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So You Think You Can Dance S09E14: "Finalists Perform"

Well, it was finals week over at So You Think You Can Dance HQ, and much like the finals weeks at high schools and colleges around the nation, certain people began celebrating early while other people still had to study. The weird combination of high-pressure drama and tantalizingly imminent celebration made for one of the most exciting, bizarre, and fun-filled episodes of the season (and possibly of the series' entire run). Not a single performance (each person danced five times!) was less than amazing, and we saw sides of the dancers we hadn't seen all season. Plus, because this was the last performance before America voted, there were no eliminations—and therefore the judges had to do little else but sit back, opine, and act as silly as they felt like!

Plus some momentous things happened. Specifically: BALLET!

How had it taken this long for the season to give us a ballet performance? The pairing of Eliana and Chehon was a no-brainer! I'm not sure choosing the Nutcracker Suite was the best decision (what a cliché!) but Chehon's outfit WAS THE BEST DECISION. Sorry, not trying to be vulgar but WHAAAAAT OKAY. If we're being honest, this episode was HECKA beefcakey, up to and including Cyrus and tWitch's Animation routine:

I mean, I don't know how I didn't notice this before, but has tWitch always looked like a pro wrestler? Between this posedown and Chehon's inability to wear shirts (or the frequent presence of unlikely hunk Alex Wong [!]), I'm not sure there's ever been a season of SYTYCD where the dudes' physiques were on full display so frequently. This season has been very enjoyable! But I can definitely see why the show would need to balance out all the beefcake with an all-ladies pole dance routine. Just keeping things fair!

Anyway, this episode, am I right? So many good things.

There's never been a harder episode for which to determine ONE standout performance, but perhaps for novelty's sake, I think Eliana and Tiffany's burlesque routine was the most memorable and impressive:

I don't know about you, but I kept worrying they'd accidentally bump heads! I've never pole danced (it looks like a nightmare to me) but it can't be easy to learn a routine like this and execute it as flawlessly as these ladies did. Plus, hubba hubba, am I right fellas?

Because I was struggling to decide between two routines, I'll just point out the other one I liked, this Chehon-and-Allison Stacey Tookey contemporary number.

While I'm a sucker for dancers macking out on-stage, I think what I loved about this so much was how Tookey actively incorporated Chehon's ballet skills and turned it into a much better showcase for the amazing things he can do. Tookey's an ace choreographer, but something about this just felt elevated, you know?

Finally, how could I not embed the ballet piece?

Mesmerizing.

Unfortunately I think MY preferences may not be the same as America's, but here goes: I hope Eliana and Chehon win. I love Cyrus and Tiffany, but something about the ballerina/os just gives me a thrill when I watch them. Last night more than ever Chehon proved he's versatile in almost any genre and has a surprisingly strange personality to boot; he's definitely proved himself to be more than the serious, classy, very European technician he first appeared to be.

In what was either heartwarming or extremely awkward, Nigel ended up telling the dancers to their faces who HIS preferences were: Eliana was not only his favorite dancer of the season but also of ANY season. And in an assessment that would seem to conflict with that statement, Nigel also said that Chehon was his favorite dancer of the season and Cyrus was his favorite person of the season. Tiffany was the only one left without hyperbolic endorsements, but hopefully she won't take it too personally (her individual journey apparently included a lot of fretting about how much camera time she was given).

Anyway, it's heartening that ALL FOUR of these contestants would make deserving winners. Regardless of who wins, nothing will seem like an outrage, and that's a good thing. I'll admit that the guys are much more exciting for me this year than the girls, but that might be because of how nonstop thrilled I was by the Melanie-Sasha showdown of last year. That finale was electrifying, for real. But I think this season may have had a better overall cast, so it all evens out.

Film director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine, Pirates of the Caribbean 4) returned for Season 9 and brought his positive, articulate, experienced feedback with him. It probably helped that no real negative criticism was given out all night, so Marshall could simply just praise the dancers in a genuine-seeming way. Although he did awkwardly try to connect one of Sonya Tayeh's routines to an observance of 9/11, he made up for it later by cracking a Queen Latifah joke following the ladies' pole-dancing number. (And it was pretty classy how he never explicitly bragged that he'd directed the Oscar-winning movie from which that particular song came.) All in all, he made a great guest judge, but I can't help but wish we'd seen more choreographers on the panel this season. Maybe we should just all put that on our Season 10 wishlists.

