S11.E01: Auditions No. 1

[Bella]

No description, but as the title says, it's the first round of auditions. 

 

(What I like about the auditions is that sometimes we see amazing dancers who can't carry their talent through to the Final 20 but who are worth watching nonetheless.)

[Anothermi]

(What I like about the auditions is that sometimes we see amazing dancers who can't carry their talent through to the Final 20 but who are worth watching nonetheless.)

I agree.  I think I didn't watch the auditions in Season One thinking it wouldn't be worth it.  Then I had to go find them because So Much Happened in the auditions during Season 1.  Learned my lesson.  Besides it's fun trying to figure out who's in and who's not by the way they are shown.  By now we all can recognize the Sob Story Time Eating Fakeout (not put through) auditions.  Still, I've found in the past, that contestants who I knew nothing about when they were chosen for the Top 20 actually had a lot more screen time during the auditions than I realized, just no talk-get-to-know-you time.  

Edited May 25, 2014 by Anothermi

[Mya Stone]

I'm so very excited for tonight, I tucked my kids into their beds 20 minutes earlier in anticipation. (Of course, they're still awake in bed now.) 

[picklesprite]

Darn it. I was so excited for a new season, but I turned it off after the first few (real) dancers. The pacing felt terrible, the dancing wasn't thrilling, and Nigel was even more offensive than usual. It seemed embarrassingly bad. I'm turning it back on now to give it another chance. Crosses fingers. (I do love the dancer who has been supporting herself since she was 12. What a beautiful sunbeam. I hope she goes far.)

[magpye29]

I've never watched this show before, but I'm having DWTS withdrawals so I thought I'd try this.  I don't know if I'll be able to make it through an entire season of Mary (?) cackling, though--my ears are bleeding!

[susannot]

Keep going mapye29!  There is seriously some beautiful dancing on this show.

[magpye29]

Keep going mapye29!  There is seriously some beautiful dancing on this show.

Thanks for the encouragement, susannot. I like that the judges are so articulate when giving feedback.  Some of the auditions have been quite beautiful.  I'm planning to stick with it.

[ElleryAnne]

(I do love the dancer who has been supporting herself since she was 12. What a beautiful sunbeam. I hope she goes far.)

 

 

Megan Marcano.  Yeah, I thought she was one of the best of the night.  I'm rooting for her.

 

I also liked Trevor Bryce when he was dancing.  Less so when he was hamming it up for the camera.

 

Caleb seems like a nice kid, but am I horrible if I wish the sad stories were kept to only a moment or two?  

[Turkish]

Admittedly, I came in pretty late but I wasn't impressed with too many people tonight but that is not uncommon. I usually don't end up picking out favorites until I see the Green Mile episodes anyway because a lot of the people they seem to focus on and claim to be impressed by in the audition episodes usually get cut during that week. I did think the two best friends were pretty good though. Especially the ballroom dancer. And I liked Caleb. I thought both of his solos were good but I worry about his ability to pick up choreography. Something tells me he is really going to struggle in Vegas week. I missed Megan so I don't know how good she is. I guess I will have to find her solo on YT later. 

 

Now, what did get me excited was seeing the promos for next week. I saw JaJa from IAmE in there. They won the last season of America's Best Dance Crew(rip). She better make the show. If she doesn't make it this show is full of shit. JaJa is connected to previous dancers on this show through her crew members S5's Phillip and last year's Emilio who made the top 20 but bowed out for some reason. There is no way JaJa's solo isn't going to kill it. She is one of the best female hiphop dancers in the country and it's been a while since this show has had a good one of those. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by Turkish

[Toaster Strudel]

That was waaaaaaaaaaaay too much Caleb, now I don't want to see him anymore.

 

Too much contemporary.

 

I love the New Orleans Bounce guy, so glad to see him again.

 

I was sad that the exotic dancers didn't survive the choreography!  Same for the super-fabulous guy whose name I forget.  He was compelling.

 

What was that Justin Bieber vote thing?  Who is going to vote a bunch of lame-ass tap dancers over robots? 

[Turkish]

 

Who is going to vote a bunch of lame-ass tap dancers over robots?

At the end of the episode they were actually winning by a large margin. I think it was 70-something percent for the tap dancing crew. Poreotics I am already very familar with. they do some crazy stuff.  They were also on ABDC. They didn't win their season though. It will suck if they don't make it but I though the ladies were good too.

