News Update

Us Magazine gets Mary Murphy and Dan Karaty's thoughts on last night's show.




Mary Murphy is ready for a hiphopper to win, plus she's planning something big for the finale. Hmmm.



Rachel Howard shares her observations on the elite 8 performances.



BuddyTV published live thoughts last night. There's also "5 cliches we've come to love".



Joanna Weiss of the Boston Globe thinks Katee Shean is a secret weapon.



Kourtni Lind gets the Cool Person Award from Cool Addict.

SYTYCD News Roundup

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The LA Times has another behind the scenes look at what happened during the results show that didn't make it on camera. Before she gets into the juicy details though, she references Leee:

"...inquiring chatter "Leee" asked a very good question: "Why hasn't Gev gone shirtless yet?"

We may never know.

More...

My Dance Place gives us a "Play by Play" recap of the results show. She had a few guesses about the "secret choreographer" and was just as surprised as I was when Nigel was named the man behind the dancing.

Zap 2 It has a wonderful interview with Cat Deeley. She goes from making jokes about her shoes to explaining how she tries to make this experience wonderful for each dancer:

""The really important thing is that there can only be one winner, so therefore you've got 19 other people who come to this stage in Hollywood and what you try and do is make the experience quite positive for them and make it a real life experience. Sometimes it's going to be hard, sometimes it's going to be challenging, sometimes it's just going to be downright bad, but then other times it's going to be really great and really fulfilling and it's their chance to do something new."

Cat is also on the cover of Eve magazine for the month of July.

People gets some quotes from each of the Top 10 dancers.

CTV gets Mary, Dan, and Jean Marc's thoughts on the Top 10.

Rachel Howard over at the Voice of Dance gives us her recap of the Top 10 performance show.

SYTYCD Update

_{FOX/Kelsey McNeal}

Get Dan Karaty's and Mary Murphy's take on last night's show at Us Magazine.



Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan tells IndiaWest.com how he got involved with So You Think You Can Dance. Asked about working with Katee & Joshua last week:

“It was truly a gift to work with them, and I found it very pleasant to work with professional dancers,” Mahajan said. “They were just hungry for movement, they were hungry to stay in the show, and they were passionate.”

More...

Watch for Nakul's choreography again tonight during the opening group routine.




Apparently there was quite an uproar at the Fox boards after last week's guest performer, Katy Perry, sang a song called I Kissed A Girl. Tamara Gorzalka at Vue Weekly thinks it was just a piece of throw-away pop.




ABT dancer Matthew Murphy live-blogged last night's show. See what he thought of the Pas De Deux.

SYTYCD News Roundup

More on Will. His mom is interviewed by Fox 17 in Nashville. A reader found this via IDF, along with this video produced by Will and fellow Celine Dion dancers.




Canada's CTV gets top 12 thoughts from Mary Murphy, Dan Karaty, and Jean-Marc Genereaux.




NZJ was down with the flu last week, but catches up with reviews of So You think You Can Dance top 14 and top 12 shows. Glad you're felling better!

SYTYCD News Roundup UPDATED

Episode 2 of iVan, Ivan Koumaev's season 4 video blog, is up at movmnt magazine.



I apologize for a mistake in the sidebar poll. It should read Kourtni L & Matt - Foxtrot. Polls can't be changed once the voting has started, so it can't be corrected.



Jason Hughes at TVSquad on Mia Michaels as a judge:

I think I prefer Michaels choreographing than judging. She focuses almost too much on her own interpretations of the emotions in the pieces rather than what the dancers had to bring. I think she's insane and brilliant in choreography, but maybe a bit too "out there" for really constructive criticism.

More...



LA Times Entertainment blog goes backstage:

Dan Karaty warned me that things would be different this week. We spoke backstage after last Thursday’s elimination, and Dan expressed concern that he’d been too soft on the top 20 performers. From here on out, he warned, the judges were going to give it to them straight.

More...

This is my opinion, but I disagree. They're not giving it to us straight. They clearly have in mind who they want left at the end, and who they want off as soon as possible. I think it's unconscionable to go find all these talented, hardworking people, bring them to LA, and then not give them a level playing field. While we're at it, they might as well bring Debbie Allen back. What, she could hype Will Wingfield any harder than Nigel, Mary, and Mia did last night? Not with her clothes on, she couldn't (I don't know what that means either, but you get the point).



ChileKat at TVFan doesn't like the emotional manipulation:

Last year, we had the Dead Daddy Dance. This year we get Dances with Disabled Daughters. (Please save your outrage. I already know I'm going to hell. Luckily, I like the heat) Stop the madness, Show. Stop with the sob stories that make critique of the actual dancing almost irrelevant.

