 by Dan McCallum
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"So You Think You Can Dance" recap: Super-sized finale edition
Last night the winner of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 was anointed and carried from village to village like the Olympic torch but before we can get to the much honored hoofer there's a lot to cover. The format will be a little different for the two-night 4 hour finale this week: I'll still be recapping each number and slamming some of the hideous outfit choices (see Katee's camel toe above) but it will be in more of a stream-of-consciousness liveblog format. So step into your time machine and turn the dial to Wednesday because it's time for our last So You Think You Can Dance post of the season!
Wednesday's Finale Performance Episode:
The still Emmy snubbed Cat Deeley is looking stunning in her golden
Cat's dress looks like one of those camping cups There's going to be a ton of stuff coming fast and furious for the finale and I can't touch on all of it or we'd crash AfterElton, but I'll do my best to guide you through the murky waters, pushing past the bodies of the Top 20 and what's certain to be a misstep or two.
The Dances:
The best couple of Season 4 kicks it again
Katee Shean and Joshua Allen
Seriously?
Katee and Courtney
I needed a stiff one after this Russian number
Joshua and Twitch
Katee and Twitch
Courtney and Joshua
Braveheart Meets Airline Chic
Top 4 Routine:
The Other Stuff: My favorite part of the entire night, though, has to be the one-on-one interviews with Cat and each contestant: they were personal, insightful and I loved having that touch in the finale. Personally I think they should put some of those in the Top 20 or Top 10 rounds so we have a better idea of who each dancer is outside of the competition. We got a glimpse of Courtney's mob-lite clan, the origins of Twitch's nickname, the secret behind Katee's relationship with Joshua and the fact that Joshua used to wear a full spandex body suit. Hello! Overall I have to say that I was underwhelmed by this finale (I wrote a scathing review over at my TV Blog). Aside from the Wade routine, nothing really blew me away, which is sad considering this is the best of the best. Going into the finale I'm voting for Katee Shean which is hilarious to me because at the beginning of the season I wanted her to be the first girl eliminated. She's just extraordinary at what she does. I have a feeling though that Joshua or Twitch will actually take the title of "America's Favorite Dancer." Let's see what happens...
The Top 19 reunite
Thursday's Results Show - The Winner Is Crowned: Top 20 Group Routine by Shane Sparks While I was originally soooo down on the performance episode, I have to say that my favorite part of the finale has been the return of the prodigal sons Wade Robson, Shane Sparks and finally the return of the Queen Debbie Allen. Shane's opening number was an incredibly hard hitting and super high energy hip-hop robo-routine and it's what I love about SYTYCD! Take that, Napoleon and Tabitha: learn from the masters. All season they've been talking about a Robert Muraine vs. Phillip Chbeeb Popping War and finally they delivered. It was crazy good and as much as I wanted Robert to win (which he did), Phillip's versatility and speed made him the bigger entertainer in my book. Those crazy kids!
She'll give you something to scream about... Judge Mary Murphy and Season 2's Dmitry (still shirtless and still Sloth looking) worked out a hot Latin number. It's good to see that she can burn up a dance floor with the best of them. I called it two years ago but I'll say it again, those two are so bangin'. The Cirque du Soleil cast of Chris Angel's "Believe" performed a group number that was totally Tim Burton meets Wade Robson, Donnie Darko meets Alice in Wonderland concoction of greatness and I loved how quirky and imaginative it was. Dear Dear Anya from Buffy would have sliced herself in half had this dance number come to fruition before her eyes. I on the other hand loved every second of it. Wade Robson is the one I bow down to.
Don't get in the van with the scary man kids, don't do it! The Debbie Allen Dance Academy did some Disco Tap number that was ruined when Old Toothy Camera Hog came out. I will however say that it was good to finally see Nigel get his ass out there and work it after all these years. He's surprisingly limber for being 100. Doesn't he look like a creepy majorette leading the children to a deserted cavern with candy or something in that picture above? Jeepers Creepers! The Judges picked their favorite routines to showcase. Nigel picked the Bollywood routine; Mary picked Courtney and Gev's Rhumba, Shankman picked the Comfort/Twitch hip-hop number. My boy Lil C picked Mark and Chelsie's early hip-hop (one of NappyTabs' actually watchable routines), Mia Michaels chose the Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rosen Pas de deux and I liked it so much more this time around. The Shank chose Sonya Tayeh's naughty burlesque number from Week 8 and amen to that because the number is still banoodles. Mary Murphy picked the violently passionate door routine between Twitch and Katee (another one that I absolove)! Debbie Allen picked the Twitchington Celine Dion number which I do have to admit was beautiful. Katee and Joshua's "No Air" NappyTabs ditty was picked as well and I guess that I have to concede because the number is pretty fierce. My favorite part of the entire night and possibly of the entire season was THE BEST OF SYTYCD! Honestly, it was what I was waiting for all week! I'd read about it on Monday and knew it would be crazy good and it did not disappoint. First we got video updates on a ton of dancers from the first 3 seasons (shockingly, Season 3 winner Sabra Johnson is completely MIA - I think she's possibly hunkered down with Osama at the moment, why else would she be so absent?) then it was time for an alumni dance off! All of my personal faves were back: Season 2 and 3 boyfriends Travis Wall and Neil Haskell were in the house. Season 1's Ryan, Season 2's Benji, Allison, Dmitry and Jailbait Ivan were burning up the floor as well. It was cramazing and I rewatched the reunion 3 times. I'm a total freak. Cat eliminated two contestants early on in the episode: Courtney was the first one sent packing and she was so sweet that it made me a little sad. She's adorable, I can't stand it. The second dancer to be eliminated was my girl for the win, Katee Shean. While I partly expected it, I have to say that it hurts to see her go because technically she was the best of the final 4; thankfully SYTYCD threw in a surprise and she won $50,000 for being the best girl of Season 4. Not too shabby! That leaves us with Twitch and Joshua ... a very interesting Top 2.