[ramble]

(I do love the dancer who has been supporting herself since she was 12. What a beautiful sunbeam. I hope she goes far.)

My youngest, who is watching this with me for the first time (yea!) loved this girl! My kiddo is an upbeat, pragmatic child who rolls with things in a positive way. She identified with the girl's attitude & is cheering for her to make it through all the way! Me too!

Why did Bieber need to introduce anyone? And why did they have the crews talk so much & dance so little? I'd definitely vote for the tappers over the robots, but I don't do the Twitter.

Even with the screeching & the skeeving I'm so glad this show is back.

[angelita100]

I was the opposite of someone above. I fell asleep and woke up at 8:15.  But a soon as I heard that first Mary cackle I did a big whooooopie!  Love this show, even the audition process.

[Princess Sparkle]

Poreotics I am already very familar with. they do some crazy stuff. They were also on ABDC. They didn't win their season though.

Poreotix did win their season (season 5), and I absolutely couldn't stand them, so I was thrilled they were losing by a wide margin at the end of the episode. I'm guessing we'll see a lot of ABDC crews in the voting going forward.

I love watching the auditions, but I have to fast forward during the personal stuff, since I'll start to prejudge a dancer based on the edit

I did like the two male ballroom dancers tonight, whereas I thought the females paled in comparison. I actually thought the ballroom dancer from Miami(Nick?) was very, very good. Can't wait to see what he can do with a partner.

I was surprised they showed Nigel being so harsh to Caleb in the initial choreo round, but then when Caleb made it later, it made a lot more sense. Still found it totally squicky when Nigel told that one dancer he knew her father had been "giving her mother the business". Not cool.

I loved, loved, loved Jenna Elfman's statement of "I like seeing the human body overcome it's limitations through dance and turn it into art." It was such a beautiful statement, but it summed up why I love watching these talented kids dance.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[90PercentGravity]

Was Caleb the guy who lost his father? I turned it off when I saw Justin Beiber. Did he get through later or something?

[Princess Sparkle]

Yeah, Caleb was the guy that lost his father. He reauditioned in Chicago, was sent to choreo again, but then made it through to LA.

[Turkish]

 

Poreotix did win their season (season 5), and I absolutely couldn't stand them, so I was thrilled they were losing by a wide margin at the end of the episode. I'm guessing we'll see a lot of ABDC crews in the voting going forward.

I think I chose to block that memory out because I wanted Blueprint to win. Yeah, I think we will see more crews from ABDC as well. I would love to see We Are Heroes, Quest Crew(who I know have already been on previously but I love them) and 8 flavahs again but I doubt we will the latter since some of that crew is still under 18 and Cam is set to play Catwoman on Gotham. 

[Rick Kitchen]

I actually thought Caleb was better last season, and was disappointed when he didn't make it through.  He did his quirky routine for last year's audition, and I looked up some of his other work online and thought his other stuff was a lot better, so I really enjoyed his Chicago audition better than his N.O. audition.  But he was really out of his element in the choreo round, and I'm a little suspicious that they only showed us snippets of his choreo in Chicago.  But I doubt if he will go very far in the next round or so.

 

The two boys from Miami were very good.  I didn't really think Marquet was as good as they said he was, and I think they're desperate for "manly" male dancers so they're salivating with the hope that he can make it onto the show.  It's hard to believe he's only 18, though.

[chocolatine]

I wasn't blown away by anyone dance-wise. Marquet is no Pasha or Dmitri, but he sure is gorgeous, so I wouldn't mind seeing more of him. Miami guys are both very charismatic, so I would like to see more of them as well.

 

I can't believe Nigel's quip about that girl with eleven siblings' father "servicing" her mother made it past editing. Disgusting.

 

I hate the sob stories. Hate them. I don't care how hard your life has been; shut up and dance.

 

Caleb kept falling out of pirouettes and was *this* close to dropping his partner. His was a pity ticket.

 

I would have loved to see more dance diversity than just contemporary/hip-hop/latin ballroom.

 

I really could have done without "the Hitler of music" (TM Silicon Valley). I'd rather that time had been used to show more dancing.

Edited May 29, 2014 by chocolatine

[Monty]

Vegas week is taking place in Los Angeles this season. Which I'm fine with, because I never thought Las Vegas added that much to the proceedings.

