Destination ‘So You Think You Can Dance’: The best episode of the season. Period.

Well folks, the numbers are in and it’s official: Tonight’s episode of “So You Think You Can Dance” was the most exhilarating and engrossing of the season. Here are the reasons why.

A respectable omission

Paula Abdul was in the audience, and yet they didn’t even subject us to the video for “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” Add 10 points.

Cat’s a giver. (Add five points)

Flawless humanoid Cat Deeley knows it can’t be easy to sit in the audience and gaze on her perpetual perfection week after week.

That’s why this week, Cat was kind enough to don a gown that looked like it was designed by the Lauren Conrad collection. Thanks, girl!

You can never be too rich or too thin

This week, the usual two hours of performances were mercifully trimmed down to one.

And one hour was plenty! The show was thinner, time-wise, but content-wise, it was richer than ever. Tonight’s show wins five points for brevity.

The costumers hit a home run

I knew they had it in ‘em! This week, during Courtney Galiano and Mark Kanemura’s waltz, Court was outfitted in a creamy, gorgeous, silky gown.  And there was nary a sequin in sight! Plus five points for learning restraint!

Correction

It turns out, the spare beauty of Courtney Galiano’s dress did not actually result from a moment of uncharacteristic restraint on the part of the costumer.  The seamstress was just saving all the fringe, sequins and fluorescent-green fabric for the costume Chelsie Hightower wore in her solo. Minus four for tricking us.

Plus four points: ‘Shankers’ is back!

Love him or hate him, nobody triggers Nigel Lythgoe’s wicked wit quite like Adam Shankman. 

When Cat Deeley referred to Adam Shankman as “Shankers” tonight, Lythgoe said “Shankers” sounded like a mysterious illness. “‘How have you been this week?’ ‘Oh, I’ve had a bad case of the Shankers’” joked Nigel. 

So, that’s why Mark Kanemura stayed. (Plus six!)

Many viewers – myself included – have not always been totally sold on Mark Kanemura. Tonight, however, that wacky jazz number seemed tailor-made for Mark. I challenge even the most staunch Mark-hater to tell me who could have danced Sonia's choreography better.

Perfect pairings

The evening wins another two points for perfect pairings.  Mark Kanemura and Courtney Galiano connected instantly, and on a strictly superficial level, they looked perfect together.

And Katee Shean and Joshua Allen? Um, don’t get me started.  (Hey, two couples outta three perfect ain’t bad…)

‘The things we do for art!’

Will Wingfield’s James Brown impersonation must have made quite an impression on Twitch Boss, because this week, Twitch came out with a little gimmick of his own. 

Now, I didn’t go gaga over Twitch’s golden grill bit, but I’m adding points here for the moment after the solo; when Cat took the spit-soaked accessory out of Twitch’s mouth and put it into her own. Five points. “Four real.”

Star-crossed lovers

Two points automatically go to the reunion of golden couple Joshua Allen and Katee Shean. Plus, they get 10 more point for making me cry with their Romeo-and-Juliet-inspired contemporary number.

‘Hey Tyce, this is the first time I’m putting the choreographer on the hot tamale train!’

I’ll give a point to the Scream Queen herself for having the good sense to put Tyce Diorio on the hot tamale train after he choreographed Katee and Joshua's contemporary number. That dance made me believe in love.

Minus three for questionable judging.

Oh, come now! Twitch Boss looked out of his element to the point of nausea during his mambo with Chelsie Hightower. Why were the judges so forgiving?

Leave Sanjaya alone

Nigel Lythgoe and stage manager Debbie Williams lost a point for mocking poor “American Idol”-hopeful Sanjaya Malakar between segments.

“Nigel said our guest dancer is Sanjaya!” joked Debbie.  “He’s gonna do an interpretive dance with the crying girl!”

“It’s a Bollywood routine!” Nigel replied. 

Stop bugging Mary

There was a truly persistent bug whizzing around the judges’ heads for the entire taping, severely annoying one Mary Murphy, who finally yelped, “It’s landed on me at least four times!”

No points for this one. Just thought it was funny. 

Adam Shankman opens up

Adam won a point when he harkened back to his dance days with Tyce Diorio. Apparently, the pair danced together to “The Little Mermaid’s” “Under the Sea” at an awards’ ceremony.

