SYTYCD: Finale Disappointments

So You Think You Can Dance: "Finale Performance Show"

In my four seasons of watching SYTYCD, I don't think I've ever been so unexcited about a season finale performance show. Oh well, let's see how it goes:

• They are taping the finale in the Kodak Theater, and the stage/set is gorgeous. It's going to be kind of strange to not have a bunch of teenage girls standing right smack-up against the stage though. It seems like the dancers are so far away from the people.
• Was that Pono I just saw in the audience?
• BTW, Deeley is sporting a rather sack-like shimmery, shiny gold mini dress with sleeves. I'm not loving the frock. Her loose, wavy hair, however, is awesome.
• It's Shankers (Adam Shankman)!!! I thought he might show up for the finale. It seems like the less frequently he comes around to judge, the more I like him. Last year, he annoyed me, but this year I love him. I don't really get it.
• Finally, we've found a space big enough to handle Mary's boisterous shrieking.

Wade Robson group number:

• The featurette: Two jocks hit on two cheerleaders. Um, in the practice Wade was way out-dancing all four of these people...
• The dance: Hey, what a shock, Evan can't catch a football. Ok, the camera edits bother me even more in this space than in they do in the normal venue. Maybe Jeanine's facial expressions translate better to the 3,000-person live audience, but they were not made for television close-ups. Ugh, why do I feel like I'm watching a knockoff version of Bring It On?

We take a break from the season five action to watch an epic promo for the new fall season featuring flashbacks from previous seasons and some new audition footage. Hey, I think I saw that tapper girl (Bianca) who they keep not putting through to the top 20. (She must be a glutton for punishment--or they were saving her for season six or something.) Tyce: "Season six is here, hel-LOOOO!!!" Um, here's a suggestion for Tyce: when you are judging a popular reality competition show, you probably should try to avoid sounding like Kate Gosselin yelling at Jon in Toys 'R Us. Just a thought.

Jeanine and Evan (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Jeanine gets to kick and punch Evan a lot.
• The dance: The routine was not poorly danced, but I just wish I could see season four's Mark and Courtney Galiano give this routine a go. Evan is doing a pretty good job of falling though. This stage is ginormous, and because of that I think it might be difficult to do a really good job of selling the routines tonight.
• The judging: Shankers says he never saw Jeanine coming (perhaps because she was so minimally featured in the pre-Top 20 episodes?) and that he didn't think Evan would make the Top 4 either. He says that Sonya did a good job of choreographing to the strengths of the dancers (Evan's exceptional ability to fall, I guess). Nigel roots Evan on like he actually wants him to win. Ha.

Brandon's solo:

• The featurette: Brandon slips into a Southern accent sometimes. Brandon says that his favorite routine was his tango with Janette. He says that he doesn't see his dancing brilliance in himself sometimes.
• The solo: I think he's wearing the same board shorts that Matthew McConaughey wore to film that surfer movie. (Example A. Btw, why is McConaughey is in a freaking tree? Ha!) Anyway, Brandon's solo was one long, uninterrupted steam of powerful movements. It was impressive, but he certainly wasn't relaxing and just letting his brilliance flow.
• The judging: So they're judging the solos now? We must have a lot of time to kill tonight. Shankers says that he doesn't get the board shorts and that the solo was great but a bit on the frantic side.

Kayla and Brandon (Tyce Dioria Broadway)

• The featurette: Uh oh, Brandon and Kayle are about to get Tyced. Kayla promises us that this will be Tyce's last routine of the season. Tyce asked Brandon to do a "rose plop," I think.
• The dance: Why does Brandon have to dance twice in a row? That seems unfair. At least the costumes are cooler than the usual Broadway costumes on this show. Kayla's opening split on top of Brandon on the table was gorgeous. I didn't hate this number, but I'm not sure it really engaged me either. They danced it well, even if their side-by-side "pirouettes" (that's what I'm calling them anyway, Nigel called them a hopping something) got a bit out of sync (it might have been on purpose?). Brandon's sequined shirt/jacket reminds me of Chuck Bass.
• The judging: Adam, Mary and Nigel all love it. Nigel says Tyce has been amazing this season and that he's named for a cookie. Then Nigel tells an anecdote about the time he had a heart attack (because Brandon's character seemed to have a heart attack at the end of the number). So, heart attacks can be played for levity in Tyce's world, but cancer is serious. Ok then.

Jeanine's solo:

• The featurette: Sounds like Jeanine's mom decided that Jeanine would be a dancer. Oh no, we're talking about the Russian folk dance again. Let's let it go, people. Jeanine's favorite dance was the Travis Wall contemporary routine with Jason. She claims the kiss at the end of the routine was not choreographed.
• The solo: Using tango music and wearing the most bikini-like dress I've ever seen. I think I missed a lot her dancing because I spent most of the time she was out there trying to figure out what was going on with the "dress." Travis sighting! When she's done, everyone stands and applauds like they've just seen, um, I don't even know what could have warranted this sort of reaction. (Ok, yes, the pirouette was good, but it wasn't Danny Tidwell terrority or anything. Calm down a bit, people.)
• The judging: Shankers is beside himself over her pirouette. Mary says that solo was the best thing that Jeanine's ever done on this show. Uh, guess I should have paid more attention then. Nigel says Jeanine's "in the final two" as far as he's concerned. Um, yeah, he says that after only two people have done solos. What's he going to say after Kayla performs?

Brandon and Evan (Laurieann Gibson pop jazz dance battle):

• The featurette: Why do the top two boys always have to dance battle? Neil and Danny were battling princes. Josh and Twitch were battling Russian folk dancers. (But, really, wasn't Benji and Travis' non-battle nerd hip hop the best of the bunch?)
• The dance: This is kind of a weak dance battle--they weren't even looking at each other for the first chunk of the routine. They did eventually get around to some fake fighting that I didn't really buy. Seriously, dude, what kind of guys dance fight to Janet Jackson music anyway? This is so weird. Evan's actually dancing this pretty well, but there's something weird about Evan trying to have a "nasty groove."
• The judging: Adam thinks Evan "got a little dusted." Um, does Adam realize that pointing that out is just going to get all of the hardcore Evan fans to vote for him all the more? Mary wants to know what the nastiest thing Evan's ever done is. Evan says that he can't decide because "the list is so long." Nigel says Evan has a "choochy face." Frankly, if I were Evan, I'd be sooooooooooo tired of people saying how nice and sweet I am that I'd go punch somebody's grandma or something. Enough is enough.

Kayla and Jeanine (Mia Michaels contemporary):

• The dance: Um. Something bizarre happened with my FOX channel--the commercials break stretched waaaay too long and they finally cut back into the show for literally only the final 6 seconds of this dance. Uhhh, what the hell? Thanks, FOX Philly, that was so helpful. After this debacle, I don't know if Jeanine or Kayla should count on too many votes from the greater Philadelphia area...
• The judging: Adam says it was a concept piece by Mia. Mary says this piece is going to be remembered forever--not likely! I can't remember something I never saw! Mary says these two girls are the strongest girls ever in a finale. Not buying that one, and I take offense on behalf of Katee and Courtney G., Sabra and Lacey, and Heidi and Donyelle. Nigel says something pervy about how he wishes more of the girl's outfits had come off. Great, I'm so glad I got to hear that instead of getting to actually watch the dance. Thanks.

Evan's solo:

• The featurette: Evan's favorite routine was the Mia Michaels butt routine with Randi. Evan says he's "dropping the hammer" tonight. Lol.
• The solo: He's got the fedora and a tie but no suspenders. I think I enjoyed that solo more than Evan's other solos, but maybe he's just finally worn me down and is building me back up to like things I didn't use to like?
• The judging: Adam points out that this solo was a variation of his audition routine and calls doing that a calculated risk (meanwhile, Brandon did his audition solo last week and no one seemed to have a problem with that). Nigel agrees that Evan is special and entertaining, but doesn't think that Evan has grown as much over the course of the season as he would have liked. Ultimately, I agree with that assessment. (Not that I feel like any of the Top 4 have "grown" a whole heck of a lot over the course of the season, actually. I'd say they're all about as good as they were all along.)

Kayla and Evan (Tony and Melanie jive):

• The featurette: Didn't Evan already jive this year? Let's see if we can finally get a good jive this season to make up for the two bad ones.
• The dance: Why is Kayla jiving in cowboy boots and a frilly tutu? I think something about Kayla's arm movements while jiving looks very bizarre--she looks like she's flailing around a broken arm or something. I'd say that they started out pretty strong but the middle and end weren't great. The choreo kind of petered out after the cartwheel/lift sequence. There didn't seem to be much going on after that.
• The judging: Adam doesn't think that was a "finale-level routine" in his opinion. I also found it to be a little lacking, but Mary liked the choreo. Mary doesn't think that Evan has the jive kicks right yet. She also criticizes arm movements, but fails to put out that it was KAYLA's arm positions that looked so bizarre and then says that Kayla stole the show. Unbelievable. This is why Evan's going to win, people--the judges need to stop picking on him! Even I feel sorry for him now, and I thought he should have been out of the competition weeks ago! Now Nigel says that Kayla hasn't been showing personality this season up until now? Wha!? He's never complained about her not showing personality before that I recall (he did say her hair was in her face once).

Kayla's solo:

• The featurette: We get to spend a little more time with Kayla's grandparents. One last time for their cuteness to get her some votes. Kayla's favorite routine was the addiction piece with Kupono. Kayla says she's not just a dancer and always "reaches out and pulls people into the performance" or something like that. Well, that was modest.
• The dance: To "Sweet Dreams" and the strong music helps her through her iffy solo composition tendencies. It was good, but there was one leap in there that didn't look up to her typical standards.
• The judging: Adam compares her to some of the best dancers ever on the show (namely Travis, Will, and Danny). The judges all say nice things about her, but no one flat out says she should win (like they did about Brandon and Jeanine). I guess they realized that they've been backing a losing pony this whole time?

