# So You Think You Can Dance S9 Audtions Thread



## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

I figured we only need one thread for the auditions

The 29-year-old woman and her kids is why this is one of the best reality competition shows on TV. Things like that cannot be staged. 

Some good dancers this year and I think they are really going all out because in the past they have found great dancers in SLC and Dallas before.


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## walkerism (Aug 16, 2001)

Knowing that we will have a boy and a girl winner this year just made this show a whole lot better.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Let's Wiggle!


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

There were a few that I liked but now I can only remember the few that they spent tons of time on. That exorcist dude was so odd but so so cool at the same time. I really enjoyed his performance. The ballet dancer with no shirt... did not get the hype on him looks or dance. Toshihiko who dropped out because he couldn't do the lifts in choreography was really cool too. The last guy singing to his mom was really good. Everyone else I've forgotten.
I do wish Lil'C would get a new term. I'm over everyone being buck.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I haven't watched all of the audition show yet, but I'm starting to wonder if I should just watch the auditions and Vegas week and then quit watching. 

To get myself warmed up for the show, night before last I watched someone's compilation on YouTube of the best auditions of season eight. One of those was the eventual winner. When I watched the show, by the time season eight was over, I couldn't remember that dancer's audition at all. Looking at it again, I could see why they had chosen that person, but the special quality that showed in the audition didn't always show up in that dancer's work on the show.

I understand what they are doing, and I get why they do it the way they do, but it is maddening to have my expectations set for great stuff by the work I see in the auditions and in Vegas week, only to be disappointed when the person gets onto the show itself, and the dancing rarely seems to have the same spark that got the person onto the show in the first place.

I think part of the problem for me is that the most recent seasons have been way over-produced, with the lighting design and the new stage taking too much focus away from the dancing. So I'm happy to see the auditions start again, where I can watch the dancers on a bare stage, and really focus on the dancing. And I'm sad at the same time, because the auditions will be over way too soon, and we'll be back to watching frantic thirty-second solos and overproduced mush.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I was underwhelmed.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

murgatroyd, I can see why you'd say that but for all the over produced mush, once in a while you'll get something really great that IMO makes it all worth it.


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## JoBeth66 (Feb 15, 2002)

Sadly, I didn't even finish /watching/ last season because of all the things that took away from the dancing - the costuming, the camera angles, the dancers being upstaged by the STAGE, so I'm kinda with Murgatroyed on that one.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

For all of that, there is the fact that Cat Deeley is extremely easy on the eye apart from the hawt girl dancers for the guys and the hawt guy dancers for the girls (or whichever way takes you )!


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

That one guy was a jackass! The guy that acted like an ass to Cat and then a bigger ass to the judges and the crowd.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> To get myself warmed up for the show, night before last I watched someone's compilation on YouTube of the best auditions of season eight. One of those was the eventual winner. When I watched the show, by the time season eight was over, I couldn't remember that dancer's audition at all. Looking at it again, I could see why they had chosen that person, but the special quality that showed in the audition didn't always show up in that dancer's work on the show.


Probably because when someone auditions, it is alone and in their specialty, but after that, the dances are in groups or pairs (except for "dance for your life" solos, and I think they eventually get to solos in the performances near the end of the season) and the styles change, so of course they're not as comfortable.



> So I'm happy to see the auditions start again, where I can watch the dancers on a bare stage, and really focus on the dancing. And I'm sad at the same time, because the auditions will be over way too soon, and we'll be back to watching frantic thirty-second solos and overproduced mush.


With the new one-show-per-week format, there will be far fewer "30-second solos".
*ADD:* ...at least that's what Nigel Lythgoe claimed; however, a press release for the show implies that there will be "dance for your life" solos in each episode.
(Also, the All-Stars will be back once they are down to the final 10.)


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

When did this start, and why isn't it showing up when I search on tivo.com??? Did they change the name of it?

What channel and time is it on?

Never mind.... found it.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

photoshopgrl said:


> murgatroyd, I can see why you'd say that but for all the over produced mush, once in a while you'll get something really great that IMO makes it all worth it.


My wife is kind of getting turned off to the show but I still really like it, for all the reasons above. The occasional jewel that surfaces is worth wading through all the silly stuff.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

WHOA! 

What have I been missing, by not getting to San Francisco Ballet?


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## David Platt (Dec 13, 2001)

That Excorcist dude's audition was *amazing*! I totally expected him to tank, and that was one of the most emotionally moving things I've seen in the audition process.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

photoshopgrl said:


> There were a few that I liked but now I can only remember the few that they spent tons of time on. That exorcist dude was so odd but so so cool at the same time. I really enjoyed his performance. The ballet dancer with no shirt... did not get the hype on him looks or dance. Toshihiko who dropped out because he couldn't do the lifts in choreography was really cool too. The last guy singing to his mom was really good. Everyone else I've forgotten.
> I do wish Lil'C would get a new term. I'm over everyone being buck.


I didn't get all the emotion over the exorcist dude.

I can't stand Li'l' C and I can't stand hearing "buck" all the time.

I also really liked the Japanese guy who dropped out.



Kamakzie said:


> That one guy was a jackass! The guy that acted like an ass to Cat and then a bigger ass to the judges and the crowd.


What a hypocritical jerk. If the show is so awful, WTF are you doing trying to get on it?

The story of the guy whose mother tried to commit suicide seemed off to me. He said the first thing he thought when he found her was that he hadn't danced on stage yet. It is extremely narcissistic to think your dancing is something for someone else to want to live for.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

The autistic guy was way better than I expected!


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

tiams said:


> The autistic guy was way better than I expected!


I have to say, I fully expected them to be grade A jackasses to that kid. I was expecting busting laughter from behind hands and chairs turned around. Instead they were all very nice to him. I kind of liked that. Not everyone needs to be made fun of.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> murgatroyd, I can see why you'd say that but for all the over produced mush, once in a while you'll get something really great that IMO makes it all worth it.


We can hope.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

mwhip said:


> The 29-year-old woman and her kids is why this is one of the best reality competition shows on TV. Things like that cannot be staged.


The thing I liked most about the mom and her kids is that it wasn't just a sweet moment. Mom can dance, and then we found out when they called up the daughter that she can bring it as well.

There was one time where the little girl fell right on her butt, but she what she did with her arms afterwards (sorry, I don't know the ballet terminology) made it a 'moment'. It was awesome.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

David Platt said:


> That Excorcist dude's audition was *amazing*! I totally expected him to tank, and that was one of the most emotionally moving things I've seen in the audition process.


I totally agree and never expected to get emotional over that type of dance.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

David Platt said:


> That Excorcist dude's audition was *amazing*! I totally expected him to tank, and that was one of the most emotionally moving things I've seen in the audition process.


I thought that many of his gestures and movements exemplified the human spirit so well that my own spirit seemed to want to respond almost instinctively. The way you can sometimes feel pulled when you hear a child cry out or see someone experience a tragedy- your body just responds so quickly and thoroughly that it feels like your brain was bypassed in terms of the reaction.
He has tapped into that manner of expression really, really well.
I was amazed.

I hope I was able to convey those thoughts successfully 
I'm certain there has to be a word for "universal human pictograms" and I am just too uneducated to know it. 
I'll bet there is an entire field of study on them.

That this guy just managed to tap into them (I presume without an advanced degree in.. whatever field of study it is) is remarkable.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

I can't stop watching this. 




Or full screen it for the best effect on your self.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> The ballet dancer with no shirt... did not get the hype on him looks or dance.


BTW, I just looked up Daniel Baker, and as I suspected, he's coming from the corps de ballet. 


Obviously, he's no Alex Wong, but Alex is a soloist. Interesting that they've both come out of Miami City Ballet.

As for his looks -- I've seen worse. 

I liked the "no tall poppies" fakeout.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

tiams said:


> I didn't get all the emotion over the exorcist dude.


I just watched some of the auditions again, including this one. The thing that made it extraordinary is that 1) he's quite good at the movement that his style requires and 2) like one of the breakers earlier in the show, he was combining that movement with a musical style that no one in the audience expected him to use, and making a style that people expect to be hard into something very lyrical.

Combine that with the emotions expressed in the song itself, and yeah, that was a three-hanky special.

I think the effect of the performance was probably much stronger for the people in the house than it was for us watching at home. Remember the setting: the audience has seen this performance before and after watching a bunch of other auditions, some of which were also quite good, but many of which are merely okay, or junk.

