Cat is wearing something short, tight, and shiny. But I won’t quote Nina Garcia, because Cat could never look cheap. Just adorable. Although she’s looked more adorable in the past. I think it’s her very flat looking hair. In the intros, Twitch and Joshua are the impressive ones. Big surprise. Not that these 4 don’t all rock, because they do. Tonight’s jidges are the mostly great Mandy Moore, the loud Mary Murphy, and the pervy Nigel Lythgoe. Everyone dances with everyone tonight, and everyone’s got a solo too.
Courtney and Twitch- They’ve got a Tabitha and Napoleon hip-hop routine. Which means that Josh and Twitch aren’t dancing hip-hop together? THAT I’m shocked by. It involves Courtney being a crazy girlfriend. It seems pretty physical in the pre-dance package. It’s fun, but it probably wouldn’t make my top 12. There’s something a wee little bit anemic about it to me, but it’s still fun. They dance all the footwork well, and they get the characters down flat. Courtney is a lot more fun to watch than Twitch, although they both get their share of fun moments. But I’d give Courtney the advantage over Twitch. Mandy loved it and thinks it was a great way to start out. She thinks Courtney brought the Jersey girl out and Twitch is always fun. Mary admits her own craziness and she felt it from Courtney. She calls it a knockout, and is happy it was a little tougher than N&T’s typical lyrical hip-hop. They also get a Mary Murphy shriek. Nigel will miss everyone except that shriek and wonders why Twitch keeps getting routines about deranged girlfriends. He thinks Courtney was perfect and thinks everything about it was fantastic, although it lost a little energy at the end for him.
Courtney- We get a little interview beforehand, where we find out that Courtney is from a family of screamers. Although she admits that she’s not the best dancer. She also makes it clear that her chemistry with Gev was completely non-romantic. Her last solo is really beautiful. She nails the feeling of the song perfectly. A good job from Courtney. Mandy got teary eyed and tells her well-done. Mary thinks she’s an inspiration and thinks her personality lights up the stage. Courtney tears up during Mary’s comments, and it makes me like her more. Nigel is happily surprised she’s made the top 4 and thinks she’s a bundle of joy who energizes everyone around her.
Katee and Joshua- They’ve got a Wade Robson routine! Meaning Wade Robson is back! It’s about a relationship, as always, but it’s Wade Robson, so it should be ridiculous. I’m actually a little shocked this a Wade routine. Because it’s, well, not what I’ve come to expect from Wade. I mean, it’s very good, and the movement is really interesting, but I expected something kind of visionary. And it wasn’t. It was just a really, really good relationship contemporary. But it is really, really good. Really good. Mandy loves the routine and the fact that Wade is back. She thinks that technically it could have used more work, but it was universally readable and very beautiful. Mary also calls it absolutely beautiful and is just very happy that it ended well. But she really likes it. Nigel thinks there were many remarkable things about it. Nigel thinks they danced it brilliantly and thinks that Josh’s control is remarkable for an untrained dancer.
Katee and Courtney- They’ve got a Tyce Broadway routine togther. It’s Tyce, so my enthusiasm is tempered. They’re worried about dancing with props too. We’ll see. It’s very Busby Berkeley, Ziegfeld Follies. But it’s still one of Tyce’ better Broadway routines. The two girls work well together. Neither really outshines the other though. It’s cute, but it’ll be forgettable in the long run, probably. Mandy also found it cute and thinks they looked adorable. It reminded her of old musicals too. Stop stealing my comments Mandy Moore! Mary thinks they nailed the synchronization and says a bunch of other good things. Nigel was happy to see two girls dancing together, and thinks that while Courtney was good, he points out that Katee was better than her. That’s kind of a dick move, Nigel.
Twitch- His nickname came from being fidgety. Go figure. He also contemplated joining the navy if he wasn’t dancing. He also wanted Kherington as a partner and was shocked by her elimination. His final solo is danced to a song by Wade Robson, hmm. That being said, his movement is banoodles. His leg control may even be greater than Chelsie. It was just a really good solo. Mandy thinks Twitch is cool and compares him to the little engine that could. Mary thinks Twitch is great in tons of styles, but his freestyle solos render Mary speechless. Can Twitch solo for the rest of eternity then? Nigel thinks Twitch has left his mark on the competition, and he thinks Twitch has humor in spades.
Twitch and Joshua- They’re getting a chance to settle a rivalry between them. They’ve got a Russian Trepak from a new choreographer named Youri. This is the dance that sent them both to the hospital, so it should be interesting. This is just bizarre. It’s fun to watch, since it’s essentially them trying to one up each other. But I’m really not sure what to make of it. It was clearly a very difficult dance to do, but I can’t say I fully loved it. And for the record, Josh won it. Mandy loves watching two men do crazy stuff on stage. She thinks the stamina was great, and wonders how Twitch got stuck with the floor work. The boys continue to one up each other during the interview. Mary thinks they are tremendous fighters and dancers, and is excited to have two hip-hop guys in the finale. Because the judges hadn’t been secretly planning for this all along. They also get a Mary shriek. Nigel thanks the choreographer for bringing the world to SYTYCD, and lauds both boys for their amazing physical abilities.
