So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Bringing the sexy in Montreal

(Dedicated dancers at a snowy Montreal So You Think You Can Dance Canada audition in a CTV photo.)

There's no question that Montreal had a tough act to follow after so many fantastic dancers had their moments in the Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and St. John auditions of So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 4.

Leave it to Montreal to bring the goods with an extra "je ne sais quoi."

If I had to think of a word to sum up Tuesday's offerings, hot would be a good one.

C'mon, we're talking about the city where both Season 1 winner Nico Archambault and Season 3 winner Denys Drozdyuk auditioned. Cute boys - and girls - are par for the course. Here are the ones who turned my crank, all of whom got tickets straight to the finals:

Denitsa Ikonomova, 23, Laval, Que., and Christian Millette, 28, Montreal: Montreal brings the ballroom like nowhere else in Canada. Exhibit A was returning dancers Denitsa and Christian, who were both hot with a capital H. They were also Mary Murphy's only "hot tamales" of the episode. I found Christian an extremely masculine dancer, but they were both smooth as silk and Denitsa had impressive control. Tre Amstrong had the most succinct critique: "That was sex on the dance floor."

Adam Asselin-Rioux, 20, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.: This guy is in the running to be my favourite male contemporary dancer of the season. His moves were so powerful, so dynamic and he danced with such controlled abandon. There were times his body was almost a blur with motion. And there was one mid-air spin where his lower half seemed to be facing in a different direction than his upper half. I'm with Luther Brown on one thing, Adam didn't need to pretend to shoot himself in the head to mimic the lyrics in Bruno Mars' "Grenade," but it's a tiny quibble in an otherwise stellar audition. Oh yeah and he's also hot.

Isabelle Lefebvre, 25, Montreal: Isabelle performed an unusual style called tribal fusion, which combines belly dance with flamenco, Bollywood, Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance) and popping, among other things. Isabelle had amazing muscle control, lovely arm placement and did I mention she was hot? "If I'm a little caught up because you're so cute and beautiful I still have to do a job and my job is to say you are frickin' good," said Jean Marc Genereux.

Jenny Dailey, 22, Montreal: Yes, she's Season 2 finalist Jayme Rae's little sister and yes, this was her third time auditioning, but this could be the year that contemporary dancer Jenny makes us say, "Jayme Rae who?" She was on fire on that stage, very strong and assertive, with a nice blend of subtle movements with powerful leaps and spins. She's come a long way from that girl who was a sobbing mess after getting cut in last season's finals, with hot new blond hair to boot (yes, I used that word again). "Sometimes when we have a breakdown and a meltdown, to me it proves you just want it so bad. We all believe in you," Mary said.

Emily Nadeau, 19, and Francois Pruneau, 25, Trois Rivieres, Que.: Here's another sizzling ballroom couple, especially Emily. I'm with Mary: she was on fire. The thing I loved about them besides their great technique was the fact they were sassy and cheeky, too.

Kevin Howe, 21, Ottawa: It was good to see Kevin back after he just missed top 22 last year. He's a very solid, masculine contemporary dancer with lovely lines, great transitions and an excellent flow of movement. "Kevin, welcome back, you are a man that is on a mission," said Mary. "You are someone that is not taking no for an answer. You are pushing through every hurdle. You are ready for Season 4. I'm gonna give you a litle wooooo hoooooooo!" And speaking of welcoming back, it's nice to hear Mary scream again.

Some other very good dancers made it straight to finals, including contemporary dancer Geisha Chin, 19, of Toronto, ballroom couple Christelle Denis, 26, of Trois Rivieres, Que., and  Steven Grenier, 20, of Deux Montagnes, Que., and hip-hop dancer Julie Dombrowski, 22, of Quebec City.

Speaking of hip hop, a couple more cuties made it to finals after nailing Blake's choreography, including the adorable JP Dube, 19, of Montreal and Eric (not sure why, but I don't think we ever got his last name, age and hometown), who is sure to drive the young women of Canada to distraction if he makes top 20. Heck, Tre was practically drooling on the judges' table even though Eric's audition wasn't quite up to snuff.

Next Monday's show is all about the finals and it looks like we're in for some great dancing and some great drama. Don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it: CTV at 8 p.m. and you know where to find the recap.