So You Think You Can Dance is down to the Final 4: Kent, Lauren, Robert and AdéChiké. Cat opened the show with an uneventful talk with the judges about National Dance Day. I thought they would have done a great clip on the day that they promoted so heavily, but they did not. Maybe Thursday night, but there wasn’t even a teaser. Also in a humdrum fashion, Cat’s dress was boh-ring. She’ll just take any kind of party-cocktail dress and chop it off 4 inches above the knee and call it a night. I’m giving it a C grade. And there was an uneven hem in the front or the lighting was off on the satin, so I’ll downgrade it to a D. Overall the opening lacked high energy for what could be the best night of the season – I was thinking ‘pick it up guys! We’re down to the finals.’
Then in came Tyce Diorio, one of my favorite characters on this show. He brought a little magic with a group performance to Guys and Dolls’ “Crap Shooter’s Dance.” It was fun to watch and everyone looked wonderfully professional. Lauren and Robert really stood out to me. However it may be because Robert’s shirt came close to matching the color of Lauren’s polka-dotted dress. My eyes may have been following him because of color and not necessarily performance. However, he didn’t miss a thing and danced very well.
The first dance of the night Lauren teamed up with All-Star Pasha for (I think newcomers) Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo on the Tango (whom if I dare say looked like a cougaress and her cub). Lauren gave one of her best performances. She was transformed and lost in this provocative tango. Mee-ow! It was passionate and intimate. I wish the dance could have gone on much longer.
Sean Cheesman choreographed AdéChiké and All-Star Lauren in an Afro-Jazz performance. It was good, but like Adam said we’re still aware of him in the performance. He’s not blowing it out of the park like Lauren just did.
Robert did the Viennese Waltz with All-Star Anya to a Jonathan Roberts choreographed routine. It was beautiful. He kept up and matched Anya awesomely. When he isn’t such a goof-ball on the pre-dance tapes and mans-up during a dance, he’s fascinating and dreamy to watch.
Then came Kent with a Doriana Sanchez disco routine paired with Courtney. “Never underestimate the power of disco,” someone said. That got a chuckle out of me. There were some serious overhead spins going on. A little “oh my!” came out of my mouth. Doriana’s choreography never fails to impress. Kent’s face got overly animated as it does, but it’s disco, right? So there is some room for cheese factor. In the end however, Kent needs to take a note from Robert and man-up. Tyce had a good point and sent farm boy to school to “do his research” on the dance in order to inhibit it a bit more.
Lauren’s second dance was with All-Star Adé on a Sean Cheesman jazz routine. I didn’t like the choreography as much because it wasn’t as femininely ferocious as she is. Cool song though. Hot costume.
AdéChiké was stoked to dance with Kathryn on a Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden choreographed routine. You can tell that he was a humbled by the opportunity to work with Desmond and Dwight. However, during his performance he looked tired and not able to extend all the way through his movements. Sweet AdéChiké is showing that his skill level is not up to par with the others, but I think America likes him very much.
OMG Robert’s second dance was a fabulous scary clown NappyTabs hip-hop routine with All-Star dancer Dominic. It was very good and nicely demented. Adam said that Robert outdanced Dom. That’s quite a compliment! This was an excellent night of dancing for Robert showing all his talents and dimensions.
The last dance of the night, All-Star Neil and Kent were back together on a Travis Wall piece about friends breaking up. On a night celebrating equality, it’s nice seeing a well-matched partnership (all around including the choreographer) bringing such excellence to the floor. This was technically the best performance of the night.
Everyone did a fabulous job showcasing why this group is the Final 4 of this season’s SYTYCD. If we based the elimination of the best performances tonight I would rank them as Robert, Lauren, Kent and AdéChiké. However, I am concerned that America would have dialed in more for AdéChiké over Robert. So let’s say I won’t be surprised if Robert goes home tonight and AdéChiké stays in. Most definitely Kent and Lauren deserve to go to finale. I can’t wait to see what choice America has made.