 

And I'm pretty sure I saw a snippet of Jabbawockeez in the montage of upcoming crews, so I already have someone to root for.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

That first half-hour was the perfect exemplar of "Phoning it in."  Wow.  Skeezy Nigel?  Check.  Lame third jidge?  Check.  Just a super poor job of editing.  Borrrrring.

 

So.  If this is about me voting for my "favorite" dancer, why are they such sticklers for form during auditions?   That flamboyantly gay dude was a hoot.  I'd vote for him every week!   Nigel has forever fallen back on this "favorite" not best tripe since the beginning.  Well, how about it, Nigel?   You tell me that quirky guy wasn't a favorite and worthy of more airtime?!

 

There was nowhere near enough Cat airtime.  Has this happened over the past couple of seasons?

 

ETA:  I am entirely over the fat folks trying to claim equivalence to the dedicated dancers who, if nothing else, are in shape.  It would be like me going to an audition for a Shakespeare production against Daniel Lewis or Kevin Spacey.  Stop.  Please.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Irritable]

This is one of my very favorite shows, I look forward to it every year, and I was so excited to watch tonight, but then...meh.  I didn't enjoy it much at all.   The dads dancing onstage were gross and embarrassing - especially the "bottle dance" one.   Nigel was gross, as usual.  The two female judges being told to go onstage to sit in chairs and be lunged and humped at by half naked men was gross.  Less gross, more dancing!

 

I am okay with a small amount of backstory if it's interesting or relevant, but if it's just dragging out a sob story for drama's sake, then it has the opposite affect on me and I get put off and start to dislike the dancer, because I detest being manipulated.  I liked Caleb okay in the beginning, and wished he would have done better in the choreography round the first time.  When he came back and did a performance that was "about" the last voice mail from his father, whatever that even means, and then played a song that LITERALLY HAD THE VOICE MAIL PLAYING IN IT, I was so done with Caleb.  Like, I was done with him in a "hey, fuck you, Caleb!" kind of way.

 

Likewise, I would have appreciated Megan more if they hadn't shown her waiting expectantly for tears to pour out of Kat, saying her story is "a lot, a lot", and then going on to say in a very rehearsed and affected way that she "managed to graduate high school, go to college, get a job", and that she is finally starting to enjoy the fact that she's so pretty, or something to that effect.  I can see that she's pretty, but the second she tells me she's pretty, it shows less.  I can see that she has trained hard and is a motivated person who has big aspirations in spite of the hard knocks she has had from an early age, but when she gets a certain look on her face waiting for everyone to react to her story appropriately because she has told it a thousand times and always gets flooded with praise and awe, well, I become less impressed by her "good attitude" and see it more as almost an entitlement that comes from having a lot of people out there hear her story and give her loads of encouragement.    I think there must be a lot more to the story than just "she was on her own since the age of 12", which implies she had to find her own food, shelter and clothing and just live by her wits like a lone gypsy, but I'm going to go way out on a limb and guess that at the very least she was in the foster care system.  I'm not without sympathy for her situation, it's incredibly sad, but lots of people have had horrific childhoods who "managed" to graduate from high school, go to college, get a job, etc.  That's called working hard for a better life, and many people have done it - probably even many of the other kids who auditioned have had to do the same thing, but didn't want to talk about their meager beginnings on the show because they want to leave it behind, and they don't see what it has to do with what they are trying to achieve now.    She is a young, beautiful girl with a lot of talent and a strong, healthy body that is the perfect instrument for her passion.  That's a lot more than so many others have.  I'm glad she has overcome a bad upbringing, but I hope very much that this is the last we have to hear of it.

 

For some reason, I was expecting to see Twitch tonight, and it was a bummer that he wasn't there.  I guess it was on Ellen, he talked about it being a big night for him because the new season was starting...maybe he was one of the choreographers that wasn't shown.  I hope he is one of the regulars this season!

[Turkish]

 

So.  If this is about me voting for my "favorite" dancer, why are they such sticklers for form during auditions?   That flamboyantly gay dude was a hoot.  I'd vote for him every week!   Nigel has forever fallen back on this "favorite" not best tripe since the beginning.  Well, how about it, Nigel?   You tell me that quirky guy wasn't a favorite and worthy of more airtime?!

