So You Think You Can Dance Recap: The Shocker of the Season

Hey all it's time for the 100th episode extravaganza on So You Think You Can Dance. And for the first time this season I have no clue who will go home. This could be the week of a shocking elimination since everyone had at least one good dance last night. If I had my way I would send home either Jason or Evan for the men and Jeanine for the women (I know she's really popular but she always seems too dainty when she dances- even during that jazz number last night she really paled in comparison to Brandon). Realistically I predicted Jason and Kayla last night to go home but I've read there is some backlash to the cancer routine, as people think the judges overreacted to the routine. These people believe that if the dance was not about cancer it would not have gotten nearly as good of a reaction. This is probably true, though I still think the dance was amazing, even if the judges' sobbing was a bit much. But if that's the case Melissa could be in trouble as well, and I wouldn't miss her too much. As long as Brandon and Janette stay I'll be happy.

Cat is wearing a leather outfit with a gold jaguar? printing on it. I don't think I could pull that outfit off put it looks great on her.

We open to the Top 8 group number, set to "One" from A Chorus Line. The contestants are all in white and standing in front of broken mirrors. They then turn the mirrors around and stand behind them before coming out in front one by one. Evan looks particularly dashing in this part, but then again it is his style so he should do well. They then start doing sharp movements perfectly in unison before breaking off into parts. I really enjoyed this routine, and I'm usually not a fan of the Broadway dances. I loved the ending where they all threw one arm in the air like the determined dancers they are. Turns out it was a Mia Michaels routine- so I guess it wasn't Broadway style after all. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. And Mia choreographing it explains the weird broken mirrors in the beginning.

Ellen is gone from the panel tonight, thank goodness. There's only so many ways you can say "you were amazing" without sounding redundant. Plus most of her jokes weren't funny.

The best thing for Mia about this show is seeing former contestants come back and move on to the next phases of their lives, like becoming choreographers. Cut to shot of former contestants in the crowd. I see Josh and Katee (yay!) from last season, along with Comfort. And is that Caitlin Kinney seated on the other side of Josh? And Courtney G. is back too! I loved her last year and was happy she made the top 4- she was my second favorite girl after Katee. Mary says this show has changed her life and had been a lot of laughs and tears. So many performances on this show have touched her over the years, and she is grateful to have been involved. Nigel thinks television at its best can unite a country, and he thinks that happened with the cancer dance last night. I think that's a bit of an exaggeration but whatever. He claims to have gotten tons of emails about that dance, including one from Olivia Newton-John (herself a breast cancer survivor), who said the routine said more than words could. It does seem like cancer survivors are those who were most touched by the dance obviously, but I still think the sobbing last night was a tad over the top. The camera cuts to Tyce, and we also see shots of Jessica, Kherington, and Twitch from last season in the background. I guess they must have invited most of their former finalists back for this special night. I wonder why Idol didn't do something like this a few years ago when they reached their 100th show; they just treated it like any normal episode.

Cat then introduces a montage of clips from the past five seasons. Since I didn't watch the first three I likely won't recognize most of these. It starts with some auditions, and I catch Josh, Kayla, a bunch of people falling, Gabrielle (the girl who got ten thousands chances in Vegas this year), Sex (again???), Brandon and Kupono. Vegas week highlights include tears, injuries, Jason leaping in the air, Twitch doing a midair split, and Comfort and Josh crying on stage. Then we move to the live shows, where we see a Katee routine I vaguely remember from last year, the Katee and Josh Bollywood dance, a dude STANDING ON HIS HEAD in a solo (that's awesome), Nigel and Mary dancing (not together, though I wish I could have seen more of their routines), Twitch with his glasses and crunk teeth (again, not at the same time), Cat with the same glasses and teeth (at the same time), Brandon and Janette (yay!), Mary screaming, Twitch and Comfort together (a lot of Twitch in this package- what happened to Josh and Will???), the popping competition from last year's finale, Phillip and Jeanine celebrating, Nigel acting like a crazy man,
and all four winners being surrounded by confetti. Whew!

After the break we get a recap of last night's routines. Evan still got too much praise after his first number, and too little after the second number. I still liked Brandon and Jeanine's waltz more than the judges did. Oddly they skip over Melissa and Ade in the recap so they can show the cancer number last. I wonder why they didn't have that be the last dance in the performance show too- going after the cancer dance might have lessened Jason and Kayla's vote total. I still don't like Melissa and Ade's cha cha. And the song from that cancer dance has been stuck in my head all day. I'm surprised it didn't get more cheers from the crowd when it was shown in the recap.

The girls are all onstage together. First up is Melissa. She is safe, which surprises me a bit. That means either Jeanine or Janette, two of the early favorites, are in the bottom. Or both of them could be. I hope it's Jeanine but I fear Janette may be in danger. Next up is Kayla, who I'm guessing is in the bottom based on her location in the line. Indeed she is. I wonder if Janette was hurt by backlash/fan complacency after Mia called her her favorite dancer of the season. She may have been, as she is indeed in the bottom. I do think overall she had the worse night of the two, as her first dance was not that good and neither was her solo, though her rumba was slightly better than Jeanine's pop jazz. But I wonder if this means Evan is in the bottom too.... And if it is not Kayla going home I will throw something at my TV (well not really, but I'll be upset).

Up next we get Hok and Jaime from season 3 doing a Wade Robson routine set to "The Chairman's Waltz"- aka "The Hummingbird and the Flower". I've never seen this routine before so I have nothing to compare it to. The routine is kind of a mating dance between the two, and I love how well they portrayed the creatures involved. It's not really my kind of dance but it was done very well, especially when they each laid on the ground and pointed their toes. And I definitely felt the chemistry between the two of them.

