Lindork’s So You Think You Can Dance Recap – Top 20 Performance & Results Show Thoughts

June 12 2009.

Okay so this is how I ranked the performances from Wednesday night:

1. Phillip and Jeanine – Hip Hop
2. Ade and Melissa – Contemporary
3. Kupono and Ashley – Jazz
4. Jason and Caitlin – Bollywood
5. Randi and Evan – Jazz
6. Max and Kayla – Samba
7. Karla and Jonathan – Cha Cha
8. Paris and Tony – Hip Hop
9. Brandon and Jeanette – Foxtrot
10. Asuka and Vitolio – Broadway

Now for some of my thoughts and reasonings behind the rankings and the performance show itself!

What is in this post:

• Thoughts about each routine from Top 20 Performance Show.
• Notes about Top 20 Results Show.
• Who was eliminated and thoughts.

Let’s start with the routines that I enjoyed:

The first performance of the night (and my favourite of the night) was done by Philip Chbeeb and Jeanine Mason with a NappyTabs lyrical Hip hop to “Mad” by Neyo. I loved this routine! I thought they both performed it fantastically but Phillip moreso, obviously because it is closest to his style. I also thought Phillip REALLY performed it well like NappyTabs like their routines to have a story and to have emotion and I felt Phillip really got into character and really put his emotion into the dance. You could feel it in his movements as well as see it resonate through his facial expressions (see photo).

Other things to note: I felt that Jeanine’s outfit was way too similiar to Chelsie’s from Mark & Chelsie’s Bleeding Love NappyTabs Lyrical Hip Hop last season. Also, I think Jeanine could very well climb up in the list of girls that I like! (But again, none of the girls this season will ever climb past any of the guys I like, lol).

My second favourite of the night was Ade Obayomi and Melissa Sandvig‘s Contemporary piece to “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx, choreographed by Mandy Moore. I thought this was a beauuuutiful piece. I loved the beginning with the very gentle wind — subtle but effective start! There were some great lifts, movements, and I don’t know what it was but I just thoroughly enjoyed watching this.

Other things to note: I was shocked actually that I enjoyed this so much because I didn’t care too much for both Ade and Melissa pre-Top 20 performance. (Well, I still don’t care for them that much but the routine was really well done). I also didn’t like that Ade had a pick in his hair for the entire rehearsal / pre-performance package and also you could totally tell Melissa is old.

Coming in at #3 (though I’ve re-watched this so many times now that it could easily get the first or second place spot now), is Kupono Aweau and Ashley Valerio‘s Jazz routine choreographed by the dance God himself, Wade Robson! My first opinion about this routine was that it was incredible BUT I was so distracted and thrown off by the costuming and white make-up that I couldn’t fully enjoy it first time around. Having said that, I still thought that the performances by both Kupono and Ashley were flawless. The execution was fantastic. They were so clean, they had great lines, great technique, and how in-character they both got (but especially Kupono), made everything ten times better. Taking all of that into account and then re-watching the routine and not letting the makeup and costuming throw me off, I appreciated the routine that much more. Wade truly is a genius and I seriously cannot imagine what goes on in his mind. His wife is also a genius.

Other things to note: I had been praying that Kupono would get Wade ever since I heard Wade would be choreographing a piece for this week’s show and I literally squealed when they revealed Kupono got Wade. I had been jotting down notes throughout the show and this was what I had written when I saw Kupono got Wade: “WADE ROBSON YAYYYYYYYYY JAZZ OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
I LOVE WADE.” Lol. In my eyes, getting Wade is like being ~blessed~ I’m waiting for a Pharoh-Egyptian-like routine from Wade specifically for Kupono in mind. I feel it will happen. Cross your fingers! Also, the cross dummy dog was adorable. Mark was sitting behind Wade in the audience looking fabulous. Oh and I had also written in my notes “I don’t know anything about Ashley but I hope she doesn’t suck because Pono needs a good partner.” Lol. She didn’t suck. So all is well. ♥

My fourth favourite routine of the night was Jason Glover and Caitlin Kinney‘s Bollywood routine by Nakul Dev Mahajan to “Jai Ho” from the Slumdog Millionare Soundtrack. I LOVED this routine. I think in terms of Bollywood, you are always going to get an entertaining, upbeat, energetic and exciting routine (or at least that’s what you should get and what the performers should be giving you) and in this case I think Jason and Caitlin delivered. But especially Jason. (Haha are you seeing this trend where I am flattering the guys more than the girls?) Anyway, I think this was a fabulous routine and I think the number one reason why it ranks high is that, simply put, it entertained me.

Other things to note: I really want to take like a Bollywood dance lesson. I also really love Bollywood costumes. I also downloaded the Pussycat Dolls version of Jai Ho the night of the performance and have had it repeating on my iTunes for some time now. Jason Glover is also adorable!

Now this Jazz routine with Evan Kasprzak and Randi Strong-Evans, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio to “I only have eyes for you” by Jamie Cullum, was originally #2 on my rankings. I thought it was sooooo good. I mean I still think it’s so good but comparably, it has to drop a little bit. Again with the emotion and the connection, I really felt it in this routine. I thought this Tyce piece was a lot better than his broadway, and I just really thought Evan and Randi performed this beautifully. There were some great moves throughout the piece that made me perk up. Really beautiful performance.