Nigel has always had a bug up his ass about flamboyant male dancers so I wasn't surprised that dude didn't make it. He was a lot of fun though.

[chocolatine]

Nigel has always had a bug up his ass about flamboyant male dancers so I wasn't surprised that dude didn't make it. He was a lot of fun though.

 

 

It didn't help that the guy - Courtney - made glaring mistakes in the choreography and couldn't lift his partner. 

[Sharpie66]

I thought Megan had a vibe very similar to Ellenore (one of my favorite dancers on this show), so I am hoping she makes it. Caleb does need to work on his partnering skills-- he'll be gone early in LA. I did like the ballroom guy who had auditioned with Whitney in her season--he was very good looking--but I thought he wasn't as strong in his moves as he could have been. If he has talents in other styles, though, he could go far.

As a Chicagoan, I had to laugh at all of the "Damn, it's cold here!" stuff. Yes, it was bad this past winter!!

[Irritable]

Oh yeah!  I forgot how much I liked the ballroom guy who had auditioned with Whitney before.  At this early stage, I would already like to see him make the Top 20.

 

I really thought Courtney was just hoping to get on TV for being over-the-top,  so he could do his Wendy Williams impression, maybe get seen by RuPaul and end up on Drag Race (which I think he could do well on).  I didn't think he was there as a serious dancer...was he?

Edited May 29, 2014 by Irritable

[Turkish]

 

It didn't help that the guy - Courtney - made glaring mistakes in the choreography and couldn't lift his partner.

True. Does anybody who goes on to choreography actually go on to do well on this show in the Top 20? I don't feel like their have been many over the years that didn't automatically make it through. Whenever I hear the judges say, "lets send you to choreography" I know they are fucked and probably aren't going any further. I was surprised they let Caleb through that last time after sending him back a second time. I already know they are going to use  a lot of footage of him having a hard time during the Green Mile. I bet he gets cut midway through then they cut to him crying and talking about not wanting to let down his dead father. I have watched too much of this show over the years not to be right. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Nigel has forever fallen back on this "favorite" not best tripe since the beginning.

He only started saying that during S2 because he was pissed that Nick and Melody made it to the finals and his favorite Blake didn't make it to the top 4. In S1, they did use the phrase "America's best dancer" and as soon as S2 started, they made it a point to say that the winner would not necessarily be America's best dancer but America's favorite dancer. Nigel is still bitter. Plus that's how he justifies keeping dancers who don't do well at their assigned routines.

 

The new opening credits reminded me of this routine by a Japanese dance company:

Edited May 29, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Gardencrown]

Oh show, you pull me back in.

 

Bottle dance Dad was utterly disgusting and fame-whoreish -- it made me not like his daughter, whose name escapes me. My daughter, who was working on a presentation she's doing in history today, turned to me during him dancing and said, "Please for the love of God, make sure Dad never dances on national TV." There may be few things we can promise our children with complete certainty, but I was definitely able to do that.

 

Eleven sibling Mormon girl -- eh. She seemed like Witney and Lindsay on recycle, but not as good. I don't like that instead of getting fabulous ballroom dancers, we get these folks that are "cross-trained," which probably shouldn't be in quotes because they are, in fact, cross trained, but I feel like they're kind of jacks of all trades and masters of meh. And she was trying WAAAAAAY too hard to be sexy, which always makes me not like a dancer.

 

I liked the guy in the beanie who did contemporary and got teary because he didn't think he was a good enough dancer. (Sorry -- I suck at names until the top 20).

 

Too much backstory, even though I like Caleb (who won't make it) and Megan (who might well).

 

And I totally thought that the Miami guys were partners, as in life partners, but they were wise to audition separately as Nigel hates anything not butch. God, I hope Nigel can dial down the asshole this year. It's the shows only hope.

 

Thought Beiber looked fucking THRILLED to be there!:)

[Haleth]

Megan is stunning.  I hope to see more of her.

Speaking of stunning, it was great to see Jasmine Harper in a commercial... twice!

 

Shut up, Bieber.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The episode started off so promisingly with the first girl going straight into her audition without any sob story at all. And then of course we had to bring her dad up to do the bottle dance. I can never figure out if these parents/relatives who come up to dance are very good sports or secret attention whores, but when her dad decided he had to come back on stage and ask for a dance battle with the other dad it was pretty obvious that he's of the fame whore variety.