Jeanine and Brandon (Louis van Amstel paso doble):

• The featurette: To big it home one more time that the powers that be at SYTYCD want Jeanine or Brandon to win, they give them the coveted final performance slot. (It probably would have been more fair to end with the four-dancer group number, but I guess they figured that immediately after watching that cheerleader routine, people might have refused to vote for anybody.) We're ending the finale performance show with a paso? That's a bold choice. It's a good think Debbie Allen isn't here.
• The dance: Oh, it's just an excuse to get Jeanine in another bikini top. I think that this very dramatic music and strobe lighting would trick you into thinking this is a great routine even if it's not. Luckily, it does seem to be going much better than the other paso dobles of the season. Ok, the performance was good; the judges are going to be beside themselves though and I don't think it warrants that.
• The judging: Shankers thinks that what makes a champion on this show is the transitions and the small things in a dance (which, by the way, was what was missing in Kayla and Evan's jive). Mary lets out a scream because she's somehow forgotten to do that all night. And then she lets out about six more screams. Nigel also tries to scream. Nigel again goes waaaaaaaaaaay too far in regards to Jeanine and what he'd "like to do to her." You can literally hear the audible discomfort of the audience members.

Cat wants the judges to pick the winner and Adam just compliments everyone, to which Cat replies, "Mary, can you be more of a man than Adam?" HA! Go Deeley! Nigel takes a quick second to plug the fact that Evan's brother will be in season 6. (So, um, can we assume that Ryan's going to make the Top 20, because if he doesn't this is really ridiculous.) Nigel calls it for Brandon or Jeanine and Evan and Kayla look pissed off.

My favorite routines: ??? Um, I guess I'll go with the Broadway (did I just say that?) and the paso.

Honestly, right now I can't really pick who I want to win because I just feel annoyed with this episode and this season. During this performance show I went from being neutral/apathetic to kind of detesting the dancers, the judges and even the show in general. And I am not used to detesting this show; I don't like feeling this way about it. When pressed, I guess I'll go with Brandon for the win, just to compensate for all of the other fantastically-skilled boy contemporary dancers who got shafted in seasons past (Travis, Danny, Will). However, if for some reason SYTYCD forgets to announce the winner tomorrow night and we all just forget this season ever happened, that's totally fine with me too.

SYTYCD: 100

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 8 Results Show"

Happy 100th episode, So You Think You Can Dance!

Let's see who gets cut going into Top 6 week. The 8-to-6 cuts have been dicey in the past. Yesterday I mentioned that Will got cut during Top 8 week last year, and it has since occurred to me that Allison got cut in Top 8 week during Season 2. And Will and Allison were definitely two of the best dancers ever on SYTYCD, so who knows what surprises we're in for tonight.

The play-by-play:

• Why was I under the impression that this was a special two-hour episode?
• Do not tell me this is another Tyce Broadway number! How many of those are we going to have to watch in one night?
• I don't know why the audience is screaming? I could do this stuff... I don't think I'd wear that white tux outfit though...
• Did we just kick of the 100th episode with arguably the worst group number ever?
• MIA choreographed it!!! Not Tyce! Ugh. The poor Broadway choreo disease is spreading...
• Cat is wearing a black mini dress with sleeves that has a sparkly tiger face on it! She's pulling out the big guns (cats?) for this special episode!
• Mia's headband situation is so bizarre.
• How many birthdays does Nigel have this year?
• I see Pasha!!!
• And Courtney Galiano! I like her. Does this mean we get to see "The Garden"? Please?
• Hey, there's Benji in the back! You win the stinking show and they don't even give you a front row seat?
• If Nigel thinks Tyce's cancer routine united a country, he was not reading the same EW message board that I was...
• The retrospective montage included the swing dancing guys!!! I still love them.
• Why does Sex get more screen time in the retrospective than past winners?
• Why was Jason crying during Vegas week? Did they show us that?
• Well, if nothing else, at least SYTYCD gave Twitch a reason not to join the Navy when he didn't want to...
• Gosh, there have been a lot of great routines on this show. Unfortunately, not many of them have been this season...
• Who cares about the results? I just want to see the vintage SYTYCD routines.
• Ohh, booooooooooooooo! Tyce's cancer routine bought Melissa an extra week that she did not deserve. This is going to suck.
• So, what's that mean? That Kayla's going to go home? Geez. Is Top 8 week when we lose all the good dancers?
• This doesn't bode well for Jason either.
• And Janette's the other one in the bottom two girls. This situation is NOT good.
• Well, even if this season is now completely screwed up, at least we get to watch "The Hummingbird and the Flower." This routine is really fantastic. And not because it was specifically choreographed to garner sympathy votes...
• Boys' results: Ugh. Poor Jason. Maybe he'd be save this week too if only his zombie had had a horrible disease (aside from zombie-ism, that is). WHAT? Now BRANDON is in the bottom two as well? Oy vey. This will officially go down as the night Season 5 (already a precarious endeavor) veered waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off track. This show is really going to have to bring it for Season 6 to make up for the debacle that Season 5 has been.
• Explain to me why if one of the Janette/Evan combo had to be in the bottom four, it turned out to be the one who danced both of their dances better?
• Now on to the (previously taped) "Bench" routine. Heidi's hair is brilliantly blond these days! It's kind of amazing how they can perform these routines so very similarly after several years.
• Kayla does the same solo she did last night, which is fine with me, because I still like it and I still love the dress.
• Jason also does the same solo, more or less. Maybe a little better tonight. Cat says it's brilliant.
• Janette is also doing the same one. I kind of wish Jeanine was in the bottom two just so I could see her solo again; I really liked that one.
• Brandon opens his solo with an impressive display of pirouettes, as if to say, "Why did you crazy-ass people vote for Evan instead of me?"
• It's time for "Ramalama"!! (Which I think is also previously taped.) Allison looks crazy scary. Wade! Whose place is Wade taking? There were five guys and four girls dancing this routine the first time around because one of the girls was injured. (After consulting Wikipedia, it looks like the fifth boy--who Wade was subbed in for--was Ryan Rankine.) I feel like we're seeing way more of Wade than everyone else combined. Ivan looks different. Dmitry looks almost unrecognizable. I think it's because the zombie makeup is even weirder this time around. The red under-eye circles are not particularly flattering.
• I love how Cat took all the "in danger" dancers up onto the balcony with her and had them pretend like they just saw "Ramalama" performed. That was some pretty impressive acting from them.
• The ridiculousness of tonight's results is detracting from my enjoyment of the performances of the iconic routines.
• And now for another previously-recorded dance routine...it's the already-legendary Tyce/Katie Holmes number. Let's finally see this monstrosity... Or at least stop talking to Katie Holmes--we don't really care what she has to say at this point. Is she going to dance in those super high heals? It's Mark! Oh yeah, Katie's not lip-syncing at all... She doesn't even have a microphone. Is that Joshua I see? Who are these other generic dudes? The one is getting a heck of a lot of screen time. Way more than Josh, a SYTYCD winner. I don't think they got one good shot of Josh during that whole number. (Did I hear that Twitch was supposedly in it too? I didn't see him at all.)
• Well, at least Josh got some quick camera time there for standing next to Tyce. Unfortunately, that means he had to stand next to Tyce... Lol.
• Ha ha, Judy Garland's son, Joe, was there in the audience tonight "to witness that" number.
• Girls' results: It's Janette! This sucks. She never even got to do that fancy flip-split thing again. Good luck at the bank I guess, Janette. Nigel says that Janette was his favorite and he really wanted her to win this season. Ok, Janette says that she's realized how much she really, really loves to dance, so it sounds like the bank job is on hold now.
• Guys' results: Jason. Boooooooooooooo. Poor Jason. I'm guessing he won't get a special speech from Nigel too, huh? He should have gone shirtless for his solo this week, I guess. Aww, poor Jason is crying. He's very gracious and thanks everyone who has helped him get to this point.
• All the judges, choreographers and alumni dancers join this year's contestants up on the stage. When the end credit music starts to play, some of the current dancers go to hug tonight's evictees, but the alumni just start dancing. Lol.
• So it's looking like Evan for the win, huh? He's been sailing through while being mostly mediocre, so if he actually pulls out something awesome in the next two weeks, it looks like he's a virtual lock.

Top 8 results night strikes again! These results were altogether depressing... At least VH1 is showing The Temptations miniseries tonight. That will cheer me up a bit; I hardcore love that movie. (If you don't feel like sitting through the entire six hours, here's the best part.)

SYTYCD: Crazy Eights

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 8 Performance Show"

Yea, it's SYTYCD night! Even though I haven't loved this season as much as past seasons, I still look forward to Wednesday performance nights each week. I'm now officially glad that there's going to be a fall season of SYTYCD this year--I do not like being without this show.

Top 8 night can be tricky--we lost Will this time last year. Will there be any surprise exits this year?

The play-by-play:

• Yea for FOX for not preempting SYTYCD to show Pres. Obama's prime time talk. I hate presidential prime time talks (and I was a political science major). My reaction to the time that Pres. George W. Bush preempted The O.C. was not cute. They should make a rule that says that unless there's some sort of national disaster, presidents only get three prime time talks each year or something.
• During the introduction solos, I thought the dancers were trying to see who could do the most boring solo until Brandon got out there and really shook it.
• Cat's dress is stunning. I'm not entirely sure if it is stunning in a good way or a bad way yet, but it's definitely something. It looks like expertly-draped liquid metal. She has paired it with a sleek pony tail and chunky silver bracelet.
• Oh yeah, I forgot that Ellen DeGeneres was on the show tonight. It's funny that they put Mary in between Mia and Ellen to break up the spiky-haired blondes. It seems like there's a hair theme tonight, and I feel like now we just need to get Kate Gosselin up there. (She'd certainly be able to come up with some critical things to say about something.)
• Ellen says she learned her dance moves on the street of her gated community :-)
• I think Mary just said that this year is "crazy off the chain." That was a very poor use of late '90s slang...
• IT'S TRAVIS WALL AGAIN!!!!!!!!! Choreographing a group number! Wohoo! It's getting close to be Travis-overload these two weeks, but I love it!

Group number:

• The featurette: The concept is a rave in the year 2200 or 2300. I guess raves won't change much in those 100 years...
• The dance: Is Nigel going to bitch about these costumes? They look a little alien-ish, and we all know how he feels about that. It is kind of hard to tell who is who. Besides for Evan and Kayla, they all kind of bend in. I think I missed some of the little individual showcases. I caught Brandon's there at the end. Overall, the dance was pretty good. It wasn't exactly up to Travis-Wall-orgasmic-awesomeness levels though.
• The judging: What the hell does Travis have on his hands? I guess they are the little light things that the dancers have. Nigel says he LIKES the costumes! What?! I'm getting the picture that Ellen's job tonight is just stalling. Mary's still trying to sell this load-of-crap line that all of these dancers are equally good. Mia recruits Ellen to wear one of these costumes with her on Thursday.

