SYTYCD season 6 - Top 20 + elimination

It's late and I'm leaving town early in the morning, so I'm keeping it quick tonight.

Too many changes, too much chaos. I'm so disappointed Billy Bell is out. He's such a beautiful dancer. I hope he's back next season. I am also disappointed at how over-produced the show has gotten. Cat looks gorgeous. (I might just copy and paste that sentence every week.)

Channing & Phillip - Jive / Jason

Rockin Robin might be one of the dumbest songs ever. Nice choice Jason. I like this duo. Think they might be good in the next few weeks. As I suspected, Phillip is the tapper that might do OK.

Ashleigh & Jakob - Broadway / Tyce

Ashleigh just can't seem to catch a break, or any attention when on stage. She's constantly over shadowed by Ryan and now by Jakob. I liked the routine and Jakob is an amazing dancer. They need to pair her with the most boring male dancer.

Ariana & Peter - Hip Hop / Tabitha & Napoleon

I was so distracted by the gold lame pants that I couldn't see much else. They were so boring. Neither had any personality. With the judges booting someone tonight, we may not see them dance again.

Noelle (Melanie) & Russell - Fox Trot / Tony & Melanie

Not only does Russell have to tackle ballroom in his first week, but now he has to adapt to a new partner at the last second? Maybe not the best technically and he missed a few steps, but that krumper can dance! How do you spell krump/crump? I'm liking Russell. I hope Noelle makes it back.

Bianca & Victor - Contemporary / Travis

Victor looks a lot like Dmitri.

Sorry Mia and Wade...I have a new favorite choreographer! Are you kidding? These two hit the jackpot on the first show! I have not been a fan of Bianca through a few seasons of auditions, and I loved this. Another beautiful contemporary dancer in Victor.

Karen & Kevin - Cha Cha / Tony & Melanie

Not much to say here. I like Kevin, so I want him to be good. I didn't like this. It was just boring. Boring song, boring choreography, boring performance.

Good opportunity to bring up Glee. If you are not watching Glee, go back and watch it. Best new show in years.

Ellenore & Ryan - Contemporary / Sonya

Love this pairing. Love the routine. Love the performance. Love the whole package - the characters, choreography, music, costumes, make up...

This is a bit of a bold statement, but I think Ryan can win.

Pauline & Brandon - Smooth Waltz / Jason

They did well. Some cool lifts. They should be good to go. Don't have much else to say. Look forward to more from them.

Kathryn & Legacy - Hip Hop / Dave Scott

Now don't tell me he got this style in a random draw. I like Dave Scott. This was fun. Not sure about this pairing, though. I think he's one of the weakest dancers outside his own style and she's flat. The crying, the boring interview in the video package, the wide deer-in-the-headlights eyes. She definitely looks better dirtied up.

Mollee & Nathan - Disco / Doriana

Holy crap! Doriana really brought it. That was fast, fun, hot and hard. Amazing lifts. Nearly rivals Brandon and Jeanette from last season. I didn't used to get excited about disco/Doriana, but she's done some great routines. I loved it!

ELIMINATION

Surprised it's Russell dancing and not Peter. Hmmm... Loved Pauline's solo. Glad she's staying. I was confused by Nigel's statement that she dances with a lot of charisma but not passion. I don't get it. Not sad to see Ariana go. Like that they are going to let Brandon audition again.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE - Season 6 Opener

IT'S BACK!!!!!!! A new time of year. A new stage. A new permanent judge. A new format (from what I can tell). 20 new dancers. Same gorgeous Cat. Are we ready for this people?

What's not to love about Wade & Amanda Robson (except that Amanda never speaks)? What a great way to start the show. I wasn't really sure about a "showcase" show to start the season, but now I'm kind of excited. Let's see if I'm still happy after a Tabitha & Napoleon routine (nope, still won't call them Nappi-Tabs).

Russell / Kevin / Legacy - Hip Hop, Tabitha & Napoleon

Loved it! Great routine. Great song. Cool tricks (loved it when Russell jumped over the other two and landed off the stage). These guys are talented. Also, Kevin is so beautiful! Can't wait to see if they can handle dancing with girls.

