SYTYCD9: Meet the top 20 (200th episode)

     The episode has barely begun and I am so excited!   This is when it starts to feel like summer to me!  Cat Deeley walking onto the stage and saying "Welcome to So You Think You Can Dance!"  It fills me with excitement!  It's the 200th episode so it promises big, and the one and only Zooey Deschanel is guest "jidging"!  Can it get any better?  The answer is yes!  Nigel announces (for the second time I suppose, this is old news in twitterverse) that there is only one show a week this season and because of this fact there will be two winners; a male and a female.  Since season one I have thought there should be a male and a female winner.  It is just so hard to compare!  Game, set and match Mr. Lythgoe.  Thank you sir for replacing a negative with a positive and for keeping the best show of all time on air.

I don't know how this blog has turned into all SYTYCD, but that only tells you I suppose just how great my love is for it.

Last but not least last year goes first this year.  Alexa, she's so good I hope she took the judges advice.  Well she has the chance to show us!

Next up: George Lawrence II.  I LOVED his audition, and then I completely forgot about him!  I don't remember seeing much of him in Vegas.  Can't wait to see more of his solos!

And Megan Branch...remember LOVING her audition.  She looks completely different with her hair down.  I didn't even recognize her.  Bummed that she didn't make it.  Hope that she comes back.

So far we have Alexa, Amber, George and Will gracing us with a Tyce routine.  Where can I get the version of this song?  It's so So You Think You Can Dance and my heart is brimming over with happiness right now! I freaking LOVE this show!  So I answered my own question (kind of) and I am searching Itunes as we "speak" but I pressed the "RE" button on my remote, then pause ;), and walked up to my tv to be able to read the little writing and this is the gem that I found. (We Found Love (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge) by Jessie J)  Boo can't find the song on Itunes, so if anyone knows where to get it please drop a comment!

Nick Bloxsom-Carter- Don't remember seeing much of him.  Poor guy just gets up there and starts crying.

Lindsay and Witney going in together..obvious set up.  A little early on. REALLY glad they kept both of them.  They are stand out.  It's nice that they were so gracious to each other before they knew the outcome; a rarity.

Just had the showdown of the ballroom, and now onto the classical.
If Eliana wouldn't have made it something would have been very wrong.  And let's be honest, the straight female population collectively wants Daniel Baker to be put through.  Did you hear that collective sigh? Chehon is in as well.  All ballroom and all classical have been put through.  10 down, 10 to go.

I love, love, love Eliana's costume!  Didn't love the camera angel's most of the time on this piece.  I think some of the magic was lost.

Tiffany is in. Audrey too.  Haha! "Wait are you for sure?"  Places are going really fast it seems.

I would have been crazy shocked if Janelle Isis had not made it.

Audrey and Tiffany, I have been waiting to see a dance to this song.  LOVE you Sonja!  Best routine of the night so far in my opinion. (Sail)

Dareian. Lousy feet...but he was my favorite audition of them all!  Sigh of relief that he got put through.

How old is Matthew?

A set up again that it would come down to Jill and Amelia.  Poor Jill flew right through Vegas and then doesn't make it.  I think it's because Amelia is really so unique.

So we have "Modern Drift" danced by Amelia, Janaya, Dareian, and Matthew.  Amelia was clearly a good choice, she is totally stand out in this routine.
"It was so delicate and beautiful, it felt like I was watching a painting" -Zooey Deschanel hit it on the nose.
I might have to watch this routine over and over again.

Brandon-first step dancer on the show.

So we have two firsts for the show, a bellydancer and a stepper.

And Cyrus is the last pick.

Hip Hop routine: um, can we see this on tour please? Perfect mix of originality. Good job Brandon, Cyrus and Cole.

Top ten girls: Travis Wall routine.  Beautiful.

Top ten guys: Sonja Tayeh routine.  First off can we all say thank you Sonja for making them take their shirts off?  Secondly, this routine just had so much energy!  So good.

Top 20: Mia Michael's routine
So innovative, all that time just dancing in a line.  Nigel said it best. "Welcome home mama, you've been missed."

The saddest thing about the 4th of July is no SYTYCD! Can we make it another two weeks until a new episode?  It's okay I suppose, we can rewatch these routines on youtube and our dvrs all we want.  We will make it!  Give it to me! Who are your favorites? Not so muches? Anyone have picks for the winners yet? Talk to me!

Here's a full list of the top 20, if you click their names you will travel to their twitter pages.
Girls:
Alexa Anderson
Amber Jackson
Lindsay Arnold
Witney Carson
Eliana Girard
Tiffany Maher
Audrey Case
Janelle Iris
Janaya French
Amelia Lowe

Boys:
George Lawrence Jr.
Will Thomas
Nick Bloxsom-Carter
Daniel Baker
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Dareian Kujawa
Matthew Kazmierczak
Cole Horibe
Brandon Mitchell
Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer

SYTYCD9: Vegas Callbacks

--Solo round--
*Hampton Williams- #notpopularopinionbut.. I just am not a fan. At ALL.
*Janelle Issis- she is just such a good showman

Above gif is taken from..

*Bummed that they only show glimpses of a lot of my favorites from the auditions!
*Bummed that Tim Konkel didn't make it further. #atleasthestillhashisselenabackpack

---Hip Hop round--
*Hampton, and to all other dancers that have done this on the show, WHY would you audition for a show in which you will HAVE to learn choreography if you are unwilling to at least TRY!?" So many people would die to be in your place!
*Also super bummed about Bre not making it through

--Jazz--
What the heck happened to Teddy???
*Been waiting to seen Danielle dance Sonja!

--Dance for your life--

Amelia- Glad she stayed for a while longer, but Nigel made a good point.  That's part of the challenge of being a dancer. Being great in your own style and still bringing that magic when you dance someone else's dance.

