(S04E01) It's back! *sings terribly* "Oh, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me!" I am psyched for So You Think You Can Dance. We kicked off tonight with the L.A. auditions and a two-hour season premiere. There were a lot of Russians, a lot of pelvic thrusts, a lot of repeat dancers, and a lot of Mary Murphy's infectious/irritating laugh. I can't decide about that one. Some times I can't stand her and some times I want to sit next to her at the judges table. What about you? But enough about Mary, let's get to the good stuff ... the auditions!
Most Interesting/Entertaining of the Night: 
I'm not even going to mention Sex. Wait ... I just did. Okay, start again.
Let me clarify something before I get to the meat of it. When I say "entertaining," I'm talking either way here. They could be awesomely bad or just awesomely awesome. Also, I'm only picking a few so feel free to leave your favorites in the comments.
Now, that that's out of the way. Laura, the visually-impaired dancer, was certainly one of the most interesting auditions of the night. Mia completely broke down after her performances and I have to admit, I was a little misty myself. It was indeed awe-inspiring that she could even dance as well as she could with such an impediment. How does she balance? How does she turn? Unfortunately, the handicap is a real setback for anyone with aspirations of being a professional dancer. First, it's nearly impossible to follow choreography, especially in a large audition setting. Second, half the experience of watching a dancer is the expression in his or her eyes and his or her eye contact with audience members. But, major props to her. As Mia said, she was inspiring.
On the second day of Los Angeles auditions we met Victor. He wasn't you're average breaker. Every year, I watch the breakers and I think I've seen it all. And every year, someone comes out with something new, some unique trick that makes me say, "Wow." Victor had everything: great tricks, great facial expressions, and great musicality. He even walked off stage (on his hands, mind you) and sat in the audience. As Nigel put it, "I don't know what else we could ask for."
And then there's Rijiy who stripped down to just his jazz shoes and tighty-whities (thank God he left those on). Then Rijiy, who later explained his outfit made him a "clean slate" for the show to mold, ran around the stage grabbing his head and revealing his privies. I loved the "Dance" sign over his unmentionables.
Who's Going to Vegas?
Devon, who's music was wrong at first (not a very auspicious beginning to the show)
Twitch, who almost got onto the show last year, but Hok made the top 20 instead
Phillip (or as I call him, Mr. Wavey Arms), who auditioned last year and came back with more footwork
William, who auditioned to a spoken word song (Can I call that a song?)
Erica, who was there for a third time and...it was a charm
Leonidas and Alionda, the ballroom dancers who not only dance together, but live together too
Riki & Oska, who came to the auditions despite her being dreadfully sick
Kherrington, the soccer player who stole Dominic's heart
Robert, who is the most ridiculous popper I have EVER seen (check out a video of him here)
And a bunch more that we saw quickly at the very end of the show...
Best Outfit of the Night: Irina's red dress and black knee-highs. The outfit was helped further along by her declaring she left her husband in a half million dollar house for her freedom. I feel like she may have left in that dress.
Best Line of the Night: "I have many years of extensive training." --Sex from Smithtown, NY
Overall, it was a good season premiere. What did you think?
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The evolution of TV Squad
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-23-2008 @ 9:34AM
I miss my stars! said...
Can we start a petition right here to prevent "Sex" from ever being shown on this show again? He isn't entertaining even in a bad way. Yeah right, he's trained with many "famous choreographers" but can't name a single one.
Robert is fantastic, but with no formal training I'm afraid he won't make it through Vegas. I could watch him all day.
I caught a half-second glimpse of a male Irish Dancer! Since that is my genre - it was good to see one at least try out!
Although Sabre was very good, I still say Danny was robbed. I hope he comes back for a guest dance this year.
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5-23-2008 @ 9:52AM
David said...
Last night was the first episode of this show I've ever watched. As a fan of DWTS and AI, I figured I might enjoy it. I had certainly heard excellent things about it from my fellow commenters here at TVSquad.
1 hour into the episode I deleted it from my DVR. I really disliked it. Besides the same old, tired formula for reality shows, I found myself profoundly turned-off by the judges and the contestant interactions.
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5-23-2008 @ 10:28AM
Erin said...
David-
SYTYCD is SO fantastic after the top 20 are picked for the show. The judges pick truly talented dancers and throw a variety of dances at them each week. Truly fantastic choreography and dancing. I really hope you stick it out to watch the first "real" episode!
5-23-2008 @ 11:36AM
MrsEldubya said...
Like Erin said... maybe the audition episodes aren't your cup of tea but please come back and watch the actual competition, you will be amazed. I didn't watch first season but I was addicted immediately in the 2nd season and now I'm a huge fan. I don't care for the auditions much on AI either but at least it's not all the bad dancers.
I'm so happy SYTYCD is back! :) It's my favorite summer guilty pleasure and it's still a month before we get any new CLOSER episodes!
5-23-2008 @ 10:07AM
Bas said...