When you pull a performance out of its context and watch it in isolation, even if it is extraordinary, you don't get the same reaction that you would if you saw all the performances before and after.

There are a lot of subtleties in the performance and I think it's worth re-watching to get them all. But whether the performance spoke to you or not -- whoa, the control and expression in that was amazing.


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

There's something about Mary Murphy's mouth expressions that bugs me. But lots of high quality dancing. It looks like a good start to the season.


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## ThePennyDropped (Jul 5, 2006)

Something different from how her mouth appeared in the previous 8 seasons? 

Has she had work done, maybe? I didn't notice anything different.

(Actually, it's the shrieks that so often come out of her mouth that bother me, not its appearance.)


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

ThePennyDropped said:


> Something different from how her mouth appeared in the previous 8 seasons?
> 
> Has she had work done, maybe? I didn't notice anything different.


Her eyes no longer match, either.
The first segment I thought that maybe one of her false eyelashes was on crooked, but the second segment it was the same. Her right eye is droopier than her left and it was not like that previously.
I vote work done.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

photoshopgrl said:


> I have to say, I fully expected them to be grade A jackasses to that kid. I was expecting busting laughter from behind hands and chairs turned around. Instead they were all very nice to him. I kind of liked that. Not everyone needs to be made fun of.


I love that they encourage people of all walks of life and ability. They had a Down Syndrome guy on last year, I think it was, and they did the same thing - lots of encouragement and compliments, although they obviously were not going to get on the show. they tried to do something they loved and the judges rewarded it with positive remarks.

This is something I've always admired about Nigel and the gang. Even those not good enough to go through will get positive remarks if it appears that they are genuine and have some potential, whatever the level.


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## SleepyBob (Sep 28, 2000)

I don't watch this type of show much, but I liked how it was missing much of the "meanness" that usually accompanies the tryouts on other shows, like American Idol.

An awful lot of standing-ovations, though.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

SleepyBob said:


> I don't watch this type of show much, but I liked how it was missing much of the "meanness" that usually accompanies the tryouts on other shows, like American Idol.
> 
> An awful lot of standing-ovations, though.


I think there are more of these because I am under the impression that, starting last year, they let non-contestants (or possibly dancers who auditioned in the "first round" but didn't get put through to dancing in front of Nigel) into the auditions.

As for the lack of meanness, there has been an ongoing complaint by the fans that they want to see more of the "good" auditions and fewer of the people who have no business being there (remember "Sex"?). That, plus the reduced amount of audition time aired this year because there is only one show per week, limits the number of bad auditions they will show.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> Her eyes no longer match, either.
> The first segment I thought that maybe one of her false eyelashes was on crooked, but the second segment it was the same. Her right eye is droopier than her left and it was not like that previously.
> I vote work done.


Her eyes never did match. I used to be hypnotized by them.

As for her mouth. She had thyroid cancer in 2011. She almost lost the ability to speak. I would think that would have some impact on her.


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

Wow that must have been a close one. Mary Murphy losing use of her vocal chords must be as much a disability for her, as losing eyesight would be for the rest of us.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

timckelley said:


> Wow that must have been a close one. Mary Murphy losing use of her vocal chords must be as much a disability for her, as losing eyesight would be for the rest of us.


Because cancer is hilarious!


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

TonyTheTiger said:


> For all of that, there is the fact that Cat Deeley is extremely easy on the eye apart from the hawt girl dancers for the guys and the hawt guy dancers for the girls (or whichever way takes you )!


She's not ugly, but I don't find her remotely attractive. Same thing with Jessica Alba. Maybe I'll start a thread on celebrities that the world thinks are super hot but you don't.



Cearbhaill said:


> I thought that many of his gestures and movements exemplified the human spirit so well that my own spirit seemed to want to respond almost instinctively. The way you can sometimes feel pulled when you hear a child cry out or see someone experience a tragedy- your body just responds so quickly and thoroughly that it feels like your brain was bypassed in terms of the reaction.
> He has tapped into that manner of expression really, really well.
> I was amazed.
> 
> ...


How about 'collective soul'?



murgatroyd said:


> I just watched some of the auditions again, including this one. The thing that made it extraordinary is that 1) he's quite good at the movement that his style requires and 2) like one of the breakers earlier in the show, he was combining that movement with a musical style that no one in the audience expected him to use, and making a style that people expect to be hard into something very lyrical.
> 
> Combine that with the emotions expressed in the song itself, and yeah, that was a three-hanky special.
> 
> ...


It was so unique that it was something special, and quite moving. There were a few dancers (and routines) that pulled me in like this in previous seasons (such as Cedric's "Hide and Seek" solo and Wade Robson's "Hummingbird" routine).

Those were the kind of performances that if you just happened to be walking past the TV, you just stop and watch.



timckelley said:


> There's something about Mary Murphy's mouth expressions that bugs me.





TonyD79 said:


> Her eyes never did match. I used to be hypnotized by them.
> 
> As for her mouth. She had thyroid cancer in 2011. She almost lost the ability to speak. I would think that would have some impact on her.


I think it's the fact that she can't close her lips. Does tyroid cancer make your teeth too big for your mouth?


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

I saw Cat in person at Starbucks when the tryouts were here a few months ago.

She was STUNNING.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

TheMerk said:


> I saw Cat in person at Starbucks when the tryouts were here a few months ago.
> 
> She was STUNNING.


You say hello to her?


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

Kamakzie said:


> You say hello to her?


Nope. I probably would have said something stupid.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Can we permanently replace Li'l' C with JTF please!

Those twins who were too old were certainly entertaining!


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

Some good and interesting auditions last night. 

what was up with the ballet guy doing that clunky piece then kicking butt at ballet? Wonder if he will be able to do any other style. 

The girl from Cirque de Soleil was awesome she has impeccable training and seems to be able to pick up other styles well. 

The hoop guy...I wonder if producers just bring in performers for the entertainment factor alone


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## mooseAndSquirrel (Aug 31, 2001)

TheMerk said:


> I saw Cat in person at Starbucks when the tryouts were here a few months ago.
> 
> She was STUNNING.


To me it's also her personality. She seems like a very warm and genuine person.

I love this show. I don't watch any other competition shows. I listen to music all day long, but I don't often have the chance to watch great dance, and in all of these styles!


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

tiams said:


> Those twins who were too old were certainly entertaining!


Ninja Twins!



mwhip said:


> what was up with the ballet guy doing that clunky piece then kicking butt at ballet? Wonder if he will be able to do any other style.
> 
> The girl from Cirque de Soleil was awesome she has impeccable training and seems to be able to pick up other styles well.
> 
> The hoop guy...I wonder if producers just bring in performers for the entertainment factor alone


- Ballet guy bugged me. I wish they had just cut him and been done with it. Doesn't help that I'm not a fan of classic ballet (Alex Wong excluded obv). 
- I think the Cirque girl was Elena or something close. She was good.....and could work that pole like I've never seen so clearly she's great at the Cirque stuff! I'd pay to see her in a show.
- Hoop guy was awesome but he did 1% of actual dance. They should have cut him too because you knew he wasn't making it past choreography. I guess there was a chance he had actual training. Too bad he didn't. Could you see them trying to work that into a routine during the show just for effect? 
_Stand outs for me:_
- COLE! Oh my goodness, I soooo loved this guy. Martial arts + dance = awesomeness! I was totally mesmerized watching him! He's top 20 for sure!
- I loved the tapper surfer mustache guy. He was so charismatic! I wish he had been able to pick up the choreography and move on. Maybe next year. 
- The little blonde contemporary dancer they all gushed over was pretty good but MAN were her teeth blinding me. There's a thing called too much crest strips usage! That with the stark red lipstick was driving me nuts. 
- The Italian guy that was a dbag before but now has a shaved head and says he's changed. Okay so he dialed down the dbag maybe a tad but he still annoyed me. I thought he was hot the last time but his personality totally turned me off. Now he's not even hot so stop with the ass jiggling. Ugh. SO glad he didn't make it. 
- I really really loved the sister of the guy that was in a car crash 6 weeks prior to this. He was okay, although impressive he was doing much of anything 6 weeks after that......but the sister was amazing!


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I really enjoyed this one. The Ninja Twins were great and the Hoop guy was fantastic. Too bad he can't dance... 

I felt like the Ballet guy was a setup. There's no way he thought that choreography was good. Can you be that talented and that clueless at the same time? I think not... 

