What Are YOUR Favorite SYTYCD Performances?
September 2, 2009 by Kath Skerry
Tonight at 8pm on Fox, creepy Uncle Nigel is going to be hosting a special episode of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE in preparation for the season 6 kickoff next Wednesday night. Tonight we’ll look back at the 15 fan favorite dance routines from the previous five seasons. Fifteen seems like a lot, but if you think about it, it’s really tough to narrow the list down.
I want to hear YOUR favorite 15 routines. I wonder how many will end up on tonight’s episode.
I’ll kick things off with a few of my personal favorites. This list is in no way comprehensive – there are just too many moments I loved over the past few seasons. But here are a sampling, in no particular order, of some of my faves.
- The Bench Dance – Heidi & Travis danced this Emmy award winning routine by Mia Michaels. This dance was recently performed on SYTYCD’s 100th episode, but I don’t think it can be left off the list tonight. It might be the most popular piece of the series.
- Why – This contemporary routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio was the first even dance piece that moved me to tears. It was what this show is all about – it was the combination of the beauty of the piece, the performance elements that Ivan and Allison brought to the stage, and the fact that many of the viewers (especially me) were caught off guard by the amazing performance of Ivan Koumaev – a hip hop dancer who no one expected to shine in this way. I’ve seen this dance too many times to count, but I still get teary.
- The Boardroom – Choreographer Mandy Moore put together this amazing Jazz routine which had Neil and Sabra fighting it out in the boardroom. The use of the table helped really bring the routine to life. The two dancers were fabulous in this routine, one of the best of their season.
- Lacey & Kameron, Contemporary – Long before she was ballrooming around the floor with D-listers, Lacey Schwimmer was just the little sister of S2 winner. That was until she and her partner Kameron took to the stage in this Mia Michael’s gut-wrenching performance. In that moment Lacey stepped out of the shadow of her big brother and showed that she had a better range than Benji would ever have. The flailing. The falling. That jump. Stunning.
- Bollywood – SYTYCD took on an international flair when Katee & Joshua took on the show’s first ever Bollywood routine. It wowed the audience and the judges. The perfection of the routine mixed with the beautiful costumes was a show stopper.
- Black Mambo – When I want to show someone why SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is one of my favorite shows, and why I think it’s in a different class than DANCING WITH THE STARS, I just show them this routine by Benji and Cousin Heidi. It was called the most professional routine of the season, and anyone watching can see why. Try to keep up, they go fast.
- Bleeding Love – I’m not sure I’ll ever hear Leona Lewis’s hit “Bleeding Love” without thinking of the fantastic routine performed by Mark and Chelsie, and choreographed by NappyTabs. These choreographers made a name for themselves with their lyrical hip hop. Sometimes it works, other times not so much. But in this piece, the story was so compelling that you couldn’t help but be drawn in. Plus, Mark was my favorite of Season 4 and that didn’t hurt.
- Addiction – My favorite routine of Season 5 left it all out on the dance floor. This dark routine by Mia Michaels focused on the suffocating chains of withdrawl. Kupono and Kayla were amazing the first time they performed this dance, but when their encore performance on finale night was stunning. So powerful and so emotional. Kayla had just been informed that she would not be named the winner of the show, and this was on of her last performances of SYTYCD. The girl held nothing back. Nor did Kupono who channeled his quirkiness into something haunting and magical.
- Jeanette & Brandon, Jazz – One of the most spectactular routines of all of Season 5 was Wade Robson’s jazz routine performed by Brandon and Jeanette. Why this particular routine wasn’t called out by one of the judges in the finale is beyond me. Watch again and notice the precision of the routine and the outstanding performance by the dancers. Brilliant!
I’m going to end my list now, not because there aren’t many, many more dances to talk about, but I want to turn it over to you before the show begins tonight!
Can’t wait to hear what dances in the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE history have been special to you!
Related Posts
Filed under So You Think You Can Dance, SYTYCD, TV News
Is it just going to be couples routines??
My favorite dance of all time is a group one that I know you already love – Ramalama!
But for couples dances I really liked:
No Air – Katee & Joshua
Bleeding Love – Mark & Chelsea
The Garden – Mark & Coutney
Of course – anything with Travis, but I dont remember many of his routines off the top of my head except “The Bench”
I like most of the dances you listed. I posted my picks earlier this morning and they included Benji/Heidi Mambo and the Bench dance from 2, I would pick the Danny/Lacey samba instead of the Lacey/Kameron contemp (though I liked them both) and the table dance from 3, Bollywood and Bleeding love from 4 and? Well Addiction and Wade’s thieves from 5.
I have never seen season 1 so no picks from there.
I could have gone on for another 15-20 dances easily. I mean, not even classics like “Hummingbird” and “The Door” are on this list. And “The Garden”…how could I leave that one off the list? It’s one my favorites.
