{"id":457,"date":"2007-06-08T16:15:27","date_gmt":"2007-06-08T23:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/08\/so-you-think-you-can-dance-top-20\/"},"modified":"2007-10-23T19:38:03","modified_gmt":"2007-10-24T00:38:03","slug":"so-you-think-you-can-dance-top-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/so-you-think-you-can-dance-top-20\/","title":{"rendered":"So You Think You Can Dance Top 20 Announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m pretty happy with the top twenty dancers chosen on So You Think You Can Dance<\/i> last night. My only question is what happened to the girl who was injured during Vegas week last year and was promised that she could re-enter the competition during Vegas week this year? Didn’t see her, no mention of her at all. That was disconcerting.<\/p>\n

After the cut, the list of the top twenty and videos of their auditions, if we saw their auditions. Oh, and I put down what each of their specialties is, but I need to mention that I’m not a dancer and am not that familiar with different dance styles…I can’t tell the difference between contemporary and lyrical, for example, and sometimes ballet dancers look an awful lot like contemporary dancers to me on the show. Also, hip-hop dancers throw all sorts of things in there, so I’m not differentiating between b-boying, b-girling, breaking, popping, locking, you name it. Plus, I’m not getting into jazz, pop, etc. So my three specialty categories are ballroom, contemporary, and hip-hop. If you can differentiate them better, let me know, and I’ll update to be more precise. edit<\/b> – dance styles now more precise, since Fox finally put up contestant pages at the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Top Ten Boys<\/h2>\n

Danny<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

We didn’t see him in the auditions, but he’s the adopted brother, apparently, of last year’s runner-up Travis Wall, who I loved. The clips they showed from Vegas looked really good, but he does seem to have an issue with arrogance, something Travis definitely did not. We’ll see how that plays out.<\/p>\n

Pasha<\/b>
\nspecialty: ballroom (Latin)<\/i><\/p>\n

He’s so cute! In an Eastern European sort of way. And he and his partner Anya (who also made it into the top twenty) have a very unique ballroom style. Almost like Latin plus popping.<\/p>\n

Dominic “D*Trix”<\/b>
\nspecialty: hip-hop<\/i><\/p>\n

I love the hip-hoppers! Which is so weird because I don’t like hip-hop music at all. The dancing is different. It’s so spontaneous and exciting.<\/p>\n

Cedric<\/b>
\nspecialty: hip-hop<\/i><\/p>\n

We didn’t see Cedric’s audition, and the judges noted that he had some trouble doing the partner work, but the solo they showed in during Vegas week was an incredible blend of hip-hop locking and lyrical style. So we’ll see how it works out.<\/p>\n

Ricky Palomino<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary<\/i><\/p>\n

This guy popped up in Vegas, and quickly became one of Mia Michael’s favorites (she’s the contemporary choreographer). He seemed a little wild-limbed to me, but we’ll see…I like his personality. He’s sorta crazy! In a good way.<\/p>\n

Kameron<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/hip-hop<\/i><\/p>\n

This is the guy with the crazy red-streaked hair. I remember seeing him briefly in the Vegas group round, but not enough to know whether I like him or not.<\/p>\n

Jimmy<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary<\/i><\/p>\n

Very briefest of flashbacks showing him doing contemporary\/lyrical. Looks good, but not really enough to know if I like him.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

He has cute rumpled blonde hair! Yeah, that’s all I got. But I like him for that, at least. :)<\/p>\n

Jésus<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

This guy’s backstory involved a wish for the Latin-American community to more fully embrace dance, especially as an acceptably masculine activity. Jésus is a really likable guy, and I hope he makes out well.<\/p>\n

Hok<\/b>
\nspecialty: hip-hop\/breaking<\/i><\/p>\n

I LOVE HOK (pronounced “hawk”). I loved him last year, when he was disqualified JUST before the top twelve announcement because he didn’t have a valid work visa. But he’s got one now and he’s in! He’s just so much fun to watch! I hope he can make it through the other types of dances.<\/p>\n

Top Ten Girls<\/h2>\n

Ashlee<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

Didn’t see her in auditions; her Vegas flashbacks looked very good, though.<\/p>\n

Jaimie<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary<\/i><\/p>\n

They didn’t show any of her dancing at all.<\/p>\n

Sabra<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/ballet\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

We didn’t see her AT ALL until last night, I swear, and they didn’t show any flashbacks from Vegas week, either.<\/p>\n

Anya<\/b>
\nspecialty: ballroom (Latin)<\/i><\/p>\n

Anya auditioned with her partner Pasha, who is also in the top twenty. Look up there to see her audition footage. I like her a lot. It’ll be interesting to see how they do, though, since they’ll certainly be partnered with other people.<\/p>\n

Faina<\/b>
\nspecialty: ballroom (Latin)<\/i><\/p>\n

Faina is the sister of Stanislav, who was on the show last year, but got eliminated the first week of voting (he’s partnering her in this clip). I think Anya’s the better ballroom dancer of the two, though. We’ll see. I do like having a wide variety of nationalities this year.<\/p>\n

Lauren<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary\/jazz<\/i><\/p>\n

I really like Lauren. She was too young to audition last year, but got to help one of the choreographers teaching the moves to the contestants. So she’s got a lot of good experience. Plus, she’s a really good dancer and very likable. That also helps.<\/p>\n

Sara<\/b>
\nspecialty: hip-hop<\/i><\/p>\n

The only b-girl to make it in the top twenty, and I’m glad she did. Look at the Vegas clips (we didn’t see her in the initial auditions), she’s obviously very good at breaking, and even the other types of dances didn’t look bad. I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do.<\/p>\n

