Finally!  The dancing sensation is here!  So You Think You Can Dance begins again for its fourth season of soft-shoeing and high-kicking.

The lengthy audition process begins tonight with a two-hour season premiere.  We are sure to witness many delusional hacks as well as spunky young stars-to-be.  Nigel Lythgoe and company have traveled the country, looking for America's next favorite dancer, and I'll be here documenting it all with live thoughts.

Cat Deeley opens the hour with a super-exuberant voiceover and a look back at the previous seasons of So You Think You Can Dance.  She promises more thrills, spills and talent than any other show on TV.

First stop on the audition tour is Los Angeles.  Each dancer has one minute to make their first impressions for Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Mia MIchaels.  If the dancers are great, they'll be given a ticket to the next round to Vegas.  If they suck, they'll be sent home immediately.  If they're in between, they'll wait around until the end of the day for group choreography as a second opportunity to impress the judges.

Day One

The first dancer, a girl named Devin Oshiro, has an inauspicious because the wrong music starts playing.  But once that gets sorted out, she proves to be an amazing dancer, with beautiful lines, flexibility and strength.  She's going to Vegas, baby!

The next featured dancer is an Italian dude named Jonathan Anzalone, who strips down completely naked, just for fun, I guess?  Smokin' bod, but an odd duck when it comes time to performing.  He does a sort of incomprehensible routine that has its moments (particularly his floor work), but isn't great.  Mia Michaels tries to say that he wouldn't be a successful dancer in America, but she Freudian slips "sex" instead.  How embarrassing.  Jonathan is about to walk off stage before Nigel gets his critique in, so Nigel gives him a dressing down for his smug attitude.  In the end, the judges ask him to come back for the choreography.

Oh no!!!!!!!!!

Sex is back.  I thought Nigel banned him from the audition!  And his mother is back too.  Cat interviews him and asks him why he's back for a third audition in as many years.  He is really delusional because he says that last year was very close to getting to Vegas, but he can't really explain why he's back.  He does a jazz routine to "Livin' La Vida Loca," and am I crazy?  He's still in no way good at all but I think he has improved some.  The judges are not pleased to see Sex back.  Mia doesn't think he has grown at all from last season, but she will miss him if he doesn't come back.  Mary cackles that he's a joke.  Nigel gives it to him straight, refusing to call him Sex because his real name is David, and is annoyed that he continues to audition for this show and for other reality shows.

The next auditioner is Laura Garcia who is visually impaired.  She has retinitis pigmentosa, the same affliction that Amanda from Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model suffers from.  She does a pretty good job, but definitely not a great job.  Nigel doesn't want to promote her to the next round, but makes it clear that it's because of her lack of technique and not her visual impairment.  Mia gets very emotional giving her critique and finds her an inspiration.

Stephen "Twitch" Boss is back to audition again.  Last season, he ultimately lost out to Hok.  Nigel tells Twitch before he starts that if he doesn't make it through Vegas this year, he's going to kick his ass.  Twitch does a very subdued but technically proficient hip hop routine.  I love these pop and lock routines because there is so much humor that the dancers put into them.  Oh gawd, Mary Murphy shrieks that he's STUPID.  (Stupid in a good way, though.)  Let me just go on record and say that I can't stand Mary Murphy and her shrill scream.  Yay!  Nigel awards him with a ticket to Vegas!

Now we get a quick montage of bad dancers.  Hamilton Moreno, who is - how shall I say it politely - portly, to say the least, auditions next.  One of his moves is to pull up his shirt and shake his bowl full of cherries.  He is awfully out of breath.  Irina Korenkov-Eller, an older Russian lady, dances a superbly awful dance.  She's kind of a cool lady, but she ain't going to Vegas.

Phillip Chbeeb, a hip hop dancer who was cut at the Vegas auditions last year is back and better than ever.  He's got some amazing moves and has the gross ability to contort his arms in ways that arms should not go.  Nigel is blown away but is concerned about what kind of work Phillip has done this past year to improve his technique.  The judges are all agreed and they invite Phillip back for the group choreography.

