Well, So You Think You Can Dance, you were just full of surprises tonight, weren’t you? I come home expecting to cover a one-hour performance show, and there Cat Deeley is, telling me it will actually be a two-hour performance AND elimination show. (Thanks, World Series!) And then Nigel gives us the official word on the departed Billy Bell and his replacement, Brandon. (Thanks, unexpected illness!) And then, to top it all off, he throws in the fact that Noelle was injured and will sit out tonight, and possibly leave next week if she doesn’t heal quickly. (Thanks, fragile human body!) That’s a lot of reshuffling right out of the gate. Televised dancing competitions can be so confusing!
But they can also be so, so good, as was the case with tonight’s top-notch show… thanks, once again, to the element of surprise. Despite a couple of lukewarm reactions from the judges, I don’t think there was a dog among tonight’s 10 performances. Obviously, there were highlights and lowlights, but the choreographers and dancers all seemed to bring their A-game. But what made tonight’s show particularly spectacular in my mind were the unexpected moments of delight that were sprinkled throughout. Let’s review a few, shall we?
Russell has no box! You said it, Cat. I’ve obviously been a Russell booster from the get-go, but he cemented his place in my heart tonight. It would have been exciting enough to see him pull off a foxtrot—a foxtrot! For a krumper! On the first show!—based almost entirely on that elusive “it factor.” But the fact that he did it onstage with choreographer Melanie after Noelle’s injury forced her to sit out made his victory all the sweeter. The judges’ decision to put him in the bottom two was initially baffling—yes, he wasn’t technically that proficient, but, as Nigel said, let’s see Fred Astaire do a krump routine—but when Brandon was selected to join him, it became apparent what their game was. Oh well, at least we got to see his incredible solo… I suspect once the voting is in the hands of America, he won’t be back there anytime soon. Which brings me to…
Brandon: here today, gone today. Poor kid. His day-and-a-half-long run is probably the shortest tenure in SYTYCD history. I have to say, I kind of expected the judges to give him a pass, just to give him a week to catch up. But there is no mercy on this show (except when there is), and when he was pitted against Russell in the bottom two, his sacrificial lamb status was pretty much solidified. It’s hard to be too torn up about it, considering we’ve hardly seen him dance in his style (and his solo did NOT look particularly hip-hoppy to me), but despite Nigel’s catty “prom couple” comment, I thought he and Pauline were adorable in their slow waltz together. Yes, they looked a little amateurish, but in his case, no more so than fellow hip-hopper Kevin did in his cha-cha with Karen. (Theirs was the quintessential case of being carried by your partner… and in this case, her gyrating hips of mass destruction.) But Nigel’s offer of string-pulling to let him audition again next year was a nice mea culpa for what was a pretty shitty situation for a very sweet-seeming kid.
EAWTW? We may have lost Emmy Award Winning Mia Michaels this season, but Travis Wall looks like he might be gunning for her place. I don’t think it’s overstating things to say that Travis’ necklace routine was one, if not the standout of last season (sorry, Cancer Dance), and tonight he showed he has plenty more tricks up his sleeve… including, once again, some of the craziest lifts I’ve ever seen. The fact that Bianca danced it surprisingly well given her somewhat heavy-footed/shouldered technique made it all the more triumphant, though it was really Victor who carried the routine. These two are another adorable couple, though it’s hard to tell where their appeal ends and Travis’ choreography begins. I suspect that if he continues to participate in the show regularly, he might fill that Mia Michaels can-do-no-wrong niche.
Well-played, Legacy, well-played. Okay, I’m not the only one around here who’s been trashing Legacy, but I'm willing to entertain the notion that my assessment last week of him as a quick exit might have been a little off. Granted, he was the only one of the hip-hoppers to not get ballroom and perform in his own style, but he proved me—and the judges—wrong about him being nothing but tricks. His and Kathryn’s goofy Dave Scott routine blew away Ariana and Peter’s “androids in love” number (we get it, NappyTab, you’re in love!)—though, to be fair, Peter was surprisingly good given how far out of his wheelhouse he was. But, as Adam pointed out, Legacy and Kathryn “met in the middle,” feeding off of each other’s strengths: He benefited from her musicality, connecting his movements in a way we’ve never seen him do; and she hit it surprisingly hard for a girl who spirals off into silly crying jags at the drop of a hat. It’s too early to eat my words entirely—and as long as he keeps calling himself “Legacy,” I doubt I will—but I’ll bite, Legacy: Show me what you've got.