Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Brooklyn + Dallas

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Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction: Welcome new listeners and upcoming schedule
3:50 – Ballet auditions: Chehon Wespi-Tschopp and Daniel Baker
7:16 – Male contemporary auditions: Leo Reyes and Jarell Rochelle
10:15 – Female contemporary auditions: Amelia Lowe and Bree Hafen
13:51 – B-boy/Street auditions: Toshihiko Nakazawa, Shafeek Westbrook and Stepheon Stewart
18:15 – “Other” auditions: Austin “Mr. Wiggles” Freeman, Sam Sheffler, Von Kipper
22:00 – The “Exorcist style” of Hampton Williams
25:16 – Wrap-up

Episode Length: 27:54

It’s the summer and you know what that means, it’s time for another amazing season of So You Think You Can Dance! We’re very excited to podcast along to the new season (long-time listeners will recall we podcasted from Vegas week onward during season 8) and watch the new crop of dancers featured for us to enjoy. If you’re a new listener, welcome! As an introduction to us and what we’re doing, feel free to check out this short post that we wrote up last year shortly after we began podcasting.

This initial podcast is a week late due to our schedules preventing us from being able to record until now. Since the second audition episode has already aired, we’re planning to record and post our thoughts on that very soon, hopefully no later than the end of the upcoming weekend. After that we’ll be all caught up and will be able to release podcasts within a day or so of the Wednesday airing.

If the first audition episode is anything to go on, this season is already shaping up to be an excellent one! In the span of just two hours there were several standout dancers featured on the program, including the new wave of male ballet dancers Chehon Wespi-Tschopp and Daniel Baker, the emotionally mature solo from Bree Hafen (not to mention her kids are adorable!), the sophisticated and musical b-boying of Shafeek Westbrook, and the show-stopping beauty that was the “Exorcist style” of Hampton Williams. Those are the dancers that intrigued us in this episode and we definitely think they will be the ones to watch during Vegas week. Of course, there were a small collection of poor auditions as well, for it wouldn’t be a reality show competition without them. But, unlike American Idol, we appreciate the positive attitude the SYTYCD judges generally take towards these individuals (for example, see the upbeat feedback they gave to Sam Sheffler).

So far so good with the auditions. Keep checking back over the next couple of days for another podcast which will cover the second audition episode.

Let us know what you think after listening to the podcast! You can leave us a comment here or on our blog, Reflections on Pop Entertainment. You can also follow us on Twitter and tweet with us. You can also visit our Facebook page, like us, and leave a comment there! We love feedback and will respond either with a comment or in our next published show.