‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Patriotic Undergarments Do Not a Champion Make

Sometime between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. last night, the clatter of jaws hitting the floor was heard in apartments of unabashedly enthusiastic So You Think You Can Dance fans citywide as Ricky Palomino, the contemporary thoroughbred, went from being a frontrunner to an also-ran. Which is not to say that justice wasn’t served. Bland beauty Ashlee Langas’s choice of music for her final solo (Cry Me a River) felt satisfyingly prescient once she was given the boot.

And the worst was yet to come: The biggest loser was last year’s champion, Benji Schwimmer, who delivered an encore performance that looked fueled by Bennies, with an explosion of frantic spins, gratuitous butt-shaking, and as a grand finale, the dramatic dropping of trou to reveal a pair of flag underwear that left us feeling somewhat less than patriotic.

He definitely should’ve consulted Wade Robson beforehand. Our hero crafted a wicked opening number to Busta Rhymes that had the whole cast striking ghoulish poses throughout the studio — even in the judges’ chairs. If this week’s escape artists, Faina and Cedric or Sabra and Dominic (whose two-fingered concealment of his nipples fell somewhere between charming and absurd), are hoping for a style that suits both partners, they better pray for a miracle, or, better yet, Robson as their guiding dance-maker next time around.
—Drew Pisarra