SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Top 20 Performances
June 11, 2009 by Kath Skerry
Tonight couldn’t come quick enough. I’ve been thinking about SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE all day! The top 20 are taking the stage for the first time in competition. Can you stand it? This is the first time we’ll be seeing some of the dancers really perform. Some certainly have had major screen time, but just ask Kris Allen – you don’t need a whole back story and lots of hype upfront to win big. Better yet, ask Danny Gokey.
I can only hope that my excitement lasts throughout the entire 2-hour episode. Since it’s 11:30pm on the East Coast and I’m just starting to watch, I’ll do my best to capture my true feelings on each pair as I’m watching.
If you’re new to my SYTYCD recaps, please forgive me if this reads a bit strange. I tend to blog as I watch, so as not to be influenced by the judges evaluation.
Let’s do this…
TV’s best reality host, Cat Deeley, is looking sassy as usual as she welcomes us to Season 5. One by one the twenty dancers take the stage for their solo intros. And with the words “these are the girls” and “here are your guys”, I’m already choked up. (It’s worth pointing out that based on the 2-second solos that each of the dancers get, the ladies better be ready to bring their game because this an impressive set of male dancers.)
Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome your…judges (somewhere Ducky is cringing right now). Tonight’s panel, as always includes Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe, ballroom expert Mary Murphy, and tonight’s special guest is a personal favorite of mine, the multi-talented Adam Shankman. The Shankman lets us know that he is producing three movies right now, one of which is “Step Up 3D” featuring a number of ex-SYTYCDancers including Twitch, Joshua, Katee and my boy Jailbait Ivan! I’m there.
Before we get to the Top 20, I thought it only fair that I let you know that I’ve got two boys in the running for this year’s SYTYCD boyfriend. Hopefully these guys will do the work and remain worthy of my special love and affection. The two guys I have my eye on are Jason Glover and Tony Bellisimo. Will my fickle heart be swayed by another. Stay tuned to find out.
Jeanine Mason & Philip Chbeeb | Hip-Hop | by Napoleon & Tabitha
Jeanine Mason & Philip Chbeeb
NappyTabs are known for their lyrical Hip Hop and tonight’s story really carried throughout the piece. I don’t think there is anyone in the competition that can outshine Philip when he’s doing his thing, but I think Jeanine did an amazing job of keeping up with him. Philip hit the moves a little harder while Jeanine stayed a bit more fluid. I’m not sure if that was by design or not. Either way it worked. But it was hard to keep my eyes off Philip – the kid is sick.
The Judges: The Shankman summed up all three of the judges take by calling the dance “Unfreakinbelivable”. All three were in awe of Philip, but praised Jeanine for holding her own with such a strong hip hop dancer.
Asuka Kondoh & Vitolio Jeune | Broadway | by Tyce Diorio
Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune
Talk about demanding your attention. Asuka’s smile was damn near contagious! I think given time, these two will develop a strong partnership. I didn’t feel the instant chemistry that I did with the previous couple. I thought Asuka & Vitolio both danced really well, but they didn’t dance as well as they will together, given time. I thought the choreography lacked a little something tonight.
The Judges: Shankman thought it felt a little more artificial than the previous dance. Mary was left a little disappointed as she thought it was too safe. Nigel thought the dancing was great but their whole personalities weren’t in it. Yikes.
Karla Garcia & Jonathan Platero | Cha Cha | by Tony Meredith
Karla Garcia & Jonathan Platero
Hey now…who is this Jonathan boy? Hmm. As for the pair, that was one tough dance to take on, none the less their first week. I thought Jonathan partnered her really well. On the whole I thought Jonathan was the stronger of the two. Karla is obviously very talented, but tonight she didn’t follow through on all the moves. It was like she was ahead of the dance in her mind. And she played to the camera WAY too much. It was like she was always looking for it. I’d tell her not to worry because the camera will find her, but then again this is SYTYCD and this show has some of the worst camera operators in reality television. A very difficult dance that I thought they pulled off very well, but it wasn’t perfect. Oh right, it’s week one. Ok I’ll be nicer.
The Judges: Shankman loved it. The pair got a Mary scream. “She likes her Cha Cha rough.” Nigel acknowledged that these two slipped under the radar, but applauded their explosive personalities. He loved it.
