So You Think You Can Dance (American season 12)
So You Think You Can Dance, an American dance competition show, returned for its twelfth season, titled So You Think You Can Dance: Stage Vs. Street, on Monday, June 1, 2015. Seventeen episodes were broadcast on the Fox Network, including episode nine on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, which was a special celebrating the tenth anniversary of the show titled "A Decade of Dance Special Edition". The sixteen regular episodes aired each week on Mondays, rather than Wednesdays as it had been in recent previous seasons. On September 14, 2015, Gaby Diaz won the competition and made history by becoming the first tap dancer to win the title.
Auditions were held in Dallas TX, Detroit MI, Los Angeles CA, Memphis TN and New York NY.
Judges
Series creator and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe returned as a member of the permanent judging panel, along with new permanent members Paula Abdul and Jason Derulo.The Team Captains, Travis Wall for Team Stage and tWitch for Team Street, were consulted on the selections for each team during the Vegas [|Call Backs].
Mary Murphy, who was a permanent judge in seasons 3 through 6 and seasons 8 through to 11, has not returned. Host Cat Deeley returns for her eleventh consecutive season.
Format
Season 12 featured a significant shift in format in that it was the first season where contestants were not selected based on their gender. Contestants were selected based on whether the competitor considered themselves a "Stage" dancer or a "Street" dancer. Stage styles included ballet, ballroom, contemporary, jazz, latin and tap, while the Street styles included freestyle, break dancing, hip-hop, and krump. Previously, the Dancers were selected across all genres and were divided by gender, with ten men and ten women being selected for the Top Twenty. This new format allowed the judges to respond to the strong number of female street dancers, and resulted in the Top Twenty, being eleven female and nine male dancers.Once the "Top 20" were selected the public voted on their favourite dancers and the three stage and three street dancers with fewest votes were in danger of elimination. The mediums through which the public could vote continued from the previous season's methods of online through the website on , the Fox Now app, and SMS. Voting via telephone was once again not available.
The judges selected one stage and one street dancer from the remaining four dancers to be eliminated from the competition. When ten dancers were left in the competition, dancers were then eliminated purely on the votes from the public.
Season 12 saw the introduction of the ability for the audience to save one contestant from the stage and street teams from elimination, but only for the first four eliminations. When the Bottom 6 dancers were revealed during the live show, a five-minute period for Twitter voting was announced with one vote allowed for stage and for street per Twitter account. Once those contestants were saved, the judges were allowed to save one more dancer from each team for the first three eliminations; since the fourth was a double elimination, the Twitter vote was the only save; the judges had no say that week.
Once Top Ten were revealed, neither the audience nor judges were allowed to save any contestants.
Auditions
Open auditions for season 12 were held in five cities beginning on January 24, 2015. Lythgoe, Abdul and Derulo were the three judges for all the auditions.In a change from previous years, the city auditions no longer had a "choreography round," where dancers whom the judges thought might not be able to handle someone else's choreography were taught a routine they then had to perform.
| Air Date | Audition Venue | City | Audition Date |
| June 22, 2015 | Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom & Hammerstein Ballroom | New York, New York | January 24, 2015 |
| June 1, 2015 | Southern Methodist University, McFarlin Memorial Auditorium | Dallas, Texas | February 14, 2015 |
| June 8, 2015 | The Fillmore Detroit | Detroit, Michigan | February 22, 2015 |
| June 1, 2015 | Orpheum Theatre | Memphis, Tennessee | March 8, 2015 |
| June 15, 2015 | Orpheum Theatre | Los Angeles, California | March 15, 2015 |
Callbacks
Callbacks were held in Las Vegas for season 12, a return to previous practice after season 11's were held in Los Angeles. A total of 219 dancers were given tickets at the five audition cities to the Las Vegas callbacks: 114 were selected for Team Stage, mentored by Travis Wall, and 105 were selected for Team Street, mentored by Stephen "tWitch" Boss. The first callback episode was scheduled for June 29, 2015, and the second callback episode, during which the Top 20 of 10 stage and 10 street dancers is revealed, aired on July 6, 2015.Finals
Top 20 Finalists
Team Stage
Team Street
Note
- Alain "Hurrikane" Lauture had to leave the competition due to injury. Thus the judges brought back Asaf Goren who was number 11 in Team Street.