Other things to note: I laughed outloud at Evan’s comment about how he didn’t know big Randi’s husband was! Also, Randi being a contestant with a husband made me think she’s like the Kris Allen of So You Think You Can Dance. Of course, she isn’t REALLY because that means she’d be winning this season and we all know that’s not going to happen. (No offense to Randi, she’s proven quite good but I seriously don’t think a girl is winning this season).

The sixth routine that I thoroughly enjoyed was Max Kapitannikov and Kayla Radomski‘s Samba to “Jum Bah Day” by House of Gypsies, choreographed by Louis Van Armstrong. Again this comes down to entertainment value and I was completely entertained by their performance. Fast-paced, energetic, fun and they performed it really well.

Other things to note: Max is quite lucky he got his style pretty much this first week because pre-Top 20 performance I was absolutely certain that Max would have been the first guy to leave but lucky him, he got his style and I thought he did reallllly good! Max, quite non-sexy in photographs and standing still, can really turn on the hot factor in a samba I must admit. As for Kayla, I know for a lot of people online she appears to be the favoured female and for good reason she’s definitely good but again, none of these girls appeal to me on a higher level than the guys do.

Finally, I’m smushing the four remaining performances together:

Jonathan Platero and Karla Garcia‘s Cha Cha to “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, choreographed by Tony Meredith, was not hot. I think Jonathan fails quite hard at being ‘sexy’. No hate intended, I think he’s quite adorable but it feels wrong watching him try and move his hips in a sexy way, it just doesn’t work. He doesn’t pull it off. I think Karla has been great in the very few youtube videos I’ve seen her in and she wasn’t bad in this routine either but comparably, it fell short.

Tony Bellissimo and Paris Torres‘s Hip Hop to “Let the Beat Rock” by the Black Eyed Peas, choreographed by NappyTabs. I didn’t think this was that bad. Honestly I can’t really remember it anymore though. I think the main issue I had with this, as superficial and horrible as it sounds, is Paris’s chin. I’m sorry. But once you notice it, it’s like you can’t get it out of your head and your field of vision and that’s all I kept coming back to and it just ruined everything for me. Am I horrible for making that big a deal about her chin? I just can’t focus on anything else. My bad.

Brandon Bryant and Janette Manrara‘s Foxtrot to “Come Fly With Me” by Michael Buble, choreographed by Louis Van Armstrong. It’s not that this wasn’t done well. I thought it was done quite well actually. It’s just that foxtrots tend to rank lowest for me in anything. Even if my favourites are doing foxtrots, out of say my favourite’s history of routines, the foxtrots would be at the bottom of the lists just because they don’t appeal to me very much. I thought Brandon did a really good job of putting personality and character into the routine though so props to him! It was a pretty dance but I’m just not interested in foxtrots and again, comparably, it couldn’t beat out the first six favourite routines on my list.

Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune‘s Broadway to “Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. BORING. This was my least favourite routine. Both dancers were so boring. It really did feel like they were just going through the movements. Broadway, I feel is ALL about the character and personality you put into it and there just none put into this. Unimpressive.

Overall though, as I wrote in the quick rankings write up prior to this post, I loved and was entertained very much by the top six routines that I listed ( ♥ ) and overall I thought it was a really good Top 20 performance show and I am so excited that WADE IS BACK!

Now here are some things I noted for Thursday’s results show:

– Bottom 3 guys and bottom 3 girls: Tony Bellissimo, Paris Torres, Vitolio Jeune, Asuka Kondoh, Jonathan Platero, Karla Garcia. (I completely agree with this bottom, no disagreements here).

– Kupono was wearing a Discrete Royalty shirt. The clothing line is designed by one of his friend’s (who is also Mark’s friend, which is why I know this) and I think the clothes from that line are really great. I also think it’s way cute and supportive of Kupono to model DR on national TV! (Side note, Mark has modeled for DR as well)

– Adam Shankman and Nigel shouted out to Twitter! I think the fact that the judges are tweeting this season and that they are/will get thousands of direct tweets of opinions to them before each performance show and before each results show, is definitely going to have an impact on the results this year.

– I thought all 6 solos were weak and forgettable. In fact, I’ve already forgotten about them.

– Ashley and Kupono’s animal sounds was HILARIOUS!!

– Cat faked out Phillip and Jeanine and I believed it at first too. It was actually a really good fake out.

– The Shane Sparks Top 20 Group Routine to “Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas was SOOOOO good! I loved it! A must re-watch. Why not re-watch it now?:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBjPYU2QWqk&hl=en&fs=1&]

Also, did anyone else think of Heroes and the whole Claire “Save the Cheerleader. Save the World” thing when the “Save the Dancers. Save the World” voice happened at the beginning? Haha!

In the end, Tony Bellissimo and Paris Torres are the first to leave Season 5.

Are you sad? Am I sad? Not really. Tony had a fun personality but that can only take you so far and I hate to be superficial but I don’t think I could watch Paris dance each week because her chin is just so darn distracting, UGH I’m sorry if that comes off as extremely mean but seriously.. :(

But, again, overall, a GREAT Top 20 week!!!! This season is really looking like it’s going to be a fantastic one and I don’t think I’ll dislike any of the dancers really! Yay for positivity! :D

I also need to shout out to my friend Lisa. I watched the Top 20 performance show at her house this week on the East Coast channel. T’was a lot of fun. I don’t usually watch SYTYCD with people. Ha ha. (:

Comments are very welcome!

Linda (: