The official So You Think You Can Dance season 4 dancer bios are finally up at the big, dumb, slow website. You have to mouse over the group photo to pop up links to the bios.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Official Season 4 Dancer Bios
Chris Brown and Adam Sevani Freestyle
Outtakes from the videoshoot of the M&M/ACDC online dance battle.
Uploaded by jonmchu
SYTYCD News Roundup
Congratulations to new mom Allison Holker. She has pics of the baby girl, named Weslie, at her Facebook page. Thanks to a reader for the tip.
Baltimore Sun blogger Sarah Kickler Kelber recaps Las Vegas week.
MJ's Big Blog does an exhaustive recap.
The Salt Lake Tribune notes the Utah connection of season 4 dancers Matt Dorame, Thayne Jasperson, Chelsie Hightower, and Gev Manoukian.
Blogger Ryan Welton says my homegirl Sheila Kaiser "shoulda made it", but he likes some of those who did.
Erin Nolan at Film.com gives us her early favorites.
Reveiwsion transcribes Mia Michaels' choreography session in Las Vegas. Apparently there were no needy dancers this year.
Napoleon D'Umo talks about America's Best Dance Crew
So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Napoleon D'Umo talks about the new season of Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew. Catch the casting special today at 2pm on MTV.
Video courtesy of America's Best Dance Crew. Thanks for supporting bloggers.
Step It Up & Dance Finale
Congratulations to Cody Green. He won the $100,000 prize on the first season of Step It Up & Dance.
Jerry Mitchell says he knew Cody would win from day one:"When Cody walked into the au
ditions in Los Angeles I turned to everyone at the desk and said he would win."
Guest choreographer Keith Young worked on So You Think You Can Dance season 1.
AfterElton recaps the finale.
Big thanks to BravoTV for supporting bloggers.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Hot Tamale Train Hits Scandinavia
Mary Murphy takes the scream to So You Think You Can Dance Scandinavia.
Daniel & Mona - Lindy Hop - David Dalmo
Uploaded by PKtechvid
News Roundup
I'm seeing a lot of people around the web who were disappointed with the Las Vegas week show. For me, 3 of the 4 dancers I was most excited about didn't make it. We were left hanging, for the second year in a row, on the status of Phillip Chbeeb. Adam B. Vary at EW says that name sums up everything that was infuriating about last night's episode.
We do need to keep an open mind though. We have more opportunities for pleasant surprises this year, so let's be optimistic, like Emily at Eclaire Fare.
Kristin Sample at TVSquad asks the tough questions, like:
Why on earth do male contemporary dancers always wear basketball shorts? They do realize that doing Mia Michaels' choreography is much different than playing for the Lakers, right? Sorry, I'm not a fan of contemporary jazz. So, I'm hardly sympathetic to the basketball shorts + tube socks + V-neck shirt trend.
JabbaWockeeZ Talk About ABDC
Casting special tommorow at 2pm ET on MTV, followed by JabbaWockeeZ Walk It Out, with Shane Sparks.
Music from Vegas Week
Hi again. Natalie here. These are the songs I could find from the Vegas week auditions. Enjoy!
Song title: Shawty Get Loose
Artist/Band: Lil' Mama (feat. Chris Brown and T-Pain)
Where you heard it on the show: Tabitha and Napoleon's hip hop routine
Where you've heard it before: It's all over the radio right now.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: I don't know what other songs you might like, but I know that you should be watching the ABDC preview this Saturday!
Song title: The Joint is Jumpin'
Artist/Band: It's from the Ain't Misbehaving soundtrack
Where you heard it on the show: Tyce Diorio's broadway routine
Where you've heard it before: Ain't Misbehavin' has been around for awhile. It's not on Broadway anymore, but there will be a national tour making the rounds soon. With some Idol alumni.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Listen to the 42nd Street soundtrack.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP...
Song title: Call Me Irresponsible
Artist/Band: Michael Buble
Where you heard it on the show: Jean-Marc Genereaux's Foxtrot routine
Where you've heard it before: Judy Garland sang it. Sinatra sang it.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: Every Breath You Take
Artist/Band: The Police
Where you heard it on the show: During the routines choreographed by the dancers.
Where you've heard it before: Brooke White sang it recently on Idol and we all know Diddy's cover of it.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Check out some of Sting's solo work. Fields of Gold.
Song title: The Way I Are
Artist/Band: Timbaland
Where you heard it on the show: Montage of all the group routines.
Where you've heard it before: Lauren and Neil's hip hop routine.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: Baby's Romance
Artist/Band: Chris Garneau
Where you heard it on the show: Jason Glover's solo to fight for his life.
Where you've heard it before: This song seems unknown, but some of his songs have been on both Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: He cites Jeff Buckley as influencing him, so check him out.
Song title: Mic Check
Artist/Band: Imogen Heap
Where you heard it on the show: Mia Michael's contemporary routine
Where you've heard it before: We all recognize Imogen Heap from previous seasons, but this song seems fairly unknown.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Frou Frou.
