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Another Twitter Roundup!

Here’s another Twitter Roundup for your enjoyment!

LaurenGottlieb
Ugh! When JLo calls ur supposed to drop what ur doing &go!!..I just dont know if I can do that this time:/ Sending good vibes hope it works about 1 hour ago

karla_w_a_K
still under construction … http://www.KarlaPunoGarcia.com about 2 hours ago

[She also posts dance class footage]

PaulineMata
New video with @juskalmeB and I! Check it out and let me know what you think! 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5LOAHbvv0 about 3 hours ago

[Choreographed by Brandon Bryant, Ade behind the camera and Melissa in the background. Quite the SYTYCD reunion here. :)]

jakobakarr
Packing and getting ready for my long Oscar journey. So excited to perform at the Academy Awards! Excied for @NYCDA Pittsburg first though! about 3 hours ago

adammshankman
Oh lord. They dug up the clips of me dancing on the 1990 #oscars and are posting them on oscars.org I think…young & ridiculous. about 7 hours ago

ChelsieKayH
Everyone go check out the 2010 Sports Illustrated Mag!! i was lucky enough to be selected to be in it 🙂 11:19 AM Feb 10th

[The link above was inserted by me and takes you to Chelsie’s SI pictures.]

February 11, 2010 I Written By

Personal Favorites From This Season of SYTYCD

Hey everyone! It`s been a really long time since I posted last, so I just wanted to say congratulations to John and his adorable new baby! I wish you and your family the best and may you all be happy and healthy!

This season of So You Think You Can Dance was really one of the best, with so much talent and many awesome dances. There were such amazing dancers that after the Top 12, I didn`t want anyone to leave! In this post I wanted to highlight my favorite performances of the season, and want to hear all of yours as well. 🙂 You can also take a look at Amanda’s post about the judges favorites.

Although each dancer possessed so much potential, I did have my favorites that I rooted for until the very end.

Kayla was by far my favorite and one of the most talented. I know I`m not the only one who feels this way, a lot of the people I have talked to have also voiced this opinion. She should not have been the first to go at the Finale! Her lines were definitely the prettiest, and in all the partner dances, I couldn`t take my eyes off her. I found a lot of the time that the guys she was dancing with had a whole barrel of trouble keeping up wit her and matching her strength. My only problem with her was that her solos were often very desperate and repetitive and a lot of the times I was worried she was going to be booted off because of them. Otherwise, her technique was flawless and she was very purdy. 🙂

My second favorite of course was Jeanine, for obvious reasons. For one, her solos were the greatest. They possessed a quality none of the other solo`s did. Musicality. That may seem like a small thing, but it really makes a huge difference. Those dances are way more appealing and probably one of the reasons she won. In the partner dancers, she was SO hard hitting, and almost always outdid her partner, whoever it was. I`m really happy she won. There is nothing bad I can say about her.

Favorite Solo this season:

My least favorite dancer was probably Vitolio. He was not dynamic or versatile whatsoever, and he didn`t have much of a likeable personality. I was really glad when he got the quickstep, but I loved Karla, and was really sad when she was partenered with him.

Now, onto the performances that I loved the most.

This season was a super good season for Contemporary dances. There were so many good ones, but my favorite one hands down was Evan and Randi`s Contemporary by Mia Michaels. This piece was full of fun, butt 😉 equally balanced out with superb technique and complex sequences. The music only added to the fun atmosphere and if I don`t watch this piece at least 3 times a day I don`t feel right.

