I don’t think So You Think You Can Dance will be returning to Nashville anytime soon. You’d think Music City would have a thriving dance community to compliment their thriving music scene. But, if the turnout at SYTYCD is any indication, the city is full of peeps with two left feet.
About 15 minutes of tonight’s episode was devoted to Nashville, focusing on a pile of bad dancing. (except for the street dancer with scoliosis–Brian Gaynor. He didn’t make it to Vegas, but Nigel promised that he and his crew could dance on one of the live episodes. Poor guest judge, Broadway dancer, Joey Dowling traveled all the way to Nashville for pretty much nothing.
Dallas showed more promise, with several of standout dancers catching the judges attention. Tyce Diorio and new judge, ballroom dancer, Toni Redpath joined Nigel on the panel.
But, dancers who seemed to do so well in Dallas sorta crashed and burned once they got to the Vegas round. The second hour left the auditions behind, and right away, we dove into Vegas week drama.
Vegas judges panel: Lil C, Mary Murphy, Tyce Diorio, Adam Shankman, Toni Redpath and Nigel Lythgoe.
We get another look at two dancers who were permitted to skip Season 7 auditions altogether to compete in Vegas.
Alex Wong would have made the Top 20 Season 5, except that he had a contract with the Miami Ballet he could not break. Billy Bell was all set to compete in the Top 20 Season 6, when, just as the live rounds were set to begin, he came down with an illness and was forced to drop out.
Dancers performed through injuries, hair traumas (I don’t know about you, but that chick danced exactly the same with her hair down) and revealed their lack of versatility (It’s usually a terrible idea to send street dancers straight to Vegas).
Plus, contemporary dancer, Adé Chiké Torbert decided it would be awesome to tap his way through his solo audition in Vegas. Wrong. He becomes the first SYTYCD Season 7 contestant to dance for his life…
After the jump, check out a few notable performances from tonight’s episode.
Video after the JUMP…
Robert Rolden – 18 – Thousand Oaks, CA Audition City: Dallas
Alex Wong – 23 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Vegas Solo audition
Billy Bell – 19 – West Palm Beach, FL – Vegas Solo audition
AdéChiké Torbert – 22 – Queens, NY – Dances for his Life