More musings:

• Where does one pick up a copy of Dance Spirit magazine, anyway? Not that I really want a magazine with one of these people on the cover...
• Wow, Wade's going to dance in "Ramalama" tomorrow! Woooooooo!

Evan and Janette (Sonya Tayeh jazz routine):

• The featurette: This combination of dancers and choreography could either be awesome or absolutely horrendous.
• The dance: The beginning was pretty good. In the middle it looked to me like Janette was really out-dancing Evan. I don't think he's got the arm motions quite right. Nevertheless, it wasn't a disaster by any means, and I really liked the Sonya choreography. I especially liked when Janette jumped up and Evan caught her. I would have loved to see this routine danced by some legit contemp/jazz dancers.
• The judging: Nigel says that he's finally getting "more" out of Evan. Do you think Ellen will say anything negative about anyone tonight? How, Mary, is this "way out" of Evan's specialization? This was jazz. He does Broadway-ish jazz, right? It was "way out" of Janette's specialty maybe. Let's home Mia smacks some truth back into these proceedings! Mia says Evan has gotten by on his adorable face. Mia says that Janette is her favorite, favorite, favorite this season. Whoa!

Kayla's solo: Dances to Imogen Heap while wearing a very pretty sparkly dress. This solo was eons better than most of the other ones she's done! She actually danced during this one, instead of just doing a rapid succession of splits and kicks. And there's her grandpa!

Brandon and Jeanine (Hunter Johnson waltz):

• The featurette: This looks like a power couple! But they drew the waltz... The two seem to be having major difficulties picking up the dance during rehearsal, and Brandon mentions something about thinking about birds and bunnies.
• The dance: I like Brandon's dress-shirt-and-vest look. This routine seems very slow. I'm getting a bit sleepy... It's not bad, but it seems like it could be better. Brandon namely looked a little awkward at times.
• The judging: Nigel says that routine was extremely demanding. He says that the music was "like pulling teeth" and like "music for insomniacs." His eventual point was that because the music was so slow, they needed to be extremely good and they just weren't as good as he wanted them to be. Ellen continues to say only irrelevant things. Mary confirms that that waltz was slooooooooooow and probably the slowest one of the show ever (yea?). Mia says that maybe if Brandon wasn't dreaming about birds and bunnies during rehearsal, the dance would have been better. Mia now says that she wanted more because these two are "the tops."

Jason's solo: Does a few really nice switch-leg splits. Not a whole heck of a lot else to write home about though. Jason points out his brother in the audience. And, is it just me, or has Jason become a heck of a lot hammier in the last few weeks (since about the time Caitlin got the boot)?

Ade and Melissa (Tony and Meredith cha cha):

• The featurette: Ugh. This pairing feels like a tired rerun. Poor freaking Ade--it's back to shlepping Melissa around the stage for him. (Couldn't they have put Ade with Kayla and Jason with Melissa so everyone could dance with someone different? I don't get it.) At least they're doing a cha cha. There haven't been enough spicy Latin dances this year.
• The dance: The highlight is that Ade's wearing bright red pants! Something about Melissa isn't working quite right in this style. She can do the hip-wiggle turns okay, but when she has to move around the stage, it looks wrong. Ade looks okay to me. Geez, there haven't been many spicy Latin routines this year, and there really haven't been many good spicy Latin routines. (Have there been any good ones at all?)
• The judging: Nigel says they did well but then proceeds to kind of pick them apart a bit. Ade's smile is adorable! Ellen: "Are you two carpenters? Because you nailed it!" Mary says she feels like everything is in slow motion right now and that allows us to really notice technique. Ade's bum was too high. Melissa was turning her feet out too much and then turning them in too much. Mia thinks this was Ade's worst performance of the season. Mia says that Ade's movement "is so thick anyways." Mia gives Melissa a free pass because she's a ballerina.

Janette's solo: Dancing to slow music in the most clothing I think I've seen her wear all season. It was a very nice solo--she managed to contemporary-up her salsa moves a bit with some spiffy leg extensions.

Another musing:

• I wish Glee would just go ahead and start back up already. I'm getting really sick of hearing about it during every single SYTYCD commercial break. And I want to seem them perform "Gold Digger."

Jason and Kayla (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Ugh, it's Broadway and Tyce. The routine is about a guy who is caught up in the music and a girl who wants to capture his attention.
• The dance: Kayla's dress is gorgeous. I'm really liking Kayla in this style. I think the dancers are doing a great job, but the routine looks a little under-choreographed. When the music was really pounding, Jason was just kind of standing there for a couple seconds.
• The judging: Nigel says that Jason's toes and feet were absolutely terrific, and at times Jason reminded him of Gene Kelly (take that, Evan supporters!). Oh my freaking heck, Mary has an actual train whistle! The interesting thing is that the whistle is far less annoying then her screaming. Cat suggests that Mary could sell her own line of train whistles. I'm not sure if that would catch on. Mia says that Jason needs to open up his upper body. Now Mia says that if Kayla can act and sing, she'll take Broadway by storm. So, basically, it sounds to me like Mia can't make up her mind of who her favorite actually is (Janette, Jeanine, Brandon, or Kayla).

Ade's solo: Is pure awesomeness. The music is just tones and rhythm, and he choreographed his moves well to it.

Evan and Janette (Tony and Melanie rumba):

• The featurette: Well, let's see if Janette can bring the sexy out of Evan. If she can't do it, no one can. Sorry, Evan, but I think most everyone falls into the sexy Latino mindset easier than you.
• The dance: Performed to a heavily-orchestrated version of "Heartless." Geez, I hate rumbas! They are so slow and boring that it looks like two random people off the street could do one after a half-hour of practice. I realize that that's not the case, but that's what it looks like. Aside from boring me to tears, the dancers did pretty well. Evan wasn't ridiculous at least.
• The judging: I think Nigel just acknowledged that people don't vote for rumbas because they're boring. Nigel doesn't think that there's anything passionate in Evan's face, and that he has heavy eyelids that make him look sleepy. Ellen says she loves Evan's eyes, and sadly that's the closest she's come to giving a substantive critique all night. Mary commends Evan for not losing his balance at any point, which does seem to be the general idea... Mia says that not everyone has to be a sexpot. Mia says that Evan was using a Zoolander face.

Melissa's solo: More interesting in the first 15 seconds than her entire solo was last week. Looks like Debbie Allen's comments hit home. The solo still didn't seem to be jam-packed with great stuff or particularly awesome for any reason, but at least it was less boring than last week's solo.

Brandon and Jeanine (Laurie Ann Gibson pop jazz)

• The featurette: Whoa, Laurie Ann is no joke! She's working them hard and reaming Jeanine out!
• The dance: This is some sort of military-themed routine that would be a lot cooler if it weren't set to a mawkish Jordin Sparks song. The dancers are trying to infuse it with a lot of strength and feeling and emotion but the song just doesn't go there with them. The dancing was good but the song ruined it for me.
• The judging: Nigel says this has been the flatest night ever on SYTYCD until this routine (which is an odd thing to say since he's given most everyone decent critiques up until now). Ellen says that they made it look appealing to join some sort of armed forces. After a long build up, Mia lets out a few loud screams. Mia says Brandon is such a powerhouse (I don't understand why she sees this now, but hated everything about him a few months ago).

Evan's solo: Hey, look, he's wearing a fedora, dress shirt, tie and suspenders. Who'd have thought? He accidentally drops the fedora, but covers it pretty well. The solo was charming, but nothing we haven't seen from him before.

Jeanine's solo: Very fun, different, nice solo to "Let the Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope. I would have liked to watch another few minutes of this one. The girls' solos have been better over all this week, I'd say.

Ade and Melissa (Tyce Diorio contemporary):

• The featurette: The routine is designed to be a powerful piece about a woman battling breast cancer.
• The dance: Melissa's wearing a head scarf like a cancer patient would. Some gorgeous lifts and jump/catches. Not sure I really "got" the full story there though. I could tell Melissa was fighting something, but I didn't really get why Ade was there. I didn't really understand the resolution either.
• The judging: Nigel is almost in tears and says that he'd be surprised if Tyce doesn't get an Emmy nomination for this. He thinks it was one of the most memorable routines on the show ever. I'm not sure I agree. I've been more touched by other SYTYCD routines (and I honestly don't really feel the need to be "touched" by SYTYCD routines anyway). Ellen says it was the "most beautiful thing she's ever seen." Maybe it looked better in person? Mary is in tears. I'm not really understanding this "thanks to Tyce for shedding light on this situation" stuff either--yes, it's a tough subject, but it's not like breast cancer is something no one has ever heard of before, you know? I do agree that it's a good thing for us all to think about, but please don't act like none of us knew about how devastating cancer is until Tyce depicted it for us. Mia is also in tears (her dad passed away due to cancer). Tyce is crying too. One of the girls in the audience looks really familiar, like Sarah Drew from Everwood maybe. (BTW, when I Googled Sarah Drew to make sure that was really her name, I read that she is Ben McKenzie's second cousin!)

Brandon's solo: This week he's wearing no shirt, which is far more Brandon-like than his fully-clothed look last week. And this solo is really good, complete with nice dancing, fancy tricks, awesome splits and a slammin' series of back handsprings into a huge back layout.

Jason and Kayla (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Jason is a zombie who beats Kayla up. This seems like a very strange choice for a follow-up to the cancer routine (and a little bit insensitive). This will give both Jason and Shane the chance to redeem themselves for that horrendous hip hop routine they did with Caitlin a few weeks ago. And just for the record, so far this year we've had vampires, aliens and now zombies. What's left--werewolves?
• The dance: Zombies and dancing is very "Thriller," which Jason (the MJ fan) should like. I'm enjoying this routine a lot. They're hitting the moves well and syncing well with each other. My favorite part was Jason's little solo dance after he knocked Kayla to the ground. That was so cute! This was the first time Kayla's done hip hop, and she was great. And Jason was definitely way better in this than he was in his previous hip hop number.
• The judging: Jason is really into this zombie thing. Nigel likes the routine. He says that he's been a bit disappointed with the hip hop this year, but this one was really good. Ellen says if they keep dancing like that, they'll have their own talk show some day. Mary thinks Jason, her "little puppy dog," must have gotten rabies. Mia says this is her favorite Shane Sparks routine on the show ever and that she especially liked the strangling pose at the end.

