Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Could anyone have imagined that it would be this hard to send someone home on SYTYCD? I don’t remember it ever being this hard. Seems to say a lot about the quality of the dancers this year. Although, it seems to also speak to the fact that very few dancers really stand out over the others.

Enough of that, on to the list of tonight’s music:

Group dance: “Brand New Day” from The Wiz; Choreographer: Tyce Diorio

Special Musical guest: Kelly Clarkson

SYTYCD top 14 Solos:
Karla Garcia: “Blackbird” by Dionne Farris Buy CD on Amazon
Vitolio Jeune: “Here Comes Goodbye” —Rascal Flatts
Kayla Rodomski: “Stupid” —Sarah McLachlan
Kupono Aweau: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” —Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Jeanine Mason: “Moonlight Sonata” —Smart Sleep With Classical
Phillip Chbeeb: “You’ll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix)” —Santigold

If you’re looking for the previous SYTYCD music, you can find it here.

Another week of So You Think You Can Dance is upon us. I’m actually traveling this week with my 2 children to give my 8 month pregnant wife a break from the children. Yes, this is going to be an interesting week for me. That’s also why I’m a little late in posting the music for this week’s SYTYCD. Better late than never no? As always, the latest SYTYCD music can be found here.

Now for the list of music used for the SYTYCD top 14.

Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “Hush Hush” —The Pussycat Dolls choreographed by Jean-Marc Généreux
Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau danced a Contemporary to the song “Eyes On Fire” —Blue Foundation choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak danced a Broadway to the song “Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity choreographed by Joey Dowling
Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover danced a Pop-Jazz to the song “Creator” —Santigold choreographed by Brian Friedman
Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb danced a Hip-hop to the song “Love Lockdown” —Kanye West choreographed by Tabitha D’umo and Napoleon D’umo
Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi danced a Classical Pas de deux to the song Romeo & Juliet: Provofiev’s Suite (No.1 Op 64b, 6th Movement) —Orchestre De La Suisse Romande & Armin Jordan choreographed by Thordal Christensen
Karla Garcia and Vitolio Jeune danced a Quickstep to the song “Puttin’ on the Ritz” —Rufus Wainwright choreographed by Jean-Marc Généreux

I’ve been calling for Mary Murphy to dial it down as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance for a few years now. Everyone that reads this blog knows how I feel. I’m glad to see that my feelings abour Mary Murphy are shared by the New York Post in this article. Granted, they’re a little more politically correct in how they say it, but the feeling is there. The final section of the article summarizes Mary Murphy’s problems quite well:

Murphy certainly has the knowledge and the experience to be a sharp judge on the show, particularly of the ballroom-style dances, which are her forte.

But for every thoughtful comment about the flow and quality of a dancer’s movement, Murphy gives us one like: “Achoo! I’m allergic to down feathers, what can I say. But I wasn’t allergic to that routine!”

If this were Murphy’s only flaw, we could chalk it up to “hearty enthusiasm” and call it a day. Alas, it is not so.

She also has a nasty penchant for reaffirming her own statements, as in, “What you are selling there, I am buying, yes I am!”

And when she isn’t struggling to move her Botox-tempered eyebrows, she may very well turn on the waterworks and sob over a dance that touched her.

During auditions, she bawled over contemporary dancer Brandon Bryant’s performance, saying, “If you don’t make it to the Top 20, I think I’ll just die this year.” (Sniff, sob.)

Bryant made it. Our ears are not so lucky.

It’s too bad that her cringe-worthy antics cause many to hit the mute button whenever it’s her turn to critique a dance.

Credit to @bookwomanblue for pointing me to this article.

My previous SYTYCD twitter roundup was so popular that I decided to do it again. Here’s a quick look at some of the best, most interesting, entertaining and fun tweets from around the SYTYCD twittersphere.

MJ Tribute on SYTYCD
The big news on the Twittersphere was Nigel trying to put together a Michael Jackson tribute. Of course, SONY seems to be not clearing Michael’s music. Here’s the important tweets about it:
From Nigel (@dizzyfeet) @PaulaAbdul Will you choreograph an MJ tribute for us this week?

From Paula (@PaulaAbdul) @dizzyfeet Have your people call my people Nigel and let’s do it! lol

From Nigel (@dizzyfeet) @PaulaAbdul I would get my people to call yours? But I have 2 issues. 1. I don’t know who your people are? 2. I haven’t got any people? xox

From Adam Shankman: Wade Robson started out dancing for MJ, so he should be heavily involved. MJ was a game changer.

