So You Think You Can Dance - Season 9

Season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance just finished its auditions, and now it's on to Las Vegas.  Some early impressions:

New York

- I found Amelia Lowe annoying, with the 1920s shtick and dancing to Edith Piaf.  But she will probably make it pretty far because the judges seem to love her, and she can dance.

- Cheehon Wespi-Tschopp - totally awesome, especially with that name.  I hope he goes far.

Tyce?  Still annoying.  Go away.

Dallas

- Bree Hafen was great, and her daughter was even cuter.  I admire her for going back to dance after giving it up for her kids, and she did a beautiful job.  It's nice to see a mature dancer instead of teeny-boppers pretending to be mature (*cough*Mollee*cough*)

- Stepheon Stewart (the zombie) and Hampton Williams (the exorcist) were two of the most interesting auditioners I've ever seen.  Both were so different and very compelling.  Hampton's audition was the first one that I rewinded to watch again.  Don't know if they can do other styles, but they deserve to go to Las Vegas.

- Daniel Baker tries a little too hard to not seem full of himself.  He's a good-looking guy and he can dance, but he's no Alex Wong.

Los Angeles

Jesse Tyler Ferguson has to be one of my favorite guest judges ever.  Can we have him at every show?

- Alexa Anderson tried out last season and was the blond doppleganger of Ryan Ramirez who went up together to get their judgments last season.  Ryan moved on while Alexa was cut.  She's very good, but since I now hold female contemporary dancers to the standards of Melanie and Sasha, she falls short for me.

- Johnny Waacks was great simply because it got Jesse Tyler Ferguson to offer the critique of the season: " "If Lenny Kravitz was a Russian nesting doll, you'd be, like, the little one on the inside. I want you in my pocket all the time and I'd take you out and let you waack."

- Eliana Girard - the pole-dancer who's not a stripper.  She was good, and hopefully she can do other styles and not be constantly mentioned as the pole-dancer this season.

- Ninja Twins were attention-whores and thankfully over the age limit.  I hate that the show gave them so much airtime.

- Cole Horibe - really hot and did a great audition mixing martial arts with dance.  He has racked up a lot of awards and had also studied other dance styles.  I cracked up when Jesse Tyler Ferguson called him an overachiever, and Cole responded with, "I'm Asian."

- Jasmine Mason and Marshea Kidd were great, and I hope they go far.  I remember Marshea from previous auditions.  It was amazing that Marshea can dance like that just six weeks after a terrible car accident where he was actually pronounced DOA!

- Stephen Jacobsen - another ballet dancer.  He can dance, but that first routine was awful.  I half-wondered if the producers were just setting us up with that routine, because the second one was night-and-day.  The producers also seem to be setting up a ballet dancer battle between Stephen and Daniel.  Neither one of them is Alex Wong.

Atlanta

- The Dragon House trio of Boris Penton, Andre Rucker, and Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer were amazing and each routine topped the one before.  I thought the best one was Andre, actually, although Cyrus was more flashy.  I really hope at least one of them can do other styles and move on to the top 20.

- Audrey Case - I didn't think her audition was as good as the judges thought.  She reminds me a bit of Caitlyn from last season, and I think a bit forgettable.

- Joshua Alexander and George Lawrence II - fantastic.

- Tim Conkel was veering into extremely irritating, but seeing how game he was at doing ballet was pretty funny.

Salt Lake City

- We finally see some ballroom in Salt Lake City, and of the ones who competed I thought Witney Carson was the best one. The judges also liked Lindsay Arnold, but I found Lindsay to be more generic and not as entertaining.

- Dee Tomasetta was cute, but again forgettable among the many contemporary dancers.

- Gene Lonardo (the Mantis) won me over because he was so sincere.  There was no trace of the look-at-me syndrome that plagued the Ninja Twins.  I believe that his Mantis routine was born out of creativity and inspiration instead of just being different.  He can really move, and I hope he goes far.

- I also hope that Mariah Spears stick around for awhile.  A white female krumper who hits hard during dancing but turns into a giggly girl afterwards?  Definitely interesting, in a good way.

- Too bad about Murphy Yang, because he does have musicality and talent.  He just needs more training and I hope he finds it.

- Dareian Kujawa was very good despite his "lazy" feet, and his story was moving.  His feet might be his downfall, though.  I have yet to find a choreographer or a dance teacher who won't be after you for lazy feet like that.

- I was kinda meh about Adrian Lee in season 7, and I'm still kinda meh about him now.  There's no question he can dance, but something about his personality turns me off.

- It's too bad Leroy Martinez isn't going to move on, but his story is very inspiring and I hope he continues to use dance to help underprivileged kids.