‘So You Think You Can Dance’ review: E-Knock moves us; as for Anthony Bryant…

Within the first 30 seconds of Tuesday night’s “So You Think You Can Dance” episode, we had one incredibly-annoying “wicked awesome” line from someone with a stereotypical Boston accent. Trust us: It got better from there.

There were so many different kinds of performances that we saw throughout this brisk two hours: Great ballroom, great tap dancers, some deeply emotional stories, and a fair share of people doing crazy things. We also had what was unquestionably one of the biggest ego trips in the history of the show, and it makes you wonder why some people even bother to audition other than to get attention for themselves.

Day One

Advanced to Vegas

Ashley Goldman and Phillip K. (try spelling that last name on sight) – The silent Phillip and the colorful Ashley made a very good pair, and it was pretty clear almost from the beginning that these two were going to be good. There’s a lot of strong ballroom this year! We wonder now how much influence a show like this or “Dancing with the Stars” had on young dancers, who were around ten or so at around the time the shows began.

Jennifer Jones – One of the more emotional stories about a ballet dancer who shifted to jazz in an effort to try and free up her body and no longer have to restrict herself to anything that would be standardized upon her.

Tommy Tibball – This was the sort of guy who has clearly worked very hard in order to get this far. He’s auditioned a number of times in the past, heck he even helps to run a dance studio now. How could the producers not want him around for a while longer this season?

Jennie Begley – She traveled all of the way from Colorado to be on the show in Boston, which was definitely not an easy task for her. You also have to be rather thankful that she has a nice brother who was willing to help her out in order to make the dream into a reality.

Advanced via choreography

Katlyn Rodirguez – This had to be the over-freakout of the night. Before Katlyn even went on stage, she went on and on about how she nearly dropped out, mostly because she didn’t have a partner. Her little brother came in, and helped her deliver something absolutely stellar.

Eliminated via choreography

John Tesoriero – This was one of the strangest, but coolest, routines that we’ve ever seen. There was beat-boxing, fantastic movement, and just something that we’ve never quite seen before.

Eliminated outright

Natalie Vilos – This was bizarre, to say the least. We still don’t know whether or not this was meant to be funny, or just plain weird. Either way, it wasn’t that good. It doesn’t matter if you’re dancing with a lampshade or doing anything else with a lampshade … really, the only good thing that they are used for involves a lamp.

Day Two

Straight to Vegas

Jason Kidd – We wonder how many people ask him where he found time to take up dancing in between playing for the New York Knicks. (Basketball humor! Moving on…) Jason is a brilliant animator, and one that actually gives Cyrus Spencer from last season a serious run for his money. Based on some of his history, we wonder whether or not he can do other styles. He also looks a little like Derek Hough / Jake from “Awkward.”

Shannon Tarantino – We refuse to call her by her nickname of “Shizzy Shake.” We actually thought her goofy pre-show package was a precursor to a bad audition, but she was actually a pretty strong when it comes to performing in contemporary style.

Elena and Gene Bersten – It’s not often that you see a husband-and-wife couple audition on the show, especially two who are also parents, and are also pretty darn fantastic to go along with it. We don’t know if they are as strong dancers as some of who we saw earlier on the show, but they are still very strong.

Alexis Juliano – We love a good tapper, mostly because there are so few of them appearing on the show these days. She is sensational at it. Not only can she perform tap moves well, but this routine also showed that there was some technique there when it comes to some other styles, as well.

Anthony Savoy – What a stellar dancer Anthony is, though you probably knew this from the moment that he claims that he works as a part of a company. What may be the most brilliant thing about his work is how quietly he landed after every single move he made with this contemporary ballet piece.

Kate Kapshandy – This ballroom dancer had been hyped all season long, and for a pretty darn good reason: She’s really good. Really good. One of the best ballroom dancers we’ve seen audition, which is probably good news for that “Dancing with the Stars” scout watching this show (you know that they do).

Toshihiko Nakazawa – A very cool street performer, but we had very little confidence that he could actually do well when it came to choreography. We were rather surprised he went straight through, but we absolutely loved his brilliant “yatta” that reminded us of Masi Oka in “Heroes.”

Eliminated in choreography

Ernest “E-Knock” Phillips – We have a feeling that this story probably has you in tears. It does us. What an incredible tale of just persevering, and about someone finding themselves in the most unusual of places. One of the most passionate, genuine hip-hop performances we have ever seen on this show.

Seeing E-Knock go home was absolutely devastating. He wasn’t strong enough, but we wish that his original dance was enough to allow him to move on.

Eliminated for having an ego

Anthony Bryant – We will definitely give Anthony this: The guy is resilient. He has tried to be on this show since the very first season, and has pulled out all sorts of stops in order to make it happen. Once again, this was a very strange performance, but is he a little too much of a loose cannon? How about “yeah.” We apparently were led to believe that he did not want to do choreography because he wants to get paid for doing choreography, which means he can go be paid somewhere else. We don’t really know why he even bothered to show up with this attitude.

Who was your favorite from this week’s “So You Think You Can Dance”? Be sure to share your thoughts below! If you want to see some other highlights from this season, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: Fox