After the world’s shortest fail segment, in which some random dancer had his back turned to the judges the whole time he was dancing, it was time for Robert Green’s audition.
Robert used to be an accomplished violinist, but he found that dancing gave him “freedom that made [him] feel alive.” In order to follow his dream, he left all of his music scholarships behind. I guess nobody ever told Robert you could do both. Liberal arts schools are your friends, sir.
At any rate, there’s no reason to worry that Robert Green threw away a potential music career for nothing. As is usually the case when I watch this particular style of dance, I had no idea how it was possible for Robert to make his body move that way. The highlight of Robert’s performance was his use of more technical or traditional steps whenever the lyrics talked about wanting to dance. It was a really clever bit of personality thrown into an already quality performance. And Robert showed that, despite leaving his classical training behind, he still knew how to connect with music.
Vanessa loved the performance a lot, while my bff Nigel said the best part of Robert’s dancing was his creativity and sense of humor. Mary was enthusiastic times ten for this one, saying: “He loved it. She loved it. They loved it. I LOVED IT TOOOO!!!!!!”
Verdict: Academy tickets and a request to borrow Robert’s outfit for weight loss purposes.
Next contestant: Alexis Gilbert.
Alexis wanted SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE fans to know how nervous she was. Apparently, she was so nervous she forgot to get her hair out of her face before performing her jazz solo. Wait…No…There was choreographed hair tossing. I hate that. Tie your hair back, people. Please.
Despite the hair faux pas, some slight bouncing to get into her fouettes (as opposed to just letting it happen with a good plié and good technique), and some sloppy arms right at the beginning, Alexis’ performance still had a certain special something. Her dancing was loaded with passion; and her nice extension through her legs and feet didn’t hurt matters, either.
Mary Murphy herself could feel how much Alexis loved to dance, all the way in her (rightful) place at the judges’ table. She also complimented Alexis’ control and “great legs.” Vanessa, having downed more of Carrie Ann Inaba’s happiness elixir, called Alexis “a ray of sunshine.” Nigel had only one word: Academy.
Verdict: See also: Nigel’s last word.
In tonight’s “WTF Audition” segment, we had Luke Dryjski.
Luke told Nigel Lythgoe he’d been dancing for four years; but when asked, it took him at least a decade to settle on hip hop as his supposed dance style. No, I don’t want to hear about your time playing guitar when Nigel asks you what you plan to do on stage. I also don’t care if it “just naturally came to” you, either. Answer the question.
Spoiler alert: Whether he was dubbed “the Austin Powers of hip hop” by Nigel or not, that…wasn’t hip hop. It wasn’t much of anything, really. Throw in Vanessa Hudgens joining him on the stage to do that, and I guess you could call Luke’s style, “epic waste of time.” If you want to make it sound more dance-ish, you could always use Google to translate the phrase to French, I guess.
Verdict: Nope.
