35 dancers made it to the Golden Mile, but only 20 will have the chance to become America’s Favourite Dancer. 
The 200th episode of So You Think You Can Dance reveals these 20 finalists and announces a twist: this year there will be two winners, America’s Favourite Boy and Girl dancer.
As the constants are revealed they each get to dance three times; in a specialized group dance, the Top10 boys / girls, and a Top20 routine choreographed by the infamous Mia Michaels.
The intention of this episode is to allow America to get to know the dancers without the pressures of elimination. This means that the dancers are not officially competing this episode. The “Judges” on the panel give praise and point out the different strengths of each dancer.
On The Panel:
Nigel Lythgoe – Judge, executive producer
Mary Murphy – Judge, ballroom expert
Zooey Deschanel – Guest Judge, star actress of Fox’s comedic series New Girl
The First of the Top 20
The show attracts a slew of talented contemporary dancers; to make it on as one is incredibly difficult… These four contestants are the first to make it into the Top20 
and are all categorized as Contemporary. They are also the first to dance this season and do so in a Tyce Diorio routine to a Jessie J cover of “We Found Love”.
- Alexa Anderson (19) from Chandler, AZ
- George Lawrence II (19) from Decatur, GA
- Will Thomas (19) from Troy, MI
- Amber Jackson (21) from Atlanta, GA
The Ballroom Dancers
This audition tour brought an unusual amount of gifted Ballroom dancers, especially from Salt Lake City Utah where all of our Golden Mile Ballroom contestants auditioned. Team Ballroom made it through to the golden mile, but the judges said they were only looking for one Ballroom girl this season…
- Nick Bloxsom-Carter (20) from Oak Park, CA – Ballroom
- Witney Carson (18) from American Fork, IT – Latin Ballroom
- Lindsay Arnold (18) from Provo, UT – Latin Ballroom
These three danced together in an electric three-person ballroom routine to Jennifer Lopez’s “Dance Again”.
The Ballet Dancers
Three classically trained dancers made it to the Golden Mile this year, include two Ballet Boys who left their professional careers to audition for the show.
- Eliana Girard (21) from West Palm Beach, FL – Contemporary Ballet
- Daniel Baker (24) from Newcastle, Australia – Ballet
- Chehon Wespi-Tschopp (23) from Zurich, Switzerland – Ballet
These three triumphantly come together in a dance that was partially choreographed by (the) Desmond Richardson.
Jazz and remaining Contemporary
- Tiffany Maher (19) from Plantation, FL – Jazz
- Audrey Case (18) from Edmond, OK – Jazz
- Matthew Kazmierczak (21) from Peoria, AZ – Contemporary
- Dareian Kujawa (20) from st. Paul, MN – Contemporary
- Janaya French (20) from Aurora, CO – Lyrical Contemporary
- Amelia Lowe (18) from Butler, NJ – Contemporary
Our two Jazz dancers perform a powerful Sonia Tayeh routine and the remaining contemporary dancers executed a heartfelt Stacey Tookey routine.
A Jumble of Genres, SYTYCD Firsts!
- Janelle Issis (24) from Birmingham, AL – Belly Dancing
- Cole Horibe (26) from Honolulu, HI – Martial Arts Fusion
- Brandon Mitchell (27) from Kansas City, KS – Stepping
- Cyrus Spencer (22) from Duluth, GA – Animation/Robotics
Janelle Issis was supposed to dance with Tiffany and Audrey but got very sick during rehearsals and was advised not to perform by doctors. She will be competing when the show resumes in two weeks. Cole, Brandon and Cyrus did an amazing Christopher Scott routine which blended their three very different and unique styles into one story.
The Top10 Girls (minus Janelle) danced a stunning Travis Wall routine and the Top10 Boys did a ferocious Sonia Tayeh dance. Finally the contestants came together in an incredible Mia Michaels routine.
The SYTYCD Top 20 – The Most Diverse Group Yet, a genre recap
- 8 – Contemporary
- 3 – Ballroom (/Latin Ballroom)
- 3 – Ballet
- 2 – Jazz
- 1 – Belly Dance *SYTYCD First!*
- 1 – Martial Arts Fusion *SYTYCD First!*
- 1 – Stepping *SYTYCD First!*
- 1 – Animation / Robotics *SYTYCD First!*
- 0 – Tap
For notifications on TV recaps, Film reviews, and exciting Q&A’s follow me on twitter @RebeccaLamarche
Keep an eye out for my upcoming Q&A with SYTYCD and internationally renowned choreographer Mia Michaels!
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Cyrus Spencer
I love this new format that Nigel had put together as the producer of this fine show. My whole family enjoyed seeing the drama of each announcement (except for me) and then the dances were phenomenal. I really loved the Ballroom routine, and the ballet, but then Cole Brandon and Cyrus “hit the ball out of the park” as Mary put it. We all love to watch with our PrimeTime Anytime recordings now though, ever since a friend and co-worker at Dish suggested saving time by using them for the Auto Hop feature. It trims 20 minutes an hour off our viewing time since we can watch commercial free, and now we can even watch another show in the same evening with the time we save.