Vegas week begins on So You Think You Can Dance, Season 6 with judges Tyce Diorio, Mia Michaels, Debbie Allen and Adam Shankman joining Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe on the judges panel.
Next week, the Vegas rounds continue.
Re-cap and video after the jump…
The solo round:
Nathan Trasoras – 18 – Downy, CA – He was only 17 years old, and too young, when he tried out for SYTYCD Season 5. Nigel handed him a ticket to Vegas, but told him to come back in the fall. It looks like this kid will go far. – VIDEO
Ellenore Scott – 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Whoa. Nigel was saving this one as a Vegas week surprise. Her solo, both comic and skilled is tremendous. She’s totally Top 20. Has to be. – VIDEO
The solo round ends with a round of cuts. One poor dude named Chance got 6 nos. Sads!
Allison Becker, the hearing impaired dancer, and Thomas Hamilton, who hopes that dance will be a way to escape from a violent environment, are both cut. 41 dancers are cut on the first day. – VIDEO
The same-sex dancers, Willem DeVries and Jacob Jason perform together. Jacob is cut, while Willem stays. They don’t even get to say good bye. – VIDEO
Hip Hop round with Napoleon and Tabitha
The dorky Teddy Tedholm, the crazy-pants dancer from Boston, manages to make it through the hip-hop round, but his fellow Boston auditioner, Jean Lloret a B-boy with mad skills does not. Hm. – VIDEO
Ryan Kasprzak (brother of Season 5 Top 20 contestant, Evan Kasprzak) gets a split vote from the judges, barely making it through the round. The judges tell him he has to bring it next time. – VIDEO
Ballroom next–Louis Van Amstel puts the routine together. It’s really hard. Billy Bell gets smacked in the face by his partner’s flying elbow and ends up with a bloody nose. – VIDEO
Krumper Russell Ferguson is handling the ballroom. Ballroom dancer, Iveta Lukosiute helps him (she’s the 10 dance worldwide champion). They make it through to the next round. The judges can’t believe Russel kept up with Iveta. – VIDEO
BBoy Legacy, a Hip-Hop dancer from Phoenix and Jonathan Litzler, the cute tumbler from the New Orleans auditions, do not impress the judges. They come back later to dance for their lives. A nearly-broken nose and a lack of rehearsal time didn’t keep Billy Bell from advancing to the next round.- VIDEO
Ryan Kasprzak dances the ballroom round with a taller partner–and she’s wearing heels. Nigel chews Ryan out, then cuts him. He calls his brother Evan to give him the bad news. I’m thinking Nigel didn’t want another Kasprzak brother outstaying his welcome. Nigel tries to make it up to Ryan by giving him an obscene amount of screen time. – VIDEO
Jonanthan and Legacy dance for their lives. Jonathan dances beautifully, but the judges feel that he lacks personality. Mia tells Legacy he’s an asshole, but says yes anyway, as do the other judges. – VIDEO
Nathan Trasoras and Atlanta auditioner Amber Jackson make it to the next round.
Teddy Tedholm and New Orleans Bounce dancer, Shelby “Skip” Skipper are sent home.
I’m really sorry about Ryan Kasprzak. I always liked him much better than his brother Evan, actually. I hope TPTB bring him back this season to choreograph. His work is amazing.
I might be in love with Russell Ferguson! What a freaking surprise he was!
I also saw “Silk” the tap kid that tried out last season in the background several times but never a mention.
Ryan, meh. I think this season is about 99% driven by personality and he just doesn’t have the right kind. And he looks too old. I like him very much but don’t think he was really right for this show as a contestant. Choreographer, sure. Replace NappyTabs.
I wouldn’t mind if an established female choreographer invites Ryan Kasprzak to be an assistant this season.
Although some felt Simon was right about the lack of personality with Season 5 contestants, I did not feel this was a problem. So there goes Mia sayin, “Season 6 is going to blow out Season 5.” How can she be so sure unless ‘moments’ are set up for this to happen?
BBoy Legacy i such a bad boy. Why do I get the feeling that he wants to be in movies? While Nathan Trasoras will have the tween and teens fangieling like crazy. Should be interesteing.
@Buderschnookie – Silky you mean ? He was the one that did the flip. You can see the whole vid on youtube. And RyanKasprzak looking old ? Not rly, and who cares. The Natalie of season 6, both unfairly cut
@Grammie Kari – Editting. Maybe when Mia said “Season 6 is going to blow season 5 out of the water”, there was something else left behind so that it makes more sense.
Gah, This 1 hour a week thing is really dumb. Just show us the top 20 already !! Can’t wait to see Jakob Karr, Victor Smalley, Alexie and Paula
Ryan was kept until the final cut last season solely for for the dramatic moment of… which brother will get through? Nigel was right, his hip hop was barely passable and the ballroom cringe-worthy. He needed to go. When you’ve got the likes of Russell really stepping it up out of his genre letting Ryan go was really was a no-brainer, IMO.
I have no problem with Mia saying that S6 will blow out S5. Based on the little clips/segments they showed for next week I’ve already got high expectations. Hopefully these people can dance out of their genres because a lot look fantastic doing their own thing.
Ugh takes one to know one Mia. I like Legacy even if he does have a stupid name.
I am hoping Russell makes it, was disappointed Jean did not and sad Justin the hottie didn’t take classes in other styles, damn *sigh*
I didn’t like Iveta much when she first auditioned but last night when she was partnered with Russell I warmed to her however I gotta wonder why a world champion dancer needs to go on SYTYCD, she’s already proved she can, duh! Oh well whatev, I like her anyway.
