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Benji Schwimmer Interview by Other Bloggers(at least they look like blogs to me)

GiveMeMyRemote has a great interview of Benji Schwimmer the winner of the latest So You Think You Can Dance. Here’s a good portion of the article:

You mention family. You’ve been dancing with your Cousin Heidi for 17 years and were both in the show’s top four together–tell us what it was like to have that experience together.

B: I think that’s almost a bigger honor than being titled America’s favorite dancer–we were America’s favorite dance couple. We didn’t even try out together, which was odd, but for 17 years we worked on being in competitions together, and whatever the outcome of the finale, they just said she wasn’t the person. It was just really cool that we got there together and were in the finale together.

You stated at the beginning of the competition that you had not danced for two years prior to the show? How did you prepare for the auditions?

B: I came back after all that time off and I had such a desire to dance and so for months I kept on training and working and I ended up selling my car so I could afford to train like I had been. After that, I went down to L.A., took some classes and just kept going. Honestly, I was at a point where I wasn’t sleeping–I was so crazed. I became almost manic about the whole thing, but it really got me out of some tough times, too. Overall, it was just an amazing experience.

Going into the competition, did you think that your success in the Swing World would help or hinder your chances at making it to Vegas?

B: I think it helped. It was kind of a unique thing to have. I was happy to have represented the swing world in that aspect. Certain people had some negative criticism because of my success as a national champion, but for the most part they respected it.

Of all the choreographed routines performed by other contestants on the show, which one do you secretly wish you could have performed?

B: I wish I could’ve done the west coast swing. I did a jazz piece but I would’ve loved to do a west coast swing. In the future, I want to take ballet, Cuban classes–I want to do it all.

You were hospitalized in the week prior to the Final Four Competition but it was never addressed on the show. Were there moments when you feared this would affect your chances of moving on?

B: There was always an injury. It was almost every week where I collected a new one or even two. And it was almost like I was being prevented from doing more and more maneuvers. But I guess it’s part of the process and part of the show– is to use all that you possibly can and I know that whether I’d won it or not, I’d know I would’ve been able to finish the show and say, I’d done everything I possibly can to win this thing.

How do you foresee all of this success changing your personal life?

B: Personally, I’m going to have to be careful to who I befriend now, because there are certain people out there tend to take your money and privileges you have to their advantage. And I also get followed around and have paparazzi take pictures of me, and I don’t mind people asking for my autograph–I was in the same boat three months ago. But it’s going to be important to find time for friends and family and the people I love.

You’re a natural entertainer and you know how to play the audience; do you have aspirations of Broadway or possibly even film work?

B: Yeah, definitely. In fact–I just was cast to play the lead role as Fred Astaire in the upcoming film about his life. Nigel really helped me out with that, so it was just a real honor. I felt kind of like Charlie from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where you go through these great experiences and are rewarded something at the end like his everlasting gobstopper or the company or something.

What can you tell us about your role in Celine Dion’s Vegas Extravaganza “A New Day”?

B: Basically I’d be a dancer, I’d probably have a special number with Celine. and we’re possibly going to do a duet between Celine and I. I can’t wait–it’s going to so cool.

Wow!! He really is going to dance in the Celine show. I didn’t think Benji would be a good match for the show. I’d be surprised if he gets a duet with her. Could be interesting. We’ll have to keep our eyes out for that news. Benji and Celine in concert. Yeah right!!
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August 28, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Travis Wall Teaching Dance

Our good friend Travis Wall from So You Think You Can Dance has a nice video of him teaching people to dance. All you Travis Wall lovers will love this video:

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August 26, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Photo of All 20 So You Think You Can Dance Finalists

So You Think You Can Dance Photo

I think this picture says it all!! Does anyone else miss So You Think You Can Dance?

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August 21, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Travis Wall in a Dr. Pepper Commercial As A Child

Did you know that Travis was a star in a commercial long before he was on So You Think You Can Dance?

