After a grueling week (or two hours in TV time) in Vegas, “So You Think You Can Dance” finally revealed what we’ve all been waiting for: the Top 10 guys and the Top 10 girls.

Whoo hoo! Let’s get this dance party started, right?

Last night had some highs (Debbie Allen and Mia Michaels in a faux catfight!), lows (insanely talented popper Robert quits in the first five minutes!) and whoas (a rejected Paige lists the scary “fight club” rules of pageant behavior: “You don’t fail, but if you do…” She violated all of them; will the other pageant girls give her 10 lashes with a Miss Congeniality sash when she gets home?).

Anyway, here’s the show’s Top 20, with a bit o’ bio, courtesy of our friends at FOX. And thank goodness for that, because honestly, I barely remember half of these kids from the audition episodes.

Anything I can recall, I’ve put in italics after their bios. And hopefully I’ll be able to tell the rest apart by next week!

Girls:

Rayven Armijo (28) is a Contemporary/Ballet dancer from La Puente, CA. Armijo is a mentor to children and assists them with their educational goals and in dance. Armijo is proud that many have gone on to attend LA County High School for the Performing Arts.

Comfort Fedoke (20) is a Hip-Hop dancer raised in Lagos, Nigeria, now living in Dallas, TX. She is a graduate of Booker T. Washington Performing Arts High School. Fedoke was a featured performer for the past few years on “Dallas Dance Club 21,” the local Dallas dance television show. (Comfort and Joshua—see below—both made it through to the finals; they worked together to squeak through the Vegas ballroom round, even though it wasn’t their genre. Their tears and thankful prayers afterwards were genuine, not sappy.)

Courtney Galiano (19) is a Contemporary dancer from Commack, NY. Though she specializes in Contemporary, Galiano also loves to dance Hip-Hop. She appeared in the music video for Kat De Luna’s “Whine Up” and is a dancer for the New York Knicks.

Susie Garcia (25) is a Latin/Salsa dancer born in Miami, FL. Garcia graduated with a B.F.A. from New World School of the Arts. She is a high school teacher who previously was a dancer with the Miami Heat for six years. Garcia has performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards and Latin Grammy Awards, and danced on Shakira’s “Oral Fixation World Tour.” (One of the best lines of last night went to Debbie Allen, who praised Susie’s dancing, but said that she’d be even more fabulous with more clothes on. Awesome! Now, Debbie, get this girl to a stylist, stat!)

Chelsie Hightower (18) is a Latin dancer born in Las Vegas, NV, and raised in Orem, UT. Hightower has worked with many world-renowned choreographers. She was a U.S. Worlds finalist in 2005 and competed on Team USA. (She’s the one with five brothers, one of whom paid for her dance lessons when the family was pressed financially.)

Jessica King (23) is a Contemporary dancer from Myrtle Beach, SC, where she was born and raised. She is currently attending Coastal Carolina University studying Fine Arts with a minor in Art History. King also teaches dance and performs in local theater.

Kourtni Lind (18) is a Jazz/Contemporary dancer from Forest Lake, MN, currently living in Sherman Oaks, CA. Lind began training in her mother’s dance studio at 3 years old and graduated high school at age 16 so she could begin her career.

Kherington Payne (18) is a Contemporary/Jazz dancer from Placentia, CA. Payne will graduate from El Dorado High School this summer. She is an avid soccer fan who has played for many years. (She’s the gal with the fabulous smile and stage presence, who Nigel said made last season’s finalist Dominic fall in love during her initial auditions. I kind of like her, but I need to get past her silly first name.)

Katee Shean (20) is a Contemporary dancer from San Jose, CA. Shean is a graduate of Pioneer High School and currently attends Chapman University in Orange, CA. She is pursuing a double major in leadership and dance and is active in many volunteer organizations. Shean trained at the Team Dance Company and Atlas School of Dance. (She nearly talked herself out of a place in the finals. The judges reconsidered putting her in the Top 20, all because they didn’t like that she might not come back to audition for the show again, if she was cut this time—which I found presumptuous on their part. Katee’s roommate, Natalie—who would have gotten her place—wins the “most gracious” award after the judges decide to keep Katee after all. I wonder what this little episode will do to Katee’s self-confidence in the main competition…)

Chelsea Traille (23) is a Jazz Funk and Contemporary dancer born in Houston, TX, currently living in Flower Mound, TX. Traille graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Marketing from the University of Texas, Dallas. She was a dancer with the NBA Mavericks during the 2006-2007 season.

