In the words of Penny Lane, from Almost Famous, “It’s all happening!” And it is! It’s the final performance night for Season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance, where we’ll get to see four talented dancers take the stage one last time (multiple times) before deciding who will be named America’s Favorite Dancer. We already have an idea of what will be performed tonight — if you missed it, be sure to check out our Pocket Guide to the So You Think You Can Dance Finale.
Whatever you might think about who did or did not make the finale, there’s no doubt in my mind that tonight is going to be filled with some jaw-droppingly awesome performances from the Final Four. Watch along with me tonight as we watch Brandon, Evan, Jeanine, and Kayla perform — you can follow my live thoughts here and, of course, on BuddyTV’s excellent So You Think You Can Dance Twitter. Let’s see who gets the final Hot Tamale Train Ticket of the Season, the return of Adam Shankman to the judges table, and most importantly, to see who dances their way into our hearts and on to victory. If we are to believe Shanks, and I happen to, tonight is going to be spectacular. Shanks has been all a-Twitter about tonight’s performances for the entire week.
“At the Kodak prepping SYTYCD performance show. HUGE!!!!!”
“Watching the top 10 dance again is awesome.”
“Crazy show. Out to dinner with the choreographers and Mary. It was very emotional for the kids. Thursday and all of the performances will be very tough. I got booed three times tonight! A first!!!”
“Spent the night with the choreogs trying to figure out who is going to win. We have idea.”
Of course, we’re dying to know not only who the choreographers think will win. (*cough cough* Brandon? Jeanine? Kayla? Sorry…Kasprzaktivists) And we’re also curious to see what gets Shanks booed tonight. Hopefully, we’ll see soon enough!
It’s 10 minutes to finale time…who is everyone pulling to win tonight? I have to admit, that re-watching the routines from this season trying to determine the best dance of them all…I may have a new favorite. Miss White Lightning herself, Kayla Radomski. I was shocked by how many of my favorite routines she was in this season, and I somehow didn’t even realize it. Speaking of favorite routines, save the ones that will be inevitably danced tonight, what are your favorites from the Season 5? I’d love to hear what continues to stand out and move you–and why. Comment away my fellow So You Think You Can Dance lovers!
And it’s final performance time! Cat Deeley already has a case of the Deeley chills. Each of the final four take the stage and do more of a hello thank you to the crowd than a dance, but everyone looks like they’re on cloud 9. Myself included. Let’s get to some amazing dancing!
As we all know, tonight’s finale is at the Kodak Theater, a much larger space. The crowd is going wild already. Adam Shankman (Shanks from here on out) is in awe of the Final Four, though he admits he expected some of them would make the finale. He’s also amazed that 3,000 people are screaming in the Kodak Theater and 20 million are watching at home….all for dance.
Abbey was having computer issues, so I, the illustrious and Brandon-hating John Kubicek, will be here to guide you through tonight’s finale.
I tuned in just to see the end of the final four doing a cheerleading routine. Oh dancers, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind.
Then we get a sneak peek at season 6, and based on the music, it is either the Second Coming or the Final Sign of the Apocalypse. I’m going with the latter, because the montage ends with an extremely obese man without a shirt dancing, and his flab will be forever jiggling in my mind.
Jeanine and Evan: Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Sonya, who clearly loves violence against men, has choreographed a routine where Evan wants Jeanine, but she just wants to beat him up (and maybe glue Little Evan to his stomach, if she’s from Wisconsin). Jeanine is hot as hell, and this is exactly in Evan’s wheelhouse. He’s perfect at playing comically emasculated men who lust after Randi’s butt or Jeanine’s hot body.
Brandon’s Solo
Cat sits down with Brandon for a chatwhich brings back the relatively minor Brandon-Mia feud. As a noted Brandon-hater, I kind of still want Mia to walk up and bitch slap him across the face.His solo is fine, but Brandon is the opposite of Jason, because I actually prefer it when he dances with his clothes on. The judges freak the heck out, mostly because they know that Brandon is probably going to win this whole thing.
Kayla and Brandon: Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
Yay, I love me some Tyce, and he’s whipped up something wild and crazy for his final dance of the season. And yes, it’s fun and whimsical. At one point Kayla sticks one leg straight up in the air and Brandon spins her around like a propeller, and it took my breath away. The Shank-Man is playing heavy favorites, saying that these are the two he thought would be in the end all along. Nigel commends Tyce for being named after a cookie (de-Oreo), and Cat adds that he’s equally delicious. Indeed, I’d twist him in half and dunk him in milk any day.
