So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Perform (Episode 406)

Cat, looking like a particularly fashionable giraffe in a shimmery mini-dress, welcomes us to the top 20 and introduces the dancers. Of note: William is apparently now going by Will. Over at the "jidges" table are Nigel and Mary and tonight's guest judge, Dan. Cat asks each of them about their expectations for the season. Dan says he thinks this is the first year there aren't clear favorites or frontrunners. Mary mentions how big the Vegas round has grown from year to year, seeming to think this is a proof of the growing talent. I don't know, I think it could also be argued that it's proof the judges let more auditioners through in the hopes that they'll eventually find a decent top 20. As for Nigel, he compliments Cat on how pretty she looks tonight, and says it's too soon to tell who might be in the final four.

Our first couple of the night is Rayven and Jamie. Rayven is a ballet dancer and she's also the oldest in the competition this year, although she's quick to point out that 28 isn't old. Hee, I like her. She worked with a dance company in NYC for a while but left to help out her struggling mom. Jamie is a west coast swing ballroom dancer. He auditioned with his girlfriend, who was cut in Vegas, and if that's the most interesting thing in his first ever profile I think Jamie might be in trouble. This week, they're dancing hip-hop by Tabitha and Napoleon. In their rehearsal footage they joke about trying to get down and dirty for hip-hop but they needn't have bothered because this dance, to Estelle's "American Boy," is epically cheesy. There's bouncing and grinning and completely unsexy pants-dropping and it's kind of fun, but it's not really hip-hop, at least not up to the standards we've seen on this show before. It's way too whitebread and tame. However, despite mentioning it could be forgotten by the end of the night Nigel loved it for the same reasons why I found it lame, as does Mary. Thankfully, Dan's with me and he calls it out for not being funky enough.

Susie and Marquis are up next. Did you know Susie is a teacher? She thinks she will inspire her students by being on the show, and that's all well and good as long as she doesn't inspire them to set their makeup guns to "drag queen." Marquis says that his mother had issues with him dancing when he was growing up but she's proud of him now. She loves her dancing, gay son! They're dancing a smooth waltz, choreographed by Hunter Johnson. It's sort of pretty but their movements aren't as flowing as we've seen on other smooth waltzes, they don't have much chemistry, and they bungle a lift at the end. All in all, not the trainwreck I was expecting from Susie, but not great. Nigel thinks they did reasonably well with the difficult choreography, although he seems to think the audience wouldn't have noticed the awkward lift if he hadn't mentioned it. Um...Nigel, if I noticed it, it was pretty obvious that they screwed up. Nigel goes on to praise Susie's lines. Mary agrees and thought their control was excellent, and Dan calls it romantic and almost perfect.

Kourtni and Matt have been paired together because they're both freakishly tall, with their combined heights totalling 12 feet. Mandy Moore has choreographed a jazz routine for them and she says their heights could work in their favor or it could make their movements sloppy. They're dancing to Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and it's hard to accurately judge their dancing because the choreography is so weird, and not in the cool Mia Michaels way. There's a giant crystal thingy that Matt's trying to keep away from Kourtni and they're in black leather and I just can't get a grasp on the concept. They both look pretty hot but that's honestly all I've got. Nigel literally tells Matt to stop dancing like he's got a stick up his ass and says he'd like to see Matt relax if he's still around in a few weeks. And that right there is when Nigel makes it known he's going to cut Matt the first time the pair lands in the bottom three which, based on this routine, will probably be tonight. Mary is ambivalent about the dance and says it was mostly great, but not worth a ticket on her hot tamale train. Dan likes the choreography but thought Matt and Kourni's execution was just okay.

Chelsea and Thayne are both contemporary dancers and they'll be doing a cha-cha choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie. They're both nervous because Tony tells them it's one of the hardest cha-chas he's ever choreographed, but they needn't have been because they're fantastic. When I first watched this Chelsea really stood out, but on second viewing I think Thayne shows just as much personality. They're probably the most well-matched pair we've seen so far and they pull off the extremely complicated choreography with great technique and a lot of flair. Nigel loved it, although he says the footwork needed to be a little stronger. After prodding from Nigel, Mary says they're on the hot tamale train and says they were both wonderful. Dan agrees, but says Chelsea was the star of the routine.

Our next pair is Chelsie and Mark, who will be dancing a contemporary routine by Mia Michaels. Mia explains it as what Tim Burton's wedding might be like, then worries that Mark, who she expected to be better since he's a contemporary dancer, won't be able to pull it off. As always, Mia's dances are difficult to explain, but this one is in the "bizarre and brilliant" category rather than the "bizarre and self-indulgent" category she sometimes falls into. It's beautiful and baffling all at the same time, which is the way I like my Mia routines. Mark and Chelsie do some lovely lifts but it's hard to see Chelsie's lines because she's been costumed in about a thousand layers of tulle. Nigel loves that Mia took Mark and Chelsie's strengths and worked them into her choreography and he thought both dancers did great jobs. In the audience, Mia nods her agreement that Mark lived up to her high standards. Mary praises Mark's uniqueness and says his lifts of Chelsie looked effortless. She also thinks Chelsie was a revelation, being a ballroom dancer with no contemporary experience. Dan loves it when the show takes a trip inside Mia's head and thought the routine was amazing.

