My So You Think You Can Dance 100 Episode Thoughts

I must admit that I’ve been reminiscing about the 100th episode and enjoying the whole experience thoroughly. My list of past So You Think You Can Dance routines (only the amazing ones) was my favorite part so go check it out.

Now on to thoughts about tonight’s show. Plus, tonight I’m including some videos. It seemed the right thing to do in honor of the 100th episode.

I must admit that I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard that Jason and Janette were going home. Don’t ask me why, but I just had a feeling that Kayla and Brandon were going to make it through. That said, figuring out who’s going to be in the bottom 2 is so hard. Week to week it changes depending on their partners and the routines they get.

Now about Jason and Brandon…
With that said, I’ve kind of not liked Jason this whole time. He just never really clicked for me. As I watched the recap of his best moments I decided that I think it was the producers fault that we didn’t really get to know Jason. Everyone’s loved how he was the first one to hug whoever was safe. I also noticed when I think it was Kayla was safe, she went over and Brandon didn’t even acknowledge her, but Jason reached out to greet her. I think we missed this side of Jason and I think I would have liked him better had they shown more of that side of Jason on the show.

At the end of the day, I would have been very happy if Brandon had been sent home and Jason stayed. However, when I was watching it, I was surprised that I had kind of turned around to almost liking Jason. Plus, Brandon just has never been right for me. Tonight Brandon proved in his solo that he’s an amazing dancer. I’m just afraid he’s an amazing solo dancer and not very good in partnering.

Think back on Brandon’s dances. I can’t think of one moment where I can say that Brandon totally connected with his partner. The only one that comes to mind is in the Vegas auditions when Brandon and Natalie did that Sonya routine before Natalie was sent home. For me, Brandon just fails to connect with his partner. Yesterday hit that home when I saw no chemistry between Brandon and Jeanine. Add in something about his head (some people say it’s his big neck) and let’s just say I’m not a huge fan. Although, I will be excited to see Brandon’s solo next week.

While we’re on the boys….
Evan is unique. He has a Benji like following. However, it doesn’t feel quite as strong and it does seem to be waning. Plus, Benji had very few people that wanted him gone. Evan isn’t so lucky. I’ll be a bit surprised if Evan makes the top 4. I think the tide is turning for those not called Kasprzaktivists.

What can I say about Ade? It’s the pick. It’s the pick. Definitely a possible dark horse. He surprised me out of the chute with a few good routines with Melissa and some great choreography. I don’t see him winning it all, but won’t be surprised if he wins the top boy prize (assuming they do that again this year).

Now my dear Janette…
I must admit that I like Miami. However, I’m going to stick with the tweet I sent as they announced the girls “I’ll be very sad if Kayla or Jeanine goes home.” Janette will be missed. Some people suggested to me that it might be an Allison-ed. I don’t think it’s quite the same. In fact, it’s probably closer to a Kherington-ed. Allison was a GREAT (and probably still is) technical dancer who was sent home too early because she probably lacked in the personality department a little (or at least it wasn’t shown). Kherington was kind of the opposite. Solid technically, but oozed personality. Janette is definitely more like Kherington. Do I dare admit that Brandon’s popularity was keeping Janette on the show? Hmm…Miami will certainly be missed.

Seems like a lot of people are unhappy that Melissa is still there. As I watched her during the announcements I couldn’t help but think that if Melissa was a 21 year old girl, she’d have never made it to the top 20. I can’t think of really any dancer before Melissa that has embodied the more mature dancer this way. It’s been a nice storyline that I’ve enjoyed this season. It’s crazy to think that the “naughty ballerina” is now the “mature dancer.” I will admit that Melissa was a bit lucky to have gotten a couple Impressive routines at the start of the show and then of course yesterday’s Tyce piece. I’ve liked Melissa a lot, but it will be a sad finale if it doesn’t include both Kayla and Jeanine for me.

Speaking of Kayla and Jeanine…
Kayla has become my favorite dancer. Yesterday I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she danced. Plus, little pieces of her personality have really started to show through for me as the season progresses. Maybe it’s just her smile. Kayla does seem to be enjoying herself more as the season progresses. Yes I’ve become a real fan.

Jeanine has been the surprise of the show for me. She was hidden in the shadow of Phillip to start, but ever since that broadway routine she’s stood out to me. Even her less than stellar Waltz her face still had that star quality for me.

Of course, just don’t make me choose between Kayla and Jeanine.

Now I promised you videos.

I already posted the Wade Robson Ramalama video. Highlight of the show for me and I was surprised how much having Wade Robson dancing brought to the stage for me. Plus, I think I waxed nostalgic for So You Think You Can Dance season 2 as well.

Travis Wall and Heidi Groskreutz Bench Routine Video

I’ve said this many times in the comments, so sorry to repeat, but Heidi’s my all time favorite dancer. Plus, she’s the reason I even started blogging about SYTYCD. So, you can thank Heidi for Pure SYTYCD. Looks like marriage is treating Heidi well and hasn’t hurt her dancing. We of course know Travis Wall is doing well. My only slight comment is that All those tatoos down Travis’ arm were a bit distracting for me.

Hok and Jamie doing The Hummingbird and the Flower is just exquisite. Hok makes this routine for me, but Jamie is underrated for her performance as well. Granted Wade (or probably his wife) deserves a lot of credit as well. This performance was just as good as the original.

Mia’s chorus line number was cute. Check out the video:

The camera work on the group numbers still kills me. However, when each dancer stepped from behind the mirror I could see such a difference in the performance ability. Some pulled off the over the top step out and others just stepped out. Only problem is that it was hard to tell who was who. Overall a nice start to the night. Nothing Wow, but not too disappointing either.

I think few would argue with me on this. Katie Holmes performance was the disappointment of the night. Certainly the build up was too much, but let’s put that aside for a second. The lip syncing just killed me (as it has with past performers). The singing was ok I guess. The dancing was…wait that didn’t look like Katie Holmes dancing to me. Many don’t like that it was recorded, but I already knew it would be. Although it did feel awkward that it wasn’t filmed on the same stage. I’ll just leave it at that. You can see the video of Katie Holmes performance on So You Think You Can Dance yourself and be the judge:

Well, the flashbacks tonight made it a great episode. I would have still loved it to be 2 hours and included some new choreography with a bunch of the past dancers. The crazy thing is that this week was hard to know who would go home. Next week will be even worse.

Remember to buy your tickets for the So You Think You Can Dance tour tomorrow. There’s a pre-sale code you’ll need at the link I added. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until Saturday to buy.

Finally…
If you’ve read all the way to here….you might be a SYTYCD-a-holic!!