Vegas Week Recap
Hi, Sue here. I am going to attempt to recap last night's debacle, er, So You Think You Can Dance's Vegas week. I am going to start by asking a silly question: Why, Nigel, why? You spent nearly three weeks showing us good and bad dancers, and then you had to cram the most important week into TWO HOURS? What up? I live blogged on this site with Ted (thank you, Ted) and many of you, and I was completely lost. Then I re-watched the entire show (I know, glutton for punishment) after it aired, and I *still* don't know much of what happened. I'll do my best, but I won't even bother naming most of the Top 20, b/c I still don't who they are!!! So bear with me...
For those who don't know, this is a "time where dancers should become dancers" (what does that even mean?!). We had Cat, as resplendent as ever, shouting into a bullhorn, "Let the games commence and here we go!" and then over 200 dancers ran into the hotel and I shuddered. The judges were Tabitha and Napoleon, Nigel, Mary, Mia, and...Debbie Allen! She had on neon green and sunglasses, but was a welcome presence, and I'll get back to her in a bit.
Day One: The dancers had one hour to learn a hip hop routine by Tabitha and Napoleon. This is one of the saddest moments of the evening, as Robert Muraine, a popper, could not pick up the hip hop choreography, and told us the thought of giving up. Nigel brought him on stage and said he didn't want to let his partner down. Nigel asked him to do a solo and he did, complete with sick isolations and bendy moves, his trademark. Everyone applauded and Nigel said if you continue we'll fight for you, but he said he couldn't do it (he started coming apart) and left the stage. This was unfortunate; I had hoped to see him near or get into the Top 20.
Next we say Kortney (dancer with grandparents) and Rebecca, both contemporary dancers. Kortney made it, Rebecca did not, and she gave a gracious farewell speech (unlike many of the contestants). Sixty two dancers were eliminated, including Ryan the strip club djay and Ricky, the ballroom dancer. The remaining contestants got to ham it up in the pool, and I thought, this is the last time you'll have fun for the rest of the week.
The producers told the dancers to wear "sexy and sassy" outfits, and our next choreographer was Tyce Diorio! The dancers and I cheered. He had on a snappy scarf and took them through a Broadway routine. Erika Gee is in Vegas for her third time and is sure she'll make it. Due to the lack of guys, she and Brittany dance together. It turns out that Brittany is *far* stronger than Erika, who didn't show the judges that she "felt it." Brittany made it, but Erika was cut, and she gave a long speech about how she had let her parents down, who had given her lots of money to perform, etc., and said that "you need thick skin to be a dancer." Yep. The judges did put a lot of partners through. Susie from Miami stood out "even without the sexy dress," and I thought, Uh oh.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP...
Anthony and Antwain got air time, and Antwain had a bad feeling. He was correct, as Anthony was told he did a "wonderful job," but his brother and the rest of his line got cut. They both cried, and I felt badly for them. Then we saw lots of cuts and one angry girl who said she would have made it if she had blond hair and would have made it if she had been prettier. I didn't see her dance, so I don't know if that's true, though I doubt it.
There were 94 dancers left by lunch time. Jean Marc choreographed a fox trot, and Joshua Allen, a hip hop dancer, was frustrated by the the routine. But he and his partner, Comfort, were commended by the judges, particularly Mia, who said they "were wonderful, despite some of their moves which were a hot mess, but there were moments of grace and elegance," and they both moved on to the next round, resulting in a lot of tears. I was really happy for them, representing Texas (Mia).
Then we saw our favorite contestant, Pageant Queen Paige, who smiled throughout her time in Vegas, in the bubble bath (ick), in the first rounds, and looked like Brooke White from American Idol in her yellow dance. She was paired with a hip hop dancer named Will Adams, and she complained that there were too many dancers on stage, she couldn't see well b/c there was no room to move, blah blah blah. She was awkward, which they mostly blamed on Will. He has to do a solo to stay and she is allowed to dance again with another partner who made it through. Then she is cut; she says she did not exhibit enough elegance and grace, and so on. She starts crying, says "Jesus Christ has a plan for everyone," and then babbles on in the bathroom about being a pageant queen and other nonsense. See ya, bye, Paige. Twitch (yay), and others are through after their solos, including Jeremiah, who blows them away with his contemporary solo. Will is not good enough but is told to "keep his chin up."
We get to 6:00 PM, and like last year, the dancers who are left are told that they will be put into groups, will choose a CD from a bag, and will spend the evening (whole night) choreographing their own piece. The dancers note that they are delirious, irritable, and barely slept, which we expected.
Twitch, Jason Glover (contemporary) and Bianca (the tapper) are put together, and they have too many ideas and cannot get it together. The other four groups get to bed by 4 AM, but Twitch's group goes on till 4:30. They say they have a new outlook before they go on, however, and then they dance to The Police's "Every Breath You Take" (huh?!). It's a mess, until Bianca taps around them and they join in. None of the judges liked the routine, and Mary felt that it was selfish that Bianca got her own time to shine. They all get to stay except for Jason, who has to dance for his life, while the others stay. Twitch tells us why he feels responsible for the results.
