SYTYCD6 - The Tiny Degrees Of Separation Between the Six

So You Think You Can Dance - Final 6 Performance Night - Ep. 623
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman

So, here we are. Already at the final performance night. ALREADY? Didn't this just feel like it started? I feel like I'm still trying to get to know these dancers, yet here we are ready to pick the winner. (You can thank FOX for the truncated and rushed season).

We're also just about to end the decade so to get into the list making spirit, I made a special list ranking ALL (except S1) the Top 10 dancers from both the American and the Canadian show (I've seen some Australia, Poland and Netherlands but don't know the dancers well enough to add them in, but I can say, there are great dancers around the world!). Here's my SYTYCDworthy list (w/ Videos) and here it is in List Format. It's MY personal ranking, but do you agree? Disagree?

Anyways, back to this final performance episode this season which manages to cram in 9 dances mixing all the remaining 6 dancers with new partners in 1 hour, but thus excises any Group dance or All-Boys/All-Girls dances (though here's a clip of the Top 6 dancing on Ellen today)

Kathryn McCormick
&
Ryan Di Lello
Style: Samba
Choreographed by: Jason Gilkison
Song: "Magalenha" - Sergio Mendes
Grade: A

I'm not sure how well they actually danced it because I was sort of annoyed that it's this song AGAIN (seriously, there's no other music to dance to?) and sort of drooling while watching Ryan's pecs.

Okay, I kid. Kind of. But Kathryn is just so controlled with her movements and looks absolutely fabulous. And Ryan uses his strength to his advantage and while this is already his style, he makes it look so strong.

Here is the video of Kathryn and Ryan's Samba:



Ellenore Scott
&
Jakob Karr
Style: Broadway
Choreographed by: Tyce DiOrio
Song: "I Gotcha" - Fosse (Cast Recording)
Grade: A

What a waste of the amazing Ellenore and Jakob. Again, I actually didn't hear who the choreographer was at first but watching the routine, I thought it was a jumbled mess that lucked out in having Ellenore and Jakob dance it beautifully and much of the routine used their inherent skills to form the piece.

So yes, the dance was saved because Ellenore and Jakob are such amazing dancers that not only make each dance their own, and never really losing their identity in their dance, they both also partner amazingly. So put these two together, and sparks are gonna fly no matter what. Even in sh!t like this.

Here's the video of Ellenore and Jakob's Broadway:



Ashleigh Di Lello
&
Russell Ferguson
Style: Lyrical Jazz
Choreographed by: Sonya Tayeh
Song: "Angel Standing By" - Jewel
Grade: B+

I thought Russell, save for one moment that looked like a trip (but could have been the choreography?) and with a clunky moment near the start, managed to do a wonderfully smooth job with this as Ashleigh flitted around. She was lovely, but I agree with Nigel (GASP!) and thought Russell stole the moment here (though not at his little snide remark against Legacy who I still think is the better dancer). Granted, Russell was also given a bit more to do here.

I however didn't love it enough to warrant all the crying (Mary, I'm looking at you).

Here's the video of Ashleigh and Russell's Lyrical Jazz:



Ellenore Scott
&
Ryan Di Lello
Style: Jazz
Choreographed by: Gerry Stewart
Song: "Kontact Me" - Boyz Noise
Grade: A

Nigel hated the coldness of the piece but that's exactly what I loved about it. It had no room for error and I thought Ryan and Ellenore did a great job. I mean, this thing is built exactly for Ellenore and she didn't disappoint. But I was surprised at how adept Ryan was to this more modern piece.

Ryan had to get into a robotic character and stay with it and just leave it to the controlled movements and he did it just as great as Ellenore!

Here's the video of Ellenore and Ryan's Jazz:



Ashleigh Di Lello
&
Jakob Karr
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographed by: Jean-Marc Généreux
Song: "Let the Good Times Roll" - Chuck Brown & Eva Cassidy
Grade: A-

I'm usually a fan of Jean-Marc's choreography (though not his judging) but I found this dance nice, but safe and a little boring and mainly saved by the fact that Ashleigh always looks good in these sort of dances, especially when she wears a long dress that accentuates her length, and saved by Jakob, who just looks smooth in EVERYTHING he does.

I wonder if he makes breakfast cereal like that? I can see him floating across the breakfast counter and making even that look good!

Here's the video of Ashleigh and Jakob's Foxtrot:



Ellenore Scott
&
Russell Ferguson
Style: Paso Doble
Choreographed by: Jason Gilkison
Song: "Village Attack" - Blood Diamond (original soundtrack)
Grade: A-

Before we end the season, can I say how annoying the pixelated screen behind Ellenore looks? It's distracting from the awesomeness of Ellenore. Okay, that's the last poo-pooing of the stage for this season. Let's hope they change it back next year.

Again, Ellenore, AMAZING. She's so transformative and gets every style yet you never lose sight that it's Ellenore. I love her for that. She puts her stamp on all her dances without compromising the dance.

