So You Think You Can Dance 6 – Ranking the Dancers, Week 1

I most likely know what you are thinking as you are beginning to read this article. You are most likely thinking to yourself, “Why is Ronnie from Big Brother 11 writing an article about So You Think You Can Dance?” The answer to this question may actually shock you. Well, it might not if you were one of the BB fans who watched the live feeds. Prior to my existence as the quintessential computer and video game geek, I danced. That is right, I danced and it wasn’t grinding my overly pasty white booty to whatever music was playing on my mp3 player. I actually am a trained dancer in ballet, jazz, tap, and modern. While it is true that I have gained weight since those days, once upon a time I used to be a very skilled performer.

I have always been a “connoisseur” of reality TV and I have to admit that once I first heard that there was going to be a show called So You Think You Can Dance, my heart began to do barrel turns and double wings inside my chest. I have always loved dance and the thought of there being a show that would allow me to combine my incredible obsession of reality TV with the art of dancing was almost too much for me to handle.

Please understand that throughout the duration of this article I will be making statements on how I feel the dancers are currently ranked based on my own personal opinions. I am not trying to say that I am by any means an expert such as Nigel, Mary, Adam, Mia (Mia…. we will miss you on the show), or any of the other amazing choreographers. That having been said, let’s get down to the first article. Wow… that felt like a nomination speech all over again!!

As anyone who has watched the show knows, the dancers begin off paired as couples. The pairing has presumable always been random, although I personally have had my doubts at times. When they get narrowed down to a top ten, the dancers usually change to a format where they have a new partner for their dances each week. That dancer is chosen by random draw from a hat. Until the show reaches that point, I will be ranking them by how I felt they did the prior week and making a pseudo prediction on what might possibly be coming down the pipelines in the coming week’s performance. I realize this will most likely result in some errors, or maybe several errors… but it’s fun none the less.

So… last week we were treated to an episode that was a little different than what I expected. We saw the top 20 perform and there would be the first eliminations… in the same episode! What?! We then got sucker punched with the news that Billy Bell had left the competition due to illness. I really had high hopes for him, so this news really saddened me. On the tail end of that shocker we were also told that Noelle had to sit out this round of competition due to an injury from rehearsal. What is going on here? The season has just begun and already we have two people who were sick and/or injured.

To briefly recap what happened, the judges made the sole decisions on which girl and which guy would be eliminated from the competition. I was scared when I first heard that was the plan. The judges have been notorious for eliminating people that are skilled dancers in exchange for some of the more “entertaining” contestants. It came down to the bottom two guys being Russell and Brandon (he is the new hip hop dancer who replaced Billy Bell) and Brandon was eliminated. I personally agreed with this decision. He really did not do anything in his solo. He kind of just went around the stage instead of doing an actual dance solo.

The bottom two girls were Pauline and Ariana. The judges chose to eliminate Ariana. This was one of those decisions I just mentioned. Ariana had a great solo. She actually had a complete performance. Her performance had passion, technique, and was dynamic. Pauline simply ran around the stage and threw dancing skills. I didn’t notice any emotion whatsoever in her solo. The judges even admitted in their adjudication that Ariana was being eliminated because of her lack of personality. Oh well… with those two dancers being eliminated that means we already have a brand new couple in the competition. So let’s look at the rankings how I see them.

1st – Nathan and Mollee

What is there to say about this pairing that hasn’t already been said? Nathan has amazing technique and he also a lot of fun. Mollee has so much personality that you can’t help but like her. Last week they did an amazing disco number that knocked my socks off. There were some mistakes, but forgivable ones. It is for all of these reasons that I feel they have earned the top spot right now. They give 100% in rehearsals and seem to have a pretty big fan base so far, so I do not think they will be going home any time soon.

2nd – Bianca and Victor

OK, I have to admit something here. I personally am pulling for this duo. I am mainly a tapper myself and for this reason I feel for the tappers more than the others. I can’t help it. However, this duo is here because both of them have a perfect marriage of personality and technique. I only placed them second to Nathan and Mollee because they seem to have a little bit smaller fan base. They were amazing in the Travis Wall contemporary routine and I think the both of them will be around for the long haul.

