SYTYCD 7: Las Vegas “Special Mentions”
So while watching the show, again (and again and again)… I noticed that after the first solos of Vegas Week and cutting twenty-odd dancers, the judges called up about fourteen dancers because they believed that this group of dancers deserve a “special mention”
I don’t know if this was ever done in a previous Las Vegas week, but I found it kind of intriguing that they called out fourteen dancers (five men and nine women) for a special mention because the judges seem to like them a lot… is this an indication of who could possibly be in the Top 10 this season?
Of the names and faces I was able to catch:
Women (9):
– Giselle Peacock (New York) – Ballroom
– Ida Saki (Dallas) – Contemporary
– Alicia Clifton (Dallas)
– Arielle Coker – Contemporary?
– Lexie Contursi (Los Angeles) – Contemporary [black jacket w/ white zipper, off-white flower patterned top]
– Lauren Froderman (Los Angeles) – Contemporary/Jazz [green top, black shorts, shorter blond hair]
– Rebecca Hart (Dallas) – Contemporary [blonde, black two-piece w/ white overlay top (same outfit from Dallas auditions)]
Men (5):
– Billy Bell (Las Vegas) – Contemporary
– Alex Wong (Las Vegas) – Ballet
– Anthony Burrell (New York) – Contemporary
– Kent Boyd (Ohio) – Contemporary
– Dujuan Smart – Contemporary
If anyone could help complete the list, that’d be great… Just leave a comment or contact us with information!
The judges are known to have favorites from season to season, and those that don’t make it for any reason in a particular season, are known to come back in a future season. Some come back multiple times (Hok Konishi, Bianca Rivels), some were given free passes to Vegas week (Phillip Chbeeb, Nathan Trasoras), or some have worked with the choreographers before (Lauren Gottlieb) or they happen to be related to past contestants in some capacity and as thus know the judges/choreographers via association… so even if any of the above don’t make it this season, the fact that they already seem to have caught the eyes the judges I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them in a future season.
[Addendum] So I was watching last night’s episode again and couldn’t help but wonder, had Adechike Torbert not danced tap during the morning solos of Vegas week… and instead danced contemporary… would he have been part of the “Special Mentions”? At the same time, had he danced contemporary instead of tap, he may not have had the opportunity to “dance for your life”. What’s done is done, but it’s fun to speculate!
the blonde with the white headband, she looks like Ryan Ramirez but I know she’s not, she looks very familiar though.
I thought it was kind of cool for them to get a little shout out, I thought they all were really good (esp Alex, Billy, and Anthony) I wish we had seen some of the other solos though. I wanted to know why Tyrell Rolle got cut after his amazing audition in Miami.
I really want to see Arielle Coker make the show. This is her fourth season trying out.
Margaret – I was thinking that too. I do like that they were given a special mention, but it’s kind of like the judges were saying, “this is what we expect you guys to be… this is the bar that we want you to exceed.”
Some pressure >.< Chad - this is Arielle's FOURTH!?!? I knew she auditioned two other times and that this is her third, once with Phillip and once with another guy the season prior to Phillip making Top 20... unless it was Season 6?
They are all excellent dancers. I wouldn’t read too much into it though – they like it at this point based on what they’ve done so far, but they can still be eliminated. It’d be interesting to see how many of them will get to top 10.
I believe one of the girls was the girl whose mother is from Iran and wasn’t allowed to dance. I really liked her solo.
I also want Arielle in the top 10. I’ve been watching her for a while and I LOVE her. She and Phillip did a tetris tutting routine that is on youtube and is totally fabulous.
I don’t understand why SYTYCD makes it so hard for us to figure out who is who in which group. The producers know that we’re trying to follow the competition, so they could at least let us know what’s happening to whom. I resent being forced to obsessively view and review teeny snippets of tape in frustrating and futile attempts to get the info I’d like to have. At least, the names of the people in the different groups could be posted on the website somewhere. (E.g.,, cut with first group; commended; etc.)
I love Kent Boyd, Adrian Lee, Billy Bell, Nicole (the one with Marge Simpson hair), and Ida Saki (the Iranian girl whose mother was not allowed to dance).
Mariana–four times. Her first time was season 4, and she’s auditioned every season since (4, 5, 6, 7). So yep, four.
eeps!! 😀
LOVE LOVE LOVE Billy Bell!!!! So glad he’s back. hope the judges can still see the great performer in him among all the talented dancers.
And Kent Boyd’s growing on me. Really hope he makes the show or I’ll be so disappointed. He reminds me a little of Jakob. Haha. :DDD
This is a vid of Kent Boyd on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxbI_MHK5rg&feature=channel
He’s amazing. :DDD
Dujuan Smart is amazing. quite sad that they have not featured him much so far this season.
At least they’ve showed Anthony Burrell! yay! he’s gonna be an even bigger star if he gets on the show!
http://www.myspace.com/anthonyrasheed
hope they along with alex wong and billy bell make the show!
and ida saki!
this season is gonna be sick!! i hope…
I have a correction to make. Anyone who watches the show knows that Kent Boyd is from Wapakonetta Ohio! Not Chicago.
Kristen – Yes, we all know.. but at the same time the cities in parentheses are the cities they auditioned in… not the cities they are from.