SYTYCD Superlatives (Best All Star Duet - Round 2)

[FrogLenzen]

[kritaaay]

25 minutes ago, *Amanda said:

Everyone complaining that they could find Marcus, Magda, & Allen’s audition but it literally just took me a 5 second search right now to find it on YouTube.  

 

 

 

Amanda coming for my neck for doing these rankings in a delirium at midnight

[Erestor]

I didn’t have time to send writeups earlier so I am gonna be commenting as we go through!

 

20. Lindsay – I thought this was quite unique with the song choice for the style, and I remember preferring this to Witney’s audition.

19. Fik-Shun – I mean this was amazing. Definitely one of my favourite Hip Hop auditions ever

18. Marcus & Magda & Allen – Magda totally owned this.  This was by far better than her previous audition and no wonder it got her on the show.

17. Paul – He’s just so cute when he’s dancing. Maybe not the strongest Latin audition ever, but I did enjoy it.

16. Magda & Kiki – Magda was great as usual, but Kiki’s facial expressions absolutely ruined this for me. Like just about every single time he is doing Ballroom.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Erestor

[Erestor]

Also, I just realized that Magda is probably the only Polish dancer to make it to the US show.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Erestor

[totes4totes]

4 hours ago, *Amanda said:

Everyone complaining that they could find Marcus, Magda, & Allen’s audition but it literally just took me a 5 second search right now to find it on YouTube.  

 

 

 

I literally was on YouTube for 5 seconds and whenever I clicked the link it was like “this account has been terminated!” I even tried Google Video searching. It is literally not my fault.

[sublymonal]

4 hours ago, Erestor said:

Also, I just realized that Magda is probably the only Polish dancer to make it to the US show.

Polish and Canadian! We have no choice but to stan

[totes4totes]

Lol is Kasprzak not Polish?

[FrogLenzen]

15. Amy Yakima

11.6 / 20

 

@*Chris - 1/20

@Erestor - 2/20

@taylorkat - 6/20

@*Diana - 8/20

@FrogLenzen - 9/20

@totes4totes - 16/20

@*Amanda - 16/20

@kritaaay - 18/20

@sublymonal - 20/20

@Zoey - 20/20

 

Age: 19

From: Northville, MI

Style: Contemporary

Music: Je Suis Malade by Lara Fabian

Mary: “The hair went up on my arms.”

Result: Female winner

 

Derek - 9/20

Quote

 

Respectfully, Amy's body in Season 10 was out-of-this-world. You can just tell she is hyper-tuned for dance. The fact that she had the goofy dad intro and then was ALSO a phenomenal dancer was probably one of Nigel's favorite moments ever lol. Also, clock little Lauren Yakima in the audience watching her sister. Lauren's World of Dance solos were insaaaaaaane and this family is obviously supernaturally talented. Overall, it's not my absolute favorite contemporary audition because I prefer choreography that is a little more unique, but this showed off her ability so well. The jumps in particular, which are not always a female's strong suit. This combined with one of the strongest Vegas Week showings ever made Amy one of the biggest frontrunners the show has had going into the Top 20. Also I agree with Megan that Melanie should be here.

 

 

Megan - 16/20

Quote

you know which winner's audition should have made it but didn't? Melanie Moore. I only say that because Amy's an audition I saw on TV and was like "she's winning" and the only other dancer I had that immediate feeling with was Melanie who did end up winning Season 8.

 

Kriti - 18/20

Quote

Idk, it was fine. Like, good, but very standard female contemporary audition. I don’t hate her or anything but it wasn’t anything special.

 

Andrew - 20/20

Quote

Amy’s solos never affected me one way or another. They are technically very good but some of the best female contemporary soloists (Kathryn, Jeanine, Melanie) on the show had another layer of emotion that made them stand out from the pack and I feel like Amy was too young at the time to exude that.