Then we see the "Angels and Demons" group. Jessica King's choreography does not sit well with Derrick Spears, and they fight in front of the camera and in the corridor. By 2:00 AM Derrick leaves, but the rest of the group carries on. They dance to the Police and the judges really like the piece. (Aside: the girl in the green dress reminds me of last year's Jessie.) They all make it through, though Derrick gets a "hush" sign from Nigel (literally a sign saying HUSH), which I find funny. Jason does his solo and since he gets four votes, including one from Mia, who wants to see him do her work, he is through.
After the break, Mia and her contemporary dance take the floor, and the dancers and I shudder. There are 68 dancers left who have had no sleep and many dancers note that they are starting to feel the presence. Tapper Lizz Platt, whom I love, can hardly deal with the routine, though she says she will "leave it all on the floor," and she barely makes it through the dance. Mia thinks she does a great job, but Nigel says "she must control your nerves." Lizz then goes into a speech about how this is the first time she is not mentally stressed but that her legs gave out, she was afraid to get injured, her body wanted to quit but her mind wouldn't, and I am BEGGING her to shut up. Mary is concerned about what would happen to her if she made the Top 20, and she makes it much worse by continuing to talk. Finally Debbie Allen speaks up, telling her that she should have just stood there and taken the notes, and she is cut. She cries off stage, explains that she her mouth DID get her in trouble, but that she would "glue her mouth shut next year," and I hope this will indeed happen.
Jeremiah Hughes is a contemporary dancer who actually cannot handle Mia's choreography, is lost, and walks off after 3/4 of the routine. He comes back, stamps his foot, and his reprimanded for his meltdown (Mary says she feels let down). Finally Nigel tells him to leave, and off-camera he says that he leaves humbled, apologizes for his behavior, and will be back next year. We'll see. Twenty two dancers are cut, including Jason (who is Jason?). 47 dancers are left but nine will be dancing for their lives, including Twitch and jazz dancer Sheila. All nine dancers will do their solos and no decisions will be made until after they have all finished. Dominick seems a bit desperate and does not finish his moves, but then he falls to the floor and it turns out he has pulled a muscle and leaves the competition (I feel badly for him). Twitch makes it (see a pattern here?), and Mark does this awesome contemporary dance to Queen, and I REALLY hope he makes it to the Top 20. Unfortunately, Sheila does not make it, and says she'll return to the classroom and will see what happens.
At this point, there is only one more step. They dancers will each do their final solo without a critique, and they are told these solos will have a lot of bearing on what happens to them. And FINALLY we get to the final cuts, where we'll be introduced to the Top 20. They will take the walk of fame/shame (I made that up! :-)), while there are videos of their their first and last solos playing on a screen in the hallway, and they do not care, nor do I.
Now, this is where I get completely lost and where I am extremely frustrated by Nigel, etal. This is the most important part of the series to date, and yet this is jumbled up. We see Kelli Baker, the daughter of the Rent choreographer, who is told that she is a fabulous dancer but didn't show enough personality and is cut, though they tell her to come back next year and she says she has no regrets.
Kortney, the contemporary dancers, is teased but make it to the Top 20. Others, including Chelsea Hightower, are told they made it (I have no idea who they are), though I see that Anthony doesn't make the cut, but is commended for his dancing and is told to come back next year (I'm really happy for Anthony). Tap dancer Bianca doesn't make it (too bad) but Joshua Allen, the hip hopper dancer, does (yay!), and he cries. He is told that he is brilliant and should keep working on his brises (sp?), a type of turn I am not familiar with, and Debbie says "to show your truth and we can handle the truth."
Twitch makes it and says he will work on his skills and hugs everyone. Soccer player Kherington is "just good enough to get by every time" and says he will get her chance in the Top 20. Markus, the man with his mom's face on his shirt, doesn't make it there, and I'm sad. Derrick, who can't keep his mouth shut, is told he is not quite yet there but to keep back. William Wingfield, the protege of Debbie Allen, makes the Top 20, and we learn that Debbie can no longer be a judge b/c there would be a conflict of interest. Pressure much, Nigel?
Finally, we get to the reality show portion of our program. Dev and Brandon are trotted out (last year it was Twitch and Hok), and Dev is chosen (a surprise), but they want Brandon to come back next year, and he says he will. Then we have this weirdness where roommates Katee and Natalie (I am shocked they made it this far) are brought out. Katee, who is only 19, says that b/c this is her second time in Vegas, will give up if she doesn't make it, while Natalie comforts her, and the judges get extremely pissed off. They make the two of them leave, discuss, and then bring them back. They tell Katee that she originally was chosen, but after her statements the judges take another vote. Because it is a split decision, they have to go with the original vote, and Katee is chosen. Katee back pedals, while Natalie is gracious is ever, and has even missed her graduation. Nigel commends her for her class, she and Katee cry off stage, and the Top 20 dance and I am SO relieved that this is over and we can really begin the show. I won't even attempt to tell you who the Top 20 is--some of whom we've never even seen before (Jamie, for example), and somehow Susie from Miami makes it--but they do the Snuggle Happy Dance, and we can actually figure out who they are and how to spell their names next week.
