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So You Think You Can Dance Season 5: Top 20 Performance Recap

Posted on 06/10/2009 by Gina in So You Think You Can Dance

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So You Think You Can Dance Season 5

 

by Gina Scarpa

 

Tonight, the Top 20 dancers hit the stage on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance.  They’ve made it to the main event, where they’ll be paired off and sent off to rehearsal studios to learn styles of dance that could possibly be completely out of their element.  Only those who can master everything from ballroom to hip hop and contemporary will survive in this competition.  Early on, it’s easy to  see who will make the Top 10 and the tour, and who will be headed home early.  Here’s how tonight’s performances went down.

 

Dancers: Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo
Song: “Mad” by Ne-Yo
Other than pieces choreographed by Mia Michaels, nothing excites me quite like the work of Tabitha and Napoleon.  The routine to last season’s “No Air”, performed by Josh and Katee, still sticks out in my mind.  Phillip is someone I’ve been rooting for the entire time this season but Jeanine is a new face.  These two bring it in a routine about a couple that can’t sleep until they resolve their argument.  Jeanine certainly made a statement for herself and this is a couple that, I hope, will be dancing for many more weeks.

 

Dancers: Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: “Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago
Well, as judge Adam Shankman said, it’s all about the luck of the draw.  For Asuke and Vitolio (both of whom I like) to have to perform that after that great hip hop routine is quite a challenge… and unfortunately, they didn’t quite rise to the occasion.  Their choreography was clean, their technique was unquestionably strong, but didn’t quite meet my expectations.  Still, with all the camera time they received in Vegas, America will hopefully pick up the phone for them tonight.

 

Dancers: Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero
Style: Cha Cha
Choreographer: Tony Meredith
Song: “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga
Here are two dancers that I just knew nothing about prior to tonight’s performance episode.  Jonathan is a little cutie.  He looks about 10 but when he gets on that dance floor, she shakes his hips like a real man!  The number is good but hours after this show airs, I wonder if I’ll remember much about it.  The judges are fans, the pair has chemistry, and overall, it was a solid performance.

 

Dancers: Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: “I Only Have Eyes For You” by Jamie Cullum
Ohhhh, how I love Evan Kasprzak but I’m a lover of Broadway as well so he’s right up my alley.  Watching the Vegas callbacks, I thought Randi was a bit too dance competition for the show.  Evan is such a sincere performer that I wasn’t sure how these two would match up.  I really loved this routine though and they very convincingly played two people attracted to each other.  The judges had a field day with it, especially considering that Randi is married!

 

Dancers: Paris Torres and Tony Bellissimo
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo
Song: “Let the Beat Rock” by The Black Eyed Peas
I have to admit being initially slightly disappointed when I saw that these two were paired up until I saw them together in the rehearsal footage.  They seem to compliment each other’s personalities well and are goofy but likeable in their video.  Though I usually like Tabitha and Napoleon’s work, this routine didn’t do it for me… or the judges.  Mary said that the dance, about two DJs, wouldn’t be memorable and she was right.  I don’t think that it means that they’ll be headed home just yet but they could be dancing for their lives unless the girlies of the world join together to vote for Tony and that oh so cute face of his.

 

Dancers: Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire
Caitlin and Jason are two of my favorite dancers this season so seeing them paired together just warmed my heart.  Capitalizing on the huge success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan put together an absolutely amazing routine to “Jai Ho”.  This routine is the reason that I won’t delete this episode from my DVR quite yet.  Both receive high praise from the judges and it wouldn’t surprise me if they are two forces to be reckoned with for weeks to come.  Expect them to make Top 10 and the tour.

 

Dancers: Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant
Style: Fox Trot
Choreographer: Louis van Amstel
Song: “Come Fly With Me” by Michael Buble
There are two styles of dance that never quite do it for me on So You Think You Can Dance - Fox Trot and Viennese Waltz.  It could be because I have the attention span of a goldfish but I’m never blown away by those routines.  Still, Janette is a strong dancer who softens up her sassy Miami image for this piece.  Brandon has his work cut out for him winning over the judges… and me.  After Mia ripped him a new one, I took a closer look at him.  Though he’s a strong dancer, there’s still something missing for me.  It was a solid performance, but not one that has me jumping off my couch.

 

Dancers: Ashley Valerio and Kupono Aweau
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Wade Robson
Song: “Felt Mountain” by Goldfrapp
Wade Robson is the weirdest.  Don’t get me wrong, Kupono is pretty out there too and after seeing this routine, so is Ashley.  The piece, about crash test dummies, is bizarre but I have to give it to them.  They committed to their characters and created this whole other world that we were sucked into for two or three minutes.  Whether you like the routine or not, they’re both strong dancers and it’s certainly memorable.  Sometimes, with pieces like that, the judges could go either way with their critiques but all three were loving this weird, wacky world that Wade created.

 

Dancers: Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx
Okay, so I have a confession to make.  Melissa and her tutu annoyed me all the way until tonight.  She’s at the ripe age of 29 so I have to get behind her a little, since I’m at the ripe age of 30.  I didn’t know much about Ade so I can’t say I had high expectations for the pair but man, did they prove me wrong.  They performed a beautiful contemporary routine and I was quite a fan, in particular, of their lifts.  I think they surprised a lot of people tonight and got people talking.

 

Dancers: Kayla Radomski and Max Kapitannikov
Style: Samba
Choreographer: Louis van Amstel
Song: “Jum Bah Day” by House of Gypsies
Kayla’s a girl you can’t help but love.  She’s got a great set of grandparents who have helped raise her and make sure that she was able to take dance and she has just a sweet personality.  That sweet personality was traded in tonight for sex appeal and she and Max tore up the dance floor in a showstopping samba routine.  This ranks among the top 3 performances of the night and this is a pair that is clearly here to stay.

 


Be sure to tune in tomorrow night to So You Think You Can Dance for the live results show, airing at 9pm ET on FOX.

 

(Image courtesy of FOX)

 

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