SYTYCD: THE END OF SEASON V AND THE BEGINNING OF SEASON VI. IT'S A SHORT WITHDRAWAL THIS TIME AROUND

The Gallery comes to life when the lights dim and that first choreography of the top 20 Season 5 dancers brightens up the stage. In feathers, shorts and colorful makeup the dancers have coordinated fun and showmanship. Good job, boys and girls!
Terpsichore Cat, beautiful as usual, leads us through clips of the season, not without letting us know first that the prize will be $250K and the title “America’s Favorite Dancer” in front of 3,500 people in the theater (good host this gal, she is).
At the jidges table we find the designated upper tier choreographers and judges Lil’ C’, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. The audience includes all the others, in strategic spots, ready to raise their hand and smile when called upon. Cat starts going down the jidges’ table in search of replays for the favorites. First we get Adam’s top number, “Mad” with Phillip and Jeanine (one of my own tops), then Nigel claims the Tango by Brandon and Jeanette (I must say also a favorite of mine, but I did not place it in my links). Miss Allen goes all romantic with Vitolio and Asuka’s waltz, not in my list, and Mary screams out that her favorite is Travis’ heart on a chain routine by Jeanine and Jason which they perform beautifully and—they kiss again! Cat calls on Mia’s favorite and Mia claims her favorite is another Louis Van Amstel choreography, a samba with Kayla and Maks, a boring long routine which I did not like then and I don’t like now.
After the obligatory plug for Fame (ok, so it looks like it could be a cool movie, I hope it is), Debbie Allen (who was in the original Fame) gets a chance to redeem herself by choosing a group number and selects that hot and steamy top 16 “calle ocho” choreographed by Dimitri, Tabitha and Napoleon, where Jeanine and Janette stand out, Brandon gets in front of it all, and Kayla (placed in the front also) nearly stumbles.
We get to see in a break of the action the winner of Australia’s SYTYCD, Talia Fowler, who is amazing, has the most beautiful feet and extensions, as well as technique.
Lil’ C’s scripted bucc favorite is Caitlin and Jason’s Jai Ho! That first show’s outstanding number, crowd pleasing Bollywood in Hollywood! (and Jason gets kissed once again! What is it with this boy?).
In the first report of results, Cat delivers the news to Kayla. Logic prevails and this telegraphs good news for Jeanine (I think). Kayla is a beautiful dancer. Her long legs will become a long memory that can make us forget a bit of her shortcoming in technique issues. But definitely there were better dancers in the show, and apparently at least one that was more popular, despite his own, greater, shortcomings.
Adam is required to request another routine and he calls for the butt dance! That was a good dance by Randi and Evan, one of my listed favorites (see link to the side) and probably the only number that Evan performed that could not have been better danced by anyone else. Another Louis Van Amstel number gets selected, this time by Mary, and with good reason—Jeanine and Brandon’s Paso Doble from last night, a matrix revolution all and into itself. Love this one!!!!
Let’s do some scoring right now: out of the judges’ favorites, three Jeannine, two Brandon and one each for Evan and Kayla (one less than Jason for each). A pattern seems to emerge. Nigel seems to notice and gets that great choreography, Mia’s Addiction, danced barely fairly by Kupono and Kayla. This is a tour filler routine danced that way, that I would rather pay to see performed by Mark Kamemura and Jeanine, to truly make the number addictive to all who see it. Then Tyce calls it in, and gets Brandon and Jeanette’s high energy and kick*** disco number on the floor! So, Brandon and Jeanine are tied now, three a piece in the jidges favorites! (and Jeanette, Jason and Kayla are tied at two each, Evan only one—but Katie Holmes has had no votes). Mia gets the final choice of the favorite routines, and she chooses that heartbreaking routine choreographed by Tyce and danced so well by Melissa and Ade: the breast cancer homage.
Just before the end, the judges come out from behind mirrors for their own moment in the limelight. Reflections on the season, puffed as peacocks, they revel in the applause by the audience at the theater, satisfied to the end of a well executed season and TV show (yet I can’t help but think I know that this was taped—after all that is what my spoiler sources said, and I don’t mean Spoiler Sal).
The joy of Jeanine as Cat announces her as the winner is contagious. I am happy with her win, just as I would have been with Brandon. She is a talented and smart girl that carefully played the game and strategically positioned herself to get where she got. Yay Jeanine! You are a great role model! Hope this win leads to many more accomplishments in your future. The best won this time around on SYTYCD.