SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Recap – Top 20 Perform

The real competition started tonight when the Top 20 dancers performed on Season 3 of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. This is going to be a crazy good season. These dancers are simply amazing. The Top 20 have so much talent, and if the first night of competition is any indication as to how hot this season will be we were in for a hellagood time.

Before we get into the break down of each of the couples, let me first say how excited I was to see the familiar faces of the S2 contestants in the audience. Last season’s winner, Benji Schwimmer, was there to cheer on lil sis Lacey. Finalist BF Travis was there to support his brother Danny. And then along for the ride were Donyelle, Dimtry, Allison and wait for it…wait for it…Jailbait Ivan. YAY!! I know there season is over and it’s all about the new kids, but it was so fun to see them again.

Ok on to Season 3…

Jamie & Hok were first up and danced a Hip Hop routine choreographed by Shane Sparks. Hok was lucky as he was able to dance his specialty during the first round. Jamie being a contemporary dancer wasn’t sure how she would fare, but Jaime more than held her own. It was hard not to watch Hok because he’s that good but Jamie did her thing. The judges all loved the dance (although Nigel slightly dissed Shane’s choreography…ouch) and gave Jamie her credit.

Anya & Danny were up next. The ballroom dancer from Russia and the trained, contemporary danced who just happens to be the adopted brother of BF Travis Wall (Season 2 finalist) took on The Jive. It was fun and fast and the two looked so good together. I will say that at times I was a little distracted by Danny’s very classical movements which seemed off for the jive, but the judges went crazy for the routine, so what do I know? These two were Mary Murphy’s favorite couple of the night, which is a big win for week one.

Lacey & Kameron took the stage next with a contemporary routine choreographed by the brilliant Mia Michaels. Listen, if it’s Mia Michaels then you best not screw it up, because not only will she kick your ass, but I’ll be right behind her because I want to enjoy her routine and now watch some dancers ruin it. Lucky for Lacey and Kameron their performance garnered no ass kicking. The choreography was INSANE and they more than did it justice. Lacey Schwimmer really surprised me by how fantastic she was in the genre of dance. She left it all out on the stage. I still think she might be a little full of herself, but if she can back it up then more power to her. Oh and on a side note…remember when we kept hearing from her big brother Benji last season how he was saving himself for marriage? Yeah, I’d bet a year’s salary that little sis Lacey doesn’t share her brother’s view on abstinence. Something tells me she’s dirrty and I’m convinced she and Kameron took in some ‘late night’ practicing.

Sabra & Dominic, a contemporary dancer and a B-Boy are taking on a disco routine by Doriana Sanchez. I’ll be honest, disco is my least favorite of all the dance genres featured on the show. I cringed when I saw them take the stage in the tight clothes, but they quickly won me over. Dominic really blew me away because I thought he was a one hit wonder being a B-boy. My bad. He was great, and even more so when you consider that this was his first time every dancing with a partner. The judges weren’t over the top excited but they gave them the due credit considering it was a new kind of dance for both of them.

Ashlee & Ricky are tackling an Argentine Tango by Alex DiSilva. Fans of last season know that Jailbait Ivan and Allison rocked the competition with their tango last season. A very similar routine was taken on by Ashley and Ricky but unfortunately they didn’t have the same results. I think it was a bit unfair that these two be paired together as their height difference is an immediate visual distraction. Ashley is so much taller than Ricky and it looked like she was dragging him around the floor. I felt that Ashley’s movements were a bit slow; almost as if she had cement shoes on. Ricky had nice form and did the best he could but I’m thinking these two will be in the bottom three.

Sarah & Jesus were up next with a pop jazz routine from Wade Robson. Sarah being the only B-girl in the competition, and Jesus, a lyrical dancer lucked out by working with Wade their first week. As you would expect the choreography was sick! Wade brings such originality. Although I was worried at first because the routine seemed a bit like the NSync ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ video (which was also from Wade). But in the end it was all new and different and they performed it well. They could have been more NSync during their performance (sorry I couldn’t help it) but it was well done. The judges loved it and so did the audience.

Jessi & Pasha took on the Waltz by Tony Meredith. Let me just saw WOWZA! Seriously a waltz of that caliber isn’t usually seen this early in the season never mind the first night of competition. Sometimes the male Latin dancers can forget to be good partners because they make it all about them, but Pasha was really incredible. And Jesse blew me away – just gorgeous. I really loved this dance, as did the judges.

Faina & Cedric got to do a hip hop number by Shane Sparks. During the audition phase we found out that Faina had issues with genres outside of her ballroom specialty. And Nigel wasn’t a big fan of Cedric and feared that he would be a bad partner. While I won’t go as far as to say that this was a bad performance, it certainly wasn’t my favorite of the night. Faina really struggled at times, yet still did well as this was a new type of dance for her. Cedric, being a little more comfortable in the genre was amazing. Overall it was ‘eh’ from me…and the judges as well.

Lauren & Neil got assigned a Salsa routine from Alex DiSilva during week one. These two professional dancers were expected to waltz (pun completely intentional because I’m trying to show you that I’m witty) through the routine, so when they ran into some troubles in rehearsals some were worried. When it came to the performance, they pulled things together as best they could. They look amazing and I think they are going to be a major force in this competition, but tonight wasn’t their best night. I thought at times that their turns and movements looked a little sluggish and a few times I thought Neil had almost lost control of Lauren. That being said, it’s important to note that Neil is an early favorite to be my S3 Jailbait Ivan. I’m not ready to make that type of commitment just yet (and I certainly couldn’t do it tonight with Jailbait in the audience), but maybe soon.

Shauna & Jimmy closed out the night with a Broadway routine by Tyce Diorio. Fun! Fun! Fun! Their dance to ‘Ease on Down the Road’ from The Wiz was so much fun to watch and it had so much energy that I loved every second of it. I’ll be honest I wasn’t really focusing on each of them individually because I was so caught up in the routine, but at the end of the day isn’t that what it’s all about? The judges agreed it was fun but they didn’t love it as much as I did. Nigel wasn’t all that impressed by Shauna (or her outfit) but he is looking forward to seeing more from her in the future.And that, ladies and gentlemen, are your Top 20 dancers. Tomorrow night Cat Deeley will let us know what three couples garnered the least amount of votes from the audience. Those three women and three men will have to Dance for Their Lives before the judges determine which one guy and one girl will go home. I can’t wait.

My bottom three prediction:
Ashely & Rickey
Faina & Cedric
Sabra & Dominic