So You Think You Can Dance 7/24- Two More Dancers Go Home

Cat looks semi angelic tonight up on her balcony, what with her white dress, halo-like hair, and backlighting. Tonight’s group routine is a futuristic hip-hop, and the standouts are the boys, as usual, and Comfort, who is always good in her home style. Katee also seems pretty good, but not quite standout good. It’s from a new choreographer whose name I didn’t catch because Cat said it quickly and in her little cute British accent. I think it was Dan, Tom, or Dom something. That may be completely wrong. The judges are back tonight, including the few eggs short of a dozen Toni Basil. Although, I will admit, I was wrong about her being an innovator of popping. Touché, Ms. Basil, touché. Nigel urges us all to vote for the president, because it is, you know, more important than America’s Favorite Dancer.

Cat starts out with the results quickly. And, by results, I mean teasing us for 55 minutes before telling us who’s actually going home. Katee is up first, and we get a recap of the Mia contemporary (which I loved), the Tyce Broadway (Which was good for Tyce, alright otherwise), and her solo, which wasn’t as good as it could have been. But, in a surprise to absolutely no one, she’s safe. Will is the next one called out. His safety is a little more questionable. We get his video package too, which lets me relive his awesome James Brown solo and his great hips in the samba. I didn’t love the hip-hop though. Will is in the bottom two guys this week, and I’m not ALL that shocked. I mean, Will is an amazing technical dancer, but he’s never been able to connect to the audience like the other dancers.

We continue the results next with Comfort. Even in her video package she seems defeated. But her solo was really good last night as was her hip-hop with Mark, so at least she’ll go out on a high note (Yes, I am just ignoring the foxtrot, even though I thought it was better than the judges made it out to be). Again, in a surprise to absolutely no one, Comfort is in the bottom two. Mark is up next for the guys, and this is actually really good news since they are not gonna reveal the bottom two boys so early. So is Mark safe? He is! And Mark seems more shocked than I am! His face read as disbelief when Cat said he was safe. He keeps saying “Oh my God” and “What?” Great moment. Honestly, Mark is possibly my favorite dancer in all four seasons.

Chelsie is the next dancer called to the stage. I think Chelsie had the best night of everyone because she rocked both her routines and had her best solo ever. America agreed with me, since Chelsie is safe tonight. Which means Courtney is in the bottom two. But it doesn’t really matter since Comfort is going home. Twitch is up next, and I thought he had one of his best nights too. But I’d say Twitch should probably be the next guy to go home. And he is in the bottom two this week. He kind of breaks down on stage and Cat comforts him. Not to trivialize Twitch or anything, it’s kind of adorable and reinforces everything I love about Cat. And it’s kind of sad to see Twitch, well, sad. As a matter of formality, Joshua and Courtney are called out and told their results, and promptly told that they are safe and in danger, respectively.

Digression: I really hope they get rid of this type of elimination. I felt really bad for Courtney when she found out she was part of the bottom two offstage. And then I felt even worse when they left her to sit alone, knowing her results, as they finished all the other business.

Tonight’s World Of Dance segment features a Pas De Deux from the LA Ballet Company. It’s as elegant, restrained, and beautiful as I expect ballet to be. The female dancer’s movements on point are incredible, and makes me wonder how Rayven might have done if she made it farther in the competition. I have to say, however, this seems quite different than Katee and Will’s Pas De Deux

Digression 2: So, I know this is kind of conspiracy theory-ish and is a topic that I’m guessing has already been discussed to no end, but, regarding the SYTYCD Pas De Deux, does anyone else find it a little suspicious that on the week they had the two biggest names they’ve ever had, the two best dancers get paired together and manage to get those choreographers’ dance? I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted any two other dancers to get it, but do you really believe that the show would have risked Comfort and Twitch getting that Pas De Deux?

Solo Time
Comfort- This is possibly the most energy Comfort has ever had, and that’s saying something. Her movement could have been a little more diversified, but overall, it’s as fun as all of Comfort’s most recent solos, meaning a lot of fun.

Will- Will’s solo is, well, nowhere near as impressive as it should have been. It’s all smooth, and there are a few absolutely beautiful movements, but overall, it could have been so much better. It was just slow, a little anemic even. Just could have been better.

Courtney- Courtney is a sexy little ball of energy on stage. Her dancing isn’t as notable as the energy of it, but it all looks pretty good. Another good solo from Courtney.

Twitch- Twitch is fun, funky, retro and awesome. If this is his end of the road, then it’s a great way to go out. And there’s no one that touches Twitch’s musicality in this competition.

Tonight’s musical guest is LL Cool J. There’s a whole group of video girls dancing on stage, but they’re kind of in the background not doing anything worthy of close-ups or extended camera time (besides when they surround the rappers and gyrate and open their legs). The song is kind of meh. It’s pretty non-offensive, both musically and thematically. The energy seems really low during the performance to me too. The audience seems pretty into it though. I’d give it a B- overall.

We come back for results time. The girls are up first, and is anyone actually unsure what these results are gonna be? It’s Comfort. Everyone, including Comfort, knew that was coming. So she takes it well. She gets a second video montage, and, comically, her first elimination is included in it. Next up are the boys, and this one is much closer. The guy going home tonight is Will, which I’m alright with. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Will is an absolutely amazing dancer. He will go on to great, great things. But he was not my favorite and he was Mark’s biggest competitor (since they were both Contemporary), so, yeah, I’m OK with it. I’ll miss being wowed by his constant amazingness, but it’s a loss I’m willing to take. (And no, all those uses of the word “will” are not intended as puns). The group all huddles tight and gives a big old hug. Aww, it’s cute. What about you, readers? Are you OK with tonight’s results?