CAT DEELEY: OK, LA, are you ready?
Three, two, one.
Let's have it.
We're in our last city.
We're here at the Orpheum Theater in
downtown Los Angeles.
JEFF THACKER: And we've been to Atlanta, Dallas, Salt Lake
City, and New York.
And I always say that every year I'm not quite sure
whether we're going to dry up, or the well's going to dry up.
But we are not surprised in the talent that come through.
CAT DEELEY: We have these incredible, incredibly
talented people that come out for us every season.
So it's thanks to them and thanks to the people watching
the show that we're here on season nine.
JEFF THACKER: Well, if you're going to come to audition with
us, please stand out.
Be unique.
Just stand out.
Because otherwise--
we've seen over 50,000 dancers in nine seasons.
So somebody has to be memorable.
And it's not just with your dancing.
It's about who you are and what you can do in the short
amount of time.
NIGEL LYTHGOE: We're keeping the same standard.
If anything, we're getting a bit higher.
The only thing I would say is that the dancers are becoming
wiser as to what they do for us.
They are taking classes now, especially the street kids
that had not taken any classes in the past.
STACEY TOOKEY: It keeps getting better each year.
And they turn more, and they jump
more, and their extension.
I mean, you become numb to that.
So when you see someone with passion and they're bleeding
their heart on the stage, that's what really touches me.
And that's what makes me want to work with them.
CAT DEELEY: At this point, we don't know who anybody is.
We don't know any back stories.
We don't really know what style of dance
they're going to do.
We don't even know if they can dance.
NINJA: I'm Ninja.
I'm from Los Angeles, California.
I've been dancing pretty much since I could walk.
Right out of the womb, it was like, boom cat.
SAMANTHA: I'm Samantha Linares.
I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Laverne, California.
I've been dancing for 13 years.
JILLIAN CLARK: My name's Jillian Clark, and I'm here to
audition for So You Think You Can Dance.
I'm 20 today.
And I'm from Oro Grande, California.
DASMIAN: My name is Dasmian.
Everybody calls me Das.
I'm from Little Rock, Arkansas.
I flew out to audition for So You Think You Can
Dance season nine.
I'm here with everybody else, having a good time.
CAT DEELEY: You get a feeling about people.
And there are certain people--
I can only describe it as their faces kind of swim out
from the crowd a little bit.
And something makes them stand out.
And it's just they have that kind of star quality or
something special.
MARY MURPHY: The passion that we bring to the table-- the
one great thing about dancers.
I mean, I wish there was a lot of money involved for us, but
the fact of the matter, there's not.
We dance because we feel compelled to dance.
NIGEL LYTHGOE: At the end of the day, I think it's because
we crave the arts.
And we're not getting it in schools now.
We're not getting it in our lives.
So if there's something on that we can admire,
appreciate, realize how much hard work goes into something.
This isn't, like-- the whole world thinks it can sing.
You don't all think you can dance.
So if you come along to an audition like this, you've got
to be able to dance.
CAT DEELEY: Don't forget to tune in to So You Think You
Can Dance season nine.
We're bringing it.
