Is it just me, or did these audition rounds of "So You Think You Can Dance" really blow by this year? We are already on the last stop on the audition tour, which means we are thankfully going to get the opportunity to get to know some of these dancers more sooner rather than later.
This final hour of the show focused on auditions in Los Angeles, which you knew was going to contain its usual combination of greatness and crazy. Here's some of the highlights who managed to come out -- both good and bad. Cue music!
Jordan Casanova - You have to love an auditioner who comes out and immediately says that they bring a "fierce" persona to the stage that is completely different than their real-life personality. Jordana was certainly this, as she pulled out all sorts of intense moves set to Beyonce music that got much of their entire auditorium hot and heavy. Of course, she went straight to Las Vegas.
Derion "D.C." Chapman - Even before this hip-hop dancer even gave a brilliant performer set to the music of Frank Sinatra (which was cool to begin with), he entertained all of us by showing Nigel Lythgoe how to do a few moves. He also has a nice story of being excited to be a father. Is he a favorite? Even though there are a ton of great hip-hop dancers this season, you have to give him a good chance. Oh, he's also off to Vegas.
Arielle Coker - This poor girl has pretty much auditioned for the show every year since season four, and this time around she brought so much energy to what she was doing that it was hard for anyone to say no to her. Although this is still early in the process, you have to think thanks to the breakdown in this routine that we could finally be seeing Arielle in the top 20.
Hero McRae - How cool is this Japanese dancer? It's hard to even put into words. She probably has traveled further than home than anyone to find success, and her robotic (in a good way) performance seems like something you would drops hundreds of bills for on a street corner (also in a good way). While it is not perfectly catered for this show it was certainly entertaining. Thankfully, the judges skipped over choreography and sent Hero (with her awesome name) straight to Las Vegas. (Random trivia -- Mcrae was at one point in dance crew We Are Heroes from "America's Best Dance Crew.")
Joe "Big C" Doyle - It took "SYTYCD" more than thirty minutes to force us into watching something ridiculous, but it finally happened -- a stripping (and krumping) Santa Claus that is going to haunt the dreams of small children for weeks. At least the guy was humble when it came to the fact that he wasn't really any good.
Alexis Mason - In what is definitely a twist, Alexis is the younger sister of Jeanine Mason, who longtime fans will remember very well as the winner of season five. So you could say that the pressure was on for her to be excellent, and by and large she was. Was she as exciting as her sister? Not yet, but the lyricism was so nice that she had to move on to Vegas.
Patty Ann Miller - What a performance! The talent for this season continues with a rarity -- a brilliant female hip-hop dancer. Patty was nervous during the performance, but came across as so endearing afterwards by getting emotional. Let's hope for variety's sake that we are going to be seeing more of her throughout season eight. We will at least be seeing her in Vegas!
Natalia and Sasha Mallory - The final two performers of the show, these two ladies managed to come out and deliver what was by and large our only real African routine of the audition process. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was fairly entertaining. The good news? They were each so solid in the choreography round that they are each heading on to Vegas -- the pair stays together!
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Overall, there is really so much to be happy about with this audition episode. In the span of one hour, we saw so much brilliant dancing and it gives us hope that this could somehow become the best season of "SYTYCD" yet. Usually this early in the season we're not hooked -- but we are this time.
Who was your favorite performer from this episode?
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