Phoenix...like Dumbledore's bird!

Very excited about some more auditions this evening! Especially because they're in Phoenix with Mia Michaels and because they inspired this picture! Yet another reason why I love Liza and Finney. 

It's been slightly hard to get as into this season so far, probably because Season 5 just ended, but I appreciate them spreading things out a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I am DYING to see the new Top 20, but this way it at least they're building some anticipation, right?!

Wow, even the theme music gets me all fired up! 

Brandon/ Shorty and Demitrio/ Biggy - We're starting with an interesting little duo here. Well, they're better than I thought considering Biggy's intro ended with him saying "We're going to move the floor" and then he jumped and they did the cheesy "boinggggg" sound effect. They're not exactly sharp in their popping, but it's not like they are completely unskilled. It was cute and you could see how much fun they were having, but I don't see it as choreo round-worthy. Judges didn't agree with me. We'll see how they do!

Sasha Mallory - She's crying already? Oh man. Don't get me wrong, I'm a crier...all the montages, all the goodbye songs, etc. but girl, it's been 3 seconds of screen time. She is cute though. I'm not sure how I feel about the chair (or props in general), especially when sometimes it seems like she is dancing to the chair as it's a person. She does have a good quality of movement though and is definitely skilled enough to make it straight through to Vegas. 

Katie Muth and Ellie Soto - both make it straight through to Vegas, but we don't see much of their auditions. For some reason Katie Muth looks really familiar to me!! 

Allison Becker - OK you can not help but root for this girl! Spinal meningitis left her deaf, which as she said was the best possible outcome for her because her doctors said she'd either be blind, deaf, or die as a child. She's cheery and adorable and I really want her to be good...and yay! She is! It wasn't particularly powerful, but she has technique for sure and she emotes very well. The judges were all touched and impressed, as they should have been. Mia told her that she is very inspired by music as a dancer/ choreographer and asked Allison what her inspiration was to which she replied "It's music as well, I just hear it differently." Ah! I love her! Nigel asked how she thought she would do in choreography and she said, "I'd do great". Thankfully she did and she's going to Vegas! 

William and Jacob - This same sex ballroom couple met in line for Season 2 auditions! So cute! Right off the bat they are way better than the couple that auditioned last season. They're not about being showy, they're about the dancing. Both of them have good lines, pointed toes and fluid movement. Nigel wisely admitted for the camera that they showed him that same sex ballroom can be very good and put them both through to choreography. From the clips they showed, both looked good, and I assume they both made it to Vegas (they didn't say for sure). 

Jonathan Noronha - Oh no, he has sticks. And he's skipping around the stage. And he dropped one. And that was on purpose. Oh wait, now he's dropped the sticks and he's holding up cards with letters that spell DISCO, but instead of the "O" it's Mary's face. Why??? This is a waste of air time, sorry buddy. 

Jarvis Johnson - Well, they're been promoting him as a screamer, so we'll see how this goes. He is clearly. very. excited. He says he'll do a back flip if he makes it to Vegas...I don't think that is going to happen though. He's kinda dancing, but the like the kind you do at a middle school dance. He'd probably be a ton of fun to dance with at a club or something because he has SO MUCH ENERGY! He did a really cute thing where he literally danced out of his shoes! After a split between Mia and Mary, Nigel reluctantly puts him through to the choreo round but says that if he doesn't pick it up quickly, he'll be asked to leave. He ends up having an asthma attack during the practices though, but everything's fine and he leaves in good spirits. What a cute kid :)

Brandon Gordon and Nicole Peterson - Big ogre-ish looking guy and short girl in a pink tutu. They do a lift that looks impressive because he's so big and she's so small. That's about it. 

*Insert weirdo clip reel here* Not that funny, not gonna lie. 

Kelsey White - Cute and blonde, pretty typical for Arizona! She's good, but seems to fall out of center on her turns. Nothing impressive, but definitely good enough for choreography. Nigel agrees (from backstage because he walked off when she joked that she had once been kidnapped by aliens). She is just blah in the choreography round though, so they won't be taking her to Vegas. 

Jonathan "Legacy" Perez - Is he the best BBoy ever on SYTYCD? Not in my opinion (I prefer Dominic and Gev personally), but he seems to be getting pimped on the websites a lot. He had amazing height on his jumps, but I didn't think his head spins were very good. Good body spins though. Apparently he assisted Lauren with choreography last season though, so he must know how to do plenty of other things. I guess he can prove himself to me in Vegas though because he's going straight there. 

Next week is Boston and these clips seem amazing! Hopefully they continue to show good auditions and lay off the joke auditions! I like this trend. 

Since I'm posting this way after the fact, I also have to add how impressed I was with how much screen time Lauren got in Glee!!! She was in like every shot, and she looked great! Reminder - in Season 3 I was a total Lauren hater, but she is making a name for herself, and I'm very proud! Til' Wednesday, the BEST night of television that there ever was, good night all!