SYD #12, finale

Cat’s hair looks lioness-like tonight, as it should. Melisser and Ade were eliminated last week – so America got it half right, I think.

The top four look lonely and small on that giant new egg-shaped stage. Jeanine combats the loneliness by wearing a bikini again.

Tonight, everyone will be dancing with everyone else.

Cat sounds thrilled to be there. Adam Shankman is the guest judge this week, and there are 3000 people in the SYD Thunderdome. Wow – even Mary’s screaming sounds/looks small in this place.

Nigel says this is “like the gunfight at the OK corral.” The top 4 are dancing to a Wade Robson routine. There are two jocks chasing two cheerleaders, and the cheerleaders “turn out to be way more than they can handle.” They’re dancing to a Lady Gaga song. Evan looks silly kissing his own lack of bicep. The girls do an excellent job of hamming up the “we’re crushing on you” vibe, then transition into mocking them seamlessly. Nice – sarcastic dancing.

The boys get their turn when they steal the girls’ pompoms and fake-cheer.

And in a move that makes me laugh out loud, startling others in the room, Jeanine (and Kayla, but she’s not as good, having not had as much practice) flashes her underwear.

It’s pink and sequined, and I think that sums up all that we’re about to see here.

Jeanine and Evan dance together first, making me wish it could be followed up by Evan’s solo and his dance with Kayla – just to get it all out of the way.

It’s a Sonya routine, where Jeanine doesn’t care about her lover Evan anymore. He seems actually frightened by Jeanine. It’s to the song “Heartbreaker” by MSTRKRFT (I think). As usual, Jeanine dances great, and Evan makes me feel she’s justified in kicking him. It’s not full of the usual weird motion Sonya’s routines have made common, though, and that’s good here, in the finale.

Adam says he “never saw Jeanine coming…I sort of underestimated you, and I can never forgive myself.” He says Evan is “the molehill that became the mountain, here.” Mary says Jeanine was great and Evan was “certainly no punching bag out there,” but her delivery is tepid. Nigel says Jeanine is strong and tomboyish, and that this is the “last time [he wants] to see [Evan] thrown around on the stage tonight.” He says the performance “showed just how strong Jeanine has become, both in technique and in personality.”

Brandon talks about his partnership with Janette, the conflict with Mia and his history with dance. He dances his solo, which is commanding, if not the tour de force last week’s was. He seems to have trouble using the front of the stage as well as the width of it. But he may win with the split he ends on.

Adam Shankman claps tepidly, but raves about the solo: “you’re like an extreme dancer – you’re a superathlete. It was a bit frantic out there, but you’re competing now.”

Mary says he’s “athletic, dynamic – you defy gravity at times.”

Nigel says he agrees with Mia about Brandon: “He is amazing.” He says the solo last week was amazing, and that this week’s has “wiped out the competition.”

Kayla and Brandon are dancing together next, and they’ve stolen Tyce from Evan. Finally…though I don’t like seeing them dance one of my least favorite of the popular dances. Oh, Broadway.

They dance to “Bye Bye Love” from the “All that Jazz” soundtrack, though Kayla looks like a dom and Brandon looks like he’s going to a disco. The prop is a medical examiner’s table, and Brandon “dies” at the end of a heart attack. It’s an entertaining routine, though WHY it’s entertaining is beyond me.

Adam Shankman jumps up and down and yells “ohhhh, that was so GOOD! I gotta be honest, you two were the ones I thought would [make it to the end]. Kayla, there’s nothing you can’t do! And Brandon, you are an animal out there! I don’t know how this is all gonna end up, but that was unreal.”

Mary yells “you guys are terrific, are you kidding me?!? Bye bye love? Bye bye happiness?? Nigel, I don’t think so, are you kidding me???”

Nigel says he’s never seen a guy and girl do pirouettes (of the kind they did) together before. He says of Tyce “you’re the only choreographer I know named after a cookie.” He says he thinks “the show is beginning now, thank you.”

Jeanine dances solo next. She’s interviewed before that, as usual, though Jeanine starts out by asking Cat a question. She loved to dance, but was bad at it when she was little. Jeanine mentions the Russian folk dance, and Cat asks “what the folk?” Jeanine says she was going to cry when she thought “I’m going out on stage wearing that??” Jeanine’s fave routine was the contemporary choreographed by Travis from season 2 and danced with Jason. She’s got a rose between her teeth for the solo, which is better choreographed than many, many contemporary routines.

Adam Shankman says “are you kidding?? Dude, that was a risky solo! OMG, you just killed it!! Jeanine? Jeanine? I am so happy for you! You are such a beautiful woman!...You don’t need that stupid plastic flower! What the hell, girl??”

Mary says “you have always been a standout, so never say never. I saw you coming, girl! You are peaking at exactly the right time. That solo was the best thing that you have done on this show, at the right place, at the right time, and everybody here knows it!”

Nigel says “so brave, such a brave solo – you don’t win the lottery if you don’t buy the ticket. Not only did you buy the ticket, you’re in the final two now as far as I’m concerned!”

