TVSquad

"We can dance if we want to. We can leave your friends behind. 'Cause if your friends don't dance and if they don't dance then they're no friends of mine." --Men Without Hats

Yep, "Safety Dance" blared through several speakers in the courtyard of the Nokia Theatre yesterday. I was there for So You Think You Can Dance's record-setting event. I also got to talk to some ex-cast members of the show. Read about the event and see what Lauren, Hok, Dominic, and Lacey had to say about their experience on SYTYCD (and their lives since then) after the jump.

(S03E11) After a crazy performance show it was only natural to expect that anything could happen on elimination night. Things started out normally enough with a group performance to "The Lion's Hunt" from the Lion King soundtrack, choreographed by Tyce Diorio.

It was not my favorite of the group performances, but it was fun. The thing I found interesting was that, like last week, this one also ended with the focus on Sabra. I'm taking that as a subliminal message for people to vote for her. She's quickly becoming my favorite in the competition.

(S03E10) So You Think You Can Dance, come for the dancing, stay for the drama... One of the things I really like about the show is that they stay pretty heavily focused on the competition. Sure, we get the sometimes useless backstage bits, but they have to fill out the two hours of their summer hit somehow. For the most part though, they do steer clear of the theatrics and keep the actual dancing in the spotlight. That broke down a little tonight, though maybe not as much as it could have. More on that later.

First, look over there, it's dance legend (we can call her a legend, right?) Debbie Allen sitting in as guest judge. I had heard that she was going to be making an appearance and have been looking forward to it. She didn't disappoint either. Throughout the show she was a lot of fun. Nigel and Mary were, of course, along for the ride. So, with the introduction out of the way, on to the performances... and the drama.

(S01E05) I have to say, I'm glad to be done with the qualification episodes. The show is always best when it gets into the competition round anyway, but these last couple episodes have just been very poorly produced. It's hard to argue for or against any of the judges decisions about who is in, and who is out, because we have seen so little of the actual performances.

Getting the final fifty contestants down to the top twenty followed along those same lines. It was an hour spent trying to create suspense that mostly fell flat. It's a little difficult being concerned whether or not someone is moving on when we haven't even been introduced to them. And since they refuse to put names on the screen, we aren't even sure who some of them are anyway.