Destination 'So You Think You Can Dance': When in doubt, take it off

What a night!  On Wednesday, for the first time this season, each couple was asked to present two dances in one evening. The resulting spectacle left me with nothing but questions, chief among them, Why does Will Wingfield ever have to wear a shirt?  Here are the other –- admittedly less pressing –- questions raised by tonight's show.   

What was in Cat Deeley's water tonight?

The British bombshell usually plays the mother hen role on "So You Think You Can Dance," shielding the fragile contestants from the wrath of Nigel Lythgoe.  Tonight, however, she couldn't get enough of the boys! "I believe they call that ripped," she announced to a shirtless Twitch Boss. She also got giddy over the aroma of Will's shirt. Get a grip, girl -– or better yet, don’t! We like this randy new Cat.

Does someone have it in for Kourtni Lind?

At the end of the opening number, when all of the dancers froze in pairs, Kourtni froze holding male dancer Gev Manoukian in her arms! And not at all ironically. Just because she's tall doesn't mean she has to play the male part!

Did the SYTYCD hairdresser forget his or her glasses?

Between Katee Shean and Kherington Payne's freaky pompadours and Cat's cinnabun-inspired 'do, something strange was afoot in the hair territory tonight.

Is Nigel Lythgoe a mind-reader?

Just moments after I jotted in my notebook, "I want to dance with Will!" Lythgoe took a poll of the studio, asking who would like to dance with Will.  Every hand in the room went up.  Drat. Competition.

How is Jessica King managing to keep her cool?

No couple been subjected to such sharply divisive criticism as Jessica and Will. It was "a little lazy from you," Nigel told Jessica after their first number tonight. It can't be easy to stand up there and smile while the judges celebrate your partner and tear you to shreds. No wonder the twosome had a mysterious "meltdown" this week.

Do Comfort Fedoke and Thayne Jasperson stand a chance?

They’ve both been in the bottom three, they've both lost a partner, and now they are both getting hooked up with another member of the bottom three. To me, it seems like the cards are stacked against Comfort and Thayne.  Too bad the two bottom three refugees could not have each been paired with a crowd favorite for a while.

Is Nigel tired of being the bad guy?

"If I can get my boo now, can I then talk after?" inquired the exasperated judge at one point this evening. 

Even when the cameras were off, Nigel seemed fed up with being the bad guy.  During a break, he asked the audience who they thought was headed home. When nobody replied, Nigel added, "just remember when you're watching the show on TV, how difficult it is for us.  That's all I ask." 

Are the props really necessary?

Every time the dancers wave matadors' capes, tear shirts off of one another, or skid across the floor on bedsheets, all I can think is, "Eek, I hope somebody doesn't get hurt!"

Is today April Fools' Day?

Twitchington -- the formerly untouchable twosome -– actually got a negative review tonight. OK, not negative, but certainly lukewarm. Their matador number failed to wow the judges.

Can somebody please tickle Joshua Allen?

Joshua Allen, formerly known as smile with legs, was uncharacteristically serious tonight; he wouldn’t even crack a smile when Cat Deeley flirted with him. 

Is it just me, or were the judges totally backwards tonight when it came to Courtney Galiano and Gev?

Courtney and Gev's hip-hop routine made me want to get up and dance, but I found their Broadway routine painfully corny.  The judges saw things the opposite way. 

Is Will a great actor, or does he really like being paired with Jessica?

Tonight, guest judge Napoleon vocalized a popular sentiment when he told Jessica, "You're holding Will down a little bit."  If Will agrees with Napoleon, however, he never lets on.  On stage, Will always regards Jessica with unwavering respect and admiration.   

Was Twitchington's second routine really that "amazing" and "awesome?"

Original? Definitely.  But how could you tell whether or not the dancing was good? They spent most of the number thrashing and bouncing across that bed. 

Are Joshua and Katee the hands-down awesomest couple in the competition?

This question actually has a correct answer: yes.  And the best part about Joshua and Katee is, when Cat reads their numbers, they never do that dopey pantomime that all of the other couples have picked up. Josh and Katee save the character for their routines.

Who's going home?

I don't have an answer to that question yet, but I'm sure you do! So stop by Showtracker Thursday at 1 p.m. and tell me what you think.  I'll be co-hosting a chat with fellow "Dance" addict Claire Zulkey.

Till then!

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Comments

[B L]

Thanks for the great commentary! This is a much better Show Tracker than last year's.

[Yen]

I thought Josh and Katee were just serious because they were still swept up in the seriousness of the dance? But ditto on your other points. Wanted to reach into the tv and tear off Cat's tuxedo bib.

[Gerrit]

Thank you for this:

Was Twitchington's second routine really that "amazing" and "awesome?"

Original? Definitely. But how could you tell whether or not the dancing was good? They spent most of the number thrashing and bouncing across that bed.

I thought it was a cop-out calling that a dance.

[Ciao Bambina]

Almost word for word what I said to the S.O. re: Gev and Courtney. I'm sure it was that Boring Broadway routine that bottom three'd them.

And thank goodness for Gev's solo. I was about to scream if I had to sit through another interpretive/lyrical/contemporary 45 seconds.

And yay! for bringing Benji back to choreograph a routine! Let's do that a lot more!