Randi & Evan | Jazz | by Tyce Dioro
Evan Kasprzak & Randi Evans
Are you serious? What in good heavens did I just witness?! Randi & Evan’s performance was beyond. That was a performance that would have held up in the season finale, forget about the first week. Mark my words – that dance will be one of the most special routines of the entire season. Bravo to Tyce for some sick choreography. I am so far beyond impressed right now. I can’t imagine another couple will top that tonight. Both of them were BANOODLES!! I liked it so much that I’m going to go back and watch it again before I listen to the judges.
The Judges: Adam said they are vertically challenged but they danced like they were 8-ft tall. Mary loved it all and she said that she thinks these two will be around for quite some time Nigel said they were fantastic, and he thinks these two will be the couple people will be talking about tomorrow.
Paris & Tony | Hip-Hop | by Napoleon & Tabitha
Tony Bellissimo & Paris Torres
Potential SYTYCD BF Tony is still very much running after tonight’s routine. That was fun! A total blast to watch. I thought they really hit it hard tonight. Paris was much better than I thought she would be. Together they make a good couple. Coming off the last performance, it’s clear that it was lacking a little something to make me want to stand up and cheer, but I enjoyed watching it. And Tony is adorable.
The Judges: Adam thought it was good but he had a few buts to his praise. He didn’t think they rebounded off the hard hits well enough. He’s worried that people will get through on being adorable (huh? what? are there people that would vote for him just because he’s j’adorable? Never!!) Mary thought it was good but it wasn’t extraordinary and they are looking for extraordinary this season. Nigel agreed with the other judges. He commented that Tony has a lot of growing to do. (Which makes me ask one again..if he has that much growing to do, why did you put him in the Top 20 over other, more talented dancers. Oh right, (a) because of his looks and (b) because the producers want someone with room to grow. Geesh!)
Caitlin & Jason | Bollywood | by Nakul Dev Mahajan
Jason Glover & Caitlin Kinney
From one potential BF to another. We’ve seen glimpses of Jason Glover, and from what I’ve seen I’ve been impressed. Caitlin Kinney? Well, let’s just say that her looks didn’t hurt her chances for making the Top 20. I’m hoping she really shows me something tonight.
I love me some Bollywood. Last year was the first time we saw this particular genre on SYTYCD and it was one of my personal favorite routines of the whole season. As for tonight, let me just say that the routine as a whole was so bloody fun to watch. The music, the choreography, the costumes, the dancing- pure entertainment. Well done the both of them. If it weren’t Thursday morning already here on the East Coast I would be picking up the phone to vote for them. I will say that at times they had some issues with syncopation. This dance required that the two look like one on their movements. When they hit it, it looked great, but sometimes they were a bit behind/or ahead of the other. But I love the routine. I hope we see more of Nakul’s Bollywood choreography this season.
The Judges: Adam thought they rocked!! Mary was screaming once again. Sista is going to lose her voice by the Top 14 if she doesn’t quit it. Nigel loved it and heaped lots of praise on the twosome.
…and with that, Jason takes a slight edge over Tony. But congratulations, both of you are still in the running to be my Season 5 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE boyfriend.
Janette & Brandon | Foxtrot | by Louis Van Amstel
Brandon Bryant & Janette Manrara
Wait, what show am I watching? The presence of Louis Van Amstel had me thinking I was watching that other dancing show. Whew…he’s with us now. Welcome! I think Janette and Brandon pulled a rough one out of the hat tonight. Ballroom is tough, especially when neither has any training in the genre. I’ve been watching this show for a few years now, and I’m still not sure what makes or breaks a Fox Trot. I did notice Brandon’s shoulders a bit more rounded than they should be (I think). Overall I thought it was a bit snoozy…until the end!! Good Governor those lifts and spins were brazilliant! How did he not drop her? The ending totally saved the routine for me. I feel
The Judges: The Shankman thought it was lovely. Cat asked Mary to “give us and eyebrow and give us your verdict”, to which Mary responded “I can’t anymore because of Botox!” YES! Mary Murphy you just cracked me the frak up. Hilarious. Our Botxed Ballroom expert had nothing but praise for these two. As did Nigel who thought it was beautiful and strong.
