So You Think You Can Dance - New York Auditions

So You Think You Can Dance is back! Cat Deeley! Mary Murphy (eeeeeeeeeeee!) Nigel Lythgoe! Dan Karaty! Oh, it's gonna be a fun summer.

Having said that, I must admit I feel pretty much the same way about the initial auditions on So You Think You Can Dance as I do about the initial auditions on American Idol -- argh!!

Don't get me wrong, the "bad auditioners" can be ridiculously entertaining (yes, I laughed -- hard -- at the return of "Sex" and his misguided mother, although I wish Nigel had a bit more of a sense of humor about the whole thing), but I watch these shows for the talent, not for the humiliation factor, so these initial auditions are really just a diversion until we get into the real nitty gritty of the competition. Why don't I just give up on the audition episodes completely? Because sometimes you spot a gem that makes watching hours of delusional "artists" embarrass themselves worth it. I mean, heck, I can remember Jordin Sparks' first Idol audition vividly, and look what happened to her.

Thus, I watch these episodes in the hopes of getting a glimpse of some of the dancers I will be obsessing over for the next few months. And, indeed, there were a few stand-outs from the New York auditions:

-Stanislav's sister Faina -- much sexier than her brother. Much. I wonder if Stanislav was a little embarrassed after having been the first one cut last year.

-Ballroom dancers Pasha and Anya -- shoo-ins for the Top 20, especially her. Hot.

-Hip-hopper Jamal, who showed off his swing steps to the doubtful judges -- no doubt charismatic, but can he really pull off the choreography this show demands? And how come his swing dancing partner got cut? That don't seem right!

-Dance teacher and student Katie and Ashley (why do so many dancers have names like Katie and Ashley, I wonder?) -- these girls were both really good, even if they were, as my friend Krank likes to say, dressed a little on the slutty side (They are dancers, I tried to explain -- they need to let their bodies breathe!)

And while I was not blown away by the dancing of Hanna from Israel, that video footage of the collapsing dance floor was absolutely horrendous. Wow, first episode of the year and they are already bringing out the disaster footage? Intense.

Can't wait for this week, with more auditions in LA and Chicago!

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