William Wingfield auditions next.  His music choice is a spoken word piece, which I think is really unique and interesting.  I have a crush on William.  Nigel thinks that there was too much cleverness and not enough depth to his routine, but the judges agree to invite him back for the choreography.

Uh oh, we've got an auditioner who dances in tighty whities and black dance shoes.  His name is Rijiy Ames, and he's certainly nothing if not confident.  Not a great technician and not nearly as good looking as  the Italian dude.  He inadvertently flashes the judges, which nearly gives Mary a heart attack.  Nigel scolds him for running around in his underpants.  See ya later, Captain underpants!

It's finally time for the choreography round after the first day of auditions.  After the second round, Nigel tells Italian Jonathan that he's not good enough.  Phillip and William get tickets to Vegas - yay!  So, in total, 18 dancers from day one are going to Vegas.


Day Two

The first contestant of the day is Erika Gee who is back for her third audition on So You Think You Can Dance.  Her performance tonight is still a bit amateuish, in my opinion, but has very nice qualities about it.  Erika cries while receiving positive feedback.  Nigel gives her a ticket to Vegas.

Leonidas Proskurov and Aliona Vetrenko, who are ballroom partners as well as romantic partners, audition next.  Aliona is a hot little thing and gets Nigel all hot and bothered.  Mary shrieks - ugh.  These two are going to Vegas!

More bad dancers in Day Two, like Randy Lewis.  He's totally doing the "white guy at a club" style.  Edwin Martin shakes his booty, but not in a good way.

Victor Kim, a B-boy, exhibits tremendous arm strength, pretty much walking everywhere on his hands.  Nigel says, "Terrific!  Good job."  Mia calls him a goofball, which he totally is.  He is studying business and economics ("For the parents," he says) and he's kind of winsome, even though his expression is oddly blank.  He is asked back for the choreography round.

Oh geez, the Gold Inferno is back, the guy with the superhero helmet who auditioned last year.  He has come back to redeem himself.  He is a practitioner of the "jump" style.  Nigel stops him in mid-routine and asks him to stop staring at the floor.  Nigel reminds everyone that the Gold Inferno was 485 pounds before he started the jump style.  Nigel is so mean!!!  Nigel says sarcastically that if it weren't for Mary and Mia's "No," the Gold Inferno would be heading straight to Vegas.  Nigel tells the sound engineer to cue the sad music as Gold Inferno exits the auditorium.

Another ballroom pair takes the stage, Ricky Sun and Asuka Kondoh.  Poor Asuka is sick with a cold, but they are both so talented.  You can't even tell that she is ill.  Nigel raises his arm to stop the music, in the middle of the two of them doing like a Matrix-like back bend.  They've only been dancing together for three months, but they have a great connection.  They are both asked back for the choreography, but they'll have different partners then.

Kherington Payne, a tomboy soccer player who has been yellow-carded many times on the field, dances a beautiful contemporary routine.  NIgel tongue-bathes Kherington after her performance.  Mary shrieks that Kherington's going to Vegas.

The last solo auditioner is a popper named Robert Muraine who has been performing on the street for two years, but hasn't had any formal training.  He's got crazy contortionist skills and injects a lot of humor into his routine.  OMG, his arms bend in ways that no arm should bend.  He's like a human robot and has the judges in stitches throughout his entire routine.  Nigel says that he is officially his favorite dancer of 2008.  He's unsure of how Robert would do in the choreography or even if So You Think You Can Dance is right for him, but he knows that Robert is absolutely right for dancing.  Nigel asks him to do a move that he saw him do in warm up and it is cuh-razy.  He pushes his head back farther and farther and farther until his head is completely on the floor in a back bend, then he keeps going!  He danced down the stage and Nigel gives him a big hug and a ticket to Vegas!

After the choreography, a total of 30 dancers from L.A. are going to Vegas.  This includes ballroom dancers Ricky and Asukah, but unfortunately not Victor.

Next week, So You Think you Can Dance will go to Salt Lake City and Dallas to find more great dancers.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)