Jeanine’s Solo
Her chat with Cat comes around to, as Deeley calls it “What the folk?” to describe that God-awful Russian Folk Dance with Phillip. On the bright side, she had that Travis Wall sex dance with Jason. Yup, Jeanine has had some of the absolute best and absolute worst dances of the season. Her solo is fine, but she’s clearly trying to win more votes by taking off as many clothes as possible. Her wardrobe this season is like an Advent calendar. Once again, Shanks goes insane. That dude needs to take a serious chill pill, or at the very least, get the heck off my TV screen. Sorry, but Adam = My Least Favorite Guest Judge.
Evan and Brandon: Choreographed by Laurie Ann Gibson
Holy crap, they’re a pair of “Nasty Boys.” It’s Brandon and Evan, or Mr. Bryant and Mr. Kasprzak, if you’re nasty. Sorry, but there’s not a chance in hell I’m taking this seriously, because they’re in leather jackets, and the gentle, graceful Brandon and sweet innocent Evan are not nasty at all. Shanky, on the other hand, is very nasty, saying that Evan got smoked by Brandon. Yeah, it’s kind of true, but whatever, this is not the time to start ragging on the dancers.
Mary asks about the nastiest thing Evan has ever done, and while there is no answer, Brandon is waaaaay too interested in the answer. This entire judging is a referendum on how non-nasty Evan is, and how that’s a bad thing.
Kayla and Jeanine: Choreographed by Mia Micahels
Once again, Mia is an ultimate storyteller, and this is about the journey of life as the girls go ffrom one side of the stage to the other, shedding their problems at every step along the way. It’s mostly weird and surreal, and after last year when Joshua and Twitch did their Russian routine, they set an unreachable bar for same sex couple performances in the finale, and neither of these two held up.
These girls are polar opposites. Kayla is sweet and graceful and poetic in her beauty and movement. Jeanine, however, is strong and feisty and fiery and passionate. The question is: how do you like your girls, and how do you like your dancers?
Evan’s Solo
Cat gets Evan choked up when talking about his brother. Aww, the Brothers Kaspr-mazov. Or the Kasprzak Attack, if you will. As is the case with me, staring at Randi’s butt was his favorite routine of the season. His solo is smooth and cool, and if this was 50 or 60 years ago, he would own the freaking world. Mary once again compares him to the old greats, and if you haven’t yet, I beg everyone reading this go out and watch Singin’ in the Rain. Your opinion of Evan’s style of dance will be radically altered forever, and for the better. Nigel continues his hardest to try and get either Brandon or Jeanine to win by bad mouthing Evan. I think it’s time for a Kasp-comeback, America!
Kayla and Evan: Choregraphed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LePatin
They have a super fast jive, only it’s set to country music and Evan is wearing cowboy boots. Evan the cowboy? Evan the nasty boy? What the folk is this show doing to him? Either going after the country demo is a very shrewd way to get people in the midwest to vote for them, or it’s a way to make me hate them forever.
The Shankster whines about how the routine was too weak for a finale, and once again, he gets booed. He says “Twice in one night? Score!” That almost makes me forget how much I hate him. Almost. This is followed by Mary saying “A-number one.” When did the judges start talking like me and my friends circa 2003? The crowd chants Evan’s name, and I’m still smelling a Kaspr-wave of support.
Kayla’s Solo
Kayla is sweet and fine, but I don’t see her as a star. Yes, her addiction routine with Kopono was amazing, and my single favorite piece of the season, but I give the majority of the credit for that to Mia Michaels. For me, her solo is the weakest of the four, but her song (“Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics) is the best for me. Instead of talking about her sub-par solo, Shank-a-lank-a-ding-dong says that she’s in an elite class of other dancers from past seasons he’s loved like Travis and Danny and a bunch of others who DIDN’T WIN. That’s one heck of a backhanded compliment.
Jeanine and Brandon: Choreographed by Louis Van Amstel
Gee, does anyone think it’s a coincidence that the last performance of the finale features the two performers the judges have been hyping all night long? It’s painfully obvious the judges want one of these two to win, probably Jeanine so they can finally have another female winner. These two are certainly being tested with a difficult paso doble.
Wow, that was intense, and it felt like two Highlanders battling to the death. I think the song is either from one of the Matrix sequels or it’s a remixed version of the Mortal Kombat theme song. Seriously, I kept waiting for someone to scream “FINISH HIM!”
And for me, that’s exactly what happened, and I’ve decided that Jeanine delivered a Fatality. Yeah, as much as I love and want Evan to make a comeback, after this finale, I’m going on record: Jeanine WILL win tomorrow night. Find out if I’m right tomorrow night at 8pm for a special two-hour finale!
Cat asks the judges for predictions, and Adam says nothing, forcing Cat to ask “Mary, can you be more of a man than Adam?” Oh snap, you sexy, sexy hostess. At least Nigel has the balls to narrow it down, believing either Brandon or Jeanine will win.
-John Kubicek and Abbey Simmons, BuddyTV Staff Writers
(Image Courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