Ashley & Kupono | Jazz | by Wade Robson
Ashley Valerio & Kupono Aweau
Wade Robson is back! I love his bizarre, quirky mind. I mean how many choreographers design a routine around crash test dummies? Only Wade. Sometimes the couple he works with can be at a disadvantage because his routines are so often soooo out there. People have a tough time relating. I hope that doesn’t happen tonight. I don’t know if Kupono and Ashley were hitting on all the right steps and using the right technique, but I couldn’t care less. That routine was a feast for the eyes. I was so brought into their storytelling that I wouldn’t have noticed if they made mistakes. Loved it! And I love you Wade Robson.
The Judges: Adam praised the choreography but made a special note to praise Kupono & Ashley for their technique. Mary thought it was marvelous and entertaining. Nigel said they dancers took him to a different world. He was quite pleased. He even went as far as calling Wade a genius. Nigel said something very important – it didn’t matter if people liked it or hated it, because either way they would be talking about it and in turn talking about dance. I thought that was lovely. Then again, I’m sure Kupono & Ashley care whether people liked it because they need the votes.
[For the record, I started watching at 11:30pm. Between watching and writing my review as I go, I just hit the 1:45am mark and we still have two dancers to go. And to answer my own worries from the top of this post – YES, I am still as excited, if not more so than I was at the beginning. Tonight was an absolute treat!]
Melissa & Ade | Contemporary | by Mandy Moore
Ade Obayomi & Melissa Sandvig
“I like a lot of different body parts in a lot of different places” – Oh Mandy Moore, how I love thee. Ok first off, these two are dancing to “Waiting for You” by Richard Marx. This brings me back. To where? You don’t need that info. Ha! There were some very special moments in this piece, but on the whole I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. Those lifts and turns were stunning. Stunning enough that I had to go back and watch them again. Some of their lines were gorgeous, but in general it was lacking something. What? I don’t know. Just going with my gut here. Melissa was distracting but I can’t really say in what way. Maybe I’m biased by her background, but I saw a ballerina out there more than I did a Contemporary dancer. Ade was strong and component and the better of the two in my opinion…but what do I know?! Beautifully choreographed but on the whole, not in my Top 5.
The Judges: I guess I missed something because The Shankman is in tears. He thought it was very special. Mary was beside herself with love for this number. She loved Melissa. Nigel joined his fellow judges in the praise for this pair. Good for them. See, that’s why I’m not a judge.
Kayla & Maksim | Samba | by Louis Van Amstel
Max Kapitannikov & Kayla Radomski
I’m not going to wait for Mary Murphy, I’m going to go ahead and put these two in first class on the hot tamale train. That samba was on fiyah (as us Boston kids would say). Smokin’ hot! I can’t believe that Kayla has never done ballroom before. She was an absolute force of nature on that stage. She demanded that you watched her every move. What a way to end the night. Lo-lo-loved it!
The Judges: The Shankman was HILARIOUS in his review. He was praising the heavens for Kayla. Loved when he told Max that he assumed he was in the number and he was psyched for him, but Shankam was all about Miss Kayla. But he did in the end get serious and properly praise Max, noting that without him Kayla would never been able to do that tonight. As for Mary, as predicted the hot tamale train rolled into the station in a huge way. The woman damn near lost her sh#t. Nigel thought it was a truly sensational routine.
And that’s it. We’re done. What an a AMAZING first night of competition. This is the strongest first night we have ever seen. These kids are going to bring the show to a whole new dimension this summer. If this is what we’re getting Week One then I don’t think I can comprehend what’s in store for us this season.
But it’s not just the dancers. The choreographers that bring us these beautiful and interesting routines are just as important to the show as these twenty dancers.
If it weren’t 2:30am I would be screaming like Mary Murphy after what we saw tonight. But I think my neighbors might be a little annoyed if I did.
Ok, on to the superlatives of the evening.
My top 5 routines…
- Randi & Evan
- Kayla & Maksim
- Caitlin & Jason
- Ashley & Kupono
- Jeanine & Philip
The GMMR at Risk Report…
- Based on the judges comments, the three couples who might be dancing for their lives tomorrow are: Tony & Paris, Asuka & Vitolio, and ???. The first night of competition and only two couples got an iffy response from the judges. And they weren’t even that bad. Who will it be?