 

 

 

14. Justine Lutz

11.2 / 20 (tie)

 

Derek - 1/20

Kriti - 5/20

Megan - 5/20

Chris - 9/20

Zoey - 9/20

Amanda - 10/20

Andrew - 16/20

Gigi - 18/20

Diana - 19/20

Patryk - 20/20

 

Age: 19

From: Minneapolis, MN

Style: Contemporary

Music: Smother by Daughter

Judges: [standing]

Result: Cut at Green Mile (BOOOOO)

 

Derek - 1/20

Quote

 

I'm very pleased and happy and surprised and delighted that Justine made it to the Top 20, and even more happy that she avoided last place like I was kind of expecting. Justine never made the show and I wasn't sure if everyone else remembered/liked this as much as I did. She previously auditioned for Season 10 and was cut at the Green Mile then as well. SYTYCD US is not always the kindest to returning dancers. So at least the show aired this gorgeous audition and let her have at least one shining moment. This is the kind of contemporary dancing that gets me really excited. Interesting new shapes, while still being musical and emotional. Who knew that elbows could be used so much in a dance? She was later part of Travis Wall's company and was part of many iconic music videos:  https://www.justinelutz.com/about 

 

Tie was decided by which one had more rankers put it higher than the other

 

 

Kriti - 5/20

Quote

Serious props for using Daughter, and again, having just really good control over her body. I keep thinking I’ll find an audition mediocre and then I’m just blown away immediately, it’s great.

 

Megan - 5/20

Quote

This is going to seem dramatic but I could watch Justine Lutz dance solo for like an hour.

 

Andrew - 16/20

Quote

Like Arielle and Gabi, Justine was robbed of a finals spot. After watching all three of their auditions back to back, I think she’s my least favourite of the three but I still do really like her audition.

 

 

13. Gabi Rojas

11.2 / 20 (tie)

 

Kriti - 2/20

Derek - 3/20

Megan - 3/20

Zoey - 10/20

Andrew - 14/20

Chris - 14/20

Amanda - 15/20

Gigi - 15/20

Diana - 17/20

Patryk - 19/20

 

Age: 24

From: Albuquerque, NM

Style: Contemporary

Music: Terraform by Projectify

Nigel: “If you are not in this year’s Top 20, I’ll be surprised.”

Result: Cut after broadway in Vegas (AARRARARGHGHHHH)

 

Kriti - 2/20

Quote

I didn’t think I would rate this but so far this is my favourite female contemporary solo of the bunch. The movements!! I love when contemporary dancers have more musicality than average. She was definitely robbed.

 

Derek - 3/20

Quote

Another dancer who didn't end up making the Top 20 on her season. But this audition tho. Gabi really solidified the trope of "contemporary female who has a hard time out of her style." And she also had an OUTSTANDING solo in Vegas. I can't wait for the eventual Vegas Solo mini-rankdown. This is so gorgeous and memorable. And since Gabi was in an earlier iconic season, I was more confident that people would remember her, and I think I was right. Very happy this made the finals.

 

Megan - 3/20

Quote

I am retroactively VERY angry that Gabi didn't make the show. Her style of contemporary is so unique and not just the like freeform lyrical we tend to see labeled as contemporary on this show. It feels modern and new and something that the show should strive for. Yet she was cut. At least we got to see this incredible solo from her. In this rankdown I'm also a little biased for dancers who didn't make the actual show so Gabi ends up here at #3.

 

Andrew - 14/20

Quote

I kind of forgot about Gabi until I watched her audition in this Rankdown, but I do remember liking her and thought she was done real dirty by the producers to not make the finals.

 

 

12. Gaby Diaz 

11.1 / 20 (tie)

 

Diana - 6/20

Amanda - 7/20

Derek - 8/20

Kriti - 8/20

Gigi - 9/20

Megan - 10/20

Chris - 12/20

Patryk - 15/20

Andrew - 17/20

Zoey - 19/20

 

Age: 18

From: Miami, FL

Style: Tap

Music: Endangered Species by Dianne Reeves

Paula: “You’re a student who took the constructive criticism that we gave you, you applied it… it just worked.”