Whoever said get rid of Lil' C gets my vote too. He drives me nuts how he always makes it about him. And that "buck" thing is soooo tired already... It's never going to catch on dude, let it die...


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson was fantastic on the show last night.

He was freaking hilarious, and actually had valid comments (instead of just saying 'it was buck').


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Best sequence in the whole show...

"Do you whack alone?" and
"How long have you been whacking?"

Nigel completely lost it and the others weren't far behind. We were laughing so loud we nearly missed it all! Thank heaven for the TiVo!


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> - Hoop guy was awesome but he did 1% of actual dance. They should have cut him too because you knew he wasn't making it past choreography. I guess there was a chance he had actual training. Too bad he didn't. Could you see them trying to work that into a routine during the show just for effect?





bareyb said:


> I really enjoyed this one. The Ninja Twins were great and the Hoop guy was fantastic. Too bad he can't dance...
> 
> I felt like the Ballet guy was a setup. There's no way he thought that choreography was good. Can you be that talented and that clueless at the same time? I think not...


I haven't watched the kind of performance that the hoop guy did very much, but since I've seen other stuff with apparatus, IMHO I think I could have given much better notes than any of the judges there.

I would have prefaced it by saying, "I've never seen what you do before, so take this as a reaction from a green member of the audience rather than as notes from a judge, but this is what I saw in your performance." The control of the hoop, the light and shade in the performance, the musicality -- pretty damned impressive.

I would want to see this guy perform again -- and if there are performers out there that can do better than him, I absolutely want to see them.

On the other hand, I always wonder about the people who are shown bailing out after the choreography round. I would want to face the judges again, if only to thank them for the opportunity to try the choreography round. I hope the contestants have the chance to say that to the choreographer or one of the producers or to someone.

And yes, bareyb, I do think the ballet guy might have been that clueless. Remember the guy in seasons past who was a contemporary dancer, but in one of the solos during Vegas week he did the horrible tap routine?

IMHO it's best to show the judges your strongest stuff, and let them take away what they will from it, rather than trying to screw around in a totally alien style. And what is the BS about not being prepared? If you want to be a professional dancer, you should have some audition stuff in your pocket ready to pull out at a moment's notice. Even if you haven't had time to freshen it up before that particular audition, your dance teacher should be able to help you prepare something.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

These cute blond girls kind of look a like sometimes.. did the one whose Mother kicked her out make it to Vegas?


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

murgatroyd said:


> I haven't watched the kind of performance that the hoop guy did very much, but since I've seen other stuff with apparatus, IMHO I think I could have given much better notes than any of the judges there.
> 
> I would have prefaced it by saying, "I've never seen what you do before, so take this as a reaction from a green member of the audience rather than as notes from a judge, but this is what I saw in your performance." The control of the hoop, the light and shade in the performance, the musicality -- pretty damned impressive.
> 
> ...


I saw that Hoop routine at the first showing of Cirque du Soleil we ever saw. It was back in the days when there was only _one_ touring Troupe and they were the best of the best. Not diluted down like it is today. It literally brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful.


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

Kamakzie said:


> These cute blond girls kind of look a like sometimes.. did the one whose Mother kicked her out make it to Vegas?


IIRC, yes, she did...they made a point to say something about how her family didn't support her dancing... I am so happy for her..and I agree, sometimes the blond girls do all look alike..


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Regina said:


> IIRC, yes, she did...they made a point to say something about how her family didn't support her dancing... I am so happy for her..and I agree, sometimes the blond girls do all look alike..


I would like to hear the mother's side of that story. I was shocked at first because I thought she was about 15 or 16, but then they said she was 18.


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

tiams said:


> I would like to hear the mother's side of that story. I was shocked at first because I thought she was about 15 or 16, but then they said she was 18.


There are two sides to every story. My wife and I came to the conclusion that it is likely a disagreement in lifestyle, which would explain her reticence when discussing it.

The ninja twins not wanting to explain why he got fired . . . makes me not want to go to that restaurant.


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

Kamakzie said:


> These cute blond girls kind of look a like sometimes.. did the one whose Mother kicked her out make it to Vegas?


No. She didn't make it past choreography. They told her she wasn't strong enough, but maybe next year.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

verdugan said:


> No. She didn't make it past choreography. They told her she wasn't strong enough, but maybe next year.


Thanks, I wasn't sure because one blonde girl got in and one didn't. They looked somewhat similar.


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## GoHalos (Aug 30, 2006)

tiams said:


> I would like to hear the mother's side of that story. I was shocked at first because I thought she was about 15 or 16, but then they said she was 18.


On this show, all of the dancers are 18 or older (age minimum).

I agree with bareyb in that I immediately thought the ballet guy's first audition was a setup (I even mentioned it to my wife). If it wasn't.... wow, he's pretty far out there.


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## Jayjoans (Jan 23, 2003)

It had to be a setup.

"do you have another song you can dance to?"

Cue music....


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

TonyD79 said:


> She had thyroid cancer in 2011.


I am kind of surprised that this is the first I am hearing of it - is that the reason she was mostly absent for one season? [i can't remember if it was last one or not].


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

classicX said:


> There are two sides to every story. My wife and I came to the conclusion that it is likely a disagreement in lifestyle, which would explain her reticence when discussing it.


I wonder how long it will be before her Mom gets her side of the story out? There's definitely more to that story... I just don't like how this girl is playing victim. She sure makes it sound like abuse and that lady taking care of her isn't helping... Could be as simple as Mom and Teenager daughter simply don't get along... or Teenage daughter is out of control. Happens all the time. Being a parent I can't imagine being that non supportive unless there are addictions involved and if there were, I'm sure the girl would have said... I'd sure like to hear the other side of this.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

bareyb said:


> I wonder how long it will be before her Mom gets her side of the story out? There's definitely more to that story... I just don't like how this girl is playing victim. She sure makes it sound like abuse and that lady taking care of her isn't helping... Could be as simple as Mom and Teenager daughter simply don't get along... or Teenage daughter is out of control. Happens all the time. Being a parent I can't imagine being that non supportive unless there are addictions involved and if there were, I'm sure the girl would have said... I'd sure like to hear the other side of this.


All of this. Plus, she's 18 years old, time to leave home anyway.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> I am kind of surprised that this is the first I am hearing of it - is that the reason she was mostly absent for one season? [i can't remember if it was last one or not].


Yeah. It wasn't revealed until after she recovered.


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

So anyone still watching? I thought the dragon house crew guys were very good, but the second guy was the most entertaining for me - the back muscle pop and the android robot walk floors me every time.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

classicX said:


> So anyone still watching? I thought the dragon house crew guys were very good, but the second guy was the most entertaining for me - the back muscle pop and the android robot walk floors me every time.


I liked the third dragon house guy the best of the three. His personality really shone through his performance.

There are so many great dancers, but I can't keep any of them straight so far. I really liked the belly dancer.


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

jehma said:


> I liked the third dragon house guy the best of the three. His personality really shone through his performance.
> 
> There are so many great dancers, but I can't keep any of them straight so far. I really liked the belly dancer.


Yeah it really comes together for me when they get to Vegas.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Doing this on a re-watch, so these are the auditions I stopped to watch again.

"Moves like Jagger" is really making the rounds this year. 

I liked Tim Conkel's athleticism (the martial arts guy), although the backpack thing was a little bit over the top. The 'seven days of ballet' gag was fun. but (just like Elvis Stojko in figure skating), his lines are execrable. I hope he gets past more than one round of Vegas, but I doubt it. 

Jackson Alvarez didn't have the tricks a lot of the other guys showed, but he was fun to watch. The 'wobble' sequence was a hoot. 

The belly dancer was great fun! Loved her choreography. A lot of the dancers are changing it up with the music not being what you'd expect, which is great. 

I liked all three Dragon House guys. Given what we saw, if I were putting on a show, I'd put Andre (#2) up first -- you can see his nerves got the best of him. Boris (#1) really went all out with the piano music. Great musicality there. But Cyrus (#3) -- OMG he was sick.

All three of them had great attention to detail. 

Day 2: Asher Walker (the farm boy) was amazingly light on his feet. Nice musicality, too. I liked the way he used the music and wasn't afraid to have moments of stillness, so there were moments of light and shade. 

This week, the street dancers and other non-comtemporary dancers are crushing the contemporary dancers on performance. They often do, but this week even more so. 

