And Now for Something Completely Different

I will admit, in addition to being a fashion junkie, a fiction glutton, and a political addict, I am a ruthless consumer of pop culture. There's no shame here. I read Perez Hilton. I watch American Idol. I know which Kardashian is which.

Currently, I am thrilled at the return of So You Think You Can Dance. I regularly find YouTube videos of my favorite routines to watch over and over again. And I always have an opinion. So for my friends who love it as much as I do, here are my takes on last night's Top 20 performances.

• Jordan and Tadd, Afro Jazz: The judges raved about how this routine was perfection, but I'm not sure what routine they were actually watching. I thought Tadd fumbled most of his lifts, Jordan was not nearly loose enough for the African side of the dance, and their timing was constantly off. There was a lift in the middle when Tadd was supposed to move Jordan from a handstand on one thigh to the other, and I could see how awkward it was for both of them to hold themselves up. Maybe the judges were just trying to keep enthusiasm up, but I thought the routine was painful to watch.
• Sasha and Alexander, Contemporary: Now this was the sort of routine I watch the show for. Sasha and Alexander had the precision, the power, and the passion that Jordan and Tadd lacked. And what do you know, it's a Travis Wall routine. Wall was in season 2 and has regularly delivered some of the most memorable choreography since. When he finds two dancers that can convey a story as these two dancers clearly can, he steps it up. I'll be watching this one again.
• Clarice and Jess, Broadway: Another routine the judges praised that really did nothing to impress me. While Jess is a Broadway dancer and Clarice executed the steps just fine, but my god was this one of the most boring Broadway routines I've seen. The real annoyance is how cute Jess seems to think he is. His pre-dance interview and rehearsal bit put me off of him almost immediately, and his smirk through the dance didn't help. Mostly a forgettable dance.
• Ryan and Ricky, Lyrical Hip Hop: Oh, I love this song! They danced a hip hop number to "Ain't No Sunshine," which is an amazing song. Weird thing was, and the only criticism the judges offered, was that Ryan smiled through the whole thing, which didn't gibe with the story of the song or the dance. The dancing was really strong though, even if the choreography was at times a bit repetitive.
• Caitlynn and Robert, Jazz: Ooh! A Sonya Tayeh routine. Sonya is the weirdest, most original choreographers on the show. The second one of her dances starts, you know exactly who is responsible for it. And because Caitlynn's partner was injured, she got to dance with Robert from season 7. They did a wonderful job, and Robert was able to accomplish the lifts that Tadd could only dream about.
• Miranda and Robert, Jive: Again, everyone else loved this routine, while I thought it came off as a bit weak, forced, and a little sloppy. There was no doubting the energy the couple brought to the stage, but the constant mugging was a bit off-putting. I get that it's a jive, but if some of the energy they put into pulling faces had gone into their footwork, I might have liked it better.
• Missy and Wadi, Jazz: This was a strong performance, but I found the choreography a bit unimaginative. The only thing that was really impressive was Wadi's flying over the box set piece; wow, that boy can move!
• Melanie and Marko, Contemporary: By far my favorite of the night. Another Travis Wall routine, this dance was emotional, beautiful, and memorable. The dance was about two statues that came to life when no one was looking, and as Melanie and Marko came together, they displayed the chemistry I had been waiting for. I think this will be one of the best of the season.
• Ashley and Christopher, Hip Hop: This was a hip hop set to Cee Lo's "Forget You", and had all of the cheese and fun of the song. That said, it wasn't exactly difficult choreography, when there was any choreography at all. The dance was mostly a mime to the lyrics of the song, which was very Junior High. Not quite to the level we've come to expect from SYTYCD.
• Iveta and Nick, Quickstep: Lucky for everyone, the first person to get the "kiss of death" the quickstep was the world champion in quickstep. Iveta, of course, rocked it, and Nick stayed right there with her. I think the two of them have enough of a following already to stick around, and now we won't have to see another quickstep for the rest of the season.

So that's that. Fun blog post for me. Empty reading for you. And I meet my writing goal for the evening, and I can still write some fiction tonight! Woot!