Elimination chart
Performances
Meet the Top 20 (July 13, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
- Performances: Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Top 20 | Hip-hop | "Revolt"—Nathan Lanier | Christopher Scott | N/A |
| Megan "Megz" Alfonso Jessica "JJ" Rabone Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge* | Hip-hop | "The Illest"—Far East Movement feat. Riff Raff | Dave Scott | Eskridge Bottom 6* |
| Gaby Diaz Derek Piquette Moises Parra* | Contemporary | "Luminous"—Max Richter | Stacey Tookey | Parra Bottom 6* Piquette Bottom 6 |
| Lily Frias Jana "Jaja" Vaňková Asaf Goren Burim "B1" Jusufi | Hip-hop | "Easy"—Son Lux feat. Lorde | Christopher Scott | Frias Eliminated |
| Hailee Payne Alexia Meyer Marissa Milele | Jazz | "New Dorp New York"—SBTRKT feat. Ezra Koenig | Brian Friedman | Safe |
| Jim Nowakowski Darion Flores | Ballet | "Blood and Stone"—Audiomachine | Benoit Swan Pouffer | Flores Eliminated |
| Ariana Crowder Yorelis Apolinario Virgil "Lil O" Gadson | Hip-hop | "Locked Out of Heaven"—Bruno Mars | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | Crowder Bottom 6 |
| Kate Harpootlian Edson Juarez | Contemporary | "Shaped Like A Gun"—Tailor | Travis Wall | Safe |
| Team Stage | Broadway | "Body Language"—Queen | Warren Carlyle | N/A |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Ready or Not Here I Come"—District 78 feat. Cheesa | Tabitha D'umo Napoleon D'umo | N/A |
Top 20 (July 20, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Top 20 | Hip-hop | "Baila Como Yo"—District 78 | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | N/A |
| Hailee Payne Yorelis Apolinario | Salsa | "Blucutu"—Saamara | Jonathan Platero Oksana Dmytrenko | Safe |
| Ariana Crowder* Derek Piquette | Jazz | "Cry Me a River"—Michael Bublé | Ray Leeper | Crowder Bottom 6* |
| Virgil "Lil O" Gadson Megz Alfonso Alexia Meyer | Contemporary | "Until We Go Down"—Ruelle | Dee Caspary | Safe |
Burim Jusufi Gaby Diaz Edson Juarez | Bollywood | "Dhol Baaje" from Ek Paheli Leela | Nakul Dev Mahajan | Jusufi Eliminated Juarez Bottom 6 |
| Asaf Goren Kate Harpootlian* Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge | Broadway | "All About That Bass"—Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox featuring Kate Davis | Spencer Liff | Goren Bottom 6 Harpootlian Bottom 6* |
| Jana "Jaja" Vaňková Jim Nowakowski | Lyrical hip-hop | "No Woman, No Cry "—Bob Marley and the Wailers | Christopher Scott | Safe |
| Marissa Milele Moises Parra JJ Rabone | Jazz | "I'm So Sorry"—Imagine Dragons | Ray Leeper | Parra Eliminated |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Time"—Nathan Lanier | Christopher Scott Phillip Chbeeb | N/A |
| Team Stage | Contemporary | "Stabat Mater"—Woodkid | Travis Wall | N/A |
Top 18 (July 27, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Top 18 | Afro Funk | "Let The Groove Get In"—Justin Timberlake | Reina Hidalgo Asiel Hardison | N/A |
| Alexia Meyer Derek Piquette Jana "Jaja" Vaňková | Contemporary | "All Waters"—Perfume Genius | Stacey Tookey | Piquette Bottom 6* |
| Megz Alfonso Jim Nowakowski | Hip-hop | "Whuteva"—Remy Ma | JaQuel Knight | Safe |
| JJ Rabone Edson Juarez Yorelis Apolinario | Jazz | "Restart"—Sam Smith | Tovaris Wilson | Rabone Bottom 6* |
| Asaf Goren Marissa Milele | Club cha-cha | "+1"—Martin Solveig ft Sam White | Jean-Marc Genereux | Both Eliminated |
| Gaby Diaz Ariana Crowder | African Jazz | "Gorilla"—Lord Kraven | Sean Cheesman | Crowder Bottom 6 |
| Kate Harpootlian Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge | Contemporary | "Promise"—Ben Howard | Justin Giles | Harpootlian Bottom 6 |
| Hailee Payne Virgil "Lil O" Gadson | Hip-hop | "Runnin'"—Noahplause | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | Safe |
| Team Stage | Contemporary | "For My Help"—Hayden Calnin | Jaci Royal | N/A |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Break Ya Neck"—Busta Rhymes | Marty Kudelka | N/A |