Take George Lawrence, for instance. He's the guy in the purple shirt around 1:30. His audition is clearly constructed to show off what he can do, and you can see he's got great technique. There are a lot of interesting moves in it, and you can see he can listen to the music, and cover the stage, and all that, but as a piece of choreography it's just not memorable -- not like Alex Wong or Brandon Bryant's auditions. (Part of that is the music choice he made -- a slow quiet piece doesn't always build the same way a fast-and-loud one does.) 

So the producers are trying to pump up the interest with the backstory. (Note with the girls, we got chicken stories and neck farts. If their auditions didn't seem so good-but-cookie-cutter, they wouldn't have to spice things up with other crap.)

I liked Damon and Deon's own stuff from this year better than the routine they copied last year, and from the audience reaction, I think the other dancers did too. 

They lost unison a couple of places, but most of the routine was tight.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in SLC -- looks like they saved a lot of the scary-bad auditions for this week's show.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

I forgot to post last week! And now I've almost forgotten everyone so I had to go refresh on ricky.org to remember who was who. 
- Audrey, the girl that farted with her neck...... never do that again though. 
- Boris the guy that did hip hop to a piano, the first DragonHouse guy. They were all really good but he stuck out the most for me. He was more like a marionette than a dancer, it was really cool. 
- Asher, the farm kid, not the best technical dancer but he was awesome to watch and I agree with his great musicality 

I didn't really get the love for George


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> I didn't really get the love for George


With some of the dancers, I think it really hurts when they cut away from the performance. Okay, so Debbie Allen is saying that the young man is fierce. Do they have to cut away to show her saying that? They can't mike the judges during the performance to pick up this stuff?

We lose the through-line of the choreography. It sucks.

Sure, in Vegas week with Iveta and Russell's cha-cha, I loved seeing Mia Michaels doing the "touchdown" sign -- but 99.99% of the time, the judges' reaction shots add nothing to the viewing experience.

Edited to add: we also don't have the context -- who knows how many so-so contemporary guys the judges had seen in Atlanta.


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> - Boris the guy that did hip hop to a piano, the first DragonHouse guy. They were all really good but he stuck out the most for me.


+1, but the judges seemed like they liked the 3rd one better.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Producer fake-out!

They set us up to think the guy with the praying mantis schtick would be horrible, and it turns out the guy can dance. In an "OMG, Sonya Tayeh is going to plotz when she sees him" way.

And if I were rich, I would pay money to see Li'l C's face when that blonde girl does her krump solo. BIG money.

Loved the big guy at the end. He did a valiant effort in the choreo round.

Those were the three that stick in my mind (watched the show late last night).

(The ballroom people were all solid, but no one stands out to me like anyone in previous years.)

BUT --

WTF is it with the director/editors, constantly cutting away in the middle of people's highlight moves? 

I just want to smack them.

P.S. seriously? They had to waste all that airtime on the woman with the feather earrings, and all that time they knew she was too old? Are we going to have an obligatory too-old-for-the-show segment in every audition show from now on? (If we must, I'd much rather have the NinJa twins back.)


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

IMO all dance should be shown a la Fred Astaire- full length one continuous shot, no close up to the face, no cut away to audience or judges, just the full shot of the dancer in a wide enough frame that I see lines continued and movement across the stage.
Anything less is sub par for me.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

Did crump girl get cut or did she make it in?


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> P.S. seriously? They had to waste all that airtime on the woman with the feather earrings, and all that time they knew she was too old? Are we going to have an obligatory too-old-for-the-show segment in every audition show from now on?


Not every show - just the ones where they don't have anyone really good who's only 17 so Nigel can give them a ticket in advance for next year.

Speaking of which, I wonder how many people are going to start calling to lower the age limit after seeing that 16-year-old dancer on America's Got Talent? "The age limit on Idol is 15 - why is it 18 on SYTYCD?" (It's probably some combination of (a) you can't put minors through the amount of rehearsal time needed to perform well in the live-action shows, and (b) one of the reasons the show exists is to sign the best dancers to representation contracts, and with an 18-year-old age limit, you don't have to worry about trying to find them jobs where child labor laws come into play; neither of these are nearly as much of a problem for singers).


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> IMO all dance should be shown a la Fred Astaire- full length one continuous shot, no close up to the face, no cut away to audience or judges, just the full shot of the dancer in a wide enough frame that I see lines continued and movement across the stage.
> Anything less is sub par for me.


Amen to this.

I am SOOOOOO tired of seeing close-ups of people's faces when they are in the middle of doing lots of footwork.



That Don Guy said:


> Speaking of which, I wonder how many people are going to start calling to lower the age limit after seeing that 16-year-old dancer on America's Got Talent? "The age limit on Idol is 15 - why is it 18 on SYTYCD?" (It's probably some combination of (a) you can't put minors through the amount of rehearsal time needed to perform well in the live-action shows, and (b) one of the reasons the show exists is to sign the best dancers to representation contracts, and with an 18-year-old age limit, you don't have to worry about trying to find them jobs where child labor laws come into play; neither of these are nearly as much of a problem for singers).


and c) letting the kids mature physically for those few more years lessens the risk of overuse injuries, especially because the show is throwing people into styles which are not their own.

Sure, you can screw up your voice by singing crap you have no technique for when you are young, but



Spoiler



they aren't likely to be taking you off on a stretcher when you wreck your voice.



(spoiler for the Vegas week trailer from the end of the show)


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

Yes, it's getting annoying when they cut to the judges' faces in the middle of the performances. Sometimes something really impressive is being done on the dance floor and in the middle of my mesmeration, and my anticipation on what the next move will be, they cut to the judges, and my mind is thinking "wtf... we're missing something I wanted to see... get back to that dancer!"

In my mind, seeing the judges face adds no value at all to the program, and in fact subtracts value because we're not seeing the whole performance. Who cares what the judge's expression is... they'll have their turn soon enough to give a critique.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> I am SOOOOOO tired of seeing close-ups of people's faces when they are in the middle of doing lots of footwork.


The dancers' faces, or the judges'? One of the top three viewer complaints about the show (along with "Why do they take time away from the good dancers to show a routine by someone who has no business being there?" and "Why can't people older than 30 compete?") is that they never show entire routines because they always get reaction shots of the judges.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Now for the re-watch.

Did not like Whitney, the dancer who led off the show. WTF is she doing, calling herself a Latin dancer? She comes out and does the Tango and throws some cha-cha steps in the middle?

<FX: sound of needle across vinyl>

Tango is part of the _smooth_ division. First of all, if you're going to do a tango that strong, why muck it up cha-cha, and if your dance is 80-90% tango, why not just do 100% tango and be done with it? I don't get it. Later on when you grow up to be like Rita Gekhman, and you're doing a three-minute showdance, then you can mix it up. Jeez.

Also annoyed with Lindsay when she said her dancing was more exciting than the ordinary ballroom dancing because she could mix it up.

Yeah, the featured ballroom dancers annoyed the crap out of me.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

That Don Guy said:


> The dancers' faces, or the judges'? One of the top three viewer complaints about the show (along with "Why do they take time away from the good dancers to show a routine by someone who has no business being there?" and "Why can't people older than 30 compete?") is that they never show entire routines because they always get reaction shots of the judges.


Both. Of all the times they cut away to see the judges' reaction shots, there's maybe 1 in a 100 times it's worth seeing. Like I said upthread, when the day comes that Li'l C sees Mariah Spears krumping, it would be fun to see the look on his face, but we don't need to cut away to _see_ Adam telling Mary Murphy "she's f---ing krumping". Just put the audio in the mix -- we'll recognize his voice, for crying out loud. (Great spit take, though.)



Kamakzie said:


> Did crump girl get cut or did she make it in?


The tease at 0:48 suggests that she wouldn't make it, but at 0:58 she's mentioned by name -- "Mariah and 10 other dancers" -- in the group that got through to Vegas from choreo for Salt Lake day 1.

So brace yourselves, everyone, because I expect to hear about her *bucc*ness at some point or other during next week's show.


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## nlsinger (Feb 8, 2006)

Cearbhaill said:


> IMO all dance should be shown a la Fred Astaire- full length one continuous shot, no close up to the face, no cut away to audience or judges, just the full shot of the dancer in a wide enough frame that I see lines continued and movement across the stage.
> Anything less is sub par for me.


YES!!!