Some other noteworthy pieces include:

Jeanine and Jason to If It Kills Me Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things - If It Kills Me (Jason Mraz) by Travis Wall

Kayla and Kupono to Gravity Sara Bareilles - Little Voice - Gravity (Sara Bareilles) by Mia Micheals

Melissa and Ade to This Woman`s Work Maxwell - Now - This Woman's Work (Maxwell) by Tyce Diorio

Karla and Jonathan to Falling Slowly The Frames - The Cost (Deluxe Edition) - Falling Slowly (The Frames) by Stacey Tookey

This season also had plenty of mentionable Hip-Hop dances, and it was hard to choose my favorite, but the one I was most enchanted with was Kayla and Jason`s by Shane Sparks. The story in this was just hilarious, and surprising light hearted considering it was about zombies and eating brains. It wasn`t anything too complicated, but fun and entertaining, which, if you think about it, is what the show is about. There were other Hip-Hop dances that were less simple, and more technical, but this was just fun!

Other awesome Hip-Hops:

Randi and Evan to Hal Beyoncé - I Am... Sasha Fierce (Deluxe Version) - Haloo (Beyonce) by NappyTabs

Janette and Brandon to What A World Common - Universal Mind Control - What a World (Common) by Shane Sparks

Jeanine and Philip to Mad Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman (Bonus Track Version) - Mad (Ne-Yo) by NappyTabs

Jeanine and Philip to Love Lockdown Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (Bonus Video Version) - Love Lockdown (Kanye West) by NappyTabs

Other AMAZING dances:

Caitlin and Jason Bollywood to Jai Ho A. R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer - Slumdog Millionaire (Music from the Motion Picture) - Jai Ho by Nakul

Kayla and Max PopJazz to Hot Like Wow Nadia Oh - Hot Like Wow - Hot Like Wow (Nadia O) by Brian Friedman

Janette and Evan Jazz to Move CSS - Move 12" - EP - Move (Metronomy Remix) (CSS) by Sonya Tayeh

Group Dance Top 8 Let it Rock Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne - In the City (Bonus Track Version) - Let It Rock by Travis Wall

Group Dance Top 16 I Know You Want Me Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - EP - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) [More English Extended Mix] (Pitbull) by Dmitry Chaplin, Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo

Worst dance of the season:

Jeanine and Philip Russian Folk Dance
Only the choreography, dancing was superb.

That`s it, my favorites of Season 5, looking forward to 6, and SYTYCD Canada starting Tuesday the 11th!!

August 10, 2009 I Written By

Karla and Vitolio So You Think You Can Dance Elimination Interviews

I’ve been waiting for over a week to see this video. I really wanted to see the elimination interview with Karla Garcia. Karla was really growing on me and so I was so sad to see her go last week. Vitolio also was just an interesting character.

The first part of the interview you can really see how sad Vitolio Jeune is to be eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance. I’m just sad that Karla kind of got Allison-ed/Kherington-ed. I also love that Karla acknowledged that her first dress in that Quickstep was horrible. I said the same thing to my wife when I first saw that dress. So, I was so glad when she did the quick change. Enjoy (a late) but final look at Karla and Vitolio.

July 13, 2009 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

SYTYCD Top 14 Power Rankings

This week is REALLY hard, so I cheated a little and checked out y’all’s comments on John’s music post. Thanks for all the help, all of you! One thing I have to say about the non-dancing part of the show was I love, love Cat Deely’s dress last night. And I’ve never noticed before, but doesn’t she seem to have a lot of pockets on her dresses? Last night’s definitely did, she kept sticking her hands in throughout the show. Cute.

Now to the couples:

Jeanine & Phillip – I’m loving Jeanine more and more and of course Philip rocked in his style. This was the best hip hop of the season, in my opinion and I think it gives this couple’s legion of fans an excuse to keep them faaaaaar away from the bottom 3 this week.

Janette & Brandon – Brandon won me back with their intro video and then with his emotional response to the overtly staged “apology” from Mia Michaels (he must be working with her soon). This routine was smoking! Great song, great choreography and great dancing. I think they’re safe.

Kayla & Kupono – Okay, you got a routine about vampires, a song from the Twilight soundtrack and Sonya. Kinda seems like it couldn’t fail, especially because good dancers were in the mix. I like Kupono’s dancing better with Kayla (though I really liked Ashley). Kayla is stunning. And Kupono matched her step for step in this piece.

