News Update

He must be the most interviewed person in the dance world. Shane Sparks tells the LAist about his upcoming Dream Girls Project and his favorite dancer of all time.



This blogger attended the Monday taping. Spoiler Alert!



Jessica King returned home to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to recuperate from her injury.



Gev Manoukian is back in Park City, Ut.



The soon-to-be Project Runway-less Bravo TV network announced the renewal of several shows, but there's no mention of Step It Up & Dance.

SYTYCD News Roundup

GirlsTalkinSmack wonders if the top 8 photo, taken Thursday night, includes couple spoilers for next week. Maybe, or could it be that some So You Think You Can Dance producer is actually playing with our heads?



Leee has posted a rare mid-week update, including Twitch's solo.



Dino-Ray Ramos recaps both SYTYCD and ABDC.



Our friend JoannaOC mourns Gev's elimination:

Gev might not have been best dancer all around in terms of technique, and I knew he wouldn't get to the top four, but he was the most entertaining for me, and the one who brought the "most improved" arc to the show. And I don't think any of the other dancers could do many of the moves he does. He danced his heart out every time. I'm going to miss seeing him on my TV! I hope he will be able to continue to grow as a dancer and a performer after the tour.

More...




Blob Boogie writes us with info on Nigel's "assistant" choreographers:

Here's Chuck Maldonado's solo and his choreography reel


According to the choreography reel he helped choreograph "Stomp the Yard," and worked with Fergie, Ciara, and Missy Elliot, and it seemed like he helped choreograph a stomp dance piece in the 1996 Olympics? Insane.

And Here's some of Suga Pop's solos. He's a well respected popper in the b-boy community, and is in fact a part of the oldest and most famous b-boy crew, Rock Steady Crew

Here and here.

etc.

- Blob Boogie

Thanks BB!



A Seattle P-I reader-blogger quotes Shane Sparks on the increasing recognition of dancers/choreographers and the status of Asian crews in the hiphop dance world.



I had forgotten just how young Kherington is. She missed her high school prom to be on the show. She says now she wishes she could have taken Twitch as her prom date. Gev has 2 weeks off before the finale week. He plans to spend most of it in bed.



Check out Phillip Chbeeb's latest studio compilation video.




A landslide 87% of 353 readers gave the thumbs up to Lil C on the judging panel in our latest reader poll. Thanks for voting!



In case you haven't noticed, our music columnist, Natalie, has been posting news updates this week. What a relief it's been for me to have some help, and she's doing an OUTSTANDING job with it. Thanks, Natalie!

Emmy Nominations

So You Think You Can Dance is up for a few Emmy Nominations again this year! Wade's Hummingbird and Flower routine, Shane's Transformers routine, and Mandy's Table routine are all up for Outstanding Choreography. They're in the same category as the choreographers for High School Musical 2, one of which is Kelli Baker's famous mom, Bonnie Story. Make-up is also nominated for episode #311 in the Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-camera Series Or A Special (non-prosthetic). This would be, I would guess, for their work on Jaimie and Hok during Wade's piece. Noticably absent is Cat Deeley from the Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program category. I won't say it, but you can google the nominees for that category to find out who beat out our favorite host.

After the jump are all of the nominees for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-camera Series Or A Special (non-prosthetic).

More after the jump...


Outstanding Choreography

Dancing With The Stars • Routine: Mambo / 'Para Los Rumberos' • ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions, LLC
Julianne Hough, Choreographer

High School Musical 2 • Routines: 'What Time Is It?', 'Fabulous', 'Work This Out', 'I Don't Dance', 'You Are the Music In Me', 'For One' • Disney Channel • Salty Pictures, Inc./First Street Films/Disney Channel
Kenny Ortega, Choreographer
Charles Klapow, Choreographer
Bonnie Story, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routine: Hummingbird and Flower / 'The Chairman's Waltz' • FOX • 19 TV Ltd and Dick Clark Productions
Wade Robson, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routine: Transformers / 'Fuego' • FOX • 19 TV Ltd and Dick Clark Productions
Shane Sparks, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routine: Table / 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' • FOX • 19 TV Ltd and Dick Clark Productions
Mandy Moore, Choreographer

Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-camera Series Or A Special (non-prosthetic)

Dancing With The Stars • Episode #503 • ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions, LLC
Melanie Mills, Department Head Makeup Artist
Zena Shteysel, Key Makeup Artist
Patty Ramsey, Additional Makeup Artist
Nadege Schoenfeld, Additional Makeup Artist

