SYTYCD 9 -- Week 2 Auditions -- LA Auditions

It was week 2 of auditions and this week the show was in LA. With Mary and Nigel was what I thought was kind of a strange third judge: Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family. Usually the third judge is a choreographer. It seemed like more people got sent to Choreography than got a golden ticket to Vegas, this week.

Alexa, who didn't make the Top 20 in season 3 has returned to give it another shot. She gets a golden ticket to Vegas. Time will tell if she makes the Top 20, this time.

Jontel "Johnnie Whaack" Gibson performs next. There's apparently a dancing style called whaacking. Nigel thinks Jontel would make a good choreographer. He's sent to the Choreography Round to prove himself. Unfortunately, he doesn't make it through and goes home.

Eliana performs with Cirque du Soleil and she seems to also be a pole dancer. Nigel is impressed by her leg movements. Nigel also feels she felt the dance with her face. She's declared the best girl so far this year. She gets a golden ticket to Vegas.

Nick and James aka the Ninja Twins perform next. Both are drams queens. They dedicate their dance routine to their former dance teacher that recently passed. They dance to, "The Man In The Mirror". They're very good. They do one move together that's amazing where they do a cartwheel as one. Unfortunately, they're too old. They're 32 and the age cut-off point is 30.

Sam Lenarz tells her tale before dancing. She doesn't know why her mother did it, but she kicked her out of the house and wants nothing to do with her. Luckily, her friend took her in and she seems to have found a new family. Nigel says she needs more heart and passion in her dancing. Mary asks about her family and if they support her and the answer is no. She's put through the Choreography Round and makes it through.

Caley is a surfer and skateboarder. He's also a tap dancer. He gets sent to the Choreography Round but he leaves when it becomes too much for him.

Megan Branch performs next. She's a good dancer, but nothing that memorable in regards to sad or unique background stories. She gets a golden ticket to Vegas.

Cole is a dancer that mixes karate moves with dance. He admits he's won a silver medal in the Olympics for karate and he's also had some experience in different dance styles. He gets a golden ticket to Vegas.

Daniel Matz is a circus performer who dances with a giant medal hoop. While his routine is graceful, it doesn't seem to feature much actual dancing from him. He gets sent to Choreography to show what he can do, but he dancing make it through.

Stephen Jacobson is a ballet dancer who says he dances ballet but not classic ballet. He's a member of the Cincinatti Ballet. His routine has very little ballet in it. He also seems to think he needs to dance with his shirt opens and fluttering about him. Nigel says it's horrible and corny choreography. He's lucky they have him dance again, and this time he shows what he can do dancing ballet. He gets a golden ticket to Vegas, but you have to wonder why he danced the first dance he did. Makes you wonder about his judgement.

Jonathan is returning after 4 years. Turns out he's a very infamous past dancer who was labelled arrogant. The judges feel he's more contortionist than dancer and put him through the Choreography Round. Unfortunately, the choreography proves too much for him and he goes home.

The final two dancers are Jasmine and Marshea. Marshea has auditioned before. Their brother and sister. Jasmine tells about the car accident they got into six weeks ago. She says her brother protected her so he would get most of the damage. Marshea's mother tells how Marshea was dead on arrival at the hospital but he survived with a broken neck. Both are given tickets to Vegas.

The interesting thing is that sometimes when they do the elimination rounds til they pick their top twenty, a lot of the people they featured in the auditions you never really see again. In short, don't get too attached to anyone in these auditions, because this may be the last they're seen.

Overall, I thought the dancers that auditioned last week were a little more memorable than some of the dancers that auditioned, this week.