The top 20 take the stage for the first time to fight for America's votes.
9.0
"Superb"
It's show time!
Cat urges us to welcome the top 20 dancers, and welcome them i do, i love them all already.
Cat looks awesome (but she would even wearing a potato sac) and Dan joins Mary and Nigel on the judging panel, oddly enough his tie looks bigger than him.
First we see a clip about the finding of the top 20 which is a bit of a filler so who cares, guess they're taking time for the dancers to change clothes.
Our first couple includes two of my favourites: Jaimie and Hok. Too bad they didn't show the forming of the couples, i loved to see the reactions last season.
Anyway they're taking on a Shane Sparks hip-hop routine to Tambourine by Eve. We can see that Hok is a natural at this, lil' foreign to Jaimie but she does bring energy and is commited to it.
The judges are quite nice overall, especially Nigel who i suspect doesn't want the pretty Jaimie to get the boot until we reach the top 10, he complains a bit about the choreography however, saying it was holding Hok back, prompting Shane to yell "OH MY GOD" from the audience.
Next up sexy Anya and egomaniac Danny who looks like he's dropped a little bit of attitude. They will be front runners for sure, Danny's classical training is way strong and so is Anya's ballroom training, compensating each other they can kick everyone's ass. They're doing the jive and kick asses they do, ok the song choice is hideous, i understand that the producers want to keep the music young for the audience but really... Avril Lavigne? The judges are all impressed, and so am i, they owned it.
Lacey and Kameron are our next couple, who have clearly been paired together because they both have red hair.
We didn't see Kameron's audition but i like him already.
They take on a Mia's overwhelming emotional routine to a beautiful song by Elisa. They really bring the heat and the chills to the audience, hot routine, hot dancing, what more is there to say? Nigel has the best comments tonight, ah! I love Nigel.
Sabra and Dominic have been paired up for a Disco routine. Wow Sabra has only been dancing for 4 years, she's really a natural. Personally i'm a bit sick of the disco, won't they run out of disco songs sooner or later? Give me more Paso Doble. Besides the genre it's quite well danced and Sabra's afro works for the style.
Dan calls it "ok" and i quite agree with him, he liked better Nick Lazzarini's attitude witht the disco, Nigel says he can't compare Dominic to Nick because D has never done partnering, but i actually agree with Dan, he wasn't talking about partnering he was talking about attitude and performance and, as far as i'm concerned, no one yet topped Melody and Nick's disco number in season 1.
Is it just me anyway or is the overall level of this top 20 better than any top 20 seen so far? They're off the hook.
Ricky and Ashlee are next and they take on a tango by Alex Da Silva, hey Alex! Ok this is ankward, Ashlee is on high heels and is taller than Ricky, their routine leaves me cold and it's never a good thing with a tango. I personally don't think the tango should be one of the dances performed the first week, it's awfully hard in both footwork and performance, it requires way more passion and chemistry. Anyway i'm not the hat master. The judges knock them down.
Ah! Sara and Jesus take on a Wade Robson's pop jazz. I already know this will be crazy and it is! Wade calls it vagabond cabaret and it reminds me a lot of the Theatre of the Absurd since their characters are completely nuts and they basically put on a show for invisible friends. I'm surprised by Sara and this just proves my point of a better top 20 this year, the closest thing we've seen to a b-girl was popper Ashlee Nino and she sucked big time on technical work, but Sara nailes the whole routine. The judges love it and Nigel congratulates Sara.
Jessi the oil lady is paired with Pasha, and these two look awesome together. They get a smooth waltz which can be an unlucky genre. Pasha looks confident but Jessi claims to be more "yo yo" which... seriously, she's the whitest person ever. On stage they both look fantastic and the waltz is pretty and graceful, Jessi has clearly had training in either lyrical or classical, she has lovely extentions and is rotated. The judges love it, even Dan who usually hates the waltz.
Faina and Cedric are paired to take on another hip-hop. Cedric will clearly rule but everyone is concerned about Faina, and they should be. I think the choreography is a bit to blame, the star is clearly Cedric and his popping style is hard for Faina to keep up with, she has some nice moments overall. Dan knockes Faina down and loves Ced, Mary is nicer to Faina because of course she's ballroom and Nigel doesn't think they'll go home.
Ah! Adorable/crazy Lauren is paired up with Neil, who has a bit of Travis about him, could just be the blonde hair and his pirouettes tho. They're doing the salsa and look a bit worried in reharsals. Lauren looks hot, are the costumes more expensive this year? Neil however carries himself too high, he's not getting into Lauren nearly enough. I'm missing the spice.
The judges kind of agree with me, Mary felt that Neil danced like a cheerleader which is... a bit mean but fair.
Nigel calls Lauren the possible "new Allison" who's in the audience with the whole top 20 from last year, hi guys!
The last couple of the night are Shauna and Jimmy, i'm not sure if i like Jimmy but i adore Shauna who reminds me a bit of Kaley Cuoco. Yay, there's Tyce, which usually means Broadway. They're dancing to The Wiz, my dance teacher would have loved this, and the routine is a lot of fun, i feel Tyce gave more space to Jimmy however. Dan gives him kudos for outperforming Shauna. Nigel hates on her dress however, well Nigel it's not like she chose it, no need to tell her just fire someone, go Travis boo him! I think some stylists backstage just started shaking. He hates on her performance too, ouchie.
And that's all for tonight!moreless