 

When Tanisha said she had 11 siblings and they all danced, I'm not gonna lie - I immediately thought dude, she must be from Utah. Sure enough - Utah! Although she is tall and flexible, I thought her arms were sloppy and she was relying a little too much on sexy.

 

The New Orleans bounce brothers were so fun to watch. I was cracking up at Nigel tapping the desk to make it seem like he was down with the music. I actually thought there were moments when Shane was better than Skip but who am I to question the judges, right?

 

I didn't really want to hear Megan's sob story, but it was sweet to see Cat getting so emotional listening to her story. Cat is always a delight.

 

I can always tell by Nigel's facial expression when he's about to be homophobic or rude. As expected, he played along with the Wendy Williams impression and then tried to soften the blow by telling him he should be on a sitcom. I hate his predictable double standards too. Novian was reprimanded for crying during his interview, but Nigel was moved by Caleb's sob story. Oookay. I recently lost my dad, so I feel for Caleb but at the same time, I would not go on tv to talk about it and let them film me sitting next to my mom looking sad.

 

The guy who originally danced with Witney during her audition was good but his partner's dancing looked much better in their intro package than it did during their actual audition. She seemed stiff and awkward. I knew pervy Nigel would love her though.

 

SYTYCD is now adding ABDC to the show? As much as I want to knock Nigel for co-opting ABDC but if this means that we will get to see some awesome dance groups, then fine. More dancing is still more dancing. I do wish they would have shown us a whole routine (even if only 30-60 seconds long) instead of the overedited intro packages. How am I really supposed to decide who to vote for based on watching a camera zoom in on the tapping girls' abs?

 

Although I don't need to see every moment of the choreography round, I want to see more than few seconds. Hee, even if just to see some more of Marko.

Edited May 29, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[drafan]

Crying Guy and Wendy Williams Guy could not dance with a female partner AT ALL....I was screaming at the TV....just let them be partners with each other!!!! Geez.

 

Is this show still big on the sob stories? I want to like that On My Own Since 12 Girl, but hate the pity edit.

 

The 2 guys from Miami.....egads...trying to turn them into the 2 guys from Friends. Don't they realize that show is old?

 

And Jenna Elfman going all prim and proper over the stripper dancers?? ROTFLMAO

[SistaLadybug]

I knew Tanisha was from Utah the moment she said she had 11 siblings.  I turned to my daughter and said, "She's blonde and has 11 siblings.  Totally from Utah."  Yep.  My daughter howled.

 

I also told her what to look for when every routine started, particularly Contemporary.  Look for lots of hair stroking, reaching out toward the distance for nothing, writhing on the floor in agony, leg up next to your head and showing us that your foot can flex.  All checked off.

 

I remembered Caleb so vividly from last season and was sad he didn't make it.  I was happy to see him again and the kid and I both bawled when he finally got a ticket.

 

I love this show. 

[crowceilidh]

 

Does anybody who goes on to choreography actually go on to do well on this show in the Top 20? I don't feel like their have been many over the years that didn't automatically make it through. Whenever I hear the judges say, "lets send you to choreography" I know they are fucked and probably aren't going any further.

As discussed many times on TWoP, the whole tv audition process is ostensibly a fake.  All dancers are seen by producers and go to choreography - no one makes it through to Vegas without.  Then the producers decide who they're going to show in "auditions" and that gets seen on tv.  I think this was reported and confirmed quite a while ago by actual auditioners IIRC.

[peachmangosteen]

Lackluster premiere for me. I hope it gets better.

 

I hate Megan. Like hate. She is going to be insufferable. And I know she'll make the live shows. Ugh.

 

I don't particularly care about this dance crew business, but I was very surprised and pleased that the ladies were beating the robot group.

[OakGoblinFly]

  Who is going to vote a bunch of lame-ass tap dancers over robots? 

 

 

Me, that is if I were so inclined to vote (which I am not).  I like tap dancers - it seems like a lost art to me.  While the boy group was good, I've seen dozens of groups just like them.

[Skittl1321]

Do they use girls who have already made it through to partner the men for choreography? Because otherwise, that seems supremely unfair to the women who are trying to show off their best side to end up with a guy who can't remember steps and is likely to drop them...