Evan and Brandon dance a jazz routine choreographed by Laurieann Gibson to “Nasty Boys” by Janet Jackson. Frankly, I would rather see them dance to “Thriller” – and I think it would do Evan more favors. Brandon’s lines are much better than Evan’s, and not just because he’s taller (I don’t think he’s more than a cm taller, actually); Brandon’s also better at seeming “nasty.”

Adam says they’re at a crossroads, and that Evan “got a little dusted” – he takes time out to ask the audience to stop booing him and be nice again – because his “natural sweetness” got in the way. Brandon got “nasty and dirty,” he says.

Mary starts by asking Evan “what’s the nastiest thing you’ve ever done?” Cat reprimands her for asking in front of his grandparents, tells the grandparents to cover their ears, and asks Evan what it was. Evan says he doesn’t know, the list is so long.

Nigel says the choreographers say Evan’s “work ethic is absolutely beyond reproach – but there isn’t a nasty bone in your body.” Cat squeezes Evan’s cheeks, making him seem even more cutesie. Nigel says Brandon also “outdanced” Evan.

Kayla and Jeanine dance together in a Mia routine. It’s an orchestral score, and they’re both dressed as ballerinas, though they remove a layer of tutu with every advancement across the stage. To my surprise, I actually feel like Jeanine is sometimes outdancing Kayla, which surprises me, and is mostly the difference between their personalities, I think.

Adam says “that was like watching the world’s longest wardrobe malfunction” – but then he compliments Mia. He says “it was like watching two thoroughbreds racing – I just can’t say enough about how much I love you guys.”

Mary says “it was a very relevant concept tonight – shedding all those layers…and to make it this far, the layers kept peeling and peeling so all you’re really left with is your heart and soul.” She says they’re the two strongest women they’ve ever had in the finale.

Nigel says this was “a modern-day version of the seven veils – the routine didn’t go on long enough for me, frankly” – and Adam calls him on “wanting more layers and more layers.” He says he thinks Jeanine has peaked at the right time.

Evan gets interviewed and dances a solo to “The Best Is Yet to Come,” which ends in the middle of the chorus.

Adam says it was a variation on his audition, and that could be risky – either people would be crazy about it or think “I’ve seen that before.” Mary says he’s “excited millions in this country” and inspired them to dance Broadway. Nigel says “Do I think that you bring something special? Yes, I do. You have what I call ‘the ahh factor.’ Have you grown as much as I’d like in this series? No…Do I think that was as strong as I’ve seen Brandon dance tonight? Do I think that was as strong as I’ve seen Jeanine dance tonight, in their solos? No…”

Evan and Kayla dance a jive next, which I think will keep Evan, decisively, from winning – but it may also pull Kayla down into the bottom two, particularly after Jeanine’s solo. Kayla’s in country boots and they’re dancing to a Travis Tritt song, which is all I ever want to know about it. Evan thinks this is “the fastest jive ever,” but it seems slow and not bouncy enough for me.

Adam says he doesn’t think it was a finale-level routine, that it was “a very strong showing for you – the lift series was fantastic – I just didn’t feel it was competitive to me.”

Mary says the routine was phenomenal. Evan didn’t do very well, but Kayla “stole the show just now…I love every second that you’re on the stage.”

Nigel says “they both carried on with guns blazin’ in a great country and western jazz routine.” He says Kayla finally showed her personality, and if she’d been doing that all along, she would be “riding home right now” with the first-place win.

Kayla gets interviewed and does her solo. It’s probably too bad she didn’t hear about Nigel’s wish for her to show her personality before the interview, but she does a pretty good job telling about her wish to dance since she was two and her grandparents’ support. The addiction routine was her favorite. (It was probably mine, too, though the zombie mistress was pretty good.) She mixes it up by dancing to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. It’s fast, which is a good foil to her other contemporary routines, but she still lacks the choreography she needs to make 30 seconds work for her.

Adam says he wants to talk about the season more than the solo. He’s seen some of the best dancers he’s ever seen in his life on this show, including Travis (season 2) and Danny (season 3), and she’s one of the best. Mary says she’s wonderful, and Nigel says when judges are always talking up one person, the audience often decides not to vote for that one – and “thank goodness” Kayla is in the top 4 and eligible to be America’s favorite dancer for the season.

Jeanine and Brandon dance paso doble. Jeanine says “I’ve become good friends with the floor over this SYD process…and today we became even closer.” They’re dancing to a song from “Matrix Revolutions,” which is an interesting and at times captivating choice. There’s no red in their costumes, either, only black, but the background glows red. The last second has Brandon clutch Jeanine’s up-stretched (pretend that’s a word) wrist and Jeanine falling limp.

Adam says they pulled it off because they kept every moment between moves strong, keeping the transitions. Mary screams, says some stuff, and screams again, this time pointing at the choreographer and then harassing Nigel with her screaming. Nigel screams back at Mary, and says “you really did carry it off.” Then Nigel went into his old-man-lecher routine a bit, but pulled it out and said “you are just inching the other two out, just this much [holds up his two fingers pinching close], and good luck to you!”

Tomorrow night is the final elimination. I’ll likely be watching and blogging, so watch it yourself and weigh in.