So You Think You Can Dance: Wicked Game

I have two words for the “All Stars are the choreographers” edition of SYTYCD: Travis and Mark. Setting aside Cat Deeley’s new Mystique hair stair, this episode was fantastic. Even guest judge Dharma Jenna Elfman admitted to having a life changing experience. Some highlights…

The show opened with a group number by the fabulous and greatly missed Mia Michaels. I wanted to sprint through my tv screen and hug her when she appeared on camera. Don’t get me wrong…this show has some pretty stellar choreographers, but Mia Michaels will always be at the top of my “favorites” list.  

Before the rest of the performances began, Cat revealed the bottom 4: Fik-Shun, Tucker, Haley and Jenna. My first thought was…Jenna again? I’m surprised Nigel didn’t book a flight back to the U.K. right then. All four contestants danced solos, mostly because we only have eight dancers left with two hours of show time. Upon conclusion of the solos, each contestant paired up with an All Star/choreographer to get the party started.

Mark Kanemura returned to the SYTYCD stage sans Lady Gaga to put on one hell of a jazz routine with Jenna. He told her during rehearsals: “I’m totally not a vegetarian when it comes to dancing. I literally want it bloody.” I’ll be honest – I haven’t the slightest idea of what this routine was about. Not a clue.  But it was quirky, it was fun, and it was borderline psychotic…and I loved every second of it.

The routine of the night, however, was Travis Wall’s performance with Amy. This guy is just brilliant and it was SO great to see him dancing on that stage again! Their contemporary piece was full of emotion, but overall it was pure beauty. I watched the performance with my mouth agape, lost in their movements, and I have watched it several times since with the same reaction.

Honorable mention goes to Paul for even being in the realm of keeping up with Comfort during their hip hop routine. It’s impossible not to keep your eyes on Comfort and her insane abs, but Paul hung in there surprising everyone and earning rave reviews.

As the show came to a close, Tucker and Jenna were sent packing….right after Nigel told Jenna she had just given the performance of her life. Sooo the judges really do have their minds made up before the show airs.  Interesting. I had been really rooting for Jenna throughout the two hours, so the results of this episode bum me out.

Tonight the remaining six dancers fight for a spot in the two-part finale. I’m pulling for Aaron, Paul, Jasmine and Amy to make it through, but we’ll see if Haley and Fik-Shun can win America over. Regardless, we get more All Star time which is awesome. Til then!

So You Think You Can Dance: I Can't Make You Love Me

DEBBIE ALLEN!!! Okay. Got that out of the way. This So You Think You Can Dance Top 10 performance episode became one of my favorites of the season based on the judges’ introductions alone. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the All Stars returned to the show and they were beyond wonderful. Here are the highlights:

Cat revealed the bottom 4 (that’s right, it’s just 2 guys and 2 girls now) to be Jenna, Makenzie, Nico and Tucker. If you recall, Tucker couldn’t dance the week before…except for when he had to dance for his life. Then he was okay. I was both sad and anxious to see Makenzie and Jenna in the bottom 4 though. On the one hand I think they are both very talented, but on the other hand the judges have saved both of them and called America crazy on a few occasions now, so which one is the right one to boot?  I thought it would come down to how well they would dance for their lives…except for the part where the judges didn’t want to see any of the 4 dance for their lives. Okay then. On with the show!

I keep forgetting Aaron is a tap dancer, and I just love him so much. His Stacey Tookey number with Kathryn (oh how I’ve missed you) was emotional, breathtaking, and just about perfect. I genuinely believed that Kathryn pushed Aaron beyond what he thought he could do, and I was so touched by how proud she was of him. Good for him. I know everyone is gushing over Paul, but Aaron is my favorite guy this season.

Speaking of Paul, he did do a pretty fantastic cha cha with Season 9’s Witney…and Witney’s boobs. Good God. I realize Jenna has been dominating ballroom this season, but she doesn’t hold a candle to Witney. Good luck on Dancing with the Stars, kid. You’ve earned it.

Mandy Moore also graced us this evening, choreographing a jazz routine with Fik-Shun and….MELANIE! Oh man. Melanie is more amazing now than when she was crowned SYTYCD champion in Season 8.  Fik-Shun really might as well have stayed offstage. He did very little in the routine anyway, but I can assure you all eyes were on his partner. But hey, this isn’t his style of dance so he got the “we love you – keep growing” critique that I’ve grown quite tired of.

**Side note: The very sight of Neil makes me feel like I’ve just received the best hug ever.**

Nico showed some badassery when he had to keep up with Comfort during a NappyTabs hip hop routine. I was pleasantly surprised with how great he did. I feel like he got lost in the shuffle this season. I’m glad he got to show off a little bit here.

The night ended with a Travis Wall routine about one brother pulling another brother out of rock bottom. This was apparently inspired by Travis and his own brother, Season 3’s Danny Tidwell. I’m not entirely sure what happened to Danny or why Travis had to help him, but I do know that Danny is a soloist with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (thank you, Wikipedia), so he must be doing better now. Tucker and All Star Robert gave their all in this performance, pulling from their own life experiences. I hope this dance was healing for both of them.

