What, no thread yet?
I’m a little bit into the finale so far.
The Broadway number was near perfect in conception and execution.
Lacey’s dance was neat and clever. But what the hell is with the interviews? The quality of the dancing this season has distracted me from commenting on the woefully large amount of filler material this season. Something tells me that most of this two-hour episode is padding.
At this point I’m rooting for Neil or Sabra, but all four dancers are top-notch.
I’m pulling for Neil or Sabra too.
I have to say, as a lindyhopper, I was pleasantly surprised by Neil and Lacey’s lindy. I was definitely fearing the worst, and while it certainly wasn’t as badass as lindy hop can be at its best (see here or here for examples), it was much better than I expected, given the short amount of time they had in which to learn it. The main criticisms I have are that they didn’t get enough stretch in their swingouts, and they were dancing too upright and with not enough bounce, and those are all things that come with experience.
I won’t be able to watch the finale tomorrow night, unless it’s raining, because I’ll be out dancing myself. On the other hand, I’m not terribly interested in watching 2 hours of filler to see who won when I can find that out online later.
I only caught the very end. Will have to watch the rest on TiVo this evening. This might be a function of the fact that the dancers were tired, but it seemed like dances that should have been loaded with energy were really flagging. Sabra and Danny’s cha-cha was sexy, but seemed too slow and fluid–I wanted some crispness that seemed to be lacking in their moves. I thought the lindy hop was meh. Maybe I don’t know the dance very well, but I think they needed to have a little more spring and quickness to their step, and the lifts and transitions seemed awkward, like they were getting their legs tangled up.
I’m still rooting for Sabra, though. That woman is four-foot-nine of pure sexy.
I only have one reaction to the Lacey/Sabra duet – Wot tha hell??
Even the costuming was ridiculous. “Let’s tuck a chunk of white fabric in your waist band and call it a tail.”
In contrast, the two guys got a fairly nifty, showy piece.
Overall, I’d say the dances this week just weren’t as strong as last week. Nigel was right to be worried.
I’ve been rooting for Neil all along. (It helps that I have a major crush going on) But last night he just seemed really stiff in his movements. I’m hoping that won’t hurt his chances.
I watched the first 3/4 so far. I fell asleep during the last quarter, so I’ll have to go back to the old DVR later. Which also means I didn’t get to vote. sigh
I agree with the comments about the girl’s dance. Foxes? There was nothing fox-like about them. Mother and child of some sort I’ll buy but none that I could recognize. But again, this is not the dancer’s fault. Like Nigel said, the choreography was the problem.
I, too, have been routing for Neil and Sabra. Lacey seems to be all booty and flash and Danny just doesn’t have enough personality for me. Neil’s all personality and Sabra is exquisite!
Could this be the year a woman wins???
Just when I was thinking that Sabra had sailed through the entire season without any judge having a discouraging word…she had her worst night of the year. They didn’t like her hip-hop, Wade Robson blew the fox thing, and nobody liked the first half of the cha-cha. Bad time to have an off night.
I still think she’s the front-runner…maybe Danny.
Lacey’s my least favorite – all flash & booty is very apt (thanks, boggette).
I think Neil is a pretty good dancer, but I can’t get over how much he looks like Zack from Saved By The Bell.
Edited to provide a different picture link, since the last one didn’t work.
Drain Bead!
Hello! 
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I’ll honestly be happy with any of the four winning this year. It’s been a very good pool.
ETA:
I used to be “Libertarian”. (Not that you’d remember me necessarily either way, but still.)
Funny, I’ve always thought Neil was a dead ringer for the Take Home Chef
I’m rooting for Sabra, though I have a sinking feeling that Lacey will win.
This sums them up perfectly. Lacey has her signature moves- roundhouse booty move, little quick kicky-thing move, floor-slide-on-her-heels move, and that’s about it. Danny may be technically excellent, but I don’t think he’s very interesting to watch. Neil is captivating to watch- this from a guy with “an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality”, as George Costanza would say. And Sabra can do damn near anything, it seems. However, last night was not good to Neil or Sabra.
I thought the guys’ dance wasn’t so much dance-y as it was a lot of movement, but then that’s Mia Michaels for ya. I predict Danny will win, but it should be Sabra. Unless the voting public realizes they’re voting for their “favorite” dancer, not the best dancer, in which case it should be Neil.
I kind of liked the fox dance. I know I am in the minority here, and I agree it was not the best showpiece for either of them. They pulled it off though, which shows they can dance just about anything well, IMO.
I like Sabra and Neil too. I like to watch Neil the most but I agree it would be nice for a woman to win and I think Sabra is very deserving. Honestly I think they all have a legitimate chance and it’s a very solid final 4. Danny is the best technical dancer but not as much fun as Neil or Sabra.
I was a little suprised when the judge flat out said that it was a woman’s turn to win. Neil looked suprised too. I almost wish he hadn’t said that, it kind of takes away from a woman if she does win. Like, she only won because it was time to let a girl have a chance or something, not because she rightfully won out of the 4 choices.
The problem is I think the majority of the hardcore voters are young girls, and they tend to vote on their crushes. In that case I think Neil has it. (not that he doesn’t deserve to win on his own accord.)
I don’t know who I want to win anymore. 