Favorites: Jason and Kayla's hip hop, Evan and Janette's jazz, Jason and Kayla's Broadway

In trouble:

The guys: I honestly don't know who is going to get this boot this week. Personally, I'd go with Evan, but he seems to have a substantial following, so he might get through. So that would mean that the guy going home would be Jason? Maybe Ade? Maybe Brandon if people forget to vote for him? I have no idea.

The girls: Send Melissa hoooooooooooome. Her cha cha was no good, her solo was okay, and her contemporary was lovely, but the other girls are better.

SYTYCD: Adios to Unitards and Hawaiians

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 10 Results Show"

As for the SYTYCD Emmy nominations: I saw the nods to Mia Michaels' "Mercy" and Napoleon and Tabitha's "Bleeding Love" coming coming from a mile away. Those were two of the most beloved routines of the season at the time and two of the most remembered since then. I was, however, surprised about the other two routines that were recognized. I didn't remember Dmitry's Argentine tango at all. All I remembered about Tyce Diorio's "Silence" was that Will wore the least amount of clothing allowed on network TV. (I bet Tyce is going to be even more insufferable now that he's got an Emmy nom.) After re-watching, I can attest that both routines are very nice, but I'm a bit shocked that they were nominated and "The Garden" wasn't. I mean, "The Garden" is an iconic SYTYCD routine--maybe it was a little too out-there for Emmy voters?

My prediction for tonight's show: Kupono and Randi will be headed home.

The play-by-play:

• The people here a SYTYCD really just love to push Melissa out of her comfort zone, huh? Here she is in the group number wearing pointe shoes and doing ballet.
• That was actually kind of boring for a Wade Robson routine.
• Cat appears wearing a extremely sparkly, dangerously short dress.
• It must suck for Cat to have to announce all the Emmy nominees when she was majorly snubbed yet again.
• Nigel's getting an honorary degree in England and he's not here? It feels so strange without him here! But it's kind of nice having one fewer people here gabbing away.
• Goodness! That opening lift in Kup and Randi's paso was all kinds of rough! I didn't notice that last night.
• So Janette's still the obvious shoe-in for the girls? She was the first one told that she's save. I thought Jeanine would get the first reprieve. Randi is the first girl in the bottom two. Jeanine gets the second reprieve. Kayla's safe too. Melissa's the second girl in the bottom two. (And, hey, that's the way it should be!)
• Look who isn't skating by on the popularity of Evan and Ade anymore...
• It will be interesting to see who is in the bottom two for the guys (in addition to Pono). Will fan-favorite Evan escape the danger-zone yet again? If he does, that leaves only fan-favorites Brandon and Ade and Jason who had the powerhouse routine of the night.
• Cat shows us some more highlights from the season 6 auditions. I'm still not interested in them.
• This 18-year-old Utah girl who moved to California is a good dancer, but she's a tad annoying.
• Does it look like the hairstylist didn't quite finish with Cat before the show started, or is it just me?
• Jason is the first safe boy! And he celebrates by yelling "YEEEAAAAHH" a couple of times. Oh geez, Evan's safe too! What does this kid have to do to get in the bottom two/three? Pono has blue and yellow streaks on his face and a very bizarre outfit (parachute capri pants with white tassels and a shredded vest) and he's in the bottom two. Brandon's safe and Ade's in the bottom two and they both look surprised.
• Next week Mia and Ellen Degeneres are going to join Nigel and Mary on the judging panel?! Ooh-kay. (There's going to be a lot of chatting next week.)
• Cat teases the performances of "The Bench," "The Hummingbird" and "Ramalama" in the 100th episode next Thursday.
• Randi: I think her solo is better tonight, but maybe that's just because she's not wearing that gross silky ruffled dress.
• Mary can't think of any specific moments of Randi on the show? What about the butt dance, Mary? How could she have forgotten that?
• Debbie points out that Randi's outfit is much better tonight than last night. And she also reminds us that she's no fan of the paso doble. Lol.
• Pono: So he came up with this one solo and that's all he's got? But yet he always has time to shred up another new outfit?
• People, people! We've only got 20 minutes left and we've still got to do two more solos and watch the Black Eyed Peas and kick some people off! We don't have time for 15-minute monologues from Mary!
• Melissa: Are they supposed to be doing the same solos that they did last night, or have these people just run out of ideas?
• Debbie flat out tells Melissa that she needs to show us more in her solos. Tell her like it is, Debbie! (Ohh, that was awesome!)
• Ade's doing the same solo tonight too. Complete with the back flip that comes too close to the stairs...cause apparently giving people heart attacks is a good thing to do in your solo?
• I've said it before, the Black Eyed Peas/Fergie must have some kind of sweetheart deal with SYTYCD. They show up on here in one form or another at least once every season.
• Fergie needs another outfit badly. The black bustier/skin tight black leggings/black wedge shoes just doesn't look good.
• The Black Eyed Peas pull out just one back up "dancer" who just takes off her shirt. Well, thanks for that... Oh, ok, here are some more "dancers." They're not really doing anything either.
• As far as Black Eyed Peas songs go, this one's not particularly memorable or catchy. Usually they come up with something that you don't particularly want to like, but it's so darn catchy/relentless that you can't not listen to it.
• Cat even makes all the members of the Black Eyed Peas looks short.

The results:

• The girls: Randi's going home. She tells Melissa not to cry because she's not crying. So long, unitard girl, it's been fun. (She really should have worn a unitard for her solo last night instead of that ugly dress.)
• The guys: Kupono's going home too. Thank goodness, I'm so over this kid! I thought his to-do lists were cute in the beginning, but he's been on my nerves for a few weeks now.
• Randi and Kupono both look liberated--not sad. Strange. They're either being ridiculously good sports or they wanted out.

SYTYCD: Addiction, Unplanned Pregnancy & Thievery

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 12 Performance Show"

The opening:

• Ohhh, each couple is going to dance twice. I was wondering how we were going to fill the time tonight (because Lord knows it's been a struggle the last few weeks...).
• I think Kupono did more in this 5-second intro than he did in his entire solo last week.
• Cat is looking very prim and proper (but still kind of sultry and stunning) in a fitted, cap-sleeved black dress. Her makeup is rather bold, however. Her diamond bracelets are great though.
• Oh nooooooooooooooooooo, it's Tyce. (Well, on the bright side, I guess this means we won't have to watch any of his Broadway routines tonight.)

Melissa and Ade (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: Can some please steal that comb away from Ade?
• The dance: I feel like this is one of the few times we've actually going to see Ade do any dancing other than just lifting Melissa around. He's kind of dancing circles around her in this style, IMO. Not that you can really fault her too much since she spent literally 60% of that routine being spun around and around and around in lift after lift.
• The judging: At least the two routines per couple tonight will mean that the judges will have to keep their critiques somewhat shorter. Or not--Mary's been babbling on for quite awhile.

Kayla and Kupono (Mia Michaels contemporary):

• The featurette: Um, yeah, the producers want these two to make it through the week--they're stacking the deck by giving them a Mia routine. Especially if it makes Kup cry during the featurette. But didn't these two just do contemporary last week?! I seem to remember something about vampires. Come on, people! This is ridiculous.
• The dance: Kayla's doing a lot of throwing herself around the stage--some of it looked pretty painful. I like Kupono's smug face. I'm not sure if I loooooooooooooooved the routine though. There was a lot of them standing in the same place and tangling up.
• The judging: Nigel says Kayla has too much hair. Kupono looks more like a vampire this week than he did last week. I'm not sure that the judges got the message that their constant over-hype of these two is not helping them out any in this competition (since they did one of the best routines last week and still landed in the bottom 3). Tyce calls Kayla "a beast" and it's meant to be a good thing. Cat thinks this routine is going to be one to remember from this season, but I beg to differ.

Caitlin and Jason (Tony Meredith and Melanie fox trot):

• The featurette: So Kup and Kayla get contemporary for the second week in a row, and these two poor kids get a fox trot?! Oy vey.
• The dance: I like Cailtin's sparkly dress with a flowy green skirt. This is a nice jazzy fox trot, but at times is seemed really, really slow. And then it went a little lift-crazy. Jason and Caitlin brought good presentation to it, however. Personally, I think there's been a collective overlooking so far this season of how good Jason actually is.
• The judging: Nigel thinks this is Caitlin's style: smooth, cool and elegant. Mary thinks it was "tremendous" too, but her tone is just a little lackluster. Tyce thinks they could have glided more.

Jeanine and Phillip (Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko Russian folk dance):

• The featurette: I'm not sure how I feel about the Russian folk dance being brought back. It was fun when Twitch and Joshua did one during last year's finale, but I don't know if I need to see another one. (Especially one performed by two people who can't jump as high as Josh.)
• The dance: Why do I feel like Jeanine's going to win this "dance battle" handily? Phillip sure is smiling awfully big though. To his credit, Chbeeb does pull off some impressive squat-kicks. There was an odd moment at the end when the music was at a fever pitch and they were both standing basically still, preparing to do a pot-stir. (I kind of wish they'd sent Nina, the girl from auditions who could do that awesome pot-stir, through just for this very moment).
• The judging: Nigel's not sure they should have made a couple do this. Well, duh, it wasn't my idea to make them dance in a folk style. I'm not one of the producers. Nigel thinks we needed more vodka to watch that. Mary really believed that Jeanine was a Russian folk dancer for a second. Tyce does enunciate his words very well.

Randi and Evan (Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop):

• The featurette: Oh, geez, this routine's about a young couple who finds out they're going to have a baby. I feel like we're running out of material here. It's about time these two got hip hop though.
• The dance: This looks soooooooo much like the Nappy-Tabs routine from last year that Mark and Chelsie did, just minus the briefcase and plus some more stomach-touching. If she's supposed to be pregnant, should she being doing so many lifts? In any event, I think they danced it fairly well; but I was kind of distracted.
• The judging: Nigel expresses chagrin at a routine showing a pregnancy preceding an engagement ring. And he also wonders whether Randi should have been doing the lifts in "her condition."

It's beginning to seem like this show has a theme along the lines of "the problems of young people" or "the challenges of growing up" or something, since we've focused on addiction and now unplanned pregnancy. What's next? A lyrical jazz routine about getting busted for underage drinking? A fox trot about bombing the SATs?

