164 replies to this topic

[TWoP Roxy]

From comcast.com:

The Top 20 dancers are introduced.

[twinmom]

So, basically, Zooey was only there because she has a show on Fox.

[stretchess]

The Top 10 girls dance was pretty breathtaking. It didn't make me want to cry or anything, but it sure was beautiful to look at.

I kept my eye on Cyrus all night, just to see how he did, and he certainly did quite well with the choreography. I was quite impressed. He must have put a ton of work in to keep up with the other dancers who are trained or use to more choreographed styles, and I wish we learned if he did classes etc.

I am SO happy the gorgeous martial arts dancer (what's his name?) and the ballet dancer from Belgium (???) made it. They're probably my favorite boys this year. What was Will's genre? I missed that. Interesting to see a male dancer who does not have a built bod. I'd like to see his tall hunka man get some abs, chest, and abs. He seems hilarious though... really enjoy him.

Was Mia wearing a wig?

[bosawks]

I had no idea that retired NY Ranger Brian Leetch had taken up ballet.

[Bleeding Love]

Amber Jackson was clearly cast for fodder. I'm not mad at that because her hair is awful.

[Smagu]

Eliana is so going to win this for the girls. I think the guys is a little more wide open, but I honestly don't see any of the other girls competing with her for the win. I was mesmerized during her ballet routine.

And how useless was Zooey Deschanel? I think even Cat was mocking her by the end. Too bad Schmidt and Nick couldn't show up halfway through the show and bail her out like they do on New Girl.

[svimouse]

Okay, meet the top twenty is shaping up to be the best episode of the season, once again. This one was so good.

The ballet routine was gorgeous. All three were good but I think the standout was Eliana because all I could think was "OMG, her LEGS!!" She was perfect. Cheon and Daniel were good too, and I think really evenly matched within the routine.

I liked the baseball routine a lot as well.

I wasn't all that keen on Sonya's(?) routine with the two girls dressed as rythmic gymnasts. They just looked so young and small, it really came across like a floor exercise. I found the lighting and costuming on Travis' routine made it come off extremely pretentious as well. It was very samey samey and felt like a poor man's Mia routine. The men's routine was better, but Nigel was right, maternity pants.

Of course the full top 20 routine was great, reminded me of Doctor Atomic for some reason.

So, basically, Zooey was only there because she has a show on Fox.

And yeah Zooey Deschanel was totally useless. Too bad Nigel didn't have a meta moment about that too.

Edited by svimouse, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:17 PM.

[HanaChan]

Very few real surprises in the top 20 pick. All of the expected suspects made it (Amelia, Alexa, Whitney, Eliana, Cyrus, Cole, etc...). Most of the contemp girls were pretty interchangable. Am delighted however to see ballroom get some halfway decent representation this year (3 dancers) as well as getting our first ever belly dancer in the top 10. And three genuine ballet dancers! Yay! Makes a nice break from contemporary overload.

Most of the performances were great and it looks like the choreographers are stepping things up this year. Am so glad to see Mia back as a choreographer. For once Travis didn't make me want to throw things at the TV (and gave the girls a lovely routine - was sorry not to see Janelle in it). And Sonya - she looks so pretty with normal hair!

On a strictly shallow note - could have done without the boys dancing in hakama, but they can go shirtless all season if they want. Man boobs included.

Edited by HanaChan, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:14 PM.

[mshesterp]

I missed it...were there only 9 girls dancing for some reason?
Excited to see some new (and old) faces in the top 20 from auditions and Vegas week. Happy to see Cyrus pick up his game!

[Turkish]

The blondes are pretty interchangeable. They cancel each other out for me.

Loved the hip-hop routine from start to finish. Oh my god. Cole get in my bed! Best routine of the night.

I love so many of the boys and now I don't know who to vote for. I'm really torn between Cole, Matt and Cyrus right now. All of them are really great though. It did annoy me a little that Brandon felt the need to assert his heterosexuality during the intro for the boys number. Dude, it's not that serious. This show has done plenty of boys routines before tonight without the gay panic.

The girls aren't doing much for me right now in comparison to the guys. Except for maybe Eliana. That very well could change though as the season progresses. I wish Janelle wasn't hurt so she could perform. Hopefully, this won't hurt her chances too badly.
I was disappointed about Jasmine Mason not making it but I hope she'll come back next year.

Not impressed by either Stacey Tookey or Travis' routines. Ever. It just's more flail-dancing to me. But I loved Mia Michael's routine glad she's back. Now bring back Wade!

