"I have not missed an episode since it first aired. I'm very religious when it comes to that," he said with a laugh. "I got friends who normally aren't into shows like this into it, so after every number we start critiquing it and we're all excited about it."

He was among the thousands being critiqued on Monday, when a few were given call-backs to return for additional auditions on Wednesday.

"I have no idea what we're going to see, but I know it's a great dance community," Thacker said of Utah.

Not everyone was from Utah. Patrece Caldwell, 27, braved the Phoenix airport on Super Bowl Sunday to fly in. "Oh my gosh, it was insane," she said. "But this is just amazing."

Antoine Aiu, 25, came even farther — from Hawaii.

"It's quite a bit different weather," he said. "But I'm a fan of dancing. I thought I'd come and give it a try."

Aiu and a couple of thousand others.

"I've been down the line a few times and it seems as though we've got some really gorgeous people here, which is really great," Deeley said. "Everybody seems very friendly. ... Hopefully, they can dance, too."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com