Brandon and Janette (Leonardo and Miriam Argentine tango):

• The dance: Let's see if these two can out-tango Chbeeb...so far, so good. Janette's leg movements are spectacular. Like, all I could look at during the entire dance was her legs. The lifts were great too.
• The judging: After a dramatic pause, Nigel gives the couple a standing ovation and is joined by Mary and Tyce. Nigel says, for a ballroom routine, that was about as close to perfection as we've seen on this show ever. For once, I'm pretty much on board with his hyperbole. Mary puts them on the Hot Tamale Train and spends the next 60 seconds screaming uncontrollably. Tyce uses a very extended, bizarre metaphor about an orange and a juicer. I'm at a loss.

Yes! Next week, we're breaking up the couples! Bring it on.

Melissa and Ade (Ron Montez waltz)

• The featurette: Melissa seems much more distressed about the breakup of the couple than Ade does. Now Ade has to do that waltz? Eesh--when will this guy get a chance to do something other than carry this chick around the stage? Give the boy a hip hop routine, darn it! BTW, why has Melissa never had to do hip hop? Seems like she's also getting a lot of very favorable dance selections (like Kupono and Kayla).
• The dance: I'm not loving Ade's jacket-without-sleeves. The flowy skirt of Melissa's dress is definitely stealing the show here. Hey, look, Ade just did an impressive series of pirouettes! So he can do things other than just picking Melissa up and making her look good.
• The judging: Nigel would have liked some more rise and fall from Ade, and Mary says his "twinkles" didn't have enough power. I'm serious; that's what she said. Nigel asks if he gets a break from Mary next week and Mary says, "NO! Pipe down, English muffin!" Tyce doesn't think that Melissa quite rose to the occasion of dancing to a song like "Natural Woman."

Why hasn't anyone had to krump this season?

Kayla and Kupono (Joey Dowling Broadway):

• The featurette: Pono says what he'll miss most about Kayla is "her sweating hands and feet." Lol, ouch. I love how Joey torments all the dancers.
• The dance: They're kind of waltzing too, to begin the number. But it turns out to be music from West Side Story. There's something distractingly weird about Kup's pants--I think they're too short. The dance was decent--it seemed like there was something slightly off through most of it, like Pono was constantly on the verge of a big mess-up or a face-plant or something.
• The judging: Nigel didn't think they captured the right tension and style. Mary still thinks that these two are great though (eye roll). Tyce also thinks they could have dug in more, but that they'll still be around for awhile.

Caitlin and Jason (Mandy Moore lyrical jazz):

• The featurette: Jason is still super chill and collected. Jason points out that this is the first week they've gotten the chance to showcase their lines and their technique.
• The dance: Jason also gets to showcase his bare chest. Caitlin looks stunning in these lifts. She can strike positions just as beautiful as the super-hyped Kayla and Melissa. The routine was good. I'm not sure that it was the tour de force routine that they probably needed to keep them in this competition though.
• The judging: Nigel says he doesn't always see chemistry between them, but says--in a very subdued manner--that they danced it very well. Mary says she loved the piece, but that they didn't bring "magic" to it. Mary thinks it was really good, but not memorable. Tyce thinks they did a great job, but could have taken it further. This is like the night of mixed-message critiques. Everything is "very good" but "not memorable" or "not taken far enough."

Jeanine and Phillip (Tony and Melanie jive):

• The featurette: Wait, Chbeeb and Jeanine aren't going to do another Nappy-Tabs hip hop for us this week? The jive? I'm confused. Phillip: "We have a few booty-grabs and chest-shimmies-in-the-faces."
• The dance: Ok, you know what, Phillip is not that bad at the jive. I'm sure he's not nailing the finer points, and he did almost fall over at one point, but he's got the general idea and he's doing a good job of selling it. Jeanine's looking very good. She's turned out to be very versatile. That was a fun routine.
• The judging: Nigel says the choreo was terrific and that, without question, this was the best that Phillip's been out of his style. Well, duh. Mary guarantees us that Jeanine will be here next week. Well, ok. Mary thought Phillip was going to crash and burn, but that he actually did a really good job. Mary puts Jeanine on the Hot Tamale Train. Tyce says "call 1-800-fan-freakin-tastic!"

Randi and Evan (Pasha and Anya samba):

• The featurette: PASHAAAAAA!!!!!! PASHAAAA!!! PAAASHHHAAAA!!!! Holy crap, he's adorable!
• The dance: Randi's got a weird leopard print-and-fringe dress that definitely looks like it would be right up Anya's alley. Since the music was mostly rhythm (very little melody), it demanded a technical proficiency, crispness and attitude that they weren't exactly displaying. Could we please just now watch Pasha and Anya do that routine? PLEASE!!
• The judging: Nigel says it wasn't hot enough--and not as hot as it would have been if Pasha and Anya were doing it. Mary says they did a good job, but Evan needed to do more and find some more fire. Mary thought Randi was a Hot Tamale though. Tyce brings up Danny and Lacey's hot samba in addition to Pasha and Anya's hot routines, saying that this performance didn't live up to those.

Janette and Brandon (Wade Robson jazz):

• The featurette: Finally, Brandon and Janette get one of the marquee routines! They've been consistently great each week, but they haven't gotten any particularly memorable choreo. This routine is about two thieves.
• The dance: Thieves with some crazy sunglasses, apparently. Lots of stair-work in the beginning. This song is pretty awesome. This style is more up Brandon's alley, but Janette is killing it. That was a super fun and very nicely performed.
• The judging: Wade and his wife are wearing crazy sunglasses too! Nigel says that this shows that there's nothing they can throw at these two that they can't do. He's impressed with Janette's ability to keep up with Brandon too. Mary says the best was saved for last. She says they stole everybody's heart. Tyce says they have "that thing." It's a little hard to take Wade's "strong voice in the industry" seriously when he's wearing those glasses... Tyce's stint on the juding panel tonight turned out to be far less annoying than I was expecting.

My favorite routines:
Janette and Brandon's jazz
Janette and Brandon's Argentine tango
Jeanine and Phillip's jive
(runner up is Caitlin and Jason's lyrical jazz)

In trouble:
I'm thinking the bottom three couples will be Caitlin and Jason, Kupono and Kayla, and Randi and Evan.

SYTYCD: Vampires, Aliens and Ballerinas, Oh My!

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 14 Performance Show"

The episode started off with quite a dramatic opening montage, seeing as it's only Top 14 night. (That intro seemed like it was designed for the finales or at least the week the cuts for the Top 10 are made.)

Cat's dress is a little on the boring side again this week. Strapless, hot pink, poofy skirt, kind of prom-y. She has at least paired it with kind of a punky belt, however.

Has the line above the U in Kupono always been there? I've not noticed it before. I guess I've got to start figuring out how to get that symbol in Blogger... or not.

Oh nooooo, the third judge is Mia! Poor Brandon. Hushed silence as we wait to find out if Mia pulled the stick out of her butt in regards to Brandon. She reports that her opinion of him has improved. So that's nice. I was sure they were going to milk that later in the show: Brandon performs and Mia suddenly has an epiphany and realizes that he doesn't represent everything she hates in the world after all. And everyone cries.

Do we need to do such a thorough retrospective on every couple's three previous routines? It's only been three weeks!! I still remember all of their previous dances.

Janette and Brandon (Jean Marc & France Genereux cha cha):

• The featurette: Janette's bangs/hair really bother me.
• The dance: I like Janette's hair poofier like this. This routine is pretty good. Janette's obviously really good at it, and Brandon's keeping up well. It wasn't really a Benji/Heidi-caliber Latin-style routine, but will anything ever be? I'm beginning to think no.
• The judging: Nigel says this was "the best damn cha cha ever on this show." I'm not convinced, but upon further reflection, I remember that Benji and Heidi did a "club salsa" and a "mambo" but not a cha cha, so all comparisons to them are, in fact, completely irrelevant. Apparently, salsa technique (Janette's specialty) and cha cha technique are totally different. After a remarkably reserved and articulate critique, Mary gives them two first-class tickets on the hot tamale train and totally loses it. Mia tries to explain her past pissiness off as her recognition that Brandon has great talent and her wanting to be harder on him so that she can drive him to his full capabilities. I think she might just be kinda mean. Or that the producers told her to pick someone random and just skewer them to create some drama on the show. Whatever.

Kayla and Kupono (Sonya Tayeh contemporary): Enjoy your gift, kids. I can't imagine a more favorable combination of style and choreographer for these two dancers at this point in the competition.

• The featurette: Sonya's hopping right onto the pop culture vampire bandwagon with this routine.
• The dance: And, just in case we didn't get it, the song (Blue Foundation's "Eyes on Fire") comes straight off the Twilight soundtrack. I'm loving Kayla in this. Kupono's okay. I'm kind of wishing that he was Mark right now though. Mark + vampires would be absolutely creeptastic! I think they could have done a little more with Kupono's makeup for this one. He does not look all that vampire-ish; his lips aren't red enough.
• The judging: Nigel mention's Twilight and Sonya goes "YES!" in the audience. Lol, that seemed excessive. Nigel says that he's not going to talk about Kayla first because Kupono was so awesome. Ok, whatever. Mary likes it too and wants to know where Kup's beautiful kicks came from. Mia thinks this is Sonya's best piece ever on the show. (I still like "The Garden" better.)

We're 35 minutes in, and only two couples have performed. Oh my freaking heck...

Randy and Evan (Joey Dowling Broadway):

• The featurette: The couple reflects on their charmed life in this competition (getting assigned jazz, jive, and contemporary routines). And now Broadway! This is Evan's specialty. Ha ha, this Joey chick is hardcore.
• The dance: That opening spin/kick-(cartwheel)-on-the-table thing from Evan was awesome. Evan also looks way hotter than usual tonight. And this routine is eons better than most of Tyce's Broadway routines. Let's lock this Joey lady down! Evan was really good, and Randi was good too.
• The judging: Nigel thinks that their wrists need to be more flexible. Seriously? How does one make one's wrist more flexible in a week? Nigel says Randi did well but that Evan could do more. Mary says she really enjoyed it, but the tone of her voice doesn't sound too convincing. Mia says that since Evan and Randi are short, they need to take the dancing to an even higher level. Mia says Randi's dancing was "a little heavy." Mia also says "good job," but in a way that makes it sound like she's saying "that was the most horrendous piece of crap I've ever seen."

Wow, does Katherine Heigl's The Ugly Truth look terrible, or what?