The cool part is that I remember this commercial. This is a good whatever happened to.

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August 17, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Travis Wall and Allison Holker Quoted in an Article on July 13, 2005

The NY Times had an article that talks about the final gala of the New York City Dance Alliance’s national championship. In the article there are 2 quotes. One by Travis Wall:

“It’s so hard to speak with your body,” said Travis Wall, 17, Mr. Tidwell’s brother, who has won top honors at the alliance twice. “That’s what dancers do. We tell stories with our bodies, without using words. A simple look to the audience could communicate so much, just like a sentence.”

So does this mean that Travis sucks at communication, because I haven’t understand a word he’s looked.

Buy Tickets to see the So You Think You Can Dance Tour

Here’s Allison’s quote:

Allison Holker, 17, from the Orem club, was a senior finalist. “We’ve dedicated our New York trip to Tori,” she said. “We pray for her before we go onstage.”

At 10:40, she took the stage for her solo, an artful, aching piece about lost love that she had choreographed with her sister, Jessica Holker, 23, an alliance alum who now dances for Disney in Tokyo. Allison left the stage sweaty and exhilarated, having improvised the ending.

“When you go on that stage, there are so many people watching you, you just want to give them everything you have,” she said. “You do what you feel.”

Allison should have won!!

Buy Tickets to see the So You Think You Can Dance Tour

August 16, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

So You Think You Can Dance Finale (SYTYCD) – Travis and Benji Stole the Show – Tour Locations

In anticipation of the finale of the finale on Wednesday I decided to post a few comments about last weeks show.

1. The men’s performance was the best of the night. It was something unique and something we hadn’t seen before. All the other solos and group dances were like many of the other dances that we’d seen all season. Travis and Benji dancing together was the best dance of the night. It still doesn’t compare to krump, a few of the cuban dances and one or two of the waltzs that were not as fun to watch, but great to imagine what it would be like to dance. However, it was a great performance by Travis and Benji.

2. My wife asked during the show what the So You Think You Can Dance tour performances are going to be. Are they going to be group dances, solos, pairs or something else? My thought is that it will be a mix of all of them. Probably more likely will be some really cool medelies of all the dancers doing solos and pair dancing. I still can’t believe that the tour isn’t coming to Las Vegas. Texas and Canada are two other major oversights.

Also, I hope that the tour organizers are reading this. They need to sign up for a performance at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. You may wonder why I say Provo. Listen to this:
1. BYU has the biggest dance program at a University. Besides winning many titles, they also have large masses of people taking dance classes just because they enjoy it. I’m pretty sure that no other university has close to the number of dancers.
2. BYU hosts the latin and ballroom dance finals all the time in the beautiful Marriot Center(the basketball arena). They fill most of the arena and have a huge crowd. It’s the only time I’ve seen the wave at a ballroom dance competition(not to mention the Dancesport World Dance Championships). It’s an amazing crowd to dance to.
3. Allison Holker and Jaymz Tuaileva are both from Orem, UT which is the same place as Provo, UT
4. Benji Schwimmer, Heidi Groskreutz, Allison Holker and Jaymz Tuaileva are all mormons and Provo, UT is 90% mormon with thousands of mormons in Salt Lake City that would love to travel and see them dance. Trust me, mormons love watching other mormons.

Now, you might be asking why I’m telling you this insider information. Well, in return I just ask that you fly my wife and I to Utah so that we can watch the show too. Sounds fair to me.

Looks like they added a second show in New York and Tampa. Now they just need to add Provo, UT.

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August 14, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour Adds More Cities

Many people have requested more cities to be added to the So You Think You Can Dance tour. They’ve added more cities, but seem to still have some glaring holes. First, So You Think You Can Dance is still not going to Canada. Sorry Canadians, you’ll have to travel to Buffalo, NY if you want to see it. Texas is still missing from the tour. Most importantly, they still haven’t added Las Vegas!! They must still have more cities to add to the list. Vegas MUST make their list to be a tour.

