SYTYCD News Roundup

The Cincinnati Enquirer previews the tour date tonight by talking to Danny and Sabra. I noticed at least 3 errors in the article. I hope we can at least trust the direct quotes, this one from Danny about Travis:

"We've been rivals since we were kids. We used to dance around the house and score each other all the time. But we help each other out. I'm the technical one, he's the creative one, so we make a really good team that can fill in each others blanks. That's good for both of us."

LINK



Jaimie Goodwin is sick and apologizes for not participating in meeting the fans lately. She posted the following to her Myspace blog:

I'm sickkk...BBOOOO

Hey everyone, im really sorry i havent been able to come out after the show and meet everyone. Ive been really sick and now im on antibiotics. I wanna come out so bad and say hi, its honestly my favorite part. I'm fighting to get back up and out there. soooo hopefully ill see you soon!

Sending hugs,
Jaimie

The rest of the Mia Michaels interview we mentioned here has been published in Curve Magazine, which hits newsstands today. Here's a portion, as reprinted in a blog post at this Mia Michaels fan page:

The dance you choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance about meeting your father in heaven was very powerful and incredibly personal.

It was personal. When we were in rehearsal, I couldn't ... to this day I can't even get into it about my dad because it's such a touchy thing for me and so emotional. We had an amazing relationship, so when I was in rehearsal I couldn't even talk about it. I would write notes to the dancers about what I wanted them to do because I didn't want to be that vulnerable on camera.

Was it hard to put so much of yourself out there?

I wasn't really thinking about it. I was just thinking about the idea of meeting my dad in heaven and how cool it would be. My dad was a smoker and died of lung cancer. I had been a smoker since I was 14. The day of rehearsal I had just come in from having a smoke and it hit me ... why am I creating a dance about meeting my dad in heaven? It freaked me out because I was thinking, I don't want to meet him right now. I want to live my life. I quit smoking that day.

LJ Blogger theseekwill reports from the Toronto show:

Kam was just totally cool and a nice guy. Shauna was so grateful when I told her how much I loved "Dancing" this time around. She seemed really insecure about doing Dancing well and when I told her she met the bar and raised it, she looked as if she was going to cry. SHE IS ONLY 18! That is so crazy. She is so elegant and graceful and poised.

Then, oh Lordy, Jesus. He is SO, SO warm. Like, an amazing person. At first I just shook his hand and said something along the lines of "I just wanted to tell you that you are such an amazing performer and it's so encouraging to see that on television now a days. It's so rare." And he just pulled me into this big hug and was all "Thank you so, so much! That means so much to hear!"

LINK



Our own Bryan Gaynor, aka Chibi, will teach a popping workshop at the Swing And Soul Weekend in Atlanta, Dec 7, 8, and 9.

LINK



By a margin of 160 to 4, readers of BSYTYCD rejected Nigel Lythgoe's recent suggestion of combining the So You Think You Can Dance tour with that of American Idol. I hope if anyone out there has Nigel's ear, they would please pass along the results.

Season 2 And 3 Work

Created by Puffistehsex. Thanks Kim!

That reminds me, Project Runway returns (finally) next Wednesday. I hope you're getting ready by checking in with our friends at Blogging Project Runway.

Another Report From Chicago

Thanks to Lady B for this outstanding review from Chicago.

So here's my report on the Chicago show. This was my first time seeing SYTYCD live, and I had to admit to myself, I was super excited. Last year, I had thought the idea of the tour was silly. I had never been the type to go ga-ga over celebrities. And to go ga-ga over teenage celebrities from a reality TV show seemed unbecoming for a professional woman in her thirties... Well, then this year, I considered it, but I still wavered and didn't buy a ticket. And then the tour started and all the reports started coming. Sigh. I couldn't help myself. My desire to see the show overcame my better judgement, and so I spent an inordinate amount of money to get front center, tenth row. It was at that point that I resigned to the fact that I am truly obsessed and no different from the screaming teenagers.

Anyway, the show was great. Even my boyfriend, who is not at all obsessed with the show, thoroughly enjoyed it, which is saying a lot. My favorite dance was the "Swamp" routine, which is a group routine by Wade Robson, I think - the one with the netting on top of them. I was particularly struck by Kameron, who has an amazing speaking talent. Who knew? He was more comfortable and self-assured speaking on stage than any of the others. He even sat down on the front of the stage and talked to the audience as if we were in an intimate setting. So cool. Other than that, I agree with others that Lauren was great on the big stage, though she was not my favorite in the competition. Pasha was...