“I was a Lycra-clad flipping pirate,” recalled Adam.

Joshua Allen’s coming out party

We knew he was a strong and loyal partner, but tonight Joshua Allen also got to be the center of attention for once, playing a matador in a Paso Doble.

The way he dragged Katee Shean across the floor at the end of the dance showed his fierce domineering side, and the way he smiled at her sheepishly after the song was over showed that he’s still the gentle Joshua we fell in love with! Plus five for the many sides of Joshua Allen. 

The MM curse

“I’m gonna keep yellin’ till everyone in America hears me,” Mary Murphy remarked after lavishing praise on her new favorite, Joshua Allen.  Careful, girl… Remember what happened when you started raving about Will Wingfield like that?

Just for fun...

go to the comments section again and tell me what you think Mark Karemura's solo should be called this week. I call it “stripper in a strait jacket.”

Questionable judging: Part II (Minus two.)

Really?  Chelsie Hightower and Twitch Boss killed that hip-hop routine?  Then what was I watching?

So, now that the numbers have been tallied, it’s official.  Tonight was the best night of the season.  Yell at me in the comments if I’m forgetting any great moments, or if you prefer, yell at me this Thursday at 1 p.m., when I lead a “Dance”-chat with fellow “Dance”-addict Claire Zulkey.

And as always, please chime in and tell me who'll be sent packing this Thursday. It's sure to be the most gut-wrenching elimination ceremony yet!

Till then,

Stephanie Lysaght

Comments

[Alex]

Mark redeemed himself this week. He was unduly punished when paired with Comfort during ballroom dances. I would like to see him over Twitch,. Twitch has reached his limit. Big gap between Mark and Joshua though. Will should be in place of Mark.

Getting tired of Tabitha and Napoleon routines. The stories and props make the dancing too gimicky. The novelty is wearing out.

Tough choice between the girls! Katee for sure. But Courtney or Chelsea? They're both extremely beautiful, and done well in all dance styles. Chelsea seems to be more of a fan and judge favorite. I think it's a push, but I'll root for Courtney, since she's been more of an underdog.

[SafeTinspector]

"Shankers" could be the name of a very violent prison clown. "Shankers" the Clown would be pretty good with a make-shift knife.

Mark's dance could be called
"My Adventures In Auto-Erotic Asphyxiation"
-or-
"Grand Mal Seizures and Me: An Autobiography"
-or-
"Its This Shirt's Fault! DAMMIT!"
I love Mark, man. I don't know as how he can win this competition (I was surprised he made it past last week), but I love 'im.

I think you're a little hard on Chelsie and Twitch's hip-hop routine. They pulled the wand gimmick off pretty well, and if there's a complaint to be made I suppose it would be to Napolean and Tabitha for producing a routine you didn't enjoy so much; I didn't see any flaws in execution, really.And I don't think it was a case of the choreography being "dumbed-down" for the couple like the Mambo was; we know that Twitch can handle hip-hop.

Other moments you might've missed? You need to give the show an extra few points for having excellent musical selections throughout the whole thing.
Well, except for the Lithgoe-masturbatory David Cook song during a waltz and Tyce's unfortunate use of Celine Dion in an otherwise incredible contemporary routine.

Speaking of which, I REALLY loved that routine despite Celine. Katee's gift for absolute commitment and trust in her partner makes routines like that possible. Her Pas De Deux with Will and an earlier conteporary routine with Joshua were both a lot like this and all these routines really took my breath away.
My only complaint is that I didn't see any sign of tragedy or forbidden love in either the choreography or the music choice--I'm not sure the Romeo-andJuliet-meets-West-Side-Story really came across. (Wouldn't a combination of Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story be redundant anyway? Isn't West Side Story already a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet?)

Hey, Stephanie, here's fun game for next time:
Could how many times someone on the show does that "4-real" thing. Every time it happens, push another cauterized safety pin under your index fingernail.

Last thought: Courtney and Katee's solos looked too much alike, down to the shorts.

[so you think you can write]

Agreeing with Stephanie that this was the show in high gear, with all of the dancers pumpin'! I also hope that Joshua does not fall under the MM "showing ___ the luv -- oops now he's voted off" curse.
Given that some dancers like Katee don't choreograph themselves to their best advantage I miss the choreographed solos of last year. Sure it got redundant, but it would be less so if done at a point in the series where there were fewer dancers (do you hear that Cat? "Few" like in "the dancer with the fewest votes" not, fer cryin' out loud, "the dancer with the least votes!")

