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?
Another Hanson Baby Born
Perhaps the Hanson brothers are trying to spawn a symphony orchestra.
Zac Hansonthe “littlest” member of the extraordinarily fertile pop trioand his wife, Kate, welcomed their first child together, son John Ira Shepherd Hanson, Tuesday in Tulsa, Okla.
The little one weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I am so overjoyed,” Hanson, 22, told People. “There is not an audience or concert that could ever stand up to the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time.”
“Shepherd [the parents’ chosen moniker for their new addition] is the most wonderful gift we could ever receive. We’re already enjoying every second of this great adventure,” Kate added.
But Shepherd isn’t going to be the littlest tyke in the Hanson family for longnor will he ever want for playmates. Zac’s older brother Isaac, 27, is expecting his second child with wife Nikki next month, and middle bro Taylor, 25, and his missus, Natalie, count three in their brood so far.
So You Think You Can Dance: Charleston and Washington, D.C. auditions
(S04E03) Last night we joined Cat, Nigel, Mary, and Tyce in Charleston, South Carolina for more auditions. I, for one, am getting sick of the two-hour audition shows already. We talked about this last week and I have to point it out again: maybe if they showed more dancing, these audition shows would be better.
Cat assured us at the beginning of the program that Charleston would not disappoint as SYTYCD went there in season two. Who did they find in South Carolina? Natalie, Dimitri, finalist Heidi and none other than Travis Woll, season two’s runner-up. In the second hour, Mary and Nigel headed to D.C. where they were joined by Dan.
Find out what happened in both cities after the jump.
I don’t have too many dancers in my first section. Like I said, I’m getting sick of the auditions. I think my excitement from the premiere last week has waned a bit. Feel free to leave your favorite / least favorite dancers in the comments.
And I must address something Jason said after Wednesday night. Of course, because he’s my tag team SYTYCD partner, I want to disagree with him about Mary. It would be a healthy debate and I encourage you readers to chime in. But, I think what he said about the screaming judge was spot on. She is a personality that grows on you. And, if they keep the screaming and laughing to a minimum in the final edit of each episode, I may end up liking Mary Murphy. Moreover, she is indeed a fair critic. But I don’t think I’ve found a judge who isn’t on this show. It’s the main reason I prefer SYTYCD to Idol.
Most Interesting / Entertaining of the Night:
Let’s start with the end of the show. I am so happy that Anthony, the Juliard ribbon dancer from season one, came back for more abuse. This time he wore camos (an attempt at being more masculine, presumably) and did a piece he called “dynamic” and “in your face.” It was neither. As Nigel put it, Anthony just doesn’t have that spark. He is a tremendous technical dancer, but he just doesn’t have enough personality. Still, the judges put him through to choreography. In the end, he didn’t make it to Vegas. Anthony acted professionally and graciously in front of the judges, thanking them for the opportunity. However, he wept on Cat’s shoulder and cursed about his shoes shortly afterwards. He continued his antics all the way down the block, barefoot the whole time.
My favorite female audition of the night was Courtney, whose grandparents accompanied her to the audition. She joked about her loud Italian family in her interview. Then she took the stage. Gorgeous girl. Gorgeous body. Gorgeous dancing. My favorite male audition was BJ, who came to the auditions with ten bucks and left with…er, just ten bucks, unfortunately. He had such interesting movements starting with a weird foot shuffle in second position plié, followed by a crazy leg vibration and “speed skating” jumps from side to side. Mary exclaimed, “You had some extraordinary moves that I have never seen before.” And she was right.
Best Outfit of the Night:
This one is a tie between Syiddah and Jason (who asked to be called Betty). Syiddah looked like a cross between Rainbow Brite and the lion from The Wizard of Oz (post-primping in the Emerald City). Jason wore ill-fitting puke-pink trousers, a silver and black sequined blouse, and runny make-up.
Best Song of the Night:
No one had really memorable music tonight. However, I liked the music that Brandon used (the guy who lied about his age the first season). It was an orchestral piece and complimented his strong movement. And Jason (Betty) dancing to Paula Abdul was pretty funny.
Best Line of the Night:
I’ve got to give it Nigel on this one. After Jason (Betty) finished his audition, the judge expressed his revulsion: “Not only are you a disgrace to dancing, you’re a disgrace to tranvestites.” Nigel followed with, “You are the reason why so many fathers don’t like their sons dancing.” Ouch.
Going to Vegas:
Sheila, a freshman at the University of Georgia, missed a whole day at school to be at the auditions. Her father wasn’t happy about the skipping class. Looks like he’ll have something to be really angry about; Sheila will be missing even more school when she goes to Vegas.
Jeremiah, the slightly unhinged contemporary dancer, made it too. After he said, “My most negative feature should be that I’m human,” in his interview, I really wanted him to be bad. But he wasn’t, much to my chagrin. So, Jeremiah and his attitude are going to Vegas.
Twins Anthony and Antwain are going to Vegas. Anthony auditioned and was mediocre. Antwain auditioned and was slightly better. They both auditioned and were electric. They made it through the choreography and they’re going to Vegas.
Courtney, my favorite female audition of the night, is going to Sin City too.
Markus, who danced for his departed mother, got a ticket. He did a weird combination of contemporary and hip-hop to Elliot Yamin’s “Wait For You” that he choreographed himself. Nigel complimented his musicality, but questioned his facial expression, saying he looked disappointed with himself.
Megan, who threw her head around too much, got through to Las Vegas. She came to the try-outs with her biggest fan, her aunt.