 

I couldn't believe the musicality of "best solo dance ever" guy. OMG I wanted the beeping and what not to stop, but his ability to use ever note was incredible.  I wanted him to stop smiling though, because I think he looked like a creepy serial killer.

 

Most of the contemporary dancing women just don't impress me. It's the exact same thing we've been seeing since season one. Do a fabulous leg extension, rise to releve to show control, flail about a bit, do some fouettes or other pirhouette.  There are many dancers who do this AMAZINGLY- but it just isn't impressive anymore when I know there are thousands of girls across the US who could do the exact same thing.

 

And do ballroom dancers come from anywhere other than Utah?  And is touching your hair way too much a standard part of ballroom dancing?

[dusang]

Does anybody who goes on to choreography actually go on to do well on this show in the Top 20? I don't feel like their have been many over the years that didn't automatically make it through. Whenever I hear the judges say, "lets send you to choreography" I know they are fucked and probably aren't going any further.

 

I'm sure there are better and more recent examples but the first name that pops to mind is Benji Schwimmer -- he went to choreo and we all know how that panned out for him.  (Even if the whole process is staged, they went to the effort of creating drama and uncertainty around Benji at that point.  There is something fascinating about the pre-taped sections because, although they know who makes it to Top 20, they don't know who will make it all the way so the editorial choices are always a bit interesting to me.)

 

Also, I've always wondered about the implicit homophobia on the show.  Is that honestly Nigel or just his pandering to Fox?  Because how can someone that homophobic have been in the dance community for so long?

[Jobiska]

I laughed at the guy (audition not shown, montage of accepted people) who came running down the hallway saying "I'm going to Vegas I'm going to Vegas I'm going to Vegas!" and an offscreen (production?) voice said "it's not in Vegas" and he said "oh" all deflated and turned around as if he were going to go back and do the run all over again.

Looking forward to the auditions in my town, Philly.  I have not watched all the seasons--did they ever audition in Philly before, does anyone recall?  Not that it matters for homegrown talent because people seem to travel from everywhere and not necessarily to the most logically close by one either!

[Steph01924]

I am okay with a small amount of backstory if it's interesting or relevant, but if it's just dragging out a sob story for drama's sake, then it has the opposite affect on me and I get put off and start to dislike the dancer, because I detest being manipulated.  I liked Caleb okay in the beginning, and wished he would have done better in the choreography round the first time.  When he came back and did a performance that was "about" the last voice mail from his father, whatever that even means, and then played a song that LITERALLY HAD THE VOICE MAIL PLAYING IN IT, I was so done with Caleb.  Like, I was done with him in a "hey, fuck you, Caleb!" kind of way.

 

Likewise, I would have appreciated Megan more if they hadn't shown her waiting expectantly for tears to pour out of Kat, saying her story is "a lot, a lot", and then going on to say in a very rehearsed and affected way that she "managed to graduate high school, go to college, get a job", and that she is finally starting to enjoy the fact that she's so pretty, or something to that effect.  I can see that she's pretty, but the second she tells me she's pretty, it shows less.  I can see that she has trained hard and is a motivated person who has big aspirations in spite of the hard knocks she has had from an early age, but when she gets a certain look on her face waiting for everyone to react to her story appropriately because she has told it a thousand times and always gets flooded with praise and awe, well, I become less impressed by her "good attitude" and see it more as almost an entitlement that comes from having a lot of people out there hear her story and give her loads of encouragement.    I think there must be a lot more to the story than just "she was on her own since the age of 12", which implies she had to find her own food, shelter and clothing and just live by her wits like a lone gypsy, but I'm going to go way out on a limb and guess that at the very least she was in the foster care system.  I'm not without sympathy for her situation, it's incredibly sad, but lots of people have had horrific childhoods who "managed" to graduate from high school, go to college, get a job, etc.  That's called working hard for a better life, and many people have done it - probably even many of the other kids who auditioned have had to do the same thing, but didn't want to talk about their meager beginnings on the show because they want to leave it behind, and they don't see what it has to do with what they are trying to achieve now.    She is a young, beautiful girl with a lot of talent and a strong, healthy body that is the perfect instrument for her passion.  That's a lot more than so many others have.  I'm glad she has overcome a bad upbringing, but I hope very much that this is the last we have to hear of it.

