Paris Torres and Tony Bellissimo, the couple kicked off “So You Think You Can Dance” on Thursday night, chatted with journalists on a conference call. Below are a few excerpts:

Paris Torres:

On wardrobe malfunctions: The costumes were so elaborate. The wardrobe stylist on the show is amazing, and it was a great concept, but they constricted our movement pretty badly, and it just didn’t mesh well with what we were doing. With the tight, leathery plastic pants and the headphones, it was just a lot to take on, and it didn’t help the stress seituation much, but we tried to work with it and do the best that we could.

On a last-minute music choice: I had five songs chosen going into solos, and the last song on my list was the only song that got cleared by copyright, and I hadn’t rehearsed to that song yet! I had to go out there and throw a bunch of stuff to it.

On the show searching for “America’s favorite dancer”: I know that the judges are typecasting for the show and they need certain personalities and elasticities and types of dance, so it was a miracle for me just to make it into the top 20. I knew they weren’t eliminating me fully on the fact that they didn’t think I was a strong enough dancer.

Tony Bellissimo :

On his unusual audition: I was listening to the music and started thinking about somebody watching me, and I remember in Miami Nigel told me I wasn’t as up to par as I was last year, and I’m going to point out to him that I know he’s watching me and I know I’m going to do good.

On some of his favorites: Evan [Kasprzak] is what I like to call a leather man: He has so many little tools inside him. That kid can do anything! He’s like a gadget. I love that guy. I think Phillip [Chbeeb] has great potential because his brain is so smart and he’s so strong that he’ll be able to dedicate what he’s doing.

On the rumor that Katie Holmes might appear on the show: I didn’t know Katie Holmes could dance. I like the group of us together better than Katie Holmes.

On whether he would have chosen a different outfit for his solo in retrospect: People have been talking about my Re-Run outfit for a while, but that’s the thing, I wanted people to talk about “What the hell is that kid wearing?” But that locking outfit is true hip-hop, that’s “What’s happening!!”

On convincing his fellow football players to try dance: My best friend from football came with me and we did a hip-hop routine to “Thriller,” and he tore off his shirt like he was an animal. It was funny to see him take a classs, but it just proved to me that anyone can do it. He was like, “Oh, my God, dude, I understand why you do it!” And I said, “Yeah, you’re tackling dudes all day and I’m picking up girls all day.”

Original source — Claire Zulkey | The Los Angeles Times