MADtv • Episode 1308: With Kathy Griffin • FOX • Girl Group Company
Jennifer Aspinall , Department Head Makeup Artist
Heather Mages, Additional Makeup Artist
Christopher Burgoyne, Additional Makeup Artist
Ned Neidhardt, Additional Makeup Artist

So You Think You Can Dance • #311 • FOX • 19 TV Ltd and Dick Clark Productions
Amy Strozzi, Department Head Makeup Artist
Heather Cummings, Additional Makeup Artist
Tifanie White, Additional Makeup Artist
Crystal Wolfchild, Additional Makeup Artist

Two And A Half Men • City Of Great Racks • CBS • Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., The Tannenbaum Company in association with Warner Bros. Television
Janice Berridge, Department Head Makeup Artist
Peggy Nichols, Key Makeup Artist

News Update

Television Without Pity has a long interview with Shane Sparks.



TVGuide talks to Mary Murphy.



Nigel Lythgoe was turned away from the Crown Club last night. Maybe the doorman is a friend of Jessica's?



VH1's The Best Week Ever joins the So You Think You Can Dance recapping bandwagon.

SYTYCD News Roundup

TVSquad talks to Shane Sparks. He discusses making the transition to America's Best Dance Crew and his inspiration for knocking down the 4th wall.




Salon.com asks "what if a trend is popular because it's good?"




Tonya Plank knows dance and shares her observations on this week's performances.



So You Think You Can Dance is a frequent subject of inter-office IMs at Crosswalk.com.




Several familiar names were recognized at the 2nd Annual Choreographer Media Awards.

So You Think You Can Dance Update

Watch last night's show with a real dancer, Matthew Murphy at Ranting Details. He live blogged the show.



Ducky and GMMR stayed up way too late to record this podcast for you, the viewer. Thanks for the shout out!



Hollywire.com attended Shane Sparks' birthday party.

Top 18 Group Routine (Video) UPDATED

Choreographed by Shane Sparks

_{Uploaded by astronomiedomine}

Updated to higher quality.

SYTYCD News & Opinion

Diane Macedo at Fox News:

Will and Jessica, on the other hand, had great moves for their hip-hop routine but were a mismatched pair in delivering them. Both contemporary dancers, Will looked like a popper, Jessica looked like a cheerleader. Actually, I’m not even sure we can call Will a contemporary dancer anymore after seeing him dance so well in so many styles. Can someone just give him a ticket straight to the top 4?

More...

I'm thinking he, along with the only non-contemporary/hiphop dancer left, Chelsie Hightower, are a lock for top 10. They'd pretty much have to kill a judge, intentionally, to not make it that far. I haven't seen that he connects with the audience enough yet to make the top 4. All indications are that if there had been a bottom 4 couples last night, he and Jessica would have been in it, and this was after his brilliant solo last week, and a strong hiphop this week.



Adam B. Vary returns to recap the results show.

The first tasty bit, of course, was Shane Sparks' kickin' group number. All of you who have been lamenting Sparks' absence from the show in the message boards must've been all atwitter to see his top-notch work finally return to the show (I know I was)...

I'm seeing this sentiment around the web, like all this season's challenges would be overcome if only Shane and Wade Robson would come back. How quickly we forget all the discussion last year about how Shane had lost his touch, that he had become repetitive and stale. I'm glad his routine last night was well received, but Shane and Wade have the luxury of being able to move on to other things. Artists need new and different challenges. They're not the only talented choreographers in the world, so let's keep an open mind about this.

Young Hollywood Takes A Class With Shane Sparks

From YoungHollywood.com

Shane Sparks Interview

BuddyTV talks to Shane Sparks about the second season of Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Cleavage Dance Crew, which starts tonight on MTV at 10pm.

News Roundup

It looks like Shane Sparks will choreograph the So You Think You Can Dance top 18 group routine next week.



Phillip Chbeeb blogs from his Myspace:

HELLO EVERYONE!

the reason i was not aired on the vegas episode of the fourth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is because i caught pneumonia a couple days before vegas week and had to drop out of the competition because i was unable to dance in that state and therefore was dropped from the competition....

i was invited to go directly to vegas next year tho...


spread the word!!!!


take care everyone


peace

Our friend Leee, whose recaps deserve their own recaps, is taking on extra blogging duties this season.




OK Magazine talks to Step It Up & Dance winner Cody Green.

JabbaWockeeZ Talk About ABDC

Casting special tommorow at 2pm ET on MTV, followed by JabbaWockeeZ Walk It Out, with Shane Sparks.

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.

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.

