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So You Think You Can Dance
Season Four Review — Final Four
By Dr Matt
Here are the weekly Recaps from the Top Twenty Dancers to the Final Four:
Top 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 Final 4
Hi Dance Fans!
So, here we are at the final four! Whoopeee! It's kind of a let down for me. The process of getting here is so much more exciter—the journey was way funner!
Finally, a few thousand people managed to find the SYTYCD AOL Poll, we've got pretty big numbers that may indicate a national trend. I wanted to root for the underdog, "Courtney," but as I watched her dance side by side with Katee, I just liked what was coming from Katee more: Katee gets my vote for the top spot, and it looks like she's got the AOL Poll vote too:
1) Katee 5344 35%
2) Twitch 4068 28%
3) Courtney 3664 24%
4) Joshua 2004 13%
Here is the Final 4 Intros and my Less to Best Rankings for Final Week:
Dr Matt's Red-Hot Review of SYTYCD Aug. 6, 2008—Final Four Review
Dr Matt's Apology: Sorry about all the DEAD hyperlinks; Dick Clark Productions decided to exercise their copyrite privilege, and thus, crush our fun!
Less to Best Solos:
YouTube View totals (000) 72 hours after the solos **
4 - Courtney (4400) **
"They Weren't There" by Missy Higgins
She dance well, as usual. She's ranked 4th only because the other three are ahead of her. It's not that she did anything wrong. MORE Contemporary Dancing just wasn't doing it for me tonight—after the previous deluge of redundancy.
At this point all the dancers have done well—nobody fell on their face! So blatant subjectivity is the order of the evening.
3 - Katee (6415)
"Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap
Katee is ranked 3rd because, her dance style was Contemporary and NOT Hip Hop. I appreciate the "art form" of it all. It's like fine dining compared to eating a Hamburger and Fries. Tonight, I was feeling like eating a greasy burger—Hip Hop was the preferred diet tonight.
2 - Joshua (5225)
"(Not Just) Knee Deep" by Funkadelic
Dancing his way off stage to the Judges table: Nice Move! It was exciting and unexpected. I liked this solo. I see Joshua's dancing as "raw"—needing more polish and refinement. But this solo was a little better than the previous ones.
1 - Twitch (6150)
"It Was All In Your Mind" by Wade Robson
I'm giving Twitch the top spot on the solos, because it appeared to me that he put the most thought into his choreography. I think he intentionally tried NOT to do moves he's done before. Although, it's pretty much all "twitching" one way or the other. It had a fresh feel to it!
You've got to know that Twitch is very invested in winning this gig! And his preparation shows it—and so does his hyperventilating during elimination announcements. Did anybody notice that the music Twitch used was by Wade Robson?
Less to Best Duets:
7 - Katee-shua and Twitch-ourtney — Contemporary Group (000)
Choreographed by Mia Michaels
Music: "Hallelujah" by The Vitamin String Quartet
I have one thing to say about this number: What's up with the Scottish Kilts. The thrill is gone, I don't care about this routine. Bring on Michael Flatly if you're going to do a highland fling, otherwise—I DON'T CARE for Kilt-dancing, sorry. And the music . . . all I can say is that the Vitamin String Quartet needed more "vitamins" on the day they recorded this loser! I even watched this train-wreck again (can you say video torture?) . . . yup, it was BAD the second time too!
6 - Twitch and Katee — Foxtrot (000)
Choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin
Music: "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble
I was totally shocked that "the Show" decided to give Twitch a dance that he could "hang himself with" (to use a wild west metaphor). All the Twitch fan will NOT see what I saw. The Butcher of Ballroom Dance has soooooooooooo much to learn about "lowering" and exploding with power across the floor. He just clomps along like a Clydesdale—Klomp klomp, klomp! Twitch lower body technique and footwork needs a lot of work.
This dance actually had MORE appeal for me, compared to the Jive. But I'm going to apply the "what-if-the-dance-styles-were-switched" criteria, and KNOW that Twitch would have spewed chunks if he had to do the Jive.
5 - Courtney and Joshua — Jive (000)
Choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Music: "The Dirty Boogie" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
This Jive was the worst of the season. It really wasn't very "Jivey"—it was more of a Triple Swing. I think the choreographer may have toned down the difficulty so Joshua could handle it. Courtney has done Jive before, and so she could have killed the harder choreography.
Did anyone notice that the choreography was dumbed down? Or maybe I'm expecting a Tony-Meredeth-Like Jive to come out of the choreographer from down under? Anyway the choreography was a disappointment for me.
4 - Katee and Courtney — Broadway (000)
Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
Music: "The Trolley Song" by Rufus Wainwright
Umbrella . . . how cute! Cute enough for my number 3 ranking, which means . . . it wasn't that cute! Of course it was danced well, but WHO CARES . . . we're talking about two girls with umbrellas doing a couple stag leaps and a barrel roll—whooppeee! Don't Care! But still, because this dance was Twitch-less, I'm giving it a higher rank!
