Thursday, August 06, 2009

C'est la vie.

Finale!

The night kicks off with Tasty's "Brand New Day" routine from The Wiz, and all Top 20 dancers. Hi Top 20!! Hi hi it's so good to see y'all again! It's so high energy and fantastic! And then out comes Cat lookin' like a million damn bucks. Wow. Well done, honey.

Before the rest of the show kicks off, I am under the impression that Jeanine has become the front-runner to win the whole thing. Not my favorite, or my first choice, but I kind of get it. It's been the buzz on the Internets, and the crowd at the Kodak goes extra bananas when Cat says her name, if that's any indication.

Basically, I'm girding myself for a disappointing ending to a season that didn't grab me as much as past seasons have. Although, after the season montage, I still get a little choked up.

It's the dancing, y'all. I love it so much. I can't help it. No matter how I might feel about .... whatever. I still just love to watch these people dance their asses off. Just love it.

Adam Shankman's pick: Hip Hop to "Mad" by Ne-Yo, choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon, danced by Phillip and Jeanine. Really? because I'm fast-forwarding this dumb dance. Also, I don't really believe this was Adam's pick. I mean, really??

Nigel Lythgoe's pick: Argentine Tango to "Libertango" from Forever Tango, choreographed by Miriam Larici & Leonardo Barrionuevo, danced by Janette and Brandon. YES. I was riveted the whole time and clapped spontaneously when it was over, just like I did the first time. So awesome.

Debbie Allen's pick: Waltz to "Dreams are More Precious" by Enya,choreographed by Louis Van Amstel, danced by Asuka & Vitolio. It's pretty, I guess, it's just not sticking out in my memory, like at all. These two really seem to enjoy being back and dancing together again, though, which is nice or something.

Mary Murphy's pick: Contemporary to "If It Kills Me" by Jason Mraz, choreographed by Travis Wall, danced by Jeanine & Jason. I would have been surprised if they didn't take one more chance to show this, and give more props to Travis's choreography, which is lovely.

Mia Michaels' pick: Samba to "Jum Bah Day" by House of Gypsies, choreographed by Louis Van Amstel, danced by Kayla & Max. Great number. Just as hot and flawless as I remember it the first time. Surprising pick by Mia, though.

Debbie's second pick: Salsa/Hip Hop fusion, or whatever, the Top 16 group number with all the water by Tabitha & Napoleon and Dmitry to "I Know you Want Me" by Pitbull. I have to say, I liked this much better than I did the first time around. Though I can think of at least two other group numbers I liked better.

Lil C's pick: Bollywood to "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, choreographed by Nakul Dev, danced by Caitlin & Jason. Great pick, high energy, awesome, great to see them again. Although Jason's kind of a mess--his vest stuck to his bracelet, then the cuff fell to the floor, and was that lipstick or blood all over his face by the end? Yikes!

First one to go: Kayla. Sigh. Like so many superior, brilliant dancers before her on this show, she proved that simply being a truly excellent, gorgeous dancer is not enough to win.

Adam's second pick: Contemporary "butt dance" to "Koop Island Blues" by Koop feat. Ane Brune, choreographed by Mia Michaels, danced by Randi & Evan. I would have been very surprised if this had not been picked by someone. And I still wish it was being danced by someone more earthy and less cute. C'est la vie.

Mary's second pick: Paso Doble to "Tetsujin" from The Matrix, choreographed by Louis Van Amstel, danced by Jeanine & Brandon. From last night. As in, the one we just saw. Which was great, but. We just saw it. Whatever. Fast forward.

Second one to go: Evan. And there he goes, finally. He looks really disappointed that he didn't win. Like he's thinking, "All those goats we sacrificed... for third??"

Nigel's second pick: Contemporary to "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles, choreographed by Mia Michaels, danced by Kayla & Kupono. Mia's addiction piece is just as intense, heartbreaking, and amazing as it was the first time we saw it.

I'd be crying again, if they didn't follow it up with teeny tiny adorable little hip hop boys. So stinkin' cute.

Tasty Oreo's pick: Disco to "Loving is Really My Game" by Brainstorm, choreographed by Doriana Sanchez, danced by Janette & Brandon. These two are so sensational. They did so many amazing numbers. Tasty could have picked Wade Robson's brilliant cartoony "Ruby Blue" routine, for example, and I would have loved him forever for it. But he picked a Doriana Sanchez disco routine. So I'm fast-forwarding.

Mia's second pick: Contemporary to "This Woman's Work" by Maxwell, choreographed by Tasty Oreo, danced by Melissa & Ade. Tyce's breast cancer piece. Just as gorgeous and touching as it was the first time we saw it. Now I AM crying, at least a little.

Thank God they decided to take this moment to do a little Chorus Line with six of the jidges dancing!! Debbie, Adam, Mary, Nigel, Mia and Tyce! I love it! But too short!! Jidges and choreographers should dance MORE on this show, I think. Don't you?

(Also, Mia should rock that bright red lipstick more often because it just works on her like a fabulous charm.)

And the winner is: Jeanine. I guess the buzz was right. It feels.... exactly like the rest of the season. Love the dancing, but not necessarily the people, or the results. And why is this interview going on for so long? Also, it seems like kind of a shame that the second place person doesn't get their own separate moment to shine. Also also, last year, they gave the top girl a separate prize, the first time ever they'd done that. They're not doing it for the top guy this year? No moment at all for Brandon, after all he did and went through this season? Really?

Ah well. Regardless. There you have it. No more dance program recap blogs. I need to get back to my other one.

Talk about pie or something.

3 comments:

dree said...

SYTYCD-Canada starts Tuesday! !!!!

Ruby Blue should definitely have been there - was it just that Brandon and Janette did too many routines?

This year I felt the judges' picks were picked for them. No sense that they actually loved the routines themselves.

Anonymous said...

I like Jeanine, but I preferred Janette and Kayla (in that order). Kayla's dancing was gorgeous, but I felt like most of the time she was faking emotion - the addiction number being the stand-out difference. Janette didn't do nearly as much contemporary as Kayla and so didn't get to showcase much acting-while-dancing ability, but I think she's a more genuine dancer. Plus I like salsa better than contemporary.

Also, I heart Brandon and Ade. I think they should have faced off for the final. Brandon is the consummate solo dancer, and Ade is probably the best partner anyone on that show has ever had. He's like a bloody rock. That you can climb on. Delicious.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dinah
I totally missed the Ruby Blue number! Major omission! I also wish they would have done the battlefield number to put Jeannine and Brandon together in a piece. I liked that one and thought it put both of those dancers ahead in the competition.

But if I would have had my way, Brandon would have been dancing all night. Not to say he was my 'favorite' dancer per se, but that he was definitely the best guy and was in many of the best numbers.

I know you don't have the Jeannine love really, but of the final four, she was my favorite and grew on me all season. She did hit all her routines really hard, and her own personality wasn't a blank. I thought she was funny ("Boobs in your face, butt in your hands!") Kayla was a good actor in her routines, but never broke out with her own personality. And I don't need to say that I'm so glad Evan didn't win. There was a look on his face when he got third that was not so attractive and cute.

So I guess the winner was ok for me. Glad a girl won when there were so many excellent girls in the competition. Enjoyed the finale and all the dances.

I actually wished they would have brought back the Jabberwocky group dance instead of the mediocre (though cute) little breakers. That Jabberwocky thing was so awesome.

Anyway, I look forward to your dancing blogs this fall!
Love, Amy