Tonight’s live episode of So You Think You Can Dance will feature YOUR Top 20, as Cat Deeley so kindly reminds us, and we will find out who is partnered with who. The show opens with a really impressive Christopher Scott group number with a Mad Men type theme. I'm so glad we are still finding a way to incorporate the group routines without a Thursday results show.
We welcome the “jidges” as we always do, and this evening’s guest judge is Kenny Ortega, who will soon be directing a remake of Dirty Dancing (boooooo), but also directed Michael Jackson’s This is It tour movie (RIP MJ). The paired dancers have chosen a style out of a hat for this week’s performance, and I am anxiously awaiting the result, so let’s get started!
Contestants: Witney and Chehon
Style: Samba, choreographed by Louis van Amstel
Witney’s ballroom roots should put her right at home here, but Chehon’s ballet background makes me nervous. The samba is such a fast dance with continual hip movements, and that is quite an adjustment for him to make. Witney is crazy good. Crazy. Chehon has a Ricky Martin look going and though he does seem to have some hip issues, he is doing a pretty good job keeping up. They have decent chemistry for week one, and wow….Witney is….bendy and such. This is a great start to the night.
Judges Say: Nigel says Witney looks like a star, dances like a star and is a star. He doesn’t want to critique Chehon here (What? Isn’t that his job?), but he gives him some advice about keeping his core and relaxing more. Mary notes Chehon’s foot problems but compliments the way he sails across the floor. Mary makes sure to tell Witney she got a first class ticket on the hot tamale train. I’ve always wondered what that train would look like… Kenny says Witney bought us into space (a space train?), and her compares her to Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, only hotter. He encourages Chehon to surrender to the choreographers and believe in himself. So…no one really liked Chehon in that performance. Perhaps he should have undone those last 2 buttons on his shirt.
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Contestants: Tiffany and George
Style: Contemporary, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Style: Contemporary, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
The two dancers are lovers for this routine whose connection is so great – it takes their breath away. Sonya had hoped they would melt into one another, and they absolutely do. This is just beautiful. I’m not a contemporary expert (I did a few years of ballroom dancing, so I feel better about that commentary), but I think the lines and lifts here are absolutely amazing.
Judges Say: Mary is breathless and says both dancers surrendered to the choreography, and they really connected with one another. Kenny says George and Tiffany were really there for one another and supported one another and it was “exquisite” to watch. Nigel wonders if Sonya has found love given her movement away from quirky and toward romance. Sonya shrugs playfully. He says George and Tiffany dance all the way to their fingertips and overall the performance was superb.
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Contestants: Janaya and Brandon
Style: Hip Hop, choreographed by (very preggers) Tabitha and Napoleon
The story is about a guy who is an alcoholic, and he has to choose between the love of his life and his addiction. Janaya and Brandon stay in sync and use their prop bottle of alcohol cleverly. The emotional connection between them is not consistent, unfortunately, but I think their movements are very good. Unfortunately, I don't think this routine had the impact it was supposed to.
Judges Say: Kenny loves that hip hop can be deeper and can tell a story. Nigel liked the story as well, and he is pleased that Brandon chose Janaya over the vodka. Mary loved how deep Brandon went into character, but she wants Janaya to be more gritty. See – I preferred Janaya to Brandon in that routine, but what do I know?
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Contestants: Alexa and Daniel
Style: Jazz, choreographed by Sean Cheesman
Alexa and Daniel begin on top of a scaffold and almost slither their way down to the floor in a very cool way. I do hope Alexa is with us emotionally tonight – I saw Tyce DiOrio in the audience, and he won’t hesitate to start screaming awful things at her during the performance. They are wearing these leathery red outfits that do not allow me to look away, and the routine is so up tempo, with so many things happening, I am mesmerized.
Judges Say: Nigel says there was so much going on (in a good way) that there wasn’t enough time for him to take a breath and realize how great certain parts of the routine were. Mary loved watching every single second, and she enjoyed watching Daniel smile because he is always so serious. She also compliments Alexa’s splits. Kenny notes that the piece was very demanding, but he didn’t feel that the performance took him anywhere. He also did not indicate where exactly he wanted to go.
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Contestants: Amber and Nick
Style: Viennese Waltz, choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Ballroom is Nick’s genre, so he should be able to help guide Amber here…..except that the rehearsal footage we see is of Jason yelling at Nick. A lot. Maybe the producers are just trying to fool us into thinking this might fall apart tonight. There are a couple of portions of this dance that are awkward, and the chemistry isn’t quite there. However, they do some really nice lifts though, which is commendable considering the Viennese waltz is often the SYTYCD kiss of death.
Judges Say: Mary thinks the whole thing was dreamy. She then tells Nick he is phenomenal and asks Amber if she’s ever worn shoes like that before. Kenny calls the performance fluid, flowing and lovely. Nigel says Jason’s yelling brought the best out of Nick. He tells Amber she was very good but to be careful with her core. If these critiques continue as they have been, I’m going to need to start a drinking game, taking a sip each time the word “core” is used….