Shauna<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary<\/i><\/p>\n

Looked nice in the two-second clip. Beyond that, she kind of looks like Kellie Pickler! Whatever that’s worth!<\/p>\n

Jessi<\/b>
\nspecialty: contemporary<\/i> (the SYTYCD website says she’s hip-hop, but I don’t think that’s right; if she is, she’s certainly not a breaker)<\/p>\n

I’m undecided on Jessi. I think she’s got talent, but I’m not sure I’m as excited about her as the judges apparently are. I really think that Nigel just has a crush on her. So we’ll see how it plays out on the show.<\/p>\n

Lacey<\/b>
\nspecialty: ballroom (swing\/Latin)<\/i><\/p>\n

And we continue the familial trend–Lacey is current champion Benji’s little sister (and thereby, top-four-finisher Heidi’s cousin, who she closely resembles). Lacey, like Lauren, was too young to audition last year, so that makes them the two youngest contestants. I like Lacey about the same amount I liked Benji last year–that is, enough to want them to be on the show for a while, but not enough for them to win. Her personality is a lot of fun, though.<\/p>\n

They try to get a good mix of dance styles in there, so let’s see how they did, allowing for the lack of precision in my categorizing:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Hip-hop – 4 – Dominic, Cedric, Hok, and Sarah<\/li>\n
  • Ballroom – 4 – Pasha, Anya, Faina, and Lacey<\/li>\n
  • Contemporary – 12 – Danny, Ricky, Kameron, Jimmy, Neil, Jésus, Ashlee, Jaimie, Sabra, Lauren, Shawna, Jessi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    So heavy on what I’m lumping together as contemporary, but that’s pretty much how last year was, too…contemporary dancers pull from a lot of different styles, which makes them more versatile, which is probably why there tend to be more of them. I am an expert on this from having watched last season. Yes.<\/p>\n

    Not in Top Twenty<\/h2>\n

    Caitlin<\/b><\/p>\n

    I really wish Caitlin had made it through. I thought her audition was incredible, especially for her age (she just turned eighteen). Ultimately, though, I think they thought she was not quite mature enough yet–apparently her Vegas auditions (which we didn’t see) weren’t quite as good. Hopefully she’ll come back next year and get in.<\/p>\n

    Michael and Eva<\/b><\/p>\n

    I’m not surprised these two ballroom\/lindy hop dancers didn’t make it all the way, but I enjoyed watching them. Eva made it to the next to last round, but I think the ballroom dancers that did get in are better and more versatile.<\/p>\n

    Morgan<\/b><\/p>\n

    I didn’t think she’d make it through, either–very young and flighty. I never saw her in Vegas at all, but her initial audition was quite interesting. Maybe we’ll see her next year?<\/p>\n

    Phillip<\/b><\/p>\n

    And this guy didn’t stand a chance making it through the partner work and everything, but the stuff he did in his audition was freaking amazing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’m pretty happy with the top twenty dancers chosen on So You Think You Can Dance last night. My only question is what happened to the girl who was injured during Vegas week last year and was promised that she could re-enter the competition during Vegas week this year? Didn’t see her, no mention of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[46],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":461,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/so-you-think-you-can-dance-top-20-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":0},"title":"So You Think You Can Dance Top 20","author":"Jandy","date":"June 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Whee! I'm so super-excited!! It's gonna be a good show this year, folks. And I know I said I wasn't going to blog it, but...I'm super-excited!! Did I mention that already? Whatever. I wrote this all during the show, but was trying to wait until I could include video--unfortunately, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1149,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/so-you-think-you-can-dance-4x01-la-auditions\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":1},"title":"So You Think You Can Dance 4×01: LA Auditions","author":"Jandy","date":"May 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I LOVE SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! I have missed it. You may have been able to discern a creeping apathy towards American Idol over the past few months, what with the lack of posting and all. Some of that was due to busyness, yes, but some of it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/dance_2-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":474,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/so-you-think-you-can-dance-top-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":2},"title":"So You Think You Can Dance Top 18","author":"Jandy","date":"June 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"You guys need to be watching this show. Seriously, EVERYBODY was good this week. And this week, I have video to prove it! I'll tease my favorite routine outside the cut; click through to see all the rest, complete with very subjective commentary as usual. This is Lacey and Kameron,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2846,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/tv-reality-bites-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":3},"title":"TV: Reality Bites #1","author":"Jandy","date":"October 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Survivor 19x01 - 19x03 OMG, I still hate Russell. I'm kind of bored with this season, actually. I don't really like anyone (the two people I did find interesting they already voted out, but that piqued interest could just be the editing). It's more like degrees of dislike\/apathy. And yet,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Survivor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":546,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/allison-and-ivan-the-umbrella-dance\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":4},"title":"Allison and Ivan – The Umbrella Dance","author":"Jandy","date":"July 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I just started using a new (to me) statistics tracker (Pmetrics from Performancing, which I highly recommend based on the week I've been using it), and I've noticed several hits from people looking for Allison and Ivan's umbrella dance from last year, which Nigel mentioned a week or two ago\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":421,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/summer-tv\/","url_meta":{"origin":457,"position":5},"title":"Summer TV","author":"Jandy","date":"May 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"So, American Idol is over (congratulations, Jordin!!), and so are almost all the other shows for the 2006-2007 season. (I have a season finale recap post ready to go up as soon as House airs...oh, and as soon as I actually watch the Lost finale.) What are we going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}