By Jasmine Williams
This week, So You Think You Can Dance returns to Hotlanta, which if you remember, was where Season 8’s winner Melanie auditioned. And Debbie Allen of “Fame” fame was the guest judge. No pressure. Will lightning strike the same spot twice?
Here are the top 5 auditions from this week’s episode:
1) Damon Bellmon, 20 and Deon Lewis, 19
These two hip-hoppers fell into some controversy last year when their performance was accused of being a rip-off of a French dancing duet, Les Twins. While they claim it was a whole misunderstanding (and to give them credit, they did say it in their interview with Cat last year that it was inspired by the group), they came hard this year with their own choreography and a dubstep mashup of “Moves Like Jagger.” Unfortunately, only Damon made it through to Vegas, but Deon promised to support his dance partner every step of the way. Awww.
2) Audrey Case, 18
While her hidden talents, such as being able to fart with her neck and lick her elbow, initially intrigued the judges, her ‘magical’ dancing was what really blew them away. She brought the other dancers to their feet, and got a standing O from the judges. Now let’s see if she’ll be able to recreate that magic in Vegas.
3) Joshua Alexander, 18
Dancing to my favourite Alicia Keys song “If I Ain’t Got You” already put him in my good books before he even started, but this kid was truly awesome. Feeling and hitting every beat of the music and having some of the best turns on this week’s show, he was truly the best male contemporary audition of the day. Look at me, speaking in superlatives like a reality show host.
4) Tim Conkel, 21
This goofy charmer, who brought a Selena Gomez backpack to his audition, started dancing in college to “get girls.” Because apparently, being a ten time national karate champion wasn’t enough. But his moves were “explosive” and Debbie Allen called him a wolfman. Not so sure what that means, but his “ballet” dancing put the judges in stitches, and scored him a ticket straight to Vegas.
5) Janelle Issis, 23
Nigel’s creepy old man jokes aside, this girl certainly knows how to shake what her mama gave her. Trained as a belly dancer, her isolations were great and it was cool that she combined such an ancient art form with a hip hop song. And her southern accent and exotic good looks didn’t hurt. She made it through choreography and earned herself a ticket to Vegas. Some girls have all the luck.
