So You Think You Can Dance Off to Great Start

Photo by Mathieu Young/FOX

Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance started last night and it did not disappoint. While the auditions had the usual display of the sadly clueless, we love that SYTYCD doesn't dwell on them too long. Instead they choose to concentrate on the stand outs like the whimsical Teddy Tedholm, ballroom dancers Henry Byalikov and Giselle Peacock, and contemporary dancer Tyrell Rolle.

The show is going through some serious changes this year. First off, the Hot Tamale Train has left the station for good. Mary Murphy is no longer with the series. We're sure her fellow judges' ears will be happy to hear the news.

Instead Mia Michaels joins Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman as the third permanent judge. We are actually pleased with this choice, although we will miss seeing her choreography. And we intend to watch with a box of Kleenex nearby, since both Mia and Adam are big cry babies. In just the first night they were driven to tears two times (that we saw on camera).

But the biggest change of the season is that only ten contestants will graduate from Vegas to the live shows. And instead of being paired with another contestant, they will dance with an all-star cast of past and present So You Think You Can Dancers. We're more than excited to have tWitch, Neil, Mark, Lauren, and Dominic back in our living rooms.

This big change up insures that only one contestant per week will be cast off and no one can be dragged down by a partner's performance. It promises to be an exciting season.