So You Think You Can Dance – Weeding away to the Top 20

If you’re into So You Think You Can Dance, you strained your brain to keep track of  everything which unfurled on the fourth episode. And it was a monumental task indeed. I could barely keep up properly.

But I did have the wherewithal to extract a few stats that flew by among the dancers’ leaps and bounds. In a nutshell, Wednesday’s 2-hour episode in Vegas consisted of Hip Hop, Broadway, Ballroom, a group round and Contemporary for the judges to consider who would stay and who would go. When all was said and done, the 160 souls who came to Sin City were pecked away methodically, a few not even participating in a single choreographed segment before getting booted. The cuts, routine by routine, thinned the herd to a mere 31 who eventually walked the (sometimes) dreaded “green mile” to hear if they’d advanced.

What was I looking for in this particular episode? Amber Williams. I saw a fleeting glimpse of her, but there was no word of her fate until just before the end where a final count of 24 hopefuls were nixed prior to the announcement of the Top 20. I boldly predicted she wouldn’t make the cut, so my radar was up for her. Turned out I was right. And I’m happy she’s gone. She would have bugged me.

And then came announcement time the following evening. Well, almost. An interesting bit of news from Nigel Lythgoe, first: When the Top 20 pares down to a Top 10 later in the season, the all stars will make their appearances to dance with the remaining 10. So it turns out we’ll get the best of both worlds.

Those who follow the show will remember there was controversy last year in that a mere ten contestants made the final cut, not the usual twenty. Wisely, The Powers That Be reversed that flaw in the show. And to combat this foible and quash any memory of it, those Powers decided to contract the dancers to three final routines in the last half hour of show. *yeesh* What was SYTYCD trying to do? Sap the very souls out of the dancers before the competition even got going? Brutal.

The men’s and women’s segregated numbers were rather spiffy, a “Men In Black” march and strange Geisha girl jaunt both of which were amusing. Choreographers Christopher Scott and Sonya Tayeh, respectively, led the guys and girls to spiffy effect (doesn’t Sonya always do so?), but Tyce DiOrio’s final number of the evening with the entire clan (a mess of a routine set to Annie Lennox’ “Little Bird”) was rather lackluster and drab.

And the Top 20? Jordan Casanova, 18, Chino Hills, California: Jazz; Alexander Fost, 21, Pasadena, California: Contemporary; Tadd Gadduang, 25, West Valley, Utah: Street; Marko Germar, Jazz, 22, Canoga Park, California: Jazz; Ricky Jaime, 18, Tampa, Florida: Contemporary; Wadi Jones, 24, Ossining, New York: Breaking; Mitchell Kelly, 20, Atlanta, Georgia: Contemporary; ; Christopher Koehl, 21, Garland, Texas: Hip-hop; Caitlynn Lawson, 18, Moses Lake, Washington: Contemporary; Jess LeProtto, 18, Little Falls, New Jersey: Musical theater; Iveta Lukosiute, 30, New York City: Ballroom; Miranda Maleski, 19, North Hollywood, California: Contemporary; Sasha Mallory, 23, Bakersfield, California: Contemporary; Melanie Moore, 19, New York, New York: Contemporary; Missy Morelli, 19, Studio City, California: Jazz; Clarice Ordaz, 19, Whittier, California: Jazz; Ryan Ramirez, 19, Morgan Hill, California: Contemporary; Ashley Rich, 22, Emeryville, California: Contemporary; Robert Taylor Jr., 30, Brooklyn, New York: Hip-hop; and, Nick Young, 19, Franklin, Wisconsin: Tap.

Lots of Californians! Nearly half of the contestants are from the Golden State. Plus a couple 30 year-olds thrown in the mix for good measure. Interesting.

From what we’ve seen to date, the quality of talent is certainly evident this year. (My favorite going in is Jess LeProtto, the Broadway kid. Definitely new territory for me.) Now we advance to the meat and potatoes of the show. And I, for one, can hardly wait to see what SYTYCD comes up with for these contestants. After all, last season will be a tough act to follow.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Jun 10, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT