Some of my favorite So You Think You Can Dance routines
At first, I was a little disappointed with this season’s So You Think You Can Dance. I found most of the routines underwhelming. Furthermore, Mary and Nigel constantly telling us that it’s the “best dancers they’ve ever had” and the most “competition they’ve ever seen” is a red flag. I think most viewers, those with dance training and without, know what they like and why they like it. And viewers don’t like being told they should like something.
So I started thinking about my favorite pieces from past seasons. I thought about how I got goose bumps when Anya and Danny did the Viennese Waltz. I remembered how Benji’s solos always put a smile on my face. I’ll concede that season four hit it’s stride after this week. But, you can’t argue that previous seasons, especially two and three, left a lot for these new dancers to live up to.
Some of my favorite pieces from Fox’s hit show are after the jump. I’ll probably come up with more but here’s something to start you off. Enjoy!
Let’s start with that Danny / Anya waltz routine. Usually the Viennese Waltz, much like the Quick Step, can be the kiss of death on this show. But these two pulled it off beautifully. They looked so mature up there. Of course, it didn’t hurt that both of them are stunning. I still get goose bumps when Danny turns her (sorry, I don’t know the term).
Last week, we saw another great Viennese Waltz by Twitch and Kherrington. This was nicely danced as well, but the story behind it took it to a whole other level emotionally. I think this left a lot of viewers in tears.
Let’s talk about Disco. So, far the disco this season has been drab. Courtney and Gev’s piece the first week was too contrived. And I think everyone was a bit surprised that Will and Jess’s routine didn’t land them in the bottom three this week. (I will say that Will was wonderfully entertaining in it though.) Here’s two disco routines you might have forgotten. Natalie and Musa’s piece shows just how important it is to have a strong guy when it comes to partnering. On the other hand, Lacey and Kamryn’s piece shows how important a great female partner can be.
This is hands-down my favorite Latin ballroom routine EVER on the show. Sure, I know you’re going to say that Benji and Heidi had an advantage because they’re cousins and dance partners (champions to boot). It still made for good entertainment. Try counting how many turns Heidi does.
Here’s my favorite contemporary piece from choreographer Mia Michaels. I know I’ve said that I find her work inaccessible, but this one had me on the edge of my seat. Lauren and Danny are believable as lovers and both are technically proficient enough to pull off Mia’s “alien” movements.
We know by now that the solos are just as important as the duets on this solo. These are two of my favorite solos. It’s hard to put it all out there in thirty seconds. They have to mix tricks and choreography. Plus the dancers have to relax enough so that they can show the judges how much joy they get from dance.
I love this solo by Natalie. She’s very sexy and quirky. And that turn she does from the floor onto the tops of her feet is awesome. Benji’s solo shows that ballroom dancers too can be amazing solo artists. He was there to win from the beginning.
Here’s one of my favorite Wade Robson pieces. I think many of you will agree it’s pretty darn good.
“Rama Lama Bang Bang” is one of my favorite group pieces. The song is fantastic. The choreography has just the right amount of kitsch. And the performance? Take a look.
So that’s it for now. What are your favorite dances from past seasons? From this season? And how do you think season four measures up with past seasons?
Gene Simmons’ Kiss of Death
KISS mainman Gene Simmons has been blaming the death of the record industry on bands like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and others who have experimented with alternative methods of releasing music.
Oh, and the fans, too.
“The record industry is dead. It’s six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this. They’ve decided to download and file share,” said Simmons, according to an AOL Australia report.
“There is no record industry around so we’re going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilised. As soon as the record industry pops its head up we’ll record new material.”
Are you happy now, ungrateful fans of music?
Anyway, the death of the music industry has at least gotta be good for the Kiss Kasket, the $4,700 coffin the band used to sell on its website. It could be used as a beer cooler until the lucky fan died and was placed inside. (Remember to remove the brewskis first!)
