S14.E01: Los Angeles Auditions #1

[Drogo]

At the first of the audition rounds, the most talented dancers will compete in front of the judges for a coveted spot at "The Academy" callback rounds in Los Angeles.

At the end of "The Academy" callback rounds, each of this season's 10 All-Stars will choose one dancer to move on to the SYTYCD stage and become part of this season's Top 10.

The Top 10 dancers will be paired up with All-Stars who will guide them throughout the competition as they vie for America's votes and the title of America's Favorite Dancer.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Did Vanessa Hudgens offer anything beyond endless general platitudes? If she did, I missed it.

Mark, if Tadd Gaduang and Gev Manoukian had a dance baby it would be Mark :-) Pretty sure by the end of the auditions he'll still be in my top 10 favorite guys.

Kristina and Vasily, they've got to be top 5 or top 10 ballroom dancers to ever compete on SYTYCD. I do wonder if she might outlast him in the Academy. It feels like she might be able to "fake it until you make it" with the other styles a bit better than he's able to. There's also only two ballroom couples in the history of the show to make the top 20 (or 24) together. Pasha and Anya and Ryan and Ashley iirc....

Robert, Not as big of fan of this audition. It was too flaily at points. I just don't think this was in the ballpark compared to the Dragonhouse guys who've popularized this sort of staccato style of hip hop/animation. Feels like he might get lost in the shuffle of hip hoppers/breakers/poppers/freestylers during the Academy. YMMV of course.

Alexa or Alexis (the Jazz girl), Extremely peppy....cheerleader-y. One of only two full auditions shown that we couldn't Youtube ahead of time for whatever that's worth.

Darius, I'll freely admit I watch this show biased against contemporary dancers. But even I can say this guy has crazy dance, athletic ability. I was mildly captivated.

**I really wanted to see the whole audition of the Mongolian guy who danced with a Dragon Ball Z orb. What was the full story??

Anastasiia and Viktoriia, If Robert Muraine would've listened to nothing but the Cure and the Smith's for about a month....his iconic SYTYCD audition might've looked something like this lol. 

[HelenCrump]

Loved it!  How I missed SYTYCD.   There were some very strong auditions.   I especially liked the ballroom couple.   And Mary Murphy's back!

But ... just one hour?!   Will it switch back to 2 hours at some point (I hope!)?

[JanD]

Vanessa Hudgens almost made me miss Jason Derulo. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I posted some of the audition clips n the media thread last week (because the episode thread was locked) but here are a few more that just got posted!

Alexis Gilbert

Darius Hickman

 

Luke Dryjski

[Quickbeam]

We had a zillion storm warnings so I missed a lot of it. But I am so glad to see Mary back, boy, I love her. The Russian twins (?) were mesmerizing. 

[s-k-s]

I'm just so happy this show is back!  I'm sure I will be full of raging anger at something Nigel says/does in a few weeks, and Vanessa Hudgens seems useless, but whatever.  Its back on, its grown-ups, its Cat Deeley.  Right now, I'm happy :)

[Mason]

I'm okay with Vanessa. She seems truly delighted to be there, which is nice for auditions. That said, I'm unsure if that will translate well to actual judging.

The contestants seem older than they've been the past few years.

[crowceilidh]

Vanessa Hudgens DID make me miss Jason deRulo.  Thanks for reminding me of his name.  And nothing will ever make up for the total lack of lil'C or Dan Karaty for that matter.

The contestants did seem a little older than they've been recently (defo including last year<G>).  I was in general happy to see some things I haven't seen before.  Blown away by the ballroom couple and agree that he looks likely to be less versatile than she does.  I will be interested to see the Russian girls without their costumes and make-up.  That choreo was brilliant - I was also crying for no explicable reason.

[Silver Raven]

Yay, Cat!  Love her.

Vanessa Hudgens sounds like a chipmunk.

Kristina and Vasily were great.  Loved them.