(Any dance that is Twitch-less automatically has better full-body dancing technique. Again, Twitch dances his upper body very well, but his frog-legs have a lot of training to do, along with his clomping Clydesdale feet).
3 - Courtney and Twitch — Hip Hop (000)
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon
Music: "Church" by T-Pain
Great dancing, interesting choreography, but no chemistry coming from Twitch-ourtney. Give me a Twitchington version of this dance any day, and then I will CARE. It might even be something I'd like to see on tour! But the Twitch-ourtney version . . . I don't care!
2 - Joshua and Twitch — Trepak (000)
Choreographed by Youri Nelzine
Music: "Trepak" from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite
I'm giving the testosterone duet a higher rank for one reason: The Olympics. Yes, the Olympics are around the corner, and I think this dance was at least a good pre-Olympic workout. Run faster, Jump higher, Be stronger . . . that's what I'm talking about. And how about Joshua's triple tour (puh-leeze!). I'm thinking Joshua out-danced Twitch in this one. While Twitch was doing tricks, Joshua was dancing.
1 - Katee and Joshua — Lyrical Jazz (000)
Choreographed by Wade Robson
Music: "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room" by John Mayer
Great Chemisty and Great Choreography; I always love what Wade Robson creates on the dance floor. Katee-shua has such an advantage over Twitch-ourtney: Twitch NEEDS Kharington to generate his best chemistry, and Courtney needs Gev . . . to make me CARE at all.
* * * * * * *
How anyone danced tonight will most likely NOT make much difference in the final voting. The "hay is in the barn" so to speak. America would have delivered the same vote if NONE of tonight's dances were performed or viewed. But here's my scoring (solo rank is first, with the rank of couple performances thereafter).
4 - Courtney 4 + 4 + 5 = 13
3 - Katee 3 + 1 + 6 = 10
2 - Joshua 2 + 1 + 6 = 9
1 - Twitch 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
Predictions:
Watching Twitch dance side-by-side with Joshua, I give Twitch the edge on tonight's performances. Twitch brings more polish, compared to Joshua who delivers raw athleticism. And having the benefit of the side-by side comparison, I give Katee a slight nod over Courtney, for tonight.
Again, I don't think anything that happened tonight will change the minds of the majority of fans. Even though I give Twitch higher marks for his dancing tonight, over the course of the whole season, I believe Joshua has been stronger?
What OUGHT TO Happen. Based upon the dancing throughout the season, I think the girls deserve a higher evaluation over the guys. Which is a total turn-about from my "Hamburger and Fries" over "Fine Dining" ranking of the solo performances.
Dr Matt's Prediction of America's Favorite Dancer:
Courtney 3rd runner up
Twitch 2nd runner up (I'd be happy if he were the first one out! His ego needs a little humbling). Joshua 1st runner up
Katee = America's Favorite Dancer.
If she is able to win, what an amazing turn around for the girl who was almost CUT from the Top 20 selection in Las Vegas—because of her "I wouldn't try again next season" comment!
* * * * * * *
Dr Matt's Final Four Results Show August 7, 2008:
Now that's what I'm talking about: Bring back ALL the Guys and Girls of Season 4 . . . now I can CARE again. This Top 20 Group Routine choreographed by Shane Sparks was Volcano-Eruption Hot!
To celebrate Season 4, the Judges each chose their favorite routines. The Rank that shows is the rank I gave the performance during the season:
Katee and Joshua — Bollywood (472800) I ranked this routine 3rd on Top 12 night
Choreographed by Nakul and Marla
Music: "Dhoom Taana" from Om Shanti Om soundtrack
This piece is getting a lot of "views" at YouTube.
First Elimination Announcement: 3nd runner up . . . Courtney! Makes sense, for the number of times she dwelt in Bottom-Dom.
Gev and Courtney G. -- Rumba (000) Previously ranked 3rd on Top 16 night
Gev-ourtney dance well in their encore rumba routine, but compare this SYTYCD Rumba to a smokin' hot performance by a top amateur couple from Russia, Denis Kuznetsov & Maria Tzaptashvili. (<----- this is a Click-Able Hyperlink!)
*** Chebeeb versus Muraine: Heavy Weight Popping Championship of the World. For a pop-off, the routine was a little anti-climactic. That’s what "the Show" gets for hyping it up so much. The competition seemed contrived: which it was! And then asking the Jeedges who won the pop-off . . . just added to the contrived-ness. Still some red-hot popping in spots.
Twitch and Comfort — Hip Hop (000) Ranked 6th on Top 10 night
Choreographed by Dave Scott
Music: "Forever" by Chris Brown
Great routine by the King and Queen of Hip Hop. I didn't like this number earlier in the season, because the Twitch-omfort team has no believable chemistry for me.
Chelsie Hightower and Mark -- Hip Hop (750000) Ranked 1st on Top 16 night
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon
Music: "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis
This routine and Joshua and Katee's "No Air" number are the two top routines of the season—based upon YouTube views.
