SYTYCD Top 20 Performance AND Results!!

Good Evening Dance Fans! and welcome back to Pop Goes the Word!

This is Carly, taking care of the recap tonight because Kim is getting ready for her trip to Vancouver to see U2 tomorrow night. Excitement levels being what they are, and the fact that my sister is a packing procrastinator means I've had to take the reins tonight.

A quick note about the semi-promised recap of Monday night's Top 20 Performance Only show. It didn't happen. LOL. As Kim mentioned a few posts down, we are very busy these days and unfortunately that means, that while the show was watched by all of us, none of us actually got around to writing anything about it. It was great to see all the Top 20 dancers together in their own genres, show off the talent that got them to this point. Suffice it to say that the show was AMAZING, and makes me (as well as Kim) Very Excited about the prospects for this season. Speaking for myself, SYTYCD Canada was a bit of a disappointment in terms of excitement and performances that made me smile, tingle, dance in my seat etc. From the first routine of the night, I smiled all the way through. SO looking forward to this season of SYTYCD US.

Okay - let's get on with the recap. First of all tonight, Cat fills us in on some housekeeping details. No results show this week, because of MLB tomorrow night. All the dancers will perform tonight and then at the end of the show, the judges will decide which guy and girl will go home. Tonight. No pressure. Ack! Billy Bell will unfortunately NOT be continuing in the competition because he has fallen seriously ill. Also, Noelle has suffered an injury to her knee (Ouch! I have knee issues and this makes me squidgy), Melanie LaPatin (choreographer) will be dancing with Noelle's partner. Cat makes a good point when she says that it's a "packed show" tonight so we'd better get on with it.

Our first couple of the night is: Channing & Phillip. WhooooBoy. Okay, to be honest here, these two have been my least favourite contenders since they first appeared in auditions. Channing is the IceCream scooper girl right? Yeah, irritating so far, but she could be really great so I'm trying not to judge right away. Phillip comes off just a little arrogant, another trait I don't appreciate, but again - don't want to judge too early. They are dancing the Jive, choreographed by Jason Gilkison. Music is 'Rockin' Robin' by The Jackson Five. Sweet Jeebus Phillip's pants are Terrible! Why are they pulled up (with suspenders no less) almost to his nipples? and why are the ankles of the pants so tight? Overall this is cute, but choppy. The jive IMO should be snappy and sharp, quick and fun. The feet on the butt trick lift was a bit of a mess, and the whole routine felt really sloppy to me. The judges' (Shankers! WOOT) commentary seems to agree with me, though they did have some good things to say. They also had the additional comment about these two dancer's not having enough chemistry together, and thinking about it I have to wholeheartedly agree.

Second up tonight: Ashleigh & Jakob. Of course we know Ashleigh, because the story of her and her husband, Ryan, has really been one of the major focusses of the audition process. Both made it to Top 20. Unfortunately, Jakob doesn't ring any bells with me and other than seeing him the night of Top 20 selection and last night's performance show, I really know nothing about him. They've pulled a broadway routine, choreographed by Tyce Diorio. Kim has expressed her opinion to me, that she wishes they would give Tyce more contemporary routines to design and pull him away from Broadway. However, I've only been watching for two seasons (one US & one Canada) so I'm not so bored/frustrated with Tyce yet. Tyce says this is a "sultry broadway" routine. Music is 'Hit Me With A Hot Note (And Watch Me Bounce)' from the Sophisticated Ladies original soundtrack. Wow, Jakob really gets some air. He flipped and leapt into the air several times during the routine , seemingly without effort. He has some major talent. Ashleigh is sultry in this, but somehow I'm having a hard time believing it ~ don't quite know why. The judges give another good review all around, with Adam offering a few tips to Ashleigh about needing to finish her lines properly. Overall Jakob gets the better side of the judges commentary, but Ashleigh didn't suffer.

Ariana & Peter are next with a Hip Hop routine choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon. Side Note: I do not refer to these choreographers as NappyTabs. I absolutely refuse. Stupid. Dancing to 'Black & Gold' by Sam Sparro, these two are off and running. Inspired by Robot Love, this is a funky routine and I'm bopping along with the music and the initial movements of the routine, but then everything seems to slide away into messiness. However, I'm not reminded at all that Peter is a tap dancer. In fact, the choreography includes some breakdancing moves that Peter pulls off well. BUT ~ and this is a BIG BUT ~ they're not quite together. These two dancers are supposed to be robots in love, connecting ~ and they aren't. At all. This again, is a little sloppy. Oh look ~ the judges agree with me.

Noelle & Russell are up next. Wait. Noelle is not performing tonight because of the aforementioned knee injury. We are offered a few minutes of the two together in rehearsal with their choreographers, Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. Tony & Melanie have created a Foxtrot routine for the dancers, which now Melanie will have to perform with Russell. A great song is used, 'Vagabond Shoes' by Vic Damone. Hey, I like this. Russell is really holding his own with the expert Melanie. Some of the moves he's pulling off are incredible. Melanie has really great legs. Russell is just great, really fun to watch. So far, Russell is my favourite guy in the competition. The judges again, agree with me. I'm on a roll tonight. while offering some constructive critisism, all three judges seem very impressed. Way to go Russell!