 

 

Yeah, I was sympathetic with Caleb about his dad, but when he clearly couldn't partner in choreo...his second audition and then making it through were total pity votes. There's just something about him that I'm not thrilled about. He needs to be cut before Top 20. I'm not sure if you meant was that the actual voicemail from his dad, but it wasn't - it's just the beginning of the Jason Mraz song. Though I totally rolled my eyes that of course he picked that song with a VM in it. 

 

Thanks for the recap on the Megan chick. Once Cat said, OMG that is so crazy, and she went, I know, I know, and kind of paused, I fast-forwarded through the rest of the nonsense and missed all of that weirdness. I was also a little perturbed at her 'on her own since 12', but since she mentioned she stayed with 10-12 people, I am guessing she was in the foster system and bounced around a lot...I can understand that must feel like she was by herself because she's the only one who would've had her best interests at heart. Hopefully, if she gets in Top 20, she'll be more exciting than her sob-story and we'll chalk it up to a lame edit. 

 

Vegas week is taking place in Los Angeles this season. Which I'm fine with, because I never thought Las Vegas added that much to the proceedings.

 

I was cracking up when everyone was being so cautious to say 'come get your ticket! full stop rather than 'come get your ticket to Vegas!!!!!' and then some kid said, Yay, I'm going to Vegas! And they're like, no no...you're not. Then Wayne Brady got up and even said, Vegas! and I laughed. Ticket to Los Angeles doesn't flow off the tongue quite the same, and I doubt they can/want to use 'ticket to Hollywood'. I wonder why they moved it. Budget reasons?

 

I liked the guy in the beanie who did contemporary and got teary because he didn't think he was a good enough dancer. (Sorry -- I suck at names until the top 20).

 

Thought Beiber looked fucking THRILLED to be there!:)

 

Contemporary guy - yeah, he was good! 

 

And UGH Bieber. I realized I haven't heard much from him lately, which has been FINE. He and his choreographer looked utterly thrilled to be there...

 

When Tanisha said she had 11 siblings and they all danced, I'm not gonna lie - I immediately thought dude, she must be from Utah. Sure enough - Utah! 

 

Me too. Especially when they showed all her 11 brothers and sisters looking roughly the same age as her. She said, my mom is a homemaker, and my husband was like, WHICH Mom? Really, because of this show, all I picture Utah to be is a beautiful landscape dotted with pretty blonde Mormon girls twirling around in unison. 

 

I kinda liked her though. It wasn't perfect, but she had some spunk.

 

I couldn't believe the musicality of "best solo dance ever" guy. OMG I wanted the beeping and what not to stop, but his ability to use ever note was incredible.  I wanted him to stop smiling though, because I think he looked like a creepy serial killer.

 

Yeah, his music was super annoying (was it just 'sounds a computer make'?) but I really liked him. 

 

Nigel barely got ten minutes in before he started with the dirty comments, eh? I think once we get through auditions, I'm just going to fast forward through his comments as a default.

 

I liked the ballroom guy who previously danced with Witney, thought the Miami guy was alright, but I did not enjoy the 'strong man' guy with the scar. It looked sloppy to me and he was annoying. I want to see more ballroom and more HIP HOP. Did we really see anyone hip hop worthy who made it?

[Skittl1321]

 

Nigel barely got ten minutes in before he started with the dirty comments, eh?

 

OMG- the comment about "servicing your Mom" was incredibly uncomfortable!

[SistaLadybug]

I laughed at the guy (audition not shown, montage of accepted people) who came running down the hallway saying "I'm going to Vegas I'm going to Vegas I'm going to Vegas!" and an offscreen (production?) voice said "it's not in Vegas" and he said "oh" all deflated and turned around as if he were going to go back and do the run all over again.

Looking forward to the auditions in my town, Philly.  I have not watched all the seasons--did they ever audition in Philly before, does anyone recall?  Not that it matters for homegrown talent because people seem to travel from everywhere and not necessarily to the most logically close by one either!

When that dude heard, "It's not Vegas", my daughter turned to me and went "...*crickets*".  Poor guy.  He was so excited.  LOL!

[Turkish]

 

I couldn't believe the musicality of "best solo dance ever" guy.

Honestly, that dude annoyed me. I wanted to like him until they started giving him that sort of praise. Which they do to dancers every year. I have watched this show for 11 seasons. That is nowhere near being the "best" solo dance in this show's run. Not even top ten. Entertaining? Sure. But THE best? Whatever.

