Top 20 Freakout

ERMAGERD DANCING.

There is nothing below that doesn't address last night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance. So... bye, I guess.

It's possible that I say this every year, but I really mean it this time - I'm so excited about this year's Top 20. So excited. While I do think it's sorta cheap that the producers of SYTYCD always withhold about half of the contestants over the audition process so that when they're cast the audience has no previous association with them, it is nice in a way to form your own opinions about who to root for vs. who the show people want to showcase (Ahem. Alexa. Who is actually good but still). Let's talk about Will, for example. Who is this gigantic hunk of man? I'm looking forward to getting to know him, let's see if he's worth keeping around.

My early favorite is still Eliana, from whom we haven't heard since her initial audition, but she struck such a chord with me, and her futuristic ballet performance last night was undeniable. Love her. I'm also really feeling George, whose audition I had forgotten about and who is just magical. He reminds me of Jakob or Danny, just a thrilling contemporary guy. I'm happy that Cyrus is in, all the hype really worked in making me root for him, he has a great personality. He fills the Legacy/Tadd niche. Otherwise, I'm ready to be shocked and awed. There's nobody I dislike, yet. Audrey should never ever talk, and though I can't take my eyes off Amelia she gets the "Eli Manning Bitchface" trophy for her reaction to Janaya getting picked. But dance-wise, really, let's do this thing.

I'm downright shocked that there is only one hip-hop specialist in the mix, and really more of an isolationist than anything else, if that is a thing. One stepper, which is pretty cool. No b-boys at all. The contemporary jazz bias is overwhelming, but at the same time, from what I saw in Vegas, a lot of the contestants are five-tool players, as it were, using the contemp label as a catch-all, and most of them are really adaptable to hip-hop. It'll be interesting to see who's going to be doing the heavy lifting with that choreography because I saw Tabitha D'umo in the audience of ABDC and she preeeeegnant, so I am only assuming that those stalwarts are sitting out this season. Or, maybe not.

Travis's girls' routine was gorgeous, and Sonya's aggressively contact-heavy guys' routine made my life. Kudos to this show for almost letting the whole thing go without a single comment about whether or not dudes dancing with dudes is gay. Almost. I don't care if you're all about the ladies in real life, it's your performance right now that counts and if you want to be a professional that's all you should care about (in other words, shut up and dance, BRANDON). And good on you Nigel for not taking the homophobic bait, even if it turns out you only held your tongue due to time allowance. It felt like progress.

The biggest news for me, overall, was the return of Mama Mia. That group routine was so good I almost threw up, my response was that visceral, and I'm not kidding. Finding out that she choreographed Rock of Ages has kindled my interest to actually see it.

The question of the night, though: does L'il C wear glasses without lenses? Discuss.

In conclusion, look forward to Thursday entries from here on out. Or don't. But I certainly do. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

The unexpected (but perfectly logical) side effect of the show is that I get exposure to a lot of new music. Sonya used this song in her routine last night, I recognize it from a commercial for I don't know what, all I know is, I like it.