Did anyone else notice Caitlin’s sister try out? Or maybe it was just someone who looked like her because they didn’t reference Caitlin. She got cut last night anyway.
I am very glad they cut Ryan Kasprzak, he got enough airtime last season and I agree with whoever up thread said that they only kept him until final cut last season for drama. Also glad they cut the Jack lookalike from Will and Grace but kept Will, at least for now.
I’m still undecided about the rest but i’m ready for them to cut Nappytabs, asap would be good.
Oh and also sad they cut Teddy Plaid Pants, as dorky as he was I thought he had great potential and would have grown well on the show, hope he comes back next year.
Did anyone ever tell Mia she’s an asshole? Time to give her a reality check.
Anyway I’m glad Ryan didn’t make it as his brother Evan had the same amount of talent and should never had made top 10 last season. I’m glad no tap dancing Ryan made it!!! Ecstatic.
I lurrrve Legacy! I hope he makes it all the way. I agree about Ryan; he needs more training.
What happened to the other two tappers?! I hope this season blows last season out of the water, b/c S5 sucked, IMO.
what are the rules for qualifications anyway? a 10 time dance champion is contesting?. doesn’t seem fair
Here’s my thought on S6 v. S5: to my uneducated eyes, when I saw Nathan Trasoras in s5, I thought he was the best dancer I saw – this season, he appears ordinary (comparatively, obviously he is gifted).
Regarding Irina Lukosiute, she is not a 10x World Champion, she is a “10-Dance’ World Champion, a compilation of scores for:
“the five International Ballroom (Standard) dances: waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango and Viennese waltz, along with the five International Latin Dances: rumba, samba, paso doble, cha-cha-cha and jive, as defined in ballroom dancing terms”. (wikipedia)
I’m so glad they cut Ryan. He wasn’t bringing it. Fell way short and I had the impression that he and others on the show were thinking we would be in the Top 20. Just shows nothing is a sure thing unless you can prove yourself.
I noticed some of the ‘dancers’ this season are doing alot more gymnastics than dancing. I think that’s why Jonathan was cut so early, but it was surprising. There’s alot of going from trick to trick happening, which the judges were right to call out.
And yeah, a dance champion competing on the show. It’ll make for some great dance but it is surprising that they would allow someone with this caliber of experience on the show.
And, what’s with all the dissing of Mia? I thought she was great on the show. And love her choreography. Absolutely no hate here!
Anyone else have flashbacks of the wondrous top 20 dancer, Ricky Palomino when they saw that TPTB had paired up Ryan K with the Amazon for BALLROOM DANCING!!! Jeesh, you’d think they could come up with a new way of messing with the talented dancers they wanted to cut after 5 years of this show.
s disappointed jon didn’t make it…and this Iveta is amazing. from what the clips of next week they showed it looks like russel (and that cute Molly girl) didn’t make it.
Also I think Nathan is overrated.
I think they got rid of Jonathan way too soon. Hope he comes back next year.
Don’t watch the show but love MJs recaps and vids. Do have to say that Cat is an absolutely wonderful announcer. I wonder why the Emmy committee doesn’t get it.
hoorah for Ryan getting cut. sorry, he was underserving of so much screen time and hoopla. Ellenore was a breath of fresh air, just loved her personality and overall “look”. so far, so good. i do think this season will give us a spectacular top 20…im seeing a lot of personality and great dancing.
i was so sad when they cut ryan but it was justified. his hip hop was ok but his ballroom was horrible. totally cring worthy. i too think i feel in love with russel the krumper. and iveta looks better without 5 pound of make up on. i thought jonathan did too many tricks and not enough dancing. and i think the producers are trying to give legacy the pimp story arc of bboy developing into a great all around dancer. (which i think should be given to russell.) and i still turn into a tween when i see nathan dance. love him!
Russell is my favorite dancer right now. I enjoyed his Krumping and ballroom dancing. He has said that he can do other styles so I think that he is definitely one to watch. I could see him going far in the competition this season.
Am I the only person who thinks Iveta is more like 39 than 29? I know life in the FSU kinda sucks, but, damn, could it have aged her that much? Or maybe she’s a chain smoker???
And check out her website! When is somebody too experienced to compete on this show?
I really liked Russell last night, I hope he makes it far. Legacy annoys me, but he is a good dancer. I liked Elinore and Nathan too. I don’t really mind that Ryan left, I was never a huge fan of either Kasprzak, Evan stayed way too long.
Yeah, they showed her in Salt Lake City on Thursday, too. Anyone else think its weird that they never mentioned Caitlin?
Also, did the girl who lost her toenail in Salt Lake City get cut? I thought they showed her for a split second with people leaving, but I’m not sure it was her.
“Am I the only person who thinks Iveta is more like 39 than 29? I know life in the FSU kinda sucks, but, damn, could it have aged her that much? Or maybe she’s a chain smoker???”
I think she looks great. perhaps the haircut and the professional make-up age her a bit, but i think that she looks awesome. What is more important– she is an amazing dancer and she brings this show to another level.
As regards Ryan Kasprzak not being pretty enough for prime time – I remember what RKO said of Fred Astaire’s first screen test: “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Also dances”. Check out some of Ryan’s choreography online. The man can really bring it. I agree he deserved the cut after his hip-hop and ballroom performances…..but I can’t get over the niggling feeing TPTB were looking for an excuse to lose him. Sometimes I find whom they exclude and whom they offer extra chances to, to be rather arbitrary. At any rate ‘“ there are some fabulous and funny dancers this season. It will be interesting to see how Nigel casts the show.