 

And I'm tired of Nigel constantly being allowed to be gross with the young females and their mothers on the show but nobody calls him out on his obvious distaste for effeminacy in male dancers year after year. The only time I've seen any criticism about it in the media is on gay-centered websites like AfterElton. It is especially laughable to me that he does his homophobic schtick every year when you consider that a good number of the male dancers who do come through this program are gay. They are not out on camera of course but they are very much out in their public lives outside of the show and I have always wondered what they think of Nigel's behavior. I remember when Benji came out a year or two ago he did an interview where he talked about how save for the hip-hop guys most of the males that come through the show are either out gay guys or guys that still hadn't figured it out yet like him. I'm sure Nigel is well aware of this so I guess I should say his problem doesn't so much seem to be homosexuality in general but just effeminacy in male dancers because not all gay men who dance are effeminate. Ade certaintly isn't.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Turkish

[OakGoblinFly]

Shut up, Bieber.

 

 

Because this cannot be said enough -- SHUT UP, BIEBER!!

 

Couldn't the show find a better person to introduce the dance crews?

[ctmd]

I was quite upset that SYTYCD included Bieber in the show. Not only has he gotten so much bad press lately for his very bad behaviors, but his red, puffy eyes made it fairly clear that he was actively high during the filming. Seriously, even the makeup people couldn't make him look less stoned? It was just shameful to me. And it's not like Bieber is known for being some incredible dancer- he's not relevant to this show in any way!

 

Other than that, I'm very happy to have my show back. I wait all year for this :)

[Shades of Red]

And I totally thought that the Miami guys were partners, as in life partners, but they were wise to audition separately as Nigel hates anything not butch.

 

You're not alone in this.  I thought they were faking the "we're so into girls/women" thing to make it through the auditions as they must know how homophobic Nigel is and how he wants "masculine" dancers.

 

Nigel and his dirty old man comments needs to stop ASAP!  How uncomfortable and rude especially given the age of most of these dancers.  Speaking of age, I'd really like to see some more "mature" dancers instead of all the really young ones.  I discovered this show late so missed the first few seasons, but I understand the dancers from the initial season or two were in an older age group - as in "over 21".

 

Why show do you have Justin Bieber promoting dancers?   If budget is an issue then why did you pay him to show up as I'm sure he doesn't work for cheap?!  I won't vote, but if I did, I would find it easier to make a judgement on dance groups if I actually saw an entire routine instead of little snippets of one along with lots of filler.

[luvthepros]

...... I missed Megan so I don't know how good she is. I guess I will have to find her solo on YT later. ....

 

 

Megan is captivating. I would not be surprised to see her in the Top 20. I'll be rooting for her for sure!

http://youtu.be/SryaSdnj73w

[Hana Chan]

Nigel's emfemiphobia has been irking me ever since Kupono was on the show. Not every guy is going to be a powerhouse who can forklift a female partner who might well weigh nearly as much as he does. That doen't prevent them from being amazing dancers and giving some of the best performances (the way Kupono and Kayla did with the Addiction dance in their season). And he is still totally gross when it comes to the female dancers. It's like dealing with your redneck uncle (who happens to be disguised as an older, cultured Englishman).

 

I try not to get too excited at this stage and start picking out favorites since most of the time, they don't make it through Vegas week. There were some very talented kids up there but Jesus on a cracker... can the contemporary girls do more than the usual angsty grasping, flailing movements? The form allows for so much more.

[Turkish]

Isn't Nigel married? That just makes his behavior even more creepy.

[Steph01924]

Honestly, that dude annoyed me. I wanted to like him until they started giving him that sort of praise. Which they do to dancers every year. I have watched this show for 11 seasons. That is nowhere near being the "best" solo dance in this show's run. Not even top ten. Entertaining? Sure. But THE best? Whatever.

 

I chalk this up to Nigel having the memory of an old man and also just wanting to create punchy 'sound bites' for the show. "Best EVARRRR!! OMG!" like that is going to make me immediately stop what I'm doing to watch and agree brainlessly. I feel like most things Nigel says are so hyperbolic and ridiculous. I've made it a game with myself now to see if I can guess when they're going to pull that phrase out before they say it.