So You Thought You Could Dance IV

SYD started well in the first week of Top 10 competition.

Jessica, having cut herself from the competition immediately after reaching the top 10 "we're going on tour" mark (and apparently she will be going on tour with the other dancers, though where this leaves Comfort, I've no idea), came out in an ultra-tight dress -- like wow, her skin isn't that tight...I wonder where they folded it up and hid it -- and explained that she had two ribs that were "broken" and one that was "fractured."

Whether this means three total or two total, I have no idea. Cat rushed her offstage for the first hip-hop routine with Joshua and Courtney. The routine was a neat role-play, with Joshua the mad scientist and Courtney the Frankenstein he'd created. Their movements were sharp and it was fun to watch -- but more fun were the comments at the end.

(At this point, Spencer said the reason Mary Murphy pauses before screeching her approval [you can always tell when she really likes a routine because she takes a deep breath and then screams] is so viewers can hit the mute button. Haha.)

Lil' C was the guest judge this week, along with the ever-present Mary and Nigel, and I wasn't expecting much from him.

Man, was I wrong. He stole the show.

"I might need my asthma pump," he said after Joshua and Courtney's second routine, which was a rhumba. "You guys took my breath away."

Note on the rhumba: It was performed to Enrique Iglesias's "Hero," a song that figured prominently in my-and-Debbie's time at Oxford for its complete inanity and overzealous sentimentality. It was also revealed in "Audio Mad-Libs" that the original lyrics of the song were "I can be your Nero, baby / I will kill, impale you, pain," which were both more creative and less disturbing than the current lyrics. ("I can be your hero, baby / I can kiss away the pain")

Lil' C kept it up throughout the night.

When a sad, sad attempt at a country two-step proved that judges won't rally around a "first time on SYD" dance just because it's new, Lil' C consoled Kherington and Mark (who may be on the chopping block for this and their later jazz routine): "Justifiable presentation, though."

When they danced the jazz that Tyce Diorio had said was a "showcase for the dance" rather than a story-dance, Lil' C said "you guys maintained a nice balance on the fulcrum of character."

Comfort and Twitch on the smooth waltz were a bit of a disaster, and Lil' C was not afraid to point it out: "It's a gumball of emotions -- step step here, step over myself here, step over myself there."

But Comfort and Twitch, lest we count them out as weak links, performed a hip-hop routine later that won the night. (With one possible exception, to come.)

I probably would have liked it more if the lights and camera-work weren't so spastic, but as it was, I felt Comfort wasn't doing Twitch many favors. I'd like to see them do a whole show together when they aren't in competition -- I suspect it would be a bit like watching the exhibitionism of the post-Olympic performances of 1992, when Victor Pechrenko did like three triple axles in a row, astounding the commentator into the highest-pitched sportscaster voice I've ever heard -- but I'd like to see them, in person, such that I can focus my eyes on whatever I want, and the only panning being done is by my swiveling head.

When they were done, Lil' C played it for all it was worth. "That was kinda..." he said, extending his so-so tone out, putting his head out and tilting it to one side before finishing his sentence -- "buck."

The crowd went wild, because everyone knows that "buck" means "good" in hip-hop (even us white kids). But for further nuance, Lil' C explained: "Buck is when internal artistry meets physical performance." Awesome, Lil' C. I am with you.

Incidentally, this routine also made me into an actual fan of Chris Brown, whose "With You" was the subject of my first Defense of Poppery post. Comfort and Twitch danced to Brown's "Forever."

Katee and Will were extraordinary, but in such a way that you didn't realize how extraordinary they were. Their first routine was Broadway, which didn't help things much from my perspective, but they did a great job. Their second routine was another SYD first, a pas de deux, and they performed it almost flawlessly. The judges, especially Mary and Nigel, were blown away.

They did make one mistake in a turn. About the mistake, Nigel said only "thank God you made that mistake -- now you have something to still work towards in your careers." The judges began talking about Katee and Will's careers post-show as a foregone conclusion, the way Mia talked about Travis's in the second season.

Will and Katee may be my favorites for merit. Will always seems unfailingly happy for his partner whenever judges say good things to her (and he was stuck with Jessica, who the judges hounded relentlessly for being less-than-Will, for a good long while), and Katee started off slow for me but has really caught my attention and earned my admiration these last few weeks. Good for them.

Chelsie and Gev were the last couple, and frankly, I was sorry to see them paired. In my opinion, Gev is the weakest guy and should probably go home tonight -- on the other hand, Chelsie, despite my admiration for Katee and her own ballroom proclivities, won my heart that first week, and I want her to do really well. Chelsie and Gev danced contemporary first and jive second.

Lil' C said of the first routine that he felt "like you guys really committed to that"; in the second, though, he said what I think all but the hardest-core Gev fans were thinking, to Chelsie: "I think you could actually make a mannequin look good, dancing with it."

Solos were performed tonight, too, and while I won't go into detail on all of them (since many solos are unremarkable), here are some highlights:

Song choices: Will danced to "Dance with my Father," a brilliant choice for engaging the audience; Katee danced to "This Woman's Work" by Maxwell, a song I like (but her routine was just ok -- had that desperation of many contemporary solos); Mark, for whom I despair thanks to his solo effort and pairing this week, danced, bizarrely, to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Solo performances: Comfort's was the first solo that felt like it wasn't over yet when the SYD music came on to signal its end -- I wanted to see more of it (good for her); Twitch's pop-and-lock type routine worked well with the music he chose (as if he were in a car wreck) and got better as it went on; Joshua proved in his pop-and-lock, which was semi-mesmerizing, that he can control each muscle group in his body separately, which is occasionally scary to watch.

I'd also like to point out, on a societal note, and for whatever it's worth, that of the five guys left, three are African-American. (And I expect the Russian-immigrant Gev and white guy Mark to go home the next two weeks.) On the other hand, as of last week, four of the top five girls were white, and the fifth is of Asian descent.

Go fig.