SYTYCD: My Top 5 Performances of Season 4 (and a review)

One day before the final performances of Season 4! It’s been a great season, with perhaps the most talented group of 20 dancers from top to bottom. Now’s as good a time as ever to take a tour though my 5 favorite performances this season – the youtube clips will be embedded into the post.

Before I start, what were my criteria? Because, I’m no egotistical fool. I know my top five will be different from your top five, and I am by no means saying these were the absolute best of the year. Instead, this list includes those performances, partnered or solo, that (a) made me want to watch it over and over again, (b) was technically terrific, and (c) had some emotional impact to it. I definitely had my favorite dancers this year (Joshua, Katee, Will), but I think the top five includes a bit of a mix too, maybe.

Now, I only picked five, maybe next year, I’ll try a Top 10 list split over two days, but there were some Honorable Mentions that I’ll list here (youtube clip in link):

Katee & Joshua: Bollywood – I was nervous about this one, I’ll be honest (as was Joshua, apparently). But it was one of the more dynamic performances of the season, and exciting for its novelty to SYTYCD.

Mark & Chelsie: Argentine Tango – Mark definitely knows how to disappear into a role, which is probably at least half the game for the male in a tango, and Chelsie is fabulous at any latin/ballroom style.

Twitch & Comfort: Hip Hip – Two hip hop dancers got their style, choreographed by Dave Scott (a better hard hip hop choreographer than Nappy Tabs, for example). A great combination.

Twitch Top 12 Solo: Maestro – The solos had been a little dry up to this point (lots of contemporary dancers), but Twitch put a jolt into it with his very musically choreographed solo.

In looking over the five I picked and the four above, I see that *spoilers* I didn’t pick any Chelsie “hot numbers”, where she is in a fast Latin dance. This kind of surprises me because I think she is amazing at those routines. But I never really needed to see them over and over after she had performed them, for some reason. Maybe because she got to do them several times this season? In any case, I go into this knowing that many may disagree with me on the ones below. Comment away!

Alright! Without further ado, my Top Five, with commentary:

5. Will’s Top 8 Solo

This solo was apparently one of the more polarizing performances, based on what I read on idolforums and other blogs. Of course, Will was promptly booted from the show the next day in what I still consider to be a bad decision (I would have put Twitch or Mark off at that point). The ironic thing is that I think all Will was doing was showing exactly the personality that judges had asked him to display. In fact, the judges LOVED the solo, giving him a standing ovation afterwards. However, perhaps it was too late for Will to overcome early perceptions of his “aloof” personality.

In any case, a great rendition of a James Brown dance. My favorite moment is the leap and slide up at 1:24 – I mean, the boy can DANCE. Plus, the slow smooth shuffle down the stairs at 1:10, it just doesn’t get more fun to watch than that. Some have said it was all twirls and jumps, but I think there’s also the great alignment with the music (the hip bumps at 1:16). I only wish it could have gone for another 10 seconds.

4. Mark & Chelsie Hip Hop

Tabitha and Napoleon have gotten a bit of a beating from hip hop aficionados in some of the forums I’ve been reading. I think part of the blame goes to Nigel for his christening of “lyrical hip hop” as the future of hip hop. Nigel certainly loves Nappy Tabs, and I enjoy their choreography (as you’ll see), but this is really more of a contemporary feel than hip hop. That said, I really enjoyed this routine.

Mark and Chelsie do a great job getting into the roles, particularly Mark. Mark really does seem like a much stronger dancer when he has that role. The few routines he struggled in this year came when they were “story-less” routines, all about the moves and dances. Certainly a flaw when it comes to this show, but it doesn’t take away from this performance. My favorite moves start at 1:22, the bridge portion.

3. Thayne’s Top 14 Solo

Now I’m guessing a lot of people will read this and think “No way. He’s nuts.” My own wife thinks this was a cheesy performance. That may be, but I’m putting this one on my list for a few reasons. First, I think the solos this season were somewhat bland, particularly the girls’ solos – too many contemporary dancers. I liked Twitch’s solos, I liked a couple of Will’s, and… I liked this one. Second, why did I like this one?

Something about the musicality (is that now a word?) of it. It’s not just a bunch of tricks and pirouettes (all the rage this season after Danny perfected them last season). Not a lot of leaps for the sake of jumping. It’s actually a mix of artistic moves closely choreographed to the music, and they’re not athletic moves or flashy moves, just musical. What do I mean?

The fall backwards onto the rail at 0:11. The right leg kickback and head back at 0:13. The elbows at 0:15. And so on. From the stairs, to his slowly-timed turns and pirouettes. His leap and head bobs. All of it was just timed carefully to the music; you can see his thought process. I loved Katee, but her solos pale majorly in comparison.

2. Will & Katee Pas de Deux

I don’t think words can do this routine justice. Probably the most difficult routine ever performed on SYTYCD, all four seasons included. So many great moves, so much grace and power. I only wish, and I realize this is a bit lame of me, I only wish they hadn’t made that one small mistake with Katee’s head hitting Will’s arm. It threw off the timing of the routine up until that break/pause in the middle, and kept this from true contention for my number 1 spot.

1. Katee & Joshua Hip Hop

And the number one spot! Right away from the first week, Katee and Joshua established themselves as both fan and judge (especially Nigel) favorites. They probably needed this, Katee especially, because of her Top 20 selection fiasco (I think the judges were being drama queens and totally driven by production value when they creamed Katee like they did), and there’s no doubt that their early momentum kept them out of the Bottom 3 and 2 for the whole show.

Again, I think this is more contemporary than hip hop, closer to Mia Michaels than to Dave Scott. But bottom line, it’s a well-choreographed, terrifically performed routine. My highlights: Joshua’s entrance at 2:26. The flip of Joshua at 2:50. The synchronized dancing at 2:52. The hands at 3:12. The facial expressions from then on. This had the emotional and technical impact, and sold me from day one.

So, I went with the five that hit me emotionally the most, the ones I want to watch over and over. Now, I KNOW I left your favorite off, and put a horrible performance in its place. Tell me which one you disagree with! And then tell me which one you agree with!

And only 1 day to the finals! As a teaser, I leave you with this from Philip Chbeeb, who we’ll see on Thursday, I’m guessing.

SYTYCD Top 6: One person’s review

So yes, I am a big So You Think You Can Dance fan… I prefer to call it a guilty pleasure, right up there with those “Top 100″ shows on VH1 (Top 100 Songs from the ’90s!; Top 100 One Hit Wonders!) and Kelly Clarkson.

Last night was the Top 6. Overall, this has been a really solid season – I don’t think I’ve been as emotionally invested in any of the dancers as I’ve been in the past (like I said, guilty pleasure), but everyone can really dance.

So without further ado, here is my review of the 6 dancers left in the competition, in order of my rankings for last night (best to worst).

1. Joshua

Paired with Katee, he danced a Tyce contemporary and a paso doble. There is an obvious chemistry or synergy with Katee, his original partner, and it absolutely came out last night. The judges pimped it, the two contestants pimped it, even Tyce put it out there. Heck, I even got a little excited about it. But bottom line, the contemporary piece was flat out amazing, with an incredible lift/catch that had Joshua catching Katee seemingly mid-leap (more on Katee’s performance later), plucking her out of the air. The paso doble, in my opinion, was even better – it seemed more of a complete performance rather than just lifts and aerials and tricks, with a passion in it that matched what I would expect out of two traditional paso doble dancers.

Joshua is my pick to win the whole thing. Part of it is the immense support he gets from the judges. But also, if one is to make the (unfair?) comparison with Twitch, I think Twitch is a great soloist, with real variety and intrigue in his choreography, but when it comes to more “mature” dances that require real facial solemnity, it’s Joshua who is much more believable as a dancer. Plus I think he’s technically great, at least in my uninformed opinion.

2. Katee

Well, I think it makes sense that the strongest couple from Week 1 (helped immensely by the fact that it was the first time we saw the user-friendly stylings of Nappy Tabs, also known as Tabitha and Napoleon) are the two top dancers right now. I think there’s an important lesson for contestants in SYTYCD or American Idol that may already be obvious, but here it is: You have to be great on week one – that’s the most important time to make that emotional link with viewers. Once you do that, you have set everyone’s expectations with you, and you can simply ride the wave of votes to the final.

