Aired: 5/26/11

Welcome to the Season 8 premiere of So You Think You Can Dance! Summer has officially arrived-if SYTYCD is on the air, it's pretty much a vacation. Cue the music!

I'm the So You Think You Can Dance Insider and I've been a fan of the show since day one, and this is my fourth season working for it. I am not a dancer, unless you count fist-pumping at weddings to The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feelin'." I did take ballet and jazz as a kid if that counts. Oh, and in college I took a History of Dance course to fulfill my art elective. But I'm passionate about this show!

The host with the most, Cat Deeley, was back for her seventh season of doting on contestants, towering over pint-sized dancers, welcoming "jidges," and hating results show days. She brought us to Atlanta, Georgia, where judges Nigel Lythgoe, Lil' C, and Mary Murphy in some thigh-high boots made up the panel. How great is it to have Mary Murphy back?! It's totally worth the hearing loss.

If you're new to So You Think You Can Dance's audition rounds, here's how it works. The dancers audition in their genre. If they're bad, they're sent home. If they're amazing, they move on to the next round of auditions in Las Vegas. If they're good but the judges want to see more, they go to choreography where they have an hour to learn a few 8-counts from past SYTYCDers.

The dancing kicked off with Bianka Hinklerian, a young ballroom dancer and her 17-year-old partner, who was too young to make the show! They introduced us to Colombian Salsa. I'm not sure what that meant, but after watching them perform, I think it means super fast footwork. Nigel impersonated the hip work, Mary gave her ballroom stamp of approval, and Lil' C was impressed Bianka kept up with the fast tempo. The three judges sent her to choreography and asked Giovanni to come back and audition next year. I hope Bianka makes it just so we can hear Cat say "Bianker" once again.

Art major Melanie Moore lost her dad when she was 12. She has the looks and the bubbly personality of actress Ginnifer Goodwin. Her Contemporary solo was completely captivating and I was totally wrapped up in it. It wasn't until the very end that I noticed a Band-Aid dangling from her knee. The judges thought she was amazing and Lil' C said she's so good he can't even clap.

Deon Lewsa Jr. and Damon Bellmon are two dancers that had a fun time scoping out the competition and trying to pick up on the ladies. These two hip-hop dancers are completely in sync, but they convince us that they're not brothers. Deon and Damon took the stage together and performed. They're hilarious storytellers and their performance was highly entertaining. Nigel sent Deon straight to Vegas, and psyched out Damon before giving him a ticket to sync up with Deon in Nevada. Hopefully they can Cha-Cha!

Next we saw a montage of good contemporary dancers, and in a So You Think You Can Dance first, 10 consecutive tickets to Vegas were doled out! No wonder the city is nicknamed Hotlanta. That doesn't happen. I've sat in on auditions before and most people don't make the cut. Nigel joked, "This is getting obnoxiously credible."

Marko Germar was a robbery victim who fought back and was shot in his shoulder. He didn't realize he was shot until after the attack, and to avoid having surgery and a risk of arm immobility, the bullet is still in there. After watching his Contemporary audition, it's obvious that the bullet is not hindering his dancing! Mary was so impressed with Marko's athleticism and the ease in which he moved, so the judges sent him to choreography.

Over in choreography we saw SYTYCD alumni and runners-up, Katee Shean and Jakob Karr, who taught choreography to the Vegas hopefuls. I love these two! Bianka and Marko, who both spell their names with an unusual 'k' in place of a 'c' were through to Vegas as were 11 other hopefuls.

Day 2 in Atlanta began with Kimalee Piedad who performed an amazing piece to Sara Bareilles' "Gravity." Aww, let's take a second to remember Kayla and Kupono's "Addiction" dance by Mia Murphy. Kimalee showcased some unbelievable moves with her partner and I caught myself biting my nails and saying "Oh My God" at their gravity-defying moves. I just wished she didn't smile so much because this isn't a happy song. It was no surprise that Kimalee is off to Vegas!

After a montage of words of wisdom from the "Prince of Prose," Lil' C, we met John Palermo who calls himself "White Chocolate." He raps and he breakdances, but not very well. It was kind of cool when he did a somersault into his hat, but overall it was not enough. Nigel called the performance "very juvenile," and sent "White Chocolate" back to the daily grind of rapping.

