SYTYCD Canada: Top 20

Posted by: Ariana  •  October 3, 2008 @ 7:03pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Welcome to your first interactive So You Think You Can Dance Canada discussion post! Each week following the results show on Thursday, I'll post a brief rundown of what went down that week and how I feel about it (which I know you're just dying to hear), and then we here at Showbiz Monkeys want to hear what you have to say. If you're watching, come on in for a chat!

We were introduced to our Top 20 dancers this week. Here they are:

• Allie: Mandy Moore (the singer/actor, not the dancer/choreographer) clone and ballerina
• Arassay: imported from Cuba
• Breanne: asymmetrically blonde
• Caroline: dark and mysterious with "killer legs" (so her bio tells me)
• Danny: hold me closer, tiny ballroom dancer
• Dario: the weird one
• Francis: slightly larger ballroom dancer
• Izaak: self-proclaimed "geek who likes to dance"
• Jesse: b-boy I barely remember from previous rounds (how 'bout you?)
• Joey: emo hair personified (and fellow Flames fan!)
• Kaitlyn: completely nondescript
• Kevin: dead ringer for Chris-who-is-not-a-tree from SYTYCD 4
• Lara: gymnast who never should have made it past the original auditions
• Lisa: "you are strength, you are woman" blah blah Mary Murphy blee
• Miles: cutie-patootie b-boy
• Natalli: straight out of a rap video, and thank God she'll have someone to do her hair for her now
• Nico (previously Nicolas): points for using a Missy Higgins song in his original audition (and a great one at that), and extra points for being smokin' hot
• Romina: sexy salsa dancer, and the reason Denitsa didn't crack the Top 20
• Tamina: the only female hip-hopper
• Vincent: he of the plaid flannel shirt and the very tall redheaded girlfriend who didn't make the Top 20

What's great about this group is the total diversity of dance styles and backgrounds. The judges/producers really outdid themselves on casting, with only a few exceptions (mostly among the girls, if you ask me). Now here's hoping viewers Canada-wide will rest their regionally biased fingers -- tired after a whole summer of Canadian Idol -- for a moment, judge these dancers based on their talent and personality, and vote based on something other than hometown pride. The U.S. version barely comments on the dancers' respective hometowns, and certainly after the audition episodes never mentions the matter; I sincerely hope Canada follows suit.

For now, let's settle in to watch 20 phenomenally talented -- and phenomenally cut -- dancers do things with their bodies that make our muscles ache just from watching, while we're entrenched deep in our couches with a glass of wine in one hand and a package of cookies in the other, our minds focused on how lazy we are and how we could never handle Blake McGrath's choreography or his attitude. (Or do I speak only for myself here?) And while we're at it, let's thank our lucky stars we're free of Emmanuel Sandhu and his giant nose -- I mean ego.

Tell me about your favourites! Whom do you think doesn't belong in the Top 20, and whom do you wish would've replaced them? And the answers I'm most interested in: what pairings are you hoping to see come Wednesday?

Tags: sytycd, sytycd canada, so you think you can dance, so you think you can dance canada, leah miller

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Original Comments Posted (6)

swishy5 says...

I love Allie. I love Nico. I might like some others but I can't remember at the moment what names go with what people. Those two are the only ones that stick out.

I am also pumped that this 'interactive discussion' is happening. I LOVE SYTYCDC (too many letters?)!!!!

OH, and I am very thankful Emmanuel Sandhu did not make it. I could deal with him as a figure skater b/c they rarely talk but I think his personality (and by personality I mean annoyingly large ego) would have got in the way of him getting votes anyway. Good on you judges, even if Jean-Marc seemed 100% on his ego-boosting-bandwagon.

Oct 3, 2008 7:52pm

Ariana says...

I also love Allie & Nico! I think they're easy favourites right now.

The thing about Emmanuel is that while he's a wonderful technician, there's nothing there behind the dancing. It's just moves and spins and ego. I saw very little musicality or natural rhythm, or feeling, and feeling is kind of what it's all about.

Oct 3, 2008 8:47pm

sarahm says...

Did the little asian girl with the sweet hat and all the personality make it to the finals?

Oct 3, 2008 9:09pm

Ariana says...

No! They never even showed her again. We here at my house were quite disappointed.

Oct 4, 2008 12:29am

fujitam says...

Thanks for getting this going Ariana!

Am so happy that Emmanuel didn't make it through, I had enough of him within the first 15 minutes of the Toronto show. His face when the judges told him that he didn't make the top 20 was PRICELESS!!! I bet he is rethinking his decision to take a break from his figure skating to pursue dancing now.

I must say that Nicolas abd Allie are also my favorites, wouldn't it be great if they were coupled? Also poor Kevin got verbally bashed by Blake who said that he didn't stand out enough in Toronto, but apparently did enough to make the top 20? What is that? Totally agree with Ariana's comparison to Chris from SYTYCD US. Question, if he didnt' stand out, why does he make it to the top 20?

Oct 7, 2008 2:07pm

Ariana says...

I thought maybe Blake was either throwing him off the scent, or telling him to step it up in the top 20. I guess? It was weird, though, I totally agree.

Oct 8, 2008 12:55am

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