Melissa & Ade – Pointe shoes! Awesome. It was beautiful and really cool to see. I thought Ade did a spectacular job when you consider how specialized classical routines are and it’s not his style. But it kinda felt like a gimme, like a routine you couldn’t judge against the others. I almost felt like I was watching one of the professional routines on Thursday. Which is a compliment, but also not (am I making any sense). It didn’t feel like a SYTYCD routine to me. I did enjoy it, a lot.

Randi & Evan – I really, really don’t want to put them here! I love this couple and I liked the routine. But you could feel that it lacked some of their normal vitality. There were numerous great moments (starting with Evan’s slow handstand across the table), but I think they’ve been flying high for several weeks and are probably due for a bottom 3 landing (temporarily). I don’t think (and really hope) they won’t be going home. They’ve been near the top every week, so hopefully that and their solos will save them.

Caitlin & Jason – I don’t want to write this one either. I didn’t feel the piece (it was weird!), but I do think the two of them danced their hearts out with what they were given. Those costumes, especially Caitlin. WTF? The moment I saw them walking into the room with Brian Friedman, I thought, “Oh, this could be really good or really, really, really bad,” and when he said “You’re an alien who came down to Earth
” I kinda wanted to throw up, I was so scared for them. They showed a lot of good sportsmanship and personality at the end, facing the judges, so maybe that will help them. But, they have been in the bottom 3 several times


Karla & Vitolio – I still don’t like Vitolio, though I do agree he’s growing and demonstrating more personality every week. I like him more when he’s dancing and Karla has really, really grown on me. I loved the quick change and Karla in general throughout the piece.

In the end, I suspect that it will be Caitlin and Vitolio that go home. Or perhaps Caitlin and Jason, since they’ve both gotten a lot of flak and have ended in the bottom. I love Caitlin, so this is a sad conclusion for me. But I don’t want Randi and Evan split up before the Top 10 and Karla has been doing better and better every week.

TV Guide.com has done a Power Ranking of the Top 14 individual dancers, some of which I agree with and some of which I don’t.  They place Jeanine and Karla in a tie for the bottom of the Top 14, when both girls have been gaining steady popularity AND the girls (in my opinion) are far stronger dancers than the boys this season. Nice to see TV Guide liked our idea for power rankings.

You helped me create this week’s Power Rankings, so let me know if you think I got it right or not.

July 2, 2009 I Written By

SYTYCD Top 16 Power Rankings

Hi y’all, I’m Emilie. John has been writing so many wonderful posts the last few days and trying to bring in new blood for Pure SYTYCD, it’s no wonder he’s a bit behind on time. He asked me if I’d like to do the power rankings this week and I jumped at the chance!

This will be my first post, so if you’d like to know more about my SYTYCD thoughts before now, you can read my personal blog. I’ve been a fan of Pure SYTYCD for a while, so I’m excited to get this opportunity.

Let me say, in the interests of full disclosure, that my power went off right as the show was coming on last night. I had to convince my neighborhood bar to turn one of the t.v.s to FOX in the middle of the LSU-Texas game and then watch the routines without sound. So who knows how that’s affected my first take? It was certainly interesting. I’ve re-watched all the routines today and I was surprised to see that my general feelings about the routines held true, for the most part.

With no further ado:

1. Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak – I just plain love this couple and it seems like a lot of people do as well. Even when the judges seem to be searching for things not to like, I’ve never been disappointed with them. And the Mia Michaels gorgeous insanity factor was in full swing with a routine focused on a booty. This routine was incredibly sexy and fun. I think the only way Randi and Evan won’t be safe is if people assume they’re okay and don’t vote.
2. Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover – I wasn’t always a fan of Jason, but I adored Caitlin from day one. I’ve come to love Jason more with every routine and they have incredible chemistry together. They’ve also had the opportunity to dance really memorable routines. Yes, it was pretty theatrical and perhaps over-the-top, but I think they’re more than safe. Hopefully everyone who loves them voted.
3. Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi – On my blog, I said that I tend to forget Ade when he’s not right in front of me dancing. I don’t think I will anymore. I was ambivalent about this couple for a while, sometimes loving them and sometimes not really liking them much. But they’ve had several weeks of good chemistry and fun routines. I really liked their rumba. And I think enough people feel strongly about them and enjoyed this routine that they’re safe as well.
4. Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau – We were all concerned, I feel safe saying, about this new pairing. Especially after the way Kayla cried when Max got cut. And then the Viennese Waltz can be so dangerous—it seems like people are either bored by them or really impressed. But I think the chemistry was right on, the dance was gorgeous and they’ll win some favor because they danced so well together their first week. And everyone loves Kayla and wants to love Kupono.
5. Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant – This one is the hard one for me to predict. I loved aspects of this routine and I liked it better the second time I watched it. But Brandon didn’t seem to show a lot of personality or strength till halfway through. I don’t tend to like Brandon on the performance shows as much as I did in Vegas. But I love Janette and she sold it for me throughout, even when she seemed a bit silly. It might come down to the Brandon-Phillip fan bases, in the end.
6. Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb – I’d like them to be higher up and perhaps their fan base (Phillip’s in particular) will save them. I thought the routine was really cute and fun. However, the judges didn’t love it and they had tango last week, where Phillip clearly struggled. And
 America doesn’t always love Broadway (I tend to, but I seem to be strange that way). So I’m worried about them. I think Phillip is cute and has the room to grow, but I actually like Jeanine more. Despite the teddy bear thing.
7. Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero – I liked their hip hop last night! But I think they’re in danger. The judges have been particularly hard on hip hop routines this season (and in some ways, rightly so, though there’s been at least one little thing I’ve loved in every routine). They just seem really
humble in a bad way while they’re accepting their critique from the judges. Like they know they’re not doing their best. They should be doing better in the competition. They’re gorgeous, have some good chemistry and are both really good dancers. I hope they don’t go home, but I do suspect they’re in danger.
8. Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune – I was pretty mad they got saved by that waltz. It was a pretty cold routine and really hard to connect with emotionally. I make no bones about the fact that I don’t like this couple, but it does seem like they’re not connecting with audiences in general the way the judges seem to hope they will. I liked them better in their interview (but that’s not saying much), but they tend to be really stiff in their routines, like they’re constantly posing for still photographs rather than presenting a fluid routine with story and character. This continued with their Mandy Moore thrash rock jazz (?). While I hate to root for anyone to go home, I like everybody in the rest of the couples, so they’re my choice to leave this week.

What do you think? I’d love to know.

June 25, 2009 I Written By

So You Think You Can Dance Top 16 Quick Hits

“Are we getting a little sick of Mary Murphy? YES, WE ARE!” Credit to kdbennett I think someone should go through and count how many times Mary Murphy says “Yes, we are!” Does she do that to reassure herself that other people agree with her? Maybe I should stop writing about Mary. She makes me sick.

Caitlin and Jason have got to be the prettiest couple ever on SYTYCD.

Is Randi Evans mormon? Springville, UT is like 98% mormon so I’d think she is. I can’t imagine how she felt about the butt routine. I’m watching the Utah newspapers for an article about this.

In a surprise for me, Kayla and Kupono actually put together a very nice routine with nice lines. Probably not enough to get votes, but I’m surprised that Kupono didn’t bother me more.

Janette Manrara enjoys being a loan officer? She’s the best looking loan officer I’ve ever seen.

Was it just me or did Brandon look like he had 2 locks in his locking. It felt a little awkward and almost spastic.

Will Melissa and Ade ever stop shocking me with good performances? I keep thinking their going to fall off the cliff sooner or later. So far they’ve shocked me with how good they’ve been every week. Only couple that I think has gone 3 for 3 on awesome dances.

Ok, I’m off the Asuka and Vitolio wagon (can’t be a band wagon since they never were on it). I really wanted to like Asuka and Vitolio. Not sure why, but I thought I should like them both. Just not happening for me anymore. I’m done.

