SYTYCD S7 Dallas/Nashville Auditions + Vegas Week Thoughts

Wow, is that a mouthful.

So… my thoughts.

As always, I’m still processing. I’ll probably wait longer to post my thoughts after this, just because there’s so much going on, so much to talk about.

Margaret posted some spoilers earlier today and here’s the comment I put, which sums up a lot of my feelings about tonight’s episode:

Thanks, Margaret! I kinda get the feeling this is a “choreographer’s season,” more than any other. This is the time where, since they have to limit it to 10 (11) dancers, they have to decide who they most want to choreograph. And who can rise to the same level as the professionals, the All-Stars. They need dancers who are already at the “TOP 10″ part of their journey, even though we’re just now starting to watch them.

That being said, I think they’re kinda pushing the dancers through who they feel have the best chance of rising to the All-Stars’ level. And, of course they want the best *every* season, but I think it’s easier than ever for them to say to themselves, “not these season, it’ll have to be next” for dancers they might have cultivated a bit more in previous seasons. They love “journeys,” after all.

Or, as Marianya put it just now while we were chatting:

and one thing i noticed that the judges were saying when commenting on the dancers through auditions is that they are thinking in their heads, “is this someone i want to choreograph”

How about that rock star greeting Billy Bell and Alex Wong got? 🙂 They are definitely favorites – the judges’ favorites and our favorites. And they both killed their solos. Billy’s showing a lot of personality right out of the gate (like his comment about Toni Redpath, saying she’s “Nazi Barbie.”) I think Billy especially is very comfortable this season. He’s gotten to know contestants from previous seasons, danced with them, and he’s already done all of this, up to the Top 20, so he seems a lot more relaxed and just…himself.

Oh, look at me, diving straight into Vegas Week. Reeeewiiiiind….

The Dallas and Nashville auditions sucked. Seriously. I guess it was easier to stand out in those cities if you were good. Now, was this TRULY a case of the D/N auditions sucking so bad OR had the judges already found the majority of their Top 10 (11) in L.A.?

Alright. So, dancers move to L.A. (or NYC) when they’re seriously auditioning and looking for work. Most of the previous contestants have moved there, right? Especially the ones that got pretty far in the process? I know a lot of dancers try out for the show, aren’t quite ready, are encouraged to come back and before they do come back to audition again, they move to L.A. to take classes, etc. SOOOO…. I definitely get the feeling that Season 7 has more than just 12 All-Stars. I think the Top 11 contains a LOT of dancers that the judges have wanted to have in previous seasons, watched grow, etc. A lot of “judges’ favorites” to use the term that Cat said while introducing Billy and Alex.

Is that wrong? I tend to think not. It’s a way different season than normal and they’re being pretty transparent/blatant.

So, to sum up the last two audition cities – thank goodness that Brian Gaynor came back! His performance (I won’t call it an audition since everybody knew he wasn’t going through) was AMAZING!!! And I love that Nigel promised to showcase Brian’s crew on the show. Something to look forward to!

Now, for what we saw of Vegas week. Everybody’s amazing.

I love that Toni is a drill sergeant. Or “Nazi Barbie,” as Billy called her. Loooove her! Watch out Billy – look what happened to Megan Fox after she likened Michael Bay to Hitler. Lol. I looove Tyce, but he talks really loudly and makes sooo many noises during the performances. I hope he doesn’t distract the dancers. Lol. And Nigel was seriously pissing me off when he wouldn’t stop teasing Nicole about her huge hair. Seriously. Why didn’t they ask her to take it down sooner if they thought it was a serious issue? That being said, I’m glad both Nicole and Adé Chiké got to dance again to prove themselves. They both deserved it.

And, once again, amazing music! It was a tough night for finding some of the best songs, but we’re still hard at work over on the music page, so help us out if you recognized anything from tonight’s show.