As summer neared, I had already decided that So You Think You Can Dance? would be part of my blog schedule this year. In its fourth season, the hit FOX summer show had escaped me until now.

Why?

Because I don't know jack about dance. In fact, if you ever see me dancing, there is a 100 percent chance alcohol is involved.

Because I was always worn out, tired of any reality television by the time Idol was done. Really, I still am. However, summer isn't a throw-away season anymore for television. Summer has turned into this mini market, not quite as important as other times of year, but growing more and more competitive.

Because I have grown uber-weary of the whole Dancing With The Stars franchise, so much so that anything having to do with dance, I thought, would grind on me like nails on a chalkboard.

Boy, have I been surprised though, surprised how much I've enjoyed this show. So I think I can watch So You Think You Can Dance? for an entire season. Yes, I do.

And I'll comment and critique but I cannot guarantee that anything will make sense to those of you who know about dance. I have to acknowledge just how much respect I've always had for dance, but I should also qualify that by "dance," I do not mean "dancing."

I could care less about "dancing"; however, the art of dance is something I can feel, if you feel me. Do you feel me? Do you dig?

First, I appreciate how much dancers suffer for their art. We musicians and songwriters suffer rejection, the demons in our heads and hearts and any number of things typically intangible.

Dancers suffer for their art in many of the same ways emotionally but also physically, always having to watch every nibble and having to maintain not only their shape but also their condition.

For the committed, dance can be brutal. And to be great in dance, one has to has to has to has to be committed, way more so I think than in music. With conventional music, I think, you can every once in a while find somebody who is great but lazy. You can find somebody not so committed but so very talented that it almost seems to excuse the slothfulness.

Second, I appreciate tremendously how much the people on this show are dedicated to their craft. Idol has always been a quest to get famous, period. So You Think You Can Dance?, to me, is about a rare chance to break into a business that is probably even smaller and more competitive than professional music. The art part of this competition, to me, is much more pure than other shows.

Lastly, and Idol fans will probably disagree, but the contestants on SYTYCD are infinitely more talented than somebody who merely "sings." Perhaps I devalue "just singing" because it seems so common, or perhaps I value dance so much right now because I can't do it and don't know squat about it technically.

Well, as of Thursday, the Top 20 was announced, SYTYCD's version of Idol's Top 24. Given that I was working so hard to prepare for my initial gig last week, I had to wait until tonight to catch up on episodes.

And I have a few favorites.

But my FAVORITE of the show did not make the Top 20, and I have sad gut. Sheila Kaiser, 18, a freshman at the University of Georgia, turned me smitten the second I saw her dance. Great legs. Great smile. Great song (called "Wonderful") from Annie Lennox. Great everything.

Some people have told me off the record that the reason they don't like this show is because too many of the styles are not what they would consider to be legitimate dance. And by that, I presume they mean hip-hop, popping and breaking, etc.

However, sorry, I'm a dance idiot, and I can assert as 100 percent fact that what Sheila did right there was beautiful. Art to a T. She's also mega sexy. Call me. I'm only 20 years older than you.

So, that's how it's going to be this summer. I'll let you know what I think and sound pretty stupid about it in the process. However, the first three weeks of SYTYCD really has me fascinated not only by the show but by dance in and of itself.

And, sorry again, but the judges on this show are infinitely more interesting than those on Idol. Mary Murphy is what Paula Abdul should be -- tough, knowledgable and lucid. And Nigel Lythgoe isn't merely a Simon Cowell clone. Dare I say, I think I might like Nigel more.

Even though I'm still disappointed my girl didn't make it to the Top 20, I've picked out a few of the dancers I'll be rooting for. Sheila, you can e-mail me by clicking the contact link at the top of the page. Seriously, I might be obsessed now. Kidding. Not really.

Anyway, I can't even begin to predict how the show will turn out in terms of a winner, but I can tell you who I like.

Unfortunately, I can't find any videos of her dancing, but my favorite remaining dancer is Courtney Galliano because she's smokin' hot. I figure she's a good dancer, too, but what can I say? I'm shallow.

I like the second dancer in there, too. She's Chelsea Hightower, but I don't care for any of the rest at all.

Kherington Payne. Like her. Girl next door. I'm creepy.

Among the guys, my favorites include Debbie Allen protege William Wingfield whose initial audition was really phenomenal.

Perhaps the most likeable personality among the guys is Stephen "Twitch" Boss who barely missed out on the Top 20 last season.

If you sense a pattern here with the male dancers, you'd be right. I much prefer the contemporary and even hip-hop routines to ballet or swing or whatever. My other favorite guy dancer is Joshua Allen, who auditioned in Dallas.

However, given the physicality of dance, I can't imagine that I won't be rooting for one of the girls to win. Who knows. This is my first ride on the SYTYCD hot tamale train, as Mary might say.

As soon as my favorite, Sheila Kaiser, had been eliminated though, she said perhaps she'll go back to school and focus on her biomedical engineering degree. My hope is that she'll return next year and crack that Top 20.

Because my gut hunch is that SYTYCD has me hooked.

Damnit.