SYTYCD: The Top 20 (Kind Of) Compete

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Performance/Elimination Show

I don't really appreciate that America doesn't get any kind of say in who goes home this week. I know the World Series messes up the schedule, but they could have done the regular competition last night and the results tonight. The judges just picked the Top 20--if America wasn't going to get a say until next week, the judges might as well have just picked the Top 18 right off the bat.

The play-by-play:

• Cat is wearing an Asian-inspired red mini dress with 1940s hair and red lips.
• Billy Bell became very ill so he's out of the competition. (I heard he broke his hand, but Nigel's really hitting the word "ill" hard here.)
• Additionally, Noelle had an accident and her leg is in a massive brace thing. And apparently she gets a free pass this week. Interesting. In Season 3, when Jessie didn't dance during the performance show, she still had to dance for her life the next night (even though Pasha, her partner, received enough votes to be safe) and ultimately went home. They are employing entirely different rules now.
• So choreographer Melanie has to sub in again! She's the only person who has ever had to do that on SYTYCD, and she's had to do it twice now!

Channing and Phillip (Jason Gilkison jive):

• The featurette: This is not the most dynamic pairing ever. Oh dear, Phillip does spoken word.
• The dance: Well, SYTYCD couldn't do its Michael Jackson tribute, but they do get to use "Rockin' Robbin" by The Jackson 5. Channing looks hot in her feathery outfit. This performance was not bad. It didn't look entirely effortless though; they looked like they were thinking pretty hard about everything.
• The judging: Adam liked it, Mary says it was "not bad" (I think that's the exact phrase I just used) but SHE. WANTS. MORE. Nigel wants Channing to get her weight over her toes more so she can bounce.

Ashleigh and Jakob (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Ashleigh! BTW, Ash couldn't dance for 6 years due to illness and injury. Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Tyce! Tyce says Ash and Jakob need "to find that man/woman thing."
• The dance: Why is Ashleigh's dress looking navy when Jakob's wearing a lot of black? Wow, Jakob can leap like nobody's business. Well, I liked Jakob, but I could take or leave Ashleigh on that one.
• The judging: Jakob is sweating up a storm. Adam says that Jakob is amazing and it will be hard for Ashleigh to keep up with him. Mary thinks Ashleigh was phenomenal and that she didn't think Ashleigh was capable of dancing as well as she just did. Mary to Jakob: "Everything you do is just kind of perfect!" Nigel calls Jakob one of the most gifted dancers ever on the show (and he adds that Billy Bell was too). Nigel goes so far as to say that Jakob will go very far in the competition and will take Ashleigh "to the finals as well" is she continues to dance well. Um, I hope not?

Ariana and Peter (Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop):

• The featurette: Napoleon and Tabitha are sooooooo annoying. The dance is about androids.
• The dance: Peter can to some b-boy style tricks. There is an awful lot of head banging in this routine. Too much, I'd say. Apparently, androids act as though they're at a grunge rock concert in the early '90s? The dancing also wasn't really the best display of hip hop ever.
• The judging: Adam says they weren't dancing similarly. Then he does a Lil C impression. Mary loved the beginning but thought it was sloppy in the middle. Nigel was disappointed by these two for the first time. Could it be because this was the first time he's had to watch them do a NappyTabs routine (not counting the group routine in Vegas)?

Noelle and Russell (Tony and Melanie fox trot):

• The featurette: Hahahahaha! Melanie has to dance with Russell! This is going to be classic! It's not every day you see a krumper try the fox trot...
• The dance: Melanie looks hot, and Russell is so debonair! I loved it! I think they should make Melanie dance with someone every week.
• The judging: Adam can't believe how fantastic Russell is. Mary takes her hair off to Russell. She says he did a respectable job. Nigel says Russell's rise and fall wasn't good, but his lines were.

Bianca and Victor (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: Bianca's living in L.A., and the only family she has with her is her little dog. Victor says he is very colorful. It's Travis!!!!!! YEEEEEEAAAaaa!
• The dance: Victor's got really nice lines. Very cool lifts and, uh, tanglings. Travis has done it again! Awesome, awesome routine. What was interesting is that the male/female dynamic in this was very reminiscent of the relationship in the Bench Dance that Travis performed with Heidi.
• The judging: Adam says Bianca's head and knees are good, but her shoulders and toes need work. He loved Victor. Mary loved them both. Nigel says that they were the most connected partners so far. And, of course, everyone loves Travis. (Let's do a SYTYCD: All-Stars, folks!)

Karen and Kevin (Tony and Melanie cha cha):

• The featurette: Karen is from Venezuela. Kevin is a model.
• The dance: Ha ha ha! they're dancing to the Glee version of "Push It." Karen's outfit is very skimpy. I don't think Kevin quite has this down. He looks uncomfortable. Karen did ok, but I was distracted by her dress. The dance seemed slow.
• The judging: Adam says Karen looks "aaaRUUUgaaa!" and those who know him know that's not really his thing. Mary said Kevin was rhythmical and sexy but not sharp enough. Shocker, Nigel's "gaga" over Karen. He thinks Kevin danced it quite well.

