So You Think You Can Dance Auditions/Vegas Week: June 3, 2010 by mjcc64

So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 7 is really working on making some changes and I have been a little worried about them making them too drastic but based on what I saw from this episode, I am in favor of them upping the stakes in the game. As a result of narrowing the field down to 10 dancers, it seems the judges are having a more discerning eye on who they are allowing through. They are being a lot tougher and I'm hoping this means we really get the best and do not have to suffer through mediocre dancers. I've felt in some of the past seasons, they have let a few dancers through who are clearly not to the standard. Consider me on board with where things are headed this season.

Dallas was definitely the standout city for the two audition towns. Once again we were introduced to a new judge, Toni Redpath, who's a ballroom expert. She seemed to have a lot of chemistry with Nigel and Tyce. A few dancers stood out in Dallas. The first one was Ida Saki who hails from Iran. Her story really grabbed me as she was talking about her mother loving to dance but being unable to because of cultural issues. When they invited her family to the stage, I teared up. I found the way she moved to be a bit bizarre but in a very beautiful way. I look forward to seeing how she'll do in Vegas.

Another dancer the show focused on was Haylee Durbin. Her routine was rather frenetic and Nigel told her she had a “stank face” for her expression. They sent her through to the choreography round but didn't quite make it to Vegas. I'm hoping she learns more technique and will return next year.

I felt differently than the judges about Nicole Knudson’s performance. They loved it and they were obviously enthralled with her but I found her rather disturbing to watch. Her hair was totally distracting and I just did not like how she was moving her body. We'll see how she does in Vegas. Maybe I'll change my mind.

There was one more stand out performance in Dallas. Jordan Johnson’s performance was fun, playful, exciting and engaging. I was attracted to his sexiness much like Toni Redpath, but I totally got into the way he moved to the music. Plus, his background story was riveting. He's definitely the kid who has overcome many obstacles and personal demons in order to get on his path.

I'm not going to say too much about the Nashville auditions because frankly the producers didn't seem to have too much to show us unfortunately. I don’t think SYTYCD will be returning there any time soon. I did enjoy Brian Gaynor returning for another audition. He was from Season 3 and he also was given time to perform on the finale. I loved seeing him perform. I was a little puzzled they didn't even let him try the choreography though. I'll enjoy seeing him perform with his crew during the performance rounds.

Vegas Week

122 dancers made it to Vegas and only ten will make it through. The build up here reminds me of the movie Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome where they stated: “Two will enter and only one will survive.” The stakes are so much higher in Vegas this season and I'm loving it. This is where you really see how much the dancers want to win it. This is the make it or break it time. It's when you can see how daunting the dance routines are as well as the anxiety and nervousness that can sometimes prevent the potential finalists from performing at their peak.

On day one, all the dancers performed solos. I was happy to see that both Billy Bell and Alex Wong returned for Vegas this year. Billy made it through to the top 20 during Season 6 and Alex made it to the top 20 in season 5 but because of circumstances they never got to compete. I thought Alex's solo was phenomenal. He knew he had to step it up this time around and he did. I was less impressed with Billy but they both made it through to Day 2. The biggest surprise for me was Tyrelle Rolle's elimination. I really thought he was going to do so much better. They didn't even show his solo.

Day 2 brought the dreaded Hip-Hop routine. Hip-Hop can be one of the most difficult for dancers of other genres to pick up and we saw that Rachel Girma, the rhythmic gymnast, was totally out of her element and unfortunately couldn't adapt fast enough. I'm hoping she'll come back next year for another audition.

By the end of the first two days of Vegas callbacks, there were only 58 dancers left. I thought Nicole Knudson ended up doing much better and I could see why they let her through even though the judges called her out on her distracting hair. Luckily, she was able to let go of her Marge Simpson 'do. Adechike Torbert is a perfect example of how this round can sometimes undermine success. He performed a tap dancing solo rather than his contemporary genre. He's fortunate the judges saw enough in him to let him continue. Adechike was given an opportunity to dance for his life and he proved to the judges why he should be there.

This was a great episode of SYTYCD. I was underwhelmed by the Nashville auditions but kicking off the Vegas callbacks was a perfect way for the producers to keep us engaged. This ends my time with blogging SYTYCD. Someone else will be picking up from here while I blog the much-anticipated second season of USA Network's White Collar.