I can’t forget Night of the Dancing Flame (aka devil/angel dance) with Neil and Lauren, or Danny and Lacey’s Hip Hip Chin Chin number.
My vote goes to the hummingbird routine, which was probably the most beautiful dance I’ve ever seen on the show. It fit the dancers perfectly, and they only got better every time they performed it.
I’d also save a spot in the top 10 for the Maxwell routine starring Melissa and Ade from season 5. I know you, GMMR, and Ducky didn’t like it, but I loved it. The dancers performed it with such maturity and grace that it became one of the best routines of the season in my opinion, and that wasn’t just because of the subject matter either.
Creepy Uncle Nigel! Back so soon. Well, maybe this time he’ll be locked in a room by himself, so we won’t have to worry about him wanting to “do things” to the girls!
I’ve only had the last two season to choose from (and last year was only about Top 10 and down for me), so …
1. Addiction (hands down FAVOURITE!) with Kayla and Kupono. That dance still gives me chills when I see it.
2. Ruby Blue with Brandon and Janette
3. They’re Everywhere with Kayla and Jason
4. If It Kills Me with Jason and Jeanine (“the Travis Wall dance”)
And from last season … The Garden, Mercy, and Control (which I never see mentioned, but it was so awesome!)
Group routines I loved were “One”, the really hot one performed on the finale (I call it Caliocho, not sure the real title), and the one with the photo frame in the museum was awesome too. From a season I didn’t watch, I love, love, LOVED Ramalama!
Oh, and a question … where did these “fan favourites” come from? Was there a place to vote on the Fox site for it???
1. WHY
2. THE GARDEN
these two dances have always impressed me soo soo much that i don’t know even what else comes close… i’d probably have to go with one of the recent group pieces like Send in the Clowns or One which were both phenomenal
Nigel’s favorite dance was the “Cancer Dance”, lame. I’m sorry, I think that was one of the most over-hyped pieces ever.
Love “The Boardroom”, “Bleeding Love” and “Addiction”. I just downloaded season 2 and I still need to watch it. Really looking forward to it.
I personally thought the best hip-hop piece from season 5 was the Zombie Dance, overlooked and underrated.
I also thought the group dance from season 5, the tango / hip hop was it with dancing on the tables and the Pitbull song, was one of the better group numbers.
I got a call 10 minutes in so will have to go back and watch tonight but from glimpsing it looked like they covered most of your faves, Kath.
I was scratching my head wondering how I could have missed season 1…where was I? And was there no Kat? It sounded like a different host at the end of the S1 routine I caught.
I’m really getting burned out on some of these routines. It’s just like hearing your favorite song every hour on the radio. Tired of the bench routine and really tired of Bleeding Love. Loved both but there’s more routines than just those! They get the shout-outs because they won Emmys. We get it. Here’s some of my faves (trying to list ones not already mentioned, but I HAVE to mention the Lauren/Neil again).
Tim Burton’s Wedding–Mark and Chelsie/Mia Michaels
Night of the Dancing Flame–Lauren and Neil/Wade Robson
Two Princes–Neil and Danny/Mia Michaels
Vagabond Cabaret–Sarah and Jesus/Wade Robson (bum/clowns w/ newspapers)
Anything by Katee and Joshua (loved the shout-out to that fact by Nigel!)…Bollywood, No Air, Samba (smokin’!),etc.
Imagine–Katee and Will/Desmond whats-his-name
Anything by Janette and Brandon!
I thinks it’s becoming silly with all the negativity about the cancer dance. It’s OK to say you liked it. Kath won’t hate you, people! I hated that the dance was performed the same week that Janette was partnered with Evan and Janette got the boot (very undeservedly). I hated the TIMING, but I don’t hate the dance. It’s very good and emotional. Try to watch it again with your hate glasses off and see what you see! It’s not contrived. It’s a piece of art, just like the Addiction dance. I just liked the storytelling of the Addiction piece better.
Interesting note: I was trying to find the music for some of Wade Robson’s routines and I found out that 3 of his killer routines had music from a single album. Ramalama (bang bang), Night of the Dancing Flame, and Ruby Blue all came from the album Ruby Blue by Roisin Murphy. Wonder what song he’ll use next season?
WHY with Ivan and Alison to this day is hands down personal favorite…I never paid attention to dance particularly and was very casually watching SYTYCD that season and saw that routine…to me it wasn’t polished but raw and heartfelt and just touched me tremendously…I become a huge, devoted fan of SYTYCD in particular and pay much more attention to dance on TV in general. Agree with all the posts and just want to add that Katie and Joshua are my all time favorite pair- I can rewatch everything they have done over and over. Oh yeah…there was a Mia Michaels group dance with 5 girls maybe season 3 and they were like contemporary angels that was great!