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Contestants: Amelia and Will
Style: Hip Hop (?), choreographed by NappyTabs
Amelia’s character is a sophisticated house cat and Will’s character is a back ally cat. I am loving Amelia in this routine. She is very into her character, but Will seems a little unsure of himself at times. Napoleon had called this dance more “character pop” than hip hop, which was helpful since I didn’t see any kind of hip hop here at all. I do like the routine though – very different. NappyTabs absolutely took advantage of their strange contestants, and I prefer this routine to the first hip hop routine for sure.
Judges Say: Kenny looks at Amelia and says the audience would agree with his assertion that “if we had a kitty like you, we would play with you all day long.” Ew. He then tells Will he did a great job playing with her. WOW. Nigel compliments the partnership because both dancers are a little crazy. He notes that the routine will be very memorable. Mary chooses the inevitable, saying the performance was purrrrrrrrrrrrrfect. Next.
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Contestants: Janelle and Dareian
Style: African Jazz, choreographed by Sean Cheesman
Sean describes this as “the rhythm of the jungle,” and I can definitely see that. This is very intense, very acrobatic, and just looks exhausting. I like these two as a pair though – this wasn’t my favorite dance tonight, but they might be my favorite couple so far. I'm also very glad that Janelle did not end up in the emergency room at the end of the performance.
Judges Say: Nigel says both are so exciting as dancers and thinks this is also a very memorable routine. Mary calls the performance a jungle dance off. It was almost a pants off dance off. She believes both of them will go far on the show. Kenny says the dance took him to Cuba, Paris, Brazil, and Polynesia which is pretty amazing since it was an African Jazz routine. Maybe that's where he wanted to go during Alexa and Daniel's number. He then tells Dareian and Janelle they were like two flames dancing across the stage.
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Contestants: Eliana and Cyrus
Style: Broadway, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Tyce is having them do a song from Hairspray….hopefully not in the style of Bob Fosse like 90% of all Tyce DiOrio Broadway routines. Side note (another one): Benji and Donyelle did a great Hairspray routine in Season 2. Check it out here. Back to Eliana and Cyrus now. I really don’t recognize Eliana without her Flashdance hair, but she is AWESOME in this performance. And you know what? Cyrus is pretty good too. His smile is genuine, he is truly enjoying himself, and he is absolutely embracing everything this show has to give him. Well done.
Judges Say: The audience quiets down and has a seat, but Mary can’t really get out her first thought because the camera cuts to Tyce who has stood up again doing sort of fist pump/dance combo. Way to take the attention away from the dancers, buddy. Mary says Eliana and Cyrus brought the house down. Kenny felt like he was in New York watching a Broadway performance. Nigel compliments Cyrus’ ability to immerse himself in the dance. He tells Eliana that she is the benchmark for all of the other girls this season.
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Contestants: Audrey and Matthew
Style: Contemporary, choreographed by Travis Wall (yay!)
Helloooooo Matthew. Anyway, Travis has set up his own Jack and Rose love story from Titanic. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose begins….but Rose is of course clothed in this scenario. This is ridiculously good, and OH MY GOD – Audrey just ran up the couch and did an outstanding leap into Matthew’s arms. Best of the night. Hands down. I’m watching this again and then posting the link.
Judges Say: It takes a couple of seconds, but then we have a standing ovation. Damn straight! Kenny says it was exquisitely choreographed and gorgeously danced. Nigel enjoyed this performance more than any other this evening. Me toooooo. He compliments the maturity of Travis’ choreography, noting that the movements, the emotions and the music were perfect together. Mary called the performance breathtaking, saying Matthew showed great emotion and Audrey was “perfection.”
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Contestants: Lindsay and Cole
Style: Paso Doble, choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Typically a Paso Doble consists of the male matador and the female cape. In this performance Lindsay will be some sort of poison instead. Can’t she just be a poisonous cape? This begins in a very ominous fashion and then quickly escalates into awesomeness. I’m not sure that Lindsay’s poison ever stood a chance against Cole’s martial arts 8 pack, but she doesn’t seem to mind. This was amazing. The previous dance is still my favorite of this night, but this one is a very close second.
Judges Say: Standing ovation. Kenny says it was mesmerizing, electrifying and two of the best performances he has ever seen on SYTYCD. Mary says this was the best Paso Doble Jason has choreographed for the show. I wait for her to spontaneously combust…but she doesn’t. Nigel says this was the best Paso Doble any boy has done on this show. He also says Cole could not have been as dynamic as he was without Lindsay as a partner.
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Tonight may have been the best Top 20 kickoff in the show's history. There are SO many talented dancers, and I think we are going to see some extreme competition this year. Next week we will say goodbye to 2 boys and 2 girls after the bottom 3 of each group are determined. We’ll see what happens… Til then!
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