All the people who I personally liked (Hok, Sara, and to a lesser extent, Pasha and Jesus) are gone. I guess I want Danny to win because he appears to be the technical best, and I like how he doesn’t play the Reality TV game and act all goofy and extroverted if he doesn’t feel like it - I found the judges’ earlier ruling of ‘arrogant dancing’ unfair. I can see awkwardness in how he relates to others and to the camera, but I can relate to that more than the class clownery from some of the others. He annoyed me a bit at first, but won me over with the dancing.
I think Lacey is cute, like her straight high kicks, but she comes off as airheaded in interviews (though not as much as Jamie did) - I’m trying not to let that affect my opinion of her dancing. I still love that hustle she did with Kameron, and the samba with Danny was cool too, and while her solo last week was a little sexified, I did enjoy it and it did actually go along with the music. A jillion times better than the one she forgot. Her costume for this week’s solo was really weird. Seemed like the kind of thing she was supposed to rip off and have something cute underneath, but she didn’t, so it was just an ill-fitting glittery sack. Her “sex look” gets a little tiring, but I do acknowledge that her dance background contributes to that.
Sabra just doesn’t do it for me. I guess because I perceive her as being on the contemporary dancer free train, where no one will comment on how the solos all look exactly alike except for the costumes. Good range and technical ability but I don’t really buy her emoting and don’t really care how she looks (great body, but kind of overmuscled and long-chinned for my taste, were I a lesbian, which I’m not). Her dances do not make me smile. Best Wade Solo scream, though.
Neil passed under my radar for a long time, but he’s distinguished himself somewhat. Still, as I don’t find his boybandish aesthetic and personality attractive, so he doesn’t get me on that front, and Danny surpasses him on the dancing front.
My favorite dance for the final was the Mia dance, as surprised as I am to say it (her other pieces this season have been very hit/miss, and the “my father died so you must love this dance” contemporary one annoyed the crap out of me). Great styling and they danced it well. The fox dance was total WTF. Nigel was right, none of the dances were really awesome (aside from Mia’s, to a point). I’m also annoyed that the judges didn’t comment on the many times the dancers screwed up technically - they should be consistent.
I don’t think anyone actually cares what happened during the final show (which I don’t like but can’t do anything about), I bet 95% of people invested enough to vote locked in their favorites long ago.
Neil is my favorite to watch. Sabra is the one I’d most like to be buddies with. Danny can jump really high and spins very well, but I don’t like him. Lacey seems like she’s a slutty 14 year old or something. Rubs me the wrong way.
I thought Sabra & Neil had the two best solos, and I’m perplexed at the SO for Danny, since it seemed all technical and zero style (leap/leap/leap/leap, spin/spin/spin/spin). S&N are also my two favorites (in that order) at this point, though the only one I actually voted for was Sabra*.
I liked the foxes number–no, I wouldn’t have known they were foxes, but I would’ve known it was some animal-mother/child dynamic. It didn’t highlight their skills the best, but I thought it was a nice evocative piece, and leagues better than the Guys’ number, which struck me as lots of breast-beating and macho posturing, but very little interesting dancing.
I preferred Sabra’s cha-cha over Lacey’s waltz (both w/Danny). I really wish I would see a waltz where they actually did some sweeping 3/4-time rounds across the stage. Theirs had too much spinning and lifting and broke any propulsive momentum which is what I like the best about the waltz.
I did like Lacey’s lindy-hop over Sabra’s hip hop (both w/Neil), but I didn’t think the latter was bad at all, and Neil did appear to flub a couple times in the former (though I can forgive that given it was quite late in the evening by then).
I didn’t mind Nigel giving a shout out to the ladies, though he did acknowledge that he would personally be fine with any of the 4. The odds are definitely stacked against the women, and Neil seems to fit the dreamboat/boyfriend model better than Danny. I hate to say that’s why I’m predicting he will win, but it is.
Good Luck Sabra!
*the first time I ever called in to a TV show to vote for anyone or anything ever
I’d like to see Neil and Sabra as the final two, with Sabra winning it. I still think she’s the most versatile dancer. Danny’s great at what he does, but he always looks like a ballet dancer doing hip hop/jazz/contemporary/etc. And I don’t think he’s been able to connect as well with the audience as Neil and Sabra have. Lacey’s a total long shot; I don’t think we’ll have Schwimmers two years running.
Although, as far as Neil’s concerned, never underestimate the power of teenage girls. They get things done when voting for their favorite contestants.
I had the same thought. Other than that disco number she did with Dominic the first week, which got mixed reviews, she hasn’t gotten any criticism from the judges that I can remember. What a time to break that streak.
I’m still hoping that she’ll win, but I have a sinking feeling that it’s going to be Lacey (because of the residual Benji love) or Neil (because of all the teenage girls voting).
Not sure who I want to win, I’ll be happy with any of them. If I had to pick, I’d say Sabra and Danny with Danny winning it all.
In other news, whoever picked the dress for Cat needs to have their eyes poked out with a salad fork. Worst. Dress. Ever.
How true – that dress was the worst thing I’ve ever seen!
Had a storm here and my satellite tanked with Sabra and Danny still in the running. Would someone tell me who won, please!
Sabra won