Last week saw Paris and Tony’s departure from the contest (I so called it!).
The big fluff bit of the week was “Big Secrets!”, so we found out about Randi talking to her dog on the phone, Ade’s full name is even harder to pronounce then Kupono’s, Caitlin can do a dinosaur impersonation, Brandon has never been to a gym, Asuka blows spit bubbles, Max likes to cook (OMG! Likes to dance AND COOKS!!! Marry me!!!), Jonathan sings — badly, Jeanine has a teddy bear and on her first day of school, Ashley threw up.
This was the first week of competition and our introduction to the ten couples.
Jeanine & Philip – Hip Hop
It was okay. The choreography was amazing, but it was lacking the emotional connection that we’ve seen in dances like last season’s “No Air” by Joshua and Katee or “Bleeding Love” by Mark and Chelsea.
Day one of Vegas Week started off with a bang. All the dancer were asked to perform a solo and the first round of cuts were handed down.
The afternoon session of hip-hop with Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo continued the cuts and those who manged to remain went to bed hopeful.
The morning of day two was spent with Jean-Marc and France Généreux learning a waltz that sent 16 dancers home, while the afternoon’s jazz routine with Sonya Tayeh saw the departure of last season’s runner up Natalie – an action that shocked everyone in the competition.
This led into my favorite night of Vegas Week: Group Numbers!!!!
Take three to six dances from different style backgrounds, who have never danced together, some of whom have never had to create their own steps, then deprive them of sleep. The drama writes its self.
This process also lead to my favorite quote from Adam Shankman, “That was so convention 101. Barf!”
Day three continued to get harder with a contemporary number from Mia Michaels that cut another 13 dancers.
Tyce Diorio took over day four with two amazing Broadway numbers from West Side Story. First the girls got spicy with “America”, then the boys tried to play it cool with “Crazy Boy”. Another round of cuts left us with just 16 girls and 16 guys.
Tonight night the top 20 will be reviled. There are some dancers that I really like that I’m sure won’t get in, there are others who I think should have been cut two days ago that might make it, but the only thing I know for sure is that the dancing with be amazing!
“So You Think You Can Dance” airs Tonight at 9:00pm on Fox.
The last two weeks we’ve slogged through the open audition rounds. The producers have given us the usual mix of amazing, mediocre, funny and what-were-they-thinking.
My favorite moment of the auditions was judge Adam Shankman’s impromptu swing dance. Adam has become world famous for his choreography in movies like Hairspray, The Wedding Planner, She’s All That and Blast From the Past, but it’s still a treat to see the man himself in motion.
This week is Vegas Week, where the dancing talent is brought up to the next level and the top 20 is selected . I know my DVR is set so I won’t miss a moment of it.
So You Think You Can Dance airs this week on Wednesday at 8:00pm and Thursday at 9:00pm.
