neil says, "Well played." Lol. Mary shrieks that Marko is the real deal, and she's so worked up that her earring fell off. She says his samba action was absolutely amazing. Mary: "Congratulations. You're something else, kid!" Nigel says although Marko wasn't dancing with Melanie, he didn't lose any of his chemistry. Cat: "Chelsie Hightower's like a James Bond villain."

Sasha's solo: To Duffy. Sasha's dancing is cool--it's a little weird and quirky, almost in a slightly Billy Bell kind of way. I like how she doesn't rely completely on spins and splits and the more "trick" style moves.

Jordan with Brandon (Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson contemporary):

• The featurette: It's cool to see Brandon again; I haven't seen much of him lately. This routine is difficult. Jordan's lucky to draw contemporary two weeks in a row. 
• The dance: Brandon is shirtless and wearing some really skinny jeans. And of course Jordan's showing off her superb splits and leg kicks. Honestly, if this were a leg kick competition, she'd have it in the bag. As for the other aspects of the dancing, I think Brandon's got her beat. 
• The judging: Mary says it's so great to see Brandon on the stage. Mary thinks Jordan was fearless tonight and says that Dwight and Desmond played to all her strengths. Nigel says that Jordan doesn't have many weaknesses, so Dwight and Desmond had the freedom to choreograph whatever they wanted. Neil couldn't take his eyes off her.

Jess' solo: Argyle sweater vest and khakis. That tells you about all you need to know. (Aside from the fact that Jess displays an impressive amount of control coming out of his pirouettes.)

Tadd with Comfort (Chuck Maldonado hip-hop):

• The featurette: Hmm, another favorable pairing of dancer and style. Comfort is supposed to be "gutter fabulous" or something. 
• The dance: Not sure they wear tight plaid pants in the gutter. Not to mention the blue hair streaks, but whatever. I've seen hip-hop routines on this show that I liked better, but I've seen worse too. Tadd is doing a good job of keeping up with Comfort; he might be doing the moves better, actually. I'm pretty impressed with him here, actually. 
• The judging: Nigel says it was very, very, very fast. Nigel's impressed that Tadd can pick up and remember choreo as well as he can, since that's not something b-boys usually do. Nigel suggests that Tadd out danced his All Star. Neil agrees that Tadd out hip-hopped Comfort, which is not easy to do. Mary complains that Nigel's been on her case all night, and Cat responds, "He's on the end; just push him off. He's on a wheely chair." Mary says the routine didn't stop, and neither did Tadd.

 Melanie's solo: She's dancing to a really mellow version of "You're the One that I Want," and I never want it to end. It's been a really long time since we've seen her dance solo.


Mitchell with Melody (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Eesh, Tyce is annoying. It's been a while since I've mentioned that, I think, so I'll go ahead and reiterate it. 
• The dance: This is interesting because I've never seen Melody dance before; I started watching in Season 2. Mitchell's doing a pretty good job of selling this (I'm actually somewhat pleasantly surprised with his performance level), but the choreo/routine is nothing especially wonderful/memorable. 
• The judging: Neil didn't quite get that much at all. He didn't get the airplane-ness of it. He says it was "disjointed" and not incredibly well thought out! HA! NPH must have heard that a sure-fire way to win over SYTYCD fans is to dis Tyce. Mary thought it was fun, but a bit overdone. Nigel thinks Mitchell "over egged the pudding" (like Ryan last week) and should think more about style than about over-smiling and making things too big. Mitchell is classy and compliments Tyce. 

Ricky's solo: He's got (his own) big shoes to fill after last week's dance for his life solo, and he pretty much pulls it off again--very good pirouettes. The biggest problem was that he ran off-stage after the solo, instead of going to stand with Cat to pimp his phone number. She gets him in line though, so it's ok.


Clarice's solo: She's in a bikini top and short-shorts, with a strange hunk of tulle sticking out from her hip. I somewhat liked the dancing though; it was peppy.

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

• The featurette: Oh, Pasha... He's so beautiful. 
• The dance: Props to Caitlynn for even getting me to look at her at all here. I think her tango kicks could be a little crisper, but by and large, she looks pretty good. There are some fancy lifts that she handles very well. 
• The judging: Cat: "No on Blue Steels like Pasha." Mary gives it a standing ovation. Mary says it was the first Argentine tango of the season, and it was really worth the wait. Mary says the passion Caitlynn showed was more real tonight than in any other number--well, no kidding! She was dancing with PASHA! Nigel says that tonight she was a woman and far sexier than ever before. He liked that she didn't over perform. Neil thought it started off a little slow, but then he got totally hooked in. NPH thought the were very in sync with each other, and this is the first time he's ever wanted to learn the Argentine tango.

