Last night on So You Think You Dance, I got to watch live for the first time this season, and it reminded me how much I really adore this show. As with most of the talent-related series, I prefer it once we get past the humiliating auditions portion and in to the part with the people who really wow you. But this show doesn't fixate too much on the bad auditions, so it's not unbearable.

Here are the highlights:

• Judge Wade Robeson told one male contestant in the L.A. auditions: "You dance like a girl ... who can't dance." (Nigel Lythgoe also stirred up some emotions when he told the guy he was getting applause from his fellow contestants "because you're fat ... it's patronizing." But the contestant himself didn't seem to take it badly.)
• A guy named Colin waxed rhapsodic about genes and DNA and then said he was auditioning in memory of Anna Nicole Smith, who once hugged him at his birthday party and "still talks to me." He does not make the cut, but he does almost lose his pants.
• A woman named Olivia auditioned because her mother made her after discovering that she might have cancer. Olivia made the cut, but no word as of yet on her mother's condition.
• "Gold Inferno" proved to be comedy, well, gold. He said he was the "American Jump-Style Champion." He explained to the judges after his bizarre performance that "jump style" is from Belgium and he and his friend saw it on the Internet and got really into it. Best of all, he admitted: "It's actually a self-declared title." (And I am officially declaring myself the American Jump-Style Blogging Champion, just because I can, apparently.)
• Nigel Lythgoe to one contestant who claimed to be a dance teacher: "Find something really useful to do with your life."
• One ballroom couple -- a woman with a chronic winking problem and the guy who'd been battling hiccups for more than seven years -- got the quirky treatment, meaning, no way would they be going to Vegas for the semifinals, but it turned out they could really move, so they made the cut. And the hiccups led to judge Mary Murphy's first hysterical cackling breakdown of the season. I'm sure there will be more.
  
• A contestant named Chuy got to the Vegas round last year and then got cut. He made it through last night and said his goal was to show the Latin community that it should be more supportive of dance.
• Remember Hok from two seasons ago, whom the judges loved, but had to send home after he failed to mention he didn't have a work visa? He has one now, and he made it to semis after a wacky, charming performance.
• Reigning champ Benji Schwimmer showed up to partner with his little sister Lacey for her audition. The moves run in the family, and she makes the cut with no problems at all.
• In Chicago, Phillip Chbeeb of Houston freaked judge Shane Sparks out completely with his amazing pop-and-lock routine. He said it was one of the best popping displays he'd seen in years.
• Shane also pulled this quote on one contestant: "There's unique, and then there's wack."
• Nigel asked one guy of his performance: "It's a bit of crumping and a bit of tapping -- is it called crapping?" He does not make it.
• His sister, Yesenia Gomez, however, does. She is a larger girl, but she can really perform. Shane loved her. The other judges weren't as enamored, but after the choreography round, they changed their minds.
• Charleston (the style, not the city) dancers Evita and Mike want everyone to know, especially her boyfriend back in New York, that they are NOT a couple. No, really. They aren't. Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. But they are going to Vegas.
• A woman named Janet Bombard gave an engaging lyrical performance, after which the judges said they were astounded to read on her bio that she has a prosthetic arm, that they wouldn't have known if they hadn't seen it on the paper. She is headed to Vegas and is thrilled.
• Last to audition is Quincy, who had auditioned with a breakdancing routine in the first season of the show, but in the interim lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. He seemed to be experiencing the music rather than giving a performance, but he looked so joyful. He explained to the judges that to even be walking, much less appearing on the stage in front of them, was amazing to him. The judges let him stick around for choreography for the experience, but his ankle was in too much pain to participate. Still, he reveled in the entire day's events, you could tell.