Fewest votes.
Least votage or votations, or something like that.

[Kim]

You forgot that we have now seen all of the top 3 guys with their shirt off.
(Well almost because mark didn't exactly take it off all the way.)

[oakmonster]

I saved last night's episode for a few reasons. You're right. The best episode ever! For Joshua & Katee's contemporary routine that makes me tear up. For Cat's putting on Twitch's drooly grill. And for Mark and Courtney's magical jazz routine--LOVE the music, by the way.

I didn't think Twitch was memorable last night. The hip hop routine was cute, but it wasn't the mind blowing, hard hitting, futuristic routine he did with Comfort. I intentionally tried not to look at him during the samba and just marveled at Chelsie burning up the floor.

Will see if I can slack off at 1 p.m. and join you guys for a chat today. :)

[Donna G.]

I agree with you right down the line!
I like Twitch but that mambo - he looked sick, 'to the point of nausea' exactly describes it! I might not have even noticed him with all of Chelsie's flash, but I kept seeing that look of terror on his face.
My favorite is still Joshua and if there was any doubt he deserves to win, well, that contemporary dance prooved it beyond doubt. No question that Katee is right there with him, she's my second-favorite, I couldn't imagine another couple with that kind of control and trust in each other who could have done it. Leaping into his arms in a full split? And he catches her and holds her like she weighs nothing? I'll never forget it.
Unbelieveably macho as he dragged her across the floor, his expression was perfect, and then that grin. What a combination of power and grace!

[r]

r, where are the commentS?

[BCS]

This was a great show with at least one good routine from almost everyone. The paso was the highlight for me. Both dancers were stunning on that stage. I think Twitch's weaknesses were once again exposed, so as much as I like him, I hope he goes home. I'm worried it's going to kill him though. The way he groans at reveal time says a lot.
I wish Jason Gilkison had time to help Mark with his posture in ballroom. He's so tall, but doesn't use it to full advantage. He sticks his stomach out or something, which makes his butt stick out slightly. I'm not sure what it is, but he needs to work on that.

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Ouch Alex – Did you really consider being paired with Comfort a “punishment”?

[Stephanie Lysaght]

My pick for best renaming of Mark’s solo:

"Its This Shirt's Fault! DAMMIT!"

Thanks, Safetinspector!

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Hey there, “so you think you can write.” Thanks for the grammar lesson. Maybe Cat will read your note!

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Excellent point, Kim! Joshua finally disrobed last night. Who knew he had looked like that under there?!

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Hey Oakmonster! Guess you actually had to work today at 1pm. See you next week!

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Donna G. – Thanks so much for reminding us about that moment where Katee leapt into the air and Joshua caught her in a full split. Magic!

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Hey “r”, the comments have to be approved (for language, etc.) before they’re posted, so don’t worry if there’s a short delay. Thanks for posting!

[carly]

Mark's solo should be called "Yo, Nigel, I can do shirtless too. Huzzah."

[SafeTinspector]

WHoohoo! What'd I win?

....'course, it seems I was the only entrant.

No matter, a win-by-default is still a win, right?

[More Grammar for Cat]

While Cat's learning to say "fewest" votes (not "least" or "lowest" -- ugh!), she should also learn lowest "number" of votes (not "amount" of). Someone teach that girl about count vs. quantity nouns. Because other than her grammar, she's a fabulous, intelligent host.

[Blair Waldorf]

I actually loved the hip hop routine...they hit every move and made it look so easy! I'm kinda getting over twitch's same solo routine to a different awesome and ridiculous song every week. As of Wednesday, I've totally jumped on the Joshua bandwagon. How could i not? He's had most of his training in just hip hop, yet can pull off everything from bollywood to a waltz. Twitch can't. Twitch just puts some weird look the judges call "character" on his face which i think looks more like he took a laxative.
Steph i love your random comments you post which are just full of personality and make me laugh. Even if i dont' agree with you, its still so genius. keep it coming!

[T.Miranda]

Yeah, LEAVE SANJAYA ALONE!