I keep thinking there must be some ridiculous union rule that says you must have 4 camera people who can only shoot for 19 seconds at a time, and all film editors must ensure there are at least 7 cuts per minute.


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

It must be a SLC thing it seems we have always had a ton of ballroom come out of that area. I am trying to figure out if it has to do with the area being Mormon and this is really the only kind of dance really approved of. 

I think Chelsea Hightower and the Schwimmers all came out of SLC.


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## cl8855 (Jan 2, 2009)

I loved the ballroom/ballroom/ballroom/ballroom/KRUMP combo setup. And she was pretty good too!

I just went to my daughters dance recital last night, and I cant get over how the older of all the young women (seniors in HS) there with 10-15 years of dance are light years away from even the folks who get sent to choreography on a show like this.


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

mwhip said:


> It must be a SLC thing it seems we have always had a ton of ballroom come out of that area. I am trying to figure out if it has to do with the area being Mormon and this is really the only kind of dance really approved of.
> 
> I think Chelsea Hightower and the Schwimmers all came out of SLC.


BYU has a very strong ballroom dance program, and it's a good way to meet chicks 

Chelsea, the Schwimmers, and the DWTS Houghs are all connected to Utah in some way.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

murgatroyd said:


> Producer fake-out!
> They set us up to think the guy with the praying mantis schtick would be horrible, and it turns out the guy can dance. In an "OMG, Sonya Tayeh is going to plotz when she sees him" way.


Yup! First thing I thought was "this guy is either going to be a train wreck or all kinds of awesome" and he was awesome. I loved him. It was so weird and crazy but so good! I had to watch him twice. I think the weird, Sonya-type dancers are my favorite. My all time favorite dancer on the show was Mark.



murgatroyd said:


> Loved the big guy at the end. He did a valiant effort in the choreo round.


Leroy. LOVED him. So so so loved him. He's the kind of person I want to know in real life. Just wow, what a fantastic guy. He had me at doggie daycare. Then he was a good dancer and my face went  when he did that back flip!!! I thought he was good enough in choreography that he should have at least went to Vegas.



murgatroyd said:


> Did not like Whitney, the dancer who led off the show. WTF is she doing, calling herself a Latin dancer? She comes out and does the Tango and throws some cha-cha steps in the middle?
> <FX: sound of needle across vinyl>


As someone that doesn't know the technique for ballroom I thought she was pretty awesome and now you've made me go back and watch again. I still don't see it but I shall take your word for it. Maybe she wanted to just show off everything she could do that would be considered ballroom? Maybe she's just a crappy choreographer? Maybe she just sucks, I dunno!



murgatroyd said:


> Also annoyed with Lindsay when she said her dancing was more exciting than the ordinary ballroom dancing because she could mix it up.


HA! I don't remember her name or what she danced, I just remember the comment and said out loud "umm so everyone else is not entertaining or exciting? That's nice."

The burlesque dancer annoyed me more than any other audition so far this season. First of all honey, you ain't that cute. And that was more of a striptease than burlesque. I can't even explain why she rubbed me the wrong way so bad but I wanted to reach through the TV and give her a nice smack. Please GOD don't let her make it past Vegas. I might have to boycott the show.

Crumper girl was pretty awesome but even when she was dancing in other styles during choreography she had stank face. LOL I was cracking up.

I also really liked the girl with the big Italian family, Deanna. She's super cute and was [from my limited knowledge] pretty flawless. I did hate her music though.

I hate the sob stories but I really felt bad for the guy that said his family moved without him and told him he was disowned just because he wanted to dance and then he wasn't even that great. 

I also loved Adrien, the one Mary went to his house to tell him he didn't make it season 7. His dancing wasn't awesome but had moments of amazement for me.... and his smile lit up the entire screen for me.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> Leroy. LOVED him. So so so loved him. He's the kind of person I want to know in real life. Just wow, what a fantastic guy. He had me at doggie daycare. Then he was a good dancer and my face went  when he did that back flip!!! I thought he was good enough in choreography that he should have at least went to Vegas.


Leroy is welcome at my place anytime, but from what they showed us, I have to agree with the judges that he wasn't strong enough. We can hope that he gets more moves and comes back again, though, right?

I suppose on a show like this you could have a limited number of "guest passes" to Vegas so people like Leroy could come and talk to the dancers about his program and how they could get involved in stuff like that in their own communities, but Vegas week is so intense, people really wouldn't have time for things like that. So they let him get his message across in the audition rounds, which is probably the most effective way to do it.



> As someone that doesn't know the technique for ballroom I thought [Whitney] was pretty awesome and now you've made me go back and watch again. I still don't see it but I shall take your word for it. Maybe she wanted to just show off everything she could do that would be considered ballroom? Maybe she's just a crappy choreographer? Maybe she just sucks, I dunno!


No, her technique is fine -- I just didn't like the personality. And the other ballroom dancer, too. When somebody says that they have to mix things up because the regular way of doing their style is too boring, that's a big Red Flag to me that the person doesn't really belong in that style. Seriously, if you think regular ballroom is too boring, either 1) become world champion, and innovate, or 2) go off and do something else. No one is stopping you. It's not like there aren't TONS of other styles to choose from.



> The burlesque dancer annoyed me more than any other audition so far this season. First of all honey, you ain't that cute. And that was more of a striptease than burlesque. I can't even explain why she rubbed me the wrong way so bad but I wanted to reach through the TV and give her a nice smack. Please GOD don't let her make it past Vegas. I might have to boycott the show.


She rubbed me the wrong way because we've seen girls do that "watch me get a rise out of Nigel" schtick before, and Terpsichore only knows how many other auditions like that we haven't seen. 

So I was thinking, honey, you want to play that game, is your audition going to be as entertaining as what Jordan Casanova brought? And the answer was NO.






Spoiler for those of you who missed season 8:


Spoiler



(BTW, I think they made a mistake putting Jordan on the show so young. I think they should have thrown her back to mature for a couple more years.)





> Crumper girl was pretty awesome but even when she was dancing in other styles during choreography she had stank face. LOL I was cracking up.


Ha! I missed that!


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

I wouldn't even put stripper girl and Jordin in the same ballpark. Jordin, although I didn't love, didn't act like a 2 dollar stripper. She was just sexier acting than I thought her age should allow. This girl is just trashy IMO.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> I suppose on a show like this you could have a limited number of "guest passes" to Vegas so people like Leroy could come and talk to the dancers about his program and how they could get involved in stuff like that in their own communities, but Vegas week is so intense, people really wouldn't have time for things like that. So they let him get his message across in the audition rounds, which is probably the most effective way to do it.


Exactly. There's zero time in Vegas for something like this - remember, there's one day (I think it's day one) where they make the dancers form groups and then have to _spend all night_ choreographing a routine for the next day.

Also, keep in mind that most of the dancers that make it to Vegas are already professionals, so they don't have time to develop projects like Leroy's, and those who aren't professionals almost certainly want to become professional. It doesn't make the lifestyle any less glamorous when you remember Heather Morris (Brittany on Glee) got her "start" by making it through Vegas Week in season 2, only to be cut right before the final 20, and deciding to stay in LA and make dancing her career.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Watching Rachel and Jordan's auditions back to back is pretty telling. Jordan doesn't show a whole lot of variety of technique in her audition, but every single move she does is with purpose, and her dancing expresses the character of the music. As Mary said, the confidence of her performance is what makes it so outstanding.

Rachel (this season's girl) talks a big talk about having power while she's on stage, but (unlike Mariah, the krumper) her dancing doesn't deliver. She runs around the stage, and rolls on the stage, and flings her hair around a lot, and she does a couple of splits. Compared with Jordan (whose audition is not what I'd call packed with technique), there's no dance content at all.

Note that in her intro piece they talk about, she confesses how shy she was as a kid. Well, she still is. Her piece has none of the confidence that Jordan showed. The whole thing seems very contrived, and even babyish. It's like an elementary school girl playing at being sexy. It's a character which she has put on like a costume, and the music is just wallpaper.

If you had shown me the two auditions back to back and asked me which of those two girls were the older one, I would have said Jordan was the older one, because Rachel's performance is so immature.

I can't blame Jordan for doing a sexy audition even though she was young, because she showed she can deliver the goods.



Spoiler



(I do fault her for being a one-note dancer -- she did another solo on the show that had the same kind of idea, but it wasn't executed anywhere near as well as the "Naughty Girl" piece.)