Where are all my SYTYCDie Hards?! Can we please, please, please talk about tonight?! I wish I could wake a few of you up right now to discuss. Did you love the show as much as I did? Any early favorites? Which couples do you think risk being in the bottom three? It’s going to be a tough call.
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Filed under #1 featured, Ade Obayomi, Ashley Valerio, Asuka Kondoh, Brandon Bryant, Caitlin Kinney, Evan Kasprzak, Janette Manrara, Jason Glover, Jeanine Mason, Jonathan Platero, Karla Garcia, Kayla Radomski, Kupono Aweau, Max Kapitannikov, Melissa Sandvig, Paris Torres, Philip Chbeeb, Randi Evans, So You Think You Can Dance, SYTYCD, Tony Bellissimo, TV News, Vitolio Jeune
There were definitely some fanFREAKINtastic episodes in this episode! I was blown away. As I’ve said many times over, I started my SYTYCD obsession last season after listening to yours and Ducky’s podcasts. I didn’t watch the auditions, and I don’t think I even made the Top 20, but I loved what I saw, and was incredibly in love with the Top 4.
As for last night’s performances … WOW. Seriously. I think my top dances were close to yours … except that I really loved Tony & Paris’ number. The moves were fantastic, and the music was awesome … so I don’t know how the judges could have hated it. I even liked the costumes! Oh well. Also among my faves … the crash test dummy routine (so reminded me of “Dummy”, from Pushing Daisies, and the human dummies! But then, everything reminds me of PD these days…). The Bollywood number, and ballroom were also freakin’ amazing … overall, I think there were only a few numbers that I didn’t find overly fantastic … which I think is a good thing!
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmm! Just had to do that! Been looking forward to your review, GMMR. I thought it was all good, even the ‘bad’ was good. I almost have no favorite (it’s kind of Evan but love them all). I do think TPTB stacked the deck a bit by giving certain dances to certain pairings but you know what, I don’t care. It’ all about the entertainment and that was some entertainment. I also think they chose wisely in having fan fave Adam as the first guest jidge and in having the truly insane but incomparable Wade in the mix. I loved every moment.
Thank you for the dance links. I do not know where my head was but watched live and didn’t DVR.
WHAT A FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE EPISODE!!! This is only my second season watching SYTYCD, but this show is quickly rivaling AI as my favorite. Two solid hours of mind-blowing entertainment! The only performance I was lukewarm about was Asuka/Vitolio, and in their case, I was more disappointed in the choreo than the dancing.
Look at the list of contestants and try to narrow it down to a Top 10. Then, look at the dancers getting cut….. some are pure INJUSTICE!!!
I’d also like to remind everyone that last season’s supercouple, Joshua and Katee, debuted in the Top 20 with a NapTab hip-hop routine. Remember “No Air”?!?!?! Philip and Jeanine could seriously take their place. Evan/Randi and Max/Kayla could also reach supercouple status. This is going to be a GREAT season!!!
Just like Kimber I got into SYTYCD last season for the first time, because I wanted to be in the “gmmr and ducky talk SYTYCD” club!!
I was gobsmacked by the talent on that stage, especially for the first live show. I don’t think there was a group that didn’t bring it. I also have 2 potential BF’s – Jason, and Kupono (although there is some4thing so adorable about Evan and Phillip too!)
As for fave dances tonight:
1. Jason and Caitlin
2. Kupono and Ashley (I loved this routine)
3. Evan and Randi
4. Phillip and Jeanine
But they were all so good, it’s hard to choose. I cannot work out who might be in danger – although i did personally think Tony and Paris had the weakest performance.
couples to dance? 1. Tony and Paris, Karla and Jonathon, Auska and Vitolio?
I was astounded by most of last night’s performances. Cannot believe how great this season is going to be.
My favorite top 20 performance ever was last year’s “No Air” routine by Katee and Joshua. It still reigns as my fave, but wow – a lot of these couples came really close.
