SYTYCD SEASON 6 EPISODE 8
It was day two of the Las Vegas round of auditions. Less than half of the semi-finalists remained in the competition. The day started off with pop jazz choreography led by Laurieann Gibson. She’s a tough choreographer, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind to the dancers on stage.
Karen and Matthew Hauer are the married ballroom dancers that we first saw at Boston auditions. They nervously took in Laurieann’s choreography, and Karen was getting really stressed out. When it was time to perform for the six judges (Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Mia Michaels, and Tyce Diorio), Karen barely scraped through to the next round. Unfortunately, Matthew didn’t make it out of pop jazz choreography, and Karen was really upset when she had to say goodbye to her husband.
Nigel had to stop the following group mid-dance because no one was emoting or dancing powerfully. Contemporary dancers Mollee Gray and Billy Bell were in the next group to take the stage. Nigel said, “Mollee, you’re dancing like a little girl.” He said there’s a reason why you have to be 18 to be on this show, and he wants her to start dancing like a woman. Dancing in the same group as Mollee and Billy was Russell Ferguson. He’s the first krumper to make it this far in the competition. After watching him dance, Nigel asked Russell if he’s ever had any formal training, and Russell said he hasn’t. Nigel told Russell, “You’re doing so well. Keep up the good work.” Mollee, Billy, and Russell made it to the next round of auditions; however, Mollee limped off the stage. She didn’t want anyone to know that she injured her ankle during contemporary choreography, but the pain became unbearable and she had to see the medic and go to the hospital.
At the end of pop jazz choreography, six dancers were cut including ballroom dancer Iveta Lukosiute and same-sex ballroom dancer Willem de Vries.
It was 9pm on day two, and the remaining 69 dancers were called to the stage. Cat mentioned that the grueling day was not over. The dancers were broken up into groups and each group was given a CD with one song on it. The groups had to choreograph a routine to the music and perform it for the judges the next morning. Many of the groups found the experience to be tense, but one group found it to be easy and enjoyable. Russell Ferguson, Paula van Oppen, Pauline Mata, Jakob Karr, and Jacki Ford listened to their Broadway music and began choreographing. They felt confident after just one hour of working together and were finished by 11pm.
Russell’s group was the first to go to bed and the first to perform the next morning. Their routine was a really fun one with a lot of personality. Nigel called the dance “inventive” and “creative.” The judges had nothing negative to say, and they only had love for this group of five talented dancers who moved on to the next round.
After a montage of group dances, Tyce said, “Be amazing every time, and if you’re not, you’ve got to go.” The last group of the morning had a tough night. Their fifth member, Mollee, injured her ankle and went to the hospital so her group had to start choreographing without her. Mollee arrived 2 hours into rehearsals at midnight and revealed that her ankle is very badly sprained. Luckily, Mollee’s group brought her up to speed and they rehearsed all throughout night. When they took the stage for the judges they performed their emergency ward themed group routine, where Mollee got to play a character with an ankle injury. Mia said, “As a whole package, I thought it was stupid.” Nigel thought the dancers hid behind the characters instead of dancing. However, he liked that they improvised with the problem of Mollee’s ankle. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the entire group advanced in the competition.
It was the middle of day three in Vegas and it was time for the round that makes everyone nervous – contemporary with Mia Michaels. After seeing a montage of Mia’s scarier moments set to Halloween music, Mia calmly took the stage and led the dancers in yoga and a spiritual approach to entering the next session of dance. When Mia was done teaching, she was met with a line of hugs from the dancers.
One of the first contestants to dance was Kevin “K’Bez” Hunte, who made it until the very end of Vegas auditions during Season 3. He was back to prove himself this season and the judges went wild over Kevin’s footwork and mastery of Mia’s choreography. Mia said, “I cannot get over his technique.” Tyce told Kevin, “You’re amazing because you take the reigns and go.” Tyce and Nigel called him brilliant, and Kevin was excited to show that hip hop dancers can master all genres of dance. Russell, Billy, and Mollee all performed well during the contemporary round of auditions too.