Top 16 (August 3, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Top 16 | "Love is Free"—Robyn & La Bagatelle Magique ft Maluca | Nick Flores RJ Durrell | N/A | |
| Hailee Payne Jana "Jaja" Vaňková | Jazz | "Endangered Species"—Dianne Reeves | Ray Leeper | Safe |
| Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge Alexia Meyer | Hip-hop | "Flex "—Rich Homie Quan | Dave Scott | Eskridge Bottom 6* Meyer Eliminated |
| JJ Rabone* Leonardo Barrionuevo++ | Argentine Tango | "Duo de Amor"—Astor Piazzolla | Miriam Larici Leonardo Barrionuevo | Piquette Bottom 6* |
| Ariana Crowder Jim Nowakowski | Contemporary | "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"—Lorde | Sean Cheesman | Crowder Eliminated |
| Virgil "Lil O" Gadson Gaby Diaz | Broadway | "Where or When"—Sammy Davis Jr. | Al Blackstone | Safe |
Kate Harpootlian | Jazz | Braveheart—Neon Jungle | Sean Cheesman | Harpootlian Eliminated |
Yorelis Apolinario | Hip-hop | "Let Go"—Kezwik ft. Mimi Page | Christopher Scott | Apolinario Eliminated |
| Edson Juarez Megz Alfonso | Contemporary | "You There"—Aquilo | Talia Favia | Safe |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Commas"—Future | Luam | N/A |
| Team Stage | Contemporary | “Beautiful Friends”—Helen Money | Travis Wall | N/A |
++JJ’s partner Derek Piquette injured his back during rehearsals and was advised by doctors to rest for the week. As a result, JJ performed with her choreographer Leonardo Barrionuevo and Derek Piquette is automatically in the Bottom 6 for next week.
Note: The "asterisk" symbol shows that the Dancer was saved by the live Twitter vote.
Top 14 (August 10, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Top 14 | "100% Pure Love"—Crystal Waters | Brian Friedman | N/A | |
| Jim Nowakowski | Jazz | "Asht"—Nebulo | Sonya Tayeh | Safe |
| Edson Juarez Jana "Jaja" Vaňková | Hip-hop | "She Came to Give It to You"—Usher feat. Nicki Minaj | Misha Gabriel | Juarez Eliminated |
| Virgil "Lil O" Gadson Hailee Payne | Contemporary | "Cellophane"—Sia | Tyce Diorio | Safe |
Ariana Crowder | Burlesque Jazz | "Circus Fish"—Vermillion Lies | Tracy Phillips Dominic Carbone | |
| Derek Piquette Megz Alfonso | Hip-hop | "Worth It" — Fifth Harmony feat. Kid Ink | Dave Scott | Both Bottom 4 |
| Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge Gaby Diaz | Contemporary | "Take my Hand, Precious Lord"—Ledisi | Stacey Tookey | Safe |
| JJ Rabone | Jazz | "A Different Beat"—Little Mix | Brian Friedman | Rabone Eliminated |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Dragula"—Rob Zombie | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | N/A |
| Team Stage | Contemporary | “Lift Me”—The Bengsons | Sonya Tayeh | N/A |
Top 10 (August 17, 2015)
- Group Dance: Music: "Earth Intruders"—Björk, Style: Jazz; Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Hailee Payne Brandon Bryant | Broadway | ”It Don’t Mean a Thing "—The Temptations | Christopher Scott | Safe |
| Megz Alfonso Marko Germar | Jazz | "Canned Heat"—Jamiroquai | Ray Leeper | Bottom 4 |
Jaimie Goodwin | Contemporary | "Your Day Will Come"—Son Lux | Travis Wall | |
| Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge Jasmine Harper | Hip-hop | "Milk Was a Bad Choice”—“Yultron” | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings and Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | Eliminated |
| Jim Nowakowski Jessica Richens | Contemporary | "Heal"—Tom Odell | Dee Caspary | Safe |
| Jaja Vankova Alex Wong | Bollywood | "Naacho Re”—Jai Ho soundtrack | Nakul Dev Mahajan | Safe |
| Gaby Diaz Joshua Allen | Hip-hop | "I’m Really Hot"—Missy Elliott | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings and Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz | Safe |
++JJ Rabone injured her ribs during rehearsals and was not medically cleared to perform either her solo or with an all-star partner. She would automatically have been in the Bottom 4 for the next week had she not been eliminated.
- Solos:
| Dancer | Style | Music |
| Virgil Gadson | Hip-hop | "Conqueror” —Empire Cast feat. Estelle Smollett and Jussie Smollett |
| Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge | Freestyle | "Power of the Empire"—Empire Cast feat. Yazz |
| Gaby Diaz | Tap | "Can’t Truss ‘Em”—Empire Cast feat. Yazz |
| Jaja Vankova | Animation/Krump | "Keep It Movin”—Empire Cast feat. Serayah McNeill and Yazz |
| Jim Nowakowski | Ballet | "You’re So Beautiful"—Empire Cast feat. Jussie Smollett and Yazz |
| Hailee Payne | Contemporary | "Nothing to Lose"—Empire Cast feat. Jussie Smollett |
| Derek Piquette | Contemporary | "Drip Drop”—Empire Cast feat. Yazz and Serayah McNeill |
| Megz Alfonso | Hip-hop | "No Apologies"—Empire Cast feat. Jussie Smollett and Yazz |
| Edson Juarez | Contemporary | ”I Wanna Love You”—Empire Cast feat. Jussie Smollett |
Top 8 (August 24, 2015)
- Group Dance: Music: "Lillies of the Valley"—Pina, Style: Broadway; Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer | Result |
| Virgil Gadson Jasmine Harper | African jazz | ”Kintamani —Transglobal Underground | Sean Cheesman | Safe |
Jaimie Goodwin | Contemporary | "Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer"—Stevie Wonder | Tyce Diorio | |
| Hailee Payne Dushant “Fik-Shun” Stegall | Hip-hop | "Let It Go"—Chonique Sneed | Luther Brown | Safe |
| Megz Alfonso Paul Karmiryan | Paso Doble | "Blade of Blood"—Tom Player | Jean-Marc Genereux | Eliminated |
Kayla Radomski | Jazz | ”Infinity” —The xx | Ray Leeper | |
| Jim Nowakowski Comfort Fedoke | Hip-hop | "Hey Mama"—David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha and Afrojack | ”Christopher "Pharside" Jennings” and “Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz” | Eliminated |
| Gaby Diaz Robert Roldan | Contemporary | "Angel"—Sarah McLachlan | Mandy Moore | Safe |
| Jaja Vankova Ricky Ubeda | Broadway | "Let’s Face The Music and Dance”— Nat King Cole | Al Blackstone | Safe |
| Team Street | Hip-hop | "Finna Get Loose"—Puff Daddy and The Family feat. Pharrell Williams | Dave Scott | N/A |
| Team Stage | Contemporary | "Give Me Love"—Ed Sheeran | Tessandra Chavez | N/A |
- Solos:
| Dancer | Style | Music |
| Jim Nowakowski | Ballet | ”The Four Seasons: Summer”—Antonio Vivaldi |
| Jaja Vankova | Animation/Krump | "Hype City”—Tighteyez |
| Gaby Diaz | Tap | "Oye Como Va"—Santana |
| Derek Piquette | Contemporary | "Two Men In Love”—The Irrepressibles |
| Virgil Gadson | Hip-hop | "i"—Kendrick Lamar |
| Hailee Payne | Jazz | "Vanguardian"—Steed Lord |
| Megz Alfonso | Hip-hop | "Delirious "—Steve Aoki, Chris Lake and Tujamo feat. Kid Ink |
| Eddie "Neptune" Eskridge | Freestyle | "Get Big"—Dorrough |
Top 6 (August 31, 2015)