Here’s the list of all the latest cities:
Date, City, Location, Date On Sale
12-Sep Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre Sat Aug 12 Noon
13-Sep Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzner Hall Sat Aug 12 10 am
15-Sep Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre Sun Aug 13 10 am
16-Sep Universal City, CA Gibson Amphitheatre Sun Aug 13 1 pm
17-Sep Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
19-Sep Denver, CO Lecture Hall at the Colorado Convention Center Sat Aug 12 10 am
21-Sep St. Louis Fabulous Fox Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
22-Sep Chicago, IL Rosemont Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
23-Sep Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
24-Sep Minneapolis, MN The Historic Orpheum Theatre Sat Aug 12 Noon
26-Sep Detroit, MI Masonic Temple Theatre Fri Aug 11 10 am
27-Sep Cincinnati, OH Procter & Gamble Hall at the Aronoff Center Sat Aug 12 10 am
29-Sep Cleveland, OH State Theatre at the Playhouse Square Center Sat Aug 12 11 am
30-Sep Buffalo, NY Shea’s Performing Arts Center Fri Aug 11 10 am
01-Oct Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort Casino Sat Aug 12 8 am
03-Oct Newark, NJ New Jersey Performing Arts Center Sat Aug 12 Noon
04-Oct New York, NY The Theater at Madison Square Garden Sat Aug 12 Noon
06-Oct Philadelphia, PA Academy of Music Sat Aug 12 10 am
07-Oct Boston, MA The Wang Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
08-Oct Albany, NY Palace Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
10-Oct Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall Sat Aug 12 10 am
11-Oct Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium Sat Aug 12 10 am
12-Oct Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center Sat Aug 12 10 am
14-Oct Miami, FL Jackie Gleason Theater Fri Aug 11 10 am
15-Oct Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Sat Aug 12 Noon
18-Oct Greenville, SC Timmons Arena Sat Aug 12 10 am
19-Oct Greensboro, NC War Memorial Auditorium Sat Aug 12 10 am
21-Oct Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall Sat Aug 12 10 am
23-Oct Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House Sat Aug 12 10 am
27-Oct Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre Sat Aug 12 10 am
29-Oct Providence, RI Providence Performing Arts Center Sat Aug 12 10 am

UPDATE:
Here’s the ENTIRE list of the So You Think You Can Dance Tour Locations and Tickets even for sold out shows:
12-Sep Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Seattle
13-Sep Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzner Hall – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Portland
15-Sep Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Oakland
16-Sep Universal City, CA Gibson Amphitheatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Universal City
17-Sep Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Phoenix
19-Sep Denver, CO Lecture Hall at the Colorado Convention Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Denver
21-Sep St. Louis Fabulous Fox Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance St. Louis
22-Sep Chicago, IL Rosemont Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Chicago
23-Sep Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Milwaukee
24-Sep Minneapolis, MN The Historic Orpheum Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Minneapolis
26-Sep Detroit, MI Masonic Temple Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Detroit
27-Sep Cincinnati, OH Procter & Gamble Hall at the Aronoff Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Cincinnati
29-Sep Cleveland, OH State Theatre at the Playhouse Square Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Cleveland
30-Sep Buffalo, NY Shea’s Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Buffalo
01-Oct Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort Casino – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Mashantucket
03-Oct Newark, NJ New Jersey Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Newark
04-Oct New York, NY The Theater at Madison Square Garden – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance New York
05-Oct New York, NY The Theater at Madison Square Garden – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance New York
06-Oct Philadelphia, PA Academy of Music – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Philadelphia
07-Oct Boston, MA The Wang Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Boston
08-Oct Albany, NY Palace Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Albany
10-Oct Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Washington, DC
11-Oct Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Charlotte
12-Oct Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Duluth
14-Oct Miami, FL Jackie Gleason Theater – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Miami
15-Oct Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Tampa
16-Oct Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Tampa
18-Oct Greenville, SC Timmons Arena – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Greenville
19-Oct Greensboro, NC War Memorial Auditorium – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Greensboro
20-Oct N. Charleston, SC North Charleston Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance N. Charleston
21-Oct Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Norfolk
23-Oct Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Baltimore
24-Oct Rochester, NY Auditorium Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Rochester
25-Oct Toronto, ON The Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Toronto
27-Oct Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Syracuse
28-Oct Waterbury, CT Palace Theater – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Waterbury
29-Oct Providence, RI Providence Performing Arts Center – BUY Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance Providence