--Groups--
*I really like the little intros that they are doing like they do before your pieces once you are on the show!

First group- WHAT DANIELLE LEAVES?! So bummed! Hope she comes back next year!  I think the kick in the head is what did her in. So sad!

The Highschoolers- MAGICAL! Loved it soooo much!

Wolfpack-I thought the guys were SO GOOD in this piece!

Ballroom:
Aww Asher's gone :(, if he keeps working he'll make it. He's super unique
Aubrey "the ballerina", ESPECIALLY after she just killed the group routine. I wish they would have atleast let her dance for her life

--Contemporary--
Just love Travis! But my dvr cut out before it was over and I wasn't home! Boo :(

Who were you happy/sad to see go? Stay?

SYTYCD9 AUDITIONS: Salt Lake City

It's Salt Lake City...let's be honest, we all expect 99% of the dancers to be the best we've ever seen.

First off I'm soooooooooooooo excited that Adam Shankman is guest judge! I absolutely love him!

*Whitney Carson- okay this is one of my favorite dance related songs and brings back memories of my last performance :). I think it was great. First one on the hot tamale train! Let's admit it, that's everyone's dream come true.
*Deanna "Dee" Tomasetta- Stunning.

*Mariah Spears- What a surprise! Loved her! And she killed it in the choreo! Top 20 for sure..hope she does good in Vegas!

*Darelan Kujawa- WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! How about we just let him dance a solo every week?  Shankman said it all. I think he may be my favorite so far!

*Leroy Martinez- Love when Mary and Nigel high five! The flips.... : O This guy is crazy good! I hope he trains in other styles and comes back!

SYTYCD9 Auditions No. 3

(Atlanta)

Are you all ready to listen to Mary laugh a lot with me again?

Cat and Nigel start off by putting the pressure on. The winner of Season 8
Melanie Moore auditioned in Hotlanta last year and waving the Vegas ticket in front of the crowd of Dancers.
Guest judge is Debbie Allen! Who doesn't love her?!
*Audrey Case- Doesn't seem like it's gonna go over well when the info the judges have on her is that she can make a fart sound with her neck and shoulder. However, she winks at Nigel and the crowd is on their feet.  First on the stage and first to Vegas.
I loved her fluidity throughout the dance and the way she smiled the whole way through reminded me a bit of Allison Holker.

*Joshua Alexander- I justfelt like he was genuinely dancing with every fiber of his being.  The judges say it all when the music stops and the all silently hold up tickets. How Debbie Allen takes his hands in her face and talks to him is just so inspirational and I love her so much. Anyone would be so lucky to learn from her for even just a minute.

I want to see more of these dances that are making the judges cry!

*Tim Conkel- He dances to get girls and clearly loves Selena Gomez.  Big personality. If he makes it to the top 20 he'll FOR SURE stick around just for the fact that America will love to watch his rehearsal pieces. I kinda hope Selena watches. "A whole 7 days of ballet." DONE.  Watch through to the end.

*Debbie Allen and Nigel doing the Wobble=priceless.
*Janelle the Belly Dancer is the best they've ever had on the show. She's the first I remember seeing that really, truly created a routine that an entire audience can watch and enjoy.
*danielle dominguez So unique! Loved her! If she makes the top 20 I think her rehearsal pieces will be fun to watch.

*Andre Rucker & Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer
Both innovative. I liked Cyrus better; just thought he was more entertaining.

* Appearance by Robert and Courtney G! Love 'em both!
*Courtney Kirby-Her musicality was great! Strong. Loved it. Haha...love grandma "Are you sure you don't want to change your mind so you don't look ridiculous?"

*Asher Walker- life goal to be a back up dancer for Justin Beiber. He's good..has personality. Worried for him though because he trained himself, hope he trained enough to have a fighting chance in Vegas.
*George Lawrence II-in Debbie Allen's words "this child is fierce." When he pushed up from the ground into a handstand...dang!

*Deon Lewis and Damon Bellmon- Didn't want to like them because of the whole copying youtube thing, but in all fairness they did kind of say that's what they were doing. However, this year they were brilliant! They should have just done themselves last year! Love them!

SYTYCD9 Auditions 2

Since live tweeting to So You Think You Can Dance was so fun last week, and I couldn't this week due to work I will blog about my faves.

LA:

I want to first off start by saying I'm super thrilled that Jesse Tyler Ferguson is the guest judge this week. Here's a clip from last season that shows exactly why I am so excited. Enjoy.

This girl; there is something magical about the mix of the choreography and the music coming together perfectly that just makes this brilliant:

This next one...it took him a while to figure out why they were having trouble during the introduction but it was so funny, and I love when Mary's face gets locked in a huge grin and she can't stop laughing. Worth the watch.

This girl reminds me why ballet is the basis of everything. It's simple, beautiful, yet terribly complex. She makes it look breathless, this is exactly how I dreamed of dancing when I was little, except in a pink tutu.  She makes it look flawless and relevant to today, not as old as the art actually is.

"Like Andy Warhol we get real creative up in here"-The Ninja Twins

They were HIlarious. I feel like they should be on Dance Moms. I'm not going to put a video of everyone on here but check them out if you want to laugh.  They have personalities that run for days.

Megan Branch. Anyone else dying to see this girl dance a Sonya piece? Spend some youtube time on her..she's SUPER artistic.

Jonathan...the second they showed him my jaw dropped. "I just to be I guess...cocky." YA THINK? Maybe it's just me but when someone is cocky, especially that much it makes me not like you very much.  That just makes it so hard for me to root for him.

And I loved the Mason siblings..just saying.

I will end this by saying more JTF please!
So let's have it...who were your favorites/least of these auditions?