So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20

I love this show. And I love Vegas week just like I love Hollywood week on Idol. And I hate that it was just an episode this year. Didn't they at least do the Top 20 announcement in one episode last year? Although I do feel like they showed a lot somehow. It felt more like Vegas week of two seasons ago, when they had to go through many different choreographers and were voted on each round. I have to say, Mary's less annoying this year, and seems like she's just being herself instead of a caricature or Paula Abdul wannabe. Actually, all the judges have been pleasant this year. And the show is still wonderful. My biggest complaint with Idol is that it's become such a production.. It's like blown out of proportion, whereas SYTYCD has stayed true to its initial concept and has kept it simple yet fascinating. Also, I do enjoy Cat as the host, and I see other shows are convinced a British host will make the show better ::coughLastComicStandingcough:: No, a great concept, great characters, and great editing make a show great.

Anyway, our Top 20. What do we think? My first impression throughout the episode was that they cut A LOT of ballroom and kept A LOT of hip-hop and contemporary. Do I sense some pressure for more hip-hop influence on this show?

Twitch: I love Twitch. He's such a nice guy, very humble, very genuine. I have a feeling people will love voting for him. He's really good too.

Kherington: I'm surprised she's here, actually. I thought that choreographer's daughter would make it over her. Maybe they're going for interesting names this year. Not saying she's bad, just not particularly memorable.

William: I don't really remember Will. He's a contemporary dancer. I don't know, he seems nice.

Jessica: I don't really know who she is either, but under the choreographers she'd like to work with, she included Kabba Modern and Geo Hubela, which I find interesting. Is this from watching Dance Crew or from before that?

Kourtni L: She's the one whose mom looks the same age as her. I don't like how she spells her name, but I don't know otherwise. She's pretty good. I just wonder how certain people end up getting through over others. There are so many contemporary dancers to start with, I find it to be a little arbitrary sometimes, but I'm assuming she was consistently very good throughout Vegas week.

Rayven: Says she does contemporary and ballet. Have we seen her? I think this season has been pretty decent about showing a majority of the dancers, but for some reason I feel like not many of them stick out. Maybe it's because not everybody is someone's sibling from a previous season.

Matt: His profile is kind of odd. He says his age is 22 (double-digits) and I'm guessing he means two of the same number/palindrome, but really, the only people excited to be double digits is 10-year-olds. Also, it says he wants three boys when they asked him if he has kids.

Chelsea T: Her hometown is Flower Mound. I really like all these contestants flipping out about the question about if they have any kids. It's nice compared to the family ordeal we have going on with Idol, where everyone is married and/or has children.

Chris: I like that it seems like they gave them these profile questions, let them fill them out, and then just posted whatever they typed down. As you can see, I have nothing to say about a lot of these people.. I just don't remember them. Hopefully they'll become more memorable soon.

Katee: This is the girl whose roommate pretty much gave up her spot for her, right? She is the better dancer, but I think it was kind of cruel that the judges made them come up together and then made them answer questions and then made them leave the stage for awhile. Like that was a little unnecessarily cruel to basically have them fighting over the last spot. I don't know if they were trying to get drama out of it.. see if they'd turn on each other, or see if they'd get a big emotional scene. Questionable..

Joshua: Is he the one that's friends with Comfort? He's the one that really started crying when they told him, right? He seems nice. They have a lot of nice people on this year.. no assholes really. Not many huge personalities either, which is what I'm worried about.

Thayne: Oh interesting.. he started when he was 21 and he's 27 now. The grandpa of the show. He doesn't really look any older, but I find it interesting that he started at an age that's older than a lot of the contestants are now. Sabra started later, too, though, I remember.

Gev: He's a breaker. I vaguely remember him. He's Armenian.

Comfort: I think I like Comfort. If I had to choose one that stood out so far, I'd pick her. They really want a hip-hop winner this year.

Jamie: Eh. His favorite dancer is Benji. That's kind of a lame answer, sorry. He's ballroom.. the only guy, huh.

Susie: I'm surprised she's here. Apparently she's got some technique. I know she's marketable, but I'm surprised after seeing her first audition. She's a "Latin/hip-hop" dancer.

Marquis: Oh my god he's so young.. I've started getting scared lately that so many reality contestants are now younger than me.

Courtney G: Hip-hop/contemporary. So if they claim part-hip-hop in their title I just assume it means they're trained in it but consider themselves the other style of dancer mostly. I don't know about her..

Chelsie H: Is she the one who wore a really short dress in her audition? With the really strong legs? She's a ballroom dancer, which is nice, because it's rare this season. I think because of her strong legs (if indeed that's her) and her strong looks, she'll probably make it to the Top 10 easily, particularly because ballroom is so low on numbers this year.

Mark: Contemporary. He's Hawaiian. I don't really have much to say.

This season is kind of astonishing. I'm surprised that ballroom dancer with the short hair didn't make it.. the girl with the long face? Isn't this cast kind of bizarre? I'm guessing Twitch is a fan favorite so far, but I really don't see those huge personalities that make this show so lively. I guess we'll see once they get their partners next week.