So You Think You Can Dance - Air Dates July 26 & 27

Thanks to a power outage messing up the advanced but delicate recording equipment here at Realivision Central we have fallen behind on this show, but don't worry about it, cupcakes, because we haven't forgotten about our favourite dancers! Because we're busy playing catch-up right now. Because of these unfortunate circumstances we are going to combine both the performance and results show into one easy to digest blog entry.
They've shortened the show again, and it's so tight for time there isn't even time for any of Cat Deeley's patented small talk with the judges. Oh, poop! As usual we have Nigel Lythgoe, and joining him today are Mary "Banshee" Murphy (get out your earplugs) and Dan "My Last Name Is Close to Karate" Karaty. There won't be any solo performances tonight, instead it will just be the couples performing two dances each.
First up is Donyelle who draws Travis' name, and Travis in turn draws Hip-Hop and Quick Step as the dances they will be performing.
Donyelle & Travis (Hip-Hop) - The pair dressed in hoodies and white masks. Masks. Oh dear, this could be either really good or really bad. The dance was quite entertaining, though nowhere near the best these two have done. At one point they pulled down their hoods and bam! Masks on the other side too! Holy crap, I said "bam!" I prostrate myself in front of my computer for your forgiveness. Anyone who isn't Emeril Lagasse or selling Pop-Tarts shouldn't be using that word. Anyway, the masks on the other side were a great touch and gave a surreal feel to this dance. Nigel didn't care for the masks so much because he feels like the face is part of a performance.
Allison picks Ivan's name, making them the only two so far to reunite after they split the pairs, and he picks Hip-Hop and Argentine Tango out of the hat. There are only four couples. Do we really need to keep putting two hip-hop routines into each show? I've got nothing against it and a good hip-hop dance is a great thing to watch, but it seems more like they're putting two in per show for popular appeal more than to showcase a range of dancing styles.
Allison & Ivan (Argentine Tango) - The first time Ivan performed a tango he impressed the hell out of me. Up until then I dreaded every time he got up to dance. So maybe I had high hopes, but this one didn't seem as good to me. There were times that he seemed a little stiff, but he did okay. Allison rocked, of course. Once again the judges were at odds with me and they loved it, though Nigel pointed out there were times that Ivan did seem to stumble.
Natalie drew Ryan's name, which made him very happy. He then pulled out Contemporary and Disco.
Natalie & Ryan (Disco) - A fun, colourful dance! It did its job and kept me entertained. The judges however didn't care for it at all, and were particularly down on Ryan which has become habitual for them now. Are we going to agree on anything, judgipoos?
What I don't get is that we know now that Heidi would be dancing with her cousin Benji. So why go through the motions of having her draw a name from a hat? They must do this seperately so that we get the shots of their faces when they see who they are teamed with. Benji then drew Mambo and Broadway. Benji and Heidi doing mambo? Damn, I want to see that! I don't mean that sarcastically at all. That should be a great dance!
Heidi & Benji (Broadway) - This was an energetic dance with an evangelistic revival theme. They both did it very well and they can certain dance, but it didn't connect with me for some reason. I can't see anything in the performance or their personalities to explain it and if I were voting I wouldn't hold it against them. The judges loved it.
Donyelle & Travis (Quick Step) - I watch Dancing With the Stars, so I've seen worse quick steps. Maybe it's because I see so few of them that I enjoyed this one. The judges however have seen many more, and this one failed to impress them at all. It led to some of the harshest criticism Travis has received this season, but to put that in context it wasn't nearly as harsh as much of the criticism we've seen against some of the other dancers.
Allison & Ivan (Hip-Hop) - This was a much softer, smoother hip-hop routine than we've seen so far and they used umbrellas as props to good effect. It was beautifully done. The judges liked it too, moreso than me but it's the first time we've agreed all this show so we'll leave it at that. Heck, I won't even mention the Tonka trucks Ivan started playing with immediately after the performance.
Look, it's been a couple of weeks. I'm rusty on the snark for this show and I haven't made fun of how young Ivan looks for a while. My best material is in the Treasure Hunters recaps anyway, especially after Jeuieyms left this competition. Speaking of which, the members of Team Ex-CIA came to the theatre to watch this episode of Dance and I understand they are still looking for their seats. Ha! They get lost easily, you see. On the show, they are always... Ah, never mind. Who's next?