Russell was strong and solid as he needed to be here, but Ellenore drew my attention the whole time, with both flair and technique.

Here's the video of Ellenore and Russell's Paso Doble:



Kathryn McCormick
&
Jakob Karr
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson
Song: "At This Moment" - Michael Bublé
Grade: A+

Another sign that Kathryn and Jakob are AMAZING? Not only are they amazing themselves, they PARTNER well and make their partners look good (a quality Ellenore has too). I mean, I thought Jakob and Ellenore were perfect partners but then Jakob and Kathryn are perfect too (just as Kathryn was perfect with Legacy and Ryan etc. etc. etc. hmm.. now is only we could have had a dance with Ellenore and Kathryn).

While I thought the start of this looked like every other contemporary dance (choreo wise), somewhere in the middle, Jakob and Kathryn just transformed it and made it magical (though a couple of cool tosses and flips in the choreo helped).

Here's the video of Kathryn and Jakob's Contemporary:



Ashleigh Di Lello
&
Ryan Di Lello
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Travis Wall
Song: "I'm There Too" - Michelle Featherstone
Grade: A-

A cynical/spiteful me would have picked this apart but I actually thought it was pretty great. Okay yes, I've been probably a bit nicer on Ashleigh since I met them but thanks to her pink nighty and lean body, I thought she did a wonderfully soft and smooth dance. But I thought Ryan was actually even better here than his wife but I thought like it seemed like they were trying to contain their excitement with dancing with each other and not get all giddy on such a peaceful elegant piece.

Here's the video of Ashleigh and Ryan's Contemporary:



Kathryn McCormick
&
Russell Ferguson
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo
Song: "I Can Transform Ya" - Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne and Swizz Beats
Grade: A-

Russell gets Hip-Hop in the final pimp spot. REALLY? Can they make it more obvious?

Whatever because Kathryn actually stole the show here! Just. AMAZING!

Here's the video of Kathryn and Russell's Hip-Hop:



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The Final Roundup:

Well, and there you go. A speedy night to end a speedy season. Didn't it just START? I feel like this season has been rushed and felt shorter than ever (which it actually has).

Best Couples Routine of the Night: Kathryn and Jakob's Contemporary
Second Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ellenore and Ryan's Jazz
Third Best Couples Routine of the Night: Kathryn and Ryan's Samba
Fourth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ellenore and Jakob's Broadway
Fifth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ashleigh and Ryan's Contemporary
Sixth Best Couples Routine of the Night: Ellenore and Russell's Paso Doble
Seventh Best Couples Routine of the Night: Kathryn and Russell's Hip-Hop
Eighth Best Couples Routine of the NIght: Ashleigh and Jakob's Foxtrot

Best Male of the Night: Jakob Karr

Best Female of the Night: Kathryn McCormick

Worst of the Night - Couple: Ashleigh and Russell's Lyrical Jazz

Predictions:
This is what it SHOULD be (#position from last week in parenthesis):

1. Jakob (1)
2. Kathryn (4)
3. Ellenore (2)
4. Ryan (5)
5. Russell (6)
6. Ashleigh (7)

This is what it's GOING to be:

6th: Ashleigh
5th: Ryan
4th: Ellenore
3rd: Kathryn
2nd: Jakob
WINNER: Russell

Okay, with all the Russell pimping by the judges AND the convenient choreography for him (Hip-Hop AND a tailor-made Sonya routine that gave Russell more to do?), it's obvious the show seems to be gunning for a Russell win because it has a better underdog story, but while he's a GREAT dancer and possibly the best street dancer that has managed to excel in other styles, he's in a season where there are even better dancers than him. Then again, the best dancer usually never wins. Travis Wall in Season 2. Katee Shean in Season 4. Vincent Desjardin or Jayme Rae Dailey in Canada's Season 2. They all lost.

But I hope Jakob, Kathryn or Ellenore don't. It's already agonizing to think that all three can't win, but at least ONE of them has to win right?

I actually was with Russell early on as a fave but there were a couple weeks where he lost me, and while he's had a great night tonight and rebounded in recent weeks, other dancers have gained on them and remained excellent throughout the competition. (Granted, he also had the bad luck of losing partners to injuries).

Still, it's such a strong Top 6 that in the end, I can't really gripe THAT much. Any of the Top 8 would have actually been worthy of the final title, so the separation between the Top 6 are tiny.

Anyways, there will be a 2 hour glorified results show that will give us tons of random performances (really? I don't care that much for J.Lo's new song) as they stretch out a 30 second announcement over Wednesdays primetime on FOX. That they can stretch yet they don't have enough time to give us a group performance or a dance with Kathryn and Ellenore? I'm feeling robbed (Yes, now that I've thought about this before, I can't get it out of my mind). How amazing would that have been?! (Or a Legacy and Jakob performance!)


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Thanks to everyone for the vids
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com