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...even more impressive to me live than on TV. Danny was just as amazing as on TV. And I was so happy to see Jesus again. They were all fantastic, really.

And now we come to the crux of my obsession. For weeks before the Chicago show, I had been checking daily to figure out what the heck was happening with Lacey's knee. She didn't tell us enough on her myspace page, and it was driving me crazy. Didn’t she know we needed more details??? ;) I don’t even use myspace, yet I was compulsively reading anything anyone said about her knee to her, in case someone seemed to have the inside scoop. Yes, Lacey has become my favorite, even though I didn’t even vote for her that often during the competition (figured she had enough votes anyway). I belong to the same religion as her family, and I'm also a swing dancer (Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing, not West Coast, but hey, close enough ;) ). So that combined with my already being impressed with Benji last season has made me pretty much fascinated with the whole family and anxiously awaiting the chance to see Lacey on stage and possibly even meet her. If I was really honest with myself, at least 75% of the reason I bought those tickets was for Lacey. Lame as it sounds, it’s true.

Well 6 days before the Chicago show, she announces that she’s back on tour, and I’m exuberant for like a day, only to later hear that she’s not actually dancing much and didn’t dance at all in Cleveland. Oh crap! And again, no mention from Lacey as to what’s happening. Well, thankfully, the night before the Chicago show, she began dancing the Samba with Danny again, which I was a lot more interested in seeing than the Time dance with Neil, so my spirits began to rise. She was as good as ever, and I couldn’t tell at all that she had an injury. She’s not even wearing a brace. Though I love Shauna, I did really miss Lacey in the Dancing number with Kameron - I thought Shauna lacked the emotion that Lacey had. I was also sad not to see Lacey in the group numbers, but then I was pleasantly surprised to see her in the last one at the end of the show to You Can’t Stop the Beat. I may have been imagining it, but it kinda looked to me like whenever Kameron lifted her and put her back down, he was extra careful to make sure she had her balance before letting go of her.

Well, the show ended, and I spent at least 10 minutes trying to decide if I should purchase pictures for the dancers to sign if I got the chance. I had passed up the $20 "program" - which is just a booklet with the dancers’ pictures in it, along with their stats. I figured I could see their pictures online whenever I wanted, so why spend $20? Well, it wasn’t until after I’d stood in the autograph line that I understood - you buy the $20 program, and then you’ve got a page for each of them to sign. Well, I was wondering what the heck I would have them sign and how I’d know which dancers I’d have the opportunity to meet. Each picture cost $5, so eventually I just bought Lacey’s picture, wondering how I’d explain to Sabra that I loved her too if I had her sign the back of Lacey’s picture! Advice to anyone planning on going to the tour and getting autographs: bring your own stuff to sign - much cheaper, plus the picture I bought of Lacey wasn’t even that great compared to other ones I’ve seen online - and it already had a copy of her signature on it.

Outside, we spotted the buses pretty quickly, so we wandered up to them and joined a crowd of people all spread out in a line behind a gate that separated us from the area directly in front of the two buses. From the stories I had read, I had imagined that I would have to pick like one or two dancers and then try and fight the screaming girls to actually get to talk to them. I wondered if I’d chicken out, since I’m not a very aggressive person. Plus there’s the whole "I’m self-conscious about acting like a giddy teenager obsessed with reality TV kids" thing. And what would I even say?? Well, it didn’t work like that at all. My boyfriend figured out where they’d be coming from, so he positioned us to be in what he thought would be the "front" of the line. We waited forever, and then finally one by one (sometimes two) the dancers came walking up the path, escorted by security, up to where we were. They came sporadically, with long gaps of time between them. My boyfriend was right that we got to see them first, so that was cool that we could scream for them before the rest of the crowd, but Anya, the first one to come, walked straight down the line to the other end and began signing autographs. So that meant we were really at the end of the line. Ha! But it was really quite civilized - the way they had it, we all got the chance to meet every one of them as they came down the line. Well, every one of the dancers that actually came out (see below!).