Result: Winner

 

Derek - 8/20

Quote

The tapping itself is very good, the routine was well-crafted, and it clearly deserved a callback. But what makes this an ICONIC AUDITION is the fact that she had previously auditioned in another city and was cut after her solo. So she revamped everything, took the judges' notes, and came back and made it on the show. And ended up winning. Gaby has one of the greatest SYTYCD stories ever, and so much is about her audition which is why this deserved the finals.

 

Tie was decided by which one had more rankers put it higher than the other

 

Kriti - 8/20

Quote

I ALSO THOUGHT I WASNT GOING TO LIKE THIS AND THEN I LOVED IT WHAT SORCERY

 

Megan - 10/20

Quote

Gaby is maybe the most compelling tapper to watch we've seen on the show.

 

Andrew - 17/20

Quote

Another potentially unpopular opinion but Gaby’s solos never did anything for me. I do love that she pays tribute to her Cuban culture but I often found they lacked the musicality we saw from other tappers on the show.

 

 

 

11. Snejana “Snow” Urbin

11.1 / 20 (tie)

 

Gigi - 3/20

Megan - 6/20

Kriti - 6/20

Andrew - 10/20

Zoey - 11/20

Diana - 13/20

Patryk - 13/20

Amanda - 13/20

Derek - 16/20

Chris - 20/20

 

Age: 25

From: New York, NY

Style: Latin Ballroom

Music: Ethnictricity by Paul Taylor

Nigel: “I understand that you were born on the stage.”

Result: Makes the Top 12

 

Megan - 6/20

Quote

"I'm going to do unique and versatile Latin dancing" SELLING HERSELF ALREADY. I love Snow. I think she's the best ballroom soloist this show has had (or at least top like 3 with Benji and somebody else) and I love the energy she brings to the stage. I'm ranking this higher than maybe I objectively should because it's SNOW and her Wikipedia is clearly edited by herself! Her IG links to her IMDB. She's an icon.

 

Kriti - 6/20

Quote

God, I love her. She’s so charismatic and funny and such a consummate performer. I’m usually critical of solo ballroom auditions but she crushed it.

 

Andrew - 10/20

Quote

Iconic. I know Megan will probably have her higher but I do love her solos. One of the best ballroom dancers ever on the show but before her time. I’d love to have seen her dance with Pasha.

 

Derek - 16/20

Quote

Snow is an OG. Snow is an icon. Snow is from Siberia. Snow danced with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The way she connects with Nigel and forces him to fall in love with her... so good. And she is maybe the best latin soloist until Alexis S17 came along, but even then Alexis didn't audition as a soloist like Snow did. And by "best" I of course mean unique, interesting, and entertaining. But I never figured out why she didn't wear heels for any of this lol. Either way, Snow DEMANDED attention and it was no shock that she got to the live shows.

 

[FrogLenzen]

On 6/30/2022 at 2:57 PM, FrogLenzen said:

Natalie Fotopoulos (Season 2, Contemporary)

Anya Garnis & Pasha Kovalev (Season 3, Ballroom)

Lacey Schwimmer (Season 3, Swing)

Lauren Froderman (Season 7, Jazz)

Arielle Coker (Season 8, Contemporary)

Makenzie Dustman (Season 10, Contemporary)

Jenna Johnson (Season 10, Ballroom)

Marie “Poppins” Bonnevay (Season 11, Hip-Hop)

Inyoung “Dassy” Lee (Season 14, Hip-Hop)

Koine Iwasaki (Season 14, Contemporary)

 

Here's the Top 10!

[totes4totes]

14 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

But I never figured out why she didn't wear heels for any of this lol.

Snow is an icon and was like "watch me be incredible without heels because I'll be the only lady ballroom dancer doing that"

[totes4totes]

10 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

 

Here's the Top 10!

hmmmmmmmm...........

[totes4totes]

5 minutes ago, totes4totes said:

Snow is an icon and was like "watch me be incredible without heels because I'll be the only lady ballroom dancer doing that"

Also it's part of her UNIQUE and VERSATILE style

[kritaaay]

Wow I looked at that first set and went “good this is most of my bottom dancers” and then this one came up and I was Mad. Y’all. Justine and Gabi both deserve so much better

[kritaaay]

Also @FrogLenzen you missed the ASB series, a lot of us remember and love dancers that never made the show!

