SYTYCD: Thinning Out the Field

So You Think You Can Dance: First Elimination Show
My thoughts:
Wow, the celebration from Chelsie, Mark, Chelsea, and Thayne when Cat announced they were all safe was WAY over the top. I'm getting the feeling that the producers must have really impressed on the contestants that they have to act extremely excited at all times. It's beginning to look like a dancing contest between cartoon characters.

It just now just occurred to Nigel et. al. that pulling someone's pants down in the middle of a dance routine might have offended people?

Does Jessica have an ankle brace on or is she wearing just one sock?

I KNEW it was going to be Jessica and Will in the bottom three instead of Courntey and Gev! I think Will and Jessica got backlash from the viewers because the judges seemed so over-the-top in love with them.

Dan's correct: the judges were too easy on several of the dancers.
Dan's incorrect: Jessica was one of those dancers.

It's nice that SYTYCD is introducing us to different members of the dancing community every week. That's very educational. And much easier to sit through than performances by the Pussycat Dolls... (And, damn, the Pussycat Dolls are horrific.)

Bottom 3 Girls:
Kourtni, Rayven, Jessica

Bottom 3 Guys:
Matt, Jamie, Will

The solos:
Kourtni Lind: Looks like she's wearing a negligee. Hmm, well, that was all right. Nothing to write home about though.

Matt: Wearing long shorts. He's got to be scared after Nigel's stick/butt comment last night. I liked this solo--he has great technique and did interesting, beautiful moves. It reminded me of Danny from last season, and the judges went gaga over him.

Rayven: Wearing God only knows what... Looks like a evil doll or something. That wasn't my favorites solo either.

Jamie: Wearing a baby blue silk shirt. He performed a fairly standard male ballroom dancer solo, but at least he brought a certain gusto to it.

Jessica: Wearing a very short, but quite pretty, floral (?) dress. Other than the two back handsprings, she sure didn't do a whole lot of anything.

Will: Wearing manpris. Well, he's safe. His solo was head and shoulders better than anyone else's. It actually looked like he had planned out what he was going to do,and it was interesting, innovative, entertaining, and showcased some difficult dance moves. Go Will!

My picks:
Girls: Honestly, after these solos, they could kick all three of them out and I wouldn't mind. I did like Kourtni yesterday, though, so I'd get rid of either Rayven or Jessica.

Guys: Will's safe. I thought Matt's solo was great, so that means Jamie's got to go.

Judges' decision:
Girls: Kourtni's safe. Hmm, the judges don't seem to think Jessica's the girl to beat tonight...but Rayven's going home. So much for being the oldest competitor. Yeah, after reviewing her old footage, she should have gone for the point work tonight--that, at least, would have been different.

Guys: Will's safe (duh). Now the age-old debate between personality (Jamie) and technique (Matt). Matt stays. Good. Nigel makes it sound like the judges came dangerously close to making the wrong decision on this one. I don't really see how Matt has any less personality than Danny did at this point last season. What the hell does Nigel mean that only this one time they'll pick dance ability over personality? Last time I checked this was a dance contest--it's not called So You Think You Have a Personality.

Jamie looks considerably more sad to go than Rayven. Rayven still looks like she's having the time of her life...she must have taken the producer's "be perky" instructions very seriously.

SYTYCD: Congrats Sabra!!!

So You Think You Can Dance:

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

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

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

My highlights of the evening:

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

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

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

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

I HATE THE CW.

Seriously. That's all I have to say. Actually, there are a few other things I have to say, but they are obscene and I'm going to try to stay family-friendly. Unlike the Pussycat Dolls. Who, despite looking and acting like tramps, are the CW's choice for positive female role models.

OK, so if you haven't guessed, the reason I'm so pissed off is that the CW canceled Veronica Mars. Except that they don't have the guts to just admit that they've canceled it, and are just making stuff up and lying to us. Hoping we'll just forget that it ever existed, CW? Unfortunately, that won't happen because Veronica viewers are not as stupid as you apparently are.

Screw you, CW. You suck. Suck. Suck.

Another Gilmore Milestone

Gilmore Girls:
Wow. The second-to-last episode ever. I can't wrap my head around life without the Gilmores. Congrats to Rory on her graduation from Yale. This graduation ceremony wasn't the tear-jerker that her Chilton commencement was, but it was still a lovely moment. And it was all the more appropriate because I was watching the episode in Delaware with my girls who themselves will be graduating in a couple weeks :-)

Rory does seem to have bad luck relationship-wise on her graduation days. She broke up with Jess around the time she graduated from high school, and now Logan's on the way out too. I agree with her decision to decline his proposal for the time being... I mean, what is the rush? But I was a little shocked the Logan turned it into an all-or-nothing situation. Was that necessary? If he really loves her that much, how can he be willing to just cut her out of his life completely? I don't really understand, but whatever; good riddance, Logan.

I liked that Christopher was back for this episode. I find it odd though that only a few months later Chris and Lorelai seem to have already moved on from their failed marriage, while Lorelai and Luke are still all messed up. Like, geez, Luke, just because Lorelai is telling Miss Patty and Babette that her karaoke song didn't mean anything, it doesn't mean that's how she really feels. Like she would tell Miss Patty and Babette the truth about that?

My favorite part was when Chris said he didn't think GiGi is ready for The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll. Ha! Take that, CW.

Better get the kleenex ready for next week's series finale :-( It's going to be hard to say goodbye.

Veronica Mars:
I love this show. It's a triumph, really. Even this week when there was not much mystery in either of the two cases, the show still made for a very entertaining hour.

Yea for Paul Rudd. I have great affinity for him; he is, after all, Josh from Clueless, one of my favorite movies ever. He was hilarious as the washed-up rocker. His radio interview with Piz alone was fantastic. First, he asks the girl in the food court to show him her boobs, then he admits to using drugs and alcohol to get him through the day, and then he points out that a campus Jewish group's initials are S.S. Oy vey.

I also very much enjoyed Dick's online video of himself dancing next to his moving car and running over his own foot. And I do like the Mac and Max combo. Mopey Logan was a little annoying, what with his wondering whether Veronica cheated on him with Piz. No, Logan dear, infidelity is your thing, not 'Ron's. And 'Ron was too busy surveilling Logan to have time to cheat on him :-)

Piznarski is such a sweetie which, according to Paul Rudd, was why he had no women, but now he's got one! Woot! (And Chris Lowell and Kristin Bell are just as adorable in real life! Their interview on cwtv.com is hilarious. Best part is Kristin comparing her seeing Chris to Queen Elizabeth seeing the deer in The Queen. Fantastic.)