So...that's it. I apologize for any misspelling of a contestant's name (I'm sure there were many), but I feel relieved that I could offer a recap of the debacle they called Vegas week, and I can't wait for Top 20 to begin! See you next week, and I should be able to provide more clarity from now on. :)
So You Think You Can Dance Top 20 Update
Kristin at E!Online got a sneak peak at the top 20. Amongst other things, she says Wade Robson will choreograph the top 20 group routine, and this:
According to lyrical-contemporary cutie Marquis Cunningham, "They have forewarned us that there's going to be several new genres in the hat that they haven't shown the past three seasons."
Daemon's TV has pics and mini-bios of the most of the top 20. The fact that this info is still not on the show's site, and that Fox can't be bothered to provide it to sites devoted to the show, tells me that they still don't "get" what the web is about.
Shane Sparks will choreograph an upcoming movie with Chris Brown and TI.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Ask Shane - UPDATED
Shane Sparks is set to appear on THE BIG SHOW WITH JK LIVE on blogtalkradio, this Sunday at 5pm Eastern. JK wants to know what you would ask Shane. Leave your question here, or call in Sunday afternoon and talk to Shane.
UPDATE: It appears the show has been cancelled.
Early Recap
Nate Levy recaps tonight's Las Vegas/Top 20 reveal show. He does the best he can with the mess Fox dropped in our laps.
Unknown In The Top 20
I'm not having much luck finding anything out about the dancers we had not met before. I found this link about Marquis Cunningham:
2005 TEEN MR. DANCE OF FLORIDA CHAPTER #2
I saw where someone on the web thinks he's the same Qis from Dance Wars, but I don't think it's the same guy.
Any friends or fans of Chris Jarose, Marquis Cunningham, Mark Hanimura, Rayven Armeno, Jessica King, or Comfort, please send me some info or links. My apologies for any misspellings.
Season 4 Top 20 UPDATED & CORRECTED
Guys
Gev Manoukian
Joshua Allen
Matt Dorame
William Wingfield
Stephen "tWitch" Boss
Jamie Bayard
Chris Jarosz
Mark Kanemura
Marquis Cunningham
Thayne Jasperson
Girls
Kourtni Lind
Rayven Armijo
Courtney Galiano
Katee Shean
Kherington Payne
Chelsie Hightower
Jessica King
Susie Garcia
Chelsea Traile
Comfort Fedoke
Spelling may need correction on some of these.
Music from the Milwaukee auditions & then some
I couldn’t find songs for some of the dancers. I know, what kind of impression am I making if I can’t even find the music I promised to deliver? Auditions were much more difficult than expected. If you know of any of the songs I missed, particularly Rebecca Hart’s, let me know. I am definitely open to your help.
First up…
Song title: Fuego
Artist/Band: Pitbull
Where you heard it on the show: Montage of Uncle Nigel krumping and hippin’ to the hop.
Where you've heard it before: Season 3. Top 6. Lauren and Pasha’s Transformer routine.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: 2 Steps Away
Artist/Band: Patti Labelle
Where you heard it on the show: Katee Shean’s audition solo
Where you've heard it before: I've never heard this Patti song before, but some people may be familiar with it.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: To be perfectly honest, it sounded like Fantasia at first, so if you’re looking for that sort of sound, check out her albums.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Song title: MyPhilosophy
Artist/Band: Inner
Where you heard it on the show: Natalie Reid’s audition solo
Where you've heard it before: I’ve never heard it anywhere before, but I did like it.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Check out Furslide. Same lead vocalist.
Song title: Boogie Wonderland
Artist/Band: Earth, Wind, & Fire
Where you heard it on the show: Bianca Revels tap solo
Where you've heard it before: Brittany Murphy sang it on the Happy Feet soundtrack. It was her character’s heartsong. Savion Glover was the tapper behind Mumble, the main character from that movie.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Donna Summer. Bad Girls.
Song title: Simply Irresistible
Artist/Band: Robert Palmer
Where you heard it on the show: James Davis and the affirmation from his last dance teacher that she would see him on tv.
Where you've heard it before: I’m sure most of you have heard this song. Some may not know that it’s from Contact, the broadway musical that was heavy on the choreography. If you’ve seen it you might remember the Girl in the Yellow Dress. I’m a Broadway nerd.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: After the Lights Go Down Low
Artist/Band: Al Hibbler
Where you heard it on the show: Evan Kasprzak and his channeling of Gene Kelly
Where you've heard it before: I'm not sure anyone really listens to music from this era anymore. Besides Evan of course.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: parameters
Artist/Band: Ani Difranco
Where you heard it on the show: Kourtni Lind - the Uma Thurman look-a-like.
