Are you ready for the end?

Last night, Courtney, Katee, Joshua, and Twitch performed their final competitive routines and solos, setting themselves up for one last round of judgment from American viewers.

The results from last night’s vote will be announced tonight during the So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) two-hour season finale, beginning at 8/7c. on Fox.

If you missed a minute of last night’s final performances, you’ll want to catch up for tonight.

Total Togetherness

The SYTYCD dancers are used to working together, having danced in pairs all season. But usually these pairs consist of one girl and one guy. Last night, in a change of format, everyone danced with everyone else.

Courtney’s Jealousy

The show began with Courtney and Twitch dancing one of Tabitha and Napoleon D’Umo’s hip-hop routines.

SYTYCD Top-Four (from Fox.com)

The first judge, SYTYCD’s Emmy-nominated choreographer Many Moore, thought that the routine started the show off well. Mary agreed. “You know what I do when I see something like that?” she asked. Of course, we knew what she would do (and I turned down the volume on the television before she could scream).

Lyrical Brilliance

The second dance, a lyrical routine by Wade Robson for Katee and Joshua, told a story of love much different than the one in Courtney and Twitch’s routine. Performing to “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” by John Mayer, Katee and Joshua’s piece told the story of two people who find that love, even though difficult, is worthwhile.

“Katee,” Mandy Moore said, “there was this moment when I could see you inhaling and exhaling, and I was sold.” The piece, indeed, began with that quiet moment when Katee just stood, breathing.

Nigel also commented on the way that Katee created that intense instant, saying that it was one of the routine’s remarkable elements. “Everything showbizy was taken out of it.” Nigel also commented on Joshua’s strength and control. “This is not a normal dancer,” he said, “this is a brilliant dancer.”

Girls’ Day Out

For the third performance, Katee and Courtney dolled up for a Broadway routine by Tyce Diorio. The piece, set to “The Trolly Song” as performed by Rufus Wainwright, had the girls leaping about the stage in piles of lace and frill, parasols in hand. They were madly rushing to catch a train—but they were having a good time!

“I’ve got a feeling,” Cat told Katee and Courtney, “that there are a million little girls out there wanting to be you.”

Trepak Combat

In an interesting twist, Twitch and Joshua took the stage in a Russian Trepak, set to Tchiakovsky. “I was expecting you’d be good at that because that’s street dancing, Russian street dancing,” Nigel told the two panting dancers after their performance.

This piece, as Cat and each judge pointed out, required more strength, endurance, and skill than almost any other SYTYCD piece thus far. Twitch executed much of the floorwork in this fast-paced Russian dance while Joshua, it seemed, spent all his time in the air, flying through leaps. “No offense to the girls,” Mandy said, “but there’s nothing more spectacular than watching two men do crazy stuff onstage!” “Spectacular” and “crazy” were definitely the right words to have used.

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Suave Foxtrot

Directly from his role as a Russian fighter, Twitch donned what Nigel identified as a “James Bond” persona and, with Katee, performed a foxtrot set to Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good.” “Twitch,” Mary said, “the foxtrot is a gentleman’s dance. And, you are one cool gentleman.” To Katee, Mary said, simply, “Bravo!”

On SYTYCD, the judges often seem to rate dancers based on whether or not their performances live up to the quality of the choreography. But after Twitch and Katee’s foxtrot, Nigel turned this scale around. “You guys this season have spoiled the choreographers. You’re just so macho and so strong.”

Jive Gone Awry

Unfortunately, the final night of SYTYCD competition couldn’t end without some disappointment. After Courtney and Joshua took the stage for a jive by Jason Gilkison, Nigel put a stop to the praise that had gone on all night.

“There were a lot of things about it that I was frankly disappointed with,” he said as the audience jeered.” And although Mandy and Mary had both congratulated the dancers on completing an extremely difficult routine, Nigel thought it best to end what he saw as undeserved praise. “It wasn’t brilliant,” he told them. “It was tired.”

Final Celebration

Thankfully, the show didn’t end with Nigel’s criticism for Courtney and Joshua. It ended with a celebratory group piece, choreographed by Mia Michaels. “This,” Michaels told the top-four dancers during rehearsal, “is about celebrating your win, because you’ve already won.”

I always like to see what Michaels creates, and the atmosphere in this piece made it so different from the last few pieces she’s done. This routine put all four dancers into Scottish garb, leaping to “Hallelujah,” a beautiful work by the Vitamin String Quartet.

“I didn’t fully understand the routine, Mia,” Nigel said. “It was a bit like the Scottish Olympics.” But, regardless of his impression of the work itself, he knew that “no one—absolutely no one—would complain at that performance.”

Mandy, a bit more impressed by the piece, said, “I felt like I was watching something magical.” She continued, in praise of both the dancing and the choreography, admitting that “as a choreographer, I would never put the four of you in the same space.” But saw that despite their differences, “you look like you could be in a company together.”

While the exhausted dancers struggled to stay on their feet after the final number, the audience and judges rose in applause.

Finale!

The dancers have now done all they can to prove themselves to American viewers. Tonight, we’ll find out how you’ve judged them.

I’m sure that the final episode of SYTYCD will deliver some of the pieces that the choreographers and production staff have been saving all season. And, you can look forward to a performance from Cirque du Soleil.

To find out how it all ends, tune in tonight at 8/7c. (Or, if the suspense surrounding this SYTYCD outcome just makes you too nervous, come back here tomorrow, and we’ll break the news to you gently!)

Photo from: Fox.com So You Think You Can Dance Gallery