Earlier this week Nigel Lythgoe, a judge on the reality show So You Think You Can Dance stirred up controversy when he commented that the samba danced by male contestants Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel was too effeminate. He later tweeted “The same-sex ballroom guys did remind me of Blades of Glory. However, I’m not a fan of Brokeback ballroom.”

Today he issued an apology and GLAAD seems to have accepted it.

“I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made both during the taping of the So You Think You Can Dance audition and on my personal status update,” said Lythgoe. “I am not homophobic and it was extremely upsetting for me to be classed as such.”

In Saturday’s apology, Lythgoe both explained his actions and took responsibility for the repercussions. The executive producer stated, “I believe the sexual orientation of an auditioner or contestant is irrelevant. The fact that I have unintentionally upset people is distressing to me and it is obvious I have made mistakes that I must learn from. I trust that my humor will be more sensitive and mindful moving forward.”

A happy ending seems imminent for all, as seen in GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano’s reaction to the apology.

“We certainly appreciate the dialogue and the opportunity for Nigel to help further educate people about how words and images matter,” said Giuliano. “His sincere words are appreciated.”

Honestly, I hope that show continues to have controversies from time to time. I really love writing the titles for these articles.

So even though the T has been a bit MIA on her SUTUCD recaps (due to the fact that she has been moving, hanging out with the lovely Beet and traveling the world), she is giving you a liveblogging of the finale show!

We are starting out seeing all of our amazing Top 20 and the judges from the whole season. They are gushing about the kids this year, which is true because this season was…in the words of Crazy Mary Murphy “riding in first class.”

Paula Abdul…our resident crazy from American Idol…is in the audience as well as an 18 year old that was supposed to join us this past season but oops…she had a baby.

We get a good highlight reel of all of the auditions and crazy bad/good dancer highlights. I am a bit weepy weepy seeing the montage of all of these talented young kids from the season. There were some amazing dances this year and seeing them all together is kind of beautiful.

As my mother says, “what in the world is she wearing tonight…what is the hell” and this is referring to Cat’s outfit tonight I realize that Cat is also wearing dead butterflies in her hair. I’m usually a fan of her outfits but this one tonight is about as ill-chosen as Paula Abdul’s Idol outfits.

Our first dance is Tyce Diorio homage to the Lion King. It is beautiful, fun and tribal and it is great to see all of the Top 20 get to dance together again. Love those funky tribal numbers.

Each choreographer is nominating a dance that they want to see again in the finale. Mary Murphy picks the Pasha and Lauren Shane Sparks Hip Hop…otherwise known as the “Transformer Routine.” I have to say this was one of my favorites as well. I had a Pasha crush all season and it was quite hot to see him to a hard-hitting sexy Shane Sparks number.

We get…of course another “audition montage” which we thankfully have been spared of all season. This includes Brandon Norris a clogger that wasn’t chosen to be in the Top 10. This kid is sick at what he does and I have to say clogging to Timberland is kind of hot.

Nigel picks his best performance of the season, which was Wade’s routine with Hok and Jamie. I am totally in agreement with this. The “Hummingbird and the Flower” was fantastic. Seeing this routine again was just magical. Hok and Jamie were two of my favorite dancers all season and it was great to see them do their signature dance again.

Jean Marc Generaux for his favorite dance chose the Shane Sparks Sabra and Dominic Hip Hop routine. Dominic was a joy until he starting making weird faces this season. This was an awesome routine. I love slow Hip Hop and this was such a sexy, fun and real dance.

Evidently Nigel and Cat are going to dance together and I’m getting really really excited…but that is for later in the program. Adam Shankman chose his favorite routine which was Sara and Niel’s “Knock On Wood’ Disco. Neil’s crazy flip still knocks me out and I think this was the point where you realized he was going to go pretty far in the competition. I have no idea what team he plays for but there are thousands of girls out there who are secretly hoping that he is a closet ladies man.

We get a montage of al of the B Boys B Girls and Hip Hoppers. Got to say that these kids are wicked good at what they do. I’ve seen some of these moves in NYC and they don’t hold a candle to them. One dancer that they had to highlight was one of my favorite poppers from the auditions…Brian Gainer. His little dance just bought tears to my eyes even though he is saddled with a disability (scoliosis so bad he can’t lift his arms over his head) he can bring it with his dancing. Seriously, this show is making me almost as emotional as that home makeover story mess.

Now the Top 8 do a Shane Sparks Hip Hop and it is just brilliant. Just hot. It is one of the tour routines and I am hoping that I can finally buy myself some SUTUCD tickets this year.