More...

SYTYCD News Roundup

BuddyTV does its weekly interview with the dearly departed, Jamie Bayard and Rayvyn Armijo.




Listen in to an IM chat between Crosswalk.com Senior Editor Laura MacCorkle and co-worker Chad about Thursday's results show.




Here's an example of why mainstream media fails while new media grows. TVGuide's Kara Howland:

I tried for a good five, if not ten, minutes to figure out how to turn my closed captioning on. I finally gave up thinking I’d just Google the dancers to make sure I spelled their names right (Google failed me; couldn't find them!). So if any of you want to take pity on me and tell me how to work my DirecTV remote correctly, I’d be appreciative. Where was I?

What? Hello? You can't find the dancer's names on Google???




Joshua Allen is Ryan Welton's early favorite to win So You Think You Can Dance. I'd want to see how he handles at least one other style before I'd make that leap.




LA Times blogger Stephanie Lysaght talks with the judges after the results show:

Will and Jessica got rave reviews from the judges. Why do you think they landed in the bottom three?

Nigel Lythgoe: I honestly don’t know. Their position in the show was good. She lost her balance a couple of times, and it may have been that, where people said, ‘It wasn’t good enough.’ Maybe they don’t like that style of dance. Maybe neither Will nor Jessica has gotten over their personality for their audience.

Mary Murphy: It’s so early that the public hasn’t latched on to the personalities yet, or how extraordinary they are. A lot of it is just not aired, so we know as judges, but the public just doesn’t have a grasp on how extraordinary Will is.

Dan Karaty: I was really shocked to see them dropped into the bottom three. I don’t know why it happened. The public votes. Hey, ya know, maybe they know better than me, but I don’t think that was necessarily the right decision. They’re both phenomenal dancers, and Will especially. He stands out above the rest. I really feel he does.

I think being in the bottom 3 was the best thing that could have happened to them, because it gave Will a chance to show America this.





Gev Manoukian's family is well known in the world of ice skating.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Remember, encore airing tonight on Fox.



Apparently, Robert Muraine was on Ellen today. We'll post video as soon as we find it.



We've seen the Snuggle® Happy Dance. We'll also have to endure "branded segments" featuring Fruit Sensations™ gum from Wrigleys. Oh well, they pay the bills.



MSN Canada interviews Dan Karaty. I wonder if Dan considers this a skeleton in his closet.



We found 2 articles about guys who like So You Think You Can Dance, one from Metro News Canada, and the other at Writing On The Edge.




Liz And Mikey D present 4 unintentionally hilarious dances from SYTYCD archives.

News Update

The TV Addict talks to Mary Murphy and Dan Karaty.



Beckylooo gets all post-cynical on Pajiba.com. Not for the language sensitive.




EW's Adam B. Vary interviews Uncle Nigel:

What is your criteria for putting together your top 20 dancers?

I don't always pick the best dancers. It is casting. It is saying, "Okay, this personality is going to jar against this personality." I want to keep it as interesting as possible. I'd like to diversify styles as much as possible. I want to have people that we can push and not have them break down the minute they can't do something. It's a long season for dancers. It isn't like American Idol. If you lose your voice, you lose your voice one week. If you twist an ankle or put your knee out, that's it, the season's over for you. So they've got to be sturdy, both physically and mentally. They can't fall foul of injuries too quickly. They've got to, at the end of the day, get on with people, or we believe that they're going to get on with people. And they're going to have to want to win it. That's really important. We're losing a little bit of that on Idol at the moment. You know, they know they're going to do well when they're in fourth or fifth place. That's not going to happen with dance. There's going to be one winner. They're not going to become multimillionaires, like the Idols. They're going to still have to work hard for every single thing they get, even if they win. That's just the way of a dancer: undervalued, underpaid, and overworked.

I predict we'll be seeing a lot of Travis Wall this season. Shimmy caught up with him recently.



BuddyTV has just unveiled a new quiz: Which So You Think You Can Dance Judge Are You? Unfortunately, they make you register to get your results, so I don't know which judge I am.

News Roundup

TWOP released an interview with Dan Karaty. Asked if there will be any changes for season 4:

You're going to be seeing obviously some new musical performances, how we have guest recording artists come out there. We got a couple surprises in the bag, and a couple other performers that'll be out there that'll surprise you. And we've mixed up the audition dates this year and we're doing new cities. Like Washington, D.C., which we've never done before. So we're going to scope out some new and different talent out there.