Edited by Turkish, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:14 PM.

[isiscloud]

Loved the Travis dance. It did make me cry and that's OK. It shows that he should have won, but it's OK since he's choreographing....I didn't like Mia's though.

Cyrus was very good for not having a long of training - or none.

Interesting that there will be both a favorite girl and guy, not just one final dancer.

[surfer]

Yeah, Amber's not winning this thing. Nigel and his apparent grudge will make sure of that.

Eliana was stunning during that ballet number. Definitely a favorite.

The phantom spotlight meant for Janelle during Sonya's first routine was very distracting.

But all in all, a very satisfying top 20. A bit more diversity than last year with the 3 ballroom contestants, Cyrus, the stepper and Janelle. Speaking of Cyrus, very pleasantly surprised. He held his own quite nicely.

Can we speculate on potential partnerships? Cole/Eliana has power couple written all over it.

[Indy1]

So Chehon, David, and Eliana together in one routine just made my night. Amazing. Gorgeous. Mesmerizing. Other words like that.

I'm so glad George made it through. He just glows when he dances, it's so effortless and you can feel his soul.

The three baseball guys were a close second for my favorite routine. They're all quite unique yet the routine managed to showcase all of their talents in a very seamless way.

I loved Cat's BFG comment :) But what was she wearing? Oy, I feel like the wardrobe people must hate her for some reason because they always dress her so bizarrely.

Speaking of strange wardrobe choices...what on earth were the guys wearing in Sonya's routine? I think in general, the guys are my favorites this year. There are so many of them that I enjoy watching.

Zooey is annoying. Thank goodness for DVR allowing me to fast forward through her.

[psudani]

Move over Travis...Mia is back to show us how it is done. Alright, I don't actually have anything against Travis - he has put together some interesting routines, but Mia is just in a league of her own when it comes to that genre. She could teach a gorilla to move with grace.

[crowceilidh]

High time there was a female and male winner - we've only been squawking about it for 8 seasons.

I hated the number of times I was aware of Alexis, so I'd say that she's already been brushed with the Ryan brush for me.

I was sorry about that hiphopper who was up against Cyrus and who did so well during Vegas week. And sorry about Jill who was up against Amelia.

I like Nick alright. Chehon is gorgeous, although I kept thinking he was slightly out of synch in the ballet routine. Anybody know if they're endangering Eliana by making her wear pointe shoes or if this floor is engineered for same?

Hated the Sonya girl routine. FF'd through Travis' routine. In fact, Tyce (TYCE???!!!) did my favourite contemporary routine.

The boys were dancing in hakama because of Will's body, I presume. How does Will have a body that unstructured AND make it through to top 20? He must be some awesome dancer. It's quite odd to see someone taller than Cat.

[bluvelvet]

I was also looking at Cyrus, truth be told as much as I love the guy after seeing flashes of the other hip hop guy I wanted the other dude to make it over Cyrus. I hope during the time off he took some classes because he is at a HUGE disadvantage. My favorite routines were probably the ballet piece and the guys baseball routine. The contemporary and jazz all feel the same to me. Glad to see the martial arts guy make it but he has had contemporary training I think based on what I saw.

Interested to see who was paired with whom in the following weeks.

I love ballroom but these three didn't really impress me or maybe it was the routine.

Edited by bluvelvet, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:27 PM.

[Laurie4H]

I wasn't blown away by the ballet performance. The music was fast and it seemed like they could have done a lot more with it.

[skylarkfreedom]

I think Eliana is my fav girl so far. I'll have to give the boys a few weeks to see who shakes out, since, while I like Cyrus's personality, I think he's a long shot technique wise.

I really wanted to like Mia's dance, since I'm happy to have her back, but the frantic camera work ruined it for me. So Sonia's boy's routine was my fav.

[lemurgrl]

I loved Cat's BFG comment :) But what was she wearing? Oy, I feel like the wardrobe people must hate her for some reason because they always dress her so bizarrely.

Actually, Cat dresses herself... and I kind of love her for it.

Disappointed to get a Mia and not a Wade for the group number, but I guess I can't complain too much since all my favorites made the cut. I was really worried about my already-beloved Chehon when the judges called Daniel first, because I didn't think they'd do the "both are through" thing twice in a row. Overall, this may be my favorite top 20 so far, except for Amelia. I just don't get it.

[OwlsGo]

Sonya's two girls can go first. I also thought Nick was pretty bad in the cha-cha-cha; he wasn't feeding off the two of them at all.