Where you've heard it before: Another song that hasn’t had much play anywhere.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: Listen to the rest of Ani Difranco’s albums. If you like the spoken word thing, try her song Fuel. If you’re looking for something with a little more melody, try Melissa Etheridge.
Song title: Radar
Artist/Band: Britney Spears
Where you heard it on the show: Tom Kozal and his earless goats.
Where you've heard it before: In your room when you’re dancing in your underwear. Or when you’re waiting to give water to your earless goats.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: Aguanile
Artist/Band: Hector Lavoe
Where you heard it on the show: Susie Garcia – the “teacher”…with pink extensions.
Where you've heard it before: If you’ve seen Marc Anthony’s portrayal of Hector Lavoe in the film El Cantante, you may recognize this song from there.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: Red Light
Artist/Band: Usher
Where you heard it on the show: Brice Cassimiri
Where you've heard it before: It’s an extra song from Confessions. It got some airplay around the time of My Boo.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: In Your Eyes
Artist/Band: Craig Lyons (many thanks to Ms Anonymous’s comment and Ted for pointing it out to me), I googled the lyrics until my fingers were tired.
Where you heard it on the show: Cooper Zamorano’s audition solo
Where you've heard it before: I’m not familiar with this song either. Some music contributor I am.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
What else you might like: When I originally couldn’t find this song, Ted mentioned that they sounded like Lighthouse Family. Try out their album Postcard from Heaven. I’d never heard of them and ended up really liking their sound.
Song title: Promise
Artist/Band: Ciara
Where you heard it on the show: Raymond Love's audition
Where you've heard it before: It debuted in 2006 and was on the Billboard Hot 100.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
Song title: It’s Raining Men
Artist/Band: The Weather Girls
Where you heard it on the show: Danielle Chorizo, I mean…Travis Wall.
Where you've heard it before: It’s played a lot. An anthem for all the singles. Geri Halliwell covered it and that version appeared on the Bridget Jones’ Diary soundtrack.
Where you can listen to the whole song:
So there's my first post. Let me know what you liked, what you didn't. I didn't include a lot of what I thought you might also like because those artists seems like they're fairly popular and the music that is similar is pretty accessible. If I'm completely off on this and you'd like to see those suggestions included, please let me know!
So You Think You Can Dance News Roundup
Jason Hughes at TVSquad recaps the Milwaukee auditions.
Ducky has video of the mysterious Danielle Chorizo.
At least a couple of other bloggers were extremely impressed with Evan Kasprzak. This one predicts top 20, and Beckylooo shows us a video of Gene Kelly for comparison. We get some drag queens for comparison too.
Last night really got me excited about the season, but Jayne at 2:00 For Roughing? Not as much.
Mary Murphy will guest judge the hopeful in Toronto this weekend in preparation for season 1 of So You Think You Can Dance Canada.
Milwaukee Auditions
Hi, Sue here. This is the last of my So You Think You Can Dance reviews of the auditions, and it could NOT come fast enough. Our last stop is freezing cold Milwaukee (why is every site so cold? Poor Cat and the dancers). 179 dancers have already been put through to Vegas, so the competition here will be really tough. We start with a montage of hip hop dancers while Nigel tries (and fails at) hip hop moves. I think it's to Pitbul, and I liked it better when Lauren and Pasha were transformers.
So...we do NOT start with Milwaukee. Instead, we get a highlight of the past three weeks of dances (somehow, I had a feeling this would happen; how could we possibly get two hours out of one city)? Anyway, we start with Michael Kim from Boston(representing!). He says he got "creamed" in Vegas in Season 2 but had some formal training and is back. He is a partner with great isolations and the judges are impressed. He says that the he got "creamed in Vegas after doing Salsa with Mary." She laughs and says everyone did because she was doing the Samba! Everyone laughs and he goes straight through to Vegas.
Next we see Los Angeles roommates Katie Shean and Natalie Reid. They are roommates and dance buddies, and we get to witness their workouts, include stretches in matching onesies (tacky). Katie goes first, and I think her contemporary feels forced. She does weird things with her hands that they like and that I do not. Then Natalie dances contemporary, sort of puppet-like (I think), in a very stoic, "unique, honest way" (Mia), and is also sent to Vegas. I don't think they will go far.
We are back to Vegas, only...we are not (oh, FOX, how you tease us so!!!). Janette Manrara and Roumulo Villaverde dance to Salsa, with some very athletic moves that I call bendy. Nigel applauds them and says that Alex da Silva would applaud them. They love Janette's dancing, but are not as impressed with Romulo, and both are sent to choreography. She makes it through; he does not, sadly (I thought they were a hot couple), but Nigel says he should come back next year. FINALLY we get to Milwaukee, 25 minutes in to the episode, and I am relieved. Tonight's guest judges are Napoleon and Tabitha, whom I do not know but like and hope they will choreograph dances this season.
Bianca Revels begins the audition, and she tap dances to Boogie Wonderland (I love Boogie Wonderland). She does the moonwalk, which is cool, and the judges think she is supurb, though I do not. She is straight through to Vegas.