Dan also discusses the growing popularity of dance, Mia Michaels' creative process, and his take on Wade Robson's anti-war solos last season.




Last night was the Dance Times Square showcase. Tony & Melanie presented, Pasha & Anya performed, Sabra & Kameron were in the audience, and fortunately for us, Tonya Plank was there to report.




Commenter KJ found video of Sara Von Gillern dancing on the current Avril Lavigne tour. Check out the mohawk.





Brett Love at TVSquad shows why he's the web's top TV dance journalist in this interview with Dancing With The Stars' Jonathan Roberts. He couldn't resist asking about So You Think You Can Dance:

Brett: One more question that I was wondering about. Now that Dancing With The Stars is ending, I'll turn my attentions to So You Think You Can Dance and I was wondering if that's something that you watch, or are you a fan?

Jonathan: Definitely. I've had several friends that have been on it, some of the ballroom dancers. We pretty much all know each other, so it's great for me to see the success that a lot of them have had on the show. What I like about So You Think You Can Dance is that there are no celebrities involved. It's basically whatever they do on screen is how people perceive them and vote for them and it really is these young kids showing off their amazing talent.

Brett: That's the biggest thing for me with that show. I'm always amazed at the level of talent they are able to bring in every year.

Jonathan: Absolutely.

ABDC's Kaba Modern performed at the APIA Vote Townhall Meeting. (Video)

TV Dance Roundup

Ellen Degeneres has hired So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Dan Karaty to whip her staff into shape to audition for America's Best Dance Crew.


Natalie Bassingthwaighte "has improved in leaps and bounds", says our friend Reality Raver.


Recently eliminated Jessica Feltman talks to BuddyTV about her time on Step It Up & Dance.

That show's host, Elizabeth Berkley, has an admirable web project called Ask-Elizabeth, intended to provide answers and information to adolescent girls. Surprisingly, there is no section devoted to choosing film projects.

Karaty: Still Just One Winner

Dan Karaty, who seems to be taking on primary spokesman duties for the show, says there will be no major format changes for season 4 in this Reality TV Magazine interview:

Although some of the longer-running and more popular reality shows are making format changes this year, Karaty speculates that So You Think You Can Dance will stick with its tried-and-true format, which would include keeping with a single winner, despite the hope of some fans that both a male and a female winner would be chosen.

“I think the men and the women both bring something different to the stage. They’re both equally entertaining to watch. We’re looking for America’s Favorite Dancer – it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman.”

MORE

SYTYCD News Roundup

Fox Utah has a video report from the first day of auditions in Salt Lake City.

LINK


The Salt Lake Tribune was there too.

LINK


Kristin at EOnline says Hok and Dominic's Quest crew tried out for America's Best Dance Crew, but their contract with 19 Entertainment prohibited their participation.

SOURCE


Shimmy Online has interviews with Sara Von Gillern, Musa Cooper, and Dan Karaty. Dan hints that we may see him guest-judging on the Australian show.


Apparently, Dan is a good judge of football talent too. His Super Bowl prediction from last week:

“It’s going to be a GIANT upset. Let’s just hope Randy Moss can handle the loss better than T.O. did. Sniffle, sniffle.Giants 28, Patriots 23.” — DAN KARATY, choreographer (So You Think You Can Dance)

SOURCE


Blogger Mr. Melodicus gives us an alternate take on the premiere episode of So You Think You Can Dance Australia:

And then our host appears. In case you haven’t been flicking through the pages of your local TV Guide recently, the job was given to Rogue Traders lead singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte. No, wait, Bassinghthwaithe. Or is it Basghsighthwaighthte? Who knows, but there are far too many letters. I prefer Cat Deeley the minute Bassinghthwhaihththththe opens her mouth, complete with her nauseating nose inflexions and grating Australian twang.

We’re given little more time to analyse our hostess as we are instantly transported to Perth, the setting for the first round of auditions. But wait! Here she is again!

“This is an ABSOLUTE MASSIVE TURNOUT in Perth…HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS have turned out here today!!” screams Bashingtwit as she scurries up and down the line of maybe one thousand people and assuring her audience she knows nothing about adverbs. Hundreds of thousands? It’s as if she’s insinuating the entire population of Perth were there.

MORE

Season 4 Audition News

Auditions for season 4 begin today in Dallas. Fox has posted an update to the audition schedule, including locations and a change in the Salt Lake City dates.

