'So You Think You Can Dance' Fever: Catch Up with Season Three Finalists

As far as I'm concerned, the finest part of last night's final Idol results show -- besides seeing David Cook's younger sibling Andrew proudly mouth "That's my brother!" to the cameras as the credits rolled (tear) -- was the inclusion of season three's So You Think You Can Dance finalists in a couple of the performance numbers. Forget singing competitions. The season for dance has come and I, for one, am already feeling the fever. This, mostly due to the immense talent of last year's contestants, who truly killed it week after week.

Tonight, FOX begins the season four audition process and I'm hoping and praying that a few personalities as big as Dominic Sandoval show up, not to mention a few skilled performers as impressive as Neil Haskell and Sara Von Gillern. I know the talent pool is large, so I have faith. But still, I can't yet imagine falling in love with a group of kids the way I did with season three's finalists. With that in mind, I set out to stalk more than a few of the show's alumni and see what they've been up to since the SYTYCD tour ended in December...

Sara Von Gillern: The bad ass breaker-lady -- and one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of interviewing -- is now touring with Ms. Avril Lavigne! "It's been incredible," she told me this week. "I leave Saturday for the UK, and then we do Europe and Asia, so the next couple legs will be amazing, just getting to travel." After tour, she plans to return to Los Angeles where she's set up a home base, and hook back up with Hok & Dominic's crew "Quest."

Dominic Sandoval & Hok Konishi: The season three breaker boys found a place in L.A. early this year and have been living and traveling together ever since. "We're almost never in Hollywood, because we're all over the place so much," Dom said yesterday. Their crew "Quest," which I believe is made up of about eight B-Boys (including Ryan from season one) and one B-girl (Sara would make number two) is busy doing shows across the country, and have their sites set on auditioning for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew once their contract with 19 Entertainment is up. "We're looking at season three right now," Hok told me. "We hope to make it work."

Lacey Schwimmer: "I tore my meniscus on [the SYTYCD] tour!," Benji's baby sister said this week. "I was in rehearsal, basically being a goof as usual, and it bit me in the butt. I had to have knee surgery and was in recovery until last month. But it gave me a chance to think about what else I want to do besides dancing." The fourth place finalist has a few acting projects on the horizon, including an Adam Sandler movie and an Independent Dance film. She's also doing the MTV Movie Awards next week and will launch her first line of dancewear this Summer: "It's called Sugar and Bruno by Lacey Mae. It will be available online, so I'm really excited about that."

Kameron Bink: Apparently I'm not the only one who fully appreciates the physical beauty of contemporary dancer Kameron Bink. This January, Sugar and Bruno named the Florida native their newest spokesman and model, and are currently designing edgy, fun peices inspired by him. I haven't yet had a chance to catch up with Kam in person, but know that he's been teaching at various dance studios quite consistently since the SYTYCD tour ended and took a trip to Australia with season three winner Sabra in April.

Sabra Johnson: Besides traveling to Perth with Kam, she's been keeping busy by touring the country with the New York City Dance Alliance. "[It's] like a dream come true," she says.

Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garris: "Me and Anya have been ballroom partners for ten years now and we have so many different things going on," Pasha told me on Tuesday. "We're traveling all the time. East Coast, West Coast, East Coast, West Coast. Ballroom seems to be getting more popular, so we've had more opportunities to work." The Russian native says the two are working on new show numbers right now, which will incorporate different styles of dance into their ballroom technique: "[SYTYCD] opened our eyes to see dancing from a different perspective." He's also been able to save a bit of money, which he plans to use for a trip home to visit his family whom he hasn't seen in ten years: "I don't even know how I'm going to react because it's been such a long time. I'll probably be crying like a baby."

Jaimie Goodwin: After attempting to make New York her base, Goodwin has returned home to the state of Virginia, as she likes being close to her family. Still, like Sabra, she's been touring with the New York City Dance Alliance and is now in Utah for three months filming High School Musical 3.

Lauren Gottlieb: "I'm touring with Mariah Carey," the brunette gushed yesterday, "and I start filming a new movie tomorrow! It's a spoof of High School Musical." Gottlieb also has plans to dance in this Summer's Hannah Montana film and hopes to book a few speaking roles soon too.

Neil Haskell: Lauren recently visited her old partner in New York where he's busy with the off-Broadway production of Altar Boys. "I just saw Neil. I was in his apartment and he took me downstairs, walked out the door and right in front of us was the theater where he does his show!," she told me. He's also got a movie coming out this Summer, so stay tuned...

Haven't had a chance to catch up with Danny, Faina and a few others just yet, but I'm working on it. Don't forget to tune into the new season of So You Think You Can Dance tonight, people!! It's so much better than that other competition show...