Ellenore and Ryan (Sonya Tayeh contemporary jazz):

• The featurette: Ryan likes to work out. Ellenore's parents were dancers. The dance is about two angelic creatures: a bad one (Ryan) and a good one (Ellenore).
• The dance: The style of movement in this is very prototypical Sonya. Ellenore is good. I wouldn't say that was one of the best routines in SYTYCD history, though. I think Ellenore oversold it in the featurette a bit. It wasn't as good as "The Garden."
• The judging: Adam says they just became two of the most exciting dancers on the show. Mary thought the chemistry was crazy. Nigel says Ryan totally took him by surprise.

Well, that was ominous. Cat just said the judges are going to have to send two dancers home tonight and they cut straight to Pauline and Brandon, who appear to be dressed for a waltz.

Pauline and Brandon (Jason Gilkison smooth waltz):

• The featurette: Pauline likes photography. Brandon is a hip hop dancer who just showed up. Ugh, poor Brandon: he's a hip hopper who just got called in and now he's got to do a waltz.
• The dance: I'm not a waltz expert, but Pauline looks gorgeous when she turns in that flowy dress. The part where they were actually in a hold and waltzing looked a little rough, but everything else looked lovely.
• The dance: Brandon's only been here for a day and a half!!! Adam thinks they did a great job in a difficult situation. Mary liked their chemistry, considering how little time they had to work on it. Mary begins a sentence to Brandon with "if you continue on..." so that sure doesn't bode well for him. Nigel says it wasn't strong enough in his opinion.

We are just tearing through these performances tonight!

Kathryn and Legacy (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: Goofy caveman hip hop.
• The dance: This is good. And a very strong argument for sending NappyTabs packing. Kathryn was rather good for a non-hip hopper.
• The judging: Adam loved it. Mary screams "Yabba dabba do!" and the continues to shriek for quite a while. All three judges heartily commend Dave Scott. Yes, that's what good hip hop choreography looks like, folks.

Mollee and Nathan (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: Did they seriously pair up Nathan and Mollee?! Whyyyyyy? There's no reason to isolate the two young ones--Chelsie Hightower was young when she was on the show and she did fine dancing with Mark. But my real reluctance about this pairing stems the fact that I like Nathan but am annoyed by Mollee. And to make it worse, they're making them do disco! Nathan looks ridiculous in that white outfit. Nathan plays the piano and the trumpet.
• The dance: Something looks off to me about Mollee's arm movements. Nathan's still great. They pulled off some very cool lifts quite well. I liked her doing splits while Nathan pulled her across the floor.
• The judging: The judges commend them both for their energy and spirit.

My favorite dances of the night:

• Bianca and Victor's contemporary
• Russell and Melanie's fox trot
• Kathryn and Legacy's hip hop

Now the judges are going to pick two guys and two guys to dance solos. They will be judged on everything the judges know about them from all season.

Dancing will be: Ariana, Brandon, Pauline and Russell.

RUSSELL?!?! WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS?!? So, theoretically, he could be sent home tonight for his fox trot, while his partner (Noelle) got injured and gets to go straight through to next week without even having to dance! Perhaps if Russell had known about this loophole, he would have faked an injury! Hell, if I were a dancer on this show, I'd plan to develop some sort of "injury" as soon as I drew the quick step.

Also, Ashleigh doesn't have to dance for her life tonight? I think Pauline is getting a little screwed over.

Ariana's solo: Wearing kind of a frilly purple dress. She did a nice, powerful solo.

Russell's solo: Russell has one heck of a buck krump face. He dances with such aggression and passion. If the judges kick him off tonight, they won't be able to make it out of the building.

Pauline's solo: Opens with some nice pirouettes. It had nice energy, but there wasn't too much else going on. It kind of looked like a ballroomer's solo.

Brandon's solo: I think he's hip hopping to a John Mayer track Interesting choice. It was pretty but rather low-key. After the sheer force of nature that was Russell's solo, poor Brandon doesn't have a chance.

This group seems really big on making little heart shapes with their hands.

The girls: Ariana is cut. Nigel says she's a remarkable dancer but that they'd like to see more love in her eyes. If I were her, I wouldn't be looking at the judges with love in my eyes right now.

The guys: Holy crap! Nigel just scared the crap out of me when he told Russell they hope he will keep learning new styles of dance. What a dumbass thing to say--of course Russell will continue to learn new styles since he's staying in the competition. What else is he supposed to do? Pull "contemporary" out of the hat and flat out refuse to do it? Krump while his partner is doing a mambo?

But, anyway, Brandon is going home. Nigel says he'll talk to FOX and the powers that be and try to get a rule exception so that Brandon can try out for the show again next year. (Typically, once you make the Top 20, you can't try again in another season.) That's really only fair, because Brandon really didn't make the Top 20 and only stepped in a the last minute to help out. His experience wasn't a typical Top 20 experience; he didn't have the opportunities to prepare and practice that everyone else did, so it would really suck if this 2-day experience precluded him from having the chance to participate more fully in the future.

Seriously, why did they put Russell in the bottom two? Based on tonight's performances, in addition to Brandon, I would have ranked Peter, Kevin and probably Phillip all below Russell. Aside from the stupid comment about hoping he'll continue to learn new styles, Nigel didn't even give Russell any actual constructive criticism or advice. He certainly didn't get the "show more passion" line. I'm guessing the judges just wanted to see him krump? Or rally his supporters for the future? I don't know.

Let's hope that SYTYCD will get a handle on what they're doing after the World Series is over. These fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rule/format alterations aren't working very well.