... Honestly, you'd think these dancers weren't having the most stressful, trying weeks of their lives based on the heightened amount of silliness that abounded behind the scenes. Or maybe that's just how they handle stress?

... Not much to say about Parisian dancer Jean Sok's routine except WOW:

... Matching Power Rangers T-shirts? I think I'm in love.

... Hey Jennifer Beals!

... I hope I never hear the phrase "quirky Tyce Diorio routine" ever again.

What was YOUR favorite routine of the night? Who do YOU think should win Season 9?

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So You Think You Can Dance S09E13: "Top 6 Perform/2 Eliminated"

One of the more unexpected side effects of this So You Think You Can Dance's new format is what a mind-f*ck it must be for the contestants. Until this week, judges began episodes knowing who would be in the bottom, but could essentially be convinced to "save" dancers based on the routines they would go on to witness that night. But this week SYTYCD did away with judges' saves and simply eliminated the bottom two vote-getters from last week. Which meant that the two people going home had to learn and perform FOUR routines for almost no reason. Can you imagine that? As though competing on a nationally televised reality competition weren't enough of an existential nightmare! These poor kids. These poor, glorious, insanely talented kids.

Anyway, this week's Top 6 installment of So You Think You Can Dance was absolutely jam-packed with performances—17 if you include the visiting dance company—and as you'd expect this late in the game, almost all were uniformly excellent. Generally the presence of tWitch or Comfort would guarantee a routine would be my favorite (and I definitely did love Comfort and Cyrus's Christopher Scott DUBSTEP (!) piece), but for my money the best routine belonged to Mia Michaels.

True story that is boring: Sometimes when I watch a DVR recording of a show that's still on, it'll suddenly catch up to the live feed and skip over about ten minutes. So when I first sat down to write about this episode I realized I hadn't seen Cole and Eliana's Mia Michaels routine! Boy am I glad I went back and watched it. SO GOOD. I laughed out loud when Mia Michaels introduced her concept with "This piece is about hatred." Haha dang, Mia Michaels! But the excellence of this piece was no laughing matter, starting with an opening move that made my heart race while it was happening:

The head-butting! And that part where Cole grabs Eliana's waist and spins her like a music box ballerina. Just such good stuff. Nigel made some jokes during his critique that alluded to his rocky relationship with Mia Michaels over the years (hirings, firings, demotions, quittings), but hopefully whatever happened between them can be put aside so that she can continue busting out more of this brilliance on a regular basis.

Also, somehow in an episode with 16 performances, the producers still were able to fit in this extraordinary piece from an outside dance company:

You know, I'm not even sure WHAT was happening here, but I was absolutely riveted. In his earlier praise of a particularly emotional routine (more on that in a sec), Nigel explicitly praised Fox for allowing SYTYCD to air this kind of material on national television, and I nearly applauded in my living room. It's definitely true: This show, believe it or not, is one of the biggest, most widely watched forums for the fine arts on national television. I am so glad it exists.

Last thing: I know the judges adored Tyce Diorio's broadway routine (Mary Murphy seemed to be fighting back tears), but I thought it was effing ridiculous. I mean...

Sorry. I am probably biased against Tyce Diorio's general phoniness, but this whole thing, from the suitcase to the costumes to the melodramatics, was like something out of a Christopher Guest film. Nope! Just nope. Not for me.

This was the first week in which America had 100 percent of the power, so the judges merely had to observe the voters' harsh wisdom play out on stage. To the judges' credit, however, they mentioned that four of the remaining six had been "saved" from elimination throughout the season. As someone who doesn't particularly love the "America votes" aspect of any reality show, I'm glad this show has given the judges so much power to shape the contestant pool well into the competition. I mean, they know more about dance (and the contestants!) than we do, but in particular they know who makes the best SYTYCD stars. So despite whatever whims the voting public may be experiencing from week to week, it's this balance of power that has ensured deserving people last longer. That two deserving people nonetheless went home this week really just means we're nearing the end of the season...

