SYTYCD: The Top 20 Revelation at Last

So You Think You Can Dance: The Top 20 Revelation
As I anxiously await for SYTYCD to start I am shocked when I sit down, ready to write my blog, and “Bones” comes on. Another hour till the start of the show! When finally the final cut starts, I am ready. Unfortunately, my expectations are dashed because this is not the greatest TV entertainment out there, with the prolonged low level tension dragging out slowly as the 32 are whittled down to the 20. Some highlights from a low show:
We learn that hot and spicy Janette Manrara breaks up with her boyfriend, moved back with mom but goes on to LA. In an interview with the LA Times, Nigel had said that that is what they were looking for in Miami, and she’s got it (plus abs!).
Dianna is kicked out of the jungle, monkey and all. Tony the bird makes it to LA. Jeanine Mason (another South Florida girl!) goes to LA too. Kapono chair dancing from Seattle’s actually makes it also! Another five or six dancers make it to top 20 in a quick sequence that suggests that they are mostly cannon fodder for the upcoming first weeks of the live show.
When Brandon comes up, I have to wonder, what’s wrong with Mia? Why the drama around Brandon? Why is she calling him cocky and arrogant? Is there something about him that threatens her? I wonder because, honestly, Brandon Bryant and Alex Wong have been the best of this show so far (oh, and Asuka), so I don’t understand Mia’s reaction. Is there a pattern here? We have seen her spew out similarly against other great dancers such as Danny (Season 3) and Will (Season 4). They all had in common that they were great dancers, with classical training, and African Americans. And I think that what Mia doesn’t like about them is two out of these three issues (and it is not that they are “great dancers”). Okay? Whatever, Brandon is too good for the show to pass on, and he will make it! And he does. No matter if Mia is being bleeped out in her venomous tirade against him.
Alex Wong (who I've loved from the early auditions) is torn by his desire to “dance expressively” in a show vying for popular votes, and his contract as a professional dancer with Miami City Ballet (one of the most successful, creative, and forward looking ballet companies out there!). Whhaaatt? Nigel says that Eddie Villela does not want to let him go, although after what was said tonight, who knows? MCB is a company that does classical ballet in the most American style: George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. And they also do modern and contemporary with Twyla Tharp and other modern choreographers. It is a company that explores dance in its purest forms. Alex should be glad to have a contract with such a forward company when so many other great dancers are currently out of work. And what does he mean by being “trapped” in Ballet? What a silly pre-conception! And why did you give that satisfaction to Mia, Alex, to typecast Ballet as a “trap”! Like if Ballet meant a one-dimensional form of expression! Well, if he’s let go from MCB and returns to SYTYCD I will enjoy watching him on this competition anyway, but his crying about MCB as a prison lost me as an early fan.
At the end of the show, and as I predicted, Asuka makes it. I say she will go up to top ten, as well as Brandon.
The full top 20:
Boys: Vitolio Jeune, Pono Aweau, Ade Obayomi, Jonathan Platero, Brandon Bryant, Tony Bellissimo, Maksim Kapitannikov, Jason Glover, Philip Chbeeb, Evan Kasprzak
Girls: Janette Manrara, Kayla Radomski, Paris Torres, Karla Garcia, Caitlin Kinney, Melissa Sandvig, Ashley Valerio, Randi Strong-Evans, Jeanine Mason, Asuka Kondoh
Memorable so far: Brandon and Maksim (he's awesome, I had forgotten about him!), Philip Chbeeb (remember him? from Season 4 battle with Robert Muraine? when did he audtion that I missed it?), Evan (mmm... the brother drama... but is his dancing really at the level of this show?), Janette (we've seen a little, but enough to see that she's absolutely incredible!) and Asuka (great!). And we have not seen nothing yet!