[totes4totes]

Justine and Gabi deserved Top 10 at least!!!!!

[taylorkat]

Let me just say that I disagree with a lot here.

[FrogLenzen]

10. Jenna Johnson

10.8 / 20 (tie)

 

@*Diana - 4/20

@sublymonal - 7/20

@Erestor - 8/20

@taylorkat - 8/20

@*Amanda - 12/20

@FrogLenzen - 13/20

@totes4totes - 13/20

@kritaaay - 13/20

@Zoey - 15/20

@*Chris - 15/20

 

 

Age: 18

From: Provo, UT

Style: Latin Ballroom

Music: Dedication to My Ex by Lloyd

Judges: [waving tickets]

Result: Makes Top 10

 

Andrew - 7/20

Quote

She’s improved so much since this audition but I still love watching the start of her journey

 

Derek - 13/20

Quote

Awww this makes me sad again that Landon Anderson got cut in Green Mile when he was old enough to audition in Season 11. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Jenna is the most cross-trained dancer to ever be on SYTYCD. She started the journey here strictly showcasing her latin skills, which I think was a smart move to stand out and show right off the bat that she's a SERIOUS ballroom dancer, not just someone who takes a random ballroom class every now and then and can fake it. But I'll always wonder what would have happened if she presented herself as a contemporary dancer rather than ballroom and did a contemporary audition. 

 

Megan - 13/20

Quote

Jenna is a star. Jenna is also a MUCH better Latin dancer now than she was at 18. But you can still see that clear talent. Again, of the Utah dancers, Jenna is the only one with the real talent to have gone pro if she didn't decide to follow the $$$$ and go to DWTS and that has all worked out very nicely for her.

 

Kriti - 13/20

Quote

I think this audition proves that Jenna has been an absolute force of nature since day one. I couldn’t take my eyes off her and not just because of the dress.

 

 

 

9. Lauren Froderman

10.8 / 20 (tie)

 

Diana - 1/20

Gigi - 2/20

Patryk - 3/20

Amanda - 5/20

Derek - 11/20

Zoey - 16/20

Kriti - 16/20

Megan - 18/20

Andrew - 18/20

Chris - 18/20

 

Age: 18

From: Phoenix, AZ

Style: Jazz

Music: Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye

Nigel: “You are tremendous, young lady. Very good.”

Result: Winner

 

Derek - 11/20

Quote

LoFro's journey is sooooo fascinating to me. She clearly has an amazing facility and lots of dance training. But when she auditioned I think she went on a whim with one of her friends from her dance team/company. And you can kind of see a lot of the competition/team training in her movement here. Like this would be a full group number with a dozen girls doing mostly unison. And a random dance team dancer is not usually the kind of talent that succeeds in this format. Those girls usually get eaten up, can't throw down a unique solo, and aren't versatile enough to hang. But Lauren's talent, whether she knew at the time or not, ran much much deeper than that. And it really blossomed right in front of our eyes in Vegas Week and during the competition. This audition is cute and showed off her solid foundation, but even in the short time it took from this to her final Vegas Week solo (to At Last - which was the same approach, a seductive jazz to a famous R&B song) the improvement was remarkable and I immediately took her VERY seriously (and I think the judges did too). There's not always a lot of room to grow for an 18 year old contemporary female dancer on this show, but Lauren from this first audition all the way to the win was an impressive journey to witness.

 

Kriti - 16/20

Quote

Honestly Lauren’s my girl but watching her at such a young age try to be sexy is not it. Obviously very, very glad she made it through, though.

 

Megan - 18/20

Quote

A smiley jazz solo to "Let's Get It On." If it weren't LoFro with this solo this would not have made the finals at all.

 

Andrew - 18/20

Quote

Lauren’s audition is jaw droppingly good but I also know she could win this Rankdown v easily so I’m ranking her low.

