So You Think You Can Dance: Finale -- Top 4 Perform (Episode 422)

Sadly, we don't begin the first part of the finale with the scoop on which two dancers were rushed to the hospital with dehydration on the weekend, but it was allegedly Twitch and Joshua. Usually when celebrities (even minor ones) are involved, "dehydration" can be translated as "a metric crapload of illicit chemicals in system," but in this case I'm sure the boys really were just plum tuckered out. Meanwhile, Cat Deeley seems to have been attacked by some bronzer and her nose appears alarmingly orange. I hope hospitalization won't be necessary.

Mandy Moore is our guest judge tonight. Everyone gets a chance to be paired up in the finale, and we begin with Courtney and Twitch and some Tabitha/Napoleon hip-hop. It's yet another variation on the "women are so CRAZY" theme of this season as Court portrays a woman hunting down her boyfriend in a nightclub. It's very energetic and fun, and they dance it well. Mandy praises the dancers and Tab/Nap for always creating great characters, which I'd agree with. Mary screams a lot, and Nigel loved it, especially the characters and musicality, and tells Twitch he should be grateful for dancing with Courtney. It didn't sound as douchey as it seems, though.

Katee and Joshua are the next pair, dancing a Wade Robson lyrical contemporary number. They play an arguing couple, but both male and female appear equally crazy, so that's refreshing. The dance alternates between moments of stillness and frenetic movement, with the dancers at times stiff-limbed and then on hands and knees, sweeping their foreheads across the stage. It's very engaging, and ends with Katee and Josh hugging each other tightly. The hug lasts a long time, which is very sweet, especially since Katee said in rehearsal that Josh is her "boo." Cuteness!

Mandy loved it and gives Wade the requisite choreographer ass kiss. Mary thinks it was beautiful and is happy the couple actually ended up together in the end. Heh. Nigel says Katee and Joshua are brilliant and two of the best dancers they've had on the show.

Then it's time for some hot girl-on-girl action with Katee and Courtney. Well, if you find petticoats and parasols hot. It's a Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine to Rufus Wainwright's muzak version of "The Trolley Song." The girls leap excitedly around the stage, twirling their parasols as they try to make the trolley on time, or something. Eh, it's okay, but I don't love the choreography at all. Mandy thinks the girls had good chemistry, Mary praises their parasol technique, and Nigel gives Katee a bump by telling Courtney that Katee always finishes off every move just that little bit more. He's not wrong.

Josh and Twitch are then paired up, and we see a funny montage of the faux feud they've been engaged in these past weeks. Their dance is a Russian trepak, which you surely recognize from the annual airing of The Nutcracker. The music is -- wait for it -- from said Nutcracker, with choreography from Youri Nelzine. Wearing baggy Russian-style Hammer pants, the boys basically try to outdo each other with more and more impressive moves. It's very entertaining, as I could watch Josh leap up ten feet in the air into a Russian split all the livelong day. Seriously, how does he do that??

As far as the dance-off goes, while Twitch acquits himself very nicely with lots of knee work on the ground, Josh is the victor. Also, I suspect this was the dance that drove them both into the ground with exhaustion. Overall it's fun, but it's not so much a routine as big tricks strung together. It wasn't very cohesive.

Mandy liked it much better than the girls' routine, which I agree with, even though the comparison really isn't fair given the spectacular style of the Russian dance. Mary screams a lot about two hip-hop dancers being in the finale, and Nigel says this is "Russian street dancing." At home, Toni Basil perks up and nods vigorously about how street it all was.

Next, it's foxtrot time for Katee and Twitch, as choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin. We see in rehearsal that Katee and Twitch feel very awkward in the foxtrot pose, but they float around the stage nicely. Katee's dress is a gorgeous baby blue confection that for once isn't so puffy that it's falling apart, and Twitch wears the hell out of a tux, which prompts a whole "Bond, James Bond" thing where Nigel makes him say the catchphrase. Mandy thought it was romantic and that the lifts were very well done, especially Twitch pressing Katee straight overhead. Mary calls Twitch a gentleman and gives Katee a "bra-vo." Nigel says Katee was fab, but Twitch was too British and uptight at the beginning, which confuses both Twitch and me. Well, I guess Nigel would know from being too British.

