'SYTYCD' Is Finally Getting to The Exciting Part

They're here and they're ready for our votes: So You Think You Can Dance 's top 20 dancers for Season 11 will perform Wednesday night for the first time and I don't know about you guys, but I'm really pumped for this year's talent. While I am bummed about the few standouts that didn't make the cut — we'll miss you Jaja and Johnny Waacks — there are a few brilliant standouts among the ridiculously talented contestant pool this year.

So You Think You Can Dance has always been one of my favorite reality show, sorry Bachelor fans but it's true. The competition has always been about bringing the joy of dance to the stage and showing off incredible talent mixed with some wonderful personal stories and some goofy human moments. Plus there's the added bonus of romance every once in a while between contestants (Congratulations Twitch and Allison!). So who will bring it in the competition this year? Will we once again be able to find a guy who simultaneously grows as a dancer and warms our hearts every week like winner Fikshun from Season 10? Or a girl who is a beast throughout the competition in her dance but an adorable girl who want to put in your pocket in real life like fellow Season 10 winner Amy Yakima? Not sure if those two can be duplicated but here are my "ones to watch" this season.

Ricky Ubeda

The final solo he performed at LA callback week was so incredible, it would have been the biggest mistake to keep him out of the Top 20. Luckily, the judges decided to keep their logic intact and send him through and if Ricky can keep delivering material like his solo in other people's choreography, he could go all the way to the Top 4.

Jourdan Epstein

She might be the fiercest ballerina I've ever seen. At the moment, Season 11 looks to be the year of the men, but Jourdan is so awesome and can steal this entire competition away from the guys. As Nigel likes to say, we have a beast in our midst.

Stanley Glover

Stanley is the Philadelphia auditions contestant whose mother passed away from a heart attack right next to him when he was four years old. He is also one of the contestants that gave us the most aggressive and interesting solos of Season 11. He has the ability to go all the way as long as he tries to grow further as a dancer and especially allows choreographers like Sonya Tayeh, Travis Wall, and Chris Scott to expand his horizons.

Tanisha Belnap

No offense to any ballroom dancers out there, but when ballroom people do solos on So You Think You Can Dance, they almost always come off looking a bit awkward, unless they're Dimitry or Pasha. Ballroom just looks too good with partners. But somehow Tanisha was able to give a pretty awesome ballroom solo at LA callback week and took the whole competition by storm. Plus she danced her solo to Britney Spears' "Work Bitch" which is nothing short of awesome.

Marcquet Hill

Marcquet is the dancer at the LA callback week who was so good at Hip Hop and other styles of dance that a lot of the contestants and even the judges forgot he was a ballroom dancer. That is a very good sign for this competition. Plus he just seems so damn nice. He definitely has my votes.

The Two Tappers — Zack Everhart And Valerie Rockey

I may be a little biased here as I took tap for a while and am obsessed with anyone who can do it properly. That might be why I fell in love with Aaron so much during Season 10. But these two are really talented and they showed their worth in the Hip Hop and Ballroom rounds of LA Week. The judges told Zack he was a standout in his Hip Hop group and the two paired up to give the most entertaining ballroom number in the history of callback round. So naturally, I have the highest of hopes for these two.

Images: Fox