I’m an obsessive list maker

Well, we have been watching all the audition episodes and getting an introduction to some extremely talented dancers, but most of the spotlighted dancers did not make it to the top 20. My take on this is that the producers really are supportive of these dancers careers; even if a dancer is spectacular in what they do, if they aren’t versatile then they don’t make the cut cause that’s what this show is really about. Plus, they are sort of investing in dancers they know will study other types of dance and come back next season and gets true fans more involved. Please come back “old Hollywood glamour guy” and “first white popper to make it straight to Vegas” and “girl who’s mom is a famous choreographer“. So, I don’t really know many of the top 20 dancers but I am excited to get to know them. The judges (Nigel and Mary) were cheering all the dancers on for their first time dancing on the stage and with their partners. Guest Judge Dan Karaty told it like it is. This week everyone danced so wonderfully. I’m so excited for this new season. The first episode is so scary cause since we don’t know the dancers yet they could get kicked off if they make one mistake and as dancers they may not understand what you are up against. The dancers kicked off get into, what I call, “the hall of Ricky“. Season 3, Ricky got kicked off in the first episode but he was so good and adorable and possibly a screw loose (which to me is a good thing).

1. My number one couple of the night was Joshua “braces” and Katee “asian”. They danced a very emotional hip hop routine by Napoleon and Tabitha. It was the most memorable routine of the evening and was an excellent introduction to these new choreographers, plus they danced it brilliantly. Its so easy to love Joshua because hes so good and so humble and I loved seeing him rock at his strength and Katee totally rocked it too. Cant wait to see what else this couple has to offer
2. Twitch “last year” and Kerrington “smile” rocked their Broadway routine by Tyce Diorio. I’m so glad to see twitch worked so hard in the last year to get back on the show. This type of dance was a good introduction for them since Kerrington is so smiley and twitch has a good sense of humor.
3. Suzi “pink” and Marquis “muppet” totally ROCKED the smooth waltz by Hunter Johnson like I never thought Suzi ever could. She has such beautiful lines. She seems more like a trashy music video dancer but am glad to see her versatility and why she is here. Marquis is a very elegant dancer but I want to see him shine more. I don’t know what to call him yet, but he could be confused for Will “Debbie Allen” but Marquis not cute and Will is the best individual dancer on this show. So Marquis needs to distinguish himself.
4. Chelsea “Martha” and Thanye “Benji smile” did a samba by Tony Meredith that was the first dance of the season to get on Mary’s hot tamale train. It was very sexy and they danced it great. I thought the choreography was more posing than dancing but her costume and her crazy ass and her overall sex appeal and personality totally worked what they were given. Chelsea has such a personality and it worked for their favor in this dance. And Thayne totally was good too and kept up with her and was there for her and kept the focus on her and was masculine. It was hot! Chelsea kinda looks like Martha from season 2, but after this week she is so much more. She has the biggest personality on the show.
5. Will “Debbie Allen” and Jessica “poor-mans Natalie” danced the tango by Hunter Johnson. It was hard and sexy and I loved it. Will was flawless and elegant and manly. He is the new Danny from season 3 (sorry to compare you). You are both very talented technical dancers just on another level than all the other dancers. And you’re both tall and black and attractive. But Will also is manly and seemingly straight and has a great personality. (for those who know me, I love gays and they dress as me for Halloween. I think being an amazing manly attractive dancer will get the teen girl vote who are the majority.). Jessica reminds me of Natalie who was my favorite from day one from season 2 (she made it to the top 6). Jessica did a good job but there were a couple of super minor little flubs. She better keep it up if she wants to keep her nickname. She just has such a strong partner. The show bills Jessica first but I think Will is the stronger dancer, so Ill bill him first.
6. Rayven “28″ and Jaimie “swing” a softer hiphop by Napoleon and Tabitha. This new choreographing team totally knocked it out of the park with Joshua and Katee and they made a great routine here too for Rayven and Jaimie too. I like Rayven. She is a cool girl and shes probably the oldest person ever on this show and that makes her awesome. And I love swing. The dance was softer than I thought it should’ve been but it was the first dance of the first episode and when it came on I forgot how good the dancing is on this show. But there were some really good dances in this episode and this could easily fall through the cracks since they performed first.
7. Mark “dark” and Chelsie “Latin Utah” danced a contemporary routine by Mia Michaels with the bride. Some Mia Michaels routines are intense and so much heart and just so different and that can hold so much weight when judging it. But sometimes her routines are a little douchy (sorry Mia). As far as her routines go this was only ok for me. They did dance it well. And I like this mark guy. He is dark and interesting and his personality seems so genuine and I could see being friends with him. Chelsea did well but I don’t really get a sense of who she is yet. The show bills Chelsie first but I think Matt is so awesome, so Ill bill him first.
8. Comfort “braces” and Chris “forehead/tree” danced the jive by Tony Meredith. Comfort is a ball of life and how can you not love her bright real personality. Shes a great hiphop dancer (the best female hiphop dancer ever on this show, I remember Nigel saying) and she did this very well. Chris is “tree” because Nigel said he had the personality of a tree and he isn’t really breaking that nickname yet. And he is “forehead” because his hair is so short and forehead so big. I hate to judge him this way but hes just unattractive. Im sorry. Comfort’s personality and beaded bra will save them this week but this is still where they land for me.
9. Courtney “knicks” and Gev “kazak/dominic” did disco by Doriana Sanchez (the disco choreographer) and it just seemed kinda small to me. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad and there were just so many good people this week. Courtney is pretty and innocently sexy. She used to be a knicks city dancer. Gev is from Kazakhstan and reminds me of Dominic because hes small, a breaker, ethnic, and a little funny looking, but his dancing and personality are so shining that you cant help but be impressed. This week he was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of one of the abu ghraib prisoners (Satar Jabar) draped in an American Flag. I think this made him a little cooler that he got this past the Fox sensors.

