Reality Roll Call

We’re nearing the final countdown on So You Think You Can Dance as the top six  compete to be America’s favorite dancer.

Courtney and Mark are the first to perform. They dance a waltz to the song The Time of My Life by Mark Love. The dance is pleasant, though I can’t help but count 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 as they execute the steps. Mary says Mark comes alive in a performance and that he improves week after week. Nigel called their performance beautifully romantic. Adam Shankman, who is tonight’s third judge, said he didn’t know how America was going to vote because the top six is so strong.

Mark and Courtney’s second dance is choreographed by Sonya Tayeh who is the only person capable of being weirder than Mia Michaels. The dance is dark, weird and looks like it would be in a modern day version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show—right up Mark’s alley. Adam said the dance was sick and commends Sonya for bringing darkness to the show. Mary loved it and Nigel says Courtney always finds a way to make things work. He called it a highlight of tonight.

Courtney dances her solo to Rock Your Soul by Elisa and she hugs Cat at the end. I’m not sure if the pressure is getting to her, but she looks like she just might cry.

When Mark performs his solo, I can’t help but think that in future SYTYCD seasons, he’ll be choreographing.

Joshua and Katee are happy to be back together. Their first dance is to All By Myself by Celine Deon. Tyce Dyorio choreographs, and of course the dance is a love story a la Romeo and Juliet. All the choreographers have come to enjoy testing Joshua’s strength and Tyce is one of them. There are a number of lifts, including one where Katee leaps and Joshua catches her by her legs, they spin and she inverts somehow to another position. In another lift, he holds her in the air behind his back, and she extends her legs past his body as he walks forward—very pretty. The crowd loves it. Adam takes a moment to point out the fact that Paula Abdul is in the audience before telling Joshua, Katee and Tyce that they are the “Holy Trinity” of SYTYCD. Mary goes into banshee mode and screams in Nigel’s face, and Nigel says he was pleased to see the two together again. He also points out the Gilian Lynne, the choreographer for Phantom of the Opera and Cats, is in the audience.

Jason Gilikson, an Australian choreographer who works with that country’s SYTYCD, choreographs a passé doble for Katee and Joshua. They dance to Filet from the soundtrack of La Reve. Jason is playing a matador, and I guess you could call Katee the bull. Their performance is fantastic. Adam says Joshua makes him believe in the impossible since Joshua is able to dance so well despite not having extensive training. Mary once again yells like a banshee and Nigel says Joshua just might steal the show.

Katee performs her solo to Can’t Stop by Maroon 5. She’s amped and a bit cheerleaderish, but I think she was doing it on purpose. Meanwhile, Joshua’s solo includes a leap, some bootie drops and a split, which he performs to “Like That” by Memphis Bleek.

Tony Meredith and Melanie La Patin choreograph a mambo for Chelsea and Twitch’s first dance. The interesting thing about the mambo, aside from all the shaking involved, is that it’s danced on the two and four beats as opposed to the one and three. It’s pretty difficult to dance on the two and four when you’re accustomed to dancing on the one and three and though Twitch struggled in practice, he eventually got the hang of it for the performance. Chelsea, who is a solid ballroom dancer was able to pick up for his unease and she was a real firecracker in her red costume with a skirt that managed to move though it was as poofy as an 80s prom dress. Adam said that Chelsea was on fire and danced like an animal. He said that Twitch was obviously out his element, but managed to sell the dance with his face though not with his body. Mary said it was a great routine and gave Twitch props for learning to dance on the two and four beats. She said that Chelsea was fabulous in the Latin style.

Tabitha and Napoleon create a hip hop routine for Twitch and Chelsea where the two dancers fight over a control of a stick. The premise is that whoever control’s the stick controls the dance. They perform to an orchestral version of Janet Jackson’s Control. It’s interesting, though not exciting and I’m not sure if it’s because of the choreography or the dancers. Adam says the dancers were great and Mary concurs. Nigel gives a long speech about how whoever moves to the top four does not matter as long as the audience has been entertained.

Chelsea practically explodes on the stage during her solo performance to “When I Grow Up” by the Pussycat Dolls. She’s wearing a great black fitted costume with a shiny bra top and lime green fringe that moves in every direction she takes. She’s the first ballroom dancer that I’ve ever enjoyed watching dancing solo.

Twitch brings back the glow of the late 80s in his solo, which he dances to Midas Touch by Moonlight Star. He’s wearing large clear sunglasses and gold fronts, which Kat proceeds to try on at the encouragement of Nigel and the crowd, though she seemed to be a bit disgusted by the spit swapping involved. “It was art and nothing else, people,” she yells. I think that may have been the highlight of the night.