TVSquad

(S05E23) I think Cat Deeley looked fabulous tonight. The panel was chock-full of choreographers: Lil' C, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. They brought them all up on the dais so they could each choose their favorite dances from throughout the season. That means encore performances of the best of Season 5. That's not a bad way to fill two hours.

In the end, though, it comes down to Kayla, Brandon, Jeanine and Evan. Who did America love the most last night and throughout the summer? The recap actually gave me tingles. Despite a distinct lack of personalities, there were some stunning moments of dance. And I'm ever so thrilled that the new season is less than a month away. It's a long show, so hang in there.

(S05E22) The judges were so excited about the final four that they even critiqued the solos. I was glad to see Adam Shankman on the panel as he's one of the few guest judges who truly offers quality criticism to the dancers. Surprisingly, hip-hop was completely absent tonight, but there were some amazing performances. And ballroom came on strong!

GROUP

"Boys Boys Boys," Lady Gaga (Pop-Jazz, Wade Robson)
That was cute. It was a little more mellow than I expected, but I do believe that every man out there with a cheerleader thing just passed out. It was a hot and fun little high school number, and nobody stood out in a negative way so I'll give them that. A feel good opening for sure.

(S05E20) Nigel Lythgoe finally admitted something about So You Think You Can Dance this year: No one stands out. We only have a few weeks for the next season to start, so we'll see if they could rectify that for season six.

Lil C is our third judge and doesn't bring much to the table. Either he set his expectations too high or the dancers are more mediocre than season's pasts. While the judges continue to lament the lack of character and they pick Jeanette going home, Cat mesmerizes America with a pyramid bracelet. One wrong swing and she'd gouge out Evan's eye.

(S05E14) Nigel was finally ready to announce their pending plans for a Michael Jackson tribute, but apparently the big plan hit an insurmountable impasse as they couldn't get the music cleared. It's a shame, because I think the diversity of styles broached on SYTYCD would have made a much better tribute to the King of Pop than that sub-par MJ episode of American Idol the network re-aired the past few weeks.

This is also the last chance that the judges will have to maintain at least a bit of control over who gets eliminated week after week. Next week is the Top Ten and the control shifts entirely to America to figure out who goes home. What isn't clear is if they'll start competing individually or if America will be voting out entire couples. That said, will they even be keeping the same partner from one dance to the next from here on? We already know current partnerships are breaking up. So many questions, so much unclear! But who's in that Top Ten?

(S05E06) Not to be a hater, but my favorite thing about this first performance episode was the complete and total lack of Mia Michaels anywhere on the show. Now I actually enjoy some of her work as a choreographer, but her horrendous judging and her personality, in general, are becoming very off-putting to me. But we don't have to even think about her tonight because we got the delightful Adam Shankman on the panel instead.

I like Adam because he's got such an upbeat personality, but he's not afraid to criticize when necessary. And when he does, he gives constructive criticism to generally improve the dancers. Tonight he revealed that Katee, Joshua, Ivan and Twitch all have roles in the new movie he's working on: Step Up 3-D.