S15.E03: Auditions 3 2018.06.18

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The judges make their way to New York with the hope of finding even more exceptional talent.

[LexieLily]

Can we keep tWitch as a judge all the time? He was the only one of the four to correctly assess that Baby from Dirty Dancing will get eaten alive in Hollywood. (And really, if people "always" call you Baby, how did she not get that setup for the obvious "Nobody puts Baby in a corner!" joke?)

Orange Grove girl might have been a good dancer but I was put off by her video package where she talked about how her family lost their groves, lost their livelihood, lost their land, but always found the time and place to put her in a dance class. Like, I'm sure you like to dance, chick, but your family probably had more pressing matters to worry about (finding a house, for starters) then to find a dance class for your little entitled butt.

*Hollywood is American Idol. Vegas is So You Think You Can Dance. Ooops. I still consider it to be Vegas Week even though they renamed it The Academy.

Edited June 19, 2018 by LexieLily

[crowceilidh]

I actually feel like tWitch is trying to prove to them that he'd be a better judge.  And how can they not see how amazingly superior he is as a judge?  Only person I'd like to see more is our old pal lil'C or maybe Dan Karaty.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

I actually feel like tWitch is trying to prove to them that he'd be a better judge.  And how can they not see how amazingly superior he is as a judge?  Only person I'd like to see more is our old pal lil'C or maybe Dan Karaty.

I would love to see Misty Copeland as a judge again. She gave great feedback. 

[Lily H]

Did anyone else find it annoying that not 2 minutes after we saw the judges supposedly agreeing that only the very best were going to be put through, 3 of the 4 immediately forgot that when faced with the juvenile and lackluster dance stylings of Rachel "everybody calls me Baby" Blanchard? Only tWitch made the correct call on that one.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Evan DeBenedetto:

Victoria Neukom:

Gabriel Alvarez:

Jordynn & Elan Lurie:

Emily Carr:

Kyle Bennett Jr.:

Edited June 19, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Emily was what I expect from a contemporary audition. I'll be interested to see how she does later. She has a lot of natural flexibility so I hope she is careful with herself. People who are naturally flexible like that are more susceptible to injuries.

I live in an area that has a lot of circus arts so I've seen some very talented cyr wheel performers. I knew that even the best wouldn't impress the judges so even before Gabriel started, I knew he had an uphill battle. I was so annoyed when Nigel said that Gabriel's second bit didn't have anything he hasn't seen in breakdancing in the last ten years. Why doesn't he say that about tappers or contemporary dancers? 99% of those dancers aren't showing us anything innovative or new and they aren't expected to be.

I wasn't surprised that Evan the tapper got through. If you're a competent tapper, it's an automatic yes from the judges (which is not a knock on tappers, just an obvious bias from the judges). Heh, I guess if you're going to get cut, it might as well be for the eventual winner.

How did Rachel/Baby get through? Her technique was not great, her flexibility was not great, she had no height in her leap, and she was so awkward in so many areas (her hands were awkward, her shoulders were hunched forward, etc) and her movement quality was weak. Immature was a good way to describe it. Most of the time her performance quality was on par with a kiddie dance recital in that she knew the steps but she wasn't performing them 100%, so I get the judges' assessment of her as juvenile. Ironic that she said people at her studio call her Baby from Dirty Dancing because she had spaghetti arms like Baby. It just looked like she wasn't totally committed to any of the movement, particularly in her arms which were weak and loosie goosie.

Kyle the animation/tutter was a bit overpraised but I do agree that he had some nice crisp angles and boxxes.

Victoria the contemporary dancer had a ot of strength and control. I don't think her backstory did her any favors. Your family lost your farm, your house, and your land because of the orange groves getting some disease but they always made sure you had dance classes? Okay then. I always get annoyed when Nigel decides to apply his uneven standards to different dancers. This girl had too much gymnastics in her routine but the very first girl who auditioned this season didn't? Bitch, please.

The Bulgarian twins Gratsiela and Desislava seemed very sweet and positive but their dancing was below average. They are the kind of contestants who I would say they should keep dancing because it obviously makes them happy but it was not nearly good enough to get them to the next round. Their choreography wasn't doing them any favors.

I loved seeing the footage of Elan and Jordynn the salsa dancers doing their first performance at Elan's bar mitzvah was great because i shows just how far they've come since their early days. They had some good moments but I kept noticing how weak Jordynn's arms were. Nowhere near as weak as Baby's, but they definitely caught my attention. Good spotting though.

[Quickbeam]

I'd like the judges to step up more against tumbling as dancing. I was glad to see some comments made but a series of walk overs and hand springs is not dance. To me.  Or yoga poses for that matter. 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Quickbeam
addition

[displayname]

Weak.

