602: Phoenix Auditions East Coast Live-Blog and Recap!

7:02 Hey folks, Nate here! I'll be live-blogging tonight's audition show. I'm hoping for large amounts of Cat, I feel like we were short-changed of her last week. I'm also hoping we finally see the Choreography round with Anya and Pasha!

7:23 I won't be back until the show because I have oodles of reading still to do for classes, but, as a tasty treat until 8, I leave you with this. If you haven't been following the Canada season, and you were as disheartened as I was last season by the dearth of good hip-hop, watch this. Amazing, right?

7:57 Two and a Half Men is wrapping up, which means SYTYCD is on soon! To slightly alter a Mia quote from tonight's show "Wow. This is stupid".

8:00 It's on! And, we start with a montage of great leaps to bombastic music. See, THIS is how they should have started the show last week. Tonight, we're in Phoenix. And, obviously, Cat looks great. She wonders if we'll find an oasis of talent in Phoenix. Boy do I hope so, Cat!

8:02 Apparently, it's hot in therrrrrre. Or so Nelly tells us. We get the obligatory dancers in lines shot, people stampeding Cat shots, and we meet tonight's jidges: Nigel, Mary, and Mia. Mia, you best bring the fun bitchy tonight. I don't want to have to get my bitchy only from Tyce this auditions tour.

8:03 We start with an odd couple, called Biggie and Shorty, from Tulsa. This two are either gonna be really good, or really bad, and considering what they started with last week, I really truly hope it's the latter. But they refer to themselves as clowns in their audition package, so I have low hopes. Thankfully, they're clowns that can dance. I mean, it's more comedic than greatly danced, but I like the overall effect. They're not interacting with each other all that much, but I enjoy watching them. Nigel thinks everyone enjoyed it, although he doesn't think Biggie popped so much as wobbled. He thinks they're a great act together though. Mia doesn't think it was strong enough dance-wise, but she loves them. They go through to Choreo.

8:11 We're back. And, if you didn't catch it the first time, it's hot there. Sasha Mallory is up next, and she made it straight to Vegas season 4. She gets teary about her family's support, who are all there for her. She's incredibly performative, but her dancing is also beautiful and graceful. Her musicality is seriously strong. I'm a big fan. Mia thought it was a good combo of strong technique and presence, dubbing it really strong. Mary found it beautiful. Sasha begins to cry. She goes straight to Vegas again.

8:14 Katie Muth and Ellie Soto both get small clips and tickets straight to Vegas. They both seem pretty good.

8:16 Allison Becker is next. She had spinal meningitis when she was 16 months old, which left her deaf. She dances to the feeling of the music. And, even beyond her impressive backstory, she is an impressive dancer. She has grace and poise, and her fluidity is impressive. Nigel signs that he loves her. He loves her movement and face. Her technique is not as strong as he wanted, but he can't see any strain in her dancing. Mary agrees with everything Nigel just said. She gets tears out of Mary, who had a close relation who suffered in the same way. Mia thanks her for sharing her heart and her self up there. She goes to choreo.

8:21 Surrogates looks ridiculously awful. Also coming up after the break, awful auditions. Goody.

8:24 Willem DeVries and Jacob Jason are the next same-sex ballroom couple, who will hopefully be much better than the last time we entered this whole shebang on the show. Nigel's glare indicates that he doesn't like the intimacy of the dance, but he basically stops watching to discuss their technique with the jidges. I mean, if this was a male-female couple, he'd be all over them. Mary is really proud of them, thinks they had great technique. Mia celebrates their courage. Nigel thanks them for showing him that same-sex ballroom can be really good, and wants them to go to Choreo. Kudos to Nigel, he handles it better this time.

8:28 Jonathan Noronha is next. I'm not sure entirely what his style is, but he's fun to watch. He has a maybe flub, maybe intentional bit which is fun. It's not serious or well danced enough to put him any farther in the competition, but, if this is the quality of the bad auditions from Phoenix, I'll be happy with this city.

8:30 Choreography round with Anya and Pasha! It's Latin Ballroom. Biggie quits before the performance, and same-sex ballroom seems like they'd be at an advantage here. But Allison, Jason, Willem all seem to be doing very well and all get tickets to Vegas. Shorty gets cut though.

8:36 I like the corporate synergy of showing the dancing "Bones" ad, but no one would want to watch the show after that promo. Anyway, day 2 kicks off with Jarvis Johnson, who has been so promoed and yet I STILL want to see him. He's SUPER-HYPER, super-energetic. He also calls Cat "Maam", I'm pretty sure. He tries to hype everyone up. Surprisingly, he's not the trainwreck I was expecting. In fact, he's pretty freakin' good and super-fun to watch. Unfortunately, a breakin' part gets really awful for a little bit, but I'd still put him to choreo at least. Mary found it frantic. Mia says "Wow" a lot. Nigel says he's not a great dancer, but he's a great entertainer. Mia says no, but calls him sunshine. Mary votes yes to Choreo. Nigel says yes to choreo but says if he's not gonna pick it up quickly, he's gonna ask him to leave. Nigel seems mostly exasperated by the end.

8:46 Seems like we're gonna get a string of bad auditions here. And these people don't deserve their names here. But I commend the show for using "People are Strange" as the musical selection for this portion of the show.

8:48 Kelsey White, however, is not strange. In fact, she's quite good. But she's been kidnapped by aliens before, which makes Nigel walk off stage. Nigel votes yes to choreo from offstage. Mary sees potential, and she does, indeed, get sent to Choreo. In a shocking turn of events, Mary Murphy informs us she is completely immune to strange by this point.

8:53 Nigel is back at the table, as B-Boy Legacy heads to the stage. He's the one that everyone's been crowing about. He started dancing at age 15 on the street after watching breakers at a skate park. And, yeah, as everyone's been saying, he's RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. Like, I can't even describe some of the stuff he gets his body to do. Mia puts it best: "Damn!". Nigel finds him hugely exciting. Mary thinks he's tremendous. Mia calls him a "powerhouse." "Wow. You're Stupid. Really Stupid." is her gem of a critique there.

8:56 Choreo round 2 features Jarvis and Kelsey. Jarvis collapses, and Cat adorably tends to him. He had an asthma attack, and has to leave. Watching her, I doubt Kelsey makes it. And she doesn't. Mary tells her she was really close, and to come back next year.

9:00 Next week moves to the east coast, hitting up Boston. Looks like there's some great talent, and some really week stuff. Tyce is the guest jidge. I know, I'm not happy about it either. Now, as much as I’d like to watch Glee, I have to get back to my reading. See you next week Ameriker!