So You Think You Can Dance bursts back on BBC One

So You Think You Can Dance bursts back onto our screens for a second series tonight on BBC One. Cat Deeley is rejoined by Nigel Lythgoe, Arlene Phillips, Louise Redknapp and the flamboyantly-haired Sisco Gomez. This is one of my absolute favourite dance shows on television right now, so I’m going to liveblog the first episode – leave me your comments about who was hot and who…wasn’

First up is 29 year old tapdancer Matt Flint. Matt’s from Scarborough and he delivers a quirky, fun and acrobatic tap routine for his audition. Nigel describes what Matt does as his favourite style of tap, while Arlene raves about the “feast” of Matt that he delivered.

The judges continue to rave about Matt’s fantastic footwork, and award him a golden ticket to their choreography boot camp. At this point, the show feels like American Idol for dance.

Stephanie is a 27 year old dancer from London. Although she’s auditioning as a solo dancer, she brings along a partner and the pair deliver a raunchy Latin-infused dance that certainly impressed me. Lythgoe gives few words – he says he’d be surprised if she’s not in the top ten.

Arlene Phillips tells Stephanie that she really admires her for coming in to audition. Seems like Stephanie is a working dancer. Louise Redknapp and Sisco Gomez also praise her. Sisco says there’s no point in auditioning her again because she’s so good. And she really is. I hope it’s not the exposed midriff that’s influencing that comment, but wow she was hot!

You heard right…it’s a mother and daughter act. The 21 year old and her 45 year old mother audition together and it looks like it’s going to be a train wreck. No, mum Cordell is not of the quality SYTYCD should be looking for. Not remotely. Cordell tells Nigel that she regularly goes clubbing with her daughters.

Nigel compliments Cordell on her beautiful daughter, but wisely chooses not to comment on the dancing. Arlene gushes about the carnival atmosphere the two brought to the show. Sisco rejects Cordell, as do the rest of the judges. However, the judges are unanimous about calling Shanelle back again. They don’t seem completely convinced about her, as their comments suggest they’re taking a chance on her rather than excited about her skills.

Next up is blonde dancer Katie Love, who professes her love for Arlene Phillips, then unwisely rambles on about Arlene’s “old school” approach. Nigel subtly warns her not to call Arlene old! She performs a contemporary routine for the judges. It’s a lithe, graceful routine and Katie flows beautifully on the stage, though it has an improvised feel to it.

Arlene returns the love in her comments for the strength and power of Katie’s performance, calling it “almost flawless”. Sisco Gomez admits that he’s very excited about Katie (as a dancer, you dirty bunch). He tells her that she was light, pleasant and captured them from beginning to end. Nigel weighs in by telling her that she was beautifully understated. Arlene presents Katie with a Golden Ticket to Choreography Camp.

Polish auditionee Tomasz tells Cat Deeley that he applied to be a presenter on So You Think You Can Dance, which raises an eyebrow. The flamboyant dancer then tells the judges that he’s not professionally trained. The routine, to David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s When Love Takes Over is energetic and crazy, but not particularly finessed!

Arlene Phillips praises his attitude “You are fun, you are entertaining, you are ridiculous in an extraordinary sort of way and I can see you heading up the raves.” However, the judges tell him that his dancing isn’t strong enough to continue in the competition. Wise move, but a really funny bloke – can you guys see him as a presenter in the UK?

Dance teacher Kirsty Swain bursts onto the screen with bags of energy and fun. And that’s before she’s even really danced. She struts her way down a backstage corridor and laughs at her own Louis Spence impression! And we discover that she’s partially deaf in both ears, but is that a disadvantage in dancing? Dancing readers, I rely on you for your opinions!

While Kirsty dances, the judges all bop along, which is always a good sign. Lythgoe is heard shouting to Sisco “She’s got great musicality, hasn’t she?” Startlingly, Nigel gives her some criticism: “It felt a little old fashioned to me. I was expecting MC Hammer to walk on behind you. It’s a bit Oooh Ahhh with the face.” Arlene backs this up by telling her that she didn’t offer much and says she looked completely out of shape, which draws boos from the audience. Sisco comes to her rescue by saying that he sees potential in her and loves her personality. Nigel and Arlene say no, while Sisco and Louise say yes. Totally split panel, but Kirsty gets a callback.

