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Learn more- The two-hour premiere of the fifth season of "So You Think You Can Dance?" promised you'd laugh, cry and worry about the health of a guy who threw himself off the front of the audition stage. So, you think you can handle it?
Start spreading the news...: The first set of auditions took place in Brooklyn, where judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy were joined by hip hop choreographers, Tabitha and Napoleon. Host Cat Deeley explained that the best dancers would get a ticket to the next round in Las Vegas, borderline dancers would get a chance in the group choreography, and the rest would go home.
Gabi Rojas, who was born into the circus, suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and gave her heart and soul into her audition. The rest of the dancers in the crowd rose to their feet after her stirring modern dance before Nigel said, "If you are not in this year's Top 20, I'll be surprised." He called it one of the best auditions he's seen in five years. Eight minutes into the season, Gabi's dance gave Mary her first chance to deliver a high-pitched scream. Gabi was through to Vegas.
Saalim "Storyboard" Muslim and his partner Habby "Hobgoblin" Jacques cast their vote for change on the show with a display of "Mutation," a contortionism routine that Nigel said would be a good fit for "Dawn of the Dead: The Musical." The judges were concerned their style wouldn't work for the show, but gave them a chance to join the group choreography at the end of the day.
Peter Sabasino, an Italian family guy from Philadelphia, showed an impressive demonstration of tap dancing that had Mary giggling the whole way through. He promised he could do tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, contemporary and some ballroom. Peter's headed to Vegas.
Tiffany Geigel, who suffered from a spinal condition that left her with just three vertebrae at birth, gave a nice performance and Nigel admitted from the start that it would be difficult to judge her without acknowledging her condition. He said people who think they can't do this or that should look at Tiffany and be inspired. Then, he decided she wasn't right for the competition. Tiffany later said she didn't truly expect to advance, but wanted to prove a point that obstacles can be overcome. She succeeded.
Maksim Kapitannikov showed some ballroom prowess, using a former "Dance" contestant Faina Savich as his partner on a cha cha cha. Nigel liked Maksim's lack of grimaces and false moves with his face, "apart from a couple of winks I could've done without." It's worth noting that each of the past three seasons of "So You Think You Can Dance?" has delivered a pro on "Dancing with the Stars" (Dmitry Chaplin, Lacey Schwimmer and Chelsie Hightower). Maksim would be back for the group choreography.
Nobuya Nagahama of Tokyo became one of the early personalities of the season and served up some fast-paced locking and would return at the end of the day, with Maksim and 45 other dancers.
Lauren Gottleib of Season 3 choreographed the group routine, which put Maksim though to Vegas. Nobuya would be making the trip, as well. In all, 27 dancers from New York were heading to Sin City.
Brooklyn, Day 2: Two years after making it to Vegas, Arielle Taylor was ready to give the show another run. Nigel remembered liking her before, and was complimentary throughout her contemporary routine. The judges hoped she learned from her previous experience, and she was going to get a second chance.
Thomas Martin and Amanda Clark brought a bolero dance routine to the stage that mostly served to make the judges chuckle. Mary called it basic, beginning, bronze-level dancing. That kicked off a mini-montage of mayhem. Nina Estrina and Igor Zabrodin showcased a cha cha that ended with a super-secret trick -- Nina crouched down low and spun no less than a dozen times at high speed. "You could put wet clothes on her and spin them dry," Nigel said. They were asked back to the choreography.
Kellen Stancil gave an interesting contemporary dance using an umbrella as a prop. Mary asked him what the umbrella represented to him, which brought Kellen to tears in memory of his deceased aunt. He said with the umbrella, he felt comfortable and safe, as he did with his aunt. Napoleon said, "You moved me" as Kellen continued to well up. Nigel simply presented Kellen with a ticket to Vegas.
Chimezie Nwosu brought a bit of Twitch flavor to the New York auditions, but without the glasses and gold caps. Nigel liked it but said it wasn't enough to get him through, leaving Chimezie to try to prove himself in the group choreography.
Igor made it to Vegas, but his spinning partner Nina did not. Chimezie, too, received a ticket to the desert. In total, 14 dancers from Brooklyn's second day were heading to the next round.
Mile-High Madness: It was on to Denver to see what talent could be found in the Mile-High City. Choreographer Sonja Tayeh, a newcomer to the show last season, joined Nigel and Mary in Denver.
Kayla Radomski, 18, grew up without her dad around and grew up living with her mom in her grandparents' house so they could afford to send her to dance classes. Nigel said Kayla "brought it" and there wasn't much he didn't like -- he couldn't think of anything. Kayla was on to Vegas and her grandma screamed Mary-style, while her grandfather was moved to tears.
Sonja fell in love with Denver's dancers during a montage that showed her reacting to various female contemporary dancers.
Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel -- both guys -- offered a same-sex samba. Everything was moving along smoothly until a spin in which Mitchel was lifting Misha ended with them falling over each other. Nigel said they might alienate a lot of the "Dance" audience and said he didn't think he liked it. But if he was judging them on their dancing, rather than just them dancing together, he might have thought it was alright. They were both asked back for the choreography, along with 22 other dancers.
Mitchel didn't make it, and neither did Misha. Eleven dancers, though, scored their tickets to Vegas.
Denver, Day 2: Allison Moist kicked off the second day with a bizarre routine to the "Star Wars" theme, complete with light sabers. She was also dressed as a lion, which she admitted had nothing to do with the dance. She started a montage highlighting some of Denver's more "interesting" characters.
Nigel was "shocked at the stupidity" of the auditions after a while.
Elias Holloway, 18, brought his 16-year-old brother along for a locking and popping routine. His younger brother wasn't auditioning because he was too young. Nigel found it very entertaining, and Mary said it was "about the cutest thing" she's seen in five years. Elias would get a chance to prove himself with the choreography.
Brandon Bryant and Natalie Reid met during last season's auditions and they were each the last of the dancers who didn't make it through to the finals. Brendan lost out to Gev and Natalie was the friend of Katee Shean, the dancer who famously said she wouldn't try to audition again if she didn't make it through. Katee did make it through and finished in third place overall.
After watching Natalie dance, Sonja was moved and said she was "dying" while watching Natalie. She said she got chills and didn't want Natalie's dance to end. Mary said she was "just so proud" of Natalie for the organic nature of her dance. She said Natalie was "going to go the distance this time." Nigel called it superb. Without even attempting to fake her out, Nigel handed Natalie a ticket to Vegas.
Brandon offered up a remarkable contemporary dance that brought Mary to tears. "I have to say that I have the greatest job in the whole world, to be able to sit there some days and witness something like that," she said, "something that I could never do in a million years, is dance like you."
Back to the choreography, where Elias and 16 others got another chance to impress the judges. They decided Elias needed more training and encouraged him to come back next season. He said he would. Eight dancers from Denver's second day made it to Vegas, bringing the city's total to 19.
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