RBee

Will, Dominic, Fik-Shun, Katherine, Robert, Marko, Courtney, Jasmine H.. If there were two more, I'm not sure who they are. I am wondering why they brought in "all stars" who did not do partner duets. Did I miss Dominic, Marko, and Courtney as all stars? Why not bring back Ryan, Aaron, and some of the others we rarely see? (Please, no Allison or Twitch, though.)

Jess' Twitter post and photo with Ricky: https://twitter.com/D8Jess/status/508030819718676480 Apparently, Ricky is already in NYC. It just now occurred to me to wonder how this is going to work, with the tour and the show both happening this fall.

Alex, Jess, Evan, and Thayne (season 4) all tapped...and sang in Newsies. Here is their Tony Award performance from 2012. You can see Alex, Jess, and Thayne in the first few seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmKUI_RzfR8 Evan and Jess had a neat featured part in one of the bigger tap numbers, but all members of the chorus tapped. And wavingfeather is correct about the necessity of a decent voice to make it on most choruses. I would add acting ability as a requirement, of course. 1,200 guys auditioned for the fewer than 20 chorus member/swing parts in that show. It takes a lot to stand out from a crowd that size. I haven't heard Evan sing solo, but Thayne, Jess, and Alex all have very nice voices. The Newsies cast recording is awesome and they all should be very proud to be a part of the OCR. In addition to Jess moving on to On the Town, and Evan joining Can-Can, Thayne left Newsies early to be in Matilda until it closed. Thayne is now working with Mia Michaels in the cast of Finding Neverland. He's playing the dog: http://www.edgeonthenet.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=theatre&sc2=features&sc3=&id=165129 Evan, Jess, and Thayne, as well as Ariana Debose from Season 6, are firmly on the radar of Broadway's casting directors.

I'm a little surprised and extremely disappointed.

I agree with the take on C. Applegate's pretentiousness as a judge. I did like her at first, but no more. Kat, almost every season has had boy/girl eliminations. Season 7, which began with only ten was the exception, since only 1 person was eliminated each week. I don't remember about season 1. Season 6 had a finale of 6, but it was 3 male & 3 female. Travis & Benji did a hiphop together in Season 2. :) There were 2 girls, 2 guys. Travis/Benji Heidi/Donyelle They had a top 4, each dancing with the other...no all stars. Courtney placed 4th that season. Seasons 2-4 were my favorites. I'd love to return to the days of no all stars. Edit: On the maturity issue, it's relative to me. Season 10 had so many dancers that looked & danced like they ranged in age from junior high (Fik-Shun) to barely out of high school (Paul). Amy fell somewhere between the two & her dance with Travis was all kinds of squicky as a result. However, Joshua Allen was 18 and when not performing, sounded and acted like an 18 year old. But he could believably turn on the maturity as a partner when required. His paso doble with Katee was one of the hottest done by non-ballroom partners, in my opinion, & Joshua sizzled in it & didn't look like a teen at all. Marquette was young, but looked miles more mature than some of the 20-22 year olds recently featured on the show. He was particularly killer in hiphop (group routine), which I don't remember Nigel & Co. ever acknowledging.

I'm happy Zack made it to the finale. He has remained my consistent favorite since the surprise of his first jazz routine at top 20. I'm most excited about seeing Aaron as an all star, apparently doing double duty. I would loved to have heard that one of my other all time favorites, Jess LeProtto, would also come back for a stint as a tapping all star, perhaps pairing with Valerie since she is shorter. Jess' trio with Nick & the dancer from Great Britain was the highlight of that season's finale for me, such a nice balm to balance the aggravation of the Melanie coronation. When talking about the prize, I wonder if Nigel & Co. would even bother to mention that Jess, as a former SYTYCDer, will also be in the cast of On the Town as it opens this fall? His current show, Newsies, is closing soon. I would love to see both Zack & Jess in that show if I make it to NYC anytime soon. Speaking of short dancers, I remember how Jess was berated for disappearing during his lifts....and he was given quite a few of them with Clarice. I missed a few routines, but of the ones I've seen, I've noticed that Ricky has been given very few full lifts. He had one where Anya did a rollover on his shoulders & the modified lift at the end seemed okay. I can't remember any negative criticism of Ricky for anything he's danced. Quite the opposite. What I remember about Ricky's dancing is beautiful feet and lovely extensions. However, there is little else about his performances that I find engaging or memorable. Zack is a bit of a sad sack during judging, but he transforms when he's performing. That, along with his versatility, makes him far more interesting for me than either Casey or Ricky have been. I thought Jacque's solo was innovative & sweet. I would have preferred her staying over Valerie, but I'm not interested in the girls enough to get in a fret about it. Has this season seemed extra short to anyone else? I'm just now matching names to dancers. As I said, I look forward to the return of Aaron, but the show desperately needs a break from the small rotation of all stars with the return of Robert & Kathryn. Again.