(S05E09) Things were getting too exciting during the competition episodes, so the producers brought in Toni Basil to join Nigel and Mary on the panel. Even though it's a big deal to be receiving a prestigious award, I still found myself dozing off when she started talking about it.
This year, the competition is so tight that it's hard to figure out who's going to be in the bottom three from week to week. So many of the contestants are really impressive in picking up the different styles, and that continued tonight.
What also continued was couples who were great last week being not so great this week. And there are still so many couples that there are only a few favorites sprinkled throughout. In other words "What have you done for me lately?" is in full effect. So what did they do?
(S04E22) The two night season finale is here and there are only four dancers left. On the guys' side we have Joshua and Twitch, two hip-hop dancers with very different styles. The girls are representing contemporary and jazz this year, with both Katee and Courtney. I can't say I would have expected this top four at the beginning of the season, but with the range of talent we had this year, it was hard to guess who might make it here.
With Mandy Moore joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel, we were treated to a two hour extravaganza of dance dance dance! Each of the four finalists danced no less than five separate times, sometimes with only a commercial break between them. Those whiners at American Idol talk about how exhausting that show can be, but can you imagine the physical strain these dancers go through? Especially as they ramp up to a show as demanding as this finale. Thankfully, it was packed from beginning to end with amazing numbers and amazing dancing!
(S04E08) Two down and seventeen more to go until we find "America's Favorite Dancer" for the summer of 2008. Have you found your favorite yet? I'm narrowing it down, but it's a bit early yet to be picking favorites and there are still a ton of dancers left, as the lo-o-o-ong intro sequence showed us. Nigel and Mary were joined this week on the judge's panel by contemporary madwoman Mia Michaels (of the inspired "Tim Burton wedding" piece last week). And her hair was shockingly bleached very blonde.
I think I prefer Michaels choreographing than judging. She focuses almost too much on her own interpretations of the emotions in the pieces rather than what the dancers had to bring. I think she's insane and brilliant in choreography, but maybe a bit too "out there" for really constructive criticism.
(S03E20) Holy smokes. Call me crazy if you don't agree, but I'm calling this the best episode of the season. There hasn't been a standout number one performance every week, but there has always been something that didn't quite work, or didn't quite measure up to the rest. I didn't find that here.
It would seem that the talk about the choreographers stepping things up wasn't just talk as all of them delivered great routines for the dancers to perform. The criticisms were few and far between this week, from me, and from the judges. That would be Nigel and Mary as usual, joined this week by Debbie Allen. After the jump, we'll get to all of the performances, and a rant about Fox scheduling.
November sweeps stunts brought us stormtroopers on The
Apprentice, a live debate on The West Wing, a dead chick on Lost and Medium in 3-D. Why
are February ratings so tame? One word: Olympics.
NBC is expected to kick some television tail when it covers
the Olympics every single night from February 10-26. Going into this month, the networks are touting some pretty
uninteresting guest stars on the shows that need a boost. And that's about it. Oh, there is also going to be some sh*t
going down on The O.C., but you don't want the spoilers, do you?
Here are some highlights
for February sweeps, which began yesterday and run through March 1:
(S05E09) Things were getting too exciting during the competition episodes, so the producers brought in Toni Basil to join Nigel and Mary on the panel. Even though it's a big deal to be receiving a prestigious award, I still found myself dozing off when she started talking about it.
(S04E22) The two night season finale is here and there are only four dancers left. On the guys' side we have Joshua and Twitch, two hip-hop dancers with very different styles. The girls are representing contemporary and jazz this year, with both Katee and Courtney. I can't say I would have expected this top four at the beginning of the season, but with the range of talent we had this year, it was hard to guess who might make it here.
(
November sweeps stunts
Press Kits Unwrapped: The Prisoner
Ask TV Squad: Eureka, The Prisoner and more!
TV Squad Ten: Cartoon women who should have Playboy centerfolds