The guy dressed like a frog did nothing for me.  I didn't think he showed any dance moves worth seeing again.

Yeah, I knew nerdy guy was going to be bad.  Why do they do that to make fun of the delusional?

Oh, God, the first sob story of the year. Though Darius was really good.

The Russian women were awesome.

[hula-la]

I'm generally not a huge fan of ballroom, but that ballroom couple tonight was stunning! They might make a convert out of me.

[NeverLate]

I had to watch Darius twice. His body was so fluid .The ballroom couple were great, I found I couldn't take my eyes off of her though. I wonder if she can dance solo as well?

The twins, I know they were good, I just found them a tad creepy

Oh I missed you SYTYCD!! :)

3 hours ago, Mason said:

I'm okay with Vanessa. She seems truly delighted to be there, which is nice for auditions. That said, I'm unsure if that will translate well to actual judging.

The contestants seem older than they've been the past few years.

Yes, I'm okay with her. I wasn't a fan of the grunting Jason,

[Mystery Author]

Yay, SYTYCD. I missed you. Sorry, but I did NOT miss Mary. I'll keep my Mute button close at hand. Loved the ballroom dancers, liked the twins, The Darius leaps reminded me a wee bit of (my all-time favorite) Danny.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If the Russian twins just arrived two days ago specifically to audition for the show, I wonder if they will have visa issues like Hok did (if they make it to the top 20, that is - gawd, if they do you know that the judges will end up keeping only one of them just to give us a tearjerker story).

Thanks to SYTYCD posting so many of the auditions on their youtube channel, I was able to watch most of the dancing without listening to the usual blathering from the judges which was AWESOME.

[Suzysite]

Yay, my show is back.   I totally skipped last year due to the kiddie performances.  A big NO in my book. 

 

Quote

The twins, I know they were good, I just found them a tad creepy

Yes, and more than a little creepy.   Their teeth were all pointy and made them look feral.

[LadyMustang65]

DH and I missed SYTYCD - we passed on the kiddie version.  But I have to say that we were almost entirely underwhelmed by the auditions.  To be honest, the only two we really really liked were the opening break dancer and the ballroom couple.  (Just figured out they were Mark Villaver and Kristina and Vasily.)  They were both spectacular for us.  After that . . . not so much.  The kid with the sob story - like Nigel, we wanted him to be good, but we didn't care for his dance.  DH thinks it was bad choreography; the kid did have some good moves.  But overall, it wasn't pleasing.  Also did not care for the Russian twins.  Didn't care much for the style, and yes, they were creepy.  Not sure why 'jazz' girl was dancing jazz and not contemporary - looked like contemporary to us.  Glad to see Cat back, but so far not impressed with the auditions.  We have a feeling that some of the truncated auditions might have been more to our liking. 

Edited June 13, 2017 by LadyMustang65

[Tikichick]

Love the return to adult contestants.  So relieved to have Mary back, the show seems lost without her.  Wasn't familiar with Vanessa but I'm encouraged by her vibe that she will be a welcome addition to the panel.

A little concerned about the paltry showing of amazing dancers in what we've seen so far.  I think it may be partially due to less airtime.  Have to root for my show to soar again.

Definitely agree with the poster above, we could use the return of Lil C and Dan Karaty.

[peachmangosteen]

Are the performance shows going to be 2 hours or will the show only be 1 hour all season?

Vanessa Hudgens' voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. She is very sweet, but I can barely stand to listen to her.

I'm just SO glad this show is back.

Edited June 13, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[crossover]

I've enjoyed the auditions so far.  One of the main problems I have with auditions is people (and tptb too sometimes) fall in love with a particular contestant right off the bat (usually in the genre they prefer).    So if that contestant has problems in other genres during the competition period, they just make excuses or ignore the failings.  Hopefully it won't be another "Melanie-type" appearance.   And hopefully, tptb aren't so enamored that they push their favorite down our throats and give them the better choreographers.  I know some people prefer the best soloist or the best technique (in their opinion).  I really prefer the winner to be the most versatile/all around/best performer during the competition period..

