SYTYCD S5 Natalie’s Top 20 Performance Show Music Recap

Fox/Mathieu Young

Hey there T!YBE readers! Natalie, here. I blogged over at BSYTYCD before it shut down. Leee invited me to finish up my music recaps over here for Season 4 last summer and I invited myself back for this season :). I’m very excited to be back here again because I’m a fan of Leee’s brilliant and unique recaps of SYTYCD. I'll also be cross-posting my music recaps at sytycd.ca. The bloggers there are fantastic, and I'm excited to be a part of their SYTYCD family!

Here’s how most of my music recaps will go, I’ll give you the dancers, the style, the choreographers, a short blurb about what I thought about how the music related to the actual dance (with some commentary about unrelated things), the song, the artist or band, where you may have heard the song before (in the SYTYCD world and beyond), what other music or songs you may like, and I’ll try to provide streaming versions of the full songs and links to iTunes and Amazon where you can purchase said songs. I like feedback, so if you want more, or less, of my commentary, let me know!

For this post, I'm including a few songs I'd like to hear on this season. Here's hoping Fox gets the rights to some of them!

Speaking of Fox, the SYTYCD website has some new features. They're recapping episodes with a tab for "Songs & Performances". It hasn't been updated for the Top 20 performances, but it could be a great resource if they keep it current. (Thanks to Edward at sytycd.ca for the tip!)

One more note, then I promise I'll stop talking about things unrelated to my recap. Some of the songs on Imeem can only be listened to on their website, so the embedded players only preview the song for 30 seconds. Just click on "Play full song here" and it'll take you to the full streaming song.

Onto the recap...



Road to the Top 20 Montage

Song: You Found Me
Artist/Band: The Fray
Where you’ve heard the song before: Matt Giraud sang it on Idol this season. Badly, I might add. Per Wikipedia, the song played during promos of Lost and The Real World: Brooklyn. It was also in an episode of One Tree Hill AKA my guilty pleasure #29038493.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Phillip & Jeanine’s Hip-Hop routine choreographed by Napoleon & Tabitha

NappyTabs make my job of music recapping so easy. It was no “No Air”, but I dug it. SYTYCD loves Ne-Yo. Especially since lyrical hip-hop is a staple on the show now. Napoleon and Tabitha always choreograph to the words. Almost to the point that they take it too far, but I liked this one anyway.

Song: Mad
Artist/Band: Ne-Yo
Where you’ve heard the song before: On your run-of-the-mill Top 40 stations. Or in your room while you're mad at your boo.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Asuka & Vitolio’s Broadway routine choreographed by Tyce

Tyce picks classic Broadway music, but he must be running out of songs to use. The movement went with the song, but I hated both. Oh Tyce. You’re a hot mess.

Song: Hot Honey Rag
Artist/Band: Chicago
Where you’ve heard the song before: Velma and Roxie perform this song in the Finale of Chicago.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Karla & Jonathan’s Cha-Cha choreographed by Tony Meredith

I was worried when I heard this song was being used for a Cha-Cha. The bass could have easily overshadowed the dancing, but it didn’t. Karla and Jonathan did the new "Queen of Pop" proud.

Song: Poker Face
Artist/Band: Lady Gaga
Where you’ve heard the song before: Unless you’ve been in a third world country living in a cave, you hear this song at least once an hour. The Lady herself performed this song on Idol this past season.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Randi & Evan’s Jazz routine choreographed by Tyce

As much as I hated Tyce’s first routine, I liked this one. Love Jamie Cullum’s version of this song and Tyce’s choreo paired well with it. Sensual and sweet at the same time.

Song: I Only Have Eyes For You
Artist/Band: Jamie Cullum
Where you’ve heard the song before: This song has a long history starting in 1934 where it was sung by Dick Powell in the movie Dames. The most popular version is sung by The Flamingoes and was on the soundtrack of one my favorite movies, American Graffiti, and on a Buffy episode with the same title.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Paris & Tony’s Hip-Hop routine choreographed by Napoleon & Tabitha

[Dear director, your camera work is distracting and annoying. Please stop the choppy cuts and zooming in to the beat. FAIL.]

I definitely didn’t like this routine. Adam nailed it. The song overpowered them. I think S4’s Top 20 also had a bad hip-hop routine, and those two got the boot. The horrible ballet dancer and the forgettable ballroom dancer, if I remember correctly?

Song: Let the Beat Rock (Boys Noize Megamix) – I believe they used the remix with Gucci Mane, but I can’t be sure.
Artist/Band: The Black Eyed Peas
Where you’ve heard the song before: It’s on their recently released E.P., Invasion of Boom Boom Pow, Megamix E.P.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Caitlin & Jason’s Bollywood routine choreographed by Nakul

Jason Glover didn’t look this tall during Vegas week. They actually started with the end of the song. The choreography was fantastic, but Caitlin and Jason didn’t do it for me. They didn’t look like they were dancing together. It was two soloists. Oh, and I’m glad they didn’t use the Pussycat Dolls version. Small favors.