Wade Robson is up next and his favorite dance was actually my favorite dance of the whole season. “Hip Hip Chin Chin” was the sexiest routine ever and it doesn’t hurt that my crush from last year Dmitry choreographed it. The buzzkill after their amazing dance is that one of them has to be eliminated right after they finish. The eliminated dancer is…Lacey, which isn’t too shocking as she was up against the amazing Danny.

Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls debuts her solo, which is a lot booty shaking and heavy breathing. She is wicked hot but I’m impressed by her ability to dance in 4-inch heels more than anything.

Shane now gets to pick his favorite routine all season, which was Sara and Pasha’s West Coast Swing, choreographed by last year’s winner Benji. I love myself some West Coast Swing.

Tyce’s favorite routine from the season was Danny and Anya’s Foxtrot. Anya never really got a foothold in the competition and she really is a fantastic ballroom dancer. These two were in the bottom two too many times in the beginning and I never could understand why becuase they were magnetic together.

Jean Marc’s favorite for the season is Sara and Jesus’s Hobo routine. Have to say…Miss Sara has been out there a lot tonight. Her stuff really was a big hit this season. Of course this was choreographed by my love Wade Robson.

Mia’s favorite was Neil and Sabra’s table dance choreographed by Mandy Moore. I missed this one so I am super excited to see it. Nothing like a sexy table dance to end out the night. Damn this is sexy. This office environment I wish I always had…yummy. We are now at the point where we are saying goodbye to one dancer. Between Sabra and Neil we have our last dancer in the finale…and it is…Sabra!

The fact right now that it is between Sabra and Danny is totally not shocking. Really I kind of called it a while ago…you can ask my roommate. After the break is Cat’s dance with Nigel and I’m getting too excited. I’m making the call right now that Danny is going to win.

They reprise Mia’s Imogen Heap contemporary routine, which was just an amazing dance. Now it is Cat and Nigel’s sexy routine. Somehow I’m confused because there are some strange bubbleheads dancing around the screen. Such a buzzkill. Seriously I was waiting for a hot dance. Boo. Almost as painful as that “dance” is Ryan Cabrera and his weird dark hair and fedora. Didn’t Ryan Cabrera disappear when he stopped dating Ashlee Simpson. Well I guess this is going to prolong his little fame train. He is singing the send off song “I Will Remember You.” I remembered Ryan a little hotter and a lot less feminine.

This is just the liveblog that just won’t end and we have one more favorite dance of the season via Dan Karaty. His favorite dance was Mia’s flower piece, which I thought, was a bit overdone…but alas it was a bit pretty. I still don’t see the whole dead dad thing but maybe I have no soul.

Lord this is a long show. I’m ready to find out already!!!! We are now in the home stretch and the results are on their way. Of course they let each other know how much they love each other. Boring boring. And now we find out the winner and the Champion is….

SABRA!

I’ve been a bit out of the loop with TV in general which makes me a bit sad. Note to travelers, Croatia is the most beautiful country in the world but they are about six years behind in TV. I actually watched an episode of “Family Matters.”

Before the dancing Nigel addresses the controversy from Jessi leaving last week. I was a bit bummed about that being that she was one of my favorite girls on the show.

Lacey and Kameron- They are tackling the Hustle which sounds a bit odd as a choice of dance and their rehearsal looks like they were having some problems. They start the dance with Kameron doing some fancy acro moves. They have really made Lacey look super hot this week. I thought I would hate this as I really usually think the 70s is a decade that one should just forget but the dance was super fun and sassy. Their lifts are just awesome and the judges just love it. Nigel is worried that Lacey is keeping Kameron through in the show.

Shauna and Cedric- This is the most awkward mambo that I have ever seen. In rehearsals Alex shows us that he not so much knows how to dance but knows how to do that weird shakey thing. He gives it a chance but just looks weird and hunched over. The judges give him props for really getting a handle on this dance. In the end they do pretty well and it is the first week that Cedric seems to actually step it up. He really needs to go home.

Anya and Danny- These two get a lyrical routine which is just amazing. Danny is just a beautiful lyrical dancer and honestly I would love to just watch him spin all day. These two really can just turn up the sex even though Danny lets us know his fun fact is that he is obsessed with designer sunglasses. Hmmmmmm. The judges enjoy it fully but let Danny know that he needs to get America excited about him.