- Group Dance: Music: "Everybody Hurts"—Jasmine Thompson Style: Contemporary; Choreographer: Mandy Moore
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer |
| Gaby Diaz Marko Germar | Jazz | ”Emergency”—Icona Pop | Ray Leeper |
| Jaja Vankova Alex Wong | Contemporary | ”Youth”—Daughter | Tessandra Chavez |
Joshua Allen | Hip-hop | "Freedom"—Pharrell Williams | Christopher Scott |
Anya Garnis | Samba | "Chillando Goma"—Fulanito | Dmitry Chaplin |
| Virgil Gadson Melanie Moore | Contemporary | ”All Is Now Harmed”—Ben Howard | Justin Giles |
| Hailee Payne Robert Roldan | Jazz | "Haunted"—Beyoncé | RJ Durell and Nick Florez |
| Gaby Diaz | Broadway | "Fever"—Michael Bublé | Josh Bergasse |
| Hailee Payne | Contemporary | ”Sarajevo”—Max Richter and Sara Leonard | Stacey Tookey |
| Jaja Vankova Virgil Gadson | Hip-hop | ”If You Crump Stand Up”—edIT | ”Christopher "Pharside" Jennings” and “Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz” |
- Solos:
| Dancer | Style | Music |
| Virgil Gadson | Hip-hop | "Rock the Bells"—LL Cool J |
| Hailee Payne | Jazz | "Elastic Heart"—Sia |
| Gaby Diaz | Tap | ”It’s Your Thing”—Christian McBride feat. Dee Dee Bridgewater |
| Jaja Vankova | Animation/Krump | "Laundry”—edIT |
| Jim Nowakowski | Ballet | ”Ra”—Nathan Lanier |
| Megz Alfonso | Hip-hop | "Let It Go"—James Bay |
Top 4 Performance Finale (September 7, 2015)
- Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo
| Dancers | Style | Music | Choreographer |
| Jaja Vankova Hailee Payne | Hip-hop | ”Put It In The Bag”—Kalenna feat. B Simm | Misha Gabriel and Nick Bass |
| Gaby Diaz Virgil Gadson | Lyrical hip-hop | ”Slip”—Elliot Moss | Phillip Chbeeb |
| Gaby Diaz Jaja Vankova | Jazz | ”Woman ”—Joy Williams | Nick Florez and RJ Durell |
| Jaja Vankova Virgil Gadson | Contemporary | ”I Love You ”—Woodkid | Stacey Tookey |
| Hailee Payne Virgil Gadson | Broadway | ”Billy-A-Dick”—Bette Midler | Josh Bergasse |
| Gaby Diaz Hailee Payne | Contemporary | ”Do Not Hang Your Head”—Elizabeth & the Catapult | Travis Wall |
| Virgil Gadson Joshua Allen | Hip-hop | ”Let's Go"—Trick Daddy feat. Twista and Lil Jon | Christopher "Pharside" Jennings and Krystal "Phoenix" Meraz |
| Hailee Payne Marko Germar | Jazz | ”All Nite ”—Janet Jackson | Ray Leeper |
| Jaja Vankova Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer | Animation | ”Kaolo”—Yellow Claw | Christopher Scott |
| Gaby Diaz Zack Everhart, Jr. | Tap | ”Dibidy Dop ”—Club Des Belugas feat. Brenda Boykin | Anthony Morigerato |
- Solos:
| Dancer | Style | Music |
| Gaby Diaz | Tap | "Magalenha"—Sérgio Mendes |
| Virgil Gadson | Hip-hop/Animation | "A Beautiful Mine"—RJD2 |
| Hailee Payne | Jazz | "Cold Hearted"—Paula Abdul |
| Jaja Vankova | Animation/Krump | "Street Side"—20 Killz |