 Mitchell's solo: White shorts, no shirt. Dancing to a John Legend song that reminds me of The Game. And spent most of the solo trying to remember why the song reminded me of The Game and didn't pay that much attention to Mitchell's dancing. It looked pretty good though.


Sasha with Twitch (Christopher Scott hip-hop):

• The featurette: I think we've missed an great opportunity to do a Sasha/Pasha number, but maybe some other time. Oh, I adore Twitch. He's just so inherently likeable. (And my annual apology: I know it's tWitch, but I can't stand how weird that looks when I type it.) Twitch: "At the beginning, we were lacking love. At the end, we were lacking breakfast." 
• The dance: Wow, Sasha is killing it up on that table. This is a rather slow and groovy hip-hop, but it's awesome. Wow, that routine/performance was so good. Twitch is awesome and Sasha totally was too. 
• The judging: Nigel make a joke about cornflakes that is so off-color that even he can't believe what he said. Nigel thinks this is the first time he's seen her with chemistry with her partner, and she really nailed that routine from beginning to end. Neil thinks it was the best routine so far; it was spectacular. Neil was blown away be how in sync they were. Mary says she needs, for various reasons I won't bother to relay, to call the sheriff, the fire department, and the paramedics (because she's ready to have a "hot attack"). Mary: "As much as I love Twitch, I loved you doing that number."

Jordan's solo: Didn't we already see Jordan's solo? No, I guess I'm thinking about the partner routine. She pulls out some nice pirouettes too, straight into a jump-to-ground, which she landed very lightly and flawlessly. I like how she tried to steer away from the splits and kicks a little, and some Lykke Li never hurt anyone.

Jess with Kathryn (Stacey Tookey contemporary):

• The featurette: Kathryn! There are lots of lifts. Kathryn: "He's actually a lot stronger than he looks." Stacey: "Kathryn can practically levitate, so if he can't lift her, we're in trouble." 
• The dance: Ok, Kathryn is extraordinary. I always remember that, but somehow I'm still always surprised by how good she is when I watch her. I guess I'll be going to see Step Up 4. Anyway, Jess does some nice jumps/kicks/flips stuff, which is good because he's in danger of being upstaged by Kathryn, in my opinion anyway. 
• The judging: Neil thinks it was an extraordinarily designed performance by Stacey. Neil thinks that sometimes Jess' face is a little muggy, which turns people off, and that's bad because he's an amazing dancer. Neil liked this one because the routine gave him less opportunity for mugging. Mary thinks it was her favorite piece from Jess this season. Nigel really liked the piece and Jess in it.

Tadd's solo: 10 seconds in, and I'm already way more impressed than I was by his whole elimination night solo last week. Although this one may have petered out a little. Eh, I don't know; I'm not good at rating b-boy solos.

Melanie and Pasha (Jason Gilkison Viennese waltz):

• The featurette: It's a two Pasha night! If only we could always be so lucky!! In this routine, Pasha's given up, but Melanie is encouraging him. 
• The dance: Pasha has given up to such an extent that he can't even bring himself to button up his shirt. Melanie's dress is gorgeous! As is their dancing, of course. Very soft and fluid and lovely. Pure grace. 
• The judging: Pasha looks like he should be on the front of a romance novel in that getup. Mary: "I'm just jealous that he got to dance with him." Mary says that it looked like Melanie's feet never touched the ground and she was just floating across the stage. She says Melanie does lifts like it was something she was doing all her life. Nigel says it was beautiful flow of movement and a master class in lifting and lift technique. Nigel says the reason choreographers keep using her as the rock because she's a solid, fantastic dancer. NPH says Mel looks like she's from that past, but dances like she's from the future. He says she's beautiful and it seems like it comes from the inside as well as the outside. She's easily his favorite dancer on the show. 

Caitlynn's solo: She also has a weird bunch of something coming out of the side of her short-shorts. She sometimes falls out of her pirouettes, so she solves that problem by jumping out of them tonight. Pretty good.