The next few dancers also went to the other end, so we thought we’d have to wait forever for anyof them to make it to us, but then Kameron came and instantly assessed the situation and started instead on our end! Yay Kameron! As I said before, I was most impressed with how comfortable he seemed with himself and with the crowd - so much more so than he seemed on TV. Well I got a picture with him, and then Jesus came and he also started on our end. After I got his picture, I found myself blurting out, "I was so sad when you were kicked off the show!" He looked me in the eye and said thank you and actually looked genuinely grateful. Well that was it, Jesus had gotten me over my nerves, and I began to feel more and more like a teenager. I figured pictures were better than autographs, so rather than ask for both and take up too much time, I mostly just got pictures. But wow! I had no idea that would be so easy. Asking for autographs first does give you more of a chance to talk to them while they’re signing though. The way I did it, I had to slip in a comment as we pulled away from each other after the picture. But I managed to do that for Shauna, who I also told how sad I’d been when she was kicked off (I really was), and she also seemed genuinely thankful. Shauna was much more relaxed and personable than on TV as well.

Well it was sort of surreal actually being that close to all these people who the night before I’d only seen on TV and online videos. One great moment was when Sara came and joined Shauna a few places away from me in line. I heard them asking some people if they ever use youtube and they began describing their video they made. Right away I knew they must be talking about the video that was just posted, so I yelled "I’ve seen it!" (thanks to bsytycd!). The girl next to me had seen it too, and Shauna and Sara were so excited, saying, "they’ve seen it, they’ve seen it!" They seemed very proud of it - apparently they stayed up 'till 6 am editing it.

Well, I had met and taken pictures with all but a few of the dancers outside with us, when I overheard one of the men in charge telling some people that neither Lacey, Danny, Dominic, nor Jaimie were coming out at all because, "they’re all sick", "they’re all on medication". I could only partially hear him telling them about Lacey’s injury and how they sent her home and how she’s been back about a week and only dancing some of the dances. He wasn’t close enough, or I would have grilled him about Lacey’s knee and asked if they were hoping she’d dance more in the future. Darn! I had a hard time understanding why Lacey’s knee injury would make her unable to walk up and down our line behind a rail signing autographs if she could dance 3 numbers in the show. Besides, she had done so the last several evenings, judging by the pictures and comments on her myspace. So I was left wondering if she, Danny, and Jaimie might be all coming down with Dominic’s illness and whether the 40 degree (plus wind chill) weather might have played a factor.

So there was no watching them get in the buses. The whole thing was so well orchestrated. When they’d finished signing and picture-taking, they’d be escorted back, and presumably they got transported to their hotel some more clandestine way. Sigh. No Lacey. Ah well, that way I get to forget that she’s a spazzy teenager who I probably can’t relate to. Later that night, (like 2:30 am), I noticed Lacey had just changed her myspace page to indicate that she was cuddling with Hok. Hmmph. Sick, indeed! ;)

Behind The Scenes Tour Pics

Lauren Gottlieb has posted a load of behind-the-scenes photos from the So You Think You Can Dance tour at her Myspace page. She promises a tour update bulletin soon.

LINK

Jaimie Video Montage

Here's another Loralyn find, a Jaimie Goodwin video montage so well edited by Youtuber Flyingcactus, that we're temporarily lifting the ban.

SYTYCD Chicago Review

Big thanks to BSYTYCD reader Shanat for sharing her observations of the tour date in Chicago last night:

General Thoughts: The show was like an infomercial for SYTYCD. I felt as though the producers were preaching to the choir. Patrons bought tickets because they were already huge fans of the show…there was no need to “sell” us on it. My husband and I felt like a good 45 minutes were wasted on clips, and some of the clips were even duplicated. Waste of time! The script reading corny. Some dancers were more natural at hosting then others…particularly Lacey, Sabra, and Pasha. Danny seemed a little nervous…I really didn’t read arrogance into his personality at all. Sara/Dominic hosted a lot of the show but seemed too scripted. The dances were exactly like they were performed on the show, give or take a few details. I wish they would have added more to each piece. All in all, we wanted to see more dance, less talk.


Performances: It was great to see the dances live, and our seats were close enough so we could see the intricacy of the movements. However, you could definitely tell that fatigue was a factor for the dancers. Some dancers looked sluggish or just didn’t look as technically sound as they did on the show. Neil was a great example of this. Lots of his motions looked unfinished. We were really impressed with Sabra, who made it look so easy, and of course, Danny, who looked like...

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...the consummate professional. His movements were very fluid and very controlled. I wonder if he is dancing a bit safe because of his back injury, though. Danny and Anya did their foxtrot and their Viennese Waltz. Lacey returned to the stage, dancing the Samba with Danny and the DDD with Neil.