See, Kiss would never do anything to harm the music industry.
(Note: That is, unless you count the band’s execrable 1978 TV movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, in which case they obviously would.)
Charts Get the Kiss of Death (Cab)
Just like NYC on a rainy day, there was no stopping this cab ride.
For the first time in their decade-plus career, Death Cab for Cutie found itself a spot atop the Billboard 200. For the week ended Sunday, their new album Narrow Stairs ascended to No. 1 on 144,000 copies sold, per Nielsen SoundScan.
The Evergreen State rockers benefited from massive touring, critical praise and the album’s top 10 modern rock single “I Will Possess Your Heart.”
Formed in the late ’90s, the indie act broke into the mainstream with 2003’s Transatlanticism, which landed key TV song placements, most notably on The O.C. The group soon signed to Atlantic and established their previous chart high with 2005’s Plans opening at No. 4 on its way to platinum sales.
Frank Sinatra’s Nothing but the Best, released in connection with the decennial anniversary of his passing, sold 99,000 copies in the No. 2 spot. The hits package marks Old Blue Eyes’ best chart position since Duets opened in the same spot nearly 15 years ago.
Jason Mraz’s We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. sold 73,000 copies at No. 3, besting the singer’s previous No. 5 chart high for 2005’s Mr. A-Z. The Grammy-nominated singer, who leads at radio with “I’m Yours,” found inspiration for the new album from several spiritual books anonymously left outside his hotel room while on an Australian tour.
Retro-pop singer Duffy made new releases four-for-four at the top with her rookie bow, Rockferry, selling 71,000 copies at No. 4. The Welsh singer, dubbed one of the “new Amys” (as in Winehouse) by the British press, already spent several weeks atop the U.K. album chart. Her hit single “Mercy” also made her the first Welsh female to top the U.K. pop charts in a quarter-century.
With four big bows up top, Neil Diamond’s first career chart-topper, Home Before Dark, skidded six spots to No. 7 on 53,000 units.
Keith Sweat capped the top 10 bows in the No. 10 spot, selling nearly 37,000 copies of Just Me, his first new album in six years.
10 Years’ Division missed the top 10 by just two spots, selling 28,000 copies at No. 12. The week’s other noteworthy bows included the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian soundtrack at No. 40, Filter’s Anthems for the Damned at No. 42 and Iron Maiden’s ’80s retrospective Somewhere Back in Time at No. 59.
Overall, album sales were down nearly 9 percent from last week and down over 13 percent compared to the same sales week in ’07, when Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight made its monster debut.
To recap, the week’s top 10 albums were as follows:
- Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie
- Nothing but the Best, Frank Sinatra
- We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, Jason Mraz
- Rockferry, Duffy
- Spirit, Leona Lewis
- E=MC2, Mariah Carey
- Home Before Dark, Neil Diamond
- Hard Candy, Madonna
- 35 Biggest Hits, Toby Keith
- Just Me, Keith Sweat
Lost's "Darlton" Dishes on Everything from Romance to Flashes to Four-Toed Statues!
Oooh! What goodness.
Executive producer badasses Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse just did a teleconference with reporters to talk about the return of Lost one week from today (holla!), and ponied up a lot of interesting info about what lies ahead, and what it all means.
If you're a fan, you don't want to miss this, so get in here for the dish…
What We Learned from Darlton Today:
This year’s huge season-finale shocker is being referred to as the “Frozen Donkey Wheel.” It does not involve donkeys, wheels or anything of an en-suffix nature. (Now it's totally obvious, right?)
Darlton won’t say a word about whether anyone is dying this season. Carlton says: “If we basically were to tease that there was going to be a death, sort of like when Shannon died, it kind of lead everybody to chase it down and spoil it. On the other hand, if we were to say that everyone is safe, that would kind of really ruin the dramatic impact of the finale. So we’re excited about what’s happening. There are definitely some very large and seismic events that will happen to our castaways between now and the end of the season. By the end of the season, some people’s fates will be clear and others will not be so clear."
