So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20

Leah introduces the top 20. Each takes a 5 second spin on the floor.

Natalli; frilly, one-armed snow-white top that stops at the bottom of her boobs. Pink and blue silk flower corsage on the upper left. Bare midriff, short-shorts made of free hanging long pink fringes of a variety of lengths laced through shiny metal disks. The disks whip about to a samba move. Heavy dark eye make up, spike heels, shoulder length blonde hair parted down the middle, hanging loose, flying. She will probably never again look as hot.

Jesse; dorky b-boy hat, wire-frame glasses, scoop neck short sleeve blue top, single long gold chain a’ flying around his throat, red doo-rag hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans, light blue sneakers.

Allie; black slip top and matching panties. The top is under a backless plaid vest. Sounds stupid but looks great. She makes good eye contact before effortlessly launching a ballet leap and spin.

Nico; white, long sleeved (to the middle of the palms of his hands long) collarless sweater under an unbuttoned flannel work shirt with the sleeves rolled up to mid forearm. His pants are falling off because the suspenders are hanging loose, whipping against his legs as he moves. Black sneakers. His turn is all arms and hips and shoulders – hardly any foot work. Grunge.

Tamina; red bikini top under an unbuttoned (or tied) cross between a hoodie and a Hugh Hefner smoking jacket, black parachute pants tucked into brown mid-calf lace up boots that aren’t laced up.

Francis; jean shirt with the sleeves ripped off over a sleeveless black tee, black track pants complete with the stripe down the sides, barefoot. Toughest guy in the ballet class.

Arassay; white leggings down around high heels gives her feet a cowgirl boot look, fringed scarf tied around her waist over short-shorts, square-necked short-sleeved white top. Total effect is a Texas go-go dancer.

Miles; black leather jacket over a brown tee, black slacks and black sneakers. Most normal looking costume so far.

Bre; sports bra made of the stuff our one piece body suits will be made of when they finally start selling flying cars, black shorts with suspenders, barefeet. She starts her turn by pulling the suspenders off her shoulders and letting them drop in a nod to dancing’s origins in the ancient art of stripping. Barefoot.

Dario; sleevless black top, black slacks and sneakers.

Romina; Xena with a flower in her hair, dressed up as Gabriella.

Izaak; blue, fringe-y scarf tied around his neck, grey tank top, black sweat pants with one of the legs rolled up, white socks and red sneakers. Gives the camera his gayest leer, puts a fist in front of his crotch and humps it.

Lara; with the exception of her barefeet she is the very vision of a Las Vegas waitress in her red sequined cocktail dress.

Joey; sleeveless blue zip-up hoodie over a white tee, jeans with a belt worn through the loops, barefoot.

Lisa; the blue version of Lara’s dress. Rum and coke and a white wine spritzer, please.

Danny; open white dress shirt, slightly low riding baggies showing the top inch of his white boxers. The white-boy version of the gang-banger look.

Caroline; brown baby doll top with built in black panties. Looks like something you’d put on a 2 year old. Not to say it doesn't look hot on her. The juxtaposition is disturbing.

Vincent; long sleeve midnight blue neckless top, khakis, unshaven.

Kaitlyn; red slip top, black short-shorts, barefoot.

Kevin; brown tank top, beige long shorts, barefoot.

First impression: Nice moves. Too bad about all the browns and blues.

Host Leah Miller introduces the judges; hip-hop entrepreneur Luther Brown, dancers/choreographers Blake McGrath and Tre Armstrong and ballroom champ and US SYTYCD judge Jean Marc Genereux.

Leah gives us a rundown on the process. Ten couples will dance tonight. Voting is for the couple – no individual voting. Tomorrow night will be the results show, with the couples in the bottom 3 having to Dance for Their Lives (yes, it’s capitalized).

Time-wasting montage of the 20 making their way through the audition rounds.

Nico and Arassay are first. Over clips of Arassay dancing she tells us in heavily accented English that she is a 22 year old Cuban who dances Latin contemporary. She has only been in Canada for 6 months. Her dance teacher is her father. Did they immigrate specifically for this competition? We learn that the rest of the family is back in Cuba, so I think yes, they immigrated to Canada to compete in this show. Nico, as scruffy as Arrasay is groomed, describes himself as a Montrealer who does a unique blend of hip-hop and contemporary. Best line, “I don’t love to dance: I am dance.” Gustavo Vargas is their choreographer. We get clips of the couple and Vargas working out a salsa routine to La Salsa la Traigo by Yo Sonora Carruseles. They are well matched, with Nico big enough for the lifts but not too big.

The dancers start on opposites sides of the dance floor, Arrasay in a blue cocktail dress with pink panties and spike heels, Nico in a vest over a sleeveless tee, jeans and sneakers – and he has shaved. The routine is remarkably done with no obvious misses and some great, unusual moves. Judges and crowd love the work. A high bar has been set.

Natalli and Kevin. She describes her style as salsa with a bit of hi-hop. Kevin, 22, calls what he does, “lyrical contemporary.” Don’t know what that means, but it sounds good. Tanisha Scott describes herself as a “hip-hop dancehall choreographer.” Kevin, raised in a family that ran a dance school, tells the camera that Natalli has “trouble remembering choreography” (as opposed to free style?).

