‘SYTYCD’: Former ‘Dance Moms’ Star Auditions With Mom as Surprise Judge

The final audition on the So You Think You Can Dance Season 16 premiere was a surprising crossover with Dance Moms. One dancer who appeared on the show as a young boy is all grown up and impressed the judges and his mom with his contemporary dance.

Gino Cosculluela, 18, appeared on Dance Moms when he was 9 years old, and partnered with Maggie Ziegler. FOX showed a scene from the Lifetime series where Abby Lee Miller told Cosculluela he had to kiss Ziegler at the end of their dance.

“I’ve been preparing for So You Think You Can Dance since I started watching the show,” Cosculluela said before taking the stage. “And now that I’m here, it’s like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go all the way.’”

Before Cosculluela performed, he told the judges his story, which inspired judge Nigel Lythgoe to call Cosculluela’s mother Barbara down to the desk.

Cosculluela’s dance had the judges in tears, with Mary Murphy even standing up to give him applause. His mother jokingly said she had seen him do better, but that was just a prank from Lythgoe.

“I’ve got to say, I think with the technique that you’ve shown, with the emotion you showed, I will be shocked if you are not in our Top 10 this year,” Lythgoe said.

“Completely agree. Your technique is outstanding,” Laurieann Gibson added.

Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval said he was “blown away” by all of his performance. Martin said it had “everything” and was “so grateful” for the audition.

All four judges gave Cosculluela tickets for the next round.

Fans at home were also impressed with Cosculluela’s performance.

“Gino gave me goosebumps! Truly brilliant. A naturally gifted talent,” one viewer wrote.

“Gino’s audition performance was my favorite of the night,” another tweeted.

“Wow! Love Gino! He reminds me of [Rudy Abreau] and I LOVE SOME RUDY!!! Can’t wait to see how far he goes,” choreographer Mandy Moore wrote.

New episodes of SYTYCD air on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

Photo credit: Fox