James Davis is next, who says he prepared a year for this audition. That's too bad, b/c he is not very good. The judges say he presented a "movie musical medley," including Chorus Line, Footloose, and the movie with Staying Alive in it. They tell him he can't dance and is disappointed and goes away.
Evan Kasprzak does an interesting Broadway solo, which the judges find beautiful and smooth. (I love his hat.) He is straight through to Vegas.
More after the jump...
Victor Campos is this night's bizarre contestant. He does some straight things that befuddle the judges (and me). When they ask him what he showed, he says "the conflict between individuality and society's pressure," which fail to impress them. When Nigel asks if he can see his face, Victor says, "You didn't ask nice enough." Then they argue, then he leaves, and I feel like I've lost another five minutes of my life.
Travis France does a variety of front and back leaps and "toe touches" but he can't dance and he's gone.
Kourtni Lind (another dancer who doesn't spell her name in the usual way) came with her mom, who is also her dance instructor and supporter (they actually look like sisters). She is very blond and very intense. She is very dramatic, and, as Simon would say, I llllloved it. Nigel says she could be the star of Quentin Tarantito's "Kill Bill The Musical" (ha ha) and she is straight through to Vegas.
Rebecca Hart is back. When she first auditioned two weeks earlier in Los Angels, the judges said she was too immature and too sparkly, but she comes back and has "the moment of her life" (Nigel; dramatic, much?) and to her delight is through to Vegas.
The Snuggle Bear is also back, but I have to say he's kind of cute this time.
Tom Kozal tries contemporary, but not so much. He says he raises earless goats (what?) and doesn't really dance but they find him a lot of fun. This reminds me of the swim instructor last week, and I can only say, Why bother?
Ashley "in the building" Henry desperately wants to be on the Hot Tamale train, but it isn't going to happen, because all she does in booty dancing. She has a lot of charisma, granted, but not much else, and her neon green doesn't help. She begs to go to choreography, and Nigel lets her, but of course she does poorly there and ends up going home.
Susie Garcia is a sexy high school teacher from Miami (shockingly she is a blond), who does a lot of sensual moves but is told that some of her moves remind him of Shakira (Nigel) but others do not flow, though she "brought the heat" (get it?) and she goes to choreography.
Brice Casimir arrives in the US two years ago and works at a retirement home, where he is "their family" (very sweet). He dances relatively well, but the judges tell him he does insular dancing, with a "hollow, empty look" (he doesn't really understand them) and gets to stick around to choreography. At that point he is told his moves aren't there but he should come back next year. Susie goes to Vegas, which surprises me (must be the sexy factor). Ashley does not.
Day two begins with Cooper Zamorono, who is very good. He does contemporary in a very "Travis-like way," but they like him a lot and he is straight through to Vegas. I don't like him as much as Travis (who is as good?!) but he is a strong dancer, and he could go far.
Yesenia Gomez is back, and this is the saddest portion of the program. She made it to the fourth round of Vegas last year, against all odds, and wanted to come back, after losing 50 pounds and changing her life because of the experience. Unfortunately, she hurt her knee in October, and it popped during her dance. She cried, I cried, and the judges told her that it hadn't been a bad investment" and that she had to come back next year (she will). She says that you have to "embrace every day like it's your last day," and that isn't corny coming from her.
Next we see her buddy Philip Courtier, who is a popper with extraordinary hand moves. Nigel said he dances "with passion" and thought he is three dimensional this year. Philip gives a shout out to Yesie and says "it breaks my heart" that she can't come, too. He cries and cries and I cry a little bit and Nigel says to stop crying and come get his ticket. I am SO happy for him.
Raymond Love is tonight's most...I don't know what he is, and neither do the judges. He does a partner dance with a pretty female who is not trying out (we never find out her name or who she is, which is a shame, b/c she is very pretty and VERY good). Nigel reprimands him for "not giving a damn" about such a pretty woman. He explains that he is a minister, references Solomon, and explains that he can't get too close. He dances and is a little more emotive (not much). Nigel praises his choreography but explains that he has to figure out what to do with himself and that the show IS about partnering. He is sent to choreography.
Hao Hou does some tribal dance, they make fun of his costume (or what there is of it, with lots of double entendres) and I am not at all amused.
Lizz Platt is our last dancer, and I ADORE her. She taps accappela (I know I spelled that wrong, sorry) and is sensational. She is told she has great rhythm and is so comfortable on stage (Nigel loves everything about her), and she says she s a "tap dancer who can do other things but is representing tap!" They commend her, and she is straight through to Vegas. I don't know how far she'll go, but I'm hopeful.
When we get to choreography, Raymond gets a no, but Nigel tells him that he has a real future in choreographing other dancers, and he looks rather blank. Eleven others do make it through.
