SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Top 20 Performance

Note: Sorry for the promised live blogging last night. Technical difficulties had me watching on my Slingbox. Here’s what would have posted last night.

Let the games begin! Tonight the Top 20 dancers will be paired together and compete for the judges votes. At the end of the show, one guy and one girl will be sent home.

This week’s injury report is brought to you by Paula Abdul’s empty chair:
As most of you have heard, Billy Bell had to leave the competition due to illness, so tonight we’ll see Brandon Dumlao for the first time on the stage. Also, earlier today it was revealed that Noelle Marsh also suffered an injury. Per the rules, she’ll have one week to get medical clearance to dance. If she can’t, then she too will have to leave the competition.

Tonight the role of Noelle will be played by the fabulous Melanie Lapatin, who if I remember correctly has previously danced during the live show alongside Pasha when his partner was injured.

So sad for both Billy and Noelle. And speaking of sick, it seems our favorite hostess with the mostess is a little sick too. Cat sound a little raspy tonight – but she looks damn fine so who cares, right?

But let’s get to the partner reveals and the dancing!

Channing Cooke (Contemporary) and Phillip Atmore (Tapper)
Jazz by Jason Gilkison

My Take: Being the first couple to take the stage on the first night has got to be nerve racking, but we the audience aren’t suppose to see it. Phillip, one of my least favorite going into the competition was definitely the stronger of the two tonight. Channing looked shell shocked. You could almost see her counting the steps in her head. And her posture was terrible during the whole performance. I never notice things like that but it really stood out to me tonight. She was a bit better in the second half of the routine though. These two had zero chemistry, which I’m willing to overlook a bit, again given that it’s the first week, but on the whole I didn’t really enjoy it.

The Judges: All three judges stayed positive but offered important criticism. They all commented on the lack of energy near the end of the piece. Nigel thought their moves could have been sharper. Mary wanted more than she got.

Ashleigh Di Lello (Ballroom) and Jakob Karr (Contemporary)
Broadway by Tyce Diorio

My Take: Well, well, well, that was certainly sultry ballroom. Ashleigh knows how to sell it, no doubt about that. But dude, how many times are we going to have to hear that she is married to Ryan? We get it. Move on people. As for Jakob, he’s very much an early favorite of mine and has been from the auditions. He was phenomenal tonight. Problem is, those two were doing two completely different dances on that stage. I don’t know if it was their lack of chemistry, Tyce’s choreography or the hideous new stage, but something wasn’t quite working. I know Tyce wants to choreo to strengths and Jakob has incredible gymnastic abilities and gorgeous lines, but I felt the routine kind of left Ashleigh out to dry. She was standing around and watching Jakob due his thing. My first thought was that this was more of a Will/Jessica pairing where every week Jakob will just outshine Ashleigh. But maybe he will force her to raise her game. We’ll see.

The Judges: Adam applauded Tyce on the choreography so maybe I was wrong there. He also told Jakob that God put him on the Earth to spread…the gospel of dance. (Honestly that sentence could have gone just about anywhere). Mary thought Ashleigh was “phenomenal”. Nigel offered the same about Ash, but went on to gush that Jakob was one of the best dancers ever on the show.

Ariana Debose (Contemporary) and Peter Sabasino (Tapper)
Hip Hop by NappyTabs

My Take: Now more than ever I’m glad we got last night’s Top 20 showcase, because if this was the first time we saw some of these dancers, I’d be more weary of the season ahead. Once again there was something off about this routine. The story was there. The music supported the story and the routine, but I think the music hurt the performance because it didn’t really kick in until about half way through. There were times where Arianna and Peter were really tight with their synchronization, but on the whole they were off. Not only with the steps but with their characters and execution thereof. He was smoother when she was more rigid and and vice versa. I don’t think that’s the way it was choreographed. Both danced outside of their genre so one couldn’t lean on the other for support. Not terrible, but not great either. God, I’m harsh tonight.

The Judges: The Shanks and I are back on the same page for the moment. He too thought they weren’t dancing the same styles. Neither Nigel or Mary were all that impressed either. The judges are sending two people home tonight so there’s little room for error tonight.