Ricky with Allison (Tyce Diorio jazz):

• The featurette: Ricky is star struck by Allison, which earns him points in my book. This routine is about a bad dream. There's an easy joke to make here involving Tyce's choreo and a bad dream, but I won't go there. 
• The dance: Allison = awesomeness. Ricky has a weird belt-like thing of red rags around the back of him. The routine is intense, and they're both so good technically that they're doing some pretty impressive stuff with it. I really like it. 
• The judging: Nigel loved this kind of choreo from Tyce. He doesn't think Ricky out-danced his All Star (because Allison is awesome) but he thinks he matched up to her. NPH thinks Tyce went for a bold move here by giving Ricky a mature routine to do, and Ricky pulled it off really well. Mary thought this was ridiculously dark, and she thinks that Ricky really brought it. Raw, reckless and spectacular. 

Marko's solo: Here's another dancer we haven't seen solo in ages. Nice back flip to start things off, plus some nice leaps and pirouettes and things.

Clarice with Robert (Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood):

• The featurette: Robert has to be the Bollywood All Star? I was never the biggest fan of Robert, but I feel a bit sorry him now. Robert looks more manly than in the past, I'd say.
• The dance: My feelings of pity for Robert having to be the Bollywood All Star just grew tenfold when I saw his sparkly purple parachute pants. At least they dunked Rob in some tanner to make him look somewhat Indian. This routine was way better than the Bollywood number that Nick and Iveta had to do earlier this year. And Clarice and Robert did a really good job with it. I do, however, now feel like we're throwing kisses into dances just for the sake of putting kisses in dances. 
• The judging: NPH says he hasn't really connected with Clarice yet this season, but he liked her in this one. Mary says it was fast and intricate and hard. Mary thought it was perfect for Clarice, and she doesn't think she could have done it any better. Nigel agrees that it was perfect fit. Exhilarating.

The wrap-up:

• This was another week where they seemed to put most everyone in a situation where they could excel. Consistent greatness might get a little boring after a while, but tonight I rather enjoyed it.
• There will be a whole new batch of All Stars next week. I like that formula, because that means we'll get to see more dancers, which is exciting because I love so many of them.
• There's a problem with the play back, so Cat has to line all the dancers up on stage and read their names and numbers really fast, which she handles like the pro she is.

My favorites:
Sasha and Twitch's hip-hop
Ricky and Allison's jazz
Melanie and Pasha's waltz

In trouble: Mitchell. Maybe Clarice.

My Take on Pilot Season: Returning (and Not Returning) Shows

Yeaaaaaa to NBC for renewing Chuck!!! If only the network would please now order more than 13 episodes and bring it back before mid-season. (Ugh, I just noticed that Chuck's official NBC Web site now says that Chuck will return in March 2010. That's horrendous.) Seriously, we have to sit though another painful cycle of Heroes before our weary eyes will again behold the sheer awesomeness that is Chuck? That's just mean.

Yeaaaaaa to FOX for renewing Dollhouse!!! I didn't see that one coming at all. After years of watching quirky and/or complicated show after quirky and/or complicated show get summarily dismissed by virtually every network, it just seemed so bizarre that this one didn't get the heave-ho too. Good for FOX for taking a chance on it. At the very least, Dollhouse will have a small but devoted fanbase next season, which is more than some new shows will garner. Perhaps Dollhouse will even meet with some increased commercial success. The fact that the show was steadily increasing in quality after a lackluster beginning should help. I just hope that Mellie and Victor will get to come back.

After those two announcements, I began to develop the sinking feeling that Upfronts and pilot season were going far too well, and sure enough:

Major boooooooooooooooooooooo to ABC for cancelling Samantha Who? There is NO REASON why this show needed to be canceled. Sure, its audience wasn't great when ABC began jerking it all around the schedule and forcing it into abrupt hiatuses. What show's ratings would survive that kind of cruel Men In Trees-esque treatment? What makes the cancellations more upsetting is that Sam Who? is not really a niche-based show. It had fairly broad appeal, which it demonstrated when it pulled some big numbers leading out of Dancing With the Stars. Christina Applegate is one of the most likable women on TV and the supporting cast was hilarious. The only reason this show had issues was that ABC didn't seem to know what to do with it, which is astounding, because all they had to do was leave it on after DWTS. There's no need to try to make Surviving Suburbia happen at the expense of Sam Who? Any network that airs According to Jim for eight seasons but cancels quality comedies like Sam Who? after two (abridged) seasons, needs to do some serious atoning.

(photos: NBC.com; ABC.com)

Big Bang Theory: Polar Express

The Big Bang Theory:

"The Monopolar Expedition"

The Big Bang Theory is definitely the show I don't watch that I most wish I did. Unfortunately, due to a cruel twist of fate, the programming PTB put this show up in the same time slot as three of my absolute favorite shows--Gossip Girl, Chuck and Greek--as well as another show--Dancing with the Stars--that I have to monitor because of my allegiance to Shawn Johnson. I don't have enough eyes or VCRs to handle 5 shows at once. So, most regrettably, Big Bang Theory has fallen by the wayside.