That Don Guy said:


> ...most of the dancers that make it to Vegas are already professionals, so they don't have time to develop projects like Leroy's, and those who aren't professionals almost certainly want to become professional.


I think a lot of the audience -- heck, a lot of the dancers -- don't really get what the show is all about.

It has two purposes. One is to showcase dancing in a wide variety of styles, to increase the audience for dance as a whole. And the other is to give young pro dancers and pro wannabe dancers a preview of what professional life is all about.

You show up, you have a short period of time to learn the choreography, you have to absorb all that and then go out and deliver it to the audience. You have to put in your own flavor, but not so much that you wreck the original concept of the piece. Plus you have to learn partner work, if you haven't already, or solo work if you haven't done that.

There are plenty of auditions I watch and love as performance pieces of their own, but they make me want to smack the performers and say: haven't you ever watched the show? Like the circus guy -- his work with the ring was mesmerizing, but if you are thinking about trying out for SYTYCD, why on earth would you audition without going and taking some dance classes first, to knock all the rust off?

Even if they don't put you through to choreography, you know that you'll have to do choreography in Vegas week, and you know for sure that you'll have to do it on the show. So why not go out and take classes and do your best to get some practice in at picking up choreography from someone else?

I just don't get it.

P.S. I'm ready to watch Vegas week. Is it Wednesday yet?


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

mwhip said:


> It must be a SLC thing it seems we have always had a ton of ballroom come out of that area. I* am trying to figure out if it has to do with the area being Mormon and this is really the only kind of dance really approved of. *
> 
> I think Chelsea Hightower and the Schwimmers all came out of SLC.


I don't think that's true. I dated a Mormon gal and we used to go to (non ballroom) dances at her Church all the time.

They do NOT however allow pre-marital sex of any kind and if you convert they make you wear funny undies. It was not the funny undies that was the deal breaker.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

murgatroyd said:


> Leroy is welcome at my place anytime, but from what they showed us, I have to agree with the judges that he wasn't strong enough. We can hope that he gets more moves and comes back again, though, right?
> 
> I suppose on a show like this you could have a limited number of "guest passes" to Vegas so people like Leroy could come and talk to the dancers about his program and how they could get involved in stuff like that in their own communities, but Vegas week is so intense, people really wouldn't have time for things like that. So they let him get his message across in the audition rounds, which is probably the most effective way to do it.


IMO the same could be said for all three of the Dragon House guys.
I would be truly amazed if any of the three could make it past the choreography round yet they sent all three of them straight to Vegas.
I enjoyed watching them in their auditions and I will enjoy watching them in the future. And of course they could surprise me.
But I do think that those three tickets to Vegas could have been better used on dancers that had more of a real shot at making the show- kids whose nerves got the best of them or who obviously had no idea how to prepare a great audition piece.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> IMO the same could be said for all three of the Dragon House guys.
> I would be truly amazed if any of the three could make it past the choreography round yet they sent all three of them straight to Vegas.
> I enjoyed watching them in their auditions and I will enjoy watching them in the future. And of course they could surprise me.
> But I do think that those three tickets to Vegas could have been better used on dancers that had more of a real shot at making the show- kids whose nerves got the best of them or who obviously had no idea how to prepare a great audition piece.


I'll play Devil's advocate.

The judges have several different things in mind when they are picking who goes to Vegas. First of all, they are casting for specific roles on the show, so they want to make sure the Vegas pool is deep enough in each of the types they want. It isn't talked about explicitly during the audition rounds, but if you look at the final selections where they are down to the last two dancers and one more slot, the casting for type is more evident.

Second, IMHO, lets say they want 200 dancers in Vegas which they would have taken down to 20 in the pre-all-Stars days. They don't really want 200 dancers in Vegas, all of whom have the same chance at making the top 20. They'd be discouraging and throwing away 90% of their talent pool for the next season. They know some dancers are not going to be strong enough yet, but the Vegas experience will make them (as Tony Bourdain says in his intro for No Reservations) Hungry for More. The different rounds of Vegas week are not just to wash out the dancers that aren't strong enough -- they're also a training camp for the dancers who aren't strong enough now, but might be strong enough in a couple more years.

We did see them put through a kid who obviously had no idea how to prepare a great audition piece (the ballet dancer) and a dancer whose nerves got the better of him (one of the Dragon House guys).

The big Vegas Questions are (in no particular order): 1) can the person do partner work 2) can they learn other people's choreography fast enough 3) can they learn other styles, or are they only able to do their own style and nothing else? 4) can they step up their game and make a breakthrough?

Obviously the judges can see potential in all these dancers, but the only way to find out the if the answer to #4 is YES to put them in the kitchen and turn up the heat. That's true no matter what level the dancer starts out at. The whole point of the show is to pick a dancer whose earlier solo work blew us away, and then have them do stuff on the main show that we didn't dream they could be capable of.

The judges already know that a for lot of the spectacular soloists, the answers to some of the questions will be NO. They may put guys through where they have no idea if the person can do partner work. But they know that during that first Vegas round where everyone has to do their solos, the presence of those strong soloists is going to turn up the heat on the dancers whose solos are not so good. It's a wake-up call for a lot of the trained dancers that having technique to burn is not good enough -- you also have to bring the performance quality, you have to entertain.

Without the presence of those dancers who "don't have a real shot at making the show" in Vegas week, the finalists would not be as good as they are.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Well, we had _all_ better be glad I'm not making the decisions then  because I think those are three wasted tickets. Unless they are keeping mum regarding any training they have had a la Russell I foresee a washout on all four questions.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> There are plenty of auditions I watch and love as performance pieces of their own, but they make me want to smack the performers and say: haven't you ever watched the show? Like the circus guy -- his work with the ring was mesmerizing, but if you are thinking about trying out for SYTYCD, why on earth would you audition without going and taking some dance classes first, to knock all the rust off?


Keep in mind that everybody that makes it up on stage has to go through a preliminary audition at the site - I think they take 10 at a time, grouped by specialty (I think anybody without a specialty has to do contemporary), and make you do a routine in that specialty. I am surprised the people who obviously aren't very good don't realize they are being set up when they are told to come back the next day.



murgatroyd said:


> Second, IMHO, lets say they want 200 dancers in Vegas which they would have taken down to 20 in the pre-all-Stars days. They don't really want 200 dancers in Vegas, all of whom have the same chance at making the top 20.


They only did the "top ten" once. Now, it's back to the top 20, and they introduce the all-stars after five weeks of the finalists doing duets.

Also, you make it sound like they select the final 20 during Vegas Week. In fact, they get it down to 40 or so, after which they get sent home for a month (they may also have some psychological testing) while Nigel and a few others look over their performances, and then go to Hollywood (where the set looks exactly like it did in Vegas) to hear if they made the top 20. I am convinced that one of the things that decides whether or not someone makes it is, "Is this person, say, a #11-20 dancer now, but could possibly win the whole thing with another year of dance work?"; I'm fairly certain this happened to Twitch the year before he made it to the finals.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

This season's green mile episode was filmed yesterday so the decisions have been made. Nigel tweeted a photo of the judges panel-










Hoping for someone I can love watching- last year was nearly a bust for me as far as contestants I loved.
Fingers crossed!


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Yeah, from the teasers they've shown already, I've seen that some of the dancers I love will probably not be making it through. Again. 

It could be a fakeout, but probably not.


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## JoBeth66 (Feb 15, 2002)

What I don't understand is why they don't do the full-length shots of the dancers on the stage, and if they want to highlight something - say a judge's reaction or a closeup, put it in a P-I-P off to the side, so you can still watch the full length performance, but you have the other window if you want to see what's going on elsewhere. Don't freaking cut to the judges - it ruins the entire flow of the piece. 

I'm also not a big fan of closeups. I want to see the performance the /same way/ the judges are seeing it.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Cearbhaill said:


> ~
> Hoping for someone I can love watching- *last year was nearly a bust for me as far as contestants I loved.*
> Fingers crossed!


We just fell in love with Melanie last year from an early stage. Of course, she went on to win, but it was a joy to watch her every week.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

More later, after I've seen the show.

Edited to add: wow, Vegas was brutal -- again.

Pretty hard to watch one favorite dancer after another get cut, but I'm impressed that Mariah the krumper lasted as long as she did.