Goodbye, Witney and Cole! Witney was my favorite girl. Cole was Cole. Both will probably be back as all-stars. Fortunately my favorite remaining guy, Chehon, is still in it, but his chances of beating out Cyrus are pretty slim, don't you think? As for the girls, it could seriously go either way: Both Tiffany and Eliana are pretty well-matched, popularity-wise. It's anyone's game!

All right, who canceled at the last minute? Not that Christina Applegate doesn't deserve to be a regular guest, but TWICE in a season? It was just surprising, is all. But yeah, Applegate delivers the goods when it comes to guest-judging: She's thoughtful, warm-hearted, unsparing, yet hilarious. LOVED when she repeatedly asked Cyrus if she could try to throw her pen through his earlobes. And we already knew Applegate had dance experience in her youth, but this week we learned she seems pretty serious about her dance classes these days, going so far as to take them with beloved SYTYCD alumni Benji (who appeared looking surprisingly buff!). So yeah, clearly Applegate can now be considered part of the SYTYCD family, and although it would've been nice to see the ranks of guest judges expand, I'm not even mad about seeing this cool lady again.

... Forgot to mention it last week, but how cool/adorable is Chehon's mom?

... Loved when Witney told the camera, "Just because I'm an 18-year-old from Utah doesn't mean I want to get married." And how cool was it seeing Marko again? I barely recognized him with the shaved head, but the second he opened his mouth it brought back all those good memories of partnering with Melanie.

... Speaking of All-Stars, where is Sasha? Or NEIL?

... What on earth do you suppose Christina Applegate said during those five interminable seconds during which she was bleeped? Did she let fly a crazy amount of expletives or did my audio just cut out?

... Should District 78 just come on and be a guest-judge already? It seems like they remix EVERY song on this show now.

What was YOUR favorite routine of the night?

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So You Think You Can Dance S09E11: "Top 8 Perform/2 Eliminated"

Now THAT was an episode. Last week's installment was solid and fun, but this week's was some next-level stuff. Seriously, if you have the episode saved to your DVR and you're wondering whether or not you should actually watch it, DO. Everyone—including the dancers, choreographers, and judges—were at the top of their game. And while the new format ended up rearing its particularly brutal head by the episode's end (someone from my favorite routine of the night got the boot), almost every routine was one worth standing and applauding for. Yes, from our living rooms. It was just that fun.

Now that there are only 8 contestants left, producers filled out the performance segment of the episode with the dancers' personal stories and then solo performances. Some backstories were as wholesome and seemingly problem-free as you'd expect (Lindsay, Witney, Tiffany) while others were surprisingly heavy (Cyrus losing his father, Eliana's hardscrabble teen years). Unlike most reality shows, So You Think You Can Dance, refreshingly, tends to not overdo the melodrama, frequently alluding to or glossing over personal tragedy almost out of respect for the dancers' privacy. Imagine that! But that means leaving tantalizing question marks over certain dancers' backstories. Like, Chehon and his two brothers getting adopted out of Chicago and relocating to Switzerland? I have a million questions! Unfortunately it's really none of my business.

Also, this show has always been coy about one issue in particular that many of its dancers seem to have in common, choosing instead to just generalize with "I was bullied" or "My dad wished I'd played sports." It's definitely not our business why dance "saved" Will's life—and it certainly may not be for the reason I'm assuming—but I'm a human being and mysteries make me curious! I wouldn't mind knowing specifics. I admit a big reason I fear that THIS particular issue (which will remain unnamed!) is glossed over is because it would somehow turn voters against dancers. I mean, I love my country, but I also KNOW my country. Ultimately, though, I think this coyness is fine because knowing too much backstory can be a distraction from the task at hand. I definitely admire this show for recognizing that.