From Shane Sparks: Today is my birthday and Micheal Jackson dies this is a sad day;(

From Nigel (@dizzyfeet):
At the same time as auditioning we’re trying to put together a major tribute to him Michael’s music works in every dance genre for the show
Mia has chosen the song she likes, we’ve spoken to Wade. I’ve left messages for Paula. I’ve spoken to Shane. We have to make this happen!!?
There is a problem clearing Michael’s music at the moment. We are trying to make contact with Sony to get clearance on an all Michael SYTYCD

Adam Shankman sent the following tweets:
Remember: very big announcement on weds sytycd show! It’s gonna be an intense week’! Totally excited.
Seriously? Is Adam just screwing with us? I wonder what could be “very big.”

Nigel sent the following tweets:
I’m pleased to tell you all, that Mary hasn’t seen Sex in months!!! No Sex in Boston. No Sex in Atlanta. No Sex in New Orleans or Phoenix.
I’m sure that Nigel was referring to sex the dancer, but I have a strong feeling that both meanings are true. Ok, I’m a bit biased since Crazy Mary drives me absolutely bonkers *mute*

We’ve finished auditions, hooray! Things are back to normal. I hope?
Yes, that’s the end of SYTYCD season 6 auditions. You’ll have to wait another year if you didn’t audition already.

Nigel also tweeted a few pictures of Mary and Mia making some ugly faces. Too ugly to post here. Plus, one had Mia’s cleavage and that’s just wrong. I could never submit my readers to that.

From Your Buccness (Lil C)
On my way to the krump session!!!!! Why is there traffic rite now?!?? I’m tryna get my bucc on
Has anyone gone to see one of Lil’ C’s krump sessions? If I’m ever in LA I’ve got to try and check it out. I wonder how it would be for a little white boy like myself to go.

From Nappytabs
Tab is working on a new t-shirt design. Anyone out there who is a GREAT graphic illustrator/artisit who wants to do a free design for us?
The power of twitter. From there responses it looks like they got lots of replies. Of course, we have some dance t-shirts as well.

A quick one from a fan favorite Natalie Reid:
Just got back from mopeding through the lava flow in Maui. So freaking cool!
I use to be sad the way they kicked you off. However, now that I know your in Maui. I no longer feel sorry for you.

Certainly many more I could post. Also, make sure that you are following @tvblog and @puresytycd to get all of my tweets about SYTYCD and other TV shows.

Asuka and Jonathan talk about when and how they heard about MJ’s passing and what it meant to them. They also talk about the harsh comments they received from the judges. There’s a nice moment when Asuka backs up Jonathan. Jonathan also gives some good background on solo dances and that he got help from some other dancers.

I have to admit this interview is like the opposite of Ashley and Max’s interview. Asuka and Jonathan really sounded depressed. They tried to be upbeat, but you could just feel that they were sad about going home (which is to be expected).

Check out all the music from the SYTYCD top 16 results show. This includes Napoleon and Tabitha’s group number and special guests The Veronicas. If you’re looking for music from the previous episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, you can find that here.

Group hip-hop dance to the song “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” -Pitbull (Choreographer: Dmitry Chaplin, Napoleon & Tabitha D’umo)

Musical guest: “Take Me On The Floor” —The Veronicas
Guest dancers: The Rage Boys Crew: “Feel It”—Colby O’Donis and Mauli-B

Dance for Their Life Solos:
Asuka Kondoh: “Don’t Trust Me” —3OH!3

Vitolio Jeune: “Viva La Vida” —Coldplay

Karla Garcia: “15 Step” — Radiohead

Jonathan Platero: “The Hunted” — Kodo

Caitlin Kinney: “Que Sera Sera” —Jennifer Terran

Jason Glover: “New American Classic” —Taking Back Sunday

I’m obviously a big fan of the music from So You Think You Can Dance. Otherwise, why would I list all the music from the show right? Well, in the process of posting all the music, I became acquainted with someone who works for a company that licenses music for So You Think You Can Dance.

I asked if they’d answer some questions about the process for clearing the music for So You Think You Can Dance and they thankfully obliged. I also tried to find out if So You Think You Can Dance isn’t available on DVD because of the music rights. Here’s the questions I asked (in bold) and this person’s answers.

What’s the process you go through to get the music cleared to be used on SYTYCD?
Anytime we own a copyright (or part of one) to a song the show wants to use, we receive a request from the [SYTYCD] music supervisor for that song and we enter it into the record we keep for the show in our system. Sometimes we can clear the song right away, but a lot of the time we have to seek approval from one or more of the writers on the song–it just depends on the type of publishing agreement we have with the writer. Once we get approval, we tell the show it’s cleared for our percentage. This can be 100%, or it can be smaller if there are multiple writers who are signed to different publishers.

How much notice do they usually give you to clear the music?
That depends. The show starts clearing songs long before the season starts, because it’s such a music-intensive show and they want to have a base of possible songs to choose from, sort of like a karaoke catalog. Then, once they start editing the audition episodes, they send more requests for songs they know they want to air, which usually gives us a few weeks to clear those. Once the performance episodes start airing, the time frame is obviously much shorter. Sometimes a choreographer will want to change songs at the last minute or something else will come up, and we need to get it cleared before the routines are chosen after the results show, so the kids can have time to rehearse. So that can sometimes be a day-of rush. Usually, though, we have a few days.