And after all that, I hope Alexis doesn't make the show. I don't care how good you are, you can't flippin sleepwalk through everything.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

TonyTheTiger said:


> We just fell in love with Melanie last year from an early stage. Of course, she went on to win, but it was a joy to watch her every week.


Yeah, I guess a lot of people liked her.
I did not, not even a _little_.
I am petty and silly but her face and hair annoyed me no end and I could never get past it.


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

I have just a hard time keeping up with who is who. Any info on that girl who was kicked out by her mom? How far did she get?


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I can't point to any thing, but I never got all the Melanie love. So forgettable. 

Sounds like the judges are cluing in that the last couple of seasons have been sort of meh for the long-term viewers. They were telling the girls that they weren't necessarily picking the best dancers on the final cut -- they were picking the people with the most personality. (Edited to add: they were looking for UNIQUE dancers.)

ABOUT BLOODY TIME.

I remember watching Kayla and not seeing what the judges were seeing all season long. Until the Bollywood group number, and the finale. But the finale is kinda too long to wait for a girl to bust out and shine. Step it up sooner, girls.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

mwhip said:


> I have just a hard time keeping up with who is who. Any info on that girl who was kicked out by her mom? How far did she get?


Did she even make it to Vegas?


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> Did she even make it to Vegas?


I found this list and it might be spoilery but I don't think it is. It just lists who went to Veas who was cut and who is left before the "green mile"

http://www.puresytycd.com/2012/06/20/spoilers-sytycd-season-9-las-vegas-callbacks/

Looks like she did not make it.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

mwhip said:


> I found this list and it might be spoilery but I don't think it is. It just lists who went to Veas who was cut and who is left before the "green mile"
> 
> http://www.puresytycd.com/2012/06/20/spoilers-sytycd-season-9-las-vegas-callbacks/
> 
> Looks like she did not make it.


Oh, good, Cole Horibe (the good martial arts guy, not the annoying one  ). I liked his audition and then never saw him again, though I thought I saw him in the final lineup at Vegas.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

jehma said:


> Oh, good, Cole Horibe (the good martial arts guy, not the annoying one  ). I liked his audition and then never saw him again, though I thought I saw him in the final lineup at Vegas.


Oh, ye of little faith. Didn't I tell you the annoying martial arts guy wouldn't make it past the first cut?


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> Oh, ye of little faith. Didn't I tell you the annoying martial arts guy wouldn't make it past the first cut?


Ha, yeah I was surprised he even made it that far.

In case my post wasn't clear, I was happy to see the good martial arts guy on that spoilers list.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

murgatroyd's rules for surviving Vegas week (whether you make the Green Mile or not)

1) The show is for professional dancers, so act like a professional. The producers are going to tempt you to air your dirty laundry, but really, don't. Do you think whining about being cut is going to make any choreographer want to hire you? And don't say "I won't be back!" because they'll throw that in your face if you change your mind. (Yes, I mean you, Teddy.)

2) Yo, you made it through to Vegas week on the strength of your solo, you show up in Vegas, and you STILL haven't gone out and tried to learn choreography from anybody else? Haven't you ever watched the show? Yes, I mean YOU, Hampton Williams, and Andre from Dragon House. WTF are you thinking?

3) Don't go out and say "this is my year!" and then sleepwalk through Vegas. (Yes, you, Alexa).

4) If you can't get enough gumption to do a choreography round for yourself, at least muster enough professionalism to do it for your partner, or bail. 

5) Mo good deed goes unpunished, so if you get Partners from Hell, like Danielle, learn to duck.

6) If you're going to beg to dance for your life, you'd better bring something more than you showed in your audition. Frankly, I'm astounded that Rachel didn't get cut after the first round of solos, and I would have said no. 

7) You know those unprofessional outbursts I mentioned earlier? They are really lame when you don't know how to spell. 

8) Don't overthink things. Just do it.

9) When they say "knock yourself out" they don't mean it literally!


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

jehma said:


> In case my post wasn't clear, I was happy to see the good martial arts guy on that spoilers list.


Ditto. Vegas week is annoying, now that they've smushed it down into one two-hour show. It's hard to keep track of your favorite dancers.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> murgatroyd's rules for surviving Vegas week (whether you make the Green Mile or not)
> 
> 5) Mo good deed goes unpunished, so if you get Partners from Hell, like Danielle, learn to duck.
> 
> 9) When they say "knock yourself out" they don't mean it literally!


5a) Once you form your group for the group round and have spent hours on a routine, don't drop everything just to take somebody else in.

There's an unwritten rule that says anybody eliminated in Vegas Week because of an injury gets a free pass to Vegas the following year; I wonder if this will apply to Danielle (assuming she comes back).


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I think there was something very fugazy about the way they presented the injuries. 

I think it was a lot of fancy editing. 

For example - the krumper chick got eliminated.
She was gone. She left.

Later... 
that guy does the backflip and bangs his head (was his name Nick?) "he's not moving" 
- and lo and behold - there's crumper girl standing off to the side looking concerned.

OK I don't know how to spell crimper and neither does my auto spell check.

I don't think we saw Danielle's injury in real time either. Fancy editing.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> Ditto. Vegas week is annoying, now that they've smushed it down into one two-hour show. It's hard to keep track of your favorite dancers.


I don't mind them condensing all the crap, but they condensed almost all the dancing. How many full routines did we see in the Vegas show? And by full, I mean "pretty much full except for when they keep cutting away to show the judges".


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

That Don Guy said:


> 5a) Once you form your group for the group round and have spent hours on a routine, don't drop everything just to take somebody else in.
> 
> There's an unwritten rule that says anybody eliminated in Vegas Week because of an injury gets a free pass to Vegas the following year; I wonder if this will apply to Danielle (assuming she comes back).


If someone's gotten clocked and could have a concussion, and especially when she's gone through a choreography round TWICE because the girls are in short supply, and she's helping someone else out, why the heck can't she get a free pass through the group round? If she's not going to make it, the judges will know soon enough. Or if she's got to jump through a hoop, give her a CD and tell her she has to choreograph a new solo overnight.

And I thought the "choose your own group" twist was crap. How often will that happen, once you are out in the professional world?


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

That Cyrus from Dragonhouse is SICK!

AND WHY DIDN'T I GET TO SEE ZOMBIE MAN DANCE?!? LOL


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

pmyers said:


> AND WHY DIDN'T I GET TO SEE ZOMBIE MAN DANCE?!? LOL


He killed the cha-cha. I wish they had shown us more of that.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

what was the guy's name who was eliminated 2 years ago when Mary went to his family's house to tell him and then he auditioned again this year without telling his Mom and called her after he got through to Vegas?

i was surprised he was eliminated 
- they've given him so much air time i thought he was a lock for Top 20.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> what was the guy's name who was eliminated 2 years ago when Mary went to his family's house to tell him and then he auditioned again this year without telling his Mom and called her after he got through to Vegas?
> 
> i was surprised he was eliminated
> - they've given him so much air time i thought he was a lock for Top 20.


Adrian Lee. I wasn't surprised he was eliminated. He seems like a nice guy, a good dancer, and yet there's nothing he's shown that grabs me. As the old wheeze goes, I wouldn't pick up the phone for him.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but if you watch the show, it becomes clear that some people are clearly potential top-20 dancers, but they get thrown back into the pond. The producers know if they let some of the dancers age a little more, they'll come back even stronger.

Air time? Yeah, that's part of the fake-out. In retrospect, you can see that they give people loads of air time because they really like them, but they don't make it through. And others, they give them air-time because they like them and they do make it through. But it's hard to tell which ones are which when you are watching the auditions or the Vegas show for the first time.

And at this point, there's also the casting problem. They could cut some dancers because they don't have good partners for them. Look at the other guys in the final cut. I wonder if Brandon got cut because of his height.

Wibbley-wobbley timey wimey -- I'm going to say "now and "will" even though the events have already happened, because we haven't seen them yet. From now (end of Vegas week) it will come down to casting -- what types they want, what kind of mix they want.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

It's usually at this point in the process I start wondering who I haven't seen yet that I might fall in love with.
I did like that last ballet boy though.
And I like the one blonde- not the Bree Hogan look alike but the other one with braces. My husband is loving the dark haired girl that did the black and white audition.

Sorry I do not know names yet- I try and not get attached too early.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> My husband is loving the dark haired girl that did the black and white audition.


Amelia. Her solo to the Elmer Bernstein music was awesome! So much light and shade, so expressive. I can't blame Shanks for getting verklempt.