Nathan / Ariana / Jakob / Channing - Contemporary, Tyce

Wow! These choreographers are coming out swinging. I guess when you have dancers dancing their own styles, you have a lot more to work with. Beautiful choreography. Amazing emotion. Very cool lifts. I have loved Nathan from the first audition (well, I guess his audition last season). Good work Tyce. Mary, please stop shouting at the dancers. I'm afraid you might scare them away.

Peter / Bianca / Phillip - Tap, Derick K. Grant

Now, I want to be excited that there are tappers on this show - hell, I was a tapper back in the day - but 3 tappers? Hope they enjoyed this night, cause I'm betting 2 of them won't last the first 2 eliminations. That started out a mess. It got a bit better, but I didn't love it. I wish instead of doing a very traditional tap routine they had done something more modern to show that tap has evolved and can be relevant and entertaining. Maybe we'll see that in the future if any of them survive.

Cat just said "it's a very special episode." Is that anything like "this week on a very special Blossom..."?

Mollee / Pauline / Ellenore - Jazz, Sonya

Oh, these girls are probably in for a wild ride with Sonya in week 1. That was pretty cool. Not my favorite thing from Sonya, but I liked the vibe of it. Maybe I was just distracted by the tutus. I was also hoping to see a little more personality from the girls, but maybe they're just nervous.

Victor / Noelle / Billy / Kathryn - Contemporary, Mandy

I LOVE MANDY and I love her contemporary. She doesn't get to do contemporary enough on this show. Obviously, I loved this routine. It showcased the dancers so well. Some amazing choreography and lifts. It was intense and emotional. Billy is a beautiful dancer. I hope he's not too nerdy to be a star. I want to watch that one again.

Karen / Ryan / Ashley - Samba, Jason

Wow! A threesome with a married couple from the SLC auditions and another girl? Racy! All kidding aside, that was a really good routine. Good choreography, good song, good costumes. Unfortunately, I didn't think either of the girls had a hot latin vibe going on. Ryan did! Where's Janet Wood, I mean Jeanette from last season? He needs a hotter partner. Lacey, Heidi, Chelsea, anyone...

I don't like the new stage. I miss the stairs. The different levels gave the stage so much more dimension. This stage makes the dancers look puny. One of the things I hate about American Idol is the cheesy graphics they put on the giant screen behind the performers. Now they added the same thing here. I hate it. It's even worse when watching a visual performance. So distracting. First change: D-

Show format: From what I can ascertain from commercials and my DVR guide, it looks like the top 20 will compete tomorrow night and they will eliminate the first 2 on the spot with no voting. The guide for next week says "the 18 remaining dancers perform; two dancers are eliminated." Does this mean there's no voting again? I guess it won't be "America's favorite dancer," but Nigel's, Mary's and Adam's favorite dancer. I hope this is just the first two weeks due to World Series. I'm confused (and I don't even vote). Second change: F

New permanent judge: Unfortunately, they picked the wrong person to be a permanent judge. Adam is a nearly exact replica of Mary. His every comment is dripping with sappy emotion, his "zaniness" is way too over the top and he shouts a lot. He's a great choreographer and director, but this move makes the judging panel soooooo boring. Third change: D

New time of year: I'll watch this show anytime, but if it's the packed fall season on Fox that's driving the changes, I vote for summer only. Also, I hope it doesn't get like DWTS. That show gobbles up so much of ABC's prime time programming that they barely have time to makeover people's houses into something they can't afford to maintain. Fourth change: C

New dancers: A lot of contemporary + jazz dancers (which are basically the same) this season. I like it because I love contemporary and they're the most likely to be able to adapt to other styles. It is ironic that they keep talking about how diverse this show is becoming. Not so much. This is so early because we haven't even seen them dance with partners yet, but my first elimination predictions are Peter, Ashley, Bianca and Legacy (though the judges will try to hold onto him as long as they can).

Oh, and this has nothing to do with the show, but I have to share. I spent hours making a homemade chicken pot pie from scratch. It was ugly and didn't taste good at all. What a let down.

Until tomorrow....