Caitlin and Jason (Brian Friedman pop jazz):

• The featurette: Jason's personality seems a bit too calm for this show. He's very chill, and chill is rare on SYTYCD. Brian's back! Catlin is an alien who blew up Earth and then comes down to find the last man left with whom she can procreate. Now we're talking.
• The dance: Santigold!! "Creator" is a kick-ass track and it fits this theme well. Caitlin's doing pretty well with her alien role, but Jason's looking really good, even though his role isn't as flashy. Actually, he's kind of killing this. His pop jazz movements are superb. Isn't anyone going to suck this week? Who are we going to put in the bottom three?
• The judging: Nigel thinks Brian comes from another planet. Are those cuts on Jason's face part of his costume? OMG, Nigel just said that Caitlin's outfit makes her look like a "dancing condom." Cat: "Safety first, Nigel." Mary says this doesn't sit right with her. Come on, what's the big deal? How was this any weirder than crash test dummies or vampires or comic books or foxes or transformers or mannequins or any of the other weirdo stuff they've had on this show before? Would we seriously rather watch the same sappy contemporary routines about lovers getting together and then breaking up over and over and over again? I would not.

Jeanine and Phillip (Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop): ARE YOU SERIOUS?! They're doing another Nappy-Tabs hip hop routine? They did a Nappy-Tabs routine in week one! This is week four! That means that two of their four routines have been Nappy-Tabs hip hop routines! Come on! I realize that Phillip hasn't been showing that he can do any other style particularly well, but that's no reason to keep serving his specialty up to him.

• The featurette: Phillip describing how he felt when his pants ripped last week was hilarious.
• The dance: Kayne West's "Love Lockdown," get it? Because they're chained together? I appreciate that the addition of this chain must make this whole thing much harder, but the problem is that they're making it look like it's hard. I thought they were going to take each other out for awhile there. I'm not super impressed. Even the parts where they could ignore the chain and just dance for a while didn't seem that great because everything looked so much like what they did in week one.
• The judging: Nigel, however, loves it. Nigel actually uses the term "Nappy-Tabs." I thought that term was kind of derogatory, so I'd been refraining from using it. Mary says that this routine was just so incredibly creative. So to Mary, chains = creative, but aliens = no good. Oookay. Somehow Mary and Nigel both manage to not mention that this couple already did a Nappy-Tabs hip hop routine just weeks ago! Mia, however, thinks the chain made things look sloppy, and I agree. Way to sock it to Nappy-Tabs, Mia!

Melissa and Ade (Thordal Christensen classical/traditional pa de deux):

• The featurette: I guess this is the first "classical" pa de deux because Melissa's going to wear pointe shoes. So obviously this the only couple who could pull this style off, as Melissa is the only pointe dancer. I mean, can you even imagine Phillip trying to do a classical pa de deux?
• The dance: Beautiful. Not as flashy as SYTYCD routines are known to be--just very simple and classy. Excellent lifts. Melissa was lovely and Ade did all right. I would like to see them do a routine sometime that puts more focus on Ade, however. I feel like he's almost always there just to lift Melissa.
• The judging: Nigel almost wets himself over this, and then points out that tonight we've seen aliens impregnate dancers, dancers in chains, and now classical ballet. Mia says that Melissa was brilliant.

And now for a special announcement: Nigel, Adam Shankman, Carrie-Anne Inaba and Katie Holmes (naturally) have established The Dizzy Feet Foundation to benefit young, underprivileged dancers. They are kind of making it sound like no one has ever given scholarships to dancers in need before. In any event, Katie Holmes looks far better here in this interview than she's looked in years. Also involved is the top-notch team of Lil C, Paula Abdul, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and Debbie Allen. (Debbie is actually top-notch. Miley, not so much.) For more information: DizzyFeetFoundation.org.

Then Nigel announces (to no one's surprise) that SYTYCD's 100th episode on July 23 will include a tribute to Judy Garland choreographed by Tyce Diorio featuring Katie Holmes, who "donated her entire performance fee" to Dizzy Feet. Since when can Katie Holmes demand a performance fee for dancing? She was on freaking Dawson's Creek. That's like Adam Brody showing up on American Idol and expecting to get paid for singing.

Karla and Vitolio (Jean Marc & France Genereux quick step): These poor kids almost got kicked off last week and now they've got to end the show with a quick step!? It sure seems like they are getting thrown under the proverbial bus.

• The featurette: Jonathan looks just as happy sitting in the audience tonight as he did when he was actually in the competition. Vitolio already had to do a ballroom routine; cut this kid a break.
• The dance: I love Karla's polka dot outfit...whoa, and then all of a sudden it turns into a flowy pink dress! I'm no quick step expert, but this looks okay. I'm not sure that the quick step technique was impeccable, but the routine was fun: there was some Charleston and there was a little bit of a story. It was nice. I don't know if it will really inspire people to vote for them though. I think this does prove that Jonathan was holding Karla back a bit.
• The judging: Nigel and Mary both like it. Mia says Jean Marc is a genius and that this piece was amazing. Mia says that at times Vitolio looks like "a wild horse" who cannot be tamed, but sometimes he's great. Vitolio: "It was the kiss of death, but hopefully we made it the kiss of joy." That was a sweet thing to say, Vitolio, but I think it's going to take more than that to keep you out of the bottom three.

Phillip almost took Karla out when they first started to dance during the end credits. Other than that, the end credits dancing was much improved this week.

My favorites: Kayla and Kupono's contemporary, Caitlin and Jason's pop jazz, Randi and Evan's Broadway

Headed for the bottom three: It's kind of a tough one to call this week. I'm thinking Karla and Vitolio, Caitlin and Jason (due solely to the judges' lackluster critiques), and maybe Brandon and Janette (just because they went early and didn't have one of the gimmicky "marquee" routines of the night).

SYTYCD: Finding the Groove

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 16 Performance Show"

Yea! I'm actually home to watch (and blog) a SYTYCD performance show for the first time this season! I'm so happy about that!

Last week's eliminations: Ashley got a little screwed. I wish that Caitlin's pretty good solo wouldn't have been able to make up for her poor performances during the performance shows. I think she's in over her head and the producers just want to keep her around because she's blond and pretty. Max, on the other hand, got REALLY screwed. During both week's performance shows, he was impressive, and he did a good ballroom solo too. I like Kupono (I think his to-do lists are adorable and I like that he's kind of like last season's Mark), but if this show were fair, he would have gone home. His hip hop during the performance show was not good, and his solo was sub-par. I didn't think he was even doing much dancing during the solo. And, of course, I'm royally peeved that they tossed the ballroom boy out already (I'm not counting Jonathan as a ballroom boy because I'm not convinced that he actually is one.)

BTW, this post over at SYTYCD Social does a good job of articulating a theory that might explain why this season feels a little off. Personally, I think it has some merit.

Tonight's show:

Is this the most conventional dress Cat's ever worn on the show? (It's kind of Grecian with gold trim at the neckline and waist.) I feel like I've seen dresses like this a thousand times before. It's almost boring!

Karla and Jonathan (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: How exactly did Jonathan go from gymnast to Latin dancer? I'm not sure I understand. Why do none of this season's boys have the ability to do a good gangster face? Jon kinda looks like Ashley Parker Angel in the face. (How embarrassed am I that just admitted to remembering O-Town?)
• The dance: Karla's good at this. I'm not so sure about Jason. Maybe it's just that his shiny silver pants aren't doing him any favors. They certainly don't make him look anymore like a gangster. I liked the routine better than most of the Napoleon and Tabitha routines (and the Shane Sparks ones last week), but it wasn't performed all that well.
• The judging: Nigel is flipping out and says that he bets they'll be in the bottom three this week. Hey, speaking of Cat's dress being conventional--Mary's almost wearing the same one! Toni Basil says they had no groove or funk. I kind of feel bad for Karla--she was all right, but Jon's badness distracted the judges.

Asuka and Vitolio (Mandy Moore jazz):

• The featurette: Asuka makes jewelry for ballroom dancers. Mandy choreographed a rocker jazz routine. I'm glad they're doing this style this week, because I was wondering how Asuka would do with a jazz or contemporary routine. Poor Asuka's been reduced to tears, and Vitolio is being very sweet to her. That was one heck of a play for the sympathy vote ;-)
• The dance: I'm kind of distracted by Vitolio's tight light blue pants. This is not my favorite jazz routine ever, but I'm not sure how much of that is the choreography and how much of that is the performance. I'm going to say 40% choreo (just not as cool as Sonya's routines have been) and 60% performance?
• The judging: Is Asuka really a sweetheart, as Vitolio says? It seems like she rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Nigel says Mandy gave them simple steps. That might explain some of my issues with the routine--it just like kind of simple. I do like Asuka's rocker makeup though. LOL, so Toni's saying that the best part of their work this week was how Vitolio acted before and after the actual routine.

Melissa and Ade (Tony Meredith rumba):

• The featurette: Ade looks like he is a disaster at the rumba. As in, he looks like me trying to do the rumba ;-)
• The dance: Well, Melissa is wearing the customary half-dress that all girls wear when they rumba. And this dress really catches the light. Looks like they've gotten a lot better at the technique since the first practice. By far the highlights of this dance were the displays of her leg flexibility. I think they're doing a good job with the technique and performance, but I still find rumbas to be boring.
• The judging: Cat wishes she were wearing Melissa's dress. Nigel: "What a difference 'Ade' makes." Mary's freaking out because Ade was "grooving" and it's a little creepy.

Janette and Brandon (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: Brandon likes to make the stage look "all sparkly." Janette likes banking and loans. I was also wondering how Brandon and Janette would do with hip hop, so I'm glad we get to find out tonight.
• The dance: Well, that is one hell of an outfit they've got on Janette! Janette's doing pretty well with her chair dance at the beginning of the routine. And, I gotta say, I'm loving Brandon's hip hop dancing! It's light and fluid like you'd expect from a contemporary dancer, but it's freaking good. This was easily the best hip hop routine of the season: best choreography and best performances.
• The judging: Mary and Nigel point out that these two did really well with hip hop which is very different than their personal styles. Mary gives them a scream. Toni says they had the groove.

Kayla and Kupono (Jean-Marc Genereux Viennese waltz): These two almost got kicked off last week, and they're making them do the Viennese waltz this week?! Ouch. I want to see Kupono try to do Latin--I feel like that would be funny.