At 3pm, only one hip hop dancer was left – Legacy. He had to dance for his life after the previous day’s Cha Cha routine, so he needed to nail this style of dance. The pressure overwhelmed Legacy and he was crying by time rehearsals were done. Legacy performed for the judges, and when he was called to the microphone to find out his fate, Mia asked Legacy how he was felling. He said that she changed something inside of him and he began to cry. “It’s your energy. Just your movement means something and you just made me a better dancer,” Legacy told Mia. Mia agreed and said, “We all think that you were a better dancer today and you exposed yourself in a beautiful way.” Mia called him “perfectly imperfect.” Legacy was so pleased that he was moving on in the competition and amazed that he came out of his shell to experience a whole new world of dance.
Contemporary choreography sent 11 dancers home. Overwhelmed by the grueling day of choreography, Russell took a break in the hallway to call his mom and admitted, teary-eyed, that he made it through.
Day 4 in Vegas began with over a hundred fewer dancers than the week started with. The next stop on the Season 6 journey was Broadway choreography with Tyce Diorio. Tyce said that the Broadway round requires stamina, energy, character, and strength – all qualities that might be hard to muster up after three days of nonstop dance. Tyce met with the girls first and put them into groups of three. Pauline Mata auditioned in Season 5 and made it all the way through the entire Vegas week but was cut at the very end. Mary said she was so close to making the Top 20 of Season 5. She’s back again to try her luck in Vegas. During her final rehearsal of the Broadway choreography, she landed on her ankle and fell to the ground. Her ankle bone looked swollen. Pauline cried, but not because she was in physical pain; she was upset that she got injured so close to the end. She was sent to the hospital to find out what was wrong with her ankle.
A dancer named Noelle performed for the judges, and Nigel called her a “fabulous, terrific, little star,” but her group member, Lexie, was sent home. Tap dancer Bianca mastered Broadway choreography and Nigel said, “Terrific. Go and sit down.” Dina was the last dancer standing during Season 5 auditions. The final spot in the Top 10 girls went to Asuka over Dina, and Dina came back this year, but was cut after performing Tyce’s choreography.
Ashleigh Di Lello is in final group. She is the ballroom dancer who auditioned with her husband, Ryan, in Salt Lake City. The judges were into Ryan more than they were into Ashleigh, and the trend was continuing throughout Vegas auditions, but they both made it to Broadway round. After Ashleigh danced the Broadway routine the judges said, “We put you through this week…hoping that you’d come through for us. We believe you’ve grown one of the most out of everybody.” She got all six judges’ votes to continue on. Ryan greeted her off stage with a big hug.
Seventeen girls made it through the final round of choreography and headed to the pool to celebrate. Pauline returned from the hospital on crutches and was told to stay off her sprained ankle for two days.
The guys met with Tyce to learn their Broadway choreography. Ryan Di Lello had extra motivation to make it through this round since his wife just advanced to the final round of Vegas week. At the end of Ryan’s performance he ripped off his shirt. Adam said, “I need to go to the gym right now.” Ashleigh yelled to her husband, “You are such a ham!” As the judges fanned themselves off, Nigel said, “I just want you to remember you’re a married man…if you wouldn’t mind buttoning just one of those buttons up…” and Ryan listened, and chose to fasten the button at the very bottom of the shirt. Ryan got to join his wife, because he received all 6 votes from the judges. Several other guys stood out during Broadway choreography including Nathan, Tyrone, Jakob, Phillip, and K’Bez. A dancer named Dominic made it to the very end of Season 4 and got taken off in an ambulance with an injury. Now he’s back and wants redemption. During his performance for the judges, Dominic hammed it up and jumped off stage. He felt confident with his performance; however he only received 2 votes from the judges. Dominic broke down and fell to the floor. Adam thought he cared too much about the results and wasn’t performing in the moment. Nigel told Dominic he needs to toughen up in order to survive in the dance world.
Broadway choreography sent 5 more guys home. After the last round of choreography, only 38 dancers remained. Pauline sat with her leg propped up, wondering what her fate would be, as the other 37 dancers performed solos for the judges. The dancers were not critiqued on their solos, but it was their last chance to make an impression on the judges.
Billy Bell was up first, and his powerful dancing made Adam very emotional. All of the judges were blown away by Billy and couldn’t believe what they witnessed. It would be tough for the next 36 dancers to follow that! We saw a quick montage of the final solos, and Mia was so moved by one girl’s solo that she cried and threw her pen at her. At this point, everyone was amazing, so the judges had some tough decisions to make.
Which 20 dancers would you like to see perform for America’s vote?
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