It is my goal to catch up on as many TBBT reruns this summer as I can. (Impressive goals I have, huh?) And, since Chuck bowed out a little early with it's (fabulous) season finale, I now have the capability of checking in on TBBT now.

I caught last week's episode ("The Classified Materials Turbulence") and thoroughly enjoyed it. Admittedly, I am not a big fan of bathroom humor. When I was in London a few years ago, we saw several plays that absolutely relied on bathroom humor, and I always seemed like the one person who was not loving it. In particular, one (really quite good) production of The Hypochondriac reached its climax with a rousing musical number about anuses. Everyone else in the theatre was basically beside themselves with hilarity, and I was like, "Just make it stop." With that background knowledge, you now know that it is meaningful that even I thought Harold's space-toilet-gone-awry and the potty jokes it inspired were pretty darn funny. (My favorite line was Raj's "You're right. It's a very important scientific breakthrough for two reasons: number one...and number two.")

Last night's season finale ("The Monopolar Expedition") was pretty darn amusing as well. I'd totally sign up to spend three months at the North Pole with Sheldon. Does that make me crazy?

The problem with blogging TBBT is that I found myself trying to write down virtually every line everyone was saying. It got a little ridiculous, but here's the highlight list:

• Sheldon fooling Leonard into thinking he made a mistake with his science.
• Sheldon: "The entire family's fascinated by what time it is and whether people know it."
• Leonard: "He offered to send you to the North Pole?"
  Sheldon: "Yes. In fact, he was quite enthusiastic. He said, 'Frankly, if I could send you tonight, I would.'"
• Sheldon: "I'm a theoretical physicist, a career I chose in no small part because it's indoors!"
• Sheldon: "...I'll be the scientist who confirms String Theory. People will write books about me. Third-graders will create macaroni art dioramas depicting things from my life!"
• Sheldon's friends' glee when he says he tentatively accepted the invitation to join the North Pole expedition.
• Sheldon: "Well, there are others who might be more qualified, but the thought of interviewing them gave me a stomach ache."
• Raj: "But if we're part of the team that confirms String Theory, we could drink for free at any bar in any town with a university that has a strong science program!"
• Harold: "I could also be the engineer of the crossbow that kills Sheldon."
• Sheldon's reaction to Penny knocking on the door back at him.
• Leonard: "Did she seem upset to you?"
  Sheldon: "No. Did she seem upset to you?"
  Leonard: "No."
  Sheldon: "Oh, good. I got it right. Are you upset?"
  Leonard: "A little bit."
  Sheldon: "Two for two! I'm on fire."
• Leonard, Raj and Harold trying to use their "tools" in the freezer.
• Raj's mom: "If the other guys jumped into the Bay of Bengal and tried to swim to Sri Lanka, would you follow them?"

  Raj: "If you were standing behind me nagging, I might."
• The Slanket has seriously got to be the product most used as a comedic prop on TV these days.
• Sheldon: "I know you're concerned about disappointing me, but I want you to take comfort in the knowledge that my expectations of you are very low."
• How did Harold and Raj talk their parents into letting them go?
• They really shouldn't have taught Sheldon how to make jokes. He's getting too good at it.
• So will the boys really confirm String Theory? That would be a major game-changer. That one would not only change the course of the show but also the course of the real world, right? Awesome.

(photo: CBS)

The "Greek" Gatsby

Yea for Greek being back! I'm so excited about it that I'm finally blogging again. I really like Greek a lot. Maybe because it always airs in kind of a down time (summer, post-strike), but I've come to think it would hold up even against some stiffer competition.

I must start out by saying that my big complaint about this episode was that there was not enough Dale. Come on, folks, Clark Duke is a revelation! Give him more to do. I loved the opening scene with Calvin (how proud am I that I now finally remember that guy's name?) and Rusty trying to figure out what to do, and Dale mentioning gatherings of his geeky friends:

Dale: "And there are girls! Well, there was one once...at least I'm pretty sure it was a girl..."
Calvin: "Let's keep looking."
Rusty: "The circus is in town."

And then Clark's disco dancing at the 1970s party was adorable. They need to figure out some more ways to bring his character into the fold with the other characters.