Sara and Pasha- They are going to be doing West Coast Swing and Benji the champ from last year is going to choreograph it with Heidi. Benji hams it up for the camera and really I remember why won last year…he is too funny. The dance starts off a bit shakey but really they hit their stride when they just start to be cute. Sara really doesn’t do it for me but I feel as though they will get votes because of their choreographer. Nigel thinks they had the magic and the other judges follow suit.

Sabra and Dominic- Dominic is such a wierdo, he lets us know in his interview this week that he loves Kat Deeley. They chose Hip Hop, which is Dominic’s specialty, and I am so excited that Shane is doing the choreography. The dance is fluid and sexy and they really are just adorable together. The judges really like the story of the routine and we get a silent Mary scream. She is a nut job. Like Paula-esque nut job.

Jaimie and Hok- They get the American Smooth Waltz, which is Waltz with a story. Hopefully Hok can work this Waltz because it usually is the kiss of death for breakers like him. They are asked if they have a crush on each other and they both giggle like little girls. Dude. They are totally dancing off the dance floor if you catch my drift. Hok does amazingly well with this dance. Jamie gets to show off her amazing extension and this might be my favorite Waltz so far on the show. The judges think Hok is out of his element but he handled it pretty well. Mary would have liked some more quality movement and wasn’t a fan of it technically.

Lauren and Neil- They will be doing Wade Robson Jazz routine. My friend actually waited on Wade in New York this past week and said the he is very nice and has an adorable wife. I’m super glad that he is a good guy because really I’m a big fan. The dance is weird like Wade’s stuff usually is but it was beautifully executed. Neil is quickly becoming one of my favorite dancers. He really commits to the weirdness of this and I fully love it. The judges are in love with their routine and love that they really had the full package. Nigel brings out the cheese ball and points to Vanessa Williams when he states that they had “saved the best for last.” Lame.

This week after Anya, Danny, Shauna, Cedric, Jaimie, and Hok danced for their lives we said goodbye to Shauna and Cedric which isn’t too much of a shock.

This was a good week! Exited for tonight and I will be posting up the recap right after the show :)

Lauren and Neil- Neil and Laura are a fun youthful little couple. Last week their Samba was adorable but just a little too cutesy for the judges. This week they do Hip-Hop and they are quite awesome at getting down with their bad ‘selves. Lauren seems a bit inhibited by her weird 80s prom outfit that they have put her in and Neil kind of rocks her in the performance. He’s got an electric smile and really hits all of the moves. They throw in a few acro tricks for him and are shockingly good and I find myself really enjoying the performance. I’m kind of nostalgic however for Benji and Donyelle’s Hip-Hop last year because it was so fun to see them flirt and interact. This Hip-Hop routine seems kind of like they are both in their own little worlds. Mia lost a lot of Lauren in the performance and Mary really thinks they are getting a good chemistry. Nigel is impressed at how the night has started. I’m a bit sad because usually Mary is a bit Paula drunken crazy and tonight she seems a bit tame.

Jessi and Pasha- These two dancers are so freaking sexy. Pasha is a Russian Ballroom Champion and Jessi has a cool funky earth mother style. They are so well matched and have enough chemistry that last week their waltz was heavenly. This week they are given Jazz and Tyce choreographs one of the cooler routines I’ve seen in the history of this show. It combines Pasha’s sex appeal with Jessi’s earth mother sexy and once again they mesh beautifully. They are totally committed to this weird tribal bird dance and are perfectly in sync the whole time. Pasha now officially is the “dancer that all the girls want to have sex with” in the competition. Those Russian Ballroom boys really do it for me. Mia thinks they are just amazing and is quite impressed at Pasha’s growth. Mary also thinks it is terrific and is just taken by Jessi’s unique style. Nigel loves them as well. I think he has a bit of an old man crush on Jessi.

Jaimie and Hok- They are a bit of a mismatched couple but I am just in love with Hok. Their Samba was adorable and just a bit messy but for a man that has never partnered a girl before he did a stand up job. Hok’s smile can really light up a room and no matter what he does I feel like I’ll be voting for him every week. He really seems quite perky doing the Samba and I’m impressed that he tries the whole sexy hip rotation thing. I much rather watching him do the whole B-boy thing. Mia is all in love with everyone tonight. Sometimes I feel like she is smoking the herb…she is just wayyy to mellow. Mary obviously has some issues with the fact that Hok has some footwork issues with it comes to ballroom but still gives them an “At” for effort. Nigel loves the performance but also thinks that they need to work on perfecting their ballroom technique.

