SYTYCD News Roundup

Go now. Here's one I can't recommend highly enough to TV dance watchers. Our friend Tonya Plank has begun writing a column for ExploreDance.com. Congratulations Tonya! In her first column she reviews the current and upcoming crop of TV dance offerings and asks "Why Are TV Dance Shows All the Rage?" There are so many insightful observations that I lost count.

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American Smooth. Ballroom afficionados who watch PBS's America's Ballroom Challenge will want to get Tonya's take on the show at her blog, Swan Lake Samba Girl.

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Getting his status straight? Shimmy Online Magazine recently interviewed Hok Konishi:

Shimmy: What did you do once you were eliminated from SYTYCD?

Hok: Well, nothing too much really. Did some interviews, just jumped back into reality. I did a show in England and then came back the next day to start rehearsing for the tour!! I have to say I was shocked at first though!

"Just jumped back into reality"? But Hok, SYTYCD is a REALITY show! You mean reality shows aren't reality?

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The Post and Enquirer reports from the auditions in Charleston.

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Geoff at Geofftech blogs about meeting Cat Deeley at the Charleston auditions:

So I got to get up close a personal with Miss Deeley. She’s still got that slightly skewed nose that I remembered. And just as I was trying to act all work-like I could hardly talk either when she identified me as being from the fellow motherland. “You’re English?” she says “Yes I am!” I reply, and it’s only later that the photographer who took my picture here told me that she did start to extend her hand to shake mine, but I seemed not to pick up on it - I’d like to think it’s because I’m a professional and was weighed down my some heavy camera equipment, and not just because I came all over bashful.

He mentions a video, but I can't seem to find it.

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Flickr user Tendolab caught some shots outside the Charleston auditions.

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You may be aware that Benji Schwimmer is himself extremely talented with a camera in his hands, but he recently went before the lens of photographer/blogger Daniel Brock.

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The Salt Lake Tribune previews the auditions starting there next Monday.

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Australia Update

TV Tonight announces the schedule for So You Think You Can Dance Australia's upcoming episodes. The first audition show is this Sunday night. We'll know who the top 20 dancers are on Feb 11th, and the first performance show will be on Sunday Feb. 17th.

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This appears to be for Aussies only. Sign up for a weekly newsletter, and enter to win tickets to the finale at the Network TEN website.

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Australian cell provider Optus has become a fully-integrated sponsor of So You Think You Can Dance Australia and will be offering all kinds show goodies, such as:

• Video Content – including backstage dance – made for mobile, best and worst auditions, weekly dancer diaries, weekly best performance clips and more.

• Editorial – includes weekly news, dance trivia and dancer profiles.

• Wallpapers – include dancer images, dance logo and Optus animals.

• Music Tones & Tracks – are purchasable tones and tracks related to performance clips on the show.

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Network TEN seems to be doing an outstanding job of marketing and supporting their version of the show. Does anyone know of any other networks who could take some lessons?

Chuy At LA Dance Magic

Jesús Solorio solos at LA Dance Magic convention.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Movmnt Magazine's latest issue shipped today, so subscribers should receive it shortly. It will also be available at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide. This issue features a foldout poster of some of our SYTYCD favorites. BSYTYCD readers are invited to join Movmnt's new social network. Check it out.

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The Dallas News has a report from the first season 4 auditions. Apparently we'll be seeing more of The ShankMan this season. Did you know he directed Hairspray?

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Southern Methodist University hosted the auditions and has a slideshow on their site.

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The Lifetime network jumps on the dance reality bandwagon with Your Mama Don’t Dance, though it sounds like it should be named Dancing With Somebody's Mom (Or Dad). Hmmm, does that studio look familiar?

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Actress and Mom Mira Sorvino talks about why she loves So You Think You Can Dance:

I love that show. It's so silly, but I love dancing, and it's one of the only shows on T.V. that I feel like I can watch with my three year old and my one-and-a-half year old because there's nothing violent about it, nothing scary, even the criticism is not really mean. Sometimes I feel like American Idol, they're so vicious, that it almost sets up a bad message for kids that they have to be perfect otherwise people are going to mock them painfully. And I think Dance has such a spirit of fun to it and my daughter calls them princesses, because of the sparkling dresses they wear, and she gets very excited when one of them is wearing pink.

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We have 3 stories from Australia from which we learn that host Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Oy, that name!) has a dance background, that Australians don't have much front but they do have heart, and that there was so much dance talent that the top 100 had to be stretched to 142.

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Don't Download Codecs

Respected security site Sunbelt Software reports a proliferation of blogger sites pushing fake video codecs which are actually malware. I ran into one following a link to a supposed dance video earlier today. Sunbelt reports they might look something like this:

SYTYCD News Roundup

Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew aired it's 2 hour live casting special yesterday. Our friends Jamal Weaver and Ernest "E-Knock" Phillips, with their Status Quo Crew, were the first
group named to the top 8.

The Cincinnati Enquirer says Shane Sparks will not be returning to SYTYCD for the upcoming season.

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The Energy Between Us, the piece Wade Robson choreographed for the San Francisco Ballet's 75th Anniversary celebration, is receiving mixed reviews.

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Our Australian correspondent, Reality Raver, reports that Network TEN has unveiled the official website for So You Think You Can Dance Australia.

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