Karla has become my favorite dancer of this season. I can’t think of much I don’t like about her.

Jonathan might have become my least favorite dancer. He just looked awkward.

The judges slammed Jeanine and Phillip, but I don’t think America will. They got lucky with a pretty interesting routine by Tyce.

I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

SYTYCD Top 18 Power Rankings

It’s that time again for me to rank the 9 couples that remain on So You Think You Can Dance. Remember that these rankings aren’t a ranking of who danced the best last night. It’s not based upon their technical dancing ability. It’s not based upon their talent. It’s not even based upon their popularity. It’s based upon all of those things. At least that’s the goal. Take a look at this week’s So You Think You Can Dance power rankings or look back at previous SYTYCD power rankings to see changes.

1. Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak – Looking through the list, I tried to find the couple that deserved the top spot in this weeks power rankings more than Randi and Evan. However, Randi and Evan just couldn’t be topped. They had a solid performance. No doubt the Jive was the perfect platform for these 2 fireballs. Evan reminds me a bit of Benji Schwimmer as far as fan following. I think that Benji’s performance ability was a little bit broader and more appealing than Evan’s, but the fan following for Evan is very Benji like. Randi isn’t quite as popular, but all the Utah fans will be voting for her. No doubt they deserve the top spot this week.
2. Kayla Radomski and Max Kapitannikov – The judges were completely right about Kayla. She fully embodied her performance this week. I think Kayla and Max were ranked a little lower last week since Max got his own style. In a nice surprise, Max really showed America that he can do other styles quite well. Kayla and Max also lucked out to get Brian Friedman’s choreography. As a side note, if you liked Kayla’s costume in this dance, check out the second video down on this post. My only fear for this couple is that Max might not be popular enough to stay at the top. However, between their strong dance and Kayla’s popularity they deserve the second spot, for now.
3. Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb – Some might wonder why Jeanine and Phillip are at number 3 on my list after such a poor performance. Phillip wasn’t good at all in this, except for his face. I thought Jeanine was serviceable. However, they are both so popular, I couldn’t drop them any farther. I wanted to put Melissa and Ade above them, but compare the personalities of Jeanine and Phillip and Melissa and Ade during the judges comments. It’s like a night and day difference and something about Jeanine and Phillip draws people to them. They are just great on camera.
4. Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi – Another really strong performance by Melissa and Ade. They were lucky to get Sonya’s choreography, but they also executed it so well. I wanted to rank them even higher on the strength of their performance, but I just don’t see America falling in love with Melissa and Ade yet. Plus, America likes the underdog and Lil’ C gave Ade the kiss of death by calling him a favorite this early.
5. Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero – These two created what will be one of those memorable SYTYCD performances thanks to new choreographer Stacey Tookey and the most popular song of the evening, “Falling Slowly” The Frames - The Cost (Deluxe Edition) - Falling Slowly. There performance wasn’t flawless, but there were a few moments in the dance that just left your mouth open. Performances like this should really help Karla and Jonathan in the popularity department as well.
6. Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover – 2 really lovable and popular dancers, but their performance last night was just off. Something just looked off when it came to Caitlin’s legs. I’m not sure if she was flat footed or didn’t bend them enough to really get into it. It just felt off at a number of times. Caitlin is super flexible though. Wow! I did expect these 2 to really connect on this performance like they did in Bollywood, but they didn’t.
———————Line of Death….Known as the Bottom 3———————————
7. Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant – I may regret putting these 2 in the bottom 3 since they are quite popular. I just don’t think people enjoy the disco performance much at all. I really think Janette outshined Brandon with her disco like facial expressions. Her smile could be seen even from the long camera shots. Janette does deserve major credit for the amazing V leg lift. Another Wow!
8. Ashley Valerio and Kupono Aweau – I still think people aren’t buying Ashley (which makes me want to vote for her) and Kupono hasn’t been as strong as I would have expected. Their performance was just off. It had to be dead on synchronized and it just wasn’t. It’s too bad, because this performance synchronized would have been pretty good.
9. Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune – The judges gushed over this performance. Mary even cried (not that I believe anything she does is really that authentic). I enjoyed the performance. They had some nice lines and moments. However, it wasn’t a memorable waltz like when Jean Marc Genereux did one for his children (I think it was LaceyKherington and Twitch last season). That’s 2 weeks in a row that I think they got unlucky with their draws. If these two are in the bottom I think it’s a sure thing that Asuka goes home. Since the judges gushed over Vitolio’s story, he might survive another week.