Natalie & Ryan (Contemporary) - Two contemporary dancers getting to perform their speciality, and it was as good as you would expect. That is, it was really good. The judges agreed with me once again. Praise for Ryan? Damn! Nigel couldn't resist throwing a little criticism in about a couple of moments in Ryan's technique, but still it was a good moment for the dancer.
Heidi & Benji (Mambo) - WOW! WOW! I was looking forward to this, but it was better than I dared dream! Best dance of the night? Try one of the best of the season! Heck, I'd have a hard time saying it wasn't the best of the season, period! It was fast-paced and far too sensual than a pair of cousins should be. Wow. Once more the judges agreed that it was fantastic which is good because if they didn't I would have asked for their dance licenses to be revoked.
***
The results show started with a number based to a song from the musical Chicago. It was good, of course, but it didn't have a lot of the high energy we're used to seeing from these opening performances.
Unlike the previous night there was time to talk to the judges, and talk to the judges Cat Deeley did. I'm not sure what she talked about with Nigel as they were very hard to understand as they talked in their native language together, but it went something like, "'Allo guv'nor! It's a right jolly spiffing night for a cuppa, old bean! Cor blimey, that's a right bangers and mash that spotted dick is! Cheerio and pip pip!"
She then asked Mary Murphy what she thought of the dancers last night and Mary stood up and screamed for twenty minutes. That didn't leave any time for Dan Karaty who was entranced by a mirror anyway.
Okay, none of that happened but for the life of me I'm trying to remember what they really talked about and I don't want to have to go back to the tape.
A little backstage video later, it was time to find out who the bottom two women were. The strength of these final four women is evident in that I can't think of any one of them who deserves to leave. They are all fantastic performers and it'll be sad to see any one of them go.
Cat called Donyelle and Natalie over, talked a little about each of them, and the one who would be performing this night (the solos are to showcase each of the bottom dancers) is Natalie.
Then it's down to Allison and Heidi, and as much as I like Heidi I wouldn't be surprised to see it be her as Allison is amazing, but it's Allison who would be performing. There have been bigger shocks this season. As I said, these four women are amazing so it could have been any of them in the bottom two.
The guys are up and Benji and Ryan are the first two to get the news. If anyone really expected Benji to be the one to perform they need to rewatch the season. I don't think even Ryan expected himself to be safe. It's not that he's a bad dancer, it's just that the audience never really seemed to warm up to him.
Following them were Travis and Ivan. Unlike the final four women, the final four men still have more clearly better dancers and it should be Ivan in the bottom two. This time it is a huge surprise when it's Travis who has to perform.
Normally at this point I list each dancer in order and give a little thought on their solo performance. I'll give you the order: Natalie, Ryan, Allison, and Travis. I can't see any point in talking about them individually though because they were all freakin' brilliant. Even Ryan who has had a lot of flack through the season, every dance was incredible. There's no winning for the audience no matter what woman was to be eliminated, but it's a huge shame that Ivan wasn't in the bottom two as I haven't seen him do anything close to what Ryan did in his solo.
When Cat was talking to the Nigel after these performances, he announced that there is going to be a tour with the top ten dancers. You can find the information at www.fox.com/dance. I still have to watch the more current episodes so I haven't checked it out yet to see if they're coming to Canada because I'm trying to avoid spoilers.
There was a performance by rapper Busta Rhymes, certainly a bigger name than most of the singers we've seen, but it's not my favourite music so I fast-forwarded. When, oh when will they have Engelbert Humperdink on?
It was then time to find out who would be going home. As usual it was the woman first followed by the man, but barring one of the biggest upsets ever, I would rather it have been the other way around for a change for the sake of suspense.
The woman going home this night was... Allison. This brought about a lot of tears from the competitors and a lot of shock. I think the same thing would have happened no matter which woman it was, because any one of them would have been just as surprising.
The man going home was... Ryan. Not so much disbelief amongst the others. No doubt they all saw it coming anyway as he never was as popular with the audience as the other men. Come to think of it, I'm sure I only saw one sign in the crowd in support of him unlike the others. It's a shame because he seems like a really nice guy, but he was always so shy and quiet.
With only six dancers left, we are getting that much closer to the finale. It'll be a shame to see it end, but I'm looking forward to going to bed a little earlier.