Guys:

Joshua Allen (19) is a Hip Hop/Popping dancer from Fort Worth, TX. Allen hopes to be a professional dancer and recording artist. (I remember not being overwhelmed by his Dallas audition, but his moment with Comfort last night—see above—moved me.)

Jamie Bayar (22) is a West Coast Swing dancer from Palm Springs, CA, currently living in Norwalk, CA. Bayard graduated from the Orange County High School of the Arts. He was the U.S. Swing Dance champion in 2000 and 2002 and is a professor of Swing and Salsa at Loyola Marymount University.

Twitch Boss (25) is a Freestyle dancer from Montgomery, AL. A career highlight for Boss was performing “Thriller” with Wade Robson on “The Wade Robson Project” in 2003. (YAY! Twitch finally made it! He was No. 21 last year, getting beat out by Hok. That had to hurt. But he came back with a great attitude, and he’ll be interesting to watch.)

Marquis Cunningham (18) is a Lyrical/Contemporary dancer born in Cumberland, NC, and raised in Cape Coral, FL. Cunningham began dancing at 14 and trained at the Robin Dawn Academy. He is a graduate of Florida’s North Fort Myers High School and currently resides in New York City.

Matt Dorame (22) is a Contemporary dancer from Glendale, AZ. He studied for two years at Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City.

Chris Jarosz (21) is a Lyrical/Contemporary dancer from Gaithersburg, MD, currently living in Dallas, TX. Jarosz grew up training at the Dawn Crafton Dance Center in Gaithersburg and then moved to Dallas in his sophomore year to train at Top Hat Dance Center. Jarosz is now a dance major at Southern Methodist University.

Thayne Jasperson (27) is a Contemporary dancer who grew up in Springville, UT. Jasperson was a featured dancer in “High School Musical,” and “High School Musical 2.” He danced five years with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, but has only been dancing six years.

Mark Kanemura (24) is a Contemporary dancer born and raised in Honolulu, HI. Kanemura trained with 24-7 Dance Force in Honolulu and danced at Tokyo Disney. He also directed and choreographed performances on Norwegian Cruise Lines. (I could swear I’d never seen this boy on the show before he “danced for his life” last night, but his number to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was incredible—and memorable.)

Gev Manoukian (21) is a Hip Hop/Break dancer originally from Kazakhstan and now living in Centerville, UT. Manoukian was a featured dancer in “High School Musical 2.” (What’s with everyone from “HSM?” Gev, Thayne, poor Kelli Baker who didn’t make the finals—a travesty, BTW.)

Will Wingfield (21) is a Contemporary dancer from Nashville, TN. Wingfield started dancing at age 9 at DC Dance Factory in Nashville, and later moved to Los Angeles to train under Debbie Allen at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. (The judges weren’t sure about Will at his initial audition, which was sort of a dance protest against racism. They made him stick around for choreography, which the boy clearly nailed, since he went to Vegas. Since he’s a protege of Debbie Allen’s, she can’t come back as a guest judge while he’s in the competition. And that’s the only reason I hope he’s kicked off as soon as possible. Who knew Debbie Allen was so much fun, her overuse of the phrase “hot mess” aside?)

So, do you have a favorite yet? Personally, I can’t handicap this race until I see more of their fancy footwork, which kicks off with the first performance show on Wednesday.

Can’t wait to see which couples get paired up! Can’t wait to see who goes home first next Thursday!
Can’t wait to see what wild contemporary routines Mia Michaels comes up with next!

(And just as a side note: Does Mia scare anyone else? I wouldn’t say she’s an angry person, but every now and then, I see a flare of crazy in her eyes. I’m expecting her to snap one day, and slam some hapless dancer through a wall, while shouting, “Butterflies! Rainbows! I said, ronde de jamb, not pas de boure, damn you!”)

Tune in here next week, “Dance” fans, for further discussion!

(Photos courtesy of FOX)