Song: Jai Ho
Artist/Band: AR Rahman & Sukhvinder Singh
Where you’ve heard the song before: Slumdog Millionaire. If you get a chance, rent or buy the movie, and watch the dance to Jai Ho during the end credits. Really wonderful. The whole movie is. Also, you may be familiar with the Cebu inmates that are taking over YouTube. Here they are dancing to Jai Ho.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Janette & Brandon’s Foxtrot choreographed by Louis Van Amstel

SYTYCD hearts Michael Buble. I could do without him. Louis Van Amstel did give us some wonderful choreography to work with though. Brandon and Janette were fluid and elegant. Fantastic. Speaking of fantastic, Mary Murphy’s botox comment rivaled any other SYTYCD memorable moment.

Song: Come Fly With Me
Artist/Band: Michael Buble
Where you’ve heard the song before: This was originally sung by Frank Sinatra. It appeared in Catch Me If You Can and the British film, Little Voices.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Ashley & Kupono’s Jazz routine choreographed by Wade

Wade, how I’ve missed you. Eccentric 101 501. The creepy music went well with the choreography. I’m hoping Wade hasn’t gotten too weird working on Cirque and with that creepy magician guy that dated Hugh Hefner’s ex. [Sidenote: I just noticed that on Wade’s official site, he posted about his choreography for Top 20 and gave us a little hint about the theme of his piece with the crash test dummy symbol.]

Song: Felt Mountain
Artist/Band: Goldfrapp
Where you’ve heard the song before: It’s on their album of the same name.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Melissa & Ade’s contemporary routine choreographed by Mandy Moore

Mandy loves the 80s. I loved that routine. That song is so quiet and almost timid, their movement could have fallen flat, but it definitely didn’t. I wasn’t a huge Ade or Melissa fan before this, but they got some major points for that routine.

Song: Right Here Waiting
Artist/Band: Richard Marx
Where you’ve heard the song before: The song is off of Marx’s album Repeat Offender. Many people have covered the song, including Barry Manilow, and more importantly William Hung and Clay Aiken.
Where you can listen to the whole song (and buy the single on Amazon or iTunes):

Kayla & Max’s Samba choreographed by Louis Van Amstel

This performance was like a Top 4 performance. This shouldn’t be happening during Top 20 week. Ha. We’ll surely be seeing this number during the finale, even if Kayla and Max don’t make it that far.

Song: Jum Bah Day
Artist/Band: House of Gypsies
Where you’ve heard the song before: The song was released in 1994 and the manufacturer has since discontinued it. I doubt you’ll be able to find any “legal” means of purchasing this song.

Songs I’d like to hear this season (AKA songs that Fox might be able to get the rights to)

Marc Broussard – Home or Gavin’s Song

- I’m currently in love with Marc Broussard. I want some of his music to end up on the show and I hope the music lady makes that happen for me. (Thayne Jasperson did an interview last season about how this elusive “music lady” picks songs for the dancers if their original song doesn’t clear. I’m hoping this lady gives us some good music [read: not too much Celine Dion or OneRepublic or Brian Setzer Orchestra]). Home was sung on Nick Lachey’s Clash of the Choirs (FAIL) and apparently (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Broussard) previously served as a theme song for the show Medium (moving to CBS this Fall). Marc’s song “Let Me Leave” made its way into a contemporary dance choreographed by Blake McGrath on SYTYCD Canada per Pure SYTYCD (http://www.puresytycd.com/2008/10/23/top-16-so-you-think-you-can-dance-canada-music/) so here’s to hoping for some Broussard this season in the U. S. of A.

Emmy Rossum – Falling, Inside Out, or Stay

- Every since I heard Slow Me Down during Vegas week, I’ve been excited to see if Emmy’s music will make an appearance this season. I’ve been a fan since she was in Phantom (she was the only good thing about that movie).

Ne-Yo – Nobody

- My money is on this song making a reappearance for a NappyTabs or Shane performance. If Fox has the rights to a song, they’ll definitely capitalize on that. Lauren’s choreography during auditions wasn’t highlighted too much, so the audience shouldn’t be sick of the song yet.

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

- This is a reach, but I’d like to hear this song in a goodbye montage package. SYTYCD Australia used this song for one of their lyrical dances, so here’s to hoping we follow suit.

James Morrison & Nelly Furtado – Broken Strings

- I love this song. It was on The Hills during the Speidi wedding so I’m hoping this song is TV-friendly enough for SYTYCD.

EDIT: Morrighan let me know that
Australia's Top 4 from Season 2 did a routine to this. Check it out!

Timbaland feat. Magoo – Board Meeting

- SYTYCD has used Timbaland in the past, so I’m hoping Shane uses this song for a group routine. There's no full streaming song for this one. Buy it on Amazon. It's worth it.

Any Vitamin String Quartet song

- So Mia and NappyTabs used VSQ songs last season. I think this is an easy way to use a song by an artist that Fox can’t get the original rights to. For those who aren’t familiar with Vitamin String Quartet, they take popular songs and put the melody to strings. It’s hit or miss for their music, but they’re good stuff would be perfect for this show.

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