Those are my thoughts. Let’s hear yours in the comments.

June 18, 2009 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

So You Think You Can Dance Voting Results

I previously posted a poll asking for people to vote for their favorite dancers from the SYTYCD top 20. We’ve had almost 3000 votes on the poll and the results of the poll are quite interesting. Take a look at this chart of the voting results and below it I’ll add some commentary on the results.
So You Think You Can Dance Voting Results
First, I have to of course point out that this poll includes all of the SYTYCD season 5 top 20. Paris and Tony are already gone, but even that’s interesting. Paris was the least popular person and so I guess that’s why no one has come to the site complaining about Paris going home. Tony on the other hand was more popular than Paris, but still was near the bottom.

I’m not surprised at all that Asuka and Vitolio are near the bottom. After their first performance that makes a lot of sense. Ashley for some reason has never been popular. Maksim doesn’t have the looks he needs to be more popular (see Dmitry).

I should mention that the voting results are probably a little bit skewed in Jeanine Mason’s favor since I’ve had a lot of people coming to my site after searching for Jeanine Mason’s name. That said, you have to give Jeanine credit that a lot of people are searching for her name on Google. If they didn’t care about her, they wouldn’t be searching.

Anyone who thinks that Evan doesn’t have a great shot at winning this season is crazy. This poll shows that. Phillip seems to have a nice fan following thanks to his previous performances on the show.

I’m a little surprised that Caitlin Kinney actually got more votes than her partner Jason Glover. I would have thought for sure that he’d be more popular than Caitlin (even if I’m obviously bias to Caitlin myself).  Although, from the looks of it Kayla Radomski is quite popular herself.

Another surprise for me is Pono Aweau sitting in the middle ground. I would have thought he’d be a bit more popular than that. Maybe it will just take some time for people to get to know him. Although with that said, I think he could potentially rub people the wrong way.

All in all, I feel pretty good about these poll results predicting which people will make it to the top 4. We might see one or two people shift a little, but the top slots do seem to be some of the best dancers and the most popular ones as well.

June 17, 2009 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

SYTYCD Top 20 Results Show Music

Check out the music used for the solos on the SYTYCD top 20 results show. Shane Sparks is back on SYTYCD!!

Group dance: “Boom Boom Pow” Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) - Boom Boom Pow—The Black Eyed Peas Choreographer: Shane Sparks
Guest dancers: Miriam Larici & Leonardo Barrionuevo danced an Argentine Tango (Music: “Tangueira” Luis Bravo - Luis Bravo's Forever Tango - Live from Teatro Coliseo Podesta - Tanguera from Forever Tango)
Musical guest: “Fire Burning” Sean Kingston - Fire Burning - Single - Fire Burning—Sean Kingston
Solos:
Paris Torres: “It Doesn’t Hurt” Katie Thompson - KT LIVE - It Doesn't Hurt—Katie Thompson
Tony Bellissimo: “Early in the Morning” The Gap Band - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Gap Band - Early in the Morning—The Gap Band
Asuka Kondoh: “Did Ya” BoA - BoA - Did Ya—BoA
Vitolio Jeune: “We Belong Together” Gavin DeGraw - Gavin DeGraw - We Belong Together—Gavin DeGraw
Karla Garcia: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” Aretha Franklin - The Best of Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman—Aretha Franklin
Jonathan Platero: “Krazy” Pitbull - Krazy (feat. Lil Jon) - Single - Krazy (feat. Lil Jon)—Pitbull featuring Lil Jon

The Paris Torres montage was to the song “Already Gone” Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted - Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson
The Tony Bellissimo montage was to the song “On Your Own” Green River Ordinance - Out of My Hands - On Your Own by Green River Ordinance

As always here’s a link to find the previous SYTYCD music.