And then to conclude our auditions, we see Travis (aka Danielle Traviso) in drag, dancing to "It's Raining Men." All four judges stand up in appreciation. Best line of the night, from Nigel: "You're not Ryan Secrest, are you?" Travis swears, Nigel introduces him to the crowd as their choreographer (this is at the end of day one auditions), and the auditions end. WOO HOO! Tonight shows us Vegas Week in one night, not three weeks too soon. Be back tomorrow with another recap!
Step It Up & Dance Finale Preview
Will it be Cody, Mochi, Miguel, or Nick? We'll find out tonight on Bravo, after the Las Vegas week show.
Courtesy of BravoTV
Rebecca Hart's Audition
Rebecca Hart auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Randy Jackson on ABDC Season 2
Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew season 2 begins with a casting special on MTV Saturday at 2pm.
Courtesy of America's Best Dance Crew
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
News Roundup
JigTV has video interviews with Travis Wall, Brian Friedman, and more. Thanks Loralyn!
TVGrapevine interviews Atomic Goofball, Phucdat Nguyen.
Carissa at 5 Dollars thinks we already have a pretty good top 21.
It looks like the ephemeral pop star guest appearances will continue this season. Pussycat Dolls appear in the first results show, June 20th.
John and Colin get a little mean this week recapping last week's Step It Up & Dance.
Katee Shean and Natalie Reid's Audition
Katee Shean and Natalie Reid audition for So You Think You Can Dance in LA.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Lizz Plott's Audition
Lizz Plott auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Matt Dorame And Kelli Baker
A Youtube find by Momma2Mingbu. Matt Dorame and Kelli Baker from the Salt Lake City auditions in Odyssey's 'Let It Be' show 2008.
Uploaded by bakerkelli
Excited about the season yet?
Cooper Zamorano's Audition FIXED
Cooper Zamorano auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Bonus: Copper at 2006 Showstopper American Dance Championships. Thanks KJ!
Philip Courter's Audition
Philip Courter auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Michael Kim's Audition
Michael Kim auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in DC.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Kourtni Lind's Audition
Kourtni Lind auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by kelxk3l
Big thanks to kelxk3l for getting clips up so fast.
Evan Kasprzak's Audition UPDATED
Evan Kasprzak auditions for So You Think You Can Dance in Milwaukee.
Uploaded by astronomiedomine
UPDATE: He sings too, about halfway through this video.
Blogging Music from SYTYCD
Hello BSYTYCD! Natalie here. I've been a long-time reader of BSYTYCD and an even longer-time watcher of SYTYCD (okay, maybe not that long, just since Season 2).
On BSYTYCD, I've always noticed the occasional question about a song and who sings it, so I asked Ted if I could make it easier for everyone and write a recap of the songs from each episode. The music is a secondary aspect of the show, but with songs often creating a mood for the performances and the live performances on results' nights, I figured it was an opportunity for me to contribute to this blog. With this season so far, we've seen an array of songs used by the dancers. Most of it depends on the style of dance and the message the dancer wants to convey.
I realize that the only time the show does not list the songs is during auditions and I believe through Vegas week, but I know that when you're rushing to get back to the tv with your snacks and Coca Cola (wait...this isn't Idol...) and you miss the song's name at the beginning of each performance, that you sometimes have questions about it. And I am here for that.
So to give you an idea of what I'll be posting, I made up a entry about a song from a previous week's auditions.
Song title: Stop and Stare
Artist/Band: OneRepublic
Where you heard it on the show: Kherington Payne's audition solo
Where you've heard it before: Where haven't you heard it? In the mall. On the radio. In your dreams. I'm sure we'll be hearing more of it.
Where you can listen to the whole song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zhpqXbndFvQ (the song starts after the 1:10 mark) ***In the future, I'd like to be able to host songs and let you listen to them in mp3 format. The songs would not be downloadable, seeing as that's illegal, but I'd like to let you listen to the whole song before you decide to purchase it or buy the artist's album.
What else you might like: Keane. Brit-pop band that's often compared to Coldplay. Check out their song "Somewhere Only We Know".
This is a very rudimentary format for now. I'd like to take this as far as it can go, so any suggestions of how to improve this are greatly appreciated!
News Roundup
2 more hours of mixed auditions tonight, then it's on to Las Vegas tomorrow night. We'll meet the season 4 So You Think You Can Dance top 20 just in time to switch over to see the Step It Up & Dance finale on Bravo.
NYCDA tells us:
On June 7, 2008, Sabra Johnson will be representing NYCDA by performing at a benefit for a young NYCDA attendee that has Primary Immune Deficiency Disease. This performance will take place at 7:00PM at the Smith Opera House in Geneva, NY. Also performing will be NYCDA faculty member Duncan Cooper, Chauntee Andrews and Dance 4 Life dance company.
There may be a couple of other SYTYCDers there too, but it's not confirmed yet.
Go behind the scenes of a photoshoot with Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin for Dance Teacher magazine.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Phucdat Nguyen's Audition
Phucdat Nguyen, aka Atomic Goofball, didn't make it through choreography, but he proved that nerds can be cool.
Uploaded by astronomiedomine
Check out Atomic Goofball in The Quest Of The Burning Beat.
