“So You Think You Can Dance” is one of the summer’s hit TV shows. Well into its third season the show is doing better than ever; last week over 5 million people caste their vote for their favorite contestants. The show which pairs up dancers to perform a new style each week has been a summer favorite since its inception. LAsThePlace.com got the inside scoop from the two eliminated contestants from last week, Jessi Peralta and Jesus Solorio. 
Jesus Solorio gave nothing but positive feedback during his interview, but talked about the grueling schedule that the dancers have to adhere to. Non-stop rehearsals day and night are the ultimate challenge for the dancers. Both him and Jessi said that in the professional world the schedule is never as demanding. Just before show time Jessi was rushed to the hospital because of heart problems. Jessi shared with us that she was suffering from severe dehydration probably due to the intensity of the performing schedule.
Though she may have been in the hospital and eliminated Jessi is definitely not down and out. Jessi and her partner Pasha Kovalev gave a steamy version of the cha cha and later Jessi mentions Pasha is her “prince charming”. Over the phone Jessi admits that she has a “little girl crush” as she put it, and now that she’s off the show, “all bets are off”. Apparently, the producers have a no fraternization rule between the dancers but since Jessi is off the show she hopes her and Pasha can have a romance that isn’t just part of a performance.
But Jessi is not only looking for love, she’s striving for fame. Since auditions she has been pinned as a contestant to look out for, and she’s riding that wave as far as she can. Her unique personality and articulate manner make her easy to believe when she says she “wants to do it all, acting, dancing, whatever I can.” Like Jesus, she has had professional experience dancing and would like to use her appearance on the show to her advantage. “I think that the show could give dancers the exposure that they want, but no one has used that, I want to be the first.” She said.
Jesus has similar aspirations but wanted to share more about his background. Growing up in Paso Robles, California he was often taunted about his love for dance. He felt that this negative attitude only made him more ambitious to prove to his friends and family that he could succeed as a dancer. Dancing professionally in commercials and even at the Latin Grammy’s last year he has made that ambition a reality. Though he says he hasn’t reached the level of success he is striving for, he is already thinking about giving back, “I want to give to schools and donate money to charities to help kids.”
Even though the energy of the competition was tense at times, Jessi shared that all the dancers get along really well and she feels that she’s made a lot of good friends during the competition. Though Jesus has made friends with a few of the dancers he feels that everyone gets a little angry at each other sometimes for little things. He adds that what viewers might not see as much on the show is the relationships between dancers that aren’t partners and also the involvement the producers play daily during rehearsals. This interaction between members of the show made Jessi and Jesus feel that they learned so much because everyone was so different in both their personality and dancing style.
So who’s their pick to win? Jesus wouldn’t say but Jessi wanted to let us know she thinks Danny will take it all.
Both dancers shared that they were grateful for the experience and that they didn’t think they were let down by the elimination, but that they felt there are a lot of good dancers on the show and it was simply their time to go.
Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” Heats Up the Summer