Katee- Katee never thought she’d make it this far. We also get reminded of the drama during Vegas. She also loves her little stupid dances. At least in my opinion, this is one of Katee’s most dynamic solos. Her movement, coupled with the music, is really interesting. Mandy thinks Katee should keep dancing but she needs to keep training. Mary will cherish many of Katee’s numbers. Nigel thinks all of her characters and movements have been brilliant.
Katee and Twitch- They’ve got a Tony Merdith and Melanie foxtrot. They are both nervous. There is much joking had in the pre-video package. It’s beautiful, but, I dunno. I’m not blown away by it. Katee’s dress is really transfixing to watch. She, just in general, seems to be much better. Twitch is kind of a prop. And he kind of hams it up. I dunno. I didn’t love it. Mandy found it romantic, think they both look beautiful, and highlights one particular lift as amazing. Comparisons are made between Twitch and James Bond, complete with a line reading from Twitch. Mary calls him one cool gentleman and thinks he was controlled. They both wowed her. Nigel calls Katee splendid and thinks there’s nothing she can’t do. He tells Twitch that he didn’t quite believe the beginning and thinks his strength may have spoiled the choreographers.
Joshua- Joshua chose dance over football and track. He’s not a big crier too, which then makes Cat mock him for being a big crier on the show. He considers his time on the show a blessing. His solo is pretty awesome, even if it does kind of seem similar to some of his other solos. I do like that he goes and dances at the judges table. That kind of takes cajones. Mandy thinks Josh is smooth and charismatic, and he knows how to hit. Mary brings back the hot tamale train (I thought it derailed weeks ago), and thinks he’s got soul. Nigel thinks he’s set the standard for next season with untrained dancers. (Wait, I thought we had established that Josh had some training?)
Courtney and Joshua- They’ve got a Jason Gilkison jive. They’re a little worried, because the dance needs stamina. The choreographer claims its one of most intense he’s choreographed. It’s fun, but they seem a little tired. That said, it’s fun, energetic, and ends really well. I found myself focusing on Courtney more, but that may have been because of the outfit. I wonder how they’ll try to dis Courtney this time. Mandy is wowed by the speed/footwork. Mary thinks that the routine was really hard and bows down to them for how well they did. Nigel was disappointed, because they didn’t know how to breathe and it didn’t have the right feel for it. Nigel claims he’s not knocking them just to knock them, but seeing as how the ballroom dancer loved it, I’m not so sure he should be making that claim. He goes so far as tell them “Tough” that the routine was hard and tiring. He’s really being a d-bag tonight.
Courtney, Joshua, Katee, and Twitch- The group routine is a Mia contemporary, where she says she’s really gonna dance them. She says it’s about celebrating their victory, because they’re all winners. Awwww. My viewing partner accurately points out a Paul Taylor vibe to the piece. It’s good, but there’s some energy missing. What’s interesting is that Katee seemed to be really unsure about the steps at the end. No one really stands out, they all have good moments. Mandy is at a loss for words, describing it as magical, a celebration, and sees that they’ve transcended their exhaustion. Even though Mandy would never put these four dancers together on stage. Courtney looks like she’s about to pass out. Mary thinks Mia did not hold back and thinks Twitch was the standout. Seems like he’s the judge’s choice to win. She also loved Katee. Oh, and Mary takes another shot at Courtney. Seriously? Nigel thinks that it’s great that they have two untrained male dancers in the finals. Hey, did you know that Josh and Twitch were untrained? Because Josh and Twitch are untrained. Nigel thinks that they deserve their spots in the finals, especially since they’re untrained. Oh, and he brings up that Katee was gonna quit and that Courtney scraped her way into the finals. He didn’t get the routine, but he thinks it showed their athleticism, and thinks none of them looked tired. Were we watching the same dance, Nigel? Oh, and did you know that Josh and Twitch are untrained?
My Thoughts On The Finale: This was WEAK. There were no real standout routines, the judges were unnecessarily mean to Courtney and were blatantly obvious in their pimping of Twitch and Joshua. Nigel, especially, was douchetastic tonight. Mary was also unusually mean. Disappointing finale, especially compared to how great last season’s finale was. And I can’t help but feel it would have been a lot better if Mark were still in the running. And my top 12 routines of the season stands as is.
My Ranking Of The Routines:
1) Katee and Joshua’s Contemporary
2) Courtney and Twitch’s Hip-Hop
3) Courtney and Joshua’s Jive
4) Joshua and Twitch’s Russian Trepak
5) Mia’s Contemporary
6) Katee and Courtney’s Broadway
7) Katee and Twitch’s Foxtrot
My Ranking Of The Dancers:
1) Joshua
2) Courtney
3) Katee
4) Twitch
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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