Travis Wall choreographed the next routine for Bianca and Victor. The music used as the backdrop here is 'Wasted Time' by Me'shell N'degeocello. Is Bianca a tapper? You'd never know it ~ she's incredible. Kevin has beautiful lines. The movement here is beautiful, the dancers have really connected. I loved so many parts of this routine; Bianca clinging to Victor's leg and rolling with him as he walks away, Bianca leaping to Victor's back and coming to a complete stop. So much strength, so many powerful moments. Travis Wall certainly has created a beautiful routine, and Bianca and Victor pulled it off with grace. So far my favourite routine of the night.

Karen & Kevin are paired with a Cha Cha - Choreographed by Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. We learn that Kevin has been a model and - OMG Kevin "smized"!! - sorry got distracted. This guy is HOT! I don't think I really noticed it before.Holy Crap! the song is 'Push It' - the GLEE CAST version! Wooooot! Love Glee! Karen knows how to work it, and Kevin's none too shabby. Karen's boobs just about fall out of her top and she has to re-adjust at the end. Funniest moment ~ Adam says Karen made his eyes pop out of his head with an "Aaoooga" a la Jim Carrey in The Mask "and for those of you who know [him] that's not really [his] thing" Bwah!! Funny, but really I'm just not feeling it with Karen. Sure, she knows her stuff, she gets the hot, spicy latin vibe but I'm left feeling a little cold. Overall consensus is that this was Karen's world and Kevin was just visiting. Mary gives Karen a ticket on the Hot Tamale train - first of the season! Don't worry though, Kevin is waiting on the platform, just about ready to board.

Ryan & Ellenore are together in a contemporary routine, put together by Sonya Tayeh, with an Angelic Creature theme. This should be interesting to see because ballroom dancers (to me) seem to have a hard time letting go enough to perform contemporary well. I'm interested to see what the song choice is here, because Sonya always picks something quirky. I'm not disappointed, the music is 'Arcadia' by Apparat. This is hauntingly beautiful. The twitchy-ness isn't bugging me, which it usually does, and I'm very drawn in by the movement overall. Costuming is well done as well. Ryan is proving to be a powerhouse, even in this, his first competitive dance performance. Ellenore is lovely, and really does embody the broken angel of the piece. Lovely.

Next up is Brandon & Pauline, performing a smooth waltz routine, choreographed by Jason Gilkison and featuring 'You Light Up My Life' by Whitney Houston as the music. Ugh. Anyway, this routine is supposed to be "smooth" hence the name "smooth waltz". Unfortunately, Brandon and Pauline just don't pull this off. While there are pretty moments throughout, the entire piece seems...well...pieced together. I think this is simply a case of not having enough time to really perfect the technique (a day and a half). The weakest routine of the night for me. While the judges did acknowledge the difficulty of the situation, they did say that this just didn't measure up.

Tonight's quirkiest routine features Legacy & Kathryn, in a Hip Hop piece choreographed by Dave Scott. Costumed as cave people, quirky and humourous, Legacy & Kathryn seem to be having a lot of fun. Set to 'On & On' by Missy Elliot, I loved watching this number. While I could have done without the imaginary picking of the bugs & eating them - this pair have a lot of chemistry and that really came across in their performance. To quote Mary Murphy (and Fred Flintstone, I guess) "Yabba Dabba DOO!"

Mollee & Nathan have been paired, and are facing a tough Disco routine set to 'Turn the Beat Around' by Gloria Estefan and choreographed by the Queen of Disco, Doriana Sanchez. This should be fun to watch, but I have a hard time disecting the Disco routines because a lot of it is just flailing around to me. Nathan & Mollee look and work great together. The lifts and flips in this routine are fantastic! Fun, Fun, Fun! Not much more to say here other than I think that these two clearly have a great thing going as partners, and I look forward to their future routines. The judges again agree with me, even Mr. Shankman who says he doesn't normally think of Disco as 'competitive' dancing.

Okay - we're heading to the big moment. The judges will be picking the bottom four, after which those four will be dancing solos. I'll just note here that like Kim, I'm not all that interested in the solos themselves. So I won't be going into the blah-de-blah-blah about them.

Nigel mentions that it is important to note that the judging of who goes home, will be based on everything the judges have seen from the dancers this season, not just the solos this evening. The four people chosen to dance for their lives tonight are: Pauline, Brandon, Ariana and...WHAT?...Russell? What kind of stunt is this? The crowd is vocally upset, and I'm left wondering if the judges are full of crap. I don't recall any negative commentary after Russell's performance that would lead to him being in the bottom four. Stunt judging.

Solo ~ Solo ~ Solo ~ Solo

And now the final choices. Ariana goes home. Brandon goes home. Nigel says that in Brandon's case he will be speaking to Fox broadcasting to see if they will bend the rule that says once a dancer makes it to the Top 20, they are disallowed from trying out for the show again. No guarantees, but Brandon deserves another chance. Pretty classy Nigel.

Anyhoo...it's been a long night, an even longer recap (that at 5:01pm PST - Wednesday is finally done!). It was a really good night, with more fanstastic performances in this one show than Canada saw in most of their entire last season. Catch you all next week for more amazing dancing!