After visiting Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Charleston, Washington and Milwaukee, the judges have invited over 200 of America's most talented dancers to Las Vegas for a grueling few days of callback auditions for So You Think You Can Dance.

Tonight, we got a peek into the callbacks.  Every day, a different choreographer had a routine to teach the dancers.  The judges made cuts after each performance, and by the end of the night, we learned the identities of the top 20 dancers who would be going on to the real competition.  Read on to see who made it into the top 20.

I'll get to the good stuff first.  The top 20 are Gev, Kourtni, Joshua, Rayven, Matt, Courtney, William, Katee, Twitch, Kherington, Jamie, Chelsie, Chris, Jessica, Mark, Susie, Marquis, Chelsea, Thayne and Comfort.  There is a good mix of hip hop dancers, with Twitch and Comfort.  Chelsie is a ballroom dancer, and Susie is a Latin dancer.  Of course, we also have a slew of contemporary dancers.


Day 1

Husband and wife choreography team, Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo, devised a challenging hip hop team for the more than 200 dancers who started out.  For popper Robert Muraine, it was too challenging, and he ended up walking away from the competition.  After this round, only 123 dancers made the cut.


Day 2

In the morning, it was Tyce Diorio's turn to punish the dancers with a Broadway routine.  Twin brothers Anthony and Antwain Hart have made it through to Day 2, but only Anthony made it past the Broadway routine.  Only 94 dancers made it past the morning.

In the afternoon, Jean Marc Genereux taught everyone a foxtrot routine that, predictably, gave a lot of the hip hoppers a tough time.  Joshua and Comfort had a particularly hard time, but the judges saw enough potential in them to keep them around.  Pageant Barbie didn't have enough potential, unfortunately.

The day didn't end just yet for the remaining dancers.  They were all split up into groups and instructed to spend the night choreographing their own group routines.  It was a long night for everyone.


Day 3

The third day dawned bright and early.  Too early for everyone, as all the dancers got very little sleep.  The judges weren't overwhelmingly please with most of the groups.  The group who called themselves "Angels and Demons" pleasantly surprised the judges with solid choreo.

The afternoon of the third day was quite possibly the most difficult part of the Vegas callbacks because the 68 remaining dancers had to learn a Mia Michaels contemporary routine.  Tap dancer, Lizz Plott, danced nearly to her breaking point.  She did fairly well in the routine, but it was her mouth that got her in trouble with the judges.  She was sent home.


Day 4

For their final audition, the dancers got another chance to dance a solo.  Unfortunately for Dominic, he pulled a muscle in his leg in the middle of his routine, and he was rushed to the hospital.  After the solos, the judges made their final decisions and announced the top 20.


Next Wednesday, the So You Think You Can Dance competition begins with the first performances of the top 20.  We'll get to vote for our favorites, but why not leave a comment about your early favorite?



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