Gotta love it when a choreographer says that a dancer has to dance for her life, and then by the end of the solo, is chomping at the bit to work with her instead. :up:

Nigel's completely right, though -- the dancers have to bring the stuff they show in their solos to the show, or otherwise, what's the point?

After a solo like that, I almost want them to throw her back and see how much better she gets, instead of putting her through to the main show.

Right now, for the girls, I'm really liking Amelia, and Janelle, the bellydancer. We'll see who gets through.

That last ballet boy was Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, and boy can he get some serious air. No surprise, he trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and has worked as a principal dancer.


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## cmgal (Oct 2, 2003)

Amelia has silent film's Louise Brooks look. She's my favorite


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

cmgal said:


> Amelia has silent film's Louise Brooks look. She's my favorite


I like her too but she seemed a bit desperate when they critiqued her and she was like "I promise I'll make you love me next time" or something to that affect.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Kamakzie said:


> I like her too but she seemed a bit desperate when they critiqued her and she was like "I promise I'll make you love me next time" or something to that affect.


I thought it was relief at getting through.

Rachel, the burlesque girl -- that was desperation.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> Right now, for the girls, I'm really liking Amelia, and Janelle, the bellydancer. We'll see who gets through.
> 
> That last ballet boy was Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, and boy can he get some serious air. No surprise, he trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and has worked as a principal dancer.


:up:
I'm definitely pulling for Amelia and Janelle. I'm not really distinguishing between most of the boys yet, but I like Cole (I can't wait to see what else he can do) and the remaining dragon house guy (GREAT personality). Chehon was amazing, but his personality hasn't grabbed me yet. I hope he can do everything else as well.


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

Amelia is top 20 no doubt unless she tanks it. They need that big personality like Melanie Moore.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

More belly dancer please! lol


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

mwhip said:


> Amelia is top 20 no doubt unless she tanks it. They need that big personality like Melanie Moore.


Again, not feeling the Melanie Moore love, but I understand your point.

At the risk of repeating myself -- having now assembled a really fine set of dancers, are they going to shoot themselves in the foot and kill the impact of the dancing with the new overblown dancer-swallowing Set of Doom?

Janelle has the huge gold prop, so she can take focus away from the Set of Doom, and Chehon has the power, but I worry about everyone else -- especially Amelia. If she brings a quiet, reflective piece like that last solo to the big stage, what abomination of over-production are they going to do to it?


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

murgatroyd said:


> kill the impact of the dancing with the new overblown dancer-swallowing Set of Doom?


the Set of Doom is a metaphor for Nygel Lythgoe's manhood so it will probably be worse this year.

i guess we find out next week.



murgatroyd said:


> The producers know if they let some of the dancers age a little more, they'll come back even stronger.


yeah the only problem with that is at some point this show is not going to come back - i'm not sure because i don't know the comparative numbers but it is kind of looking like the ratings are down. does anyone know?

I LOVE Cat Deeley. 
She is one of the best reality show competition hosts there is. Ms. Deeley - was signing on to do The Choice really a good idea?


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## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

Ratings for this show during summer are really good it is in Top 10. The year they tried to do outside of summer was terrible ratings.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I think I saw someplace it was around 6 million viewers this year - BUT - wasn't it close to double in previous summers? 

that was what i was wondering.

i could be wrong it might be right on par.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

Cearbhaill said:


> Yeah, I guess a lot of people liked her.
> I did not, not even a _little_.
> I am petty and silly but her face and hair annoyed me no end and I could never get past it.


Yes, she annoyed me to no end as well.



jehma said:


> Oh, good, Cole Horibe (the good martial arts guy, not the annoying one  ). I liked his audition and then never saw him again, though I thought I saw him in the final lineup at Vegas.


If you remember in his audition he named about 10 styles he had trained in. I'm betting he knocked it out of the park through Vegas and will make the Top 20. He's my favorite.



pmyers said:


> That Cyrus from Dragonhouse is SICK!


Yeah his solo was crazy good. I was glad he did well enough in the other rounds to go through. I don't know if I think he's good enough to take a Top 20 spot though.



Cainebj said:


> what was the guy's name who was eliminated 2 years ago when Mary went to his family's house to tell him and then he auditioned again this year without telling his Mom and called her after he got through to Vegas?
> 
> i was surprised he was eliminated
> - they've given him so much air time i thought he was a lock for Top 20.





murgatroyd said:


> Adrian Lee. I wasn't surprised he was eliminated. He seems like a nice guy, a good dancer, and yet there's nothing he's shown that grabs me. As the old wheeze goes, I wouldn't pick up the phone for him.


I loved Adrian.  I was really upset that he was cut. I would have picked up the phone for him. I think they cut him because he wasn't unique enough of a dancer, however, he was sweet, charming and cute and I think that would have gotten him far.



murgatroyd said:


> Rachel, the burlesque girl -- that was desperation.


Oh so desperate. SOOOO glad she got cut. I was really pissed when they allowed her to dance for her life just because she begged. And she reminds me of a trashier version of Alicia Silverstone so she had that going against her from the get go, even before the stripper routine.

And Daniel Bake is a lock. Still not seeing what's so special about his dancing. Although, he can talk all day long with that Aussie accent and I might be convinced to like him more.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> And Daniel Bake is a lock. Still not seeing what's so special about his dancing. Although, he can talk all day long with that Aussie accent and I might be convinced to like him more.


I don't think anybody is a lock, because we aren't privy to the casting process -- we can only guess.

We've seen what, three ballet guys featured during the auditions, and it's evident from seeing their ballet work which one is the principal dancer, which one has been a soloist, and which one is just in the corps. I don't think the guy from Cincinnati Ballet (the one who had the really goofy audition) made it through to the end -- I don't see him in the final lineup. There's another guy they mentioned who was trained in ballet, but I can't remember his name -- I'm not sure if he's in the lineup either.

So let's say that they have one 'ballet dancer' role that they want to fill, and they have Daniel Baker or Chehon to pick from. They could go either way -- picking Chehon because he's such a fabulous dancer -- or picking Daniel because he has more "room to grow".

What we haven't seen is what they've shown the judges during Vegas week, and when it comes down to who actually goes on the show, a big amount is going to come down to the chemistry they've shown with their partners, and which girl they might be partnered up with.

Aside from the honking big clue that they are looking for "uniqueness", in which case they might toss Daniel into the mix for Aussie flavor, I don't think we have enough evidence to know which way they'll go.

Take a look at the lineup, and think about how many guys are in there who never got much of a shout-out during auditions/Vegas at all. We could get big surprises.

We'll just have to wait and see.


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## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

murgatroyd said:



> Daniel Baker.
> 
> He's pretty good for someone who comes out of the corps de ballet.
> 
> ...


Chehon, Daniel and who is the other?


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> Chehon, Daniel and who is the other?


There was the goofy guy who did the cheesy audition to Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover", with his shirt flapping around in the breeze, and then Mary asked if they could see him actually doing ballet, and they cued up some instrumental music. He's from Cincinnati Ballet. I don't think he made it through to the end. [edited to add: Stephen Jacobsen, from the LA auditions -- see http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/tag/stephen-jacobsen/ ]

Then there was a couple during the cha-cha round that they showed briefly, that I think Cat said were ballet dancers. Those are the ballet-trained guys I remember from the audition shows and Vegas week.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

murgatroyd said:


> I thought it was relief at getting through.
> 
> Rachel, the burlesque girl -- that was desperation.


True. Stripping practically. Not that it offended me in anyway. 



pmyers said:


> More belly dancer please! lol


Mmmmm yes please.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

IMO the belly dancer is good not because she is a good belly dancer but because she is a good belly dancer who conveys an awesome personality as she dances. 
She's adorable.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> IMO the belly dancer is good not because she is a good belly dancer but because she is a good belly dancer who conveys an awesome personality as she dances.
> She's adorable.


She's also trained in several other styles -- so watch out, top 20.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I found the video for Evanescence - My Immortal on YouTube a couple of days ago, and I've had an earworm ever since. I blame Hampton Williams. 






This is one of my measures for how good a performance is. If I don't know a piece of music, or previously didn't like a piece of music, and someone's performance makes me say "must go get a copy of this song" then I know their performance (and/or the choreography) has sold me.

E.g. I didn't like much hip-hop until SYTYCD, but now I sort of get it.


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