Things rev up in the Motor City — Detroit, Michigan — for the third city of auditions on So You Think You Can Dance season 12. This time around, there are a lot of good dancers and some just so-so dancers. But since there is no choreography round this season, it’s either a ticket to Vegas on Team Street or Team Stage, or a ticket home. Things get a little creepy at one point, but the upbeat judges manage to keep the atmosphere light and cheery. In the end, D-Town seems to have slightly more street dancers, filling up Twitch’s team nicely.
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Dancers Warm Up the Detroit Stage
The start of the auditions sees a lot of street dancers. And while it seems like the judges keep giving away ticket after ticket, by the afternoon of day one, that ticket pool has dried up as the judges see not-so-great talent.
At the end of day one, 10 more dancers join Twitch’s Team Street in Vegas and five more will join Travis’ Team Stage. Those on Team Street include Kenya “Standing O” Sutton, otherwise known as the Queen of Detroit; Cory “Mission” Whitfield, a hip-hop dance teacher from Detroit; and Samantha Reyes, a 19-year-old who wants to clean up her act in the Bronx. Samantha has to leave behind her friend Chelsea Harold, as the 26-year-old stage dancer just doesn’t quite have what it takes to move on.
In addition, and despite Nigel’s disagreement, 21-year-old Tyrell Noll is also joining Team Street, while his fiance, Kelly Maccoy, will also be heading to Vegas on Team Stage. The pair met last year during the Atlanta auditions and got engaged two weeks after they met. Hopefully, they can survive the battle that is Street versus Stage this season.
Joining Team Stage are Christine Shepard, who is described by Paula as #everything; and Brooke Fong, whose performance I think is a little too risque with her father in the room, but nonetheless she’s pretty impressive.
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Jit Happens
Day two of the Detroit auditions brings even more talent to the stage and eventually Vegas. A young Miranda Wilking not only celebrates her birthday on stage but also gets a golden ticket to Vegas with her stage performance. And then things get a little creepy when Aaron Viland takes the stage. The 27-year-old, who has been dancing for just five years, doesn’t quite have what it takes to move on as he does the “Creep.” He’s entertaining, though, as the judges and the audience wiggle around doing the “Creep.”
But when Michael Manson hits the stage with the Detroit Jit, things seem to be back on track. Manson describes Jit as having swag, style and energy. His Jit is legit as he claims a spot on Team Street. Rounding out Team Street newcomers in Detroit is Roydell Shannon, who reminds Nigel of Russell, a former So You Think You Can Dance winner.
On the stage side, two tappers from the Detroit auditions will join Travis. First is Kelly Rose Young. Despite her young demeanor, her performance is strong and modern, so much so that Jason and Nigel are impressed she took an older form of dance and made it mainstream. Next is Gaby Diaz. The 18-year-old got rejected the week before at the Dallas auditions. However, she took what the judges said to heart, created a whole new routine using that constructive criticism and nails it. Her performance is clean and focused and really wows the judges.
By the end of the third city of auditions, Team Street has 60 dancers, while Team Stage has 55. Next week, the auditions head to Los Angeles.
The banter between the judges was a little better this time around, but I do still miss Mary. I think by the time we get to the Vegas performances, though, the judges should be able to find their groove. I have to say, if I had to pick a favorite team, I’m going to have to go with Team Stage. As much as I love Twitch, the street dancers don’t impress me that much, as it’s a lot of just jerking around. Again, maybe by the time they get under Twitch’s wing in Vegas, things will be a lot smoother. I did really like Kenya’s performance, though, as she flirted with Jason up on stage as she did her thing.
I got a good laugh out of Aaron’s “Creep” dancing. I do wish they had more of those performances to keep the show a little bit lighter. I’m not sure if maybe they didn’t have that many “bad” auditions this time around or the show is just taking a serious turn. Either way, I’m excited to see things get going in the next round and how Street versus Stage will pan out.
So You Think You Can Dance airs Mondays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
