Trav's Thoughts

Reminder: I live on the west coast and most of you will know the result before the show comes on out here. Please keep that in mind and hold off commenting here until I have a chance to watch.

Thanks!

Well gang, we've reached the end.

Judges for the final performances are Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Mandy Moore.

The kids were busy last night with solos, a group routine, the boys together, the girls together, Katee with Johsua and Courtney with Twitch, and Katee with Twitch and Courtney with Joshua.

It's everybody with everybody!

Yikes! Let's get started.

Courtney and Twitch dance hip hop by Tabitha & Napoleon. We weren't wild about the wardrobe, but the tricks were amazing! Twitch threw Courtney up on his head and spun her...with no hands at one point and it was way cool. They had the characters and told the story. Strong, raw performance of terrific choreography. Say 9 for Courtney and 9 for Twitch.

Courtney talks to Cat about growing up in New York. She may be the most improved of the final four. She says her favorite routine was the jazz by Sonya from last week, and says she has surpassed any of her expectations on the show. And she follows that up with a beautiful solo, showing us the joy she has in her movement. She spent the entire season growing on us every week.

Katee and Joshua dance lyrical by Wade Robson. YAY! We missed Wade's choreography this season. That was amazing. That was dance as story. The choreography pulled you onto the stage and the emotion they brought to the piece kept you there. Wonderful performance. Mandy pointed out some technical flaws, but we were so enraptured by the performance that we didn't notice. Say 9 for Katee and 9 for Joshua.

Katee and Courtney dance Broadway by Tyce Diorio. That was a lot of fun. And you can see the contrast between the two. Katee is the more polished dancer, and Courtney is all raw fun and frolic. They were cute and controlled, and they made it look effortless. Say 10 for Katee and 9 for Courtney.

Twitch sits down with Cat and explains that he got his nickname because he used to dance everywhere, but couldn't always go full out...so he twitched. He was going to go into the Navy, but decided to give dancing another run. He says his favorite routine was the Viennese Waltz because of the meaning behind it. He says he dances everything with passion to give back to the artform because of what it has given to him. He is brilliant at what he does, but the thing that draws me to him is his personality and his ability to entertain.

Twitch and Joshua dance a Russian style. Now this is interesting. Evidently these two worked so hard that they collapsed during rehearsal and ended up in the hospital to rehydrate. That was a couple of free style hip hoppers working those classical leaps and jumps. Twitch was amazing with the floor work, and Joshua was incredible in the air. That choreography was so difficult. Say 9 for Twitch and 10 for Joshua.

Katee sits down with Cat. I'll remind you that Katee was one of the last two girls chosen for the top 20, and she said that she wouldn't try a third time if she didn't make it this time. And the judges had to discuss it before putting her through. I'm so glad they put her through, because she just might be the best female dancer in the history of the show. She says her favorite routine was the first hip hop routine with Joshua. She can dance anything. If you ranked the top moments from this season, she's in at least five of them. She demonstrates her technical excellence and athleticism in her solo. If Twitch hadn't made it through, I'd be voting for her.

Katee and Twitch dance Foxtrot by Tony Meredith and Melanie Lepatin. I'm not saying anything about technique for Twitch. We know he's not trained to do that. But I will say that his performance was elegant and gentlemanly, and he conveyed a strong male romantic lead in the piece. Katee was fantastic as expected. I'll say it again...she can dance anything. And the lift was incredible. The pair of them together was a joy to watch. Say 10 for Katee and 9 for Twitch.

Joshua tells Cat he had to choose between athletics and dance, and he decided to give up football and track to focus on dancing. He says the Samba with Katee is his favorite because it was outside of his comfort zone, and he did it so well. Joshua was the most surprising of all the guys for me, because I didn't expect him to be so good in so many different styles. He's so amazing with hip hop, but he shines in every other style he's been asked to dance. And he has grown as an entertainer. His solo shows that growth. And he has proven to any other dancer that whether you've had training or not, if you are a dancer...you dance.

Courtney and Joshua dance jive by Jason Gilkinson. Hated Courtney's wardrobe. That wasn't typical jive choreography...it took jive and amped it up. It was missing a lot of the flip kicks. But dang! It was fast and wild and crazy, and they pulled off some great tricks. It wasn't clean and you could tell how exhausted they were. It wasn't great and the best I can say is that they got through it. Say 8 for Courtney and 8 for Joshua.

Mia Michaels choreographed the final group routine for the Top 4. Wow. That was so physically demanding. Those kids must be emotionally and physically exhausted. I don't know where they pulled the energy to finish with such an athletic number, but they did. They are such uniquely talented performers, and yet they were able to come together as a unit and give us something wonderful to remember.

An outstanding season capped off by an outstanding final performance show.

Pam chose to vote for Katee, and I voted for Twitch. But I'll be happy with any result tonight.

And remember...I'm on the west coast so don't spoil it for me!