Season 15

Season 15
Season Run	June 4, 2018 – September 10, 2018
Judges	Nigel Lythgoe Mary Murphy Vanessa Hudgens Stephen "tWitch" Boss
Host(s)	Cat Deeley
Winner(s): Hannahlei Cabanilla
Origin	Anaheim Hills, California
Genre(s)	Contemporary
Runner-up(s)
Jensen Arnold	Ballroom
Chronology
Previous Season	Season 14
Next Season	Season 16

Season 15 of So You Think You Can Dance premiered on June 4, 2018.

Production

So You Think You Can Dance will continue to its old format of auditioning dancers from ages 18-30. The judging panel is executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, ballroom expert Mary Murphy, and returning member Vanessa Hudgens. Cat Deeley continues her role as host for a fourteenth consecutive season.

Auditions

Open auditions were held in two cities, New York City and Los Angeles in March 2018. The judges were joined by tWitch of Season 4 as a guest judge during the auditions, he became a permanent judge on the live shows as well.

Venue	City	Audition Date
The Brooklyn Academy of Music	New York City	March 2-4, 2018
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts	Los Angeles, California	March 26-28, 2018

Academy Week

During the Academy, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, 70 dancers competed for the coveted Top 20 spots for this season. The dancers first took the stage in solos to show the judges what they have to offer. 54 dancers remained for the next round: Hip Hop with Tabitha and Napoleon (NappyTabs) D'umo. The remaining 45 dancers showed off for Ballroom with Jean-Marc Genereux Cha Cha routine. However, Zoe Zimmerman, one of the 45 dancers, was unable to remain in the competition due to injury. In the next round, the dancers were tasked with a Travis Wall Contemporary piece and after the round, only 33 dancers remained. The dancers were split into their respective styles (Tap, Jazz, Ballroom, Contemporary, and Hip-Hop) and choreographed 1 8-count piece and all the dancers learned a Jazz routine from Mandy Moore. The groups then performed and came together to finish with the Jazz group. 27 dancers remained and they danced for their lives in a solo round. After everyone was finished, they were told if they were in the Top 20. Nigel than revealed that only the Top 10 will move on to the Live Show. The dancers will be paired with an All-Star and made to dance outside their style.

Task/style	Music	Choreographer(s)
Individual Solos	Dancer's choice	Dancer
Hip-Hip	"Plain Jane" A$AP Ferg	NappyTabs (Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo)
Ballroom (Cha Cha)	"Get That" Rayelle	Jean-Marc Genereux
Contemporary	"Comes In Waves" Psychologist	Travis Wall
Remaining Dancers Group Various Styles	"Kill The Lights" Alex Newell ft. Jess Glynne DJ Cassidy & Nile Rodgers	Mandy Moore
Individual Solos	Dancer's choice	Dancer

Top 20

• Only the Top 10 will make it to the live show. The first of the two-part episode showed the Female Contestants and the second of the two-part episode featured the Male Contestants. They were paired with an All-Star and danced outside their styles. The performances can be found here.

Female Contestants

Dancer	Age	Home Town	Dance Style
Brianna Penrose	18	Seattle, Washington	Tap
Chelsea Hough	24	Nashville, Tennessee	Jazz
Dayna Madison	21	Memphis, Tennessee	Jazz
Emily Carr	18	Springfield, New Jersey	Contemporary
Genessy Castillo	18	Jamaica, New York	Contemporary
Hannahlei Cabanilla	18	Anaheim Hills, California	Contemporary
Jensen Arnold	20	Provo, Utah	Ballroom
Magda Fialek	27	Nowy Sacz, Poland	Ballroom
Stephanie Sosa	18	Orem, Utah	Ballroom
Sydney Moss	20	Eads, Tennessee	Contemporary

Male Contestants

Dancer	Age	Home Town	Dance Style
Allen Genkin	27	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Ballroom
Cole Mills	24	Ocean Township, New Jersey	Ballroom
Darius Hickman	19	Green Acres, Florida	Contemporary
Dustin Payne	26	Columbus, Georgia	Hip-Hop
Evan DeBenedetto	19	Ansonia, Connecticut	Tap
Jay Jay Dixonbey	20	Detroit, Michigan	Jazz
Justin Pham	19	San Diego, California	Contemporary
Kyle Bennett, Jr.	22	New Britain, Connecticut	Hip-Hop
Peyton Albrecht	21	Robert, Louisiana	Contemporary
Slavik Pustovoytov	19	Poltova, Ukraine	Hip-Hop

Finals

Top 10

Finalist	Age	Home Town	Dance Style	Placement
Hannahlei Cabanilla	18	Anaheim Hills, California	Contemporary	Winner
Jensen Arnold	20	Provo, Utah	Ballroom	Runner-Up
Genessy Castillo	18	Jamaica, New York	Contemporary	3rd Place
Slavik Pustovoytov	19	Poltova, Ukraine	Hip-Hop	4th Place
Darius Hickman	19	Green Acres, Florida	Contemporary	Top 6
Jay Jay Dixonbey	20	Detroit, Michigan	Jazz	Top 6
Cole Mills	24	Ocean Township, New Jersey	Ballroom	Top 8
Magda Fialek	27	Nowy Sacz, Poland	Ballroom	Top 8
Evan DeBenedetto	19	Ansonia, Connecticut	Tap	Top 10
Chelsea Hough	24	Nashville, Tennessee	Jazz	Top 10

Season 15 Top 10

Chelsea Hough

Cole Mills

Darius Hickman

Evan DeBenedetto

Genessy Castillo

Hannahlei Cabanilla

Jay Jay Dixonbey

Jensen Arnold

Magda Fialek

Slavik Pustovoytov

Elimination chart

• The song for the eliminated contestant was "Head Held High" by Caly Bevier.

Legend

Female

Male

Bottom 3 contestants

Bottom 2 contestants

Injury

Stage:	Finals
Result show date:	8/13	8/20	8/27	9/3	9/10
Contestant	Results
Hannahlei Cabanilla					1st Place
Jensen Arnold					2nd Place
Genessy Castillo		Bottom 2	Bottom 3		3rd Place
Slavik Pustovoytov					4th Place
Darius Hickman		Bottom 2	Elim
Jay Jay Dixonbey			Elim
Cole Mills	Bottom 2	Elim
Magda Fialek	Bottom 2	Elim
Evan DeBenedetto	Elim
Chelsea Hough	Elim

Performance Shows

Main article: Season 15/Performances