I cannot believe that the So You Think You Can Dance Canada finale is only a week away.
While it is pretty much a given that Nico will walk away with the title of the country’s favourite dancer, I was quite curious to see which three dancers would be joining him the last episode of the season.
Speaking of Nico, he was up first this week.
NATALLI & NICO
Natalli and Nico drew the disco this week. I have to say that I was a little surprised about the draw, because I totally expected some of the old couples to reunite and yet Nico and Natalli hadn’t danced together before so I wondered if all the pairs would change. This was an interesting pairing for a variety of reasons, but primarily because I felt like they were the two opposites in the competition. Let me explain. Natalli has been the underdog and made the bottom three several times but managed to survive. As stated before, Nico has never been in danger and is the probable winner of the competition. As for how they did together, any girl paired with Nico is lucky because of his strong ability to do lifts. The lifts were especially important in a dance like the disco. Guest judge Mary Murphy said that the choreography needed crisp choreography and that the dancers delivered. Sean Cheesman said that it was a powerhouse and one that he was waiting to see dance together (I was as well). He said that they were worth the wait and that the routine was “right on the money.” Tre Armstrong said that was the way to start a Top 6 show. Jean-Marc said that in terms of the connection between Natalli and Nico, they could have bounced off of each other more. He said that Nico had the fever and gave it to Natalli and “knocked on wood” that they would make it to the Top 4.
MILES SOLO
Miles definitely looked shorter this week to me. Solo was good as always, but I think he needs to change the style of his solo performances to anything other than break dancing.
Commercial.
ALLIE & IZAAK
Allie and Izaak drew a hip hop routine that was designed by Luther Brown. I wasn’t a big fan of the choreography of the routine as it just seemed like simple hip hop steps instead of complicated moves. Allie looked especially good in the performance and has been impressing me for a couple of weeks now. Once again, I didn’t think Izaak was up to par. The key moment in the dance was when Allie’s top ripped open (intentionally, not a Janet Jackson-esque malfunction). Immediately after the performance, host Leah Miller commented on Allie’s “hot pink bra” immediately drawing even more attention to it (and slightly embarrassing Allie a little) which was mildly amusing. Mary Murphy said that the performance was just good but needed to be great and it wasn’t. She told Izaak that when he got a character to play, he was good but when he didn’t have (like in this routine) he seemed lost. She told Allie that even though she was a ballet dancer, she was “getting down and funky” (which is pretty much the same comment Allie has gotten from every judge on every episode). Sean said that he always saw Allie as more “Mary Poppins than 50 Cent” and that she gave it her all. He said that he was still waiting for Izaak to blow him away but that he killed it tonight. Tre Armstrong said that while the choreography was amazing, the dancing was just good. Jean-Marc believed that Alli delivered at the end but that the “isolation” could have been stronger. He said that the effort was a 10 but that the result was only 7 and that it was more “diet hip pop” than hip hop (once again offering the best line of the night).
NATALLI
Natalli’s solo was next and it was hot! I had NO idea that she was as muscular as she is and many other writers have told me how they find her to be the most interesting dancer to watch. I can’t say I disagree as this was definitely looking like it was going to be her night. I also was wondering if this was because she messed up last week and had something to prove.
Commercial.
LISA & MILES
Lisa and Miles were up next and they drew a contemporary number choreographed by the star of this season, Blake McGrath. During the commercial break, a mirror was being set-up by the prop guys and I thought this would be akin to the “Mercy”routine that was one of the highlights of So You Think You Can Dance in the States. The dance was mesmerizing as the lights were turned off and the big screen behind the stage was not used since it would clearly take away from the dance. Blake said that the dance was meant as an homage to a family member that had passed away. Lucky Lisa (what I will probably call her from now on) had the good fortune of drawing Blake as her choreographer for two weeks in a row, and while I initially believed that she would be a lock to leave this week, I think that having Blake make her dances so unforgettable might just be enough to propel her into the finale. The one note that I did make was that the routine was involved more acting than pure dancing. At the end of the dance, Mary started to tear up and said that every once in awhile she sees a dance that really tugs at her heartstrings and that is what this one did. She told Miles that he was flawless in the performance and that she was expecting it out of him. Sean told Lisa that she was a dream dancer and his favourite dancer in the competition. He said that Miles didn’t just transform but went through an evolution on the stage. I agreed with the assessment. It was the first time we saw Miles “break” out of breaking and it was great to see. True said that it wasn’t easy to use a mirror on the stage as a prop. She also said that Miles’ technique was improving and then uttered “mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the pair I want to see in the Top 4 the most, it’s so you so vote for them ya’ll.” A nice attempt by Tre. Jean-Marc said that the concept was amazing.
IZAAK SOLO
An emotional routine and at the end of it, Izaak mouthed “I love you mom.” Another great ploy by the smartest competitor left.
Commercial.
NATALLI & NICO
For their second routine, the N’s drew a quickstep. Natalli was breathtaking in this dance and for the first time, it seemed like somebody was able to overshadow Nico. Once again though, the lifts were key and the routine would not have been nearly as good if Nico could not pull off the lifts that he did. To be honest, I haven’t seen that many lifts in a quickstep before. Mary said that the quickstep could not be faked and that they did it fabulously. She said that they were her favourite couple tonight. Sean said that was “some mighty fine quickstep.” Tre said that she loved it while Jean-Marc seemed more concerned with the fact that Nico removed all of his piercings to get into character.
LISA SOLO
It was good. Not much else to really say.
Commercial.
ALLIE & IZAAK
This was my favourite routine of the evening as the odd couple drew a jazz routine that Melissa Williams styled after Cinderella. The princess role suited Allie’s ballerina background perfectly and Izaak seemed motivated for the first time in the evening. It really is true. Izaak is absolutely brilliant when he is given a character, but can’t seemed to function when he just has to rely on his dance. He was great in this number. Mary said Allie looked like an angel out there and that sometimes fairytales had to come to an end. While I thought that she meant this as a criticism, it wasn’t because she followed it up by saying that any ending would be a happy one for this pair. Sean told Izaak that everybody looked at him as the underdog but that he was good tonight. Tre said that Izaak’s routine to start the performance was great and told Allie not to give up because Canada hasn’t given up on her (was Tre’s opinion that Allie’s dismissal was a foregone conclusion?) Jean-Marc said that it was a good night for Izaak.
NICO SOLO
The girls in the audience finally got their wish as Nico delivered another signature solo.
LISA & MILES
The final paired performance of the evening belonged to Lisa and Miles once again as they ended on a hot Cha-Cha that was sketched by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin. I thought that the routine underdelivered and was boring. If these two were going to survive Thursday’s vote, it would be on the basis of their first dance and not their second. Mary said that it was cha-cha hot and put both of them on the Hot Tamale Train! Sean said that it was fierce. Tre said that everytime she saw them dance, she loved it. Jean-Marc invited them onto his VID list, anytime, anywhere.
ALLIE SOLO
The performance ended with a strong ballet solo from Allie which was another highlight of the show.
So who’s gone?
Tough to say. I am going to go with Izaak and Lisa. Same prediction as last week.