Standouts: The breaking routine with Hok, Sara, and Dominic kicked ass. It was high energy, and it really allowed Dominic to show off his skills. They performed the Lion King group routine right before intermission…a very joyous dance. The Imogene Heap group dance was also fantastic. It was my favorite group dance on the show and it looked great in person. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Danny. The hummingbird dance was phenomenal, and the boardroom routine with Sabra and Neil was a crowd favorite. The Good/Evil routine with Neil and Lauren was perfect in person. The theatrics were right on point, and when Lauren is not all giggly she is a great performer.



Snoozers: Pasha and Sabra did the quickstep. Danny and Jaimie did the jive. Sabra and Neil did the Paso Doble, and while not my favorite, it did look much better in person.


Alternates: Shauna, Jesus, and Anya were all there and performed. Shauna did The Wiz with Kameron, and she took Lacey’s place in the “Dancing” Mia routine. Shauna definitely brought the technique to it that Lacey lacked…but I actually preferred Lacey’s version. I think Lacey’s style went with the emotion of the piece better. Anya and Pasha did a Latin routine. Jesus did the Vagabond routine with Sara.


Solos: All top ten did a solo, complete with footage of their interviews from the show. Neil showed off his acrobatic skills. The crowd didn’t want Danny’s solo to end.

Jaimie has great technique and is much underrated.

Shanat

SYTYCD Aussie Update

Our own Mary Murphy may show up as a guest judge on the upcoming Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance according to the Courier-Mail. We also learn what Mary has been doing:

In addition to her work on So You Think You Can Dance, Murphy is judging the UK television show Dancing on Ice and starring in a new horror flick titled Killer Movie.

"I don't get to scream in it if you can believe it?" she says in her trademark excitable squeal. "And I don't get killed so I can always come back for the sequel if there is one."

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_{The Aussie team: Matt Lee, Bonnie Lythgoe, Host Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Jason Coleman.}



TEN TV has a page up for the Aussie production with profiles of the judges and host.

LINK


The Northern Star talks to someone we may see in the audition rounds of the show:

BYRON BAY dance teacher Cassandra House will be watching closely when the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance hits our screens this summer. After all, she might be making an appearance. The 22-year-old was thrilled to audition for her favourite television show in Brisbane last month, joining dozens of hopefuls in the final round. Cassandra, along with her 18-year-old student Anni Thwaites, were two North Coast dancers to make it to the State auditions. Neither were chosen as finalists to appear in the show, but they are even more determined now to improve and get through to the next series.

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BSYTYCD is looking for an Australian correspondent or two to tell the rest of the SYTYCD world about your show. Contact me via email (at the top of the sidebar) if you're interested.

Lacey Returns

Lacey Schwimmer returns to the tour after taking time to recover from her knee injury. Reports indicate that she is performing in the Mia Michaels Time routine with Neil Haskell, and her Samba with Danny Tidwell. Here's the Time routine in Toronto.


Our friend Carissa (Momma2Mingbu) reports from the Indianapolis show last night:

Unfortunately Dominic was sick tonight so we didn't get to see him dance at all. Shauna is still replacing Lacey in the "Dancing" number with Kam. She did a great job filling in, but of course it was a little disappointing to not get to see Lacey dance it. (She did do "Hip Hip Chin Chin" with Danny. Yum. Sexiest number of the whole year. I wish they would have done the Pasha/Lacey manequin routine.) I'll give the camera guys props for doing a really great job (better than the TV show camera work!) and having enough sense to let us see their feet on the video screen on things like Pasha and Sabra's quick step. Seeing Pasha and Anya dance together was a real treat. The transition from the Matrix piece into Pasha and Lauren's hip-hop was a nice choice. Mia's piece about her dad is so much more moving in person. I loved the way they added the group in at the beginning to strew the flowers around the stage. I wish they could have danced it that way before. The two princes piece with Neil and Danny was fabulous with lots of tension and energy. Pasha, Neil, Danny and Sara all have wonderful stage presence.

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"Idol", "Dance" Tours To Combine?

The New York Post is reporting that American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe wants to combine the "Idol" tour with the "Dance" tour next year.

"I'd love to see the 'Dance' tour go out with the 'Idol' tour and put the singing and dancing together," he says. "They should never be separate.

"I'd like to see that happen."

It seems to me this would mean even larger venues than this year, and less dancing. My initial reaction is a resounding NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! What do you think?

SOURCE

On The Girls' Bus

Created by Sara and Shauna.