It’s Final Four time on So You Think You Can Dance

I claimed last week’s show was the best of the season.

But So You Think You Can Dance has a way of putting something out there that forces you to take mental inventory of a situation, causing you to question your beliefs. It did it again last night.

There were interesting, eye-opening performances committed by The Final Four … both in the stand-up-and-cheer as well as the “What the hell was that … !??” camps.

Starting off the evening, Marko and Melanie do disco. Badly. And it was spread-eagled, bad disco tomfoolery. No one was on-board with it. (See what I mean? Even the practically infallible Melanie can take a huge stumble.)

That mess was followed by a Sonya Tayeh routine featuring Sasha and all-star Mark. There’s no denying Tayeh can play her charges to full extent, and she certainly did this time around. The piece was almost unreal. And Sasha? She rose to the occasion perfectly. There are times when she’s brilliant; this was one of those times.

Tadd and season 4 winner Joshua hip-hopped, with Joshua leaving Tadd in his wake. Far, far distant in his wake.

My nemesis, Broadway, makes an appearance courtesy of Sasha and Marko. But it wasn’t painful or confusing. It was downright fun. Exacting dance, comedy, performance, intrigue, timing, anticipation … was there anything that wasn’t in this routine? For a few moments, something I continually struggle with made sense.

Melanie gets a little one-on-one time with Cat Deeley, a bit of Q&A. Best moment? That incredible launch into Neal during that one contemporary routine a few weeks back. And then, in the aftermath of bad disco, Melanie pulls out a redeeming solo routine. There she goes, emoting all over the place — it appears she’s crying to begin the thing. It’s just not the calculated performance with her, it’s the character she infuses her dance with, the sincerity she puts on her face. She’s liquid on stage. “People stop fidgeting … things happen when you dance.” I agree, Mary Murphy.

Marko sits down with Cat. Remember: He was the one who got shot. He was the kid who went to the edge of his life … and still didn’t quit, came back to dance his heart out. And he has. His solo tonight is perhaps one of the strangest, weirdest ones I’ve ever seen a contestant commit.

Sasha and Tadd are paired next.  The problem with these two dancing together is the fact that she towers over him. T O W E R S. It’s awkward and doesn’t work … not when they’re close to each other at any rate.

Marko and all-star Lauren contemporary it up … and now it’s Marko who’s emoting like there’s no tomorrow. He might be taking lessons from Melanie.

Time to sit down with Tadd and Cat.  Tadd confesses to Cat he likes showing the audience the “real him” out there during his solos.  He is the showman when it comes his time to strut his stuff alone. Immediately afterward, he and Melanie do a comical routine where she gets him down to his heart-emblazoned underwear. Cute.

Sasha’s one-on-one with Cat yields that, not only did she not think she would make the Final Four, but she didn’t believe she could make anyone cry with her dancing. That’s exactly what she did with her stint with Kent a week ago, however. Her solo is breath-taking as well.

Note: All the solos are incredibly heart-felt this evening.

Sasha and Melanie try to pull off a “suppressed housewives” routine, but it falls completely flat for me. It was just dopey.

Lastly, Tadd and Marko dribble in with a step/hip hop coal miner number so awkward and faux-choreographed it was simply laughable. It was all over the place, amateurish, and sad.

After some terrific performances and real stinkers on this penultimate episode, I still don’t have any doubt that Melanie will take it hands down, despite the grand efforts of her competitors.

Tonight? The finale and reveal. Despite the tedious two hour length (Seriously … ?!?), I’m looking forward to it!

Notes:

• *eyesh* And here I thought Christina Applegate’s appearance as a guest judge last week was head scratching. Thanks for erasing that memory, Katie Holmes.
• Every solo committed by the contestants is incredibly heart-felt this evening.

Quotes:

• “If Dorothy was in ‘the hood’, that’s what she would be wearing.” – Cat Deeley, commenting on Tadd’s red shoes
• “I would push myself to the front of the line to work with you.” – guest judge Kenny Ortega, critiquing Melanie
• “You have four routines tonight. Let it go, walk off, come back, and blow us away.” – Kenny Ortega to Tadd, regarding his lackluster routine with Sasha

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Aug 11, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT