In the final night of competition dancing, Amy, Ben, Charlie & Talia kept raising the bar. All 4 dancers showcased their unique talents and any one of them could win.
Talia captivated with her stunning technique and breathtaking dramatic range. Amy radiated performance maturity and girl-next-door appeal. Ben was Gene-Kelly smooth and glowed with warmth and generosity. And Charlie combined dazzling moves with his wacky wit to leave the girls screaming for Dubbo’s Dean of Dance.
Their work is done. After being chosen from thousands of auditions and having survived a gruelling ten weeks since making Top 20, our dancers are now relying on you, Australia. They’ve thrilled, moved and entertained you. Now it’s time for you to reward their efforts. Who is your favourite dancer for 2009?
Top 4 Sunday Night Summary
Charlie & Talia put a stake in the ground with a profoundly moving Lyrical piece and our ballerina then did a seamless shift into sexy for a Tango with Mr Reliable, Ben. His Hip Hop with Amy misfired for Jason but the fault lay with the costumes and chorey. Amy regrouped for a cheeky Samba with Charlie that highlighted her professionalism and his personality.
Chucky charmed again in a Gene Kelly tribute but Ben edged him in the dancing and won more fans with his generosity. Amy & Talia, wearing one high-heel and one pointe shoe, were impossible to separate in their duo before they all did solos that completely captured their 4 distinct personas. Each dancer performed 5 times and Matt said they’d “sleep well”. Possibly not until they find out how you’ve voted. Australia, get to it.
Top 4 Group Routine – Supple Hip Hop
The biggest show of our Final 4’s lives opened with a Hip Hop piece by Supple that was light and fun - in contrast to what our dancers were actually feeling. The judges declined to pass judgment on their individual performances but Matt urged them to “dance your butts off”.
Talia & Charlie “Train Station” Lyrical
Duffy performed on this very stage less than a month ago. For Top 4 night, Debbie Ellis Linnert took the Welsh singer’s “Warwick Avenue” and crafted an emotionally charged end-of-relationship Lyrical that included a spectacular leap by Talia off the platform seat into Charlies’ safe arms. All aboard!
Bonnie said they were “wired so differently” but they’d both made “such a connection” and her heart was “pounding”. Jason “totally believed the journey”. He said Talia pulled off “partner angst very well” and her developé to second was “ballistic”. Charlie had taken ownership of the routine himself and “looked after Talia’s needs”. Matt said “the other guys are going to have to bring it ‘cause that was outstanding”.
Talia & Ben “Whatever Lola wants” Tango
Talia said in her blog that Ben and she had been wanting to do a Tango for weeks. Here they got their chance. Ben became libertine Juan Carlos hoping to conquer Talia’s Lola in a routine by Fabio Robles to a Gotan Project Remix of Sarah Vaughn’s “Whatever Lola wants”.
Jason found Talia “very sexy” and felt she’d “really blossomed in the last 3 months”. The dance suited “the Ben pride thing” that he has going on but that he got left slightly behind by Talia’s intensity. Matt liked Talia’s footwork and said Ben was a great partner but would have liked “a little more passion”. Bonnie disagreed saying they had passion aplenty and she couldn’t split them.
Ben & Amy Ice Princess Lyrical Hip Hop
Amy went to Newtown High School of Performing Arts with her choreographer Travers Ross and worked with him in Top 18. Here she and Ben were performing a routine where his Ice Prince found her dead Ice Princess. Unfortunately, the reception was, in parts, a little frosty.
Not from Matt, who found it “awesome”. He said Ben “really sat in that” and really believed his commitment while Amy’s performance experience allows her get out on stage and “sell it”. Bonnie asked whether she could believe in what was going, and she could.
Jason said he wonders sometimes “if I’m watching a different show” because he “didn’t get the best out of that”. The costume and the chorey were fighting and Amy looked less an Ice Queen and more a Snow Bunny. “It didn’t grab” him and “it didn’t go anywhere”. But he thought they were both “amazing” and wished he had better news.
McDonald's "i'm lovin' it" moment - Easter Special and for Season 2
Winner of the Macca's moment from the Easter Special was the Matt Lee-choreographed Top 4 "Womaniser" group routine. Nat announced that this week we want you to vote for your McDonald's "i'm lovin' it" moment for the year. You could win great prizes!