*** Dmetri & Mary Murphy: One thing Mary Murphy can claim that Simon Cowell can't:
Mary Murphy CAN DO what she is critiquing. Nice Samba by our resident Cougar! Mary was hitting some of her moves so hard that her jewelry was flying off.
Katee and Will — Pas de Deux (000) Previously ranked 1st on Top 10 night
Choreographed by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden
Music: "Imagine" by David Archuleta
Katee and Will were able to smoothly do the part of the choreography that they goofed on previously. —with no glitches this time. Beautifully choreographed and beautifully danced, with the additional synergy of beautiful music: It's great to hear David Archuleta's "Imagine"
Mark and Courtney — Jazz (000) Ranked 3rd on Top 6 night
Choreographed by Sonja Tayeh
Music: "The Time of My Life" by David Cook
Sonja from the land of Mohawkia has been getting rave reviews from dancers and fellow choreographers.
First Elimination Annoucement: 3nd runner up . . . Courtney!
Makes sense, because she was in Bottom-Dom a few times, so you knew that she wasn't pulling in the vote like the other contestants. But she did a nice job to get this far. And beating out the ever-versitile Chelsie . . . give her props for that!
*** Group Encore: Top 5 Guys: 5 guys named Moe!
This piece was choreographed by Nigel Lythgoe
*** Performance Cirqu De Soliel: Eulogy to all the dead rabbits abused by magicians.
Second Elimination Annoucement: 2nd runner up . . . Katee!
Having read many Internet reviews of SYTYCD, it pretty clear that the MORE dance training a person has, the MORE Katee was predicted to be the ultimate winner. However, she's still the TOP girl and wins 50,000 dollars.
Right before the announcement Twitch has a look on his face like he's taking this competition WAAAAAAAAAAY too seriously. Like I say "he needs a slice of humble pie," and now that he's Top 2, he's definitely NOT getting it!
*** Nigel Lythgoe and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy: One thing Nigel Lythgoe can claim that Simon Cowell can't, he CAN DO what he is critiquing. Nigel is a pretty good tapper!
Katee and Twitch — Contemporary (000) Ranked 2nd on Top 8 night
Choreographed by Mia Michaels
Music: "Mercy" by Duffy
The infamous "door" routine! Fabulastic creative choreography by Mia Michaels.
Twitch and Kherington -- Viennese Waltz (000) 2nd on Top 18 night
This is Twitch's favorite routine of the season. He's still under the delusion that he actually danced the "Viennese Waltz." Just watch it: It's totally more like a Contemporary routine.
Katee and Joshua -- Hip Hop (647000) 1st on Top 20 night
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon
Music: "No Air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
This routine, along with Mark-elsie's "Bleeding Love" number were the top two most-viewed routines at YouTube. This is a great compliement to Napoleon and Tabitha's fantastic lyrical Hip Hop choreography.
*** The Mother of all SYTYCD Group Routines (<----- this is a Click-Able Hyperlink!): featuring Benji, Lacey, Lauren, Allison, Travis, Dominic, Dmetry, . . . . WOW this was the BEST!
Dr Matt's Apology: Again, sorry about all the DEAD hyperlinks; Dick Clark Productions decided to exercise their copyrite privilege, and thus, crush our fun!
Now it's down to either Joshua or Twitch. It's just GOT to be Joshua or life is NOT fair! Cat Deeley annouces the fact that in all of SYTYCD history a "street dancer" as NEVER made it to the finale. (Gee, I wonder why? Because they couldn't dance the other styles decently?).
This year Joshua's versitility was respectable and Twitch versitility was lacking; that's WHY Joshua deserves the title of "America's Favorite Dancer." But wait a minute, that title says "favorite" not BEST or most VERSITILE, so . . . really America could have temporary insanity and vote in the Butcher of Ballroom Dance: Twitch.
(I've got my DVR on pause . . . now it's time to find out?)
Twitch is completely hyperventilating over this moment, come on fella . . . buck up, show some guts, . . . be a man about it! Twitch is acting like this is the Miss America Pageant.
(Pre-annoucement Suspence!) . . . . . . Joshua IS America's Favorite Dancer!
LIFE IS FAIR . . . the earth is round . . . the universe has aligned into perfect balance. America totally got it right! (of course, anyone winning BUT Twitch would have kept the universe in perfect balance).
See Ya on the NEXT fascinating Song & Dance Reality TV Show, coz I will be there reviewing it!
:o)
Dr Matt
The Greatest Prize
for Life's labors isn't
in material possessions
or impressive accomplishments,
but in the progress of personal character.
You labor for your own becoming, this is your richest reward.
Who You Become is your greatest possession,
make it your Masterpiece!
(Changing Your Stripes, 2nd Edition, page 274).
"Changing Your Stripes" presents principles for getting out of
the ditch in which you've been dumped (the difficulties of which you are a victim),
and the ditch in which you've jumped (the difficulties for which you volunteer).
"Mastering a challenging situation
is ultimately a matter of
mastering yourself!"
- Matt Moody
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