Joshua Allen wins SYTYCD Season 4! THE WINNER OF SYTYCD Season 4 is Joshua Allen and rightly so! If Katee couldn't win, I wanted Joshua to take home the gold. He's just damn adorable and the boy worked his ass off all season. That's not to say that Twitch didn't have the personality vote because he was great fun to watch for the last 10 weeks. Are you guys happy with the outcome? Are you pleased with the season as a whole? What would you like to see changed for Season 5? Let's talk... Submitted by on Fri, 2008-08-08 11:28. |
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I called Joshua as a winner after his first number with Katee
Future epitaph: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
No lie, I looked at him and I thought, "That boy has really got something, and I think he'll go far." By the next week, I thought he and Katee would be in the finals, and week after week they just kept confirming it. (I did goof and think Chelsee would be the other girl in the finals.) Jamie is a great dancer and was definitely my favorite piece of "eye candy," so I was bummed he was eliminated first, but the more the weeks went by, the more attractive Joshua became to me--he makes talent sexy. (His strong, bull-like build doesn't hurt, either.) Love that now he's got the braces off and the braids back, he's just adorable. I flagged Twitch on that "pansy" remark, too--it seemed very classless, as if they were trying to punch up some sort of hip-hop rivalry between the boys that required a homophobic element. I'd already decided Joshua was my man to beat; Twitch's comment just made me that much gladder about the final result. A highly entertaining finale, definitely more satisfying than "American Idol."
whatever
So, Dan McCallum...are we like long lost twins or somethign? I mean really...we are SO on the same page about a lot of this SYTYCD stuff. They completely dropped the ball this season, first off, and I'm wondering if Twitch and Will were worth it really. The meaning behind this statement is Will's being there meant no Debbie Allen, and I believe that Twitch was the reason Wade was absent (Twitch was on Wade Robson Project several times). And yes, I initially couldn't stand Katee, but over the weeks...she became amazing to me. I'm not sure WHAT Mia was thinking with that group routine that doesn't hold a candle to Tyce's broadway number last season, and Wade's pop routine in Season 2. I was just so disappointed overall with the duel part finale...that is, until I was surprised by the Best Of! Unlike you Mr McCallum...I was unaware of this little piece and when it happened, I screamed like no other, I mean really dogs were barking. I wish they would've left the top 19 off the stage, however, and just let it be guys from past seasons. It was a good time I tell ya, a good time.
Jaymz Luke Alyn
You Don't Toss Your Pearls...
And yes, I initially couldn't stand Katee, but over the weeks...she became amazing to me.
In looking back, if I had that crazy level of talent that Katee has, and it was hinted that I might be turned away a second time... I would have done exactly what Katee did - very politely and professionally said, "no". Especially if it meant her best friend would get a shot at being on the show.
Realistically, Nigel's pompous attitude and announcing that she was "giving up at 19 years old" set her up to fail in terms of how she was perceived by the audience. In retrospect, she wasn't giving up at all. You don't toss your pearls to the pigs.
Katee acted (far and above) professionally. I'm glad they gave her some money in compensation for how stupidly Nigel almost blew it for her.
-Sibelius
"It's curtains for you, Dr. Horrible. Lacy, wafting curtains..."
I've posted all my thoughts
This show is certainly better than the Idol show.
So you think you can...
Of the 4 I also thought Katee was the best with Joshua as a close second. My main issue with Joshua is they keep playing him up as having no training and I just don't believe it--he's too good at too many of the styles. He may have a hip-hop background but he's taken other classes as well. We know Twitch took classes over the last year.
Also, I wonder this season if the judges didn't have in mind to keep the "hip-hop" dancers in till the finals--I have no proof but I think at times they kept people in longer than they should have knocking out some better dancers in the process.