Is it true that the reason they can’t come out with DVDs of past seasons of SYTYCD because of the rights to the music?
I don’t know what the reason is for sure, but I do know that it would be very expensive for them to produce DVDs, because they’d have to pay for video rights for all the songs.

Do most artists want to have their music used on SYTYCD? Seems like it would be nice exposure for an artist.
We don’t have too many problems clearing, but we occasionally have writers/artists that are picky about it. We had a situation last season where a choreographer really wanted a certain song for a routine, but the songwriter didn’t want the song used. We tried hard to persuade them, because it would have been a great routine, but it didn’t work out, unfortunately.

How many of the songs you’re asked to clear get denied? What reasons do they give for not wanting their song on the show?
It’s a small percentage–usually just a few per season (when we clear hundreds). It can be anything from not wanting the song to be chopped and edited (like they have to do because of the length of the routines), to not wanting to commercialize the song by having it on the show. It’s up to them, though, so in the end we have to go with whatever they tell us.

Any other interesting tid bits that fans of SYTYCD might want to know?
Just that there is some awesome music picked out for this season! But they wouldn’t expect anything less from SYTYCD, would they?

UPDATE: Check out pictures and video from the Knicks City Dancers tryouts.

The Knicks City Dancers are officially holding open auditions for those wanting to dance for the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Courtney Galiano, former Knicks City Dancer and of course a “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant, will be sitting next to Shane Sparks at the auditions. They will be watching the talent that will fight for a spot on the Knicks City Dancers squad.

Auditions for Sunday, June 28th @ Madison Square Garden! Get more information on the auditions at the Knicks City Dancers website.

It makes a lot of sense for Courtney Galiano to be there as a judge for the Knicks City Dancers. She was one before and is a great dancer. I’m not exactly sure why they have Shane Sparks as a judge. Not that I blame Shane. Sounds like a great job to me.

“Are we getting a little sick of Mary Murphy? YES, WE ARE!” Credit to kdbennett I think someone should go through and count how many times Mary Murphy says “Yes, we are!” Does she do that to reassure herself that other people agree with her? Maybe I should stop writing about Mary. She makes me sick.

Caitlin and Jason have got to be the prettiest couple ever on SYTYCD.

Is Randi Evans mormon? Springville, UT is like 98% mormon so I’d think she is. I can’t imagine how she felt about the butt routine. I’m watching the Utah newspapers for an article about this.

In a surprise for me, Kayla and Kupono actually put together a very nice routine with nice lines. Probably not enough to get votes, but I’m surprised that Kupono didn’t bother me more.

Janette Manrara enjoys being a loan officer? She’s the best looking loan officer I’ve ever seen.

Was it just me or did Brandon look like he had 2 locks in his locking. It felt a little awkward and almost spastic.

Will Melissa and Ade ever stop shocking me with good performances? I keep thinking their going to fall off the cliff sooner or later. So far they’ve shocked me with how good they’ve been every week. Only couple that I think has gone 3 for 3 on awesome dances.

Ok, I’m off the Asuka and Vitolio wagon (can’t be a band wagon since they never were on it). I really wanted to like Asuka and Vitolio. Not sure why, but I thought I should like them both. Just not happening for me anymore. I’m done.

Karla has become my favorite dancer of this season. I can’t think of much I don’t like about her.

Jonathan might have become my least favorite dancer. He just looked awkward.

The judges slammed Jeanine and Phillip, but I don’t think America will. They got lucky with a pretty interesting routine by Tyce.

We’re back one again with the full list of music from the SYTYCD top 16. Kayla and Kupono dance together for the first time and Dave Scott returns to the show as a choreographer. Also, feel free to take a look back at previous SYTYCD music.

Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero danced Hip-hop to the song “By My Side” —Jadakiss featuring Ne-Yo choreographed by Dave Scott

Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune danced Jazz to the song “Heartbreaker” —Pat Benatar choreographed by Mandy Moore

Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi danced Rumba to the song “Emotion” —Destiny’s Child choreographed by Tony Meredith

Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant danced Hip-hop to the song “What a World” —Common choreographed by Dave Scott

Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau danced a Viennese Waltz to the song “Sweet Dreams” —Jewel choreographed by Jean-Marc Généreux

Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak danced Contemporary to the song “Koop Island Blues” —Koop featuring Ane Brun choreographed by Mia Michaels

Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover danced a Paso Doble to the song “O Fortuna” —Mozaretum Orchestra Salzburg & Kurt Prestel choreographed by Jean-Marc Généreux

Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb danced Broadway to the song “Moses” from Singing in the Rain choreographed by Tyce DiOrio