So You Think You Can Dance - "Top 20" (6/11-12/08)
 

Top 20 Dance - 6/11 - 8/7c (2 hrs)

With the Auditions and Las Vegas Week over... let's get the ball rolling!

GIRLS
Rayven Armijo
Comfort Fedoke
Courtney Galiano
Susie Garcia
Chelsie Hightower
Jessica King
Kourtni Lind
Kherington Payne
Katee Shean
Chelsea Traille

GUYS
Joshua Allen
Jamie Bayard
Stephen "Twitch" Boss
Marquis Cunningham
Matt Dorame
Chris Jarosz
Thayne Jasperson
Mark Kanemura
Gev Manoukian
William Wingfield

Elimination Episode - 6/12 - 9/8c (1 hr)

The Bottom 3 couples will be revealed and they will dance for their lives. Group dance choreographed by Wade Robson.

Seems Shane Sparks is a regular judge on Dance Crew over on MTV. I liked him, gonna miss his stuff.

Good, I thought speculation was that Wade was going to be around this season.

This might be a long shot, but does anyone know who sings, or the name of the song, that they waltzed to? It would have been around the first 15 mins of the show. I don't watch the show, but the tv was on and heard it. It was really good.

It had the lyrics "We are the lucky ones"

Didn't really enjoy the first couple of dances, but it was a very good show overall. Lots of talent on the stage. Should be a great season.

My favs were the cha-cha #4, tango #9, and disco #10.

Dark Waltz
By Haley Westerna

Think this is a really strong talented group. I know a lot of people didnt like that Susie girl from Miami but I thought she was quite elegant and danced really beautifully in that waltz. My Favorite was Katie and Joshua ..the second hip hop number. Also really liked Mia's number with Chelsea and the guy from Hawaii.

Susie looks a lot better with the lack of her tan. Still, she's a teacher? Really?

Just my initial rankings of the pairs for tonight:

Katee and Joshua's dance made me shed tears, it was just really moving. Best of the night in terms of emotional impact, and dance synchronicity.

Twitchington was pretty hot. Kherington just makes you want to smile with her when she dances.

Chelsea and Thayne were pretty entertaining.

Susie and Marquis were pretty solid in their waltz.

William and Jessica were good, though Jessica was the weaker dancer.

Chelsie and Mark were very solid given the nutty choregraphy.

Matt and Kourtni were a bit heavy for their jazz number, and lacked snap and pop. Could be an inertial thing for such large dancers paired together.

Chris dances a little too self-consciously, and Comfort needs more time dancing in heels.

Rayven and Jamie didn't quite have the snap in their hip hop number, and it had no flow, just a flatline level of energy.

Courtney G and Gev gave it a good effort, but it lacked technique.

I like the waltz by Susie and Marquis and the hip hop by Katee and Joshua. The tango by Will and Jessica was good too.

My take is that, while some performances were better than others, none of them stood out as a "this is somebody who should go home tomorrow" type of train wreck. All were very enjoyable, and all at least showed some real talent. And I think that is a first for the show, on the first performance episode of a season.

I feel sorry for whoever gets the ax tomorrow.

Rayven
Susie
Chelsie
Kourtni
Kherington
Katee

Stahp itt.

Great night of performances, and I agree with <b>RoboDad</b>. Some were better than others, but for the first night, I don't think anyone stood out as deserving to go home early.

das

They all were very good... except Gev and Courtney G. I don't think it was their fault, but I agree with Simon. The choreography was terribly trite and uninspired disco. They should not HAVE to work to look like they're grooving if the disco moves are funky and fun. Nothing they did looked terribly original rather more derivative of better disco numbers (see Boogie Nights).

You agree with whom? ;)

To a point, I also agree, but the dancers should be judged on the strength of their performance, not the originality (or lack thereof) of someone else's choreography. Given what they had to work with, I think they did a respectable job. Not great, but respectable.

Simon, Nigel. Nigel, Simon. Same diff. ;)

Yep.

I fear Courtney will be in bottom 3 so I hope the judges save her.

I liked Courtney, Kherington, and the Hightower girl.
My prediction to leave would be the first girl who danced & maybe the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd guy who danced.

Courtney was safe - yay!

First couple from last night are gone. Right call I think. I thought Jessica had the better solo though.

Sad to see Rayven and Jamie go, but it was a good call.

I was surprised to see Will in the bottom 3, but I guess be a Debbie Allen protégé isn't everything.

Is it just me or have we seen better Poppers during the auditions than what we saw with the special guests tonight? Lame.

... and the PCDs. :drool:

Dont understand why Nigel is so hard on Matt basically saying he has NO personality and last night he said he danced like he had a broom up his butt. Wow. Thats harsh.

Guess not dancing on pointe cost Raven her spot. I thought she was better than Jessica but I didnt think the judges thought Jessica deserved to be there in the first place. Actually surprised the disco number didnt land in the bottom. I really think each cut will be tough. Its a talented group. Cant believe that people would hold pulling down pants against the couple. Its the choreographers call. It about being true to whatever choreography you get.

Has a disco number by that lady ever NOT landed a couple in the bottom 3?

GO COURTNEY!

Actually last season's Neil and Sarah had a disco number that was one of my favorites and the judges loved it too. This number was really weak.

At the end of the first elimination episode, it was weird to see Jamie about to break down and cry on stage, while Ravyn was all happy and waving to the crowd, putting on a brave face (then again, she did have some time to collect herself). Between Matt and Jamie, it was a toss-up.

Sad to see Jamie go just because I love the west coast swing style (he's friends with S2 winner Benji and S3 finalist Lacey was once his partner) and hoped to see him get a swing/jive type number at least once. That style really doesn't adapt well as to a partnerless 'dance for your life' as hip hop or contemporary do. But then again, the judges on this show always seem to have a slight favoritism to the contemporary/jazz type dancers.

Rayven should have stayed because her solos were unique to ANY season