Dominic and Sabra- I’m shocked to learn that Sabra just learned how to dance four years ago. She really reminds me of Allison from last year. Last week this couple barely survived the 70s Disco and had to dance for their life. Mandy Moore (I seriously laugh every time they say her name, I really think that actual Mandy is going to come out and teach a routine to “Candy”) teaches them a Contemporary routine. They win at the get go because they are dancing to “I’ll Stand By You.” They are incredibly fluid together and have an amazing connection while partnering. I’m super impressed by them tonight. Dominic really warms my heart and Mia thinks that he really is what “this competition is about.” He is a breaker who is opening himself up and learning some new stuff and I even had a tear while watching them dance together. Mia thinks Sabra is a “heavenly little creature” and starts crying as well. Nigel points out the fact that Dominic shaved his toes, which really shows devotion. Honestly they are electric and by the end of the judging I am really moved. Really this is the couple that makes me cry tonight.

Faina and Cedric – Foxtrot is never a good idea when you are working with dancers that don’t really mesh well together. Unfortuneatly this is the dance that Faina and Cedric are given this week and I’m a little worried. Cedric is really good at what he does (Funky Pop Lock Thing) but to be honest I don’t know if he really does well in other styles. I have to say I’m not impressed by this performance. It seems a bit amateur and just not very compelling. To illustrate this fact during this dance my roommate painted her nails and I looked at birthday gifts for my dog. After some shockingly good performances I’m pretty sure that this routine will put them in the bottom 3. Mia calls it “Ginger Rogers and an insecure Michael Jackson.” Mia doesn’t like Cedric’s arm lines and thinks that he isn’t moving from his Hip Hop into new styles of dance very well. Nigel thinks Cedric let his partner down and that he needs to step it up.

Lacey and Kameron – This week they are given a Tyce Broadway routine which is great since they both have super fun personalities. They really have meshed as a couple and have crazy chemistry. We also found out this week what Lacey was hiding under all those baggy dance clothes. She has a hot little body and is a bit naughty. Last year’s winner Benji and his family is in the audience cheering Lacey on (if you haven’t figured out she is the little sis of Benji). Mia critiqued Kameron for hot having enough jazzy jazz hands. Mia loved it and Nigel loves their partnership. They cut to Lacey’s dad who has one of those digital reader boards. I love it when they show people’s dorky parents. I think they were just lovely and even though they were not the best this week they will be safe for sure. I kind of want Lacey to dance for her life, however, because one of her specialties is Crumping.

Anya and Danny- Their dance this week is the Viennese Waltz. They have some problems in rehearsal with the romance. Danny is a bit aloof and Anya kind of has that perky “I don’t speak English well” thing going on. The combo in the studio is a bit odd. Many folks fail when it comes to the waltzing but they rock it out. They both have lovely graceful lines, which really make this work. Anya seems to be rushing it a bit but I really am obsessed with Danny’s extension. Mia and Mary love their dancing. Mary is very impressed by their moves and I understand that this was an amazing dance because for the first time ever I was not bored to tears watching the Viennese Waltz.

Shauna and Jimmy- Dave Scott is going to be teaching this couple to get down Hip Hop style. He is going to add in some stepping…yikes. This couple I have to say is the least dynamic of the whole bunch and I can’t really get excited about them. Their dance kind of reminds me of a high school Pom Pom squad. It is all over the place and really in my opinion not that exciting. As cute as Shauna is the other girls just blow her out of the water. Mia wants Shauna to let go a bit more and Mary also was pretty impressed by their routine. Nigel was impressed and thought their routine had a lot of fun to it. I have a feeling that if they don’t go next week they will be gone soon.

Sara and Jesus- Last week they rocked the house doing a Wade Robson routine. Sara is a B-Girl so this week’s Paso Double should be an interesting challenge for her. Jean Mac Generaux, aka “Frenchie” as I like to call him, is one of my favorite choreographers. The music choice for the Paso Double is a little odd (We Will Rock You By Queen) and I think the non-Latin music makes the dance lose power. They do well on the tricks but Jesus really out-dances Sara. Sara seems nervous and really has a problem looking super feminine. Mia finds the dance awkward and can’t really figure out why…she thinks it is the music and I totally agree with her. Mary loved the routine and gives props to Sara for dancing in heels for the first time. She loves Jesus’s fire Nigel enjoyed seeing Sara out of her normal baseball cap and sweatpants. I worry they might be in the bottom 3 next week but I think no matter what the judges will keep them going through. Note to the show: you can go outside the box only so much. Don’t take away my hot Latin music…that makes me sad.

Favorites of the Evening:
Jessi and Pasha
Dominic and Sabra

Should Go Home Tomorrow:
Faina and Cedric