I also chuckled at Lauren Gottlieb saying "you don't have to be a dancer" to pick her choreography for Dance Day up. Are all the previous hip-hoppers disowning their status with this show?

Oh, and Mia Michaels looked like Brett Somers tonight.

Edited by OwlsGo, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:35 PM.

[GilvearSt]

And yeah Zooey Deschanel was totally useless. Too bad Nigel didn't have a meta moment about that too.

I'm glad the show had sense enough to have useless Zooey judge on a week where it didn't count at least. Nigel will always play ball with Fox (bad pun I know after the All-Star promo) but he has the sense to make it work as best he can for the show.

Eliana slays all the other girls. Janelle, of course is a mystery, but the rest are nothing compared to her. Some of those girls are such cannon fodder it makes me sad. They're so excited to be there but those two nothing dancers in Sonya's routine scream first and second to go home. One of them fell out of a single turn. The two ballroom girls are in a bit of trouble. I imagine that one will go early while they split the fanbase but whoever survives should go far.

Amelia doesn't really hold up when you put her on a stage with stronger dancers and the only reason she stands out is that she's so freaking pale. I did love seeing her without her makeup mask in the Mia number. It's a nice change. Alexa was stronger than I expected. I was surprised by the one dancer that the judges also called a surprise but in my case that's because they barely showed her during Vegas, focusing instead on Alexa and Amelia.

The boys I'm most interested in are the ones who don't dance contemporary. The two ballet boys are such strong dancers. The three in the final routine pleased me. That routine was stunning and it really highlighted each of them but also really challenged each of them. It borrowed from their styles, from hip-hop and from contemporary and just worked in a very special way.

The ballroom guy may be different but he screams cannon fodder. Its like they put him through to the top 20 so they could have this one routine tonight and then they're already done with him.

Mia's piece was great. She can bug but I love her artistic vision. I can always tell when its a Mia but unlike a Sonya or Travis I don't feel like each Mia piece is the same. She's coming at the music with new intent and the dancers seem to thrive because she is one of the few choreographers who won't compromise her vision to make up for a weak dancer. (Cedric aside, but really Mia did exactly what she set out to do with that piece, which was embarrass him and expose his weaknesses)

I did hate that when it came down to the final two for the guys and girls the judges comments and Cat's voice over suggested that in both cases they chose a personality over the Vegas week results. How much would it suck to be the person who nailed ballroom, or hip-hop and never had to dance for your life to lose out to the person who struggled but had a better TV hook. Also since in both cases, one person was heavily featured last week and the other was invisible, there was zero suspense.

Edited by GilvearSt, Jun 27, 2012 @ 9:36 PM.

[Canadian Bakin]

I have to watch parts of the show again, but I have no doubt that Eliana is my favourite girl. For guys I love Chehon and Cole. Cyrus, too, but I just think his lack of choreography training is going to hurt him.

Loved the ballet, loved the 'miscellaneous' guys routine, and liked Sonya's all guy routine. Also liked Mia's routine. All the rest sort of blend together, even though I know there was a ballroom in there, having it early didn't help it.

Echoing the uselessness of Zooey Deschanel. Katie Holmes part 2.

[newman44]

- Zooey - pretty but completely worthless
- the male ballet guys were not together...i think chehon was off.
- i like cyrus, but not sure he deserves to be there.
- george is a lock for the top 4 guys.

[Holliday]

Top 20 shows used to give me Wade Robson and now I get Zooey De-however-you-spell-it? I long for the good ol' days.

[MommaJ]

Cyrus' presence was like a "one of these things is not like the others" Sesame Street routine. Much as I like his specialty, I don't think he belongs on the same stage with the other 19, and I'm sure there must be some resentment that he took the place of another more talented dancer. I understand that he has a lot of personal appeal, but like so many in prior seasons, he should have been told to go get trained for a couple of years and come back. I fear that in a two person ballroom or lyrical routine, when there aren't several other dancers on the stage to distract the eye from his limitations, Cyrus will fall fast and far.

[beeble]

I like that there is Fave Guy and Fave Girl this year...SYTYCD makes enough money to start giving out more cash prizes, methinks.

I want a pair of those maternity pants.

As long as it's not a Kardashian, I'm fine with guest judging. ZD seemed to know that she contributed near zilch so I'm not irked by her presence.

This year's girls are very good (Kat's BFG girls, notwithstanding) and I usually like Travis' choreography but this was a little too Lilith Fair for my liking.