• The featurette: Is Kayla tall enough to be a runway model? I'm not surprised that Kupono likes costume design--not just anyone would go on national television with half of a green boa attached to his shirt. Kupono says he lacks upper body strength.
• The dance: The set design (a cityscape projected with lights) is really cool. It's probably bad that I'm paying more attention to the set than I am to the dancing though. I'm no Viennese waltz expert, but I thought that this one looked pretty good.
• The judging: Cat: "Sometimes when a dancer reaches into a hat and pulls out the Viennese waltz, they die a million deaths." Nigel says they did a beautiful job but concedes that people think Viennese waltzes are boring. (Then why are we still doing so many of them on this show, Nigel?) Mary tries to bolster the cause of Viennese waltzers everywhere by putting these two on the Hot Tamale Train.

Randi and Evan (Mia Michael's contemporary): Didn't these two just dance a contemporary routine two weeks ago? I guess that was "jazz" but it was very contemporary-esque. It wasn't choreographed by Mia though, and this marks her first couple routine of the season (she choreographed the Top 18 group dance). But I wanted to see Evan try hip hop, darn it!

• The featurette: Is it just me who is unfamiliar with this "gearhead" term? Evan's still trying to get mileage out of his joke about the jive being "fun." Well, Evan, if you're working with Mia, this week might not be so fun ;-) What's this about him being hypnotized by Randi's booty? What?
• The dance: What is Evan wearing? He looks like a hobo. Randi's doing a lot of dancing with one bare foot and one stiletto, which doesn't look easy. Randi's dancing is really reminding me specifically of someone, but I'm not sure who. Maybe Lauren from Season 3 or Allison from Season 2? I don't know, I'm leaning toward Allison. Whatever, I like this routine. I think Randi (and not just her butt) is overshadowing Evan though.
• The juding: Cat: "Cheeky!" Nigel: "...but--and there is a butt..." Nigel definitely planned this critique out ahead of time. He's not just spouting off these butt puns off the top of his head. He says the routine was kind of simple (for Mia), but it was well-danced. If Randi is sooooo uncomfortable with people people looking at her butt, why would she own so many unitards with hot pants? Speaking of butts, Toni is doing some major kissing of Mia's.

Caitlin and Jason (Jean-Marc & France Genereux paso doble):

• The featurette: Caitlin definitely has a broadcast journalist vibe to her. Our first paso of the season.
• The dance: The routine starts out with an impressive opening that showcases Caitlin's exceptional flexibility. Jason just made a "ROAR!" face, and I didn't buy it at all. He looks like a extra in a Robin Hood movie in this costume. The dancing looked a little rough towards the end of the routine. They did really try to make it intense though.
• The judging: Nigel does not seem blown away, but he says they did a good job. Mary's trying to tell us that this was a strong performance; and I might have believed her, if she hadn't just said that Jason looks great in that costume. Her credibility is shot to heck now.

Jeanine and Phillip (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Phillip wants to be an inventor. Jeanine wants to be an actress (yet she's on a dancing show). Lol, Tyce just yelled "Get over it!" at Phillip. Ugh, I hope Phillip makes it the whole way over the couch tonight.
• The dance: He cleared the couch! In other news, I think they're both dancing this routine well. And they're good pillow smashers. This style suits them because they're both good at personality-driven performances.
• The judging: Oh no, Phillip ripped his pants! And Nigel pointed it out. Poor Phillip. Jeanine's bangs are driving me nuts. Phillip: "I gave you more than you wanted this time." Mary: "I'm allergic to down feathers...but I wasn't allergic to that routine!!" Lol, that was ridiculous. Toni: "I thought it was adorable, but I don't think adorable is a great, great word..."

Is it just me or is the quality of the dancing during the ending theme song (while the credits are rolling) really poor this season as compared to others? Half these people aren't even dancing, and some people are just acting weird.

My favorite routines: Brandon and Jeanette's hip hop, Randi and Evan's contemporary, and I guess Melissa and Ade's rumba (by process of elimination)

In trouble: Karla and Jonathan (I forgot all about that routine by the time they showed the recap); Asuka and Vitolio, and probably Caitlin and Jason (but maybe Kupono and Kayla).

SYTYCD: It's Raining Dancers

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 18 Performance Show"

Blogging SYTYCD recaps has become such an ordeal for me this season. Last week, I was on vacation and literally in the middle of picking hard shell crabs when SYTYCD came on, so typing up my comments was not an option. (For the record, I liked Janette and Brandon's fox trot, Ashley and Kupono's crash test dummies jazz, Melissa and Ade's contemp, Evan and Randi's jazz and Kayla and Max's samba. I was underwhelmed by Caitlin and Jason's Bollywood, Phillip and Jeanine's hip hop and Karla and Jonathan's cha cha. I didn't like Asuka and Vitolio's Broadway (and that's all on Tyce, IMO) or Paris and Tony's hip hop. I was overjoyed that they kicked off Tony and abandoned the hope that he'd be "this season's Ivan"--because, seriously, I wasn't the world's biggest Ivan fan, but he was way better at his style and others than Tony is. Tony wasn't even this season's Cedric, because at least Cedric could do a decent solo. Paris was a victim of being one of a few too many brunette contemporary dancers.)

My viewing of this week's show turned out to be even more of a disaster (involving a long driving trip, a rain storm of epic proportions, some nearly flooded out roads, and a FOX channel that was cutting in and out). Due to sheer perseverance however I have managed to now watch and recap all of the dances through a combo of tape recordings and online videos. It's taken me most of the day, but come hell or high water I was going to do this recap, so here it is:

Randi and Evan (Louis van Amstel jive):

• The featurette: Evan built his own car. I don't think I need to hear the word "fun" again for awhile.
• The dance: Wow, both of these kids can really dance. They showed great presentation quality in this zany jive style. My favorite part was when she did a back bend and he did a straddle jump over top of her.
• The judging: Hmm, Mary says that Evan didn't quite get the "triple step motion." Nigel makes sure to mention Louis right off the bat (after the judges ignored him last week). Nigel thinks Evan lost the "double bounce feel." I'm kind of lost.

Melissa and Ade (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Wow, Ade's full name sounds even longer than Kupono's full name. Uh oh, Ade says that Melissa's "rib is falling out."
• The dance: How exactly is Melissa playing "hard to get" if she's starting the dance on Ade's back? I think I like Melissa's hot pink pants. I liked the dance too, but I didn't loooooove it. It looked like it was made up of a bunch of stock movements from Sonya's other routines (the side-by-side pointed-toe hops from the comic book contemp, a lift similar to the one from "The Garden"). I think the dancers performed it well, but I don't think they brought anything particularly special to it. Ade's full-twisting wolf jump (Nigel called it something else) was phenomenal, however.
• The judging: Lil C rubbed his palms together and said the routine was buck.

Jason and Caitlin (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Jason was super cute when he was a little kid doing his Michael Jackson impression. Caitlin is annoying me.
• The dance: My enthusiasm over Shane Sparks doing the hip hop choreo this week instead of Napoleon and Tabitha was quickly tempered by some sub-par dancing, particular from Caitlin. When she was actually trying to dance, she looked--at best--like a low-rent Britney Spears impersonation, so I guess Shane tried to get around that by just having her sassily walk around and pose for most of the routine. Jason was all right though.
• The judging: Lol, Lil C just called this performance "a nightmare" and then says that it was "missing some nectar." Mary points out that they looked like they were impersonating Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. Frankly, Mary, I think that if you watch their Bollywood routine from last week, you'll see that it wasn't that good either.

Janette and Brandon (Doriana Sanchez disco): I can't believe they're still making people do disco on this show. Has anyone ever actually really liked one of these disco routines?

• The featurette: Brandon has "never worked out" a day in his life, apparently. I think they should phrase it that he "never lifts weights at the gym" because clearly the dude "works out"--he's a professional dancer for crying out loud.
• The dance: The lifts were really good, as you would expect from these two, but I also thought that the actual on-the-floor disco dancing was quite strong too. So, yeah, it turned out like most of the disco routines on this show: well danced, but ultimately not particularly inspiring.
• The judging: Lil C: "I believe that the primary focus of all obstacles is to induce labor so that progression can be born." Uh, yeah, right. Me too. Lol. The upshot is that Lil C finally likes Brandon (now that he's not under the influence of Mia).

Asuka and Vitolio (Louis van Amstel fox trot):

• The featurette: That bubble thing Asuka can do with her mouth is strange.
• The dance: Asuka's got a lot of fake hair. I liked the swinging spiral lift thing. Overall, it was lovely and well-danced. Asuka especially looked good. I don't think, however, that this is something I'm going to be remembering for very long.
• The judging: Tell me, Mary: how was Vitolio supposed to be "honest" in his performance of that crappy Broadway number last week? (Mary and Nigel both give Louis more shout-outs.) No, Nigel, you're not seeing a "completely different couple" than last week--you're seeing the same couple with a better routine.

Max and Kayla (Brian Friedman pop jazz):

• The featurette: Max cooks for everyone; that's so sweet. It's nice to see Brian back to choreograph. So far this season, we've already seen Brian, Shane and Wade Robson all come back, which is great in my opinion because it means there will be fewer routines by Tyce DiOrio and Napoleon and Tabitha.
• The dance: This opulent couch and ottoman set up puts Mia's bench dance to shame. I'm not sure that I'm getting "princess and usurper" from these costumes. They look more like insane circus performers to me. As for the routine, I feel like it had the potential to be awesome, but it ended up being just cool. They danced it well though.
• The judging: Lil C: "I know how hard it is to pick up Brian Friedman's vernacular." Kayla's grandpa!!! I agree with Mary about the iffy nature of Max's outfit.

Jonathan and Karla (Stacey Tookey contemporary): I picked these two as the most likely to get kicked off this week in the EW.com prediction contest, but I was worried that they'd get some romantic contemporary routine that would score them the sappy vote, and sure enough...

• The featurette: If I've seen one contemporary routine about strangers meeting and falling in love, I've seen a thousand... At least Stacey seems like a nice person (yeah, that comment was directed at Mia...).
• The dance: And the music is "Falling Slowly" no less! With that song, they could just go up there and sit on their butts and still get enough votes to not be in the bottom three. Due to my technical issues, I've watched this one about three times now, and the first time through I was not particularly impressed. Now upon the third viewing, however, I rather liked it. Jonathan didn't do a whole lot, but Karla was really good.
• The judging: Mary says Jonathan did that style better than his own--which would be saying more if he were better at his own style...

