SYTYCD: Bad Judge, Good Judge

So You Think You Can Dance: "Auditions #3 and #4"

I wasn't planning to blog this episode, but Tyce Diorio was SO annoying during his critique of the opening performance by that Tony guy that I had to start a post just to say: Holy crap, Tyce is annoying!!! Like he's so annoying that there has to be a word stronger than "annoying" to explain it. I don't think "obnoxious" covers it either. (Brief recap: Tyce: "BAAA-aaa-AAAA-aaad.") I now long for the days of Napoleon and Tabitha...


Continuing on with the Miami auditions:

• Priscilla's a great dancer and she's really adorable too.
• Oh, I didn't recognize Janette without the blond streaks in her hair. This routine is just one insane lift after another! Ok, now they're doing footwork and that looks good too. And holy heck, that flip/split lift thing is beyond awesome!
• Can you learn ballet by reading books? I'm thinking no...and this performance is doing nothing to convince me otherwise.
• Did Tyce always have so much attitude? I'm assuming he did, but somehow I've never noticed before. I think Nigel is regretting putting him on this judging panel, and I don't blame him. Sweet mother of mercy, I wouldn't want to have to listen to this guy talk for two whole days.
• Here's a plan: how about we get rid of Tyce and all of the Broadway numbers on this show completely?
• I kind of love this Joseph guy. He's reminiscent of Twitch with the combination of hip hop and effervescent personality. And I love his tongue-sticking-out face.
• Cat is so cute learning everyone's catchphrases.
• "I feel like I should be throwing up in the bathroom, but that's not my style. I need all my nutrition."
• I'm enjoying the tap performance by Eric ("Silky") more than I normally enjoy tap performances. I like it because he moves around the stage more than other tappers and he has incorporated other styles of dance (hip hop, breakdancing). And anyone with a forward AND backward worm in his routine gets a thumbs up in my book. Between this guy and the muscly dude from last week, I think there's going to be a tapper in the Top 20 for the first time!
• Paris, the former Miss Washington, isn't bad. I think she could stand to lose the tutu though--I don't think it's doing anything for her and it's kind of distracting. I liked the eerie version of "Toxic" that she performed to as well.
• Megan (I think that's what her name was...she was the girl in the purple shorts) was cool too. I liked her Terin Humphrey-esque backbend/split thing.
• Alex Long did one heck of a leg-up pirouette (there's probably a more appropriate ballet term for that move, but I can't come up with it). Marta should make all the gymnasts who try to do that move in their balance beam routines watch a video tape of him.
• Talia's story (her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident) is heartbreaking. She's a good dancer, but her routine is kind of NBA cheerleader-ish.
• Whoa, I totally fell for Nigel's "I'm sorry...to disagree with Tyce" fakeout. He shouldn't try to dupe widows. That's not nice. The poor girl has been through enough.

On to Memphis:

• Lil C!!!!!!!! I guess having him on the judging panel for the second hour is our consolation prize for having to listening to Tyce for the first hour.
• Police officer Marico's Memphis Jookin' (Ok, that can't be how you spell it...sweet goodness, I just looked it up and that is how you spell it!) is pretty buck, to borrow a term from Lil C. (I so can't speak hip hop.)
• Holy cow, this is quite an intellectual conversation we're having about jookin' here. I'm not really following it, but I appreciate it. Lil C always elevates the proceedings.
• Wow, look at that: Lil C just gave a weak performer constructive criticism (suggesting a dance style he should try) instead of just saying that he was "b-AAAA-aaaa-AAA-aaaaaaad" and ruthlessly insulting him.
• Is it just me or have we had to watch a lot more of the bad/ridiculous performers tonight that we did last week? I'm so over it. Let's just watch the good ones please.
• Ok, this dude just lost all my respect: He doesn't want to stick around to hear what Lil C has to say!
• Argh, now we're watching a montage of bad auditions from a variety of cities! I said I wanted to see good dancers!
• Caitlin, the sister of Purple Shorts (Megan, I think) from Miami, is here! That's cool. And Caitlin is awesome. She has gorgeous, Nastia Liukin-esque flexibility and extension. And, wow, she's only been dancing for 5 years (but she did gymnasts before that). Goodness, she's had hip reconstruction surgery! (I bet she has gymnasts to thank for that.)
• Anna's a winner too. She displays some very creative movement and positions. It's looking like it's going to be hard to pick the Top 20--I think we've already seen at least 20 great dancers, and there are still plenty of auditions left.
• Travis, the son of a football coach, is cute. He has gorgeous facial bone structure. Aww, the poor kid got teased a lot. ...Well, wait, was he wearing shorts with one leg that is longer than the other one when the teasing occurred? Because that is kind of silly.
• Oops, I don't remember this Evan kid at all.
• Ryan (to his little brother, Evan): "My whole life I've been waiting for you to grow up so we could be best friends."
• Boy are they pushing Glee hard tonight.
• More twins! These girls (Lydia and Lauren) are actually good though.
• I loved the look on Lil C's face while Ryan was performing. He was like, "I can't believe I'm watching a guy tap dance with a whoopee cushion." It was exactly like how my face looked during that routine too. Oh, but then Lil C goes and says the routine was delightful! That did not look like an "I'm delighted" face to me at all ;-)
• Previews for tomorrow: I was wondering when "Sex" was going to show up. There should be a rule that you can only try out for three cycles (without making it to Vegas) and then you're banned forever.

I began the blog to complain about one judge, but I'm going to conclude it by raving about another: I adore Lil C. His critiques are intelligent and nontheatrical, and that's just so nice.

I'm excited to see Mia tomorrow; she's always good for some weirdness and some brutal honesty. And, heaven help me, I think I'm even kind of excited to see Adam Shankman. (See what happens when this show goes away for such a long time? I even start to miss the aspects of it that annoy me.)