If the dancers felt elation at having reached our Top 100, they came back to earth with a thud.
The surprise appearance of show creator Nigel Lythgoe was countered by the shock departures of early favourites Forever and “Baywatch-hot” Andrea. Hilton’s brother David copped a kick up the behind and Emmanuel, Don and Drumstick had to dance for their lives if they were to make Monday’s Top 40 ep. Bodies are breaking down and we’ve only just begun.
Welcome to our Top 100 – and Nigel Lythgoe
The sight of show creator Nigel Lythgoe stepping from a limo brought home the fact that this was no dream. They really were appearing on the world’s premier dance program.
Nigel said the judges “weren’t just looking for the best dancers, but for people who can become the best dancers.” They’d be set challenges by world-class choreographers and the judges would have 3 options: send them through, send them home or invite them to dance for their lives. Let the competition commence …
First Top 100 challenge – Kelley Abbey Chorey
The first challenge for our Top 100 was a Kelley Abbey Broadway Jazz piece from West Side Story. After this first challenge, 10% would be cut.
Emmanuel feels the heat
As expected the b-boys struggled and Emmanuel was the first to feel the heat. “Today, crapola”, said Jason. “I’m OK that you didn’t get the steps but you weren’t acting.” He’d have to dance for his life.
Wild Rok crumbles
Wild Rok, the b-boy who’d wowed us with his strength in Melbourne, looked all at sea here. “I had the chorey in my head but I just came on stage and – poof. Bit disappointed with myself”. He wasn’t the only one. He’d be dancing for his life too.
Carlo dances in Demi’s shadow
Hip Hopper Carlo made Top 40 last year but that pales by comparison to the achievements of his sister, Demi. Kelley said they expected better of a second season veteran – he was a dance away from elimination.
Jet crashes
No dancer had shown greater tenacity to reach the Top 100 than Jet. But, he wasn’t to last even a single day. “I fought for you”, said Bonnie. “I can’t fight for you any longer.”
There was more bad news to come. We warmed to Jasmine in Sydney when she auditioned without telling her father. What we didn’t know was that Jasmine’s boyfriend was Jet. (Did Dad know? He does now.) Would Jasmine fare any better? Not this year. “I’m afraid we don’t think you’ve got the versatility for the competition.”
Hugest shock of the night – Baywatch-hot Andrea bails
Few made more of an impression during our auditions than “Baywatch-hot” Andrea. But on this very first day of competition she would be the most shocking exit.
Andrea got lost in Kelley’s chorey, but instead of persisting she walked off. “Andrea, don’t leave!”, warned Jason, hoping to save one of his favourites. It was too late. “I’m sorry, darling”, said Nigel. “You committed the cardinal sin for me. You gave up.” The favourite of the competition – at least among a certain demographic – was gone.
Couple hanging on the cliff’s edge
Partners on and off the dance floor, Ash-Leigh and Dannial are able to support one another – which is lucky, because on this first day they were going to need it.
“That wasn’t great, my friend”, said Jason C of Dannial. But he’d get a second chance.
Ash-Leigh, if anything, was worse. “What happened out there?”, asked Bonnie. “I was just way out of my comfort zone today”. She too was “on the edge”.
Dancing for their lives – Part 1
Five dancers now had to give the performances of their lives or face the prospect of performing their next dance in a suburban hall rather than on national television.
With the guillotine poised over his head, Emmanuel delivered a rousing performance that brought cheers from competitors and raised arms from the judges. The boy from Orange was red-hot.
Ash-Leigh and Dannial brought smiles to the judges’ faces, Carlo reminded them why he was there, and Wild Rok brought gasps of disbelief with moves that made him look like an inverted pretzel on steroids. Who would stay and who would go?
Wild Rok skips town
Jason told the b-boy that they were gob-smacked with his strength moves, but “Where was the musicality?”. Wild Rok has left the building.
The good news was that the rest - Emmanuel, Ash-Leigh, Dannial and Carlo - were through to the next challenge. But there was no time to celebrate. At 10pm on Day 1 of Top 100 week, the next challenge was about to start.
Top 100 Challenge 2 – Nacho Pop Chorey
In walked Nacho Pop to teach a Hip Hop routine that should be “as cool as the other side of the pillow”.
Romantic moves
Hilton’s brother, David, flirted openly with Jessica, saying it was hard to concentrate on the chorey when his partner was so “perdy”. This inability to focus on the job in hand was about to cost him dearly. Emmanuel said he was pretty keen on Pania – before confessing that she was already his girlfriend.
Pania & Jesse – teacher’s pets
Out of the 90 dancers remaining, two had caught Nigel’s eye. The floor was cleared and Jesse and Pania took centre stage to show how Hip Hop was done. To be fair, they did have a head-start. Jesse runs classes in Hip Hop – and Pania is his pupil. These two can start thinking about the next challenge.
Challenge 2 Verdict Postponed
As it hit midnight on Day 1, the dancers had to pop to Nacho’s routine and convince the judges they deserved to stick around. But the judges needed more time. Some dancers would make it to Day 2 – but only just.