Amy & Charlie “Mas Que Nada” Samba
This was Charlie’s first Latin dance of the competition – Tango is not Latin apparently. It was also his first couple routine with Amy. And his first Ballroom routine NOT choreographed by Jason Gilkison. This time up it was Aleeta Blackburn who crafted a Samba to “Mas Que Nada” by Sergio Mendes featuring the Black Eyed Peas.
Bonnie said the Samba required a lot of small steps and Charlie “wasn’t perfect” but they’d done “an excellent job”. Jason thought Amy was “a safe performer” whom he never feared wouldn't pull something off. Ballroom hadn’t produced Charlie’s finest moments but this was his best “by far”. Matt loved Charlie’s cheeky character and Amy was doing “such a fabulous job tonight”.
Ben & Charlie Gene Kelly Mirror Image Broadway
Ben said in his Blog that he grew up watching Gene Kelly movies so he was thrilled to get to re-enact one of the hoofer’s most memorable scenes from Cover Girl. Choreographer was Cameron Mitchell and the contrasting track was Billy Idol’s “Dancing with myself”. The crowd went off.
Jason thought it was a fantastic routine and a great shame that Charlie had slipped off the stage at the end but it “didn’t spoil it”. He said Gene Kelly had been known for being effortless and Ben had conveyed that quality more than Charlie, but Charlie’s line had been superior.
Matt said unison was important and they had been fantastic except for a turning jeté where Ben was “just behind the beat”. He loved Charlie’s precision and Ben’s elegance. Matt felt the Gene Kelly style was more Ben than it was Charlie, but in the turns Charlie had been better.
Ben wanted to add how much he’d enjoyed working with Charlie because “you’re a great dancer and you’re a great person”. “Ditto” said Charlie.
Talia & Amy “One High Heel, One Pointe” Contemporary
Perhaps to give each girl at least half of their genre, Sarah Boulter put Talia & Amy in one high heel and one pointe shoe in a Contemporary routine to an Adam Freeland remix of Sarah Vaughn’s “Fever”.
Amy said it was a little bit intimidating getting on pointe next to Talia but Matt said she had “no need to feel inferior” to the ballerina. Talia had beautiful extensions but Amy had the maturity. Bonnie thought it was “a great idea” and “really incredible, both of you”.
Jason loved that the show’s “two strongest and most versatile dancers” were standing in front of him. He thought Talia’s line was “slightly longer” but Amy had more “performance maturity”. He felt that was because Amy was a decade older but she was quick to point out it was actually only 7 years.
Top 4 Solos
The Top 4 drew Solo songs from a hat and then had to craft their own choreography over the Easter weekend.
Charlie was first up, performing a “Lyrical Rock Hip Hop” to Kings Of Leon’s “Revelry. In his blog, he was concerned it wouldn't show his clown side. He concern was entirely unnecessary. It was pure Chucky Cheese.
Amy drew Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” and said in her blog that the track had “grown” on her. Her solo was full of all the light, joy and technical excellence we’d expect of the Gosford girl.
Having had a disastrous understated solo at Top 14, and a brilliant display of exuberance at Top 6, Ben opted for the latter course again here, playing with the crowd and enjoying himself as he said he would.
Talia said in her blog that she’d spent 8 hours up in Brisbane choreographing her solo and it showed. Dancing to Rihanna’s “Take a Bow”, she sought to display not just technique but emotional depth and she transported the arena.
Fab 4 get standing ovation
Nat called our Fab 4 up on stage and the crowd stood as one to applaud not just their incredible performances tonight but to acknowledge their extraordinary achievement in having gone the distance. The crowd went, in Jason’s words, “sick”.
Judges Final Comments
Matt said the dancers could all “sleep well” knowing they’d done everything they could to get to number one. He had “nothing but love and respect” for all of them. Bonnie didn't know how Australia was going to decide but had goosepimples thinking about it.
Jason said Charlie was a “reality TV dream” who had grown as a dancer and was a great guy loved by all. Amy was an “incredible, dedicated, disciplined, talented dancer” he had “the utmost respect for”. Ben was a “thoroughbred racehorse” with “fantastic male energy” who had “barely faulted in the competition”. Talia was a much better dancer than when she began and she had peaked, as a good athlete does, in the last few weeks, getting “better and better and better”.
Australia: The Decision is yours
For the dancers, the competition is over. While our Top 4 – and some other old favourites – will dance at our Finale on Sunday April 26, by that time the voting will be closed and the decision will have been made. Who will it be? Who deserves it most? Amy, Ben, Charlie or Talia? You’ve been watching the show. Who most deserves the title, “Australia’s favourite dancer”?
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