SYTYCD - Top 20 Announced & My Opinions

OK, so it’s that time again since we are now getting to enjoy SYTYCD during primetime!! I must admit I was more excited about this than I am about American Idol this year!! I guess being married to a vocalist has made me a singing/dancing competition junkie!! I’ve even been watching Randy Jackson’s ABDC (America’s Best Dance Crew) Anywho, This Season’s (6) Top 20 has been revealed and it’s time for me to give my opinions so here they are:

Ariana Debose – 18 – Contemporary
Dancer from NC that has been dancing since she was 3. We didn’t see much of her during Vegas week, but the clips we did see she looks like she’s good. Hopefully we will get to know her better in this season’s special “Get to know the Dancers” Episode that will air the day before the competition airs. Again she will need to stand out to be noticed amongst the 8 or 9 Contemporary dancers there this year!

Ashleigh Di Lello – 26 – Ballroom
She auditioned with her husband who appears to be a much better dancer, but she does have talent. Not sure about her personality yet though. She made it to the Top 20 only because Paula turned the show down after revealing she accepted a movie contract that will conflict. So Ashleigh is really lucky to be there and she had better DFHL (dance for her life) every time she hits that stage cuz as soon as she is bottom 3 the judges may boot her considering she got in on a “technicality”.  Then again so did Comfort...hehe

Bianca Revels – 20 - Tap
I am so excited for her. Last year after getting cut she claimed she was going to quit. Showing up this year proved that she didn’t do that and I’m so glad to see her make it this year! Can you believe it, the first year a tapper makes it to the Top 20 and there are 3 of them in the Top 20!! I’m hoping she pulls off the other styles well enough to make Top 10, I really like her so far!

Channing Cooke - 18 - Contemporary
She has been competing locally in her hometown of Haverhill, MA. She’s one of Nigel’s early favorites. For me she has not shown me anything that makes me like her yet. I’m hard on contemporary dancers since they are a dime a dozen in these competitions. They have to really stand out to get my attention and other than being a pretty girl I haven’t seen anything that says “yeah” to me yet. She does like watching football so maybe that’s a plus!! HAHA

Ellenore Scott – 19 – Contemporary/Jazz
Ellenore was a breath of fresh air during her audition and I’ve enjoyed watching her since! I expect this gal to go far just simply on personality, but she has great technique as well. She also has a dance style of her own called “Lockerina” and I’m sure they will give her an opportunity to showcase it at sometime during the season if not on the Monday night Special where we get to meet ALL the dancers and see them in their own styles.

Karen Hauer – 27 – Latin Ballroom
I like Karen when she dances Latin Ballroom. She’s definitely a hot little thing and can work those hips in the ballroom area. I’m looking forward to seeing who she’s paired with and how well she pulls off other styles!


 


Kathryn McCormick – 19 – Contemporary
Kathryn is annoying once she starts crying, so as long as she doesn’t have to talk and cry at the same time we can hopefully tolerate her. She’s not a favorite of mine and will prolly never be. We’ll leave it at that for now.





Mollee Gray – 18 – Jazz
So she is kinda a star already. She’s been in all three High School Musical pictures so she’s worked with Season 3’s winner Sabra. The only thing about her is she just looks like a very little kid. She just turned 18 I think but hasn’t “grown” into that woman-hood look. This may throw the routines a little if she doesn’t come off seductive and sultry depending on what routines she pulls. We’ll see. Jazz falls into the same contemporary category and I need to see more.

Noelle Marsh – 18 – Contemporary
Between her and her BFF Mollee she is more annoying *rolls eyes*. I have to seriously remember that they are only 18. Maybe that’s why she’s more annoying…..Mollee still looks like she’s 14 whereas this girl could pass for her 20’s so yeah, she’s annoying. Hopefully her dancing is much better so that I can overlook just how annoying she is!! She teaches dance back in NC where she’s from. Other than being annoying she hasn’t stood out from the other Contemporary dancers yet.

Pauline Mata – 19 - Jazz
Pauline got hurt during Vegas week and was unable to perform the last Broadway routine from Tyce, but they had seen enough and have added her to the Top 20. I’m looking forward to seeing what she has to offer since she was able to pull a spot without completing Vegas week. She is currently a dance teacher in CA so we’ll see what the next few weeks offer.


