Not to be harsh, but we all knew that this show was basically going to be a dance exhibition with the winner announced in the last 10 minutes, and that is exactly what it was. The top 20 were introduced in the pairs in which they left the show with the top 4 being showcased together. All of the judges from the auditions were there as well as a few of the other choreographers. Everyone stated that this was the best season ever.
Nigel took time to clear up a few things. Last year, one dancer, Claire Calloway had a severe injury and had to leave the competition early. He promised that she could come back this year right where she had left. However, Clair was unable to come back this year because she was having a baby. She and the baby were in the audience. Finally! I had wondered what had happened to her and why we did not see her this year, and now we know.
After a montage of highlights from this season, we were treated to a group dance from the Lion King. This was the beginning of seeing a bunch of repeat dances, as each judge selected a dance that they wanted to see again.
Mary's standout from the audition was Cedric. He was phenomenal considering that he had no training. Her choice of dance re-run was Pasha and Lauren's Transformer hip-hop routine. After the routine, Cat asked the audience to give Lauren and Pasha the proper send off that they did not get last week due to the lock down.
After another montage (we saw a lot of these tonight!) Brandon Norris was asked to come back and perform. He was the clogger from the Atlanta auditions. Brandon's clogging was really outstanding and I can see why they asked him back.
A double commercial for "The Next Great American Band" was followed by Nigel stating that auditions start tomorrow and this show should be on by late October or early November. (Expect a lot of pimping of this show on Fox in the coming months!)
Nigel's judges choice was Hok and Jamie's Hummingbird and Flower choreographed by Wade Robeson. Both have received a lot of attention since doing this piece.
Jean Marc chose Sabra and Dominic's Samba as his favorite. After the dance, Dom said he was so proud of Sabra and glad to be part of her journey.
Adam Shankman's judges choice was Sara and Neil's "Knock on Wood" disco. Sara said that since the show she has started enjoying the heels and dressing up!
Another montage of the breakers, poppers, and krumpers. One popper who was left out of the montage, was Brian Gaynor. He was the guy who had MS and did the incredible routine to "Ain't No Other Man". Brian was left out because he was there to do his performance, and it was great once again! Cat asked Shane Sparks what had become of that offer he made during Brian's audition. Shane said that production started next month and he was so glad that Brian was in LA so he could meet some people. (Okay, I have a feeling Shane may not have gotten Brian that part, but being the eternal optimist, I hope he follows through this time and lands him something.)
Next was the top 8 performing Shane Spark's Matrix routine. Nigel then announces that they always take alternate dancers on the tour in case of injury, sickness, etc. This year they will be taking Shauna, Hok, Anya, and Jesus. Of course, the crowd went wild.
Wade Robeson loved Hok from the auditions, but his judge's pick tonight was Lacey and Danny's Samba. Of course after the dance, this was the perfect time to let either Lacey or Danny know that one of them was not the winner. (End of the first hour, I figured we'd let the first one go now and then one each 1/2 hour after that!) Bye bye, Lacey. She was a very gracious loser. We got to see the Lacey montage.
Other judges favorites included Sara and Pasha's West Coast Swing, Danny and Anya's Old Hollywood ballroom dance, and Sara and Jesus' Chaplin routine.
Mia Michael's favorite routine was Neil and Sabra's boardroom routine, which was another great lead-in to letting someone else know that they are not the winner. Cat called Danny back to the stage for the decision. Neil is not going to be the winner tonight! Neil is such a nice guy and the way he took his flowers was hilarious. Neil's montage was shown and we headed into the last 1/2 hour.
The top 10 did a group dance and then Mary Murphy introduce Cat and Nigel's dance. Okay this thing has been touted throughout this whole show and it ends up being a bit from JibJab.com where Cat and Nigel's pictures are pasted over dancers and they look like bobble heads. CHEESY!!! A huge disappointment. It was a lame attempt at humor. (Although the guys at jibjab did a great job!)
Dan Karraty wanted to see Mia Michael's flower routine from Neil and Lacey again. Okay here is my question, how did they get Ryan Cabrera's band and such off the stage in time to put out all those flowers? He had just performed!
Ryan did a great job on his song "I Will Remember" which the show has used all year as their "goodbye song." Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls also did a good job with her song as well. Both of these singers either did a really good job lip syncing or they sang live. I was impressed.
Okay, we were now down to Sabra and Danny. Sabra has only been dancing for 4 years and Danny found himself in the bottom 3, three times in a row. Neither of them were considered front runners coming into this and here they were.
Sabra was announced as this year's America's favorite dancer!
I am really glad Sabra won. She deserved it. I am also glad that Danny hung in there. I think he was awesome and if he had won, that would have been okay, too.
Did anyone else notice that Sara had three performances tonight? I do believe that little girl was let go way to soon. Expect great things from her!
See you on tour!
I believe that the judges should not give thier opinion on things such as, A girl should win the competition this year. I guess that threw out any chance for a guy to win.
I hate Sabra with her cheesey smile. She was good but she didn't deserve to win. Lacey was great and I think the only reason she didn't win was because her brother won last year. I hope Lacey gets a great oppertunity in dance and continues dancing. Even though I didn't want Sabra to win I did want her to get a great career in dancing. One other person I want to mention is Danny. He did a great job dancing this year and I hope he keeps at it. One more thing : I luvd Lauren and Pasha's hip-hop routine!!!!!!!!!
I fell in love with Sabra and Danny from the beginning - so - of course I was torn. I agree with Mia that Danny will end up in record books and Sabra will shine all over the world! I did notice Sara and wholeheartedly agree she was let go too soon (should have been Lacey) - I did not enjoy Lauren until the last 2 weeks - she really came out kicking.
But then again, I wanted Travis to win last year and was heartsick until I really read the name of the show "favorite" not "best".