10. Matt “black bird” and Kourtni “Uma” danced jazz to tainted love by Mandy Moore (i think). It wasn’t hard hitting enough. Im going to place some blame on the choreography, which the judges would never do, but really they just didn’t dance it hard enough. When there aren’t big tricks in it you have to leave your heart out on that stage with what you are given. They are the tallest/biggest dancers this year and they looked a bit clumsy and she seemed heavy. The judges blamed him naturally (or else it would be blaming her for being fat and that has all sorts of bad mojo) but I’m going to blame her, not for being big but seeming heavy. Donyelle of season 2 was a big girl and had an even smalled partner Benji (season two’s winner) and they were the couple to beat. The show bills Kourtni first but I think Matt is the stronger dancer, so Ill bill him first.

The bottom three were

5. Will and Jessica – I think they were in the bottom because the clip the show used to remind us of their dance, showed Jessica slipping… which actually looked like she was slipping because the bottom of her shoe was slippery cause it was new. There is no way they are going anywhere
6. Rayven and Jaimie – I think they got a routine that wasn’t very wow, they danced it soft, and they were the first dance of the night and easily forgotten at this stage of the game. I think it could’ve gone either way (Rayven and Jaimie OR Kourtni and Matt) but at this stage of the game they like to kick people off in couples (Id imagine so the audience can grow to know the couples and the dancers can get better as a couple instead of interrupting their progress on this show by switching it up. It becomes unfair to judge newer partners against partners who have been dancing together for weeks). Rayven also didn’t dance in pointe which is so much more impressive than demi pointe. And like I said below that Kourtni looks like Uma so they want to keep her around. This is why I think Rayven and Jaimie got cut.
10. Matt and Kournti – for me they were the bottom of the bunch, but Nigel seems to love Kourtni and over emphasizing that she looks like uma Thurman and how happy that makes him. I can see how that would be good for the show (to look like a star) but for me they were the weakest.