[Keekski]

I bigly dislike Nigel. That's all. Even Simon Cowell took a break from judging shows he produces. I wish Nigel would. He's such a smarmy asshole but pretends he isn't. The look on his face after the twin preformed made me want to punch him. So serious. So important. *insert big eyeroll here* That said, I did enjoy their performance. Creepy as it was.

[callie lee 29]

So happy the adult version is back as I skipped out on the kids. I saw the last half of the auditions, I thought they were pretty good. Darius and the guy wearing the plastic suit were gray and in glass in nite the only one who thought the twins were kinda creepy. Maybe it was the choreography, there was something a little sideshow circus about it.

So happy Mary is back and I think I'm the only one who doesn't mind Nigel. I don't find him skeevy and I like some of his comments. I also like having a judge who isn't necessarily in the business. I think sometimes they can see the overall beauty of a dance and not get sidetracked by a faulty turn, etc. I like the balance.

[khyber]

 I'm glad to be back to adult performers.  After one episode of the kids, I quit watching that. Don't know what Vanessa is adding yet other than youth.  Liked the ballroom dancers and the russian twin looking girls.  Hated the hair flipping HMV "jazz" girl.  That wasn't jazz, it was just boring stuff we have seen over and over again.  Cat is always a joy.

[NeverLate]

I muted Mary, while I like her, she can be too much, especially in only an hour!

[Brookside]

Did some people get a two-hour show?  I didn't see several of the performers mentioned by posters - frog man?  Ballroom couple?  Jazz girl?   Plastic suit?

Anyone else notice this?

[katalizt]

I had no idea this was already back. Going to have to watch on demand sometime this week. Add me to those happy we're back to adult competitors, although I'm not crazy about going back to the season 7 format of Top 10/11 paired with All-Stars from the beginning. I guess they kind of did this with the kids, having an all-star "mentor" to dance with? (only watched like two episodes of that season). I just hope they still do a mix of contestant/contestant and contestant/all-star.

[NeverLate]

44 minutes ago, Brookside said:

Did some people get a two-hour show?  I didn't see several of the performers mentioned by posters - frog man?  Ballroom couple?  Jazz girl?   Plastic suit?

Anyone else notice this?

Those were very short pieces of people that didnt go through, and some that did.

[Brookside]

Thanks for that.  Those things go by so fast I can barely keep up, never mind form an opinion or remember anything!

[Mertseger]

Hudgens is beautiful and has a surprisingly sweet stage persona, but is, to this point, totally useless as a dance judge. I think it's been fairly well proven that "fan of the show" is not a great criteria for selecting our judges (I love you, Ellen, but ...).

It's interesting that we've apparently lost the "being sent to choreography" middle ground, though it just may not been covered. The show is certainly more streamlined without it.

Honestly, I love creepy in dance, and so I felt the twin'[s performance was the best in that vein since Rama Lama, and that is extremely striking for an audition round. I'd love to see more complete routines in the auditions, and so kudos to the show for letting it go on.

If we've got to have Uncle Pervy then I'm glad to have Auntie Scream back. Despite the hackneyed bits and the volume, she's still bringing the best critique in the current panel.

[Ms Blue Jay]

9 hours ago, khyber said:

 I'm glad to be back to adult performers.  After one episode of the kids, I quit watching that. Don't know what Vanessa is adding yet other than youth.  

Why is that a bad thing, though?  Nigel being out of touch and a barely disguised racist really bothered me in past years to the point where I quit the show.

[Terrafamilia]

I loved the Russian gals, their number was just so... Russian. It reminded me of a bit from Cheers, "Karashnikov’s 'Another Christmas of Agony'" - “Mischa the dog lies dead in the bog. The children cry over the carcass. The mist chokes my heart, covers the mourners. At least this year we eat.”.