Not that Katee isn’t incredibly deserving! As mentioned above, she danced the contemporary and paso doble with Joshua. Arguably, Katee’s performance was even better than Joshua’s. I definitely think she’s the better “dancer” both technically and artistically. Her ability to freeze mid leap, to use her face as a tool to convey emotions, to be fluid and hard in the same routine – I think she’s one of the top 5 dancers all time on the show. Better than Sabra partly because of her natural build, there really hasn’t been one single off performance from Katee. That said, I think she is number 2 behind Joshua for one reason, her solos just don’t do it for me. They’re good, but this season, the female solos have been subpar and even worse, boring. I think we’ve seen the contemporary-dancer-solo bit a few too many times by now, and ballroom dancers just can’t carry off solos at all.

3. Chelsie

I think there’s a huge gap between 2 and 3 on this list, but let’s not shortchange Chelsie! No one, absolutely no one, has been better with ballroom or latin style dances than Chelsie, ever on this show.

Paired with Twitch, she started with the Mambo then went to Hip Hop. I thought (again, in my uninformed opinion) that she was absolutely flawless in the Mambo. She really knows how to dance those latin styles – you really couldn’t take your eyes off her, and Twitch just faded right into the background (as perhaps males are supposed to do?). The judges keep talking about her legs and their length… I don’t know if it’s that or just that her movements are so precise yet dynamic, a killer combination in these dances. The Hip Hop, however, I felt was a dud. I expected more out of them, considering it was Twitch and Nappy Tabs, but I should remember, Nappy Tabs don’t really do hard hip hop very well, and Twitch is much better with popping styles than with “lyrical hip hop” (a derided term amongst hip hop dancers). Chelsie didn’t embarrass herself by any means, but it did not measure up to Katee or Joshua at all. Plus, Chelsie’s solos really could just be copied and pasted from one week to another, except with different colored lingerie outfits.

4. Mark

A huge surprise for me if he makes it into the finals. I liked Mark in his performances where he had to assume a role – it seemed to actually improve his dancing technique as well when he could disappear into a distinct character – but overall, he seemed like a one-note dancer (a weird note at that). His solos are strange, almost Samoan (perhaps not surprising given his Hawaiian roots), but yet he’s lasted longer than Will (who should be in the Alvin Ailey company anyway).

Last night, he danced with Courtney and drew the Viennese Waltz and Jazz. The waltz was terrible in my eyes, but the judges (particularly Adam) loved it. However, the Jazz, choreographed by a person even more outwardly different than Mark, fit him to a T. The music, the movements, the character all meshed with his profile perfectly, and it was a good dance as well. I think this will be enough to carry him into the finals, in a mild upset over Twitch.

5. Twitch

Probably an early favorite to make it into the finals, due to his popping style and his personality. The judges tried very hard to pimp him into the finals for sure, and he has a fan-friendly presence on screen. But after a mild scare in the Top 12 results, where the judges were guaranteed to put him through to the Top 10, he took another blow last week when he again landed in the Bottom 2. That surprised me more than any thing else because I had thought his popularity was high enough to not have to worry. That shows me he’s vulnerable, and last night didn’t help his cause.

With Chelsie, Twitch got out danced in the Mambo and came up short in the Hip Hop. I think he needed a more dynamic routine in the Hip Hop to save him, and Nappy Tabs let him down. While it was a funny routine, I just don’t see any connection with the fans. Also, Twitch really really struggles when he needs to be a seriously male lead. Perhaps because the choreography gets more difficult for him when it comes to waltzes or paso dobles or what have you, but also because he’s just not believable as a romantic lead, a quality you desperately need to pull those off (see: Mark). For that reason, I see Twitch as off this week.

6. Courtney

And last (and least), Courtney. I think she’s been carried here by her looks, and while she can dance, I think she’s too much of a one noter as well. I didn’t buy her in the Waltz, and I didn’t really pay any attention to her in the Jazz. I guess she’s another dancer I just don’t believe in when it comes to dramatic characters – I feel like she puts on her practiced “serious look” (mouth a little open, eyebrows knit, hands outstretched) and that’s it. I think she’s a lock to go.

Thoughts??