Let's be clear, the night was PACKED with amazing routines. The judges loved Chehon and Anya's Argentine Tango, plus Sonya Tayeh unleased TWO spellbinding routines. And nobody could fault you for preferring Tiffany and Ade's Mandy Moore routine set to the Celine Dion song. So much good stuff happened it was hard to dislike anything. But I'm going with an unconventional pick that the judges liked OK but didn't fall head over heels for... Man did I LOVE Will and Lauren's Christopher Scott lyrical hip-hop routine:

It's possible that choosing a favorite routine is like describing an inkblot—it probably says more about me than it does about reality—but I couldn't help but be moved by this piece's premise. Also I love when man-woman pairings aren't just traditional romantic relationships. You know? We've seen almost every variation on tortured romances, but I can't even remember the last time a platonic matchup in a routine made me so happy. Basically I smiled all the way through this routine and then watched it again immediately. It was nowhere near as dramatic and showy as some of the other routines in this episode, but it's the one that stuck with me after the credits rolled.

I also wanted to point out how much I loved Witney & tWitch's routine:

I don't know if this is foolish of me to declare at this point, but I think Witney might be my current favorite female dancer? "Favorite" being the key word here; as Nigel reminded us tonight, this competition is about rewarding entertainment value and not necessarily expertise. But in this routine she was dancing with tWitch—possibly the best male dancer this show has ever had—yet my eyes were on Witney almost the whole time. And as a sidenote, I love when hip-hop routines don't just totally objectify the female halves of the partnership. The costumers could've put Witney in booty shorts here, but her aggressive body language and countenance were much better suited for the Rhythm Nation outfit she was wearing. And even though her choreography was largely similar to tWitch's she still made it look ladylike. Yeah, I loved this routine and I'm now definitely Team Witney-and-her-possibly-CGI-Hair.

America must've been in some kind of mood last week as it pitted the two blonde best friends against each other in the bottom, plus seeming crowd-favorites Will and Cole.

Ultimately Nigel opted to let Lindsay and Will go this week and both evictions were kind of shocking. I wasn't totally sold by Will until his lyrical hip-hop routine earlier in the evening, but I'd already written him off as one of those contestants whom the crowd likes and who would probably coast on that into the finals. As for Lindsay, I can't remember her ever having a bad performance. There's a chance her and Witney's similarities split the audience's vote, but between the two of them I'm glad Witney got to stay. As solid as Lindsay was on stage, I think there's just more personality and presence coming from Witney at this point, particularly in her routine with tWitch in which she proved she's not just a Pamela Anderson, Jr.

Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson returned to the guest-judge chair this week and reminded us just how fun non-expert celebrities can be. No offense to Benjamin Millepied—who is handsome AND knowledgeable—but this is a TV show and sometimes hilarious enthusiasm just works better than measured praise. More than anything Ferguson was an audience surrogate, heaping praise on the dancers and fanboy-ing the choreographers and All-Stars. Definitely a fun addition to the SYTYCD family.

Speaking of the SYTYCD family, did you hear the rapturous audience reaction when Melanie Moore first appeared on stage before the commercial break? I AGREED with that audience. What a surprise and total pleasure seeing her smiling face up there again. She is probably my favorite winner of all time and her exuberant routine with Cyrus was just a reminder of how talented and charismatic she is. The best.

Oh, and this was cool:

During Cyrus' solo my cable glitched out and I was like, "Oh haha, I can't believe it glitched during Glitch's solo, how ironic." But now I feel all dumb because look at the Fox logo in this still frame: It was added on top of the distortion. So the glitching was INTENTIONAL. Oh, you crafty editors. Now I feel like a dummy. But if it was intentional, how many viewers do you think picked up on it? Second question, would this be some kind of indicator that the production is pulling for Cyrus? I don't know!

This episode also marked the last time the judges will be "saving" contestants. Next week we'll find out which four America most wanted to see in the finals, and then America will eventually choose its favorite guy and gal. I'm frankly already kind of devastated that we only have 3 more weeks with these kids. THEN what are we supposed to do? Watch The X Factor? NOT THE SAME.

What was YOUR favorite routine of the night?

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So You Think You Can Dance S09E11: "Top 10 Perform/2 Eliminated"

After last week's bloodbath which saw the dismissal of almost a third of the remaining competitors (including some one-time frontrunners and fan-favorites), this week's Top 10 competition did much to heal our raw nerves. For one thing, it was just a much better episode. No offense to Mia Michaels, but an entire episode devoted to old routines just wasn't very exciting and was an example of how boring self-mythologizing can be. But this week unleashed this show's BEST form of self-mythologizing: The All-Stars! Ten new routines—each contestant paired up with a past contestant—made for a jam-packed show! And many of the routines were plum terrific! But which routine was the best?