As a flapper-enthusiast, I loved the Roaring '20s party. I'm also wildly impressed that these college kids are able to adopt a theme so wholeheartedly. They certainly all didn't just happen to pack flapper dresses when they came back to college after winter break.

A shining moment of the episode was the return of Ferris Bueller's Day Off's Cameron as the dean. It's been quite a week for Ferris Bueller guest stars with the secretary on a great episode of Miss Guided last week and now Cameron on Greek. And, kudos to Greek for coming up with an inside joke to acknowledge his presence--while not being too obvious--with Ashleigh's "...which is why, in many ways, I think that Ferris Bueller is my generation's Gatsby." Nicely done.

Other highlights:

• Last summer I called that the Kappa Tau's wouldn't care that Calvin is gay. The KTs are the picture of tolerance.


• Evan is always awfully dressed up. He's wearing a tie for crying out loud. I do not recall ever seeing frat boys who wore ties. On the upside, Evan has been displaying a surprising amount of integrity through the Calvin situation.


• Rebecca looks totally different with that bobbed wig.


• Ashleigh is quite the singer!


• Casey (to a ridiculous looking Rusty): "You look..... are you having fun?"


• Calvin's ex-boyfriend looks like he dressed for a Charles Dickens-themed party. Perhaps he got the wrong memo.


• Cappie's in over his head with balancing Casey and Rebecca. He'd better watch it though, because he doesn't want to make Rebecca too mad; she's dangerous.


• Beaver reading The Great Gatsby aloud was great. "...minute? Minute...it's probably minute." Ok, that joke doesn't translate well when it's written down, but it was funny when Beaver said it.


• Did Cappie just call Evan "bing"? What does "bing" mean? I've only been out of college for a year and I'm out of the loop on the lingo already?


• I'm excited to see Cappie's retribution on Evan!! The Cappie/Evan fight in the previews they showed last week looked hot! Bring it on. With Ryan Atwood and Logan Echolls gone, the instances of fist fights on shows I watch seem to have gone way down.


• Remember when the show at least pretended to be about Rusty? ;-)

So, after giving some good marks for the second episode of Greek's spring semester, I want to add that I thoroughly enjoyed the past series of Wildfire too. I probably should be more ashamed to admit that I like that show than I am. But darn it, I find the whole Chris/Matt/Junior/wind turbine love rhombus to be captivating. Granted, the production value of the show isn't awesome (there's usually at least one scene in each episode where you have no idea what's happening, such as the scene where the barn was on fire), some of the acting could be better, and it seems like a show about horses should display a better knowledge of horses, but whatever: I like it. I'm excited to see all heck break lose when Junior and Chris tell everyone they're getting married. I just wish the next chunk of eps weren't the end of the series.

And also: they should have just given Kristi Yamaguchi the Dancing with the Stars trophy after the first ep. There is no competition. Don't mess with figure skaters.

SYTYCD: Congrats Sabra!!!

So You Think You Can Dance:

Wow! I really thought this competition was anyone's game, but I was still stunned that Sabra pulled out the win! Good for her! I'm glad that a girl finally won it this time around. And I think it's awesome that Sabra's only been dancing for four years. That means, four years from now, none of us will have an excuse for not winning SYTYCD.

Also, I think Sabra deserves the $250,000 for all the times Dominic dropped her (especially that really nasty time her head smacked the floor in the middle of the group number).

I was surprised that Lacey finished in fourth place. That means she ties her cousin Heidi's finish last year! I was really glad though that it came down to Sabra and Danny, because I thought they really deserved to be the top two. Good job on this one, America!

My highlights of the evening:

• the Pasha/Lauren Transformers hip hop routine
• the Pasha/Sara West Coast Swing routine
• the flashback to the audition when they made that one guy do a swing dance--that was the funniest, awesome-ist moment of the season
• the Sara/Jesus hobos routine (I'd kind of forgotten about that one. It's cool that Sara was in three of the judges' favorite dances.)
• the Danny/Lacey samba (or was it a mambo?)

The lowlight of the evening: there was a Pussycat Doll in a box! Eeeeeeeew! I can't watch that!

And, speaking of gross musical acts, what in the hell has happened to Ryan Cabrera's hair? It used to be kind of suspect, but now it's hideous!

I'm bummed that another season of SYTYCD has wrapped up already! This show is so much fun; even though I wasn't as engrossed as I was last season, I'm really going to miss it. It's sooooooo much better than Dancing with the Stars, but somehow that show does multiple cycles each year, while SYTYCD is only on in the summer.