SYTYCD: FINALE!!!!

Okay, can Cat's dress get its own Emmy nom, please? PLEASE!! Way to save the best for last, wardrobe!

Melanie & Marko, disco: Wrong, wrong wrong - these two are finally back together & they get disco???  Ba-LURG. *sigh* Well it's these two, so hopefully I'll just love it. ........... Nope, that is the dance that massacred our beloved Melanie & Marko. Shame on Doriana, shame on the costume designer (WHATTHE WHATTHE WHATTHE did you do to Melanie?!?!?!?!), shame on whomever created that song, shame on everythingeverythingeverything!! Shame. I'm sorry, Mel&Marko, they did done you WRONG.

Sasha & Mark, jazz: This should have started the show. Correction - I think this DID start the show. :) I probably shouldn't talk about Mark for the next half hour, I suppose; just know that I really REALLY want to. That dance was all Sonya's world, her twisted sick world, and Sasha positively shined all the way through! I was so torn to see Caitlyn go last week, but that makes me very glad that Sasha stayed.

Tadd & Joshua, hip-hop: I'm a mixed bag on that piece - overall Tadd did solid hip-hop right there, he can definitely hit it. On the other hand, Joshua's style is so different & they didn't mesh well at times. On another hand (yes, I have more than 2 hands), I wasn't really crazy about that choreography. I think I've decided over the years that I much prefer Lil' C's contributions as a judge to those as a choreographer; it just didn't have quite enough movement diversity or story arc to really grab me off the couch. But, good job Tadd!

Melanie & Robert, contemporary: Stacy choreographing a love story? Shocker. That was supremely fine; lovely & pretty & touching. Not really super-moving or earth shattering, didn't have a noticeable climactic moment. But does it really matter at this point? How can anyone BUT Melanie win?!?!  (Hey Fates, I'm not talking to you, pay no attention to the woman behind the laptop... no need to change your designs to prove me wrong, nothing to see here...)

Sidenote - All filmmakers out there, take note; Mary Murphy, here & now, throws her hat into the ring to be considered for any & all live-action Rapunzel reboots. :) Honestly.... now we know who's been breaking into hair salons across the nation to steal their hair extensions...

Sasha & Marko, broadway: I loved everything about that number - great choreography & use of the floor, impeccable music, and their dancing just sizzled. Sasha was in character down to her pinkies, and Marko! Honestly, he like changed the innate minutiae of his dancing to fit the four-eyed super nerd persona, and it sold me on the dance.

Melanie's solo: I haven't really been commenting on solos this season, but I HAVE to chime in on that. Although, I can't really find the words for what I feel about that glorious 30 seconds - you'd have to open up my mind & just dive in to really get the gist of it. It's something major.

Marko's solo: Ditto. Very ditto.

Sasha & Tadd, cha-cha: Yeah, that was a bit of a Goth-mess. I love Mark Ballas for his contast need for ballroom innovation, it's a very worthwhile pursuit. But sometimes, he steps too far out of the box & gets too disconnected from the basics of the dance; definitely the case here. Making things worse was the performance that these two did not contribute to the dance - no chemistry, no finesse in their movement, and ZERO cha-cha spirit! So sad to see that happen in the finale.

Marko & Lauren, contemoporary: Well played! That was just what it was billed as - tortured love, yearning & division, full of honest unaffected emotion. Flawless dancing, FLAWLESS - elevated the story & was elevated by the story. Stellar! And I just found a new favorite song. Download!

Tadd's solo: You're fun, Tadd. Ain't gon' win - but so fun!

Melanie & Tadd,  jazz: I have to pause the show briefly to hail the awesomeness of Melanie's costume!! Glory. Let's continue. (After a sweet-roll break, naturally. I ran today, I earned it.) Man alive, she really ran him to ground on that! Word to the wise, don't cheat on Melanie!! They were both everything they needed to be for that story; that smug little Tadd was secretly pleased with himself even though he was clearly in dutch, and Melanie was ripping the flesh right off his back! Great number, a win for those two.

Sasha's solo: Yes, very very happy to see Sasha in the finale, that was so Sasha & so beautiful.

Melanie & Sasha, contemporary: These girls can create magic together, I tell ya. I liked the 3 C's: concept, choreography, costume - but I LOVED the girls. That piece was everything that it could & should have been from them, nothing left wanting.

Marko & Tadd, gumboot stepping (?): Oh, how curious I am about this!! Hmmm. Well, you know what curiosity did to the cat.... Sadly that applies here. Tadd out-"gumbooted" Marko, who was actually offbeat more than a few times. They both got crushed under the weight of juvenile choreography. And what can even be said about those HEINOUS COSTUMES!!! Ridiculous, was that someone's idea of a joke?!?! I really wanna know, they can't be serious with those. At best, that was hard to watch.


Well, I really wish this wasn't the finale - mainly because that was a very underwhelming
show for a season ender! I would've even been happy with "whelming", but I'm left really wishing they could have a bunch of do-overs handed out. Maybe I'll have to do a post tomorrow if it's a better show, just to leave on a higher note.

In advance, congratulations Melanie. :)

And thanks for tuning in for another season of "So You Think You Can Blog About Dance", I'll be back next year!! That is both a threat & a promise. :)