Billy Bell – 19 – Contemporary
Billy is currently a student at Julliard and it truly shows!! Amazing technique, but he annoys me for other reasons. Nothing from his talent though. I expect him to go far just cuz he’s been trained in everything!!! I don’t think there is anything he won’t be able to do. He’ll just have to get people to like him and vote for him.


Jakob Karr – 19 – Contemporary
I only remember one clip of Jakob and it was OK. As a contemporary dancer I need to see much more than he’s shown already. I’m not impressed yet, but that can change.






Kevin Hunte – 23 – Hip Hop
This is his second go around if I remember correctly. The first year didn’t work for him with Twitch and Joshua in the picture. Who ended up 1st and 2nd place that year. He’s put in more work and came back and earned his spot this Season. He’s a really good Hip Hop dancer but if he pulls ballroom his first week, not sure how well he’ll do. I’m hoping he gets good routines so he can stay for a while.


Legacy Perez – 28 – Hip Hop/B-boy
Mia has been calling him an asshole since his first audition and I tend to agree with her. He came in so arrogant and he’s not that good!!! I’m SHOCKED to see him in the Top 20! I’m usually an automatic fan of the Hip Hop dancers specially ones that have no formal training but his personality just rubbed me wrong from the beginning and he will have to work to make me a fan. He was in the movie Stomp the Yard and maybe that’s why he was so arrogant, but please … no one remembers you, OK!?

Nathan Trasoras – 18 – Contemporary
This kid auditioned last year but he was only 17 so Nigel gave him a ticket to Vegas for Season 6 and he made it to the Top 20!! I’m excited to see him make it and looking forward to seeing good things from him as well.





Peter Sabasino – 22 - Tap
This is one of the other Tap dancers that made it to the Top 20. He’s been dancing for 16 years and I think it shows. He’s a dance teacher in Philly. I’m not sure what to expect from other styles but his training seems to show he can handle it. Not bad looking either so he’ll be popular! Hehe




Phillip Attmore – 25 - Tap
And our final Tap dancer of the Top 20, has been on stage with numerous other dancers. I haven’t seen much from him so I will have to wait and see. I’m excited that he’s NOT contemporary, but not sure what else he can do.





Russell Ferguson – 20 – Hip Hop
This is prolly my favorite dancer this year!! We will FINALLY get to see what Krump really looks like. I know even if he doesn’t pull that card they will showcase him in group routines as long as he’s there! He’s studied at the Boston Art Academy although I thought he told Nigel during Vegas week he had no formal training. Hmmm….. Still I was MUCH impressed with his Salsa during Vegas week and then he even pulled of Mia’s Contemporary piece…I’m very excited about him and I’m sure we will see him in the Top 10! I wouldn’t mind seeing him win, but it’s too early to make that type of prediction. We will have to see who he’s partnered with and so forth.

Ryan Di Lello – 28 – Ballroom
This is Ashleigh’s hunky hubby (big forhead, huh) who was a shoe-in for the Top 20 from their auditions it seemed from the judges’ reactions to him and his wife audition. I’m not a huge regular Ballroom fan, but he is good so we’ll see how far he gets.




Victor Smalley – 21 - Contemporary
He’s only been dancing for 5 years, but has proven to be quite good. I like him well enough, but he will have to keep up and not sure he can technically! We’ll see. I’m looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. Very not bad looking…hehe




OK, so as I have mentioned a couple of times before there is a new show this year called: SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: MEET THE TOP 20. It airs Monday, Oct 26th 8/7 c. During this episode they will showcase each of the dancers in their own style and genre and they will feature a group number choreographed by a couple of the choreographers together. At the end of this hour Nigel, Mary, and Adam will be pairing the dancers up with their partners for the first part of the competition, which airs the next night Tuesday Oct 27th. I think this is one of the best ideas! This way everyone knows what everyone else knows about the unknowns or the ones that didn’t earn a “spotlight” during Vegas week.



So I’ll be back…..enjoy and be happy!!!