So You Think You Can Dance: Weekly Roundup

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

This week in So You Think You Can Dance world, we'll talk Canada and the U.S. in anticipation of the upcoming sixth season of the granddaddy of the SYTYCD family.

But first, our Canadian kids...

So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Top 18 Week

You know, I'd forgotten who most of the dancers were until I saw their faces Tuesday night. I'm not sure if this speaks more to my mental state or more to how memorable they aren't (yet; I have high hopes).

The highlight of the night for me was definitely Jayme Rae & Daniel's dance hall number. I was bored by their African jazz routine last week and saw nothing of import in either one of them, but they might be my favourite couple after this week. That was HOT. And also, well danced.

Overall, the week was a bit of a letdown routine-wise, with only the one standout for me. I was two for three on Bottom 3 predictions, but surprised by Corynne & Anthony's inclusion in that illustrious trio of couples -- I thought they'd pull in the sympathy vote for the stumble, but no such luck for Anthony. I'd argue it wasn't his time to go, but it certainly wasn't Nicolas's week, and the judges don't seem to hold the same opinion of Austin that I do (that he should CUT HIS HAIR and stop flailing around like a maniac), so... what can you do? At least Disney princess Corynne and her Amazing Stretching Limbs are safe for another week. (This girl may in fact have come to life from The Incredibles, and not Beauty & the Beast, as previously assumed.)

Who were your favourites of the week? Were you likewise surprised by Emanuel's outshining Kim in their theatre routine? Did you buy cheery moppets Melanie M. & Cody as hardhitting crumpers? (They did pretty well, I thought.)

And now let's talk the United States for a mo...

So You Think You Can Dance, Top 15 Dances

The Top 15 dances that Mr. Nigel Lythgoe introduced for us included:

From Season 1

  • Destini & Jamile's "Shake" (by Shane Sparks, back when they actually gave him decent hip-hoppers to work with)
  • Nick & Melody's "All That Jazz" (by Tyce Diorio; I am pretty sure this was from the very first episode of this show I ever watched... Ah, the memories. It's also ridiculously good, and one of the few Broadway pieces of Tyce's that I've ever truly enjoyed -- a testament to Nick & Melody's ridiculous showmanship.)

From Season 2

  • Benji & Heidi's "Black Mambo" (by Alex da Silva)
  • Ivan & Allison's "Why" (by Tyce Diorio)
  • Travis & Heidi's "The Bench" (by Mia Michaels; it was enchanting to see the original again -- no other performance of the number quite lives up to the rawness of the first time they did it on stage, and it broke my heart just the way it did the first time I saw it)

From Season 3

  • Hok & Jaimie's "The Hummingbird & the Flower" (by Wade Robson)
  • Sabra & Neil's "Sweet Dreams" (by Mandy Moore; this is the only one on the list that I have never really understood -- I loved both Sabra and Neil, and Mandy Moore for that matter, but I have never enjoyed this number)
  • Lacey & Danny's "Hip Hip Chin Chin" (by Dmitry Chaplin; my personal favourite SYTYCD dance of all time)
  • Lauren & Pasha's "Fuego" (the Transformers routine by Shane Sparks; all I could hear was myself squealing "Paaaaaashaaaaaaaaaaa" and making grabby hands at the TV)

From Season 4

  • Mark & Courtney's "The Garden" (by Sonya Tayeh; SO GOOD, such a great song, and I'd forgotten how much I liked Courtney and almost every single dance she was in)
  • Mark & Chelsie's "Bleeding Love" (by Tabitha & Napoleon; still love the dance and love the song and LOVE Chelsie's performance, but WHAT IN THE HELL is with her costume? I will never understand why they keep putting girls in stumpifying outfits)
  • Katee & Joshua's "Hometown Glory" (by Mia Michaels; I'd forgotten about this one, but it is pretty amazing)

And from Season 5

  • Janette & Brandon's "Loving Is Really My Game" (by Doriana Sanchez; my least favourite disco possibly ever -- way too many tricks, way too fast, way no fun to watch. Joshua & Chelsie did a much more jaw-dropping routine in Season 4.)
  • Kayla & Kupono's "Gravity" (by Mia Michaels)
  • Jeanine & Jason's "If It Kills Me" (by Travis Wall)

Oh, and Nigel treated us to his personal all-time favourite, the cancer dance. Great. (I don't know, maybe you loved it too, but I really hate being pandered to.)

What did they miss? For me, it was Lacey & Kameron's "Dancing" in Season 3 (how obvious of me, I know), and Allison & Ivan's "Sexy Love" from Season 2. There have been so many amazing routines as I think back over the years, and so many I would have loved to relive, and not just on a tiny YouTube screen. But overall, the list was quite comprehensive, and I was thankful for the glimpse back in time that we did get.

Next week, I've got to slog through an exhausting three Dance episodes with Canadian Top 16 performances and results on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the one-hour auditions premiere of U.S. Season 6 on Wednesday... Oh, who are we kidding, I'm gonna love every second of it.

Tags: sytycd, sytycd canada, dance, dancing

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Original Comments Posted (4)

swishy5 says...

I had NO IDEA that the top 15 dances show existed. I haven't been watching any tv, besides SYTYCDC performance show. I can not tell you how sad I am that I missed. I am pretty sure I will be able to find it on Much at some point though. It eases the pain.

Anyway...I thought that Melanie M. and Cody did a REALLY good job with their routine. It did not surprise me that Emanuel did that well. I would say that the genre of theatre might be the closest dance genre to his skating performances...he's got the whole performance aspect in the bag. As for Austin's hair...I've considered flying to Toronto, tracking him down, and hacking it off myself.

Sep 8, 2009 12:48pm

joalberts says...

I watched (most of) the Top 15 Dances episode, and agree with most of Nigel's choices. I actually liked the "Sweet Dreams" number. I thought it was very strong... although I might just be biased because the song is so catchy.

I agree that he missed "Dancing" (Lacey and Kameron)... with those flying death-leaps? Come on! Amazing!!

There is one more that I think should have been on there (maybe it was, I missed a couple). The one with the girl who ran and FLEW BLACKWARDS into the guy... which one was that? Oh, geez, this is going to drive me crazy. Help me out here? I loved that one.

Sep 8, 2009 11:49pm

joalberts says...

"BLACKWARDS" should be "backwards". Wow, mis-type.

Sep 8, 2009 11:50pm

ariana says...

I really have no idea which routine you are talking about!

Sep 9, 2009 2:11pm

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