Phillip and Jeanine (Tony Meredith tango):

• The featurette: Jeanine's obsession with her bear is a little creepy. Jeanine's use of the word "tragic" in regards to this practice seems very apt, with the groping and kicking and everything.
• The dance: Chbeeb cannot tango. He can't even make the appropriate tango face. And Janine's not that great at it either. This one was rough. Frankly, as we learned on last week's results show, a good tango isn't all that interesting to watch, so a bad one is really a problem.
• The judging: Lil C: "A lack of confidence is the heaviest anchor you can put on your creativity and your art." Lil C is freaking brilliant. The tangential discussion about bent knees was also informative. Nigel: "I loved the way your knees were bent throughout the entire routine." A nice thing about SYTYCD versus American Idol is that on SYTYCD when a favorite sucks it up, the judges actually admit it. There's no equivolent of pretending that Danny Gokey's performance of "Dream On" was actually good going on here.

Ashley and Kupono (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Kupono has some major OCD tendencies. This kid cracks me up. Kupono showed us his to-do list again!!!
• The dance: Why does Kupono's "shadow" have such tighter pants than him? At first I thought that Kupono was doing the side-by-side moves better than Ashley, but then when she did the solo dance, that looked pretty good. Overall, though, it wasn't fantastic from either of them.
• The judging: Lil C: "There was no synchronization to be had or to be found." Lol. Lil C says Kupono was the problem. But, seriously, how could Kupono be taken seriously as a hip hopper when he's wearing a rainbow-colored scarf and a bunny t-shirt?!

It felt like they were trying to stretch not-so-much content out this whole episode. The routines seemed long, the judges had lengthy chats, the commercial breaks were substantially long, and the featurettes were lengthy too.

This is kind of random, but I wonder if the choreographers purposely save their best routines for later in the season. I haven't seen any routines so far that match the quality of some of the iconic SYTYCD routines, so I'm thinking everyone is just holding their best work for later. Why should they trot it out now, when there's still the chance that the dancers who perform it won't make the Top 10 and the routine won't get to be used on the tour?

My favorites: Max and Kayla; Melissa and Ade; Evan and Randi; Karla and Jonathan

In trouble: Jason and Caitlin; Kupono and Ashley; and it should be Phillip and Jeanine but I'm guessing it will be Asuka and Vitolio instead.

SYTYCD: Picking the Top 20, or Who Are These People?

So You Think You Can Dance: "Vegas Callbacks #2"

I'm still cheesed off about Natalie, but let's see who the Top 20 are...

• So, are we seriously not going to see more of everybody's final solos? Nope. They are being generous enough to show us brief recaps of some people.
• Janette: Without much ado, Nigel says she's in. That's good, because I want to see that flip/split thing again.
• Diana: Curly hair. I think she's the one who was dancing with Nobuya the other day. But she's not in the Top 20. That's a bummer. But it means there are only 5 more girls left to cut.
• Victolio: I believe they interviewed him a couple of times last night, because I remember his beautiful accent. Dude, this guy's got a better story than a lot of the ones they told us about during auditions (grew up in Haiti, mother died, raised by his grandmother, something about dancing on the street?). And he's got a fantastic straddle leap. After a lengthy monologue from Lil C, Victolio's in the Top 20! Nigel tells him that the producers think Victolio's got a great personality, and I'm thinking there's a correlation between that and his making it into the Top 20.
• Some Asian dude (whom I don't remember) got cut. Now some guy named Henry (whom I don't remember) got cut. Now a girl in a yellow tank top (whom I think I vaguely remember) got cut.
• Kayla: The one with the grandfather who worked the night shift and took her to dance classes and slept in the waiting room. She's in the Top 20. That's cool because I like her grandfather.
• Mia: "I love male dancers. ...It's very rare for me to connect to a female dancer." Uh, thanks for sharing, Mia. First everyone thought Nigel was being homophobic and now Mia's being sexist?
• Kopono: He is in the top 36 (and has cut his hair), as was pointed out to me by an astute commenter on my post about last night's ep. Lol, Kopono's to-do list is hilarious. Kopono is in the Top 20! I hope he shows us all his to-do lists from now on.
• Paris: I do remember her from auditions (former Miss Washington who danced to Yael Naim's cover of "Toxic"). She's in.
• Jeanine: I do not remember her. She's in.
• Ade: Didn't quite catch his name. I guess it was Ade, but I heard "Hideo." Not sure if I remember him. He's in.
• A girl whose name I missed (it seems to be Karla): I don't remeber her. She's in.
• Jonathan: Not sure If I remember him either. He's in.
• And then came the saga of Brandon, which started with Mia telling him, "As an artist, what you bring to the floor annoys the shit out of me." Boy, am I confused. She just said that she likes the power of a male dancer, and now she says she doesn't like Brandon, who seems to be a powerful male dancer. What the hell ever, Mia. And what exactly qualifies Mia to judge other people's personalities anyway? The saga continued with Debbie saying that she thinks Brandon's great (after Nigel finally prevailed on Mia to shut up). Lil C says he's not that impressed by Brandon. Then Mary puts a stop to all the negative comments on Brandon's alleged personality problems and almost bursts into tears at the sight (well, sound) of her beloved dancer being maligned. Nigel finally ends the madness by telling Brandon that he got four votes (Nigel, Mary, Debbie, Adam) out of six and is in the Top 20.
• I'm glad Brandon made the Top 20, even though I didn't start out as the hugest fan of him. I thought his audition was really good, but it didn't bring me to tears like Mary or anything. But after watching the poor kid get dragged through the dirt throughout the entire Vegas callbacks process, I now sympathize with him and hope he kicks some ass. Are the personality issues that Mia has with him similar to what they used to bitch at Danny Tidwell for? As in, he's shy and it comes off as cocky? I honestly wasn't getting "cocky" from Brandon at all. If anything, he usually just seemed confused at all the ruckus coming from the judging panel. I'm befuddled.
• Tony: He suddenly decides to tell us about his brother who is serving in the military in Afghanistan. Nigel basically tells Tony that he's not a good dancer and then puts him in the Top 20. This pisses me off.
• Maksim: He's in. Yea, we've got a ballroom boy!
• Caitlin Kinney: She's in. I'm kind of surprised about this one. I like her, but I don't think she's that great. She is blond though, so she's got that going for her.
• Melissa: She's wearing a tutu-esque thing, and she's in.
• Jason Glover: He's in. I guess we'll get to see if he really is "so So You Think You Can Dance."
• Ashley: It's her third time auditioning for SYTYCD. She's in.
• Randi: Seems to really like this strange, blue unitard-with-shorts thing. Even Mia points out Randi's love of unitards. Her unitards have gotten her into the Top 20. (Maybe Natalie should have worn more unitards? There must be a lesson here...)
• Recap: So far, we already have 9 girls and 8 boys? There are going to be a lot of cuts coming up.
• My predictions: Asuka for the girls, Evan and Philip for the boys. (Poor Alex Wong. And Ryan.)
• Alex Wong: Nigel says they think Alex is one of the strongest dancers, but he's under contract with the Miami Ballet, and the dude in charge of that won't let him out of the contract. So, um, why is he even here? Shouldn't they screen people who have previous commitments out before they get this far? It's just like when they let that Nathan kid tryout, knowing that he was too young to compete in this cycle. (I realize that the reason they do this is to cultivate interest for futures seasons by brining back familiar faces, but I still find it annoying.)
• Four unnamed dancers got cut: ballroomer Ricky (boo, I wanted him in), the girl with short hair who was involved in the debacle with Silky and the group dance, and two other dancers whom I didn't recognize at all.
• Philip: He's obviously in the Top 20, because there are only two spots left and they obviously have to pit the two brothers against each other for the last one.
• I'm sure Evan and Ryan knew this was going to happen. I know I sure did.
• Have we seen the blond girl before? Her name is Deana, and she's apparently really been making an impression in Vegas, although I don't think we've seen any of it up until now. She's cute; that's all I can really say about her, having seen so little.
• Deana: She's out. It's been nice not knowing you... I think they thought they already had too many blondes.
• Asuka: She's in.
• Ryan and Evan are already bawling backstage. This is awful. I'd actually fall off the bed if they pick Ryan. The things Ryan just listed (he's short, bald, a tapper) are EXACTLY what's going to keep him off this show. The only thing that's gotten him this far is that he has a good brother and the producers can milk the "two brothers" storyline. If Ryan was a bald tapper with no brother in the competition, I sincerely doubt that he'd have made it to the final cuts. Yes, he's a fantastic dancer, but SYTYCD is superficial, and there's no denying it.
• So, we've got two ballroom girls and one ballroom boy. I guess SYTYCD did not learn its lesson about having too many contemporary dancers in the Top 20 last season.
• I thought there could be three tappers in the Top 20 (and there really could have been four, if that's what we're classifying Ryan as), and there are none.

Top 20:

Girls: Janette, Kayla, Paris, Jeanine, Karla, Caitlin, Melissa, Ashley, Randi, Asuka

Boys: Victolio, Kopono, Ade, Jonathan, Brandon, Tony, Maksim (who was announced as "Max" in the final listing), Jason, Philip, Evan

I, for one, am underwhelmed, esp. by the girls. I said that unless the top 10 girls were bloody fantastic, I'd be even angrier about Natalie's early ouster, and I'm well on my way. It's hard, though, to judge how fantastic they are, since we didn't get to see much (if any) dancing from half of them. I know we saw auditions from Janette, Kayla, Paris, Asuka, and Caitlin. I don't remember seeing anything (except the tiny final recaps) from Jeanine, Karla, Melissa, Ashley and Randi. The only one of them of whom we saw any extended Vegas coverage was Caitlin, and what we saw of her (the contemporary routine and then her "old-fashioned" dance for her life) was not all that good! Yes, now that I think about it, I am even more pissed off.

As for the boys: For the most part, I guess I'm happy with them. I like Kopono, Philip and Evan. I will support Brandon because they gave him such a hard time for unknown reasons. I don't know much about Ade, Jason, and Jonathan. I'm glad Maksim made it and there is at least one male ballroom dancer (although I would have preferred more). I'm not currently thrilled with them including Tony while admitting that he's not that great of a dancer. I understand that personality always factors into this, but--and this is a point I've made before--the name of the show is So You Think You Can Dance and not So You Think You Have a Personality. And, even if we're picking people because they have great personalities, why not take Ryan, who has a nice personality and is a exceptional dancer? Someone commented on the EW recap that this show should be called So We Think You're Cute and You Think You Can Dance, but adding the personality aspect into that, I suppose it should be So We Think You're Cute and You Think You Have a Personality and Can Dance or So We Think You're Cute and You Think You Have a Personality (With Dancing!).

Oh well, we'll see. Yes, I'll be (begrudgingly) watching...