I thought the first couple of the evening was amazing. Maybe I started out with lower expectations for the top 20 performances since these couples are dancing together for the first time, but Philip and Jeanine blew my expectations out of the water. It’s hard to pick just one routine as my favorite of the night, but I think that was it for me, followed by Max & Kayla, Ade & Melissa, Evan & Randi, and Ashley & Kupono.
I was not impressed by Asuka and Vittolio’s performance. The judges said the dancing was clean, but not enough personality etc. Maybe I need to watch it again, but I found the dancing a little sloppy, personally. But then again, I am no dance expert :D.
This season is going to be fantastic!
Wow this is the first Top 20 show that I didn’t dislike anyone. I would have to sat Asuka and Vitolio were my least favorite because I just didn’t get much from them. That may be from the choreo like you said.
Every show I get a new favorite, especially on the boys side. The girls are easier, my fave 2 are Kayla and Jeanine (I thought she was adorable last night). The boys side I’d have to say Evan, Jason, and Philip (Tony is up there too because I really think he has potential). Kupono might move up there too – ugh I can’t decide!
So glad to have Wade back!
[…] the whole story on Give Me My Remote Share and […]
Wow. An unbelievable night of first performances. I kept going back to my computer to type my reactions, and then I would be reminded that we weren’t doing a live chat. Anyway, I’m left wondering the same thing as you…who are we going to get rid of this week? The ones on the potential chopping block – like you said – weren’t even that bad.
I will say I was totally distracted by Paris’ playing to the camera. And I agree with the judges that Tony needed to hit it a little harder (that’s what she said).
I think I’m already over Melissa, if only because she needs to stop doing the whole “sexy’ finger in your mouth look.
Oh, and LOL – “…and with that, Jason takes a slight edge over Tony. But congratulations, both of you are still in the running to be my Season 5 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE boyfriend.”
As for my SYTYCD boyfriends, I’m leaning towards Evan and Jason.
Shut right up! That was an amazing premiere…seriously. I don’t know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t a night as good at that! I have watched since season 2 and I dont think any of the premires came close to that!
Tonight solidified my decision to make Evan my SYTYCD boyfriend- stinkin wonderful! That routine was awesome- i agree with you GMMR- that is going to be one that sticks around for awhile (one we will see in the finale perhaps??)
And that last routine with Kayla and Maksim- LOVED IT! She is the girl to beat.
Also, so excited the show is back if only to see the amazing dresses Cat Deeley wears every week!
And I love Adam Shankman.
I was watching on the DVR after it had been on the air. As I watched I would vote and I must have voted for 8 of the 10 couples. I couldn’t believe the level of talent we saw. It’s so early and yet we are getting incredible performances… the choreography, the technique, the joy in the dancers. This is not the SYTYCD of the past. It’s *almost* a little sad that we don’t have the less experienced dancers like before. Now they look for those who are super well rounded. In the past it was all about dancers who were good at their craft branching out and learning new things before our eyes. I’ll miss that…for about 10 secs 🙂 I love watching GREAT dance (eat your heart out DwTS!)
There is no way I could pick a favorite at this point. I’m in love with so many of the couples. My SYTYCD boyfriends…Evan and Jason. One for personality and one for hotness…. 🙂
You know me so well (on the “Judges” audience along)
I wrote this on Ducky’s post as well, but I had to check out GMMR too! You guys are just so candid in your reviews, I love it.
This was my first time watching a So You Think You Can Dance week one, since I just picked up the show this year and Oh My Goodness, is it that intense every week?! It was amazing! I now understand why you and Dan are always raving about it on the TV Talk Podcasts (which is why I started watching this season) and I totally cannot get enough of this show!
I think the bottom three will be the Broadway number, the second Hip Hop number and maybe the Cha Cha. But I loved it all and I thought everyone did a great job. My top three of the night to watch were probably Ashley and Kupono, Randi and Evan and Jeanine and Phillip. I thought those three had the most personality. But there were so many good ones it was hard to choose!
P.S. Just saw your tweet to @dizzyfeet, GMMR, and I couldn’t agree with you more. How annoying was the arm waving?! At least they didn’t pull out their lighters or cell phones.
Dancing with the Stars if officially So You Think You Can Dance’s bitch after that amazing Top 20 first week!!!
Well, since there was bad weather in DFW last night, I didn’t get to see but the last dances. Color me peeved. I will have to search around to find the links.
