Episode Guide
Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for this recap of the June 6 edition of So You Think You Can Dance, in which it seemed more was absent than present.
Where was clogger Brandon Norris? Where was Benji Schwimmer's sister Lacey Schwimmer, seen only one, and not dancing, but rather talking about Mia Michaels' choreography)? What about Ashley Simpson or Phillip Chbeeb?
Once again, the editing left a lot to be desired.
For whatever reason, Olivia Usey was the main emotional focal point. She was really nervous about Shane Sparks' hip-hop routine, and with a good reason. A bunch of people we got to know in the auditions — ex-football player Myles Johnson, Ashley Keegan and Katie Watts — had already gotten waxed, so what chance did Olivia possibly have?
Plenty, apparently. She sailed through - not that we saw why.
Odd choice of editing, on the producers' part, since Olivia clearly loves the camera only slightly less than Spencer Pratt.
She's so intent on sharing her drama, Cat Deeley noted, that Olivia and her group's chances before the judges didn't look good. Except that they did.
Seemed like it was all falsely dramatized to generate tension from Nigel Lythgoe and the panel, and it wasn't the only case of this manuever. If Olivia had been the only manufactured drama of the night, that would've been one thing. But no.
We had to spend time with an insecure guy we'd never met and a cheery mom we'd never met as they struggled through a samba routine from Mary Murphy and survived... insecure and cheery.
Faina Savich, the sister of So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 finalist Stanislav, waited until 3 a.m. to timidly ask questions about her group's limp lyrical routine.
We were also left to wonder what could happen to the partnership of amiable Lindy Hoppers Michael and Evita if she made it through and he didn't. Oh, they both got cut? Never mind.
Why couldn't we have spent more time with Ricky Palomino?
We got roughly 15 seconds of him praising Mia Michaels, then 15 seconds of his dancing, 5 seconds of his Atlanta audition, then 15 of Mia Michaels praising him, and 10 of him flipping out about her praise — about a minute of screen time, and we want to see and know more about him!
By way of explanation for Ricky's absence from the show up until now, Cat said he'd been "under the radar," which seems to be code for "possessing a back story devoid of horrific injuries or intolerant and/or overdemanding parents." Nope, just talent and sex appeal — never good for TV.
Fortunately, break-dancer Twitch was asked what he was going to do when he danced for his life, and his reply was the kind of earnest yearning first presented to the world in that 1980 classic of arts-high-school cinema:
"Freestyle. Do what I love. Do what comes from the heart. Hopefully that can be enough."
Cut to Shane Sparks, barking at his dancers:
"No mistakes allowed! This is your life!"
Cut to Mia Michaels chiding her dancers:
"Don't be such a needy dancer. Figure it out!"
Cut to a dancer, weepy from stress and success:
"You don't understand. This. Is our life!"
Yes, So You Think You Can Dance tugs at the heartstrings. What can we say.
Moments like when Twitch, D'Trix, and Hok all wowed the judges with solo routines of put-it-all-out-there dexterity and panache made the night, all of the above gripes notwithstanding.
Same with moments like Hanna-Lee Sakakibara's final routine, in which she incorporated a sprained, taped ankle into her dancing both physically and emotionally, only to have the harsh reality of that injury greet her with her getting cut.
Heck, even moments like the inexplicable ascendancy of Jessi Peralta, who moves well enough but relies too much on gimmickry and a Pussycat Dolls sexier-than-thou 'tude that totally rubs us the wrong way.
Hey, you always need the one you love to hate.
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