[slf]

The "jazz" dancer should not have been put through. I'm so tired of these 18-25 year old white women who say they're jazz dancers but spend their auditions doing leg extensions and whipping their hair around while they rub their hands over their bodies. That's not jazz dance.

I really liked the Russian sisters. They were so intense. (Something about them made me think of CocoRosie and I'm not sure how I feel about that.) Loved their confused shrugs at Nigel's Smirnoff joke.

Darius is a beautiful dancer. I really hated the way they had him pose during his lead-in, the 'look down then suddenly up' thing. That kind of artificiality leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it occurs during the "my tragic backstory" bit.

[NeverLate]

13 minutes ago, slf said:

The "jazz" dancer should not have been put through. I'm so tired of these 18-25 year old white women who say they're jazz dancers but spend their auditions doing leg extensions and whipping their hair around while they rub their hands over their bodies. That's not jazz dance.

I really liked the Russian sisters. They were so intense. (Something about them made me think of CocoRosie and I'm not sure how I feel about that.) Loved their confused shrugs at Nigel's Smirnoff joke.

Darius is a beautiful dancer. I really hated the way they had him pose during his lead-in, the 'look down then suddenly up' thing. That kind of artificiality leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it occurs during the "my tragic backstory" bit.

I'm betting the sisters don't get through to the end, I have a feeling what we saw, was all they know.

[slf]

11 minutes ago, F. M. said:

I'm betting the sisters don't get through to the end, I have a feeling what we saw, was all they know.

I guess it comes down to how well they learn the routines. Some dancers have had a lot of training and not made it very far. If they don't have much training and they managed to give an audition like that they have a good shot, at least one of them. Out of curiosity what makes you think their audition is the extent of their abilities?

[mojoween]

Shut up Nigel.  This morning he apologized for his Trump comment and screw that.  Own what you say, don't vacillate!

I didn't watch one minute last year, there is no more "you're going to Vegas!"?  It's just "The Academy"?  That makes me sad a little bit.

The jazz girl had some pretty moves, but when she came out of the doors with her ticket she flipped her hair again so I'm over her.

[Percysowner]

21 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Shut up Nigel.  This morning he apologized for his Trump comment and screw that.  Own what you say, don't vacillate!

I didn't watch one minute last year, there is no more "you're going to Vegas!"?  It's just "The Academy"?  That makes me sad a little bit.

The jazz girl had some pretty moves, but when she came out of the doors with her ticket she flipped her hair again so I'm over her.

To be fair, I've been on a couple of boards where he is just getting SLAMMED for the (rather innocuous) comment. People are swearing up and down that they will not watch the show. Nigel really does want to keep this show on the air, so he's partly doing what he needs to in order to make that happen.

[NeverLate]

1 hour ago, slf said:

I guess it comes down to how well they learn the routines. Some dancers have had a lot of training and not made it very far. If they don't have much training and they managed to give an audition like that they have a good shot, at least one of them. Out of curiosity what makes you think their audition is the extent of their abilities?

It was just a feeling, as I said, I didn't find them enjoyable, so jmho.

[slf]

3 hours ago, F. M. said:

It was just a feeling, as I said, I didn't find them enjoyable, so jmho.

Admittedly I don't know much about modern dance, I can only say that I like them, so your feeling may very well be right in the long run.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Brookside said:

Did some people get a two-hour show?  I didn't see several of the performers mentioned by posters - frog man?  Ballroom couple?  Jazz girl?   Plastic suit?

Anyone else notice this?

I saw all those in the one hour show and I don't think any were montaged.  Though I'm not sure who 'frog man' is but there was a guy who had a frog like position a few times?  And 'jazz girl' was blonde contemp girl, with the b&w top.

9 hours ago, slf said:

The "jazz" dancer should not have been put through. I'm so tired of these 18-25 year old white women who say they're jazz dancers but spend their auditions doing leg extensions and whipping their hair around while they rub their hands over their bodies. That's not jazz dance.