But of what I saw, I loved Kayla & Max and Melissa & Ade. It should be interesting the see who has to dance for thier lives. I love the solos!
What a great opening show last night! This season is crazy in that usually you can tell who the first 6 or so to go will be, but I haven’t the faintest idea who will go home tonight. I’m not a fan of Tony and Paris, so I wouldn’t mind if it were them; But, while I think Paris might be in trouble if she’s bottom three, I don’t think Nigel’s ready to let Ivan2.0 go this early, not when the tween girls are gonna love him so much. Asuka and Vitolio should be worried, particularly Vitolio. No idea who else will grace the bottom three.
My personal rankings for the night:
1. Ashley and Kupono (they totally pulled Wade off; it was so gripping)
2. Evan and Randi (my SYTYCD boyfriend this season rocked it last night)
3. Karla and Jonathan (there was something about this I just loved, I don’t know what)
4. Kayla and Maksim (hot, smokin’ hot)
5. Caitlin and Jason (Jason is such a little cutie)
6. Phillip and Jeanine (Thought they did a great job, but for me it didn’t hold up over the course of the night versus the other 5)
7. Brandon and Janette (It’s harder for me to get excited about foxtrots, but the lifts were great)
8. Melissa and Ade (I agree that this just lacked something)
9. Paris and Tony (It was kind of boring to me, Tony should be doing better than this in his own style)
10. Asuka and Vitolio (I thought Tyce’s choreography was horrible here)
Last night’s show was completely AMAZING!!! I don’t think there’s ever been a better first performance show. Even the not-so-amazing numbers were great. I liked Tyce’s Broadway number that he choreographed for Asuka & Vitolio. It had a lot of personality and I understood what he was going for, unfortunately, it didn’t win over the judges. I thought that the dancers did a good job with it. They most likely will end up in the bottom 3 tonight though, since everyone else was so completely over-the-top incredible it was sick.
I love Evan, he’s my boy. I completely fell in love with him and his brother during the auditions and Vegas week and when it came down to the two of them for the last spot in the top 10 guys, I nearly cried. I really thought they would take the older brother just to make it a bit more diverse and seriously, how many more years can he keep coming back? But since the oldest dancer this season is 29 and they’re making her out to be ancient, let’s face it, youth seems to always win out with this show. Last years “oldest” dancer didn’t make it that far either so I don’t have high hopes for Melissa making it past the early weeks. Her routine with Ade was nice, but it looked to me like they had a few slip-ups and I some of the turns and lifts looked awkward (not the one where he flipped her from behind he shoulders to the front, that was awesome). I think that will cost them and they’ll also end up in the bottom 3. My other pick for bottom 3 is Tony and Paris.
My absolute favorite routine last night was the bollywood routine. Jason is a keeper and Caitlin was also amazing. I just learned a dance to Ji Ho which is not nearly as complicated as that one and it’s so hard, I’m having trouble keeping up with how fast the steps and hand movements are. You have no idea how difficult that style is until you try it for yourself. They made it look so easy, it was as if they’ve been dancing bollywood forever. And that handstand? Are you kidding me? Caitlin’s gymnastics background served her well there.
My second favorite was the Wade Robson routine. I thought it was so unique and Ashly and Kupono did a great job with it. I hope Ashley sticks around for a while. It took her 4 yrs. to get on the show and her persistancy has paid off. I don’t think there’s any chance either one of them is going home tonight though.
Kath – you did a great job with the recap, I always enjoy reading your take on things. I know I haven’t been around for a long while. Having twins and going back to work full time will make you have to put your extra-curricular activities on hold for a while. It takes an amazing beginning of a SYTYCD season to bring me out of hiding and if the season keeps going in this direction, you will be hearing from me often.
Am I the only one that didn’t like the Philip/Jeanine number? It ended and I was just so bored, and then the judges exploded. Then Tony and Paris’ number ended and I was excited as can be, and they were like “it was crap.” Huh? I will admit to a bit of a bias because I like Tony a lot, but still I’m not usually this far out in left field. I think Asuka and Vitolio were the weakest this week, overall.
Awesome recap!
10 thoughts about the show.
