by Vanessa Stewart on July 16, 2009

fox.com/dance, season 5 top 20, so you think you can dance, sytycd, sytycdism

After the likes of Bleeding Love, the door dance, Joshua/Katie, and the bed dance of season 4, I skeptically tuned in to watch the Top 20 perform on Wednesday. Well, these dancers did not disappoint! The very first couple slammed on the floor with a lyrical Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop number. Executed beautifully by Phillip and Jeanine, the story relates the ecclesiastical saying, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” What makes it even more unbelievable is Jeanine’s lack of experience doing hip-hop. In true Chelsea Hightower fashion, she nailed it. And Philip, well, I’d be surprised if he’s not in the top 4.

I’ll just highlight a few dances ranked for your reading pleasure. You can watch for yourself at the SYTYCDism.com. Everything you’d ever want to know is on that blog. I’ll just tell you the good parts.

So, Rank 1, Philip/Jeanine. Rank 2, Kayla/Max. Again, Kayla has no ballroom experience and looked like an expert doing the samba. I think it is incredible to have a week to learn a dance and then make it look like you’ve been dancing like that forever. This is Max’s genre and you can tell why.

Rank 3, Evan/Randi. Evan and Randi are a unique couple because, as we found out in the pre-dance shoot, Randi is married and Evan is humorous. I often wonder how dancers do it; these dances can be so romantic with lots of touching. Randi let us know she was uncomfortable acting “in love” with Evan and Evan said, “well, I’m a little worried because I don’t know how big Randi’s husband is.” But for all their worries, this Mandy Moore contemporary ballad looked like the most natural first love experience. Can’t wait to see Evan and Randi tackle hip hop.

Rank 4, Jason/Caitlin. Bollywood uses every facet of a dancers body and skill. Fingers and feet all have their place in this fast-paced combination of traditional Indian dance and hip hop. Joshua and Katie nailed the introduction to Bollywood last season, but they’d been dancing together 4 weeks at that point. This was the FIRST dance for Jonathan and Caitlin. Caitlin did a handstand with her feet pointing to opposite walls. She must have held that handstand for 30 seconds. Incredible. I hope they use Bollywood sparingly, however, because I think it will lose it’s appeal if attempted every week.

Rank 5, Melissa/Ade. Melissa is the oldest contestant, a whole 29 years. But they paired her rightly with Ade, a powerhouse dancer. Both of these trained dancers contain the ability to go far this season. Their chemistry really worked and their lines compliment each other. Not to mention, Ade hoisted her up with nary an effort, flipping her from back to front while Melissa kept the splits in true form.

Rank 6, Brandon/Janette. Now getting the foxtrot on any round can be close to a death sentence. It is just so boring for me. That and the quick step do not have enough fun in them. But it will take a lot more for Brandon to lose. He is an amazing dancer. He exuded the calm air of Fred Astair while Janette, the Cuban hot, salsa dancer, eased into her Ginger with all the coldness required of that role. I look forward to seeing real choreography from this couple in the future.

These rank as the most memorable dances of the first night with Season 5’s Top 20. On Thursday, the bottom three couples consisted of Vitolio/Asuka, Jonathan/Kayla, and Tony/Paris (none of my favorites from above *wink*). From the solos performed, Vitolio and Jonathan stood out for me. We do need to see more of them. The women all seemed the same and will really have to prove themselves in the coming weeks.

The only other draw that is almost certain death is getting your genre and failing it. That’s what happened to Tony. He drew hip hop and although, Napoleon and Tabitha produced kickin’ choreography, the fight wasn’t there. Paris didn’t seem connected to Tony at all. As a result, this is the first couple eliminated Thursday night.

Now, we’re down to 18, 9 couples. Who will survive another week and who will blow us away? Tune in next week!

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