I really liked the Russian sisters. They were so intense. (Something about them made me think of CocoRosie and I'm not sure how I feel about that.) Loved their confused shrugs at Nigel's Smirnoff joke.

Darius is a beautiful dancer. I really hated the way they had him pose during his lead-in, the 'look down then suddenly up' thing. That kind of artificiality leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it occurs during the "my tragic backstory" bit.

I suspect the show flew the Russian twins out for this, just for the spectacle of the audition.  It looked to me like they didn't speak English and kept looking off to the right to watch an interpreter who told them how to respond, which must have been charades of 'laugh', 'act grateful', etc.  And World of Dance had those Les Twins hip hop guys.  This felt stunt-like.

9 hours ago, F. M. said:

I'm betting the sisters don't get through to the end, I have a feeling what we saw, was all they know.

And I agree, they look like this is all they do.  Being in sync with your twin isn't going to help with a new partner, and to me that was most of their appeal.  

Mark Villaver reminded me a tad of Mark Kanemura of season 4, also from Hawaii.  I thought Villaver's choreo was very creative.  

I think I liked each of these performances better than a single one on two eps of World of Dance so far.   But it was nice to see dancers, in frame, on a stage that wasn't completely over-technified.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

it was nice to see dancers, in frame, on a stage that wasn't completely over-technified.  

Unfortunately that only lasts until they get to the top 20. Then we'll be back to the horribly spinny camera, unnecessary closeups, etc. I wish the show would realize that I watch for the dancing, not the spectacle of what they can technically do with cameras and lights. I'd much rather watch the routines the way we see them during auditions with a plain background and no fancy camera work. I wish I could take a bat to the spinny camera on the regular stage.

[Guest]

I know what you mean but I think SYTYCD even in top 20 mode is still way better about it than the techno-overkill that WoD has been.  

[LadyMustang65]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Unfortunately that only lasts until they get to the top 20.

Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but are they having a top 20 this year?  From what I read about the season, it sounded like the 10 All Stars were each going to pick one dancer to be in the Top 10.  And then they were going to eliminate the dancers one by one.  Does anyone know if that's correct?

[AllAboutMBTV]

Like so many others, I skipped the kids' version last season, so I'm delighted to have The Cat Deeley Show back, especially with Mary. Sure, I can do without the Hot Tamale Train and the screaming, but she knows her stuff and isn't afraid to give real criticism. Hudgens seems... fine? but doesn't seem to bring a lot to the panel other than fandom. (I had no use at all for Jason Derulo or Paula Abdul.) If they can bring Mary back, can we have Debbie Allen back, too? Or Mia Michaels? Dan Karaty? Misty Copeland? I'll even take Adam Shankman. (And Jesse Tyler Ferguson makes a nice occasional guest judge.)

No real reason to comment on the dancers shown (OK, those Russian girls gave me the creeps -- in a good way) since the Top 10 or 20 always seem to be dancers we've never (or barely) seen audition.

[cali1981]

After the Kiddies Can Dance and Let's See How Many Hip Hop Dancers We Can Get disasterous seasons, I'm just glad to see SYTYCD slipping back into its more customary groove.  Let's give Hudgens some time before passing judgement.  I have a feeling that she'll be OK.  I know that some don't agree but it's good to see Uncle Dirty and Aunt Say Goodbye To Your Eardrums play off each other again.  I have to say that Mary looked pretty good on Monday and her critiques were sharp.  There was some very good dancing on display.  It will interesting to see how the new selection process works out.  This is the description from Fox's web site:

"During the audition rounds, the most talented dancers will compete in front of the judges for a coveted spot at “The Academy” callback rounds in Los Angeles. At the end of “The Academy” callback rounds, 10 All-Stars will choose one dancer each to move on to the SYTYCD studio and become this season’s Top 10. There, the Top 10 will compete LIVE each week for America’s votes in a variety of styles, working and performing alongside the All-Stars with world-renowned choreographers. Contestants will be eliminated weekly until a winner is named on the season finale."

