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So You Think You Can DanceThe competition portion of So You Think You Can Dance season 11 started up on Wednesday night. The show got off to a bit of a slow start, but really picked up in the second hour with some excellent dancing, which hopefully sets the bar for the season.

Here are my top three for the week:

#1 – Ricky & Jessica – Contemporary – Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh: I’ve liked Ricky since auditions and he really turned in a sublime, perfect performance with Jessica. He reminds me a lot of Season 6’s Jakob, whose one of my all time favorites. This is the guy I want to see win!

#2 – Emilio & Teddy – Hip Hop – Choreographed by Chris Scott: Leave it to Chris Scott to develop a hip hop routine to a song you wouldn’t expect as part of a hip hop number. These guys were great too. Looking forward to seeing what else they do this season.

#3 – Zack & Valerie – Tap – Choreographed by Anthony Morigerato: Love the movement on the stairs and these two were in perfect sync. A fun, perky number.

Some other random notes from the show:

  • The opening number form Sonya was cool, and I didn’t expect that to be her’s either. Nice to see her choreography going in many directions this season with this as well as Ricky & Jessica’s dance.
  • The show got off to a bit of a slow start. It didn’t feel like we were seeing much new or innovative. It was all good, but I expect  better than good. I expect to be wowed and it’s the job of the choreographers to create the wow dances that are then performed. In particular, the contemporary choreographers must mix it up. Except for Sonya, the other contemporary pieces felt derivative of season’s past–especially Bonnie Story’s with yet another breakup happening over a table.
  • I loved Stanley in his contemporary piece. The way he moves is wonderful to watch.
  • Also loved Brooklyn in her ballroom number. It’s going to be great to see what else she can do.
  • Marcquet was awesome. He’s a powerhouse in ballroom and I look forward to seeing him go through the different styles.

I’m keeping the blog posts kinda short this season. With the move happening this month, it’s going to be all I can do to actually catch the show live since I won’t have the benefit of DVR for a two to three weeks. I will do a top 3, with video clips if they’re available and give a few other notes from the show.