Thursday, August 28, 2014

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 4


This week's So You Think You Can Dance was the penultimate episode.  The finale is next Wednesday night.

The show began with a beautiful group dance to "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Ryan Dan Travis) choreographed by Travis Wall.  The leaps and pairings in this number were just lovely.  (Photo above.)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson sat in as a judge.  He is one of my favorite SYTYCD judges.  I love the good natured humor he brings to his comments.

On this episode all the dancers partnered with each other, danced a solo, and danced with an All Star in their chosen dance genre.

Valerie and Ricky did a Sean Cheesman African jazz number to "Voices of Savannah" (D.J. Chus).  It had an animal theme and was a lot of fun.

Jessica and Zack performed a Broadway routine choreographed by Spencer Liff.  It was about an underground rendezvous spot, and it was danced to "Hernando's Hideaway" (Ella Fitzgerald).  I could really picture this number in a Broadway show.  Spencer Liff is one of my favorite show choreographers.

Valerie and Zack performed a contemporary dance choreographed by Tyce Diorio.  It was about a couple in love, and Valerie portrayed a blind woman.  The number was danced to "Pearls" (Sade) and it was really lovely.

Jessica and Ricky danced a Ray Leeper number to "F for You" (Disclosure with Mary J. Blige).  It was full of drama, but not one of my favorite numbers.

Jason Mraz performed his new song, "Love Someone."  I like it - really like his voice!  

Valerie and Jessica performed a Bollywood number by Nakul Dev Mahajan to "Ghagra" (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani).   I almost always enjoy the Bollywood numbers of SYTYCD, and this number was no exception.  The girls looked like they really enjoyed this dance.

Zack and Ricky performed a Phoenix and Pharside hip hop number about the king of diamonds and king of clubs to "The Antidote" (District 78).  It was hard hitting and athletic and I thought both dancers really did an amazing job working so far out of their genre.  

Valerie and Aaron performed a Broadway style tap number choreographed by Anthony Morigerato to "Love Me or Leave Me" (Sammy Davis, Jr.).  It was a show stopper!   This was another number that would be great in a Broadway show. 

Some clips of Ricky's first audition aired, and then Ricky danced an amazing solo to "Skin and Bones" (David J. Roch).

Ricky and Kathryn danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary number about a man who hit rock bottom and a woman who is an angel helping him.  It was performed to "Not About Angels" (Birdy).

Valerie's audition aired, and then she danced a tap solo to "Valerie" (Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse).

Zack and Aaron danced a Broadway tap number to "Piano Man" (Billy Joel).  This number was choreographed by Anthony Morigerato, and it was about a bartender and customer sharing stories.  The conversation actually took the form of tap.  What an incredible number!  

Jessica's audition played, and then she danced a solo to "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" (Juliet Sims).

Jessica and Robert danced a very moving contemporary number to "When I Go" (Over the Rhine).  It was choreographed by Travis Wall.

Zack closed the show with a tape of his audition and a tap routine to "Superstition" (Adam Rafferty).

I really enjoyed this show.  It was probably my favorite episode this season.  I thought the two tap duets (Valerie and Aaron, Zack and Aaron) were real standouts.  I also loved Ricky's solo.

I actually voted tonight - 10 times for Valerie and 10 times for Ricky.  I have to say I also like Zack a lot, and would not be unhappy if he won.

I think this will actually be a very close vote.  I usually watch the show with a group of friends and the four of us had four different opinions about who should win.

Did you enjoy the show this week?  What guy and what girl do you want to win?

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