[Tikichick]

Absolutely thought I was hallucinating when they let Rachel Baby through.  Kept waiting for the reveal about who mom is.  The face was familiar but I couldn't figure it out.  I expected someone from eighties TV or movie.  That is literally the only explanation I could come up with for giving a ticket to a "contestant" who nine year old comp kids would wipe the floor with. 

Salsa mom judge was also familiar.  What was up with the fleshtone panties under the red dress in the salsa audition?  Have I suddenly grown a prudish bone in my body or was that pretty icky for anyone else?

Love Twitch just for being Twitch, but he really shows the value of knowledgeable judges -- and really emphasizes the pointlessness of Vanessa.  I've been begging for the return of Lil C for years.  I'd love to see Dan Keraty as well.  Just don't take away Mary and don't let Twitch go anywhere!

[Tikichick]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I would love to see Misty Copeland as a judge again. She gave great feedback. 

I loved that Misty was so knowledgeable and genuinely seemed interested in the efforts of the dancers.  A few times I felt like she was picking nits at the level of something dancers have been rehearsing for months, versus a competition situation where you have dancers out of their element learning new choreo along with the technique of a new genre in days.  IMO she frequently pecked at faces when technique was surprisingly great and performance quality was very high.   I may not be able to speak to the technical details she understands with ease, but when it comes to performance quality I feel qualified to say she was often harsh for no reason.

[Brookside]

10 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

 

  What was up with the fleshtone panties under the red dress in the salsa audition?  Have I suddenly grown a prudish bone in my body or was that pretty icky for anyone else?

 

I don't think you're being prudish,.  It was incredibly distracting.  Every time she was flipped my immediate reaction was "Why is she naked underneath the dress?" 

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

Salsa mom judge was also familiar.  What was up with the fleshtone panties under the red dress in the salsa audition?  Have I suddenly grown a prudish bone in my body or was that pretty icky for anyone else?

It was an appalling choice of costuming. After about 10 seconds, the audience was dragged into a inadvertent game of "Spot the Crotch."  A nice matching panty would've done the trick.

I sincerely hope someone puts Baby in the corner...of the Academy. I have a great smile--I am glad to know I have a chance at a dance career!!

[LadyMustang65]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I live in an area that has a lot of circus arts so I've seen some very talented cyr wheel performers. I knew that even the best wouldn't impress the judges so even before Gabriel started, I knew he had an uphill battle. I was so annoyed when Nigel said that Gabriel's second bit didn't have anything he hasn't seen in breakdancing in the last ten years. Why doesn't he say that about tappers or contemporary dancers? 99% of those dancers aren't showing us anything innovative or new and they aren't expected to be.

I said much the same thing to my husband last night.  I am so sick and tired of them telling the b-boys that they need a "signature" move and complaining about not seeing anything new when we sit through a bazillion and a half contemporary dancers who are absolutely indistinguishable from each other.  Angst, bicycle feet, stretch your arm out, jump, hold your head and look distressed, etc.  It's the same damn thing over and over again.  Yet no one ever tells them they didn't show us anything new. 

And what was up with them saying they were only going to put the best through, and then they proceeded to put through multiple sub-par dancers that even they said needed improvement?  Your transitions were terrible, you fell out of your spin, you need to work on your emotions, you need to keep working . . . come get your ticket.  Jeez Louise, there's going to be a ton of cannon fodder at the Academy.  

Only ones we really liked last night were the tapper and the animator/tutter.  We thought they were very good.  "Baby" should have been sent home.  The twins should have been sent home.  I agreed with Twitch that the guy with the wheel should have gone through . . . at least given the other crap dancers they put through.  (Not that he was a crap dancer, because we thought he was pretty good, but he was definitely better and more interesting than some of the ones they put through.)  The salsa dancers didn't really wow us, and I wasn't sure why until I read the comments about the 'nude' panties, and I think that was the issue.  It was very distracting and made me feel kind of icky to watch.  WhineandCheez is right - matching panties would have been the way to go.

Overall, this was a very ho hum set of auditions, we thought.

[Tikichick]

Seems like the last time they gave a ticket to a dancer with a wheel she won.  I believe Eliana auditioned with the wheel and also performed some ballet if I remember correctly.

No, no, wheel not enough dancing.  Breaking moves weren't innovative enough.  "Academy is going to be pretty special this year.  We've got to be selective."

"No need to stand in the corner, Baby, come get your ticket." ?????!!!!

[hnygrl]

Okay, when I'm wrong, I admit it.

 

I was wrong.

This show WITHOUT the choreography round?

Ridiculous.

They're no better than AGT. They send nearly EVERYONE through - whether they can DANCE dance or not. 

Now y'all know....

Fully 99.8% of the folks we've seen these last 3 weeks WILL NOT make it past day ONE of the "academy."

What a waste of time. And it makes for a more boring show. The "real" dancers get 22 seconds while the crap act with the sob story gets 9 minutes. MOST of these people would never have made it past Choreography.

 

They need to bring that back next year. This year's auditions are boring me. Something I never thought I'd say.

