The best dancers leap ahead

Hey, this isn't like "American Idol" at all.

Where are my complaints and grumbles? Where's the bitterness? Where's the part where I say the viewers got it all wrong and 9-year-olds should never be allowed a vote or a phone or even an opinion?

Not this time. The four people selected for Wednesday's "So You Think You Can Dance" finale were exactly the right ones. Democracy works, sometimes. Here are my random thoughts; please attach yours:

1) In the early days, Danny Tidwell was on the edge every week, just one step from dismissal. Not any more; Danny -- with the leaps of a ballet dancer and the soul of a jazz man -- was the first guy who advanced to the finals.

2) No one looks good in zebra skin. Not even a zebra. (Really; just try to remember the last time you saw a zebra you wanted to date.) So it's nothing againt Mary Murphy, the judge, that she didn't look terribly good in zebra cloth. Maybe by Wednesday she'll be up to cheetah.

3) Danny is great , but Neil Haskell is almost as good. The guy mixes raw gymnastics with artistic grace. Now he's the other guy in the finals; both were just a tad better than Pasha Kovalev, who was ousted.

4) What remarkable skill those hair-and-makeup people have. In the opening number, they managed to take six really cute young people and make them look yucky and scary; I think the process is much harder in reverse.

5) Sabra Johnson is clearly the best female dancer, someone who does amazing things with her tiny body. I think the voters were right in picking Lacey Schwimmer over Lauren Gottlieb for the other spot, but it would be reasonable either way.

6) Maybe one of those hair people could have been helped the top of Cat Deeley's hair. Or maybe no one noticed because she's about a head taller than anyone else.

7) Now comes the performance finale (8 p.m. Wednesday on Fox) and the results show on Thursday. This show has all the things that keep us watching "Idol" -- optimism, talent and energy. It also has one thing more -- voters who are getting it exactly right.

Comments

[Gerrie]

I'm sorry - I disagree that Sabra is the best dancer. She's a good dancer. She got really lucky with the jazz last week (great job Mandy!) but she was very weak in the paso. She's just on the judges "praise and pimp" train. She never gets criticism even when Pasha practically carries her around the floor on the quickstep. Her technique is good, not great and she dances very blandly.

Whereas Lacey dances with fire and passion and has done a magnificent style in every category she is given.

So I would say Lacey is the best female dancer.

[Dance fan]

Lacey all the way. I do like Sabra, but I agree about the Pasa Doble, she was rather weak considering some of the routines on Dancing with the Stars that were MUCH better. Lacey is amazing. She has this expressive face and body that can show anything from sorrow to joy to pure innoscence to sexy as hell. She should win. She is amazing.

[Lee]

I agree that Sabra is an amazing dancer over Lacey. Lacey's doesn't have the heart and soul over Sabra. Sabra has a maturity in her dancing, whereas Lacey seems a little one dimensional, almost fake, but I wouldn't say it is her personality, but rather her age (19). I think Lacey has the potential to be an amazing dancer as she ages.

Danny is awesome, and his moves are so raw, and he brings a new dimension to the show.

[monika]

PASHA IS THE GREATEST EVER!
he is adorable a gentlemen and a great danceeer, he is everythinggg.