SYTYCD July 22, The Top 8: On Crying, Screaming, Joking and Nailing it was all that’s good and bad about So You Think You Can Dance

Cat’s drapey beautiful golden lamé excuse for barely a cover up is almost distracting as she introduces the top eight dancers of season five. The panel of judges includes two novelties: Ellen DeGeneres who was not trained to dance by Eduardo in a lonely single enclosed street of a gated community, and DOCTOR Nigel Lythgoe. What can we say, well deserved?

Travis’ group number opens the dancing on the show and it rocks and rides, no question about it. He's a great choreographer! The camera work, however, is terrible as it unsuccessfully tries to see all the dancers doing their own thing, just not showing it. Ellen’s costume design is right on the spot, as Nigel says, very Lady Gaga. Let’s just hope that she really will light up the stage tomorrow—in combination with Mia! (for all those out there that are wondering if I’m that gullible… I know she was joking… but how much I wish it were true and Mia and Ellen will actually coordinate their outfits tomorrow!)

The tour is announced! October 22nd in Miami, tickets on sale this Saturday!

The Random Couplings:

First up are Evan and Janette, in a Jazz routine by Sonya that seems a little on the slow side (it lacked Attitude?). At some point, Nigel (that English muffin) gets inspired by the dance and covers Mary’s mouth as she rambles on in her usual shrill. Mia calls Janette her favorite dancer of the season. This is not a number that is inspirational, however. In their second number of the night (Rumba by Tony & Melanie) the inner Latino stallion of Evando (Cat’s nickname creation was a really good one!) does not really come out. A dark stage does not let us see for real what is going on, as the slow sensual rumba is danced with gusto and sparkle by Janette, but Evando… the low lights may favor his style because he is hidden in the shadows, but... He does not shine as a partner, and that has been a constant throughout the show. It seems to me that he has done more solos than partnering (the latter mostly with his brother, maybe). There was a bit of rustiness when he danced with Janette, what can I say? Mia apparently agrees, and thinks that Evando is no sex-pot (!!), but can still pull it off Zoolander style! I guess they had better seats than me on this one.

Next in the lineup, Brandon randomly chooses Jeanine (the choices this week do seem random, by the way). This should be a good combination, and they start off with a smooth waltz. The graceful lines required by this dance are hard for Jeanine to master, however, as her contemporary moves are rougher than those required by this slow, delicate dance—even her turnout was off. Brandon was a strong partner, holding up the number for the both of them and keeping it from being terrible. The judges kind of disagree and agree at he same time, but mostly I would say it was 3 to 1 that the number was not well executed. Their second number is a Pop Jazz (?) routine choreographed by Laurieann. An aggressive looking performance, this is a strong dance that wakes up Nigel with effusive praise for both. Ellen calls it da-a-a-a-ancing and Mary screams her head off. Mia, just as Nigel, says that it was great how Jeanine kept up with Brandon’s powerful dancing. All in all, in this pairing Brandon seems to have overshadowed Jeanine.

Melissa and Ade are reunited with a Cha Cha, but will Mary choo choo them? I guess not… Melissa dances Latin like a gringa ballerina, and the chemistry lacks altogether, as Ade is not much of a Latin dancer either. Ellen, however, recycles the carpenter nail joke (she was funny and I like her but she kind of recycled two jokes the whole night: the “carpenter” joke and the “I can do that” joke). Mia’s vocabulary is also lacking when she describes Ade, saying that he does that ehhnn (or something like that) that gets her unnhhd (or something like that). Melissa and Ade's second piece is a moving homage dance that Tyce builds around the idea of the suffering of a woman afflicted by breast cancer that truly brings out the emotion from every judge. The look of frailty by Melissa and the strong support by Ade gave this poignant dance a completeness that deserves the positive comments, and justifies the “it’s not about the dance steps, but about the message in the dance” that was clumsily tried to be explained at first. The twitter crowd still is not happy with Melissa, but well, it is really hard to force those that would rather be blind to see what is in front of them. Despite the judge’s comments, Melissa is probably in danger tonight.

Jason and Kayla’s first number was perfect Broadway, perhaps a little too much. It shows off Kayla, better than Jason, and it is a very classically put together piece. A couple of stumbles by both (Kayla seems to be struggling in dance shoes) but still, Mary brings out a conductor whistle and shows us that she really can’t blow, even with all that wind she carries around. Actually, let’s hope she uses this whistle a bit more because it is actually quieter than her own screams! Mia’s remarks to Jason regarding his open chest are right on the mark. He needs to open up in order to dance better. He tends to slouch causing his jumps to fall short and his lines to look sloppy. Jason and Kayla’s second number is a hip hop routine by Shane Sparks which is, perhaps, scary in more than one way. Well executed, an interesting choreography that I thought would end with an off-camera loud Vincent Price creepy laugh. I am not convinced though about what Nigel said: that all hip hop so far this season has been lame. Is he suggesting that NappiTabs needs to get their act together? Is there some hidden agenda here? Or was he talking specifically about Shane’s own previous work this season (there, I’ll agree). The dance was OK and fun, but I don’t know if it deserved such high praise and that underhanded putdown of prior works in the show.

We have to recognize that sometimes some people are more honest than they should be, Mia agrees with many of Ellen’s comments, despite the fact that Ellen tries hard to convince us that she does not know what she is talking about. Who should we be listening to, Ellen or Mia? And what sort of chemistry is developing here?

The Quickie Solos:
Kayla shows us once again her long and graceful dance moves—she has her solo routine down pat and plays it safe.
Jason’s solo is ok, and that is all I have to say.
Janette’s solo is different this time, more contemporary lyrical than Latin salsa, but she does do that “Miami Wiggle” at the end. However, that dress! It hid her from us most of the time and it kind of reminded me of a big Piñata.
Ade’s solo is electrifyingly and weirdly springy. He seems to have eaten rubber bands all wound up and then released them in short bursts as he bounced around the stage. Pretty impressive, but perhaps weird, as it was almost more of a gymnastics floor routine than a true dance.
Melissa’s solo seems a bit uninspired, not really moving, showing flexibility mostly—but we know she has that anyway, right?
Evan’s solo is well executed, even entertaining, but totally Broadway—which is good, yet probably not so much regarding votes in this show. By now, Evan seems to be preparing his audition pieces for his Broadway career, as tonight could be his last night performing for votes on the show.
With some moves that we had seen before and some new ones, Jeanine’s solo does in fact look like a dance, as opposed to some of the other semi-warm-up pieces from the other dancers.
Brandon’s solo, shirtless and athletic, showcases him as the strong dancer that he is. It is complete and good to watch. He’s so good that sometimes you miss him (as in the Waltz) because he’s flawless.

My predictions: If I can still attempt to guess anything in this show, I’ll say Melissa and Evan will leave tonight, but I’ve been so wrong so far!

Tonight is SYTYCD 100th Episode and there's a lot going on, including Katie Holmes so much talked about tap dancing. Should be a good show. And Ellen of course will be back in the panel. Will she recycle the same jokes again, or will she come up with some new material? Stay tuned.