Please don't stop the dancing

Photo: Courtesy FOX

I should have known all this time that I was complaining about how American Idol acts like there is no such thing as gay in the world that it was hiding somewhere. That somewhere has turned out to be So You Think You Can Dance, where judges are actually gay -- not just teasing flirts -- and contestants are actually expected to perform same-sex dances in order to prove their versatility.

Though my favorite boy left the show, this week's finale was full of some amazing man-on-man dancing action. Because my friend David who got me hooked on the show in the first place is in Mexico City at the International AIDS Conference, here's one highlight I want to make sure he doesn't miss: Winner Joshua (above left) and runner-up Twitch (who could not have been more sweet and lovey-dovey with each other if they'd been on a honeymoon) doing a Ukranian dance:

(I will admit that the producers made suuuuuuch a big deal of Joshua's "lack of formal training" that I was about ready to throw something at the TV. Yes, he's black. Yes, his primary focus was as a hip-hop dancer. Yes, he could have kicked the asses of guys who spent their whole silver-spoon lives at the barre. But at a certain point it was like they were trying to lay a total "save the poor thug" campaign on us -- and it was totally unnecessary, not to mention offensive. Anything they threw at him proved it: the boy can dance. People noticed. The judges needed to stop acting surprised that he could, like, speak in complete sentences.)

In a SYTYCD first, both regular judges took to the dance floor themselves. Nigel joined Debbie Allen's dance company in a tap routine, and Mary Murphy showed her Latin skills with season two's Dmitri, who has an understandable disinterest in buttoning his shirt. (Can you imagine if Paula Abdul had to get up and belt out a big number in order to prove her point in being a judge?! Not even beefcake backup dancers could save us from that disaster.)

I was a late convert to this show, I admit it -- but that just means I have a few seasons worth of YouTube clips and possibly a live tour to catch up on.

Comments

[hey]

paula actually can sing ballads very well (live). you will be surprised. ive seen evidence on youtube

[shana naomi]

@hey: post links here and i'd love to check them out!