Dance student Paige Smith is next to audition, with what looks like a contemporary routine. The Wolverhampton girl wows the panel with amazing flexibility and some beautiful moves. She’s gorgeous to watch, and Louise Redknapp tells her that. However, Sisco snipes about her choreography, calling it childlike. He’s got a point, as always, because while I liked her moves, it looked like a rough diamond performance.

Arlene disagrees and gives her a rave review, which causes a bit of bitching between the two judges. Nigel Lythgoe recognises that Paige is “painfully shy” on stage, but he’s very nurturing toward her. Paige walks away with a callback.

For dancers who didn’t get a Golden Ticket, they go to an intermediary stage of callbacks. That includes auditionees like Kirsty Swain and Paige Smith. They have to learn a routine with a top choreographer and if they impress the judges they ‘graduate’ to Choreography Camp.

Paige does a new routine to Taio Cruz’s Dynamite and manages to pick up the routine rather well. She becomes the first person to get through the callbacks phase.

Sadly, Shanelle fails miserably in the callbacks phase – she’s completely unable to keep up with her dance partner and looks clumsy and awkward during the routine. It’s not really a surprise when she gets rejected. Though Nigel, to his credit, lets her down really gently.

Oh lord. Not another Michael Jackson influenced dancer. Seriously? Am I watching Britain’s Got Talent? Italian poet-slash-dancer Paolo Debernardi comes on to read Arlene Phillips a poem, but can he dance?

Er, no. His routine is fairly obviously made up on the spot. There’s not much choreography to see here, but it’s fun to watch. Nigel entertains the poetry, but he’s not letting him anywhere near the live shows! Paolo gets sent home. Mercifully for us.

This 19 year old from Watford manages to wrong-foot Nigel Lythgoe by inadvertently calling him old. She initially looks like a bit of a goofball, but her routine is amazingly good. Nigel agrees: “Charlotte Scally, you are quite surprising. I wasn’t expecting half the things you threw in there. And I thought you were going to be a pointer…where those turns came from, I have no idea.”

Louise warns her to lose the naffness. Sisco again worries about the cheesy parts of her routine, but says he was knocked out by her performance. He really didn’t like her look, but loves her potential.

Branded a tomboy by Cat Deeley, this 19 year old Brazilian is hoping to impress Sisco Gomez with her hip-hop moves. However, Sisco seems to glower at her throughout most of the routine. It’s impossible to tell what’s going through his mind.

Nigel kicks off the comments with much praise – “You are the closest I’ve seen to an American hip-hop dancer. I think you’re loose with it, you’ve got the right attitude, you’ve got the swag. You hit really hard.” Sisco bubbles with enthusiasm, also choosing the word ‘swag’, which to me still sounds like stuff a burglar puts in a bag.

Colombian couple Andres and Hannah come to So You Think You Can Dance via Bishop’s Stortford. They’re dancing together, but hoping to progress as soloists. Their routine is a bit cheesy, but entertaining. It’s interesting and reassuring when Sisco notes a patriotic connection with the Colombians, but still has the integrity to be honest about their performance. He feels they’re not ready for the competition.

Louise says she was entertained too, but criticises the clumsy lifts, while Arlene suggests that Andres is the better dancer and needs a stronger partner. Sadly, the two dancers get split up, with Andres progressing to callbacks. A distraught Hannah is too upset to talk to the cameras afterwards. Andres raises an Awww just for going to comfort her instead of talking to the crew!

Charlotte Scally is up for callbacks, and it’s Dynamite again. Louise Redknapp tells Charlotte that she’s redeemed herself in the callback and through to Choreography Camp.

Later on, Andres gives a somewhat stiff performance. Arlene tells him that he lost it in the choreography and he joins his partner Hannah in going home.

And that’s it. The judges throw out a handful of extra Golden Tickets to nameless dancers and we get a teaser of next week’s show with Nigel Lythgoe pointing his finger (we think at Sisco) and telling him “never apologise on my behalf”. JUICY! Can’t wait to find out what that was all about!