The Top 20 has been decided.  No matter if your favorite didn’t make it - the deal is done and the competition is ready to begin!  I (Amanda) feel incredibly relieved to finally have the decisions finalized.  My muscles feel physically more relaxed.  I love the emotions that “So You Think You Can Dance” make me feel.  One emotion that I felt tonight that I hope not to feel so much this season is disappointment.

We saw the clip yesterday of Evan and Ryan standing together in front of the judges.  Any Vegas Episode Watching Veteran knows that when two people are standing together, that means that they are the last 2 standing and only one is going to make it.  Dawn said that they would take Evan, because he is younger.  Sure enough, that was the case.  I was hoping that they would bring on Ryan as a choreographer, but they only hinted to come back next season.  Their reason that they both had a similar style made sense.  Ryan’s story about not letting fear keep you down is a great story.  I certainly hope that he doesn’t fear trying out again for the Fall!

Dawn: I’m with ya!  Now that the Kasprzak brothers’ fate has been decided, I am feeling less anxiety.  I love those boys both so much, and it pained me to see Ryan get cut, especially that last second when he urged Evan to join the fray of excited Top 20 dancers.  Oh, knife to the heart, people.  I wanted more for Ryan.  He’s exceptional.  I wanted the judges to say, “We’d like you to be a guest choreographer this season with Tyce” or something.  Of course, that’d probably be unrealistic, knowing how big the choreographers’ egos seem to be.

Amanda:  Next heartbreaker of the evening was Miami ballet dancer, Alex.  He wasn’t able to get out of his contract with the ballet company to appear on the show.  My husband wasn’t very sympathetic and thought that Alex should have known.  I was imagining him doing Will’s Pas De Deux routine from last year.  He would have been great.  The judges did a great job of letting him down easy and gave him their blessing as he goes and a blessing to return when his contract is up.

D: I loved Alex.  He seemed so cool, with the mad dancing skills to back it up.  I want to see another cool Asian dude on the show!  Who was the last one, Hok?  And I was saying the same thing, how could he not have known this contract issue would come up?

A:  Someone that got blessed tonight was Brandon.  However, he is on my disappointment list.  I would have much rather had Ryan instead of Brandon.  I am sort of with Lil C and Mia.  He is so over-hyped.  All of this talk about his arrogance is certainly going to hurt him getting America’s vote.  Just ask Danny and Will.

D: Agreed.  I’d have voted with Mia & Lil C.  Though it was nice to see Brandon speak up for himself so soon in front of the panel.  Maybe he’ll turn it around and not go the way of Will.  Danny did.  Danny dealt with all that “you’re arrogant” crap for a long time and he made it to the finals anyway!  Of course, Danny was one of the best looking dancers the show’s ever had, so that couldn’t have hurt him.  :)  Ah, Danny.

A: I would have also taken Ryan over Tony.  He is playing the role of Dominic this season as the “Watch Him Grow!” contestant.

D:  I was so gratified when Nigel told Tony he was the type they like to see grow up and improve throughout the season, since I called it yesterday when I compared Tony to Ivan.  The judges love filling out the cast with those predictable roles, don’t they?  (The Most Improved, The Breakers/Trickers/Hip Hoppers Who Surprise Us, The Eastern European, The Ethnic Hottie, The Cute Blonde, The Sassy Brunette, The Professional, The Underdog, The Dreamboat, The Quirky One, The Quiet One, etc.  The reason I never tire of this is because the choreography and originality of each year’s routines keep it fresh.)  Tangent aside, I like Tony.  I like him all tall & gangly.

Dancers I am Happy To See in the Top 20

A:  EVAN!!! - I am rooting for him all the way to the end.  I hope he can do hip hop.  Imagining him doing Krunk makes me laugh.  Good thing it is America’s favorite dancer and not the best.

D:  I bet he does hip-hop just fine, if the Vegas rounds were any indication.  They seemed pretty hardcore with all the cuts!  I think Evan will be a big favorite.

A: Janette - I like her style and her fighting spirit.  I am hoping she can do a good solo, otherwise 3rd best girl dancer will be good enough for her.