Though the judges favored Stacey Tookie's incredible contemporary piece performed by Eliana and Alex (yay!), the performance that stayed with me longest after the credits rolled was the Travis Wall number performed by Cyrus and Jaimie. First of all, it was set to M83's "Outro," which, I mean, I'd probably love ANY performance set to that song. Was it kind of cheating to have chosen that song? Probably! But still, Cyrus did his best work yet as the last man on earth chillin' with the last woman on earth (a way sadder situation than the old cliché suggests!). And that closing walk/drag in darkness they did at the end? Just wonderful, you guys.

You didn't ask, but man do I dislike this show's treatment of Bollywood numbers. True, most of my experience of the genre comes from the 10-hour flight I took on Air India where I watched an endless loop of Bollywood music videos. But still, very few of the actual Bollywood things I've seen have been this terrible/ridiculous:

Just my opinion! Also, I realize Will is a fan favorite, but the fact that he has outlasted both Matthew and George is outrageous. You know? (Confession: I'm still kinda steamed about Matthew not making the Top 10. At least he was in the audience looking happy. At least there was that.)

Thankfully only TWO contestants went home this week; those four-contestant purges are too much to handle! Based on last week's audience votes, the bottom four were Witney, Chehon, George, and Audrey. The judges opted to save Witney and Chehon.

It was the second week in a row in which the judges saved a foxy blonde teen Utahan. But apparently after saving George last week (instead of Matthew!) Nigel wasn't in the mood to repeat himself this week. Which is actually fine since I think Chehon has a lot of potential for greatness (despite his annoying haircut in this episode). Audrey's exit was a bit of a heartbreaker since she seemed so genuinely different and funny. The main reason these exits have stung so much in the past few episodes was how well-defined each contestant was and how deep this roster has been. Almost everyone seemed like they'd go far. It's just a bit of a rude awakening when we're reminded that not everyone will. But again, at least they made the Top 10 and will go on tour. And from tonight's selection of All-Stars, it's clear the show will invite back even people who didn't go very far during the competition, so there's reason to believe we may see these folks again.

It's to this show's credit that nobody even once mentioned that guest judge Benjamin Millepied is Natalie Portman's babydaddy! (And husband too, I guess.) But as much as I appreciate that SYTYCD has been getting actual dance experts to guest judge lately, Millepied was more polite than erudite. Plus, he's undeniably knowledgeable and articulate, but there was something vaguely embarrassing about a ballet expert critiquing a piece about hip-hop vampires. You know? He generally didn't have a ton to say beyond warm-fuzzies.

... I am a total sucker for the All-Star element of this show. As Nigel repeatedly pointed out throughout the evening, many of these dancers have gone on to larger successes (okay, mostly involving the Step Up franchise), but will still return "home" to dance for us. I love that. I love the sense of continuity in the SYTYCD universe, how dancers come back to perform and/or choreograph. It seems to affirm the impression that above all else these guys and gals are having a blast. As ridiculous as tWitch and Audrey's vampire hip-hop routine was (why was she dressed like a Fly Girl?), he's such a dashing presence on this show it's impossible not to be entertained. The return of Anya was similarly fun, and obviously it's great seeing Alex and his bionic knees killing it up there. So yeah, I love that on this show, the contestant narratives continue long past their seasons. As a viewer it's very rewarding!

... Also, I've totally come around on the competition-results show hybrid format this season's been using. I love that the first three-quarters of the episode is high-intensity fun, but the last half hour is tense and scary. It used to be the competition nights would sort of just peter out as Cat went over the phone numbers again. But here, there's a mounting sense of dread that someone we've just seen perform won't even be eligible to vote for afterward. I like it. I don't love this season's intermittent airing schedule—four contestant dismissals are a bummer, man—but that probably couldn't have been helped.

... Last thing: The presence of Tyce Diorio in the opening number was really just the dead bird in my guest bed. You know? I mean, the choreography was fine but GET OUT OF HERE, TYCE.

... "Lord have Murphy!" - Mary Murphy.

What was YOUR favorite routine of the night?

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