TVSquad

(S06E06) Oh no! Screwball Mia Michaels was the third judge in Salt Lake City for this final stop in the audition rounds. Adam Shankman can't take his permanent spot fast enough for me. Michaels needs to stick to amazing choreography.

That said, she actually didn't bother me at all tonight as a judge. So I've been unfair to Mia Michaels. Oh, who am I kidding, she's usually horrible.

What wasn't horrible was the caliber of talent in Utah. Granted, the competitors come from all over the country to these destination cities, but I feel confident in saying that we saw the widest array of the most impressive talent right here tonight. No wonder they saved it for last.

Tristy Mirci needs to find some better friends. She should contact Guinness on having been in 25 accidents in three years, all of them as a passenger. Are all of her friends chronic alcoholics who drive drunk? Is she driving with the same accident prone person? She needs to be concerned about this. Maybe the accidents broke her dance bone.

Burlesque dancer Adriana Rowley brought her plumped lips to the auditions, and then proceeded to lose almost all of her clothes. Burlesque dance is a legitimate form of dance, but not one that's necessarily been spotlighted on this show before, for obvious reasons after this performance. Mia called her trashy, Mary said no to choreography, but she went anyway. Apparently burlesque does not a diverse dancer make.

I think I know what to call Pascal Nayigiziki's particular brand of dance. It's the "struck-by-lightning." He moves like he has thousands of volts of electricity coursing through his body. Or maybe I just want to imagine that he was in as much pain doing that as I was watching it. It was ... weird. I liked his personality, though.

They say to leave your blood on the dance floor. Leigh Asay and Josh Murillo did just that. But since they teased her injury throughout the entire episode, I found myself cringing through the entire performance waiting for it to happen. It distracted me a bit from her actual performance the whole time. Leigh was able to take her nine toenails straight to Vegas, after a stop at the emergency room perhaps. Josh eked a way to choreography, but his dream ended there.

Standout Performers

Finally, a breakdancer who truly showed me some things I haven't seen yet on this show, or any of the other dance shows I'm watching. Bryan Boyer had some crazy acrobatic tricks and a sense of musicality to his entire performance. He bounced and flew through the air like he was on strings. To make it to Vegas, though, he needed to prove himself in choreography. I think he's the first person we've seen who sought help for that round before it happened, but still it proved overwhelming and he quit.

I went to college in Springfield, MO, but I didn't know Hayley Cloud, or any Clouds for that matter. Still, does that mean it's my civic duty to support her? Luckily, she did a bang-up job. This girl is incredibly flexible and so very strong. Some of those tricks require such body control and power. What an astounding performance for a 19-year old.

Megan Kinney has that youthful beauty the show loves on a body of pure muscle tone. She reminded me of Chelsie Hightower in her look. Genise Ruidiaz was much leaner and longer limbs, but had some amazing body-bending abilities. The partnering montage later also showed some very impressive performances. Salt Lake City brought on the dancers!

Ashleigh & Ryan De Lello went from rivals to partners in marriage and partners in dance. However, I thought they did the safest ballroom routine I've ever seen. There was nothing but a lot of turns and turns and then a few more turns. Maybe throw in a lift or a trick from time to time? They did enough to get to choreography and ultimately Vegas.

Iveta Lukosiute escaped the Soviet Union to follow her dream of dance in the US. At 29, she's barely within the cutoff, but her dancing was truly ageless. There's something to be said for putting a few more years of dance on your belt, and it showed here. This young woman could do some amazing work on this show.

With audition rounds over, 152 of America's best dancers head to Vegas for the worst week of their lives. After six audition episodes in a row, I'm ready for it. From the promos, I don't think the dancers all are.