Brandon (I mentioned him above) got a ticket to the next round. After he finished dancing, Dan said, “I don’t think I know anyone who can do that routine.” The piece did indeed look very difficult, replete with several turn sequences, leaps, and balances. He’s pictured above in an attitude derrière.
And then there’s Claire. You readers were asking about her last week. And you were right. Nigel’s invitation to go straight to Vegas only applied to last season. Since Claire had a baby last year, she missed out and had to start from scratch this year. Her audition was lackluster as she mostly just walked around on relevé and shook her booty, a skinny booty at that. But, after performing Travis’ choreography, the new mom made it through to Vegas.
Jason and I will see you next week! If you want to watch some of Thursday’s auditions, check this blog out.
Survivor Micronesia: I’m Gonna Fix Her!
(S16E12) Okay, I officially declare Survivor Micronesia to be one of the best, if not the best, season ever in the series. You see, the show really isn’t all about surviving the elements of nature. The survival skills needed don’t necessarily have to do with who might forage best in the woods or who can build a sturdy shelter. Nope, it’s “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” And, chances are … if you outwit and outplay, you’re going to outlast. Tonight’s backsided blindside will make for Survivor history.
Read on past the jump for my full review of tonight’s episode.
For me, it’s boring when one player happens to rule the game just because he’s brawny and wins challenges. That’s not happening this season. It’s more exciting when we have the blindsided ousters we’ve seen this season. Of course, I’m not always too thrilled with their choices to blindside. But, in the end, I’m in this for the entertainment value. Even though I might see it coming, the looks on their faces show they didn’t see it coming. And that makes the show all that much more fun. Well, fun for me, perhaps not for them.
This season is also wracked with injuries. Tonight James was still dealing with what he called a little clamshell cut, but the medic deemed it to be a very deep wound and infected. Alas, even though the guy has the best lines of any Survivor ever on the show, he was sent home after the rewards challenge. I was hoping he’d do well this time around, but it wasn’t in the cards. Alexis banged her knee falling in the dark. That’s all swollen and scraped. It looks nasty and it’s obviously bothering her, but she doesn’t want to be sent home due to it. I give her credit for spunk. Otherwise, I’m ambivalent about her. After all, I just started distinguishing between her and Natalie a few weeks back.
I’m always amazed at the rewards challenge with the loved ones. You would think they’ve been kept away from each other for years. We’re talking 30 days here, folks. It’s not an eternity. That said, Erik made me guffaw. Yeah, I really guffawed when Erik pointed at Jeff Probst and told his brother, “It’s Jeff Probst! He’s right there!” Jeff’s answer was perfect — “Erik, you’re a freak.” Heck, I’m smiling as I typed it.
The rewards challenge was also the one which should give the castaways clues about where they stand in the tribe. It’s the popular opinion that:
- James does the most for the tribe.
- Parvati never shuts up.
- Parvati mistakenly thinks she’s in control of the game.
- Alexis is the most honest.
- James is the least likely to be invited to dinner. (Why? I don’t know. Maybe because he likes to eat bats.)
It’s also revealing who they knock out first when given chances to knock out fellow castaways. Hmm … Parvati was out of it first. Then it went down as Cirie, James, Natalie out. Cirie seemed to draw clear lines (something she doesn’t do much in public) when she chose to eliminate Amanda and allow Alexis to win. Amanda knows where she stands with her now, eh? On a side note, those non-stinging jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake were way cool. Why can’t the ones around here be non-stinging?
The scheming is more important than physical prowess this season. I think that levels the playing field so much more. The girls still all want Erik out because he’s the last male. It’s a Gal Thing. But they need a contingency plan in case Erik wins immunity. They’re right in thinking if Amanda makes it to the final two, not a one of them would win against her in the vote. She’s played a good social game and she’s a physical threat in competitions.
But I don’t want her to go. I really didn’t like or dislike her all that much in her own season, but she’s grown on me throughout this season. Tonight, she played an extraordinary game. She’s up another notch in my book. When Alexis sent her to Exile Island, she knew that she has a huge target on her back. She decided she had to find each clue to the newly hidden idol and find it. Did you see the depth and length of that trench she dug by hand? Ow! It makes my fingers hurt to think about it!
Then came their worst fears — you could see it on their faces. Erik won immunity again. Heh. I’m still liking the kid, so I was happy when he got it. I personally want Parvati out before Erik. What to do? Amanda played it sneaky smart, telling them she didn’t find the idol and emptying her bags brought directly back from Exile to prove it. But since the last clue led her back to camp to find it, she didn’t have it as of then.
So they schemed behind her back. Both Cirie and Erik even admitted they planned on voting her out when Amanda asked them. Meanwhile, she schemed with Parvati. I should mention that Parvati, for once, is showing some loyalty. She told Nalalie that she couldn’t be a part of voting out Amanda and told Amanda they were gunning for her. Now, Amanda told her about the final clue for the idol, so she was in on blindsiding either Natalie or Alexis as long as everyone else voted Amanda.
The reactions of the castaways and the jury were priceless when Amanda played the idol. The curse of the idol, unlike the curse of the car, is broken! As I said before, it was a backsided blindside. I almost jumped out of my chair yelling, “YES!” when she pulled the idol out. Played to perfection, I’m lovin’ that girl’s game play tonight!
One thing I’m just not getting is why Amanda and Parvati chose to vote out Alexis instead of Natalie. True, Alexis played a more social game and might do better with the jury. But her knee is so bad. She wouldn’t have been winning challenges and I think it would have been a wiser move to get rid of Natalie — she’s more influential on the existing tribe members, plays a better physical game, and is more sneaky than Alexis.