June 11, 2009 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

SYTYCD Top 20 Power Ranking

Time to go ahead and do some power rankings of the 10 couples in the So You Think You Can Dance top 20. I was amazed at how hard this would be. I thought for sure it would be pretty easy to find the bottom 3 couples. Instead, I had a difficult time ranking them. Not to mention ranking the top couples. However, here’s the rankings of the strongest couples based on their dancing last night, their popularity (which really matters on SYTYCD) and other factors.

1. Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb – Phillip already has a really strong fan following. Jeanine turns out to be a great partner for Phillip. Between the popularity and their really nice performance last night, I’m placing them at the top of the power rankings.
2. Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak – I almost put these two at the top of the power rankings. Evan is wildly popular. Their dance last night was great to watch and well executed. The only reason I didn’t rank them above Jeanine and Phillip was that I don’t think Randi is more popular than Jeanine.
3. Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover – This couple is a really hard one. I think Caitlin is a pretty polarizing figure with a lot of really big fans and a lot of people that really don’t like her. Jason on the other hand seems to be very popular with a lot of people. Particularly with the ladies and we all know that the ladies vote more than the guys.
4. Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi – The biggest surprise dance of the night. Some people are hating on Melissa for her age, but when you saw them dance you had to be surprised. I know I was and that performance last night probably raised them 2 spots on this power ranking.
5. Kayla Radomski and Max Kapitannikov – Kayla is in a position a bit like Caitlin. A lot of big fans and haters. Max isn’t as sharp as Dmitry or Pasha and that will hurt him. Not to mention the receding hair line won’t get him any votes. A really strong dance last night, but Max was lucky to get his own style. Kayla did a pretty good job keeping up too.
6. Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant – I think these 2 dropped a few places on this list since they got the kiss of death: the foxtrot. It’s not as bad as the quickstep, but close. I think the judges let Brandon Bryant off easy on his performance. His frame was horrible and if it were any other guy Mary Murphy would have been all over him for it. She just has that little thing with Mia going on. The next dance I expect we’ll see the true Janette and Brandon come on. Now doubt Brandon has some faithful fans.
7. Ashley Valerio and Kupono Aweau – I think Kupono was a little unlucky to have Ashley as a partner. They both lucked out and got Wade Robson’s choreography and so they’re going to last. I think Kupono seems to be quite popular and people love him. For some reason people don’t seem to like Ashley very much. I love her story of trying out 4 times, but others don’t seem to have taken to it as much.
———————Line of Death….Known as the Bottom 3———————————
8. Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero – This performance fell a little flat to me. Karla has incredible lines and is beautiful, but she didn’t get the cha cha action which makes the dance special. Something in both of their legs was just missing. I think fans will really grow to love Karla over time, but after that performance I see them in the bottom 3.
9. Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune – Probably the worst performance of the top 20. It was pretty disappointing. No one on the judges panel will say it, but I will. Tyce Diorio’s choreography really let them down. It’s unfortunate because I like both of these dancers. However, they are going to be in the bottom 3 and I think Asuka is likely to be sent home. Paris getting sent home in her place is her only hope I believe.
10. Paris Torres and Tony Bellissimo – This couple is so cliche. Beauty queen. Untrained dancer. Dance ending injury. Degree of improvement. etc etc. There performance was enjoyable, but I think it was more due to Tabitha and Napoleon’s choreography than it was their performance. I’d be ok with both of them go home. Just don’t be surprised if Tony is kept around by the judges for the shock and awe factor.

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Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?