1. Cat’s dress was hideous. Somehow it was matronly and tacky at the same time. C’mon stylist, bring us back to the glory days.
2. Jeanine is absolutely gorgeous. If you rewatch Vegas Week you’ll notice that she is depicted but not named in almost every single round. Example: she partnered Brandon for Sonya’s jazz.
3. Nigel was trying to be nice tonight but you could tell he was just one jazz hand away from blaming Tyce’s choreography for Asuka and Vitolio’s number.
4. Karla and Jonathan were great, however I think that since the judges love to send a couple home after the first show that it will probably be them. If the bottom 3 is Karla/Jon, Asuka/Vitolio, and Tony/Paris, the judges will not want to get rid of Tony or Asuka, and by virtue of their partners (and the send a couple home in the first week pattern) Paris and Vitolio will be safe.
5. Loved to see Lauren assisting Tyce again!!! I really liked that Evan and Ryan have “The Other Brother” – poor guy.
6. Did anyone else think that Caitlin with that much eyeshadow kind of looked like Fergie? Regardless, she was a much more attractive version of Fergie. I really like these two together and I would LOVE to see them dance a Wade or Sonya jazz or a Mia Contemporary. One of my favourite moments of the whole night was Caitlin’s headstand with the pointing and flexing of the toes.
7. Mary is a hot mess tonight and I wouldn’t have her any other way. She put the robodog on the hot tamale train, admitted to her Botox problem and quoted Lady Gaga. WTF I love her.
8. Wade’s Jazz. WHOA. Love the robodog. Love the piece. LOVE Wade’s wife amanda; she’s so fierce. But srsly, really cool routine. Would have preferred “No Cars Go” by the Arcade Fire or “Human Behaviour”/”All is Full of Love” by Bjork for the music, but it was AWESOME.
9. Oh Mandy and her hideous music selections. Did NO ONE ELSE think that this piece was just “contemporary by the numbers.” Ade has zero personality; I’m thinking we’ll lose him fairly quickly even though he’s great (a la Marquis, Shauna, Jimmy etc). Love Melissa though and I’m predicting she’ll make it to the Top 10 but just barely.
10. I am already SO OVER KAYLA. She’s not that great and I think that the stylist agrees with me because he covered her in hot pink feathers. That dress is a great idea for a samba or cha cha or jive, but once she stopped moving she just looked like she was molting. Also, she’s boring, I HATE her backstory and she lucked out to get this hot routine and Maks for the first night. Ugh.
GMMR, I am totally with you about Melissa being distracting. In the contemporary pieces that we have been treated to before, the feet have been so much more expressive – they have included pointed toes, but not exclusively. Her toes were pointed the entire time, and for lack of a better word, they were sort of aggressively pointed. I found it distracting how her feet reverted so quickly to that rote position. Her dancing is lovely, but I think that there are some things that she is going to have to un-learn from her ballet training, and everything is laid so bare in contemporary that I think it got to me.
Mattie B … I really loved the Tony/Paris number too … though it seems nobody else (especially the judges) did. Phillip/Jeanine were good, but they weren’t the most memorable for me, by far!
Mattie B …
I liked the Tony and Paris number, too … I’m sorry you were bored by Phillip and Jeanine’s offering. The construction of the Tony/Paris number may have been more exciting (the choreography, maybe, even better than the first dance of the evening), the problem with putting someone like Tony (who is a solid Hip Hop dancer) behind Phillip, is that it highlighted, not Tony’s inabilities in the genre, but Phillip strengths. Phillip is an incredibly gifted Popper, whose growth over the years was demonstrated, last night, not only in his speedy ability to isolate, contract, and expand individual muscles as he performs –but in a newfound level of emotional expressiveness and complete focus on his dance partner. I found myself almost wishing Tony/Paris had danced a different genre (saving the number they actually performed for a different night).
[…] This past week was a lot of fun. Jimmy Fallon & his guests had us laughing. Top Chef Masters returned to make us hungry. And our favorite reality show, So You Think You Can Dance, made us want to dance. (Give Me My Remote) […]
Best season ever, the top ;20 were awsome. Louis Van Ansdel is a wonderful addition to the show. I loved his dancing on Dancing with the Stars, and I enjoy his coreography as Well
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