Noelle Marsh (Jazz) and Russell Ferguson (Krumper) and Melanie Lapatin
Fox Trot by Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin

My Take: Oh no, poor Russell was the one partnered with Noelle this week. How stressful it must be to switch partners at the last minute like this?! But YES! YES! YES! the boy nailed it. He was so damn suave out there. He sold it big time. I’m not convinced that Russell hasn’t had any formal dance training, but I don’t care, because he’s one hell of a performer. He was classic. So excited for him right now. And Melanie was ok too I guess. Kidding…how fabulous for her to step in like this at the last minute? She was wonderful but definitely made sure the spotlight remained on Russell.

The Judges: As I thought he would be, Adam was quite impressed with what Russell brought to the stage tonight. Mary and Nigel offered up minor critiques for him to think about, but they too were blown away by what he was able to accomplish not only in this short time, but with the added challenge of dancing with two new partners this week.

Bianca Revels (Tapper) and Victor Smalley (Contemporary)
Contemporary by Travis Wall

My Take: You had me at Travis. Sigh, how I love BF Trav. Oh right, it’s not about him. It’s about what Bianca and Victor did with this piece. And what they did was just spectacular. Once again Travis created a routine with such depth and interest that you couldn’t help but see the story and feel the connection and intentional disconnection between these two dancers. No chemistry problems here. Victor was spectacular, but he had the advantage of dancing in his own genre. Bianca on the other hand was stunning in her execution. I loved the part when he walked along as she rolled along beside him desperate to keep the connection. So many interesting things about this routine – my favorite so far.

The Judges: Adam thought Victor was brilliant dancing in his own genre. He offered up some important technique advice to Bianca, and as all the judges did, he praised Travis on the routine. Mary and Nigel were both so impressed with the passion, the chemistry and the confidence of the dance and of this partnership. These two aren’t going anywhere tonight.

Karen Hauer (Ballroom) and Kevin Hunte (Hip Hop)
Cha Cha by Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin

My Take: Yikes! The only good thing I have to say about the routine is that they used the “Push It” version by the cast of Glee. There was so much wrong. Kevin was clearly out of his element, but I was even more disappointed by Karen who as a Latin ballroom dancer should have been able to offer up more. Yes, I’m sure she was held back a lot by her partner, but she should have overcompensated a bit and she didn’t. She looked gorgeous and sexy, but her hips weren’t moving nearly as much as they could have. And their intricate moves and lifts looks like they were done in slow motion. It was so uncomfortable to watch.

The Judges: Shankamn started off with the same word I did…”Yikes” but he meant it in a much more complimentary way. It seems he couldn’t take his eyes off Karen, and added “for those of you who know me, you know that’s not really my thing”. HA! But overall he was quite complimentary to the pair. As was Mary Murphy who put Karen right on the hot tamale train tonight. She told us that Russell can pack his bags and wait on the platform but he’s not on the train just yet. Nigel was also complimentary to the work Kevin did, and of course he was gaga over Karen. Listen, I respect these judges, so I’ll give this dance another look. But when I write my take, I write with my immediate gut instinct. Doesn’t mean I’m right but I don’t like to be swayed by the judges.

Ellenore Scott (Jazz) and Ryan Di Lello (Ballroom)
Contemporary Jazz by Sonya Tayeh

My Take: Sometimes it’s just Sonya’s world and we are just along for the adventure. She’s bizarre and strange but in the most interesting ways. One of my favorite all time SYTYCD routines was Sonya’s “The Garden” and there were elements of that raw, deep quality in the piece tonight. Ellenore and Ryan completely gave themselves over to the performance and didn’t hold back an inch. Whether or not the routine would be a crowd favorite, I’m not sure, but I thought there was some really exciting moments on the stage during that piece.

The Judges: All agreed that the pair were fantastic. Nigel noted that he was so impressed that both the dancers stepped so far out of their own genre that no one at home would really know they weren’t dancing in their own style. A ballroom dancer herself, Mary complimented Ryan on how much he did to break away from the steadfast rules of ballroom to perform this piece.

Pauline Mata (Jazz) and Brandon Dumlao (Hip Hop)
Smooth Waltz by Jason Gilkison

Now listen, I’m no ballroom expert (well I’m no dance expert at all but that hasn’t stopped me from yakking about this show for four years so why stop now), so I don’t know if this dance was technically a mess or not. But I can say that although I saw some obvious flaws, I also saw a gorgeous dance that entertained me enough. We’ve seen worse Waltz’s than this one in the past and much later in the season too. It was beautiful to watch Pauline just float across that dance floor. And given the week that Brandon has had, and that he’s just thrown into all of this, I thought he did a more than fair job in partnering her. It’s hard to separate the tumultuous week these two had from their performance, but I guess that’ the job of the judges tonight.