 

 

 

8. Marie “Poppins” Bonnevay

10.4 / 20

 

Megan - 1/20

Patryk - 5/20

Derek - 6/20

Andrew - 9/20

Kriti - 9/20

Amanda - 11/20

Zoey - 14/20

Gigi - 14/20

Chris - 17/20

Diana - 18/20

 

https://www.metatube.com/en/videos/240739/SYTYCD-2014-Mary-Poppins-Bonnevay-And-Fik-Shun-Audition-Season-11/

Age: 27

From: North Hollywood, CA

Style: Hip-Hop

Music: Smooth Operator by Sade

Nigel: “I loved every second of it. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Result: Cut after Jazz at Callbacks

 

Megan - 1/20

Quote

I have LOVED Marie Poppins from even before she was on this show. And I cannot believe in the MEH cast of women that plagued season 11 we didn't get her. TBH she would have been like Iveta which is WAY TOO OLD for all the like 20-year-old boys on this show (I believe that her trio partners Dassy and Lily really only made it because of the format changes to the show their respective seasons). I don't know if out of all the auditions that have been on the show that she was my absolute favorite but y'all DECIMATED all of the hip-hop dancers I moved on except Marie Poppins and Dassy so I'm ranking Marie at #1 just for my longtime love of her.

 

Derek - 6/20

Quote

She is such a queen. Just pure class. Self aware and still ambitious. This is a great audition because she's a great popper (obviously) but also the nerve of her immediately going to the judge table and then being able to play off of Fik-Shun without missing a beat. It showed off the abilities she developed as a literal street dancer who dances for people walking by on the street. This tall Frenchwoman who absolutely understood 100% everything about hip-hop and street dance culture. Marie getting cut in Season 11 was a bummer, but it's her cut at Green Mile in Season 12 that made NO SENSE to me. The Stage vs. Street format was begging for Marie to join. Instead they went with some people who were more cross-trained... ummmm. I honestly think that if Marie was shorter, she would have been cast. Shout-out to Marie's appearance as part of the all female We Are Heroes crew for the ABDC season 8. That crew won season 4 and then returned for season 8 (the all winner season), and Marie joined the crew (with Sara from SYTYCD Season 3) to increase the members.

 

Andrew - 9/20

Quote

SO DAMN GOOD. If she had the versatility she would have been a force to be reckoned with but in her style, she’s unmatched.

 

Kriti - 9/20

Quote

She’s very very good and I do have a biased love for her from old reduxes. I think this is the point where I realise I basically like everyone.

 

 

 

7. Arielle Coker 

10.0 / 20

 

Patryk - 1/20

Derek - 2/20

Zoey - 7/20

Amanda - 8/20

Kriti - 10/20

Megan - 12/20

Andrew - 12/20

Chris - 13/20

Diana - 16/20

Gigi - 19/20

 

Age: 21

From: Los Angeles, CA

Style: Contemporary

Music: Too much screaming for Shazam to figure it out lol

Tyce: “I don’t think I have ever seen anybody come back with more of a fire in their eyes. You’re, like, a star up there. Incredible.”

Result: Cut after contemporary in Vegas (………………………boo)

 

Derek - 2/20

Quote

Arielle also had featured auditions in Season 4 and 5, but this was the only time she was solo. Arielle is tied for the person with the most featured auditions ever on the US show, along with Anthony Bryant and Hok. SYTYCD US is not always nice to returning dancers, and I think by this point Nigel was a little over it. You can kind of get a hint of that when he waves to her before the audition. A run-of-the-mill contemporary solo with developpes and basic turns was not going to get the judges to notice her. This was an unusual, risky solo with a lot of still moments that required her to absolutely command the stage, and she did that and more. Showing the judges (particularly Nigel) something new from you after many appearances was a tall order and a lot of pressure, but she accomplished it. The way that they discarded her later for no reason is one of the greatest mysteries in all of SYTYCD. 

 

Kriti - 10/20

Quote

I just love her and her smile and the way she moves! I probably prefer her other auditions a smidge though.

 

Megan - 12/20

Quote

This is very cool and I'm glad she got one of her auditions in this final rankdown. I think I prefer her audition with Phillip though.

