It is summer and you know what that means: sweaty pit stains and bloody, over-itched mosquito bites. Oh yeah, and So You Think You Can Dance.

Just to give you a heads up on how things will go around here, I don’t plan on covering the audition phase of the show. I will be covering the Top 20 (or 16 or whatever) during the regular season. Hopefully, like last year, the producers will pick YouTube licensed music so I can post the videos along with the reviews.

Also, the actual show format will be different than in the past, as per a Fox and Nigel Lythgoe announcement. Basically, the results show got the boot, so they will have to do everything in one night. Though they haven’t nailed down the details, it looks like fans will vote at the end of the episode and the judges will eliminate the following week based on that week’s performance and the previous week’s voting. Or something. Who the fuck knows?

Also, it sounds like there will be a male winner and a female winner. That is good because anyone who saw Marco last year knows he deserved more than to stand in the shadows smelling Jess’s taco farts while the confetti poured down.

Finally, I’ll name my favorites from the first episode.

• As expected, they had some awful shit such as the delusional afro guy who was trying to “fight the system” with his lackluster B-Boying.
• They also had some inspirational stuff such as the autistic dude doing the wavy ocean dance, which was great for a kid who most likely suffers from paralyzing fear of social situations.
• Best girl of the night was pretty handedly the mom from Texas. Pretty amazing for her to take  more than 5 years off and get back into shape like that. Very impressive.
• Best dude was sort of a toss up. From a purely technical perspective, I would say the Swiss ballet guy was outstanding. But from a versatility perspective, I think the contemporary ballet guy from Australia had the advantage. I would guess he makes it a bit farther, perhaps even to the final 4.
• In the past there have been some emotional performances such as the Mia Michaels flower routine and the Melanie/Marco statue from last year, but most of them kind of felt contrived. Like the dancers had been practicing the moves so much that they lost some of the feeling. But last night, “exorcist style” guy took things to a whole other level. He didn’t seem to have a whole lot of training, but holy hell did that guy pour himself into his craft. In case you haven’t read it, make sure you read The Princess Bride (the book, not the movie), because that dude totally reminded me of Inigo’s father: fully absorbed into his craft, not caring about the fanfare, prestige, or money.

So, tell me, what did you think about the kick-off to the season? What do you think the format will be for the rest of the season? Any fan favorites going yet? Let me know in the comments,