LIVE BLOG -- The competition begins tonight as the Top 20 perform for America's votes on So You Think You Can Dance!

The show starts of with a office themed group routine, choreographed by Christopher Scott. What a fabulous way to start off the show!

The judges for the show are Mary Murphy, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, and guest judge Kenny Ortega.

We start of the season by voting for individuals this year, not couples. And we are starting off the first performance of the season with...

Witney & Chehon

Style: Samba
Song: "Jump" by The Cube Guys & Luciana
Choreographer: Louis Van Amstel
1-855-GO-HER-01 to vote for Witney or text WITNEY TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-01 to vote for Chehon or text CHEHON TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The judges praised Witney to the moon but said that Chehon's technique could have been better. Mary praised Chehon's movement. I agree with the judges.

Tiffany & George

Style: Contemporary
Song: "Turning Page" by Sleeping At Last
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
1-855-GO-HER-02 to vote for Tiffany or text TIFFANY TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-02 to vote for George or text GEORGE TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

Judges loved it. They said it was soft and romantic and beautiful. I agreed with the judges. I thought it was great.

Janaya & Brandon

Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "Take Care" by Drake ft. RIhanna
Choreographers: Napoleon & Tabitha
1-855-GO-HER-03 to vote for Janaya or text JANAYA TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-03 to vote for Brandon or text BRANDON TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The routine was a story routine about alcoholism so they needed to show a lot of emotion. Judges thought Brandon was better than Janaya. They thought Janaya could have put more passion into her movement considering how emotional the routine was supposed to be. I can't watch this without comparing it to Talia & BJ's routine from Australia. I thought they did a decent job but Talia & BJ were miles better. Talia & BJ were totally in the moment. Jayana & Brandon were kind of in-and-out of the moment.

Alexa & Daniel

Style: Jazz
Song: "Hey Hey" by Dennis
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
1-855-GO-HER-04 to vote for Alexa or text ALEXA TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-04 to vote for Daniel or text DANIEL TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The judges acknowledge that it was a difficult routine. They said there was a lot happening in it and they didn't seem to get a chance to catch their breath. Kenny said he appreciated the exercise but thought their performance could have been better. I agreed with the judges. There were no snapshots in the routine that you could take and say that, "this was a moment."

Amber & Nick

Style: Viennese Waltz
Song: "Nights In White Satin" by Tina Arena
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
1-855-GO-HER-05 to vote for Amber or text AMBER TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-05 to vote for Nick or text NICK TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

Judges generally liked it, but Nigel, as usual, thinks that Waltzes don't have wow moments and thinks they could be in trouble. I thought it was a great piece of choreography by Jason Gilkison. I disagreed with the judges about Nick. There were parts in the routine where I felt like he didn't commit to or finish moves. And in one of the lifts, it looked like he almost lost control. I was impressed with the spinning lift at the beginning that seemed to go on forever. I thought Amber was pretty good.

Amelia & Will

Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "The Lovecats" by The Cure
Choreographer: Napoleon & Tabitha
1-855-GO-HER-06 to vote for Amelia or text AMELIA TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-06 to vote for Will or text WILL TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The judges and the audience seemed to love the routine. I love Amelia. She is so fantastic. I thought their performance was great but I think Nigel brought up a good point. The routine was as much Broadway as it was Hip-Hop.

Janelle & Dareian

Style: African Jazz
Song: "Jungle" by Hilight Tribe
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
1-855-GO-HER-07 to vote for Janelle or text JANELLE TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-07 to vote for Dareian or text DAREIAN TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

Janelle almost got hurt in rehearsals again. Poor girl Nigel mentioned that if she made it through the rehearsals, she could actually do really well in the competition. The judges pretty much loved it. Kenny praised Sean Cheesman. I agreed with Kenny. It was a great piece of choreo by Sean. At one point, I didn't know if the routine was going to turn into a Disco routine but the dancers kept the African feel going so I thought they did a great job. I think I'm becoming a fan of these two.

Eliana & Cyrus

Style: Broadway
Song: "Run and Tell That" from Hairspray (original soundtrack)
Choreographer: Tyce DiOrio
1-855-GO-HER-08 to vote for Eliana or text ELIANA TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-08 to vote for Cyrus or text CYRUS TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The judges and the audience seemed to love it. Kenny said he could envision a whole show around that routine. Everybody was impressed with how well Cyrus did. Nigel said that the routine didn't show off what Eliana can do but he knows how good she is and considers her the benchmark for the girls in the competition. I'm so happy that Eliana was brilliant in this routine. I was worried that with her being a Ballerina, she would be too technical in it but she was completely Broadway in this routine. I thought Cyrus did a great job as well. He did not look one bit out of place.

Audrey & Matthew

Style: Contemporary
Song: "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers
Choreographer: Travis Wall
1-855-GO-HER-09 to vote for Audrey or text AUDREY TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-09 to vote for Matthew or text MATTHEW TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

The judges and the audience seemed to really love this one. The judges gave them a standing ovation. Nigel said it was his favourite routine of the night because the music worked with the choreography and lifted the routine. I loved it too, I thought it was great. This might be my favourite couple, overall, because Matthew is my favourite guy and I really like Audrey as well.

Lindsay & Cole

Style: Paso Doble
Song: "Unstoppable" by E.S. Posthumus
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
1-855-GO-HER-09 to vote for Audrey or text LINDSAY TO 83676
1-855-GO-HIM-09 to vote for Matthew or text COLE TO 83676
You can vote online at http://fox.com/dance

Oh my, another standing ovation. Mary said it was the best Paso Doble choreographed by Jason Gilkison. Nigel said that Cole had just done the best Paso a boy has done on this show. I also thought this was a fabulous routine. I think the Paso fits Cole perfectly because the Paso is kind of a fight and his dance style is kind of a fighting style. I thought Lindsay looked gorgeous in this.


What a great way to start off the competition! I don't think there were any real surprises for me. I didn't consider anything to be a train wreck, so all the routines were decent to fantastic.