(S05E23) I think Cat Deeley looked fabulous tonight. The panel was chock-full of choreographers: Lil' C, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. They brought them all up on the dais so they could each choose their favorite dances from throughout the season. That means encore performances of the best of Season 5. That's not a bad way to fill two hours.

In the end, though, it comes down to Kayla, Brandon, Jeanine and Evan. Who did America love the most last night and throughout the summer? The recap actually gave me tingles. Despite a distinct lack of personalities, there were some stunning moments of dance. And I'm ever so thrilled that the new season is less than a month away. It's a long show, so hang in there.

(S05E22) The judges were so excited about the final four that they even critiqued the solos. I was glad to see Adam Shankman on the panel as he's one of the few guest judges who truly offers quality criticism to the dancers. Surprisingly, hip-hop was completely absent tonight, but there were some amazing performances. And ballroom came on strong!

GROUP

"Boys Boys Boys," Lady Gaga (Pop-Jazz, Wade Robson)
That was cute. It was a little more mellow than I expected, but I do believe that every man out there with a cheerleader thing just passed out. It was a hot and fun little high school number, and nobody stood out in a negative way so I'll give them that. A feel good opening for sure.

(S05E20) Nigel Lythgoe finally admitted something about So You Think You Can Dance this year: No one stands out. We only have a few weeks for the next season to start, so we'll see if they could rectify that for season six.

Lil C is our third judge and doesn't bring much to the table. Either he set his expectations too high or the dancers are more mediocre than season's pasts. While the judges continue to lament the lack of character and they pick Jeanette going home, Cat mesmerizes America with a pyramid bracelet. One wrong swing and she'd gouge out Evan's eye.

(S05E19) This was the gala 100th episode celebration of So You Think You Can Dance. As such, we got a nice video montage of the entire series to this point. It was great seeing some familiar faces again, as well as a very few that I actually forgot about. We even got a quick shot of first season host Lauren Sanchez, the Brian Dunkelman of SYTYCD.

GROUP NUMBER
"One," A Chorus Line
(Contemporary, Mia Michaels) Well, I didn't really like that one at all. A bit of a hot mess all over the stage. With the mirrors and camera angles chosen, it was more confusing than anything else.

SPECIAL GUEST
Katie Holmes - "Get Happy"
Well, this will certainly go down as one of the most hyped guest appearances ever on the show. But how did it go?

(S05E18) While Mia Michaels was a little better during her last guest stint at the judge's table, it was Ellen DeGeneres that excited me the most. I'm a huge fan of DeGeneres, dating back to her stand-up work. And while I think she's hilarious and I love her comedic style, I'm not sure if her presence here made much sense.

GROUP

"Let It Rock," Kevin Rudolf f. Lil' Wayne (Contemporary, Travis Wall)
I'm not sure this offered each individual dancer the chance to shine that Travis indicated it would; either that or they were all shining in the same style. Nevertheless, it was a high energy performance. I actually found the lighting on the costumes a bit distracting from the performances, but as it's a group number, I'm not too worried about it.

(S05E06) Not to be a hater, but my favorite thing about this first performance episode was the complete and total lack of Mia Michaels anywhere on the show. Now I actually enjoy some of her work as a choreographer, but her horrendous judging and her personality, in general, are becoming very off-putting to me. But we don't have to even think about her tonight because we got the delightful Adam Shankman on the panel instead.

I like Adam because he's got such an upbeat personality, but he's not afraid to criticize when necessary. And when he does, he gives constructive criticism to generally improve the dancers. Tonight he revealed that Katee, Joshua, Ivan and Twitch all have roles in the new movie he's working on: Step Up 3-D.