by Gina Scarpa

This week, on So You Think You Can Dance, the Top 20 took the stage to perform for the very first time for America’s votes.  There were several memorable routines, from Phillip and Jeanine’s hip hop to Jason and Caitlin’s Bollywood.  When the results were revealed Thursday night, Paris and Tony had not done enough in their hip hop routine to be safe.  After dancing for their lives, along with Ade, Melissa, Jonathan, and Karla, the judges decided to eliminate Paris and Tony from the competition.  Today, they spoke to reporters in a press conference call about the talent level this season, their solos, and what the future holds.
 
Q. Paris, can you talk a little bit about the talent level this season?
A. Paris: It is insane!  I auditioned for it last year and just to see the difference between last year’s Vegas and this year’s Vegas… they were determined to find the best dancers.  Everyone in Top 20 this year could have been the winner.  It just matters what style you get each week.  The talent level is just amazing.
 
Q. Tony, what dancers have impressed you on the show?
A. Tony: Evan is what I like to call a leather man: He has so many little tools inside him. That kid can do anything! He's like a gadget. I love that guy. I think Phillip has great potential because his brain is so smart and he's so strong that he'll be able to dedicate what he's doing.

Q. How difficult was it for you to master hip hop for the performance this week?
A. Paris: I’ve done hip hop in the past but nothing like what Tabitha and Napoleon gave us.  It was jam packed full of different moves.  We tried almost every kind of hip hop in there.  It was hectic, hard, and stressful but I tried to attack it as best I could.  The costumes constricted our movement pretty badly.  Tony and I felt like, with it being tight, it was a lot to take on.  It definitely didn’t help the stress situation much but we just tried to work with it.

Q. There’s a rumor going around that Katie Holmes will be appearing on the show.  What are your thoughts?
A. Tony: I didn't know Katie Holmes could dance. I like the group of us together better than Katie Holmes.

Q. Were you shocked to be in the bottom three?
A. Paris: Tony and I, when we first learned our routine, were killing it… killing it in a good way.  I think what we did was we over rehearsed ourselves.  It wasn’t that original hitting it.  It was watered down.  It started becoming steps to us.   When the judges said, “It was good, but not great,” all we could say is, “Well, we did our best.  America will vote and we’ll see what happens.”  Because of the judges’ honesty, I think it did really wake us up and that night, we went home and rehearsed our solos and got them down.  It made us more prepared to fight for our lives.
 
Q. Can you talk a little bit about your solo and the preparation that you did for it? 
A. Paris: I had five songs going into solos and I had choreographed three of the five songs.  The last song on my list was the only one that got cleared.  I had nothing choreographed to that song and I had to throw a bunch of things together.  I think the adrenaline got to me and maybe crimped my performance but I was pleading in that performance to stay. 

Q. Tony, what was the deal with your outfit that you wore for your solo?
A. Tony: People have been talking about my Re-Run outfit for a while, but that's the thing, I wanted people to talk about "What the hell is that kid wearing?" But that locking outfit is true hip-hop, that's "What's happening!!"
 
Q. What are your plans now?
A. Paris: I’m not able, just yet, to move out to L.A.  Hopefully, with the amount of publicity that this show has given me, I’ll be able to start choreographing more in Seattle and be able to eventually move out here.

Be sure to tune in to So You Think You Can Dance when the Top 18 hit the stage, Wednesday night at 8pm on FOX.

(Image courtesy of FOX)

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