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Here it is. We're one week away from our final four on So You Think You Can Dance and, with the great performances turned in tonight, the remaining contestants aren't making the decision easy for us.
Spoilers
Tonight's judging panel features the triumphant return of Adam Shankman. Yay! Hopefully his presence will temper Mary Murphy's insanity and Nigel's creepiness.
1. Courtney & Mark
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Viennese Waltz/Jason Gilkinson/"The Time Of My Life' by David Cook
As always, I thought Mark did a lovely job with his character. The hand connections were't always strong and Courtney was quite "fairy princess" enough for my tastes, but it was still very lovely. I wasn't bored with it in the least, which is a rarity and holy crap Paula Abdul is sitting behind Gilkinson in the crowd shot. Sorry. That took me by surprise. Anyhoo, Shankman said Mark had the best rise and fall of any of the male competitor this season. Nigel called it "beautifully romantic," which I think is an apropos description.
Solo 1: Chelsie
Song: "When I Grow Up" by The Pussycat Dolls
Give it up to the girl for throwing down her best solo so far. With her, her costume sometimes dictates the effectiveness of her moves and, this time, both were fantastically complimentary. And go ahead with that quad-turn into the splits at the end (at least I think it was four turns...).
Solo 2: Twitch
Song: "Midas Touch" by Midnight Star
First, big ups for the song selection. I haven't heard this in year. It had everything - comedy, choreography, and style. And Cat put on his glasses and gold teeth at the end. Hilarious. Why wasn't she nominated for an Emmy again?
2. Katee & Joshua
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Contemporary/Tyce DiOrio/"All By Myself" by Celine Dion
I'm underwhelmed. Not by the dancing - they were fantastic. What I think it was is there's a disconnect for me between the steps and the underpinnings of the song. Certainly, the choreography was good and danced with passion, but the song for me has a desperation to it that was lacking in the number. If I muted it, it was great. But there's nothing but love from the judges, with Shankman calling it Tyce's best number ever.
Gillian Lynne, choreographer of Cats and The Phantom of The Opera, is also in the audience. Cool.
3. Chelsie & Twitch
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Mambo/Tony & Melanie/"Ahora Me Toca A Mi" by Victor Manuelle
Chelsie's outfits is great and Twitch's pants are all kinds of shiny. Love the music, love the characters. Chelsie was, as expected, fantastically awesome. While Twitch was outmatched, I thought he did a good job especially with such little prep time. Definitely much better than the Latin stuff with Kherington. Nigel gave a good note to Twitch to make sure he keeps his face from showing his a mistake...which, as the slo-mo replay shows, wasn't as glaringly obvious as Nigel would have us think.
Solo 3: Katee
Song: "Can't Stop" by Maroon 5
It's nice to see her dance to a fast song for a change...but I felt the movements weren't unique enough if that makes sense. Still, she had a good energy and sense of playfulness.
Solo 4: Joshua
Song: "Like That" by Memphis Bleek
Joshua gets such air on his kicks and jumps it's crazy. Impressive.
4. Courtney & Mark
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Jazz/Sonya Tayeh/"The Garden" by Mirah
I loved loved loved this routine. Easily one of my favorites of the season and the best of the night so far. Both of them hit their characters, hit the moves, and really brought a great energy to the stage. I agree with Shankman that it's great to have Sonya join the choreographers.
5. Katee & Joshua
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Paso Doble/Jason Gilikson/"Filet" from the Le Reve Original Soundtrack
Well, Joshua finally got to be shirtless and Katee's outfit is cool. This is big music to fill and Joshua is matching it very well. He out-shined Katee for me this number but both were really good. It's a love fest from the judges with Mary letting out two...no, three blood-curdling screams.
Solo 5: Courtney
Song: "Rock Your Soul" by Elisa
It was a good solo...I like the way she points her toes in her jump-turns, very impressive technique. Though I notice at times there's slight breaks in it.
Solo 6: Mark
Song: "Bum Like You" by Robyn
I love his solos, this one is no exception. He's just so...quirky and entertaining and so smart about the beats he chooses to ride. This has to be the toughest top three to chose from in all the seasons.
6. Chelsie & Twitch
Dance/Choreographer/Song: Hip Hop/Tabitha & Napoleon/"Control" by The Vitamin String Quartet
Great character work from both of them and a very cool song choice. Chelsie did the moves very well and Twitch...well, this was right up his alley.
Favorite Numbers: Katee & Joshua's Paso Doble, Chelsie & Twitch's Hip Hop and Courtney & Mark's Jazz but all the numbers were solid tonight.
Stand-out Individuals: All of them. Everyone did really well tonight and nobody slipped up. I keep using the word "impressed" but that how I feel.
Disappointments: Tyce DiOrio. I could've loved his Contemporary piece but it didn't really meet my expectations.
Okay...it's crunch time. How do you think it's going to turn out tomorrow? Who's making it to the top four? Who should make it there? Your favorites and not favorites? Any other thoughts?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Is this show now called "So You think you're a Choreographer"?
Finally! A great show from start to finish and the judges were smart enough not to bash or over-praise anyone. Love these 6, each for different reasons, and it will be a tough one tomorrow.
Oh and Cat is the best host out there. Emmy, schmemmy.
Finally, this season, an outstanding show. It's so good to have Will gone. It was amazing how much of a drag he was on the show, i.e. the judges lying about how good he was. The other cast members seemed to suffer from low morale because of Will's undeserved praise. Now that he's gone, the show reaches new heights. Twitch is still the weakest of the men by far. He looked ridiculous in the first number, and the second, the hip hop number, was also kind of lame. Joshua for the win still (both numbers were great), but Courtney is climbing up to challenge.
Also, can't Zap2it find a recapper who will not just ape what the judges say? It's a little pathetic. It was really bad when she drank the Will Kool Aid, but giving Twitch any credit for the Mambo is silly.
Quite right JAMES!
I loved Katee and Josh's contemporary piece and found nothing at all wrong with the music or the emotions of it. They move together better than any other couple and that split jump/catch was the most amazing move I've seen all season. I also adore the Jazz piece of Mark and Courtney. Both pieces I watched 5 times.
For the first time I'm hoping that it is Chelsie going home tonight and not Courtney. I still want Josh and Katee to tie for the win but last night, Mark showed he deserved to be in the top 3. Go home Twitch and Chelsie, they had the least entertaining numbers last night. He was so outmatched in the Mambo and the hip hop was nothing to write home about.
I wanted to know that song that was played when that couple (i don't watch the show much but I enjoyed last nights dancing) when the guy starting out holding his waist with a fierce look towards the girl. It basically looked as if they were fighting but actually danced really well. I'm interested in the song that was played. Does anyone know the artist/song?
I actualy just found it.
I rate dances by if I was entertained. I was not entertained at all by Katee and Josh's contemporary and I am not a contemporary hater. During this time, I even left to grab some more water.
I loved the waltz with Mark and Courtney. It looked so pretty and effortless.
I was not feeling the hip hop or even the Paso Doble. After each of those dances I had to think if they even danced. It didn't seem like that much to me.
i will have to agree with a heartbreak that twitch might be the one to leave something was missing 4 me tonight and i believe courtney might be out too based only on the fact that she was in the bottom last time...chelsie should go but i think it is gonna be courtney...Tamara good job with ur recap...