And with Tucker being the closer and having a standout performance, we said goodbye to Nico pretty quickly. The votes on the girls were a tad more spilt with a 9-6 decision sending Makenzie home. Nigel made sure to mention he was out-voted.

Tonight the All Stars are not only dancing with the contestants, they are choreographing the routines too! Our remaining 8 dancers will partner up with Mark, Travis, Allison, Chelsie, Courtney, Dmitry and Twitch, and Comfort for what will most likely be one hell of a night. Til then!

So You Think You Can Dance: I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me

The Top 12 episode was a big one for the So You Think You Can Dance contestants as they were all vying for a spot on the Top 10 tour. As the episode began Cat informed us that yet another contender was injured, revealing that Tucker was unable to dance…except for the part where he was. More on that later.

 

The evening’s guest judge was Kenny “This Is It” Ortega, and I always enjoy his presence on the show. He didn’t bring much humor, but he has a genuine deep appreciation for the show and the dancers. He also speaks in complete sentences and knows a lot of words. Can’t complain.

 

Onto the Bottom 6: Alan, Nico and Tucker were the guys in danger and Jenna, Amy and Malece received the least amount of votes for the ladies. The judges sent Jenna and Nico to safety right away leaving the remaining four to dance for their lives. So…of course I sat there thinking “Tucker can’t dance because of his knee infection, so Alan’s got this, right?” Well, I would have been right if I wasn’t entirely wrong. Tucker was able to dance a solo, just not any of the episode’s routines. Color me confused. Alan, Malece and Amy, meanwhile, gave it their all in their solos, and I figured Tucker would be goner for sure. But then we got to the performances.

 

The night was actually full of awesome routines from start to finish and pretty much everyone was praised and adorned and practically worshipped. Everyone except for Alan and Malece. Those poor souls could not have been told they sucked more, and their performance wasn’t really that bad. Alan was even told he sucked in the group routine at the end of the show. So who went home? Oh, that would be Alan and Malece…with “I can sometimes dance” Tucker safe for the week. Grrrr.

 

Anger aside, it was a good episode. Alex Freaking Wong returned to dance in “I can sometimes dance” Tucker’s place. Makenzie and Paul rocked my world with their contemporary piece set to Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory.” Oh how I love Mother Monster. And finally, Jasmine and Aaron’s NappyTabs routine had me wishing I could pop and lock. Or pop n lock. Whatever it is. Clearly I’m not destined to be in anyone’s crew.

 

So now we are down to our Top 10 and we can look forward to the return of the All Stars in the next episode. I’m interested to see how the judges’ favorites fare with these disgustingly amazing veteran dancers, and we have now hit the most exciting portion of the season (in my opinion). We’ll see who rises to the challenge and who gets lost in the shuffle soon. Til then!

So You Think You Can Dance: You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone

After a questionable Top 14 show, this past week’s Top 12 episode of So You Think You Can Dance was exponentially better within the first few minutes. Anna Kendrick replaced Carly Rae Jepsen as the guest judge, and man was she a breath of fresh air. I was not sure what to expect given her extensive musical background in…um... Pitch Perfect. But she can call herself “Academy Award Nominee, Anna Kendrick” so I imagine she tells the other cast members of Twilight to “suck it” on occasion. Regardless, she added some much needed humor to the show while also giving feedback that had substance. Bravo,  young lady.

 

Before we could even get going though, Cat notified us that Curtis had injured himself and was unable to dance. That’s a shame for him because he was also in the bottom 6. Not looking too good there, buddy. Also joining Curtis in the danger zone (where is Kenny Loggins these days?) were Alan, Nico, Mackenzie, Alexis and Jasmine. Mackenzie was once again sent to safety immediately, with Nigel essentially telling America they get it wrong every week and he’s never going to send this girl home. The judges also decided that none of the guys needed to dance for their lives, so Curtis was probably back stage prepping for his “goodbye” video package. In the end, only Jasmine and Alexis had to dance, with Alexis and Curtis leaving the show.

 

The evening did have some stellar routines though. I especially enjoyed Jasmine and Aaron’s contemporary routine based on The Giving Tree. I was very moved by their performance right up until the time Nigel decided to bestow upon us what The Giving Tree is about. We got it, Nigel. The choreographer explained it during the pre-performance video and they just danced it beautifully. Geesh.

 

My favorite routine of the night though was Amy and Fik-shun’s (there’s nothing you can do about this, spell check), sexy hip hop performance set to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye. Fantastic. Sure, Amy just about ate the floor when her chair slipped in the water, but I was greatly entertained by the whole thing and smiled for quite some time afterwards.

 

Quote of the night, by the way, goes to Ms. Kendrick: “I don’t always get ballroom, but that just made me want to take lessons and have an affair on a tropical island….well, maybe just the second part.”

 

Tonight the dancers will go from 12 to 10 as we creep toward the end of the season. Will Mackenzie sail through this week or will she need another free pass from the judges? For the record, I really like her. I’m just not sure that she is so superior that Nigel would call out Ameriker on the voting, Is Fik-shun destined for the Final Four? Will Paula Abdul puulllleaaaasssee come back and guest judge again? Time will tell. Til then!