‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Sabra rattling?

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The stage looked awfully lonely Wednesday evening when only four contestants opened ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ but the night certainly wasn’t sparse. As the dancers performed four routines apiece (one with each contestant, plus a solo), the $250,000 prize seemed rather paltry for how much work the contestants have put in this season.

But who will win?

At the beginning of the evening, it looked like the competition was Sabra Johnson’s to take. She appears to be a favorite among the fans, judges and choreographers alike. Judge Nigel Lythgoe’s advice to her at the beginning of the show was to ‘keep doing what you’re doing,’ and choreographer Tyce Diorio proclaimed her to be a ‘master at everything.’

Was it the producers’ challenge to Sabra, then, or was it simply bad luck that she seemed to draw the most difficult lot, routine-wise? Her first showing was a rather weak hip-hop performance with Neil Haskell, then a Wade Robson jazz number with Lacey Schwimmer that unfortunately didn’t highlight the strengths of the dancers or their connection to each other, and finally a cha-cha with Danny Tidwell that received mixed reviews from all three judges.

None of the dances really catered to her expertise, while the other dancers did receive the gift of at least one complementary routine: Neil was able to use his gymnastic skills in a Lindy Hop with Lacey and shone in a fabulously conceived Mia Michaels fight-dance with Danny; Danny, too, played the Michaels routine to the hilt and showed his tremendous elegance in a waltz with Lacey; and Lacey has expertise in the more traditional dances she performed with the boys, which she executed with mastery.

This is not to take away whatsoever from the hard work and terrific performances of the other dancers and not to say that Sabra got the shaft, but it’s a shame she didn’t get a paired dance that really showed off her gifts. Fortunately, she was able to bring the joy, lightness and power to her solo that her fans have come to love.

Nigel mentioned that it would be ideal if a woman were to win the show this season, but if it doesn’t go that way, it seems like Danny would be the man to win. Neil has had very few deficiencies, especially in the second half of the season, but Danny simply rules the stage like the graceful prince he played in the Mia Michaels routine. Neil received the ‘most improved’ award from the judges, but Danny was called one of the best dancers ever on the show. It’s hard to compete with that. Viewers and judges have disagreed, meanwhile, with Danny’s perceived attitude, but this seems like a moot point, as whatever guardedness or insecurities he may have had appear to have dropped away, and he’s come out of his shell.

Whoever wins tomorrow will deserve the prize, but credit must be given to the judges as well. Nigel jokes and Mary Murphy screams, but maybe more than any other judges on any other reality TV show, they know of what they speak. Often, Nigel will articulate something so perfectly that no critic can really even expand on it, like when he mentioned to Lacey that ‘I don’t always believe your performance’ and that this is ‘a real talent show.’

They can express critique fairly, like when Nigel admitted that he simply couldn’t get past Wade Robson’s ‘little foxes’ routine for Lacey and Sabra. But most important, they seem to take the contestants and the show seriously. It’s unfortunate that a show with such talent and heart doesn’t receive the same hype as ‘American Idol,’ but perhaps the best news of the night was that it will be back next season.

(Photo courtesy Fox)