 

Andrew - 12/20

Quote

I remember seeing her audition and thinking she was a LOCK for the finals and potentially to win and then they unceremoniously cut her because Nigel sucks!

 

 

6. Inyoung “Dassy” Lee

9.6 / 20

 

Kriti - 1/20

Megan - 2/20

Chris - 5/20

Andrew - 8/20

Derek - 10/20

Diana - 10/20

Gigi - 11/20

Patryk - 14/20

Zoey - 17/20

Amanda - 18/20

 

Age: 26

From: Seoul, SK

Style: Hip-Hop

Music: Big Spender Remix by District 78

Nigel: “I used to be Shirley [Bassey]’s choreographer. I know that she would have loved seeing you dance to [that remix].”

Result: 8th Place

 

Kriti - 1/20

Quote

This is so incredibly creative, brilliant, it might just have become my favourite of the whole bunch. Maybe I should finally suck it up and watch S14.

 

Megan - 2/20

Quote

Dassy is a dancer that I don't think would have made it onto the show in the typical format but Season 14 was full of those dancers (and I believe a corresponding increase in age) because of the format change. And like Marie Poppins, I already knew I liked Dassy because I had already been following her dancing career. Anyway, her audition is fantastic and maybe not my #2 audition of all time but my #2 here!!!!

 

Andrew - 8/20

Quote

So so good. Dassy is one of the best female hip hop soloist the show was blessed to have.

 

Derek - 10/20

Quote

Just a really smart presentation all around, including her speaking with the judges before and after. The expressions, her demeanor, her styling, including some femininity, the unassuming intro, having a couple hip-hop style shifts, the ending... she crafted this really well to showcase her absolute BEST. Her confidence! The song choice! A magnetic character who immediately made the judges all think to themselves "I want this girl on the show." 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by FrogLenzen

[FrogLenzen]

On 6/30/2022 at 2:57 PM, FrogLenzen said:

Natalie Fotopoulos (Season 2, Contemporary)

Anya Garnis & Pasha Kovalev (Season 3, Ballroom)

Lacey Schwimmer (Season 3, Swing)

Makenzie Dustman (Season 10, Contemporary)

Koine Iwasaki (Season 14, Contemporary)

Top 5!

[FrogLenzen]

[duplicate post lol]

Edited August 24, 2022 by FrogLenzen

[kritaaay]

Me: oh maybe all those years ago I was just copying Megan’s taste because I admired her

Our independent audition rankings: bet

 

I’m almost sure Anya and Pasha are winning, lmao. I didn’t rank two of the top five auditions very high and the ones I did, I know other people will have tanked.

[kritaaay]

Also LoFro didn’t deserve to win this audition round but I am Over the narrative that she wins everything easily because she gets tanked on that basis in literally EVERY rankdown.

[*Amanda]

4 minutes ago, kritaaay said:

Also LoFro didn’t deserve to win this audition round but I am Over the narrative that she wins everything easily because she gets tanked on that basis in literally EVERY rankdown.

 

It’s also the same reasoning used for Jeanine and Kathryn tanks/cuts every time. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was started to be used for Lacey after her landslide victory in 3.0.

[*Amanda]

Anyway, this is a very good Top 5. Any of them would make a good winner.

[totes4totes]

10 hours ago, kritaaay said:

Me: oh maybe all those years ago I was just copying Megan’s taste because I admired her

[*Wallace]

12 hours ago, kritaaay said:

Also LoFro didn’t deserve to win this audition round but I am Over the narrative that she wins everything easily because she gets tanked on that basis in literally EVERY rankdown.

 

12 hours ago, *Amanda said:

 

It’s also the same reasoning used for Jeanine and Kathryn tanks/cuts every time. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was started to be used for Lacey after her landslide victory in 3.0.

Exactly to all of this!  Since when has Lauren won, let alone make it to the finals of a rankdown game?   

 

Well, at least with Lacey that she has at least won a Contestant rankdown game and the Season 3 routines game, so at least there would be a legit reason for her for that.  And the same applies to Courtney too.