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“So You Think You Can Dance” mini-cap: look both ways

It’s week four of the finals and seeing what host Cat Deeley is wearing is almost as exciting as the dancing. This week she’s sporting a retro looking mini. Her hair is swept to the side like a ’40s starlet. Sexy. In fact, that seems to be the theme for the night. Plenty of bare chested guys tonight and sexy long legged beauties (and I don’t mean Thayne) glide across my small screen.

Tonight joining the regular judges are hip-hop choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo.

Every couple is dancing twice, each time in a different style. It’s great to see how versatile everyone can be.

First up are Jessica and Will, doing a jive, a fast dance with a lot of leg shaking and goofy facial expressions. They do a death-defying lift where Jessica goes over the top of Will and through his legs — whoa! The Dumos and Lythgoe like most of what they saw but ballroom expert Murphy commented that Jessica placed her weight in “all the wrong places” while Will had it in “all the right places.” The negative comments about Jessica didn’t end there. Stop already. Will’s a great dancer but it seems that every week one or more judges will go on about him but chastise Jessica. She’s a beautiful dancer. You know what they said about Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire? Sure he was good but she did everything backwards and in heels. (Stick that in your ballet shoe and … oh never mind.)

Because their old partners were eliminated last week, Comfort and Thayne are now a couple. As they do their West Side Story-influenced Broadway routine, I think that it’s not a bad pairing, but I don’t believe Comfort is up to par. Even when she’s in her genre, hip-hop, she doesn’t deliver it like she should. I love her personality — she’s funny and lively — but this isn’t So You Think You Have a Personality. The Dumos liked their work and Murphy echoed that but Lythgoe blasted them saying that the piece was about pent up aggression and he didn’t see the intensity it required. I’ve gotta say I agree with him.

Kourtni and Matt do a soft-edged hip-hop presentation that doesn’t quite cut it. I blame the choreography. Lythgoe called it “hip-hop on sleeping pills.” Oh my god, I’m agreeing with him again. I’d better stock up on my meds.

Next are Chelsie and Mark, who do a Mandy Moore jazz choreography. The music repeats a line about kissing so there’s a lot of puckering up and damn if it isn’t cute. The judges like their chemistry. Murphy deadpans, “I hate to be a downer,” then screeches, “I just loved it!” I run for the ear plugs. My cats run for the ear plugs.

Kherington and Twitch do a fiery pasa double dressed as matadors with lots of cape swirling and fierce expressions. Lord have mercy, hose me off after that one. Kherington can snap a cape at me anytime. The judges comment on the slow build that Twitch does and wish that he’d brought it sooner. They have nothing but praise for Kherington with Napolean saying that she had that same look in her face that flamenco dancers have — the one that says “I could kick your butt.” Uh huh. Call me, Kherington, and we’ll play dress up.

Next my TV girlfriend Mia Michaels choreographs a contemporary piece for Katee and Joshua. I don’t know why Katee is wearing a huge bun on the top of her head — it’s distracting — but the dancing was freakin’ amazing, just bursting with angst and emotion. Hey, it’s Michaels, it’s what she does. When Deeley asked Joshua about the dance, he mumbled something about how there was so much more to dance with Mia. (The woman renders me speechless too, honey, I know what you mean.) Lythgoe says that they are one of the top couples to beat. I agree with Lythgoe again and head for my meds.

Here comes the segment of the show that I’ve rewound so many times I have it memorized. Courtney and Gev pop and lock through a hip hop routine dressed in matching over sized jerseys and caps. Not only does Courtney dance the crap out of this routine but, dare I say it? With that cute swagger and those clothes she’s looking butch in a yummy Shane kinda way, ya know? The judges love Courtney but don’t love Gev, with Murphy saying he didn’t hit it hard enough.

After the break, the couples return for their second dance. Jessica and Will slide through a lyrical jazz piece that is so sexy I need to be fanned. (Send Courtney over and make sure she’s wearing that baseball cap, ‘k?) Using a shirt as a prop, they tug and tumble over it and each other. Will’s not wearing a shirt but none of the straight female audience members mind. (And I’ll bet every gay boy watching has covered himself in honey and is purring “come get me, big boy.”) Tabitha compliments the couple on their nice lines. Napoleon has to criticize Jessica with “you’re holding Will down.” Oh stop, already. Murphy disagrees, screeching about something in 10,000 decibels. I think they’re back on the hot tamale train but my ear plugs filter out her voice range. I can see her mouth opening and closing in a big O.

Comfort and Thayne do a smooth waltz. Comfort looks a bit uncertain. The judges aren’t sure about this with comments ranging from “really enjoyed” to “felt a bit phony.”

Kourtni and Matt deliver a sexy mambo with some complicated lifts. The reaction from the judges is mixed with Napoleon telling Matt he needed to get “down and grindy” to Murphy who said she “didn’t believe the chemistry.” Lythgoe wanted Matt to be “butcher.” Let the boy be his swishy self. Geez.

A suave foxtrot is presented by Chelsie and Mark. She’s a ballroom dancer so she’s in her element. It’s harder for Mark but he pulls it off. Murphy and Lythgoe have a little spat about how good they are. Lythgoe gets the last word by telling Murphy to lower it three decibels. (Hey! Has he been reading my blog?)

Twitch and Kherington dance a choreography by Micheals that centers around a bed and rose petals. It matches the song by John Mayer and hot damn, it’s good. The judges go on about it, as well they should, with Tabitha saying “awesome” about 47.5 times. She’s talking about the dancing but I’m sure she doesn’t mind looking at a shirtless Twitch. Lythgoe says that years ago he could jump on a bed like that. Too much information, dude.

Second season winner cutie-pie Benji Schwimmer choreographs a West Coast swing number for Katee and Joshua. They dance it well although the weird blues song is distracting and it’s a little too much Benji, using some of his signature moves. I love the guy but making Katee and Joshua do two-person cartwheels just doesn’t work. The ending is awesome, though, with Katee catapulting Joshua across the stage with a hip thrust. It’s amazing how much ground he flies over. The judges love the performance with Murphy yelling “whoo hoo!”

Courtney and Gev have never been in the bottom three and here they prove why, with a fast Broadway routine. It’s cute and has a lot of “wow-gosh-golly” kinds of acting but that’s what the piece calls for. For the most part the judges liked it, complimenting their characters but Lythgoe wanted Courtney’s round kicks to be stronger.

At the very end of the show they always show all of the dancers on stage doing their thing while the credits roll. I like to watch this part because their true personalities emerge and I’m especially glad I’m still watching ’cause I catch Kherington and Chelsie leading each other around the floor. Hot damn, two women! It’s clear they like each other and they’re so adorable.

So what do you think? I’ll bet Comfort and Thayne are headed home next. Will is definitely safe, given the tongue bath he always gets. They’d better keep Kherington or I’ll have to start drinking.

Tonight, one guy and one girl goes home. One Republic is performing. Murphy will be screaming. I’ll be wearing industrial strength ear plugs.

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