Courtney and Josh are up next with a Jason Gilkison jive. It's okay, but doesn't blow me away. Josh is clad in '50s greaser wear, while Court is strangely in a one-piece showgirl outfit instead of a poodle skirt. Bizarre choice. There are some good tricks, and the kids are trying their best, but the fatigue is showing. Mandy loved it and Mary praises Jason and the dancers, but Nigel thankfully gives some criticism on the footwork, kicks and lack of energy. He tells the booing audience that the dancers won't improve without concrit, and he's right.

To end the night, all four dancers perform a Mia Michaels contemporary routine, apparently inspired by Braveheart Rob Roy and the Olympics. The tartan kilt-clad dancers perform the athletic number with varying degrees of success. The editing makes it difficult to appreciate the routine as a whole, and during one lift, there's a very noticeable discrepancy: Twitch carries Katee across the stage with her legs up vertically into the air, but in the background, Courtney's legs are horizontal and she never gets it up, as it were.

Mandy talks about transcending the physical and some other new-age claptrap. Mary mentions the lift problem, but still praises the dancers. Meanwhile, aside from Katee, the dancers appear as if they're about to pass out and are gasping for air. Nigel says he's glad Will was eliminated and that two untrained hip-hoppers are in the finale. Somewhere, Will and Debbie Allen get out their Nigel voodoo dolls. Nigel adds that even though the dancers are tired, they all did a great job.

Throughout the evening, we see Cat sitting down to have individual chats with the final four in little segments showing clips of their auditions, etc., before their final solos of the competition. Courtney says she never expected to make it so far and that she's very grateful for her family's support. I recall that her grandparents were adorably proud of her at the audition. She spins and leaps and does the usual in her solo. I don't get why they couldn't have had the choreographers prepare the solos for the final four and make them longer than the usual 0.43 seconds.

We learn that Twitch's nickname comes from being fidgety as a kid, which is awfully cute. He talks about how much he enjoyed dancing with Kherington, and that his fave dance was their Viennese Waltz. You remember, it's the one where Mia Michaels called Kherington out for smiling too much. Sadly, there's no reaction shot of Mia scowling in the audience. Twitch then performs his pop and lock solo.

Cat talks to Katee about the brouhaha just before the top 20 when the judges pouted and huffed about Katee's honest and tired answer that she couldn't see herself auditioning again if she didn't make it this year. Cat, because she's a reasonable and mature person, says she thought Katee was just being honest. (She doesn't pound the table and add that Nigel can't handle the truth.) Katee says it was so hard to compete against her BFF for that final spot. We also learn that her fave routine was "No Air" with Josh. Good choice. Katee's solo is the usual mildly frantic leaping and spinning.

For Josh's trip down memory lane, he talks about growing up poor and doing chores at the dance studio to earn lessons. We see a picture of wee Josh at the ballet barre. Okay, so how exactly is he "untrained," then? He also talks about having to choose between football, track, and dance. Obviously dance won, which didn't make Josh Mr. Popular with his former coaches. Oh, suck it, small town athletic coaches who think that's all there is to life. (Except for Coach Taylor, of course.) Cat ribs Josh for crying so often during the SYTYCD run, and it's all very adorable. For Josh's solo, he ventures out to the judges' table and loses his shoe right at the end. Hee.

Well, I'm still rooting for Katee to win, with Josh as my first runner-up. In the second part of our finale, we'll be treated to performances by Canadian human-pretzels extraordinaire Cirque du Soleil, and teenage virgins The Jonas Brothers, of whose existence I only recently became aware. Hey, you win some, you lose some.