This week's judges: Jesse, Mary, and Nigel

So many awesome things about this week’s So You Think You Can Dance. Ok, mostly Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Jesse opened up the episode demanding booty shaking and continued to be adorable from there. I love him as a guest judge because he tries to be constructive and is so hilarious and sweet to contestants. So much love. Anyway, here are a few thoughts on each of the LA hopefuls featured this week.

Alexis: We start the night out strong with Alexis sent straight to Vegas. She has a lovely dramatic look and very dynamic choreography. I remember liking her but I don’t really remember her very clearly now that the episode’s behind me, so we’ll see how she does standing out from the competition.

Johnny: Johnny is what we call a “waacker.” Waacking is a style of dance that involves a lot of quick arm and hand movements with a disco flare, not to be confused with wanking. Or maybe it is, since Nigel and Jesse couldn’t stop snickering like 12-year-old boys. Ok, fine, I was snickering too. Johnny was sporting some outrageous 70s inspired threads, complete with afro. His routine was actually quite entertaining and his musicality was spot on. The judges agreed and put him through to choreography, but he choked in that round and was sent home.

Eliana: This girl is pretty much the most adorable pole dancer I’ve ever seen, and the most impressive. Ok, I may have a pretty limited sample of pole dancers, but still. She’s actually a very well-trained dancer who was an aerial pole dancer for Cirque du Soleil. The judges absolutely adored her and gave her a standing ovation. I don’t know that I got quite as much out of her performance as they did, but she was incredibly flexible, graceful, and emotive without the emotion being contrived. Top 20 perhaps? She was given a Vegas ticket.

The Ninja Twins: Next up were the funny guys of the episode, Nick and James, aka The Ninja Twins (get it? NIck aNd JAmes?). Look, I don’t even know how to explain these guys. They were too old for the competition, but they were genuinely hilarious and actually very talented.

Sam: I had already noticed Sam in the audience during other auditions when the camera panned over her. She has a really bright, genuine smile. She has excellent flexibility and control. The judges correctly critiqued her for not having much to the choreography, pretty much going from one extension to the next, so she’ll have to work on her solos. They also felt she lacked some passion in her performance, but they let her move on to choreography. I’m not sure why, but there’s something about her I like, so I was happy that she made it past that and into the Vegas audition.

Caley: As Jesse Tyler Ferguson put it, “A tap dancer with a mustache who surfs? What a cliche, yawn.” Caley had a lot of energy and was sent to choreography. Unfortunately he didn’t cut it in the other styles, but he’s unique and very good at what he does.

Megan: Megan’s single mom was there cheering her on. Her audition piece had a kind of primal, hunter vibe to it and her performance was very focused and strong. She was sent to Vegas. There were a lot of solid female contemporary dancers this week. I’ll be interested to see which ones really stand out and hold their own in other styles during Vegas week.

Cole: This was probably my favorite. Cole is trained in dance and martial arts. His dance style is unique and very powerful. I think his skills will translate well into other styles. He had an intense performance and strong stage presence. The judges loved it too and sent him to Vegas.

Cut to a montage of a bunch of hot guys dancing and Mary Murphy being the pervy one for once. I prefer this to the usual Nigel being pervy montages. A little Jesse joining in Mary’s pervyness is also amusing.

David: David is kind of a badass circus performer. He throws and does acrobatic feats with various flaming objects. His object of choice for this audition: a big ring (flame-free). It was pretty cool, but I agreed with the judges that it didn’t involve much actual dancing, so he was asked to go to choreography. The choreography proved too difficult for him.

Steven: Steven’s training is in ballet, but I guess he was trying to stand out by doing a…unique?…style. It turned out to be a bit of a train wreck.  He tried to go for this cheesy musical theater bit. He is a professional ballet dancer though, so there were some moments where you saw his skill through the terrible slapped together routine. The judges gave him a second chance and his improvised ballet was impressive enough to earn him a ticket to Vegas.

Jonathan: I don’t really remember him, but I guess he was kind of a tool when he auditioned a few years ago. He came back more humble, saying he was an Italian kitten instead of stallion. He really said he was a stallion last time? Wow. Unfortunately, he failed to impress. While he had a very athletic b-boy routine, he couldn’t keep up in the choreography round. His attitude was improved, but honestly, his personality still didn’t stand out to me.

Jasmine: Immediately I loved Jasmine’s look. I loved her even more when she started dancing. Her jazz routine turned out to be sultry and smooth. I could definitely see her in the Top 20. Her brother auditioned last year, got in a car accident six weeks before the auditions, was pronounced dead but survived, and actually recovered in time to audition with her.

Marshea: Marshea is Jasmine’s brother. He was given a standing ovation and a ticket to Vegas from the judges because of his miraculous recovery. He was good, but honestly, I like his little sister better.

Phew! These audition posts are long, maybe next week I’ll just highlight my top 5 auditions? Oh, by the way, where have all the ballroom dancers gone? I think I saw one who may have potential in one montage tonight. Is there an even more disproportionate number of contemporary dancers in these auditions or is it always this bad? I know the competition is usually dominated by contemporary dancers, but I hope we see more promising hip hop and ballroom performers in the following weeks.

NEXT WEEK: Atlanta auditions and the fabulous Debbie Reynolds guest judging (hey, did anyone else think about this show when she was getting it on with the Chief in Grey’s Anatomy? That was messed up).