SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Vegas Week

Vegas, baby, Vegas! The top dancers from all six cities have descended upon Vegas to work their asses off in an attempt to earn one of the Top 20 spots in this season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. One of the dancers who took the stage tonight will be named America’s Favorite Dancer and the winner of Season 5 of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

We’re going to see a lot of talent in tonight’s 2-hour broadcast so I’ll be sharing my thoughts on some of the dancers that I thought did a lot to stand out from the rest.

We’ve got a full crew at the judges table tonight. Nigel and Mary will be joined by Mia Michaels, Adam Shankman, Lil C and Debbie Allen. And before we get into tonight’s performances, I just wanted to send out big hugs to The Shankman. He’s having a rough week. Here’s to hoping he keeps on dancing and smiling!! We love The Shankman!

Tonight we’ll see the dancers take the stage for their solos. If they at least get one vote from the judges table they’re going to move on in the competition. Throughout the course of the week the dancers that move on will be grilled in all kinds of dance genres and techniques. Who will be goo enough to make it through?

Alex Wong really knows how to kick off a show. The dancer with Miami Ballet infuses martial art techniques into his Contemporary solo. And let me tell you, this guy was something to watch. Actually you couldn’t take your eyes off him. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so much control in a dancer. He had Mia Michaels and Debbie Allen both speechless (and let me tell you, that’s something).

Almost a quarter of the dancers are sent home after failing to impress single judge during their solos. But for those who stayed, the hard part hadn’t even started.

Hip Hop choreographers Tabitha & Napolean take the remaining dancers through a tough hip hop routine. Some just couldn’t hack it and they were cut. 37 of them to be exact.

The remaining 95+ dancers survived until Day 2. And that’s when they got their first routine by Jean Marc Genereaux.

Philip Chbeeb appeared on last year’s SYTYCD finale but he’s yet to make it to the Top 20. He struggled with the ballroom but the judge’s clearly see his potential. A big surprise to everyone was popper Nobuya Nagahama who was much more graceful than anyone expected. An emotional Nobuya gave all credit to the teachers he’s been working with over the past few months to help him prepare for this competition by exposing him to new genres of dance. Clearly his hard work has paid off.

16 more dancers are sent over after this round. Will there be 20 remaining for the show? I hope so.

Sonya Tayeh is the next choreographer to work the dancers. Her jazz routines are always interesting and this one was no exception. But the dancers who were expecting a few kicks and jazz hands were in for a rude awakening. Early favorites Brandon Bryant and Natalie Reid were singled out by Sonya as an example of two dancers who were getting it right. But later the judges weren’t impressed with Natalie, and in a rather shocking moment, she was cut. No one saw that coming. Her friend Brandon took the stage and I thought he was crazy good. Mia and Lil C didn’t agree, and they were rather rude about it. Not for nothing, but can you really blame him for the judges over-hyping him? I don’t get it. Nigel stood his ground and made sure Brandon moved on to the next round. Whew…

Another early favorite, Gabi Rojas, really struggled in Vegas. She has major trouble with Hip Hop but was given a pass (with a warning). She faltered again in the jazz round, but she was given the opportunity to dance for her life (an opportunity given to those dancers who got a 3/3 split from the judges). I’m not sure what the judges criteria was for letting some dancers (like Natalie) go so swiftly, while giving others like Gaby two, three and more chances than maybe she should have been given. But when Gabi took the stage for her solo she left no doubt what an amazing find she is. Mia Michael was moved to tears. Lil C said she was bucc (that’s a good thing). Mary, Nigel and The Shankman were all on board. And Debbie Allen passionately reminded Gabi to remember who she was as a dancer every single time she took the stage.

Can I just say how much I love this show?!

After two exhausting days of dancing, the competition isn’t nearly over. The contestants are split into groups and are given a random piece of music. Together they must choreograph and perform a routine for the judges. They have form 8pm until the next morning to make it perfect. (Side note: just in case you’ve never seen a competition-based reality show…this is when the drama starts).

Some groups were a big old mess while a few others really stood out. I can’t say I was blown away by any of them, but we were only given snippets to work with. I’ll take the judges word for it.

The only stand out group of the night was Nerdography, seemingly led by Evan Kasprzak. (And can I just take a moment to mention that I fear despite his enormous talent Evan may be kept out of the Top 20 because he doesn’t have the right “look”. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just about talent…it’s not.)

Anyway, Nerdography’s fun routine prompted one of my favorite moments of the night. A moved Adam Shankman got a little teary, which led to being mocked by Nigel, to which Adam responded:

“Don’t you make fun of me, you English bastard!”

Those moving on better have their sh#t together because you don’t screw around with a Mia Michaels Contemporary routine. As she has said many times throughout tonight’s show, Mia is a cutter. She takes pleasure in cutting dancers that aren’t good enough. She is a fierce mother frakker…and I love her.

After the choreography round we still have two sets of siblings still in the competition. Evan and Ryan Kasprzak are wildly talented in all genres and they have easily sailed through. Melissa and Caitlin Kinney haven’t had it so easy. While Melissa moved on, older sister Caitlin barely made it past her solo while dancing her for life. It was a “Yes” vote from Mary Murphy that saved her for one more day.

Jason Glover has been a Vegas standout. Has he auditioned in the past? Either that or I went to high school with this guy because he looks really familiar. (Given that I probably have at least a decade on this guy I’m banking on him having auditioned in the past).

Hip hop dancer Tony Bellisimo entertained the judges in his solo and kept his game up throughout the competition. He faltered during Contemporary but was given a second shot at Mia’s routine. The judges saw something in this kid and in one of the most emotional moments of tonight’s show, Tony moved forward to the next round. He was reduced to tears as was Mia, Adam, me and anyone else with a fully functioning heart.

And while we’re talking about Tony I just have to take a moment to mention how hands down Cat Deeley is the BEST host on TV today. What she did to try to lift him up before his performance, and the true joy she felt for him after was something to behold. She’s the best.

(Watch Tony’s Vegas journey in full)

Oh and Tony could be in the running for this year’s SYTYCD boy toy. It’s too early to say. He looks a little young for me (not that it really matters if we’re being honest).

On the final day of Vegas week, Tyce Diorio comes in to share a little Broadway routine with the remaining dancers. The Kasprzak brothers are obviously excited as this is their gig. Me, I’m just hoping Tyce pipes down tonight. Last time he was way too chatty.

For this last number the guys and the gals are being split up so each can learn their steps in a classic scene from “West Side Story”.

Some of the girls were strong and stunning, but it was clear that others just didn’t have what it took. A surprising cut from this round was tapper Bianca Revels. Bianca had grown so much as a dancer and performer since last year that I was sad to see her go. Well, that was until her exit interview when she had a little ‘tude about not auditioning again next year. But I’ll chock that up to being caught up in the emotions of the moment.

Later in the day the guys took the stage to Sharks and Jet it up. Collectively they seemed less impressive, but only a few of them were cut (as in asked to leave the show, as opposed to Mia Michael knifing them).

Tonight the dancers will show their stuff one more time in a solo performance and then the judges will select their Top 20. The montage of what we can expect tonight was brilliant, although rushed. The most disturbing moment was seeing the brothers Kasprak standing together on stage in front of the judges. If it came down to the two of them and the judges pit them against each other you better believe that Nigel Lythgoe is going to get a stern tweet from me. (I’m so bad ass).

Let’s talk favorites!! Are you excited for tonight? Should we be having a live Top 20 SYTYCD live chat? Drop me a comment below or send me a tweet to @gmmr and let me know.