The Judges: All critiqued Brandon’s lack of technique and none of the judges were all that impressed. Nigel mentioned that it wouldn’t be fair to the other dancers to give them a pass based on this week’s events. I’m not sure if Brandon traveled all this way for nothing, but that vibe is definitely out there tonight. I think these two may end up dancing for their lives tonight.

Kathryn McCormick (Contemporary) and Legacy Perez (B-Boy)
Hip Hop by Dave Scott

My Take: I love me some Dave Scott! I thought routine was an absolute blast! Kathryn and Legacy really brought their characters to life on the stage. It was fun to watch and both dancers really came together to perform it well. Yes, Legacy got a bit of a break pulling hip hop, but I thought he brought a lot more than I expected to the routine. And crying Kathryn certainly moved up a few spaces on my list and showing how down and dirty she can be me.

The Judges: I’m not sure if I can remember what the judges had to say because Mary Murphy’s voice is still ringing in my ears. Good governor that woman can scream. All three judges were very excited about the routine and for what the future holds for these two as partners.

Mollee Gray (Jazz) and Nathan Trasoras (Contemporary)
Disco by Doriana Sanchez

My Take: I don’t know how many of you watch Realite on EW.com, but if you don’t you should because it’s one of my favorite bits of web content out there. Anyway, in this week’s Realite Michael Slezak made mention that Mollee Gray really could only be paired with Nathan. Mollee is so young and she looks so young that pairing her with one of the older dancers could put off a very uncomfortable vibe given the amount of sexual dance exploration that happens almost every week on the show. Can you imagine Mollee with someone like Ryan? Ugh. It could happen at some point, but I think she and Nathan are the logical pair. And they are cute as a button, aren’t they? Well, moving on – as some of you know by now, I’m not a fan of the disco. Doriana always thrills us with some death defying moves, but on the whole it’s my least favorite style of dance. But I think Mollee and Nathan did a respectable job. They had to put a lot of trust in each other in this first week as a pair because of some of those spins and lifts were downright dangerous. Nathan is such a favorite of mine, that I was sad we didn’t get to see more of his natural talent, but I’m not worried because that boy isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The Judges: The threesome couldn’t help but talk about the infectious energy of these two teens and how damn adorable they are together. Nigel called out Adam on not liking disco, but Adam didn’t back down saying he thought it was a social dance and not one for a competitive series. Here here Shankman! I don’t think the judges actually talked about their dancing, but I think it was understood that these two chipmunks are safe for the week.

Now the Tough Part…
So now all ten couples have competed. The judges will deliberate and ask two guys and two girls to dance for their lives. The judges will then send two people home.

My prediction of who will dancing solos tonight are: Brandon, Pauline, Phillip and Ashleigh

But as it happened the judges chose Ariana, Pauline, Russell, and Brandon

Now, the way I see it, the judges chose Russell because it will be easy for him to beat Brandon who is sure to go home tonight. No doubt. But as for the girls, it’s a tougher sell. I remember both from Vegas Week but I haven’t seen enough to know who the judges favorite will be. But remember, if Noelle doesn’t return than both these girls will continue on with the show.

Time to dance for their lives.

While I thought all three of the four did a respectable job in their solos, Russell was by far the stand out among the group. I’m not sure what Brandon was doing up there but it seemed more Contemporary than Hip Hop. Pauline was definitely the stronger of the two girls, but Ariana didn’t let herself down.

The judges had a tough choice but in the end it was Ariana and Brandon who went home tonight. But remember, if Noelle isn’t cleared to dance, Ariana will be back next week and be partnered with Russell.

As for Brandon, Nigel is going to talk to the powers that be to see if the rules can be changed so Brandon can audition once again in the future. He wasn’t technically put in the Top 20 so there might be a loop hole (a loop hole that Nigel himself could probably settle with one phone call).

But what still breaks my heart tonight is that Billy Bell won’t be able to return based on those same rules.

On the whole I thought it was a tough first night. Some great moments, but more importantly a promise for a great season. There are some talented dancers this season and I know things will only go up from here.

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted! I’ve done so much damn writing that you best bring it in the comments. (Note to self: Get better soon so we can podcast….it’s so much easier than all this writing stuff! HA!)

Thanks for and his reader for the videos.

I’m officially turning it over to you!