Now we find out the bottom two guys. First up is Ade. This should be interesting. But we do not find out his results until Cat speaks to Jason. Hmmm. That means either Brandon or Evan are also in the bottom, unless they really decide to switch things up. But no, Jason is in the bottom, and Ade is safe for another week. Good for Ade, but now I'm REALLY worried about Brandon.
I still think Brandon and Evan could both make the finals, but clearly one of them is not as popular as I thought. I hope Evan is in the bottom but I fear his rumba and solo put him over the top. And my fears are correct as Brandon is indeed in the bottom. Some boos from the crowd, but they are overcome by squeals for Evan. Stupid little girls keeping him in the contest when he is the worst dancer left. Anyway that means both my favorites are in the bottom along with the two I picked yesterday to go home. This could end very well or very badly for me.

While the dancers prep for their solos we get Mia Michael's Emmy winning "Bench Routine", aka a routine danced to "Calling You" by Celine Dion done by Travis and Heidi. The routine starts off a bit dull for me but picks up when Travis lays on the bench with Heidi below him. I can see why Travis is so popular- for me his is miles better than Heidi in this routine. I do love the lift where she jumps off the bench into Travis' arms, but I still wasn't wowed by it as much as viewers probably were when they first saw it.

After the break we get the solos, which once again don't matter so I won't comment on them that much. Kayla's solo is good though watching it again she seems to take too long to start with the actual dancing. Jason doesn't get too many cheers before his solo. He does a lot of great leaps and spins, but I still find the rock music a bit distracting. Janette does her slow solo again and I still don't like it. I do find myself digging Brandon's solo more than I did last night. Still wasn't his best, but my favorite of the four.

Then we get "Ramalama (Bang Bang)", a group number from season 2. And choreographer Wade Robson joins them in the dance. Unfortunately I can't tell which one is Wade since they are all made up and I don't know the dancers from this season. The routine is really creepy, but in a good way. It's like the zombie routine from last night times a thousand. I especially love the dancing during the chorus of the song. I did find myself fascinated by the routine and wondering what was coming next, so it was entertaining in a weird way. It was my favorite of the three encore dances tonight.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for (or not)- the Katie Holmes performance. First we cut to an interview with Katie where she talks about the Dizzy Feet Foundation and her Judy Garland homage. She will be dancing AND singing during the routine. By the way, I really don't like her hair cut that short.

Wow there's like a whole set and everything- it looks more like a movie than a dance. Katie gets out of one of those ugly vintage cars on a quiet suburban street. She looks stunning in a white dress and black shawl, though the makeup seems a bit over the top. Wow she can really sing! Who knew? Is that Mark from season 4 looking at her as she stands by a pole? Oh it turns out only that part of the routine is on the set- the rest is on the stage with a bunch of black-suited backup dancers. They all collapse around her as Katie re-enters, this time in a black hat and sexy dress. I think Joshua is a backup dancer as well. She really doesn't do that much dancing, at least compared to the guys, but she does well with what she is given. And that voice is really something I did not expect out of her- a very jazzy, 1950s vibe to it, which fits this song perfectly. The guys towards mostly just lift her around the stage and onto a table, then back off of it. Still I quite enjoyed the number much more than I thought I would.

Now all that's left is the results. But first Cat turns to Nigel, who thanks Katie Holmes, Dion Beebee (the director of photography for the routine), and Tyce, who choreographed and directed it. And it turns out Joey Luft, Judy Garland's son, is in the crowd. I bet he was tearing up during that great tribute to his mother.

So NOW it is time for results. I'm really nervous about my favorites going home tonight. First up are the girls. WOW. Janette is going home. Okay I'm not throwing my remote at the TV like I said but I'm still shocked and angry. She was my favorite female dancer this season, and I really don't like any of the others that much. I think her slow solo plus Mia's huge praise might have done her in. Even the crowd seems shocked. I do love the shot of Kayla's grandparents crying in the crowd- they are so cute.

By the way, I love this exit song. Though everytime I hear it I think it is "Halo" only to find out otherwise. Of course they show Mia last night saying Janette was her favorite of the season, which like I said before probably hurt her more than helped her. She says in her package she will never stop dancing, so good for her. Cat calls this the shock of the season, and I think she is right unless Brandon goes home tonight too. Mary and Mia give Janette a standing ovation. Nigel admits that Janette was his favorite too and that America got it wrong.. Well Brandon is still my overall favorite but Janette was my favorite for the girls. Stupid cancer piece! If not for that routine Melissa would have been out instead!

Janette says this show made her realize how much she loved dancing. She was in school for finance but now wants to follow her dreams and be a dancer instead. Way to pick a career with very little income! Just kidding- it's great that she is sticking to her passion no matter what.

Okay if both my favorites are voted off in the same episode I will have no idea who to root for anymore. Thank goodness it is Jason leaving and not Brandon. Well at least America got it half right. And hopefully now Brandon's fans will vote in full force next week to keep him in for the finals. Plus there will be no more cancer pieces to propel Ade (hopefully!). Jason gives Cat a big hug upon finding out his fate. Hey there's a different goodbye song this time- is it the same one they play for the guys every week? I can't remember.

After the recap all the contestants and judges surround Jason on stage and he thanks everyone who has supported him over the years. He seems like a cool guy but I would gladly let him leave if Brandon gets to stay.

Now I have to pick a new female favorite. I guess it's Kayla but I really don't like any of them that much.

And we get confetti at the end to celebrate the 1ooth show! Poor Janette and Jason having to see that confetti and happiness and knowing they are going home. They don't seem too upset by it though.

So that's it for tonight's show. Were you as shocked by Janette's elimination as I was? Who is your new female favorite now? And what did you think of Katie Holmes? Post your comments below.