You Can Stop the Beat

He was a spaz of the highest order, and has some serious personal-boundary issues when it comes to Cat Deeley, but my goodness, am I going to miss Dominic. In a results show in which the guys outshone their female competition in every way imaginable — personality, style, performance — good ol' D-Trix was by far the standout. I'm not sure if Dom's entirely in on the whole joke, that clinging to Cat's jewel-infected waist the way an 11-year-old boy might passionately clutch for reasons he does not yet fully understand the plush Jessica Rabbit doll he just won at the local state fair is, in fact, hilarious — especially when that doll is looking down at the boy with a quizzical glare that screams, ''Am I seriously being clasped by this doofus right now? Is this really happening?'' But no matter. Dom obviously did know what he was doing when he straddled that plastic patio chair and proceeded to make it dance with him, a moment of pure showmanship chutzpah that, really, has been lacking for too much of the show's third season. Had he had the opportunity to pull that stunt on Wednesday night, I think we all know that Neil the Hairless Wonder would be the one packing it up and heading home.

But, really, if it had been up to last night's solos, both Lauren and Sara should've said sayonara. None of the women delivered routines of much impact — mostly, it was just a lot of ''la la la, I'm over here on this part of the stage, so I guess I'll do a trick or a flip, doo de doo, let's move over here now, tra la lee, okay, here's another little flourish, zee de bop, oh, the audience is counting down now, so I guess I'd better finish it up, SoYouThinkYouCanDance, smile and wave!'' (As my friend Rob noted, Lacey is especially lucky she has never had to dance for her life.) The guys' solos weren't perfect either, but at least they put on a show, gave their movement shape and logic, made each step flow into the next — at least they bothered to wow us when it didn't technically matter. Even Pasher finally found a way to make his style work without a partner, i.e., high-waisted matador pants, huge red and black cape, no shirt. Genius.

In fact, this was the first time in ages that So You Think You Can Dance reminded me of its garish, more popular sibling American Idol. Remember all that huff-and-puff over how unfair it is that an equal number of men and women have to be cut in the march from the Idol top 24 to the top 12? At least on SYTYCD the one-man, one-woman elimination is actually relevant to the world of dancing. But then again, in an age when Matthew Bourne can stage an all-male Swan Lake — 12 years ago, point of fact — what's keeping the producers from cutting the bottom two vote getters regardless of gender, especially at this late stage in the competition? That's a rhetorical question, really — we all already know the (rather depressing) answers to it — but I thought it was worth raising regardless.

And so now we're down to the wire, with one more week of shows before the finale. With Sara gone, my picks for the final four — Sabra, Danny, and Pasher — are missing a woman, but I don't think I'm going to decide who, Lacey or Lauren, should be in there until after next week's performance episode. Lacey, who started so very strong, has been faltering of late, but she still feels like a far more substantive dancer than the recently resurgent Lauren. Really, given that Nigel's thrown down the gauntlet to the choreographers to at long last hit the dancers with their top-flight material, even Neil could surprise me with dancing that moves beyond moderately good adorableness. And I still haven't the faintest clue who's going to win — well, okay, Lacey is the only dancer who's never been in the bottom tier, which certainly isn't a bad sign for her.

Before I toss it off to you folks, though, I'd like to share a few random thoughts I haven't been able to get to yet: Is it just me, or does Shane Sparks reeeeally want to be the next Wade Robson? Did anyone else hear the audience nearly fall into a collective funeral dirge after Neil was bottom-two'd? Also, so, OneRepublic — can I apologize now?

And, finally, what's your verdict on Nigel's kind words to the victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse? I can't decide how to feel about it. Part of me appreciates taking a moment to collectively respect and honor everyone who's been touched by the tragedy, but the rest of me wonders if So You Think You Can Dance is really the best forum to do so, especially given yesterday's saturation media coverage of the event. Put it this way: Does the weight and impact of this sort of event trump a viewer's desire to set said event aside for an hour and just be entertained? Discuss!

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