Browse Tickets from All of the Various So You Think You Can Dance Tour locations.

Browse All the So You Think You Can Dance Items on eBay

August 9, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Travis Wall and Heidi Groskreutz Will Be Off Before Benji Schwimmer and Donyelle Jones on So You Think You Can Dance

Tonight is the first of the final episodes of So You Think You Can Dance. I’m not exactly sure on how the 2 finale shows of So You Think You Can Dance are going to happen, but I’m excited to see the final dances. The final 4 dancers are as follows:
Travis Wall
Heidi Groskreutz
Donyelle Jones
Benji Schwimmer

This is exactly the order I think that they should be voted off the final 4 of So You Think You Can Dance with Benji being America’s favorite dancer.

Travis should be out of the competition first. I know all the ladies out there love gay men, but it’s just time for him to go. He’s a good modern dancer, but he isn’t the entertainer that the other 3 are. Although, his Krumpin was still one of the best dances of the whole show.

I’m really sad to put Heidi going off number 3. She’s number one on my personal favorites, but this blog isn’t about my personal favorites. It’s about realistically what’s going to happen on So You Think You Can Dance tonight. Heidi is fantastic to watch. Unfortunately, I don’t think she has the same intrigue that Donyelle has that gets people out to vote. Sorry cousin Heidi, but you’re not gonna win this time. However, you’re always welcome to come dance at my house.

Donyelle comes in second because there are a lot of people really pulling for Donyelle. I think that America loves the underdog and in this final 4 I think Donyelle is the underdog. Plus, if you saw her booty shakin in the last couple shows you will see why I think she’s going to beat out Heidi.

Of course that leaves America’s favorite dancer as Benji. Sorry Donyelle, but Benji had to beat you out with a simple popularity issue with the way voting is handled. More girls vote and therefore Benji’s got you beat. It’s simple as that. The audience agrees since they chant BENJI BENJI BENJI every time he dances. He does have a charisma that is better than all of the rest. Plus, I guess girls like his booty shakin. I’m not sure quite why. Baby don’t got back.

There you have it. It’s written here and that’s what’s going down tonight. I could see Nigel getting real upset with me revealing the results of the final episode of So You Think You Can Dance before the show even airs. Sorry Nigel. America just had to know. I had to give it to them straight and tell them what’s going to happen. Next time you should sign me up as a judge and then you wouldn’t have this problem. I’d be up there with you taking care of critiqueing the popularity of that person rather than their dancing style.

Plus, there is another reason Nigel won’t care that I’m revealing the results of the final show. People don’t watch the show for the results. The watch the show because the dancing is Hot HOT HOT!!!
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I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Natalie Fotopoulos Nostalgia and Musa Cooper Too

I’m sure many of you out there are missing your beloved Natalie Fotopoulos since she was benched on the show So You Think You Can Dance. Well, I went back into the archives and found Natalie Fotopoulos and Musa Cooper dancing. Natalie just seemed to really go downhill since Musa left. Nigel was right about that. So, hopefully this video will remind us of Natalie’s potential:

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I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Mary Murphy Montage From So You Think You Can Dance

Mary Murphy has made a name for herself as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance. I still can’t believe she cried on that one episode. Here’s a nice montage of her from the show. I like it call it Mary’s Moments:

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August 8, 2006 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?