[Anothermi]

6 hours ago, Tikichick said:

Seems like the last time they gave a ticket to a dancer with a wheel she won.  I believe Eliana auditioned with the wheel and also performed some ballet if I remember correctly.

Close. She did a lot of Arial work: from a hoop to ribbons and a pole. She went to Joffrey school but did a contemporary audition well laced with ballet moves. The show gave her a vignette of all her Cirque du Soliel stuff pre-audition.

[Terrafamilia]

The first gal started the show off with a bang but it sort of petered out after that.

The returning tap dancer - I just wasn't feeling it. His arms were too flaily and the performance a bit s****** (plus, the holes in his slacks really bugged). He managed to just miss the cut the last time so I know he must be pretty good but that routine didn't do him any favors.

I did notice the strength issue with the salsa guy. There was a point where she was lying horizontally on his shoulders and he went to press her over his head and the effort was quickly aborted.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I don't have a brother, but if I had one as my dancing partner, I think it would ultimately hold me back. God forbid something turn out too sexual or when we're practicing lifts he accidentally grabs my flesh-colored panties instead of my leg. Their moves were labored, even the girl with the unfortunate colored panties.

"Baby" needs to go in a corner and stay there. It was awkward to watch her and I'm flummoxed they let her through. What a waste of time.

I hope we get to see Emily's sister dance in a future SYTYCD. My back hurt watching her though.  

Vanessa's outfit reminded me of this moment in Anastasia: 

 I kept expecting her to drop her coat and do the hip jut. 

[ramble]

Meh. I wasn’t overwhelmed by anyone. The Baby girl was weak. The salsa dancers were bland. The contemporary girls must’ve all blended together because I don’t recall any one specifically. The tapper was okay but he didn’t draw me in. The tutter guy was fine but nothing I’ll remember. Just meh. 

Edited June 20, 2018 by ramble
Forgot an apostrophe. Just a symbol to remind you that there's more to see

[realdancemom]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:55 AM, Tikichick said:

Seems like the last time they gave a ticket to a dancer with a wheel she won.  I believe Eliana auditioned with the wheel and also performed some ballet if I remember correctly.

No, no, wheel not enough dancing.  Breaking moves weren't innovative enough.  "Academy is going to be pretty special this year.  We've got to be selective."

"No need to stand in the corner, Baby, come get your ticket." ?????!!!!

In her pre-package Eliana showed pole dancing.  However, her audition did not use a pole or wheel.  It was a contemporary ballet piece on pointe that was done very well.

 

Agree with you and everyone else that Baby should not have been sent through.  As somebody else mentioned, there are kids that are better than her.  I did watch the Junior version of SYTYCD.  It was not my favorite but compare Tate with Baby.  This is her academy audition.

 

This is her first audition: 

 

OK, she does do the angsty face since she's young.  But technique wise, she's miles above Baby. 

Agree that I like Evan the tapper and Kyle the tutter.  Also agree that watching the nude flesh tights on the salsa girl was very distracting.

[displayname]

Haven't seen "baby". Where can I find the audition?

[Token]

These judges drive me nuts, and not in a good way!  I thought the hoop dancer (Gabriel) was amazing at what he did and showcased a form of dancing not seen on the show before.  Then the judges reject him, saying that he didn't show them anything special.  Are you f'ing blind?  Then generic tapper A, generic contemporary flailer B, etc all make it through to rave reviews.  I don't think these judges even know what they want.

[Sharpie66]

A guy auditioned with a hoop a few years ago and didn’t make it past choreography. It was a beautiful routine, but he couldn’t actually, you know, DANCE.

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

A guy auditioned with a hoop a few years ago and didn’t make it past choreography. It was a beautiful routine, but he couldn’t actually, you know, DANCE.

Is he the one that Nigel decided was too gay??? The dancer said something like "No one thinks I'm too effeminate when I dance with my hoop."

[Sharpie66]

No, this one is from 2012, and he was a circus performer. In rewatching it just now, I realize he had a nice leap before starting the hoop portion, but that was it for dancing. See it here: 

[Miss Dee]

I agree that if you want to do a few hoop tricks to show verstility, do so, but make it part of a genuine dance audition.

I normally try not to get prejudiced against dancers before I see them in the actual contest, but: hoo boy, did Baby ever rub me the wrong way. Her routine was laughable. She got in for one reason only: that "Oooh, I'm so innocently sexy and sexily innocent!" vibe she was hustling for all she was worth. Watch her become one of the Top Ten girls on that alone (I'm behind, so this is my speculation) because #metoo can't change the world fast enough.

Oh - and so far, Emily is the only dancer I've seen go through so far that isn't BBC (Bread 'n' Butter Contemporary). I felt her movements were trying to show actual emotion, which is a cut above the usual contemporary audition.

Edited August 8, 2018 by Miss Dee
Wanted to add something positive