Judge/choreographer Dan Karaty has advice for auditioners.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Shane at the Orange Bowl. Shane Sparks will be choreographing a piece to be performed at halftime of the Orange Bowl football game on Thursday, Jan. 3rd.

SOURCE



Ashlee Nino is working. As noted on her Myspace blog, season 2 finalist Ashlee Nino, aka Lady Shiva, is performing with Miley Cyrus on the phenomenally successful Hannah Montana tour.

SOURCE



Hugh meets Dan. Hugh Grant worked with Dan Karaty while filming Music And Lyrics. Apparently, Hugh doesn't think he can dance:

“Dancing was really hell, because you either have it or you don’t. I emphatically don’t! They got this brilliant choreographer, who does all those top girls, Britney (Spears) and Christina (Aguilera) and everyone. He (Dan Karaty) and I stood facing each other in a cold dance studio.

“Dan said, ‘Okay, I’m going to put the music on and just express yourself.’ He put the music on—and I just stood still for half an hour (laughter)! In the end, I say this jokingly but it’s actually true, I had to resort to alcohol and drugs to get me through all that! But, who dances when they’re not drunk? No one!”

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His mother must be proud. Bryan Kristopowitz at 411Mania.com lists So You Think You Can Dance as the worst TV show of 2007:

There's actually a show worse than American Idol, and its the Dance show that comes on the week after Idol ends. The audition shows here are worse than the Idol audition shows, the judges are lower than slime (Shane Sparks is one of the worst human beings I've ever seen on television), and the choreographers who create the dances for the contestants are pretentious douchebags. I hope that Sex guy came back during the open audition, and I hope that he keeps coming back year after year after year. The judges always whine about how most of the people auditioning can't dance and are wasting the judges' time. Please. You are being paid to sit there and watch everyone who shows up, and for the love of God you freaking asked these people to come. God I hate this show.

Bryan's second worst show of 2007? American Idol Gives Back, which raised nearly 80 million dollars to alleviate poverty in the US and Africa. What a wonderful human being he must be.

LINK



The CBC gets it. CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) lists So You Think You Can Dance amongst it's 100 favorite pop culture moments of 2007. I'm a bit confused about which season they're referring to:

The second season of SYTYCD had better dancers, better music and more crowd-pleasing drama. This electrifying and thoroughly good-hearted series presents the very best face of reality television.

MORE



Likely choice. Here's my pick for the song we're most likely to see used during season 4. Róisín Murphy's Let Me Know. We know Wade Robson loves Róisín Murphy's music, and the disco beat of this song makes it attractive to other choreographers as well.

Danny Update

I just returning from the opening performance of Definition Of A Man. I'll try to have a report up sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, our friend Angelica reports on her experience at JUMP this weekend:

Just got back from the Jump Convention and WOW it was AMAZING! (For people that don't know JUMP is a Dance workshop/competition) I went to watch the final showcase. So the reason I went was basically to see Danny again and I got more than that:)

As my mom and me were waiting in line Dan Karaty came out of the rehersal room.. I was going to say something to him but I think he is really cocky so I just let him walk by me. It's funny because I took classes from Dan when I was 10 years old!

Then I saw Danny come out of the room and talk about being in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time! So he was coming out and I stood up and said his name. He gave me a hug and then I asked him if I could get a picture. He told me to hold on and went and ordered a coffee drink. As they were making it he came back and asked me my name and such. I told him that I met him at the SYTYCD backstage meet and greet and we small talked. My mom took a picture of us.... he is beatiuful...I love that man.

Nick Lazarrini came out of the rehearsal room too and I went over to him and shook his hand, what a cutie!

The show was cool... Mandy Moore was there too and she did a AWESOME contemporary freestyle with Danny and 4 other senior guys. Danny and Mandy dance beautifully together! Mandy and Nick did a dance to some 80's songs mixed and Danny came out for that one. They did it with the mini kids and it was so cute! As Danny was running offstage he gave me a wink and he smiled:)

Nick did a really good solo that I have up in my videos on my page.. he is crazy good! Dan did not dance at all... in fact he left early and did not even watch his kids perform the number he taught them. I don't know... I never really liked him.

But anyways it was a awesome night and my default picture was taken just a few hours ago!

_{Photo courtesy of Angelica}

Choreographer's Corner

A Shane Sparks promo for digitaldancers.com.


Wade Robson teaches a class.


Dan Karaty, with Teresa Espinosa, teaching in Norway.


Mia Michaels, Shane Sparks, Wade Robson, and Brian Friedman teaching. It's a low quality video, but it's interesting to see them all together.