Straight through to Vegas? Seriously?!

So, ok. By now, you should all know I possess an unnatural love for SYTYCD and all things dance in general (Dancing With the Stars excepted). But here's my beef with this season's auditions thus far: They took close to 200 dancers to the next round in Las Vegas, and honestly, we've seen maybe a handful of those people. Who are they? What's their story? We want to see them!!

I don't know how other viewers feel, but personally, I don't need to see all the poor souls that Fox feels the need to exploit because they believe all humans are Schadenfreuds. Some of those people, I truly felt bad for. I know that Nigel Lithgoe is behind both American Idol and SYTYCD, so it makes sense that the same formula is applied to both shows. But, more than ever, this season's SYTYCD auditions seem to be going the way of Idol, where only the heinous people get air time, because they're considered "good TV". And I understand that once a show gains a certain amount of popularity, as Idol and SYTYCD have, strange folks will come out of the woodwork to try to get on TV. But, I fell in love with SYTYCD because it used to avoid that type of shameless ratings-whoring, and now...well...*sigh*. It kinda leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Before getting to the actual Milwaukee auditions, last night's two hour show started out with several dancers who did make it through to the next round from previous cities. Why they weren't included the first time around is anyone's guess. This look back also gave me the distinct impression that there just wasn't enough content, good or bad, to fill the two hour slot. Boy, was I right. There was a whole lotta "meh". Some great, some terrible, but most were right in between. And if you've ever watched the show before, you know the "meh" doesn't usually fly. But, for whatever reason, so-so dancer after so-so dancer made the cut, snatched their ticket to Vegas, and ran out of the auditorium before the judges realized their mistake. Even DJC commented on how "blah" everyone seemed and how surprised he was at how frequently tickets to Vegas were dished out.

This is not to say that everyone featured last night was underwhelming. There were flashes of brilliance from time to time. Take, for instance, Cooper Zamorano. I literally got chills:

I hope to see him in the Top 20, which is revealed during another two-hour bonanza tonight. I was also left wanting more of Kourtni Lind and Evan Kasprzak. Now that all the riff-raff has been weeded out, hopefully the level of talent Fox chooses to display will pick up a little. Because after last night, it can't much more boring or bland. I invite the SYTYCD faithful to throw their two cents in...

Will what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas? Stay tuned! =)

(again, word to Kelxk3l for uploading the clips!)