3rd – Ryan and Ellenore

Ryan is a ballroom dancer and one half of the married couple we’ve been treated to this season. Ellenore is an incredibly gifted dancer as well. Last week they danced to a Sonja contemporary jazz routine. I have to say right now I am torn on Sonja. She is incredibly talented, but I don’t necessarily agree with her experimental choreography on the show. Many audience members, who are the voters, could be turned off by the choreography. This hurts the contestants who randomly get assigned her choreography. I hope this doesn’t happen to any of the dancers. Thankfully, though, this wasn’t an issue in this episode since the judges made the choices. I think again that these two should be safe for a while as long as they don’t tank in their choreography. They both got rather decent air time in the intro episodes so they should have a good fan base.

4th – Ashleigh and Jakob

Ashleigh is the other half of the married duo and Jakob is a contemporary dancer. This is the point in the pairings where I started to feel that some of the contestants didn’t get an ideal pairing. Jakob is incredibly talented and Ashleigh is as well, but I do not feel that this is a dance pair made in heaven. I can’t help but feel that Jakob will make it further in the competition than Ashleigh will. I think that once they are in the bottom three couples, the time will come when we see Ashleigh eliminated and Jakob with a new partner.

5th – Kathryn and Legacy

Legacy is the very first b-boy to get into the top 20 on SYTYCD and Kathryn is a contemporary dancer. They did a great hip hop routine last week that I actually enjoyed. Anyone who has ever talked to me about SYTYCD knows that I am not usually a fan of the hip hop routines. I think that unless they start really doing horribly in their choreography these two should be set for the top 10. Legacy got a lot of air time in the audition episodes and seems to have a lot of fans. Those fans should keep Kathryn safe by proxy.

6th – Channing and Phillip

Phillip is the second of the three tap dancers that got into the top 20 this season. Channing is yet another contemporary dancer. They did not do too well in my opinion this last week. They danced a jive and they seemed like they had no chemistry whatsoever. They also seemed like they were running out of energy halfway through their routine. If they do not manage to turn their bad luck around next week this couple could very well be on the chopping block.

7th – Russell and Noelle

Russell is the very first crumper to make it onto SYTYCD. Which I have to interject here… what is it with the name Russell and reality TV all of a sudden? There are two Russells on Survivor: Samoa, this Russell, plus Russell from my season of Big Brother. I think Russell did very well this past week considering that Noelle was injured and he danced with the choreographer on the show. I merely placed Russell here because, as I stated at the beginning of the article, I am judging them by couples. Nigel stated in the episode that if Noelle was not cleared by the doctors to dance on next week’s episode, then she would have to be eliminated. It is for this reason and this reason alone I placed them so far down on the list. If Noelle is cleared by the doctors and the duo dances together, I expect them to rocket somewhere near the top.

8th – Peter and Pauline

Peter is the third and final tap dancer this season. Pauline is a jazz dancer. I do not think this couple will get along at all. Pauline should have gone home instead of Ariana, but the judges picked Pauline because of her personality. During Pauline and Brandon’s waltz, Pauline had horrible hands. She did not finish her movements and they lacked that extra little piece of polishing that makes the routine really shine. I think that Pauline will be Peter’s undoing unless she learns to partner better.

9th – Karen and Kevin

Karen and Kevin are our final couple. Karen is a ballroom dancer from Venezuela and Kevin is a hip hop dancer. This was not a difficult decision to choose to rank them last. This is not a statement on their technique. I made this decision because, like I said, I love this show. I have a great memory and this show is based on votes. After the show was finished last week, this couple was the only couple that I could not remember their names or what dance they performed. I am thinking there is a strong possibility that unless they pick up their game a lot of people in America might forget them as well, which will land them in the bottom three couples.

So those are the rankings as I see them right now. I am sure after I see them perform for the second time this week I will have a much better grasp on which couples actually are bad couples and which ones simply had a bad week.

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Ronnie Talbott was a contestant on Big Brother 11, a trained dancer in ballet, jazz, tap, and modern, and helps teach high school theatre.

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