Welcome back to So You Think You Can Dance Season 18 after a two-week hiatus. Do you miss us?
Our past two Monday nights were not almost It’s just as eventful without the chance to watch our favorite dancers compete to become America’s most popular dancer. So if you didn’t catch last night’s episode, we’re here to catch you up on what you missed – dance, theatre, dilly it all. Trust us, this episode was worth the wait.
If you’ve been as busy as we have been over the past two weeks, it’s easy to forget what happened at the end of the last episode. To recap: The judges have selected our top ten (!!) who will not only dance together this year, but also live together for the first time ever.
We also found out that Jojo Siwa will be joining the judging panel. What about the final twist? This year, “SYT” dancers will compete outside the studio and receive actual dance challenges every week. “This season we’re taking the challenge from the shiny floor to the real world,” said longtime host Cat Deeley. NGL, we’re feeling cold.
What’s the first challenge a dancer faces? music video. The top 10 were randomly divided into two groups and tested against industry icons Luther Brown, Phillip and Makenzie Chbeeb. The first (contemporary) group was assigned to work with Phillip and Makenzie on a reimagined video for Justin Bieber’s “All Around Me” featuring Avery Gay, Dakayla Wilson , Braylon Browner, Roman Nevinchanyi and Jaylin Sanders also join the duo. The only hip-hop artist among the 10). The second group (Hip Hop) was asked to copy Lizzo & Luther’s “Juice” video and consisted of Olivia Alboher, Mariyah Hawkins, Madison Rouge Alvarado, Easton Magliarditi and Anthony Curley.
The dancers moved from rehearsals to the actual filming of the film, and the judges joined in to start judging. They remind dancers that they will be evaluated not only on dance but also on other metrics such as professionalism, group dynamics and star quality. we are not sure Exactly What do you say about star quality, but we’d love to know.
The first is a performance by a contemporary ensemble. The judges gave their own comments after watching the film in its entirety. They can’t seem to agree on who the star of the film is – for JoJo it’s Dakayla; for Maksim Chmerkovskiy it’s Jaylin. That’s the star quality we’re looking for, folks!
Next up was a hip-hop group who gave a fun, joyful performance. The judges liked the video but were concerned about Madison and Easton’s performances. They are both strong hip-hop dancers, but they seem to be struggling a bit in the film. The difficulty for Madison is finding her groove quickly. For Easton, the struggle stands out.
Next, it’s time to announce the results. The judges selected six dancers who made it safely to the next round, leaving four dancers at risk of elimination: Easton, Avery, Braylon and Olivia. Every dancer on the chopping block got a chance to prove their mettle by performing solo moves, and honestly, these performances gave us all those retro “SYT” vibes.
Easton and Braylon seemed to particularly impress the judges with their performances, and in the end, their dancing was enough to advance them to the next round. Sadly, this meant that both Avery and Olivia were sent home. “This is not the end. This is just the beginning for you,” Allison told the two talented dancers.
At this point, our top 8 are out.
