Oh Tony. Last night's SYTYCD showcased the first performances from the top 20. Buffalo's own Tony Bellissimo was paired up with Paris, and performed a Hip-Hop number choreographed by the amazingly talented Tabitha and Napoleon. Tony seemed cocky and ready to show off (see his above "stink face"). But did he? Tony did not shine at all in his first performance, and it was Hip-Hop! He hit the moves, stayed on beat, but there just wasn't enough power or personality, and personality was all he had to stand out on. to quote Nigel, "I don't want you to think you can get by by being the cute guy on the show... your stank stank." Ouch. I hope he learns his lesson and puts some serious work into being a contestant or this wont be a Bellissimo fan blog for long...

If anyone was asking, the awesome track that Tony and Paris danced to is "Let The Beat Rock (Boys Noize Megamix)" Its from the Boom Boom Pow remix EP from the Black Eyed Peas. Listen to it below, and pick it up here on Amazon. [audio:http://buffawhat.com/files/audio/Let%20the%20Beat%20Rock%20%28Boys%20Noize%20Megamix%29.mp3]

Congratulations Tony on making the top 20 on So You Think You Can Dance!  Since the local news hasn't yet caught on, I'm going to be focusing on Mr. Bellissimo as he makes his way through the competition. Hip-Hop dancers are always my favorite, and Tony's hilarious style will bring tons of fun to this Season. Here is his official bio from the SYTYCD blog:

Tony Bellissimo Dance Specialty: Hip Hop Hometown: Buffalo, NY Currently Resides: Buffalo, NY Age: 20 Bellissimo has been dancing for most of his life. He is a graduate of Frontier High School, and played on the school’s soccer, football and lacrosse teams. He likes to write short stories and poems, and his favorite professional dancer is Barry Lather.

Tony is also on twitter! Follow him up (@YnotBfunkY) and wish him luck!

thanks to everyone for your love! i wont let you down and hope you enjoy!! Tony- (via twitter)

I started watching So You Think You can Dance last season and was hooked. I don't watch Idol, I could care less about who's Got Talent, but SYTYCD manages to keep me interested. The boyfriend DVR'd it for me and even he was sucked in last night. This year, we have a local Buffalo boy in the competition, and he held his own in Vegas, despite having to "dance for his life." We'll find out tonight  if he makes it to the final 20. His name is Tony Bellissimo, lives in Hamburg, and has been dancing since he was a little kid. He attended the Future Dance Center in Buffalo, and was instructed by Denise and Gino Vaccaro. He also belonged to Tremaine Performance Company for a year or so, and his specialty is Hip-Hop. Tony has a lot of potential. He has a great body, he's tall and lanky, and full of humor and personality. His solo piece in Las Vegas snagged the judges when his routine exposed various mugshots of Nigel Lythgoe to the tune of "Somebody's Watching Me." Hip Hop dancers sometimes have trouble when it comes to Jazz and Contemporary but Tony breezed through most of it.  After a bit of gut-wrenching suspense from the Judges (not even SYTYCD is free from crafted commentary from the judges), Tony exploded in emotion and joined the top 32 after wiping his tears on Cat's shoulders, who has a thing for boys with feelings (or is it boys she can feel up?). 12 people will be sent home tonight; I hope it isn't Tony, I'd like to see this local boy make it. The other thing that's awesome about SYTYCD is that the music doesn't suck, with routines set to Black Eyed Peas and the Ting Tings... it only gets better as the season progresses.

Last year, I used a now shutdown service called Red Lasso to display clips from the series. Since that went belly up, I'm still looking for a legalesque method of showing my favorite clips... Bonus! - Check after the jump and see Tony make an appearance in "Pinch," a local short film comedy making a tribute to Star Trek.

(Video Via Ricky.org) UPDATE:: Thursday night comes and goes, and Tony makes the Top 20!!!! Way to go Buffalo!!!