Who Do You Want To See In The Top 20?
There are too many to do a poll, so I'll list the names I have. If I missed one, let me know, and please give us 3 or 4 of your favorites in comments.
Los Angeles
Devin Oshiro
Stephen "tWitch" Boss
Phillip Chbeeb
William Wingfield
Erika Gee
Leonidas Proskurov
Aliona Vetrenko
Ricky Sun
Asuka Kondoh
Kherington Payne
Robert Muraine
SLC/Dallas
Chelsie Hightower
Gev Manoukian
Lindsey Judkins
Kelli Baker
Ryann Race
Matt Dorame
Thayne Jasperson
Kortney Pearson
Michelle Stringham
Paige Jones
Joshua Allen
Arielle Coker
DC/Charleston
Sheila Kaiser
Jeremiah Hughes
Anthony Hart
Antwain Hart
Courtney Galiano
Claire Calloway
Megan Campbell
Markus Shields
Brandon Bryant
Keep in mind that we still have Milwaukee auditions tomorrow night, and that we didn't see 3 of last year's eventual final 4 until the Las Vegas round.
So You Think You Can Dance News Roundup
Brandon Bryant, with partner Candace Rodriguez, won the Young Dancer category of Star Search in 2003. Videos of their performances are here in the third column to the right. You'll need RealPlayer. Thanks to the folks at TWOP.
One disillusioned viewer recounts her niece's experience auditioning for season 4. Gray at Fame Or Famine picks up the thread.
Sarah Kickler Kelber at the Baltimore Sun:
I wasn't totally blown away by the first three episodes, which focused on the auditions. I couldn't believe how many repeat bad auditioners there were. Did we really need to see "Sex" again? Why let him back for a third try? He's been sighted on Idol and Make Me a Supermodel, so clearly he's just trying to get on TV. If only producers would stop cooperating! And Gold Inferno again? Come on!
I'm pretty sure I spotted Limbert Capelin in her video from the DC auditions. He made it deep into the Las Vegas auditions last year.
The Fayetteville Observer gives us some background on the Hart brothers, Anthony and Antwain.
When So You Think You Can Dance Canada airs this fall, it will follow the Wednesday/Thursday schedule we're familiar with.
Monday, June 2, 2008
More News
Leee works his magic on last week's So You Think You Can Dance audition shows.
Amazon.com has a 6 minute trailer from American Mall, with Neil Haskell in a supporting role.
Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods, in which Jerry Mitchell looks for a new lead for his Broadway musical, is on MTV tonight.
Jabbawockeez show up all too briefly during this Pussycat Dolls performance at last night's MTV Movie awards.
Speaking of JabbaWockeeZ, check out some crews in the running for America's Best Dance Crew season 2.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
News Update
Catch Anthony Bryant's account of the his season 1 ribbon dancing experience on So You Think You Can Dance at the Stepp Stewart Show site. You'll need Quicktime, and it only worked for me in Internet Explorer, not Firefox, but your mileage may vary.
Dave Chung recaps the week at DaveChung.com. Dave's been busy lately. Yesterday he reviewed Sex In The City and Strangers for Rotten Tomatoes, and this morning he Twitter-blogged the fire at Universal studios.
Middle-Eastern Dance
Reader Naiilah took exception to the way Middle-Eastern dance was portrayed in this post from So You Think You Can Dance Greece. I invited her to send me some quality examples and she has been kind enough to do so.
Amar Gamal
Uploaded by bpgjal
There's also a style called tribal. The Urban Tribal Dance Company:
Uploaded by urbantribal
More of Naiilah's links after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamDoDK71Ds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqR1Gm468Dw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG-u2Z-1Wls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ZXtQzZE2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlJ2XsoZsy0
Tribal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMruDVCfjjU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydMv17AsMJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJsaqykhLo
Scandinavian Experimental
From So You Think You Can Dance Scandinavia
Ronni & Mynte - Experimental - Katrine Bølstad
Videos and translation courtesy of packingforthecrash.
Choreographer: This routine is based on a lot of small movements, and it's very detailed.
--
Ronni: It is...
Mynte: Very peculiar.
Ronni: Very peculiar, but it could end up being really cool.
--
Ronni: The hands are always supposed to connect, they're never supposed to lose each other.
--
Ronni: It doesn't look hard but it's..
Both: superhard...!
--
Mynte: It'll be exciting to see how people react to this. It's a mixed candybag.
Ronni: Yeah.
---Judges---
Benke: It feels like some mix of modern and boogaloo, really nice to look at. I think you do it greatly, you work well together. And first and foremost, Ronni, you're like a damn chameleon, you've found another style that you're just fantastic at.
Mynte doesn't come just as far, I think, but a really great routine, extra points to Ronni!
Niclas: I have to say what I've said earlier: You just have to vote for these two also! Because Satan, was that good!
They may get a little Sprockets-ish at times, but they're doing some really interesting things. Here's the top 6 group performance:
I'm glad to see my favorite is in the top 6.
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