D:  What other two girls are ahead of her, in your opinion?

A:  Max - Just because he is cute.

D:  I’m curious to see what he can do.  He hasn’t been featured much.

A:  Ashley - She auditioned 4 times, people, and she finally made it.  All other dancers should take note.  (You hear that Bianca?)

D: Ashley who?  Seriously though, I thought she seemed quite composed and sweet.

A:  Asuka - She is so unique to SYTYCD.  I think it is going to be fun seeing what her powerful little body can do.

D: Ethnic Hottie. I would like to be surprised by her.

A:  Kupono - I liked Mark last year and I am drawn to another Hawaiian again this year.  And his checklists are adorable.

D: Full of life.  He’ll go far!  And much improved look with that haircut.

A:  Randi - “If you could commit to your artistry as much as your unitards, you will be great,” said Mia.  Hilarious!!

D: Randi is one of three blondes in the Top 20.  That’s a lot of blonde to differentiate from.  I don’t recall seeing any of Randi’s dancing in the audition episodes.

A: I am pleased with the selection of the Top 20 this season. There really isn’t one standout yet.  I feel like anyone has a chance to bloom or to fail miserably.  What’s great now is that America gets to decide.

D: Now that Ryan has been relegated to “cheering audience family member”, I’m feeling pretty chill about the whole thing.  Once next week gets underway, I’ll probably have more favorites.  For now, I’m on Team Evan, Team Kayla, and Team Caitlin.  By the way, who the heck are Ade, Jeanine, Karla, and Jonathan?

Here is your Top 20, Ameriker!

Ade
Brandon
Evan
Jason
Jonathan
Kupono
Max
Phillip
Toni
Vitolio

Ashley
Asuka
Caitlin
Janette
Jeanine
Karla
Kayla
Melissa
Paris
Randi

And cut they did.  Holy moly, Wednesday’s Vegas episode was fast and furious.  The judges weren’t playing any games.  But we’ll get to that in a moment.

First, I want to answer for my earlier Top 20 predictions.  I was wrong about Gabi, Sammy, Amanda, Chimeze, and Priscilla.  Oh.  And Natalie.

Natalie!

Weren’t we all wrong about Natalie?  I thought she was a clear lock for Top 20 - heck, to win this whole thing!  So to have her be cut so unmercifully after the Jazz round (choreographed brilliantly by Sonya Tayeh - the few seconds of dance we saw were so fresh!) was a shock to my system - not at all what we saw coming.  Especially after we had seen her do the routine in front of the whole group (with Brandon), at Sonya’s request.  Sonya clearly loved Natalie and saw her genius.  So I am stunned as to why she is now gone - while lots of other, nameless girls remain in her spot.  Natalie handled her dismissal with class.  I don’t think we’ll see her again.  After last year, and now this, it seems SYTYCD is not in the cards for her.

The episode started off with each of the 172 dancers doing their solo routine, one by one, for the panel of judges including Nigel, Mary (unusually subdued tonight), Shanks, Lil C, Mia, and Debbie Allen.  44 dancers were cut right out of the chute, including Travis, the coach’s son from last week.  I didn’t expect him to go far, and it was kind of a relief to see him and other dancers say goodbye without extra time or sentiment.  (Makes me wonder why they get so much screen time during audition episodes, though.  It’s like they want us to get invested early in, and then rip out our hearts the second their plane lands in Vegas.)

They moved on to the Hip Hop round (with NapTab), and 33 more dancers were given the boot.  Fifteen minutes in, and we’re already down to 97!  The ballroom round followed (with Jean-Marc Genereaux & France).  Even though Philip Chbeeb “doesn’t know how to not pop”, according to Adam Shankman, they waved him through.  Also sailing through was Japan’s Nabuya, who cried like a baby and said, “I love here, I really love here.”

I’ve already mentioned Sonya’s jazz routine, and I just want to say again that I think Mia better watch out: she might soon be replaced as SYTCYD’s most beloved choreographer.  Then again, I incorrectly predicted six Top 20 dancers, so whatevs.  I want that song Sonya used for the choreography.  It was super catchy!  It’s what got me through the Natalie Shock.

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