So You Think You Can Dance – The most entertaining auditions of the season

So You Think You Can Dance has the ability to do many, many things to me when I watch it.

It can piss me off to no end. It can frustrate the bejeebers out of me when things go awry. It can bring me great joy in watching someone do things with their body I never thought possible. And it is one of the few shows which can regularly bring me to tears at the sheer beauty of movement.

I’m going to call out all three of the four things mentioned above — and no, weren’t any tears this time ’round:

The Pissed Off Angle: There’s no doubt whatsoever Joshua Alexander has got technique when he dances. But that technique is extremely frantic. And for that reason alone I got ticked that Nigel, Mary and Debbie put him right through to Vegas without a stop at choreography first. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt the need to for him to further prove himself by being pushed in choreography in order to further verify he can pull off moves not just of his own accord but under direction. I’ll be glad to eat my words if he ends up going far in the competition, but I don’t think he will. Granted, he’s good … but not that good.

The Frustrated Angle: Similarly, I was skeptical of Janelle Issis and her belly dancing self. Yeah … outstanding moves and control, but what else can she do? Can she pull off the rigors of being directed in a particular form? Or is she a one trick pony? At least the judges came to their senses and made her go to choreography before putting her through because I did snap at my television set: “What are you going to do? Put her through, too?!?” when she was finished with her set. I got a little justification there with the judges’ decisions.

The Great Joy Angle: It’s no secret I like the audition rounds of competition shows; you get the opportunity to see some real gems in the wave of competitors sometimes. One gem was Courtney Kirby who I’m calling out as one of the top contenders this season. The girl has got awesome control and range in her body and she has the ability to go very, very far on the show … mayhap right to the top. Remember where you heard it first.

Special mention must go out to the Dragon House crew, the trio of performers who want us to wonder how they do what they do. Each one of those boys — Boris Penton, Andre Rucker and Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer, all of whom advanced straight through to Las Vegas — was deserving in his own right. Each one bested the one before him in his own way with the last of them, “Glitch,” putting on a show that simultaneously had me thinking of Twitch who we originally saw on season 4.

Notes:

• “The Wobble” … ??? It ain’t no big thing.
• It will be interesting to see the diamond-in-the-rough Brittany Ortner (from “Chicken Town”) come unto her own through the discipline of SYTYCD. I would like to see her improve, improve and improve to the best of her
• ability on this show and shine like there’s no tomorrow.
• Asher Walker: I’ve never seen James Brown interpreted in such a manner before. And Mary Murphy is absolutely right: The dude exudes entertainment.
• George Lawrence II has got uncanny and incredible control.
• While Danielle Dominguez’ “bacon diet” sounds terrific, as with anything I’m certain it could get old real quickly.
• Lastly, I agree with Nigel: You don’t need to include the quirky abilities of being able to fart with your neck or lick your elbow on your bio, Audrey Case.

Quote:

“This is either going to be horrific or terrific …” — Mary Murphy commenting on what she thought Tim Conkel’s performance would reveal

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Jun 07, 2012 @ 10:34 EST5EDT