The last soloist in Georgia was Kyré Batiste who mentioned that his grandma Mandy Walker is a dancing machine. Nigel invites Miss Mandy up to judge her grandson, who is a very fluid pop-locker. When Nigel told Ms. Mandy to be honest, boy was she! "Kyre did well but he didn't use his eyes in the right place. You gotta look at us and win our support." Grandma's tough! Next thing you know she was pretending to whip Lil' C with her belt, so Lil' C "buckled" and gave a yes. Surprisingly, it was a no from Mary and a no from Nigel, but Grandma got a say and sent him to choreography.

Over in choreography, Kyré didn't earn a ticket to Vegas, but he's 18 so he can come back 12 more times! However, seven dancers from choreo were Vegas-bound.

Hop on board the plane to Oakland, CA, where Tyce Diorio and Toni Redpath joined Nigel Lythgoe as judges.

A very energetic girl named Amber Williams was bouncing around the theater. Her accent isn't very NorCal and her hairstyle is similar to Kate Gosselin's. That energy translated into some really hard-hitting contemporary moves. Tyce commented, "You command attention and have this quirky personality." With that, Amber is going to bounce all the way to Vegas.

B-boy Timothy Joseph performed tricks at his audition that looked amazing and amazingly painful. Nigel said Timothy is, "Absolutely stunning for a b-boy" and Tyce commented on his strength and athleticism. Toni was interested in seeing him do a Viennese Waltz, so Timothy was sent to choreography so we could see if he has more than just tricks in his bag.

Iesha Moss is a girl with colorful eyeshadow, colorful hair, and a colorful personality. Oh, and she reveals that she used to be a stripper, hence why she is so good at booty-popping. It's a no to Vegas for Iesha.

Marcos Prieto wore the world's shiniest shirt and danced to "Rude Boy" by Rihanna. He also did booty popping, but it looks like there's no room for bad booty popping on So You Think You Can Dance. Paul Keelan is a lanky guy and spastic dancer, who will be going the same route as Marcos and Iesha-home.

When Danielle Ihle's father lost his job, they became homeless. Then, her father abandoned the family. Wearing one sock and dancing to "Cosmic Love," Danielle showed that she could make a lot of money for her family via dance. Toni said she's a "great spinner, but the emotional content left me a little bit flat." Since they're looking for the most elite dancers for Season 8, Danielle was sent to choreo.

Ashley Nicole Rich comments that she dances Modern Contemporary aka "Ashley-style." From her pre-package, I couldn't tell if she was going to be good or bad, but as soon as she took the stage I knew the answer: Good! She got some major height with her jumps…like Joshua Allen height! Nigel said, "I only saw the best in you. You had great feeling through the movement and you're a beautiful light on the stage." Toni painted a warm story and the judges sent Ashley to Vegas.

This led to a montage of a talented Contemporary dancer and Latin ballroom couple, who are both off to Vegas.

An emotional guy named D'on-que Addison was too emotional to tell his story. He seemed to lack control in his dancing and he broke down on stage, even though the song wasn't emotional. D'on-que was going home.

Over in choreography, Katee's Season 4 pal William Wingfield assisted her with choreography, and there were 22 candidates. B-boy Timothy tweaked his knee during his earlier performance and dropped out, but Danielle got a ticket to Vegas and was ecstatic. She nearly jumped Nigel and it looked like she brought her entire dance studio with her. Fourteen more dancers were headed to Sin City!

Day 2 brought Sacramento B-Boy Jeffery McCann who has been dancing for 18 years. He started breaking at age 4! After his solo, Tyce said, "You're in it." If he added a "to win it" Randy Jackson would get residuals. Jeffery is going straight to Vegas.

Ryan Ramirez made it all the way to the very end of auditions last year. If they had Top 20 she would've made it, but it was only a Top 11. I remember her backstory of being broke. After her Contemporary audition for Season 8, Nigel stated, "Beautiful girl, beautiful dance, beautiful performance." Toni commented on Ryan's "controlled abandon." Ryan is going back to Vegas. And she's still only 18!

Contemporary dancer Whitney Bezzant and B-girl Lilly Nguyen would be joining Ryan in Vegas. Hopefully we'll get to see more from them there.

Levi Allen introduced us to TURFing, a style of dance about "Taking the room to the floor," which was started in Oakland. The four key components were swagger, footwork, pantomiming, and storytelling. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to send Levi to choreography, where 17 other dances made it to Vegas.

Next up, we're off to Salt Lake City and New York City.