The All-stars are an interesting group with a wide variety of genres:

Allison Holker
Comfort Fedoke
Jasmine Harper
Robert Roldan
Fikshun
Jenna Johnson
Gaby Diaz
Marko Germar
Paul Karmiryan

Edited June 14, 2017 by cali1981

[cryptaknight]

Sounds like they're taking the Next Gen format and using it with the older dancers. If so, that's a bit of a bummer because I enjoy seeing people pair up with dancers from opposite genres and the magic that happens for a few couples each season, and we'll lose that (especially if, as with the kids, they dance mostly in their style, which is also their All Star's style). Those are the same All Stars that were on the Next Gen season.

Also, interesting that Fikshun is an All Star since he is competing on World of Dance as well.

Edited June 15, 2017 by cryptaknight

[calipiano81]

I believe Cyrus is also an All-Star (there are only 9 All-Stars listed above).

He, Allison, and Jasmine are the only 3 who were not All-Stars last season.

Edited June 15, 2017 by calipiano81

[Keekski]

I am super excited about Jasmine being back. My favorite SYTYCD pairing was Jasmine/Aaron. Anybody know what he's up to these days? I had a huge crush on Aaron.

[dcalley]

Darius earlier this year, found through an article on Bustle.com:

[Guest]

20 hours ago, cali1981 said:

After the Kiddies Can Dance and Let's See How Many Hip Hop Dancers We Can Get disasterous seasons, I'm just glad to see SYTYCD slipping back into its more customary groove.  Let's give Hudgens some time before passing judgement.  I have a feeling that she'll be OK.  I know that some don't agree but it's good to see Uncle Dirty and Aunt Say Goodbye To Your Eardrums play off each other again.  I have to say that Mary looked pretty good on Monday and her critiques were sharp.  There was some very good dancing on display.  It will interesting to see how the new selection process works out.  This is the description from Fox's web site:

"During the audition rounds, the most talented dancers will compete in front of the judges for a coveted spot at “The Academy” callback rounds in Los Angeles. At the end of “The Academy” callback rounds, 10 All-Stars will choose one dancer each to move on to the SYTYCD studio and become this season’s Top 10. There, the Top 10 will compete LIVE each week for America’s votes in a variety of styles, working and performing alongside the All-Stars with world-renowned choreographers. Contestants will be eliminated weekly until a winner is named on the season finale."

The All-stars are an interesting group with a wide variety of genres:

Allison Holker
Comfort Fedoke
Jasmine Harper
Robert Roldan
Fikshun
Jenna Johnson
Gaby Diaz
Marko Germar
Paul Karmiryan

I don't watch DWTS anymore.  Were Allison and Jenna dropped from that show or are they doing both now?  Thanks.

[cali1981]

5 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I don't watch DWTS anymore.  Were Allison and Jenna dropped from that show or are they doing both now?  Thanks.

Neither were on DWTS this season.  Allison said that she and Twitch were working on a number of projects together and that was a primary reason that she didn't return.  I suspect that there's more to than that since Allison, as great a dancer as she is, never seemed to be comfortable fit on the show.  Jenna said that she needed some self time and wanted to do other projects.  With SYTYCD back in an adult format, it will, once again, be a farm system for DWTS.

[Rahul]

So nice to have SYTYCD OG recipe back. I had to skip last year as I couldn't stomach the tiny tots edition.

The very first act was a great note to start on. There was something very special about Darius and his performance. I thought his choreography was unique and he has a very distinct and unique style which was I found almost "space-like." Very much enjoyed it.

Does anyone want to explain the story behind the Russian twins' performance? I could not for the life of me understand it. I also felt it went on a little too long...seemingly for two minutes.