Something big is up for Claire. “I think there is a very compelling event involving Claire’s character that will take place between now and the season finale.” (Rumors include everything from a kiss to the kiss of death…)
The flash-forwards and flashbacks are a “mosaic,” and when the “mosaic” is complete, the story of Lost is complete. Damon explains: “There is the story on the island, which we perceive to be the present, and then there’s the story of the Oceanic 6, which is happening off the island in the future. But if we were to switch perspectives at any time and suddenly we were off the island, focusing on the Oceanic 6 trying to get back, that would be the present, and what was happening back on the island would be either a parallel present, possibly a future, possibly a past. Who knows? So when you hear that whoosh noise, the question becomes ‘Where does it take you?’ Hopefully, if we do our jobs right in the finale, in the eight months in between the finale and the season premiere next year, the audience will once again be asking, ‘What the hell are they going to do in the season premiere?’ And that means we’re keeping people on their toes. And that's our intent.”
Regarding Jaters and Skaters, Damon says: “All we can say is that Sawyer is not one of the Oceanic 6 and Jack and Kate are. And obviously, there will be a huge focus in these final three hours of the show that comprise the finale in terms of how that series of events transpires, and ultimately what happens to Sawyer, and it’s all on the axis of the love triangle. So we think that both fans of Sawyer and Kate, otherwise known as the Skaters from what I’m told, and Jack and Kate, the Jaters, will have a bounty of interesting romantic scenes.”
On Juliet and Jack: “Well, Jack and Juliet obviously kissed in the sixth episode this year, and we will be sort of revisiting the emotional idea of that and their relationship in our second episode back, which is the one that airs on May 1,” says Damon.
Darlton loves Penny and Desmond. “It was certainly our intention to make that an epic love story along the lines of one of the central love stories in the show,” says Damon. “Because the chemistry between Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger works so well, it was a well that we wanted to return to sort of time and time again. Obviously, it became pivotal in Charlie’s death, and we feel some of the best episodes the show has ever done aren’t [the best] because they’re weird time-travel stories, it’s because they were so focused on that love story between Penny and Desmond. So we will certainly be returning to it. Unfortunately, Sonya is a very in-demand actor and is in Tell Me You Love Me for HBO, so it’s been challenging for us to secure her services, but once she becomes available, hopefully we’ll be using her again." Looks like someone needs to remind Sonya of her "constant!"
Carlton on Charles Whidmore: “The character’s importance changes over time.” Damon: “You will see him sooner, rather than later.” Carlton: “And see more of him.”
The first hour of the finale (May 15) is titled “There’s No Place Like Home.” (Henry Gale would agree.)
Smokey and Jacob will be in the first episode back. OMG, yee! Says Damon: “You will get a healthy dose of Jacob before the end of the season.” OK, but is he Jack’s dad?!
The fate of Karl and Rousseau will be known the first episode back, and Darlton really want to tell Rousseau’s story of how she got to the island.
The four-toed statue “will be back on the show,” says Damon. “People will learn who built it and why it has four toes.” (Obvious guess: Lawnmower accident.)
The first half of the season was supposed to be the setup, and the second half, the payoff. The writers’ strike really screwed that up, but they promise they will pay off.
Darlton wishes they could have told more of the freighters’ story this season, but are very happy with the casting. Each character turned out exactly how they had envisioned.
They are having discussions of a similar online experience for this summer that would segue into season five like Find815.com did.
How many people know the very end of the series? Damon: “Not a lot. We can conservatively say you could sort of count them all on one hand. But if we were to disclose the names of any others, they might be kidnapped and taken off to Central America and tortured.” Carlton: “We told Dick Cheney because we were pretty sure that no one would be able to find him and get the secrets from him.”
Got any new theories sparked by what you read above? Holler in the comments below!