Shane: Maybe A Group Routine

The National Ledger quotes America's Best Dance Crew judge Shane Sparks:

"I'm not going to be on the new season of 'So You Think You Can Dance' as of right now. MTV wanted me exclusively, so when I signed a deal with them, I couldn't do the other one anymore," says Sparks. "'So You Think You Can Dance' has been calling to see if I can do something. We'll see what happens. I would love to do choreography for like a group number, but I don't want to do the competing part anymore."

MORE

Backstage At America's Best Dance Crew

Shane Sparks takes YoungHollywood.com backstage at ABDC.

Status Quo on ABDC

When many Americans are voting for change, enough voted for Status Quo last week to elevate the crew out of danger. Their routine began with Darvis doing the coolest little hat flip, and ended with Jamal, in a JabbWockeez mask, stuffing E-Knock in a dumpster. They spent most of the routine racking up Frequent Flyer miles.



Shane Sparks mentions SQ as one of his favorite crews in an interview at LA's The Place Magazine.

LINK



Tonya Plank has been watching the show:

Speaking of “America’s Best Dance Crew“: how happy was I that Status Quo was finally NOT in the bottom three!!! Yes! I loved all that flipping they did last night. I’m always afraid someone’s going to get hurt, but they just always make me smile, and I need that after a full week of this trial. Not to wax too cheesy about these boys from the ‘hood I find so endearing, but this disturbing trial (not to mention having spent many years as a public defender) makes me think what dance can do for people — taking them out of their circumstances, giving them opportunities, allowing them to take out aggression in a positive way… Dance is important!

MORE



Tonya was distressed about the judges' decision to eliminate Live In Color over Fysh N Chicks, as was a TVGuide Community blogger:

I cannot believe what I witnessed on America's Next Best Dance Crew. I think the judge’s decision was an injustice. Especially for people who are suppose to keep it so real "Randy Jackson, Lil Mama & Shane Sparks". I can see if Live in Color lost to Kaba Modern or JabbaWockeeZ real dance crews! However, I cannot comprehend a real dance crew "Live In Color" losing to boys on skates and a dance crew that was consistently in the bottom 2. The tap dancing sucked! I can see if they stopped the music and you actually heard something. Hell I could have moved my feet around with music blasting and called it tap dancing. The show should be called "Judges Best Dance Crew" because not only was America not represented tonight; but the "Judges" continue to save a weak group who obviously is not wanted by America! And they wonder why people are so hesitant to vote? It's call being overridden when your vote wasn't the one they were looking for. I won't be watching next week!

SOURCE



Personally, I think there has been a production bias to keep female groups to pull male demographics. How else could you justify the inclusion of Femme Five in the top 9?

More Plagiarism? (Video)

From a Russian show which, I believe, translates as Dance With Me. Fans of the US So You Think You Can Dance will instantly recognize both pieces.



If Mia and Shane didn't each get a check from the Russian producers, they've been ripped off.

Thanks to Loralyn for spotting these.

CORRECTION: It's Bulgarian, not Russian. My apologies, and thanks to a reader for spurring me to dig a little deeper.

America's Best Dance Crew Media

Randy Jackson recently appeared on Letterman and Conan, primarily hyping American Idol but also mentioning America's Best Dance Crew. Apparently, talk show hosts have trouble grasping the concept of dance crews.


Skip ahead to about the 60 minute mark at this Blogtalk radio show to hear an interview with ABDC judge Shane Sparks. He confirms he's not returning to SYTYCD for season 4, but doesn't rule out the possibility of coming back in future seasons.


JC Chasez talks about judging on the show. He's been taking some heat around the web, but I find his critiques to be fair and constructive.



The talented and original Iconic Crew are profiled in this News Transcript article:

When asked how they came up with the idea for Broadway combined with hiphop, Hubela said he and his sister, Beth, came up with the idea for the first recital at Icon. They had a friend create a modern day remix of the song "One" from "A Chorus Line" with a hip-hop beat and it blew them away. They chose to base their performance for America's Best Dance Crew on that concept because they wanted something that would make them stand out.

"Even though it gave us a label as a Broadway crew, it's OK because that's [part of] what we do," he said.

As good as they are, it's doubtful the first winner of the first hiphop dance show will be anything but pure hiphop.

Wade Robson Won't Be Back For Season 4

We have confirmed the rumors with multiple reliable sources. Emmy-winning choreographer Wade Robson will not be returning for the fourth season of So you Think You Can Dance. It's also confirmed that Shane Sparks will not be returning. Expected to fill the void are former contestant Travis Wall, returning choreographer Mandy Moore, and film director and choreographer Adam Shankman.

UPDATE: In this interview, Mary Murphy mentions that Wade will be one of the choreographers on season 4, so maybe there's still hope for Wade fans.