Kherington and Twitch have been paired, which makes me really happy because they're two of my favorites. Twitch even thoughtfully provides the cute "Twitchington" pairing name for me to use for as long as they're dancing together. Tyce Diorio has brought them a Broadway routine to "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me Kate and in the rehearsals, Kherington keeps accidentally kicking Twitch in the face. Luckily there are no face-kicking mishaps in their performance, which is vibrant, sexy and, to my surprise, nicely choreographed. Twitchington aren't quite as good together as Chelsea and Thayne but they have a fun, playful chemistry that's perfect for this dance. Nigel drools over Kherington and says Twitch could now be dancing in a Broadway show rather than just on the Broadway street. Mary tells everyone to look up because the sprinkler system might go off from it being so hot, so I guess that's going to be her new shtick this season. Dan agrees with the other two that the dance was hot.

Comfort kind of irks me right off the bat when she brags about Nigel calling her the best female hip-hop dancer he's seen on the show, then goes on to talk about her discomfort with partnering. I get the feeling Comfort would be quite happy to be partnered with a mirror. Unfortunately, her actual partner is Chris, who squeaked into the top 20 even though Nigel chided him for having no personality. I want to like Chris because Comfort is so abrasive and because he reminds me of Lucas Grabeel from High School Musical but he spends way too much time insisting he has a personality. Show, don't tell, Chris. Anyway, they're dancing a Tony Meredith jive and it's fun, but it pales in comparison to the Anya/Danny jive we saw in the first week last year. There's little chemistry between Chris and Comfort, and her footwork is sloppy. When we get to the judges there's way too much time spent on Comfort's skimpy outfit, most of it from Comfort herself, and I'm already tired of her. Sometimes an excess of personality is just as bad as none at all, you know? Nigel compliments Chris on keeping up with Comfort and says they were hot, but does advise Comfort to find more of an, er...comfort level when dancing in heels. We also learn that Comfort dislocated her shoulder in rehearsals and the choreography was changed at the last minute to accomodate the injury. Mary shrieks her pleasure at their routine and praises Comfort's great legs. Creepily, Chris runs his hand all the way up Comfort's leg when Mary says this. I...just don't know what to make of these two. They're weird and offputting. Like Nigel, Dan appreciates that Chris kept up with Comfort, but he says they need to develop better chemistry.

Katee and Joshua are next. They're dancing a N&T hip-hop and I just hope it's better than the earlier N&T routine. The concept is a soldier telling his girlfriend he's heading off to war and it starts out a little overly melodramatic with Katee getting a brief solo in which she emotes a bit too hard, but once Joshua joins in something clicks and it just works. It's got terrific choreography with some difficult moves that are beautifully executed, Katee and Joshua have great chemistry, and the concept doesn't overwhelm the actual dancing. This is tied with Chelsea and Thayne's cha-cha as my favorite dance of the night. The judges all agree with me. Nigel says it's his favorite routine of the night and found them believeable as a couple, Mary thought a particular move Joshua did looked effortless and was touched by the emotion of the piece, and Dan praises their unison.

Jessica and Will are both contemporary dancers who will be performing a tango by Tony Meredith and Melanie. Jessica is delighted that they have such a sexy dance because she's not blind to the total hotness of her partner. Heh. Unfortunately, while the tango may be sexy, they're really not. They're not bad technically, although they are a little messy at times, but they come across as rather clinical and lacking heat either individually or with each other. However, Jessica and Will must've slipped the judges some money because they get high praise across the board, with Dan even saying they're the couple to beat. Only Nigel offers a tiny bit of criticism, pointing out that Jessica slid around some in her heels.

The final pair of the night is Courtney and Gev, and I swear this show loves me because my top 2 guys and top 2 girls are paired with each other. They've got a disco by Doriana Sanchez, which makes me groan because, seriously, unless you're capable of a particularly stunning move like the flip Neil did last year, pretty much all of the disco routines look alike. I honestly don't understand why it's such a heavily featured genre on this show. Anyway, my misgivings are realized because, while Gev and Courtney do a good job with what they're given and have decent chemistry, the choreography, while full of difficult twirls and lifts like disco usually is, is nothing we haven't seen before. Nigel didn't care for it and says they danced it well, but weren't feeling it. Mary loved it, especially the lifts, while Dan is somewhere in between the two. He says he enjoyed it, but it could have been tighter.

We get a recap of the routines and the voting number for each pair, and then that's it for week one. My favorites tonight were Chelsea/Thayne, Katee/Joshua, Twitchington, and Chelsie/Mark. I think Rayven/Jamie, Kourtni/Matt, and Courtney/Gev might be in the most trouble, although I disagreed with the judges and didn't much care for Susie/Marquis, Comfort/Chris and Jessica/Will so I'd be okay with any of those couples being in the bottom three. We'll find out who goes home in just a few hours!