TVSquad

Looks like next summer we are getting another season of So You Think You Can Dance. The dance competition will continue to rule the summer with its fifth season next year.

This shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone -- whether you watch the show or not. It's basically the American Idol of the summertime, the off-season Lythgoe/Fuller powerhouse. The ratings are stellar. Both Wednesday and Thursday telecasts rank number one in their respective time periods in all key demographics. Furthermore, the show has been Emmy nominated, earning four nods this year for choreography by Wade Robson, Shane Sparks, and Mandy Moore.

Reasons why I tune in to So You Think You Can Dance on both Wednesday and Thursday nights...

1. The dancing. I want to see who got what style and if he / she can pull it off.

2. The judges. Sans Mary's screams and stupid fake-outs, I find the judges rather informative in their critique. Unlike some other shows... *cough* Idol.

3. Cat Deeley and her outfits. Cat is a refreshing host: truly concerned for the SYTYCD hopefuls, genuinely excited for the guest performers, and always ready to engage with the judges.

(S04E20) I think by the twentieth episode of American Idol we were just getting to "Hollywood Week." But here on SYTYCD we're on the cusp of the "Final Four!" Last week, we lost Will and Comfort. Comfort was due, but I really think Mark should have been the one to go on the guy's side. But I can understand Will. Like Katee for the girls, he was the most technically proficient of the guys, but he just didn't connect with the audience in the ways that the other guys do. He didn't come across as aloof to me, but neither was he particularly charismatic.

It was nice to see Cat return to form with an absolutely hideous outfit. She looked positively lovely last week in classy dresses that fit her well. This week she wore a sparkly garbage bag cinched at the waist with shower poofs attached to the heels of her ... heels. Adam Shankman came back to the judging panel this week and was a little late to the praising the choreographers schtick they're doing this year. He got with the program with Tyce DiOrio and the flow of choreographer love continued unabated throughout the night.

(S04E16) Well, what do you think about that? Before the show even began the Top 10 has changed with hip-hop dancer Comfort coming into replace Jessica. Apparently, Jessica suffered an injury that forced her to withdraw from the competition. Before the show began we didn't know any more specific details, so I wasn't sure if it was a physical injury or a psychological one at all the verbal abuse she's taken during her stint as Will's partner.

Luckily, another change this week is the established partnerships. Gone is Twitchington and from here on out we get rotating partners along with changing dance styles. It's at this point, with your Top 10, that it's time to separate the truly gifted dancers from the ones who are only good because their partner is good (like the judges thought about Jessica. Damn, I guess we'll never find out now). And now it doesn't matter who the judges hate because from here the only vote that matters is yours. No more "bottom three" leading to a judges' choice. Lowest vote means a quick trip home so pay attention and get it right!

(S04E14) Tonight's "jidges" included the return to the panel of Mia Michaels. In a reversal of Kristin's thinking last week, I'm actually disappointed to see Michaels joining Nigel and Mary on the dais this week for two reasons. First, I think she does some amazingly bizarre things with the dancers and I find myself always incredibly curious and mesmerized by her choreography, even if there are those times where I don't get it. But even more importantly, I hate hate HATE her as a judge. She's completely subjective and criticizes the most nonsensical things.

And then tonight she completely surprised me by being generally pretty solid before derailing again to the point I wanted to throttle. But still she can't help but get all ethereal and bizarre leaving confusion in their wake. How do you learn and grow from a comment like "I wanted more movement"? And how do you respond to what was said to Will (which I'll get to later)? Overall, the night wasn't as strong as prior episodes, but there were still some gems among all that rough.

(S04E07) I'm not going to be so quick as some of the commenters to say that this crop of dancers isn't up to the level of talent we saw last season. You have to remember that this is the first week for these partnerships so many of these dancers have only begun to find their rhythm and the necessary chemistry with their partner to pull of some of these difficult routines. I am so glad to see that the choreographers are keeping things tough, and was more than impressed that there were at least five routines that I was absolutely impressed with.

(S04E04) Well, this was the final night of auditions and I was really pleased. Not because I haven't been enjoying the dances, but because I appreciate that So You Think You Can Dance is keeping things moving along. By the end of tomorrow night's two-hour episode, we'll know who our Top 20 is and by next week we'll be ready to start voting for our favorites. Things are moving along so quickly. This is a huge improvement over American Idol's lengthy audition episodes before we finally get to their voting block.

All said, there were some pretty amazing talents in every style this year throughout the audition rounds, and there were so many dancers we haven't seen yet. At the end of the audition rounds, I'll give SYTYCD an "A" grade on giving us a good balance of the excellent and not-so-excellent. I didn't have time to get bored with these audition rounds and I'm more than ready to start seeing these guys pair up and show us the goods, so to speak.

So how do you fill two hours with only one city to cover? You add some more auditions from the other cities, of course.

Is David Cook dating Lacey Schwimmer? OK! magazine is reporting that the American Idol front-runner (he's one of 'em) has hooked up with the So You Think You Can Dance favorite during the taping of last week's "Idol Gives Back" special. Lacey came in fourth this past summer on SYTYCD, and David is on a pretty good track to at least match that achievement. The article has all kinds of quotes from all kinds of anonymous sources, so that means it has to be legit, right?

The fact that David kind of sucked last week might lead one to think that a hot, new fling may have temporarily distracted him from the business at hand. Things got back on track this week, though. The article also states that Lacey is shy about going public with their burgeoning relationship, so she's been sitting behind the judges rather than with "David's Friends and Family." Has anyone seen her there? If so, can you tell her that she was awesome on SYTYCD for me? Then ask about her and Cook, but make sure you specify you're talking about David. Otherwise ... awkward!