They are dressed in matching outfits for their performance. The outfits make them look like virile movie ushers wearing grandma’s church gloves. The routine doesn’t have them doing any touching beyond a hand on a shoulder once and a slap on the butt once. Other than that they dance like young toddlers play – in parallel but not together. Natalli misses a move once, but they blow by it with no aftereffects. Judges are not as impressed as they were with Nico and Arrassay.

Twenty-eight year old Montreal ballroomer Francis is paired with Bre. He lost his “love and partner” Claudia in the last whittle to the top 20. Amy Wright is the choreographer. She’s particularly happy to haveFrancis because she has choreographed a contemporary waltz and Bre does contemporary while Francis can waltz.

They dance to Aretha’s Natural Woman. Bre wears a spectacular diaphanous gown, Francis wears a white dress shirt, untucked and unbuttoned. I liked the routine, Luther and Blake didn’t. But Tre and Jean Marc were more into it. Most of the negative attention focuses on Bre.

Gotta say, I am not impressed with the costuming of the men. The women look hot, the men look sloppy. I can take either, but not both on stage at the same time. Are they dancing together or is she fighting off a mugger?

Ballet dancer Allie and Latin ballroom dancer Danny are next. Choreographer Melissa Williams gives them a rockabilly jive dance to the Stray Cats’ Rock This Town. Danny is happy – it’s his style.

The costumes for the first time are appropriate. Allie misses a through-the-legs slide, catching her high heels. Danny is much more confident. Luther loves Allie and tells us so every time he gets a chance. There is praise for the choreographer and none of the judges mention Allie’s errors but Jean Marc. The crowd loved the energy.

Kaitlyn and Izaak. Eighteen year old contemporary dancer Kaitlyn is the youngest member of the top 20. Nineteen year old Izaak describes his style as contemporary hip-hop, but from the audition episodes we know he is not above throwing in some jaw-dropping leaps and spins that are pure ballet. Sean Cheesman is the choreographer. The youth of the couple worries him. Izaak calls the routine a theatre piece. It has those wiggling fingers that, ever since I watched Bring It On (Rocky for cheerleaders), I can only think of as “magic spirit fingers.”

They dance to All That Jazz, she in a flapper outfit, he in an unbuttoned sleeveless vest over a tee shirt and tie. Luther only gives it “alright.” Blake says it was the 18 year old version, not the professional version I was looking for. Most of the negative comments are directed at Izaak.

Twenty-seven year old contemporary dancer Lisa, without a doubt the most confident person in the Top 20, is paired with Vincent, who I love. He does contemporary and hip hop. Vincent entered the competition with his girlfriend and partner, who made it to the top 200 but not beyond. From what I’ve seen, these are two of the best 4 dancers in the competition. Choreographer Stacey Tookey has a contemporary routine for them to Emmy Rossum’s Slow Me Down, a haunting, layered, almost a capella vocal piece. This is going to be great.

She is barefoot in a lovely dark purple full skirted dress with an asymmetrical hem line; he is barefoot in a blue shirt a black pants. The routine brings oohs and ahhs from the crowd during and a standing ovation after. Spectacular and moving.

Lara and Miles. Lara describes herself as “a contemporary acro dancer,” by which she means acrobatics are a big part of her skill set. Miles is hip-hop. Choreographer Williams has a disco routine to Metro Station’s Shake It in mind.

Miles is the first guy to be neatly dressed – a shirt with a collar, sleeves buttoned, shirt tucked in his trousers. He could definitely do without the white belt, though. She’s wearing a go-go dancer outfit with white vinyl boots and a short, side-less electric blue dress. They start the routine with a flawless over the head, arms fully extended, lift and spin. They get sloppy a couple times, but the energy is great. At one point they steal a kiss that didn’t look planned but surely was. Judges are amazed at popper Miles’ skill in the disco genre. Lots of talk about the kiss. Can’t hurt the voting to get a romance going.

Twenty-two year old Romina is a salsa specialist. Nineteen year old Dario is a Montrealer who does contemporary. Tanisha is the choreographer for a hip-hop routine about “a business man trying to pick up an innocent tease.” The routine is to Kardinal’s Dangerous.

Romina’s “innocent tease” is dressed as the French maid in a porno movie. Dario’s “business man” wears a suit and tie outfit the likes of which I haven’t seen since the Fine Young Cannibals topped the charts. The routine bears no relationship to the story we were told it was supposed to tell, with the French maid seducng the innocent, not the other way around.

Luther and Brad berate Dario for not being as strong as Romina. Myself, I thought the routine sucked and Dario got buried.

Tamina and Joey. Tamina, a 19 year old hip hopper, likes to wear work boots when she dances – no doubt the result of too many viewings of her mom’s copy of Flashdance at an impressionable age. Ninetween year old Joey is a contemporary dancer with a relaxed vibe. Vargas choreographs a tango to Gotan Project’s Santa Maria for two dancers who know nothing about the dance. She is in a sequined, backless dress of silver and red, he is all in black, his hair greased to his head. They did not give me a stiffy, which is how I know when a tango is working. The judges agree.

Jesse and Caroline. Caroline is a twenty three year old contemporary dancer, Jesse is the oldest competitor at 29 and a b-boy at heart. Choreographer Clarence Ford calls his plans for Soul Man “a retro jazz pop thing.”

The perform in Afro wigs and matching orange suits. The performance wasn’t great – loose, timing not perfect, the funny bits not funny. Weakest routine of the show and, unfortunately the last.

I’m calling for these two, Romina and Dario and Kaitlyn and Izaak in the bottom three. See you tomorrow.