David - don't pass up the show from the auditions alone. My mother doesn't start watching until the top 20 have been chosen because she finds the early rounds humiliating. If you like DWTS, you may really enjoy when the top 20 are paired up and asked to do the various dances, i.e. samba, contemporary, jive, quick step.
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5-23-2008 @ 11:23AM
Brett said...
I have to agree with Bas and Erin, if you didn't like the auditions, come back once they get to the top twenty. It's a completely different show. It's something that has always annoyed me about the show because I think it's better than some of the crap that you see in the early episodes. Most notably, as I miss my stars points out, sex. Whichever producer keeps putting him on the show should just be fired now. There is nothing entertaining about it.
I think the auditions would be much more interesting if they stuck to people that actually have a shot at making the show so we can follow their journey through the process. Why are we looking at people that clearly should have been weeded out before ever getting to the stage?
5-23-2008 @ 11:53AM
David said...
Okie, well, that was a pretty clear response :) I'll tune back in when they're down to the Top 20. Thanks, TVSquaders!
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5-23-2008 @ 12:59PM
shari said...
The best part of last night's show was in the final few minutes. First of all, Robert's dancing was amazing & since he probably won't make it to the show, it was definitely worth seeing it now. (Of course, they might bring him on for the finale, like the clogger & Brian last year.)
But it was his slow-motion hug with Nigel in getting his ticket that had us in stitches. That's the funniest thing I've seen on TV in some time. . . .
Also, I'm no psychiatrist, but it seems to me that David "call me Sex" is not only delusional but mentally unstable. They should not keep bringing him on the show & exploiting his ... problems. IMO
They should focus on the great auditions, the inspiring stories--like Laura, Quincy (who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident), & Janet (who only had one arm) then maybe throw in a few funny/bad auditions for flavor & to fill time, if necessary.
I'm just saying. . . .
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5-23-2008 @ 1:04PM
fowak said...
YAY! YAY! YAY! I love this show. I thought Oska was adorable (that was the girl, right?). Loved Robert and William. And I am SO happy that Twitch is back!!
And how adorable was Dom being so smitten with Kherrington?? I miss him already :(
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5-23-2008 @ 5:44PM
Jason Hughes said...
I would have liked to see them spend less time on each of the contestants they spotlighted so we could see more of the performers (good and bad). It just seems they slowed the pace of the show way too much and we only got to see a few dancers, instead of a lot of them like in seasons past. And we've seen 'Sex's schtick two years already. Stop giving him TV time and he'll go away.
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5-23-2008 @ 9:23PM
Kristin Sample said...
I got to agree with you guys. I would rather see more dancing--good, bad, whatever. When I looked at my notes at the end of the show, I was surprised at how few performances we saw.
I think less time could be spent on Mary's uncontrollable laughing.
And I don't know about you but...I could do without the back stories. (Unless it's for someone like Twitch.)
And please, no more Sex.
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5-24-2008 @ 4:04AM
gillygirl said...
r they gonna save a spot for the girl last year who hurt herself and Nigel told her that she can come back next season (this round) and get in at the exact spot she was at when the injury occured? they didn't touch on her at all (or else i missed it) but it may be farther into the show. I believe it was some sort of a stress fracture or worse on her ankle or foot.
the soccer chick and Dominic swooning over her was a hoot. it was great seeing Travis in there for choreography too. His performance last year was great (the angel/devil one) and him teaming up with Shane or Robson would make for some great dances.
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5-26-2008 @ 12:13AM
Brian said...
gillygirl: the contestant you are talking about was Claire (don't remember her last name) from season 2. I believe Nigel's deal, allowing her to come back where she left off, was only for the next season, but she didn't come back because she had a baby. Therefore, if she wanted to come back this season, she would have to start from scratch and audition all over again, which is what she did (she wasn't shown in this episode, so hopefully she auditioed in another city and they'll show her). If you look hard enough, you can find spoilers on her status.
Also, the angel/devil dance last year was actually with Neil. And, at the risk of bumming you out, word is that Shane Sparks and Wade Robson won't be back this season.
5-24-2008 @ 2:07PM
Sarah said...
gilygirl, i totally remember who you are talking about--i wonder what, if anything, happens with her this season.
and like the rest of you, i LOVE this show! whereas with AI, i watch the auditions and then pretty much drop it, i watch this show from start to finish, with my favorite episodes being when they actually do the choreographed routines. i am so happy it's back on!
and i love kat and dominic. so funny!
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5-25-2008 @ 12:38PM
Emory said...
What is the name of the song that Leonidas and Alionda danced to for their LA audition? Who sings it, too? I haven't heard that song for years.
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5-28-2008 @ 12:54AM
Emory said...
I found that song that Leonidas and Alionda danced to, it's called Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by US3.
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6-04-2008 @ 3:56PM
Kathleen said...
please! like i need to know the song erika gee dances to in the L.A. auditions 08. its killing me
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