Through the So You Think You Can Dance Canada season, I’ve been taping my favorites to DVD. In advance of tonight’s final show, I just rewatched them all. Be interesting to compare my picks with the judge’s.

Week 1

Bree and Edgar – Sexy hip-hop

Of course, with Bree having been eliminated so early, no way this will be in the final show. I love how sexy it is, but that’s apparently the very reason these two ended up in the bottom three that week: People were offended by it! (In the video, the actual dancing starts around 1:37.)

Hani and Tara-Jean – Nico’s jazz routine

Yep, also won’t be there, given than Hani was the first to go! Seemed completely unfair, though, both that he ended up in the bottom 3, and that the judges dismissed him along with his injured partner.

Week 2

Nathalie and Mackenzie – Hip hop

Seems I either love the hip hop or am completely indifferent to it, and this one, I loved. I think it’s partly the song, which I liked so much, I bought! (Also a very rare thing for me, with hip hop.) And these two white, contemporary just did a great job with it.

Charlene and Jeff – Contemporary

Having rewatched, I have to say, I don’t think I’d include this one. It was fine, they danced it fine, but there was just so much contemporary this year! Nothing especially stood out about this one. I can’t even remember the choreographer, but it was probably Stacey Tookey.

Danielle and Sebastian – Theatre

This one, on the other hand, was very memorable. I think Sean Cheeseman may be my favorite choreographer. This seemed to suit Danielle and Sebastian perfectly.

Week 3

Amanda and Denys – Quickstep

Someday, someone needs to explain to me why in the ballroom dance classes I take, quickstep is considered one of the easiest. It’s typically the first one you learn. Yet on this show, it’s taken as gospel that it’s the hardest. Either way, Amanda and Denys nailed it.

Charlene and Jeff – Hustle

Oh my God, just as impressive on the second viewing (well, it’s more than my second). Still think this is the best disco I’ve ever seen on one of these shows. They were amazing.

Week 4

Nathalie and Mackenzie – Blake’s contemporary

I think I’d like this better if I didn’t now know that the tatoos represent Blake and Mia Michaels (are we ever going to find out what that was about?), but it was a fairly striking contemporary piece. And at least neither was supposed to have a disease.

Amanda and Denys – House

The number that, insanely, landed these two in the bottom three. Aren’t they great? (By the way, this is the closest Denys got to hip hop in the entire competition.)

Week 5

Charlene and Mackenzie – Latin

Some sexy Latin thing they did. Another one that, on retrospective viewing, I’m not sure deserves a place here.

Amanda and Sebastian – Contemporary

Amanda is afflicted with something here—Alzheimer’s? An eating disorder? I don’t remember. (When I tape, unlike YouTube, I don’t include the intro.) Sebastian tries to uphold her. Clearly, I liked it at the time, but they did way too many of these “issue” dances this year. (Ever since that cancer number made a big splash on the American show…) Caused each to lose something in the repetition.

Claudia and Denys – Samba

Clearly I wasn’t being overly picky this week, but Denys was great as usual, and Claudia kept up reasonably well.

Danielle and Edgar – Contemporary

Mostly notable for how well Edgar handles this dance, given that it’s not his genre. Danielle looks remarkably strong (physically, not as a dancer) with him. And, I love this song!

Week 6

Janick and Denys – Tango [Edit: Paso Doble]

Possibly at some point I just started taping everything Denys did? Although this was a good tango paso doble (and Janick’s first appearance on the DVD). But I can’t say I particularly remembered it before rewatching it just now.

Amanda and Mackenzie – Afro-jazz

Another one I didn’t remember all that well, but it is nicely done.

Claudia and Jonathan – Hip hop

This one, I actually remembered! Because I was so surprised how good they both were. On rewatch, I remained particularly impressed with Jonathan (and Claudia still wasn’t bad). But don’t expect to see it again, as they’re not top 10, and there’s a tour to promote… [On edit: Or, not so much, apparently…]

Group number by Mia Michaels (results show )

Even though I taped some, I’ve been mostly ignoring group numbers and solos in this list (as it’s already insanely long), but had to include this, as I think it’s possibly the single best thing done all season. Wow. Just, wow.

Week 7

Danielle and Denys – Contempory (military loss)

On rewatch, this really is my favorite contemporary number of the season. I can tell the story without any preamble, it’s incredibly touching, Danielle is just amazing, and Denys is Denys.

Week 8

Edgar and Amanda – Hip-hop mannequins (Luther Brown)

I think Amanda actually held her mannequin positions better than the hip-hop boy, but whatever, it was a very fun number. (Amanda is actually quite amazing, especially given her young age.)

Janick and Jeff – Blake’s jazz fusion

Nice sexy number, with whips and cages! I was impressed how well Jeff, who looks so Pillsbury dough boy, pulled this off. Amazing what eyeliner can do. Great dancing doesn’t hurt, either. (And apparently not offensive often for either to be eliminated, which is good.)

I’ve left off the “Top 4” show, as it’s not taped yet, but my favorite there was definitely the Sean Cheeseman “royalty” number that Janick and Jeff did. After that, Nico’s contemporary with Denys and Janick.

My picks (not necessarily predictions) for top dancer are 4. Janick 3. Jeff 2. Amanda 1. Denys.