Top 100 Day 2
The next day, Lamb was “extremely nervous” while David was supremely confident: “Yeah, well, I mean, I did well yesterday”. Boy, was he in for a rude shock.
Don gets clubbed
Hip Hopper Don is always good for a laugh but he didn’t have much to smile about today. “I felt like I was at the club”, he said, but the judges didn’t share his assessment. He was going to be dancing for his life.
Kallyanne – Such is life
Latin Ballroom dancer Kallyanne delivered one of the sexiest auditions of Dance 09. But her performance here hadn’t been strong enough. She was heading back to Perth having barely unpacked her bags. “I can’t talk” she said.
Troy defeated
Contemporary dancer Troy also exercised his return ticket a lot earlier than he’d hoped. “I am a good dancer”, he said between tears. “I wasted this opportunity”.
David gets a kick up the rear
Matt asked David how he’d gone the previous day and the “showman’ played to the crowd: “I just gave it my all, like I’m going to do throughout the competition … so watch out!”.
Matt wasn’t amused and said the judges felt he wasn’t taking the competition seriously. David was “here to have a good time” but Matt said there was a fine line between “enjoying yourself and taking the piss”.
Carriageworks fell silent. David wasn’t cutting any ice with the judges and he was going to have to dance for his life.
What did you think about David’s attitude? Do you think he’s the coolest guy in the comp, or too clever by half? Have your say in the comments below.
Joining David in the Dance of Death were Heath, Elen, Sammy, Gina, Drumstick and – here was another shock – Forever. The dancer who had been Jason’s favourite of all the auditions was now fighting to stay in the competition.
Chanelle defies the Doc
Bonnie felt Chanelle was doing “such a much better job than last year. Why was that?”. Chanelle has been training hard but she also wanted to prove her doctor wrong. He’d said that with her back she shouldn’t go past the Top 100. The further she went, the more that quack was going to have to eat his words.
Dance Challenge 2 – Dancing for their lives
When it was all on the line, Don delivered a performance that totally blew them away. Dancing to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, he looked like all Marx Bros rolled into one adorable character – bringing colour, comedy and some nifty moves.
Forever reached into her make-up drawer again and gave us a comical British Bobby to the signature tune of Benny Hill. Was this as good as her original audition?
For potentially his last stand, David stripped to the waist and - fortunately for him – seemed to be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
Heath rolled his ankle during his solo and had to put the joint on ice. Would his dream soon get the same treatment?
Dance of Death 2 – The Verdicts
Despite Heath’s accident, the judges were putting him through. Sammy, the performer from Adelaide who dances on her Dad’s legs, was also through. Thank goodness for that. She’s a total sweetheart.
Not so lucky were Gina and Elen, the sad clown from Adelaide. Unfortunately now she really had something to cry about. Drumstick was staying but only just: “The decision wasn’t unanimous”. He was on notice.
That left Don, David and Forever.
Jason said that after Don’s routine they’d have to change the lyrics of that famous song to “He’s just a poor boy, everybody loves him”. His routine had floored them. But Jason wanted him to bring that same mojo to everyone else’s chorey.
David’s progression wasn’t so clear-cut. The judges were still worried about his commitment and feared that he was unable to take criticism. He’s through – for now – but it was a close run thing.
Jason Coleman loves Forever. He admires the way she connects with the character in her work. “But this is a dance contest and there wasn’t enough dance content”. It broke his heart, but he was letting her go. Another favourite had perished.
Top 100 Dance Challenge 3 – Sarah Bolter Chorey
There was no let-up. Our dancers now had to gather themselves for challenge 3 – a Lyrical Contemporary piece from Sarah Bolter.
Walking wounded
As if mastering the moves wasn’t tough enough, Oscar and Drumstick now tore their shoulder muscles. While Drumstick could continue to rehearse, Oscar was headed for hospital.
Damien loses his partner
When Damien and Jessica auditioned, they’d only known each other 3 weeks. Their relationship seems to have developed quickly – and not just on the dance floor. So Damien’s heart sank when Matt asked Jessica to come forward.
“How would you feel if Damien progressed in the competition and you didn’t?, asked Matt. Jessica said she’d support him 100%. Matt paused. “It’s over today. Sorry, gorgeous”. Damien will miss her and so will we.
Drumstick’s backward step
Nigel confronted the last remaining group with a challenge: “Those who think they’re good enough to go through, take a step forward”. All did – though Don and Renee seemed to take a few more than the others. Nigel then asked Drumstick to take a step back, and asked all others to leave the stage. They were through.
Great for them - but what about poor old Drumstick? Nigel said they never expected a Hip Hopper to master the chorey. But he totally had. They’d singled him out because he’d been fantastic. Drumstick, with his bung shoulder, had made it to Day 3!
Next up – Top 40
Our dancers have done incredibly well to get this far but it doesn’t get any easier. The chorey gets tougher and the standard of those remaining gets ever higher. Who has the talent – and the mental toughness – to survive and make it into the Top 40? Watch Monday night’s episode and find out! TEN. Monday. 7.30pm.
click here to see where to watch or .
Ready to Watch So You Think You Can Dance Australia, Season 2, Episode 4?