I certainly like Cyrus but I don't think he's ready for this show. He seems like a one-note dancer. I will be seriously annoyed if he mangles the quickstep only to be saved by a sacrificial ballet dancer...

And speaking of, I thought the ballet dancers were stunning. Eliana was gorgeous. She's my favorite already.

These ballroom dancers don't seem up to the level of previous years' ballroomers. Just not seasoned enough.

Did Mia join the Witness Protection Program? Who was that lady?

[Lila82]

LOVED the separate ladies/gents routines. Regardless of the choreography, Travis Wall's routine was stunning. While watching, I thought the same as Nigel: like I was watching a Renaissance painting come to life. It was ethereal and emotional, but without being cloying. Likewise, Sonya's highlighted the physicality and power of her dancers. Female dancers seem to be praised for their "strength" and male dancers are praised for connecting with music and displaying female grace, but the male dancers never seem to be praised for being strong and athletic. It was nice to see all that raw masculinity put to good use rather than repressing it.

The two ballroom girls are adorable. I am so happy they're here and Lindsey was right: the judges' game was mean and horrible!

I adore Audrey Case. Her personality just sparkles and she's a lovely dancer.

By far, Christopher Scott choreographed my favorite routine. He had three very diverse dancers and created a routine that highlighted their individual strengths and eliminated their weaknesses and all three men shone. Well, well done.

ETA:

While Cyrus' learning curve is much steeper than the others, it's also why the judges chose him. They love that he's willing to take criticism and work hard and embrace challenges to improve his dancing. I actually agree. We gave a president a Nobel peace prize for what he could do and I think the same applies to Cyrus. The potential is there and his staying power depends on his ability to prove himself.

What on earth was Melanie wearing???

Edited by Lila82, Jun 27, 2012 @ 10:06 PM.

[AddictedToTV]

First and foremost: That ballroom routine was hot. Nick was decent enough, and I think he held his own to the best of his abilities but my sweet Jesus. Witney and Lindsay are something else. Insanely gorgeous and unbelievably sharp and consistent. So much attitude. So much fire. So much awesome. I really do think they are both, without a doubt, Top 10 material. Very skilled in ballroom, cross-trained, young, attractive, and personable.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of Eliana before tonight. I loved her legs for sure, but I thought she was sort of weak. I was way wrong. She was miles better than Chehon and Daniel tonight. I loved the ballet routine and I can't wait to see all three of them make their way easily into Top 10.

The contemporary/jazz routines were all okay. Nothing great, nothing poor. My standouts? Alexa was exquisite. Yes she has gotten a lot of screentime. But she's also just really good. Matthew and Dareian were both wonderful, and so was George. I could do without Amber, Janaya, Amelia, and Audrey to be honest. Fodder.

I was also surprised on how well Cyrus did. He's still clearly a sore thumb, but at least he was picking up the choreo well and doing a commendable job technically. I'm eager to see him in ballroom when he gets a chance to rehearse more than what he could in Vegas.

Cole and Brandon were awesome. Loved the baseball routine, although I thought the music was way too on-the-nose. It was awkward, in my opinion.

My Top 10?
Girls:
Alexa
Witney
Lindsay
Eliana
Janelle

Guys:
George
Chehon
Daniel
Cole
Brandon/Dareian

Excited for the season, for sure.

PS: Can we please get a ballroom group routine this year?

Edited by AddictedToTV, Jun 27, 2012 @ 10:05 PM.

[gik910]

Eliana is also my front running gal. She destroyed it tonight. All the others kinda bleed together for me...wish we could have seen the belly dancer tonight, but at least she'll be there next week.

Cole is amazing! He gives me hints of Alex (I know!). I actually think Cyrus took some classes between the breaks & I think it showed tonight. My eye went to him in both group routines he was in & the baseball routine was my favorite of the night! Aside from Ballroom & some of the ballet...I think the kid can hold his own. I would have rather had the other hip hop guy there too but the producers did their job & I'm invested in Cyrus. There is much to be said for the drive that I think he has. And, it is a tv show...they will cast for personality. I'm ok with that when it's a good personality. I'd rather watch a kid with some natural talent & a good attitude over a pro that makes me want to watch paint dry.

I do hope that Wade shows up at some point this season. I miss his stuff.

[JLHSmurf]

How much would it suck to be the person who nailed ballroom, or hip-hop and never had to dance for your life to lose out to the person who struggled but had a better TV hook.

That whole thing reminded me of when Anthony Burrell was cut.

It's so nice to have ballet represented this season.

Although, I'm a bit biased because Janelle went to my university!