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.

This week is REALLY hard, so I cheated a little and checked out y’all’s comments on John’s music post. Thanks for all the help, all of you! One thing I have to say about the non-dancing part of the show was I love, love Cat Deely’s dress last night. And I’ve never noticed before, but doesn’t she seem to have a lot of pockets on her dresses? Last night’s definitely did, she kept sticking her hands in throughout the show. Cute.

Now to the couples:

Jeanine & Phillip – I’m loving Jeanine more and more and of course Philip rocked in his style. This was the best hip hop of the season, in my opinion and I think it gives this couple’s legion of fans an excuse to keep them faaaaaar away from the bottom 3 this week.

Janette & Brandon – Brandon won me back with their intro video and then with his emotional response to the overtly staged “apology” from Mia Michaels (he must be working with her soon). This routine was smoking! Great song, great choreography and great dancing. I think they’re safe.

Kayla & Kupono – Okay, you got a routine about vampires, a song from the Twilight soundtrack and Sonya. Kinda seems like it couldn’t fail, especially because good dancers were in the mix. I like Kupono’s dancing better with Kayla (though I really liked Ashley). Kayla is stunning. And Kupono matched her step for step in this piece.

Melissa & Ade – Pointe shoes! Awesome. It was beautiful and really cool to see. I thought Ade did a spectacular job when you consider how specialized classical routines are and it’s not his style. But it kinda felt like a gimme, like a routine you couldn’t judge against the others. I almost felt like I was watching one of the professional routines on Thursday. Which is a compliment, but also not (am I making any sense). It didn’t feel like a SYTYCD routine to me. I did enjoy it, a lot.

Randi & Evan – I really, really don’t want to put them here! I love this couple and I liked the routine. But you could feel that it lacked some of their normal vitality. There were numerous great moments (starting with Evan’s slow handstand across the table), but I think they’ve been flying high for several weeks and are probably due for a bottom 3 landing (temporarily). I don’t think (and really hope) they won’t be going home. They’ve been near the top every week, so hopefully that and their solos will save them.

Caitlin & Jason – I don’t want to write this one either. I didn’t feel the piece (it was weird!), but I do think the two of them danced their hearts out with what they were given. Those costumes, especially Caitlin. WTF? The moment I saw them walking into the room with Brian Friedman, I thought, “Oh, this could be really good or really, really, really bad,” and when he said “You’re an alien who came down to Earth…” I kinda wanted to throw up, I was so scared for them. They showed a lot of good sportsmanship and personality at the end, facing the judges, so maybe that will help them. But, they have been in the bottom 3 several times…

Karla & Vitolio – I still don’t like Vitolio, though I do agree he’s growing and demonstrating more personality every week. I like him more when he’s dancing and Karla has really, really grown on me. I loved the quick change and Karla in general throughout the piece.

In the end, I suspect that it will be Caitlin and Vitolio that go home. Or perhaps Caitlin and Jason, since they’ve both gotten a lot of flak and have ended in the bottom. I love Caitlin, so this is a sad conclusion for me. But I don’t want Randi and Evan split up before the Top 10 and Karla has been doing better and better every week.

TV Guide.com has done a Power Ranking of the Top 14 individual dancers, some of which I agree with and some of which I don’t.  They place Jeanine and Karla in a tie for the bottom of the Top 14, when both girls have been gaining steady popularity AND the girls (in my opinion) are far stronger dancers than the boys this season. Nice to see TV Guide liked our idea for power rankings.

You helped me create this week’s Power Rankings, so let me know if you think I got it right or not.

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.

It’s a bit early for the Top 10 switcheroo, but having 2 out of 3 eliminations result in new couples has got me thinking.

Who do you think would make interesting couples when the switch does happen (assuming anybody left is still around)? And while we’re at it, do you have a strong suspicion that an eliminated dancer would have faired better with a different partner?

I’m curious to see what would have happened if Paris and Brandon had been partnered. I liked her – she seemed goofy – and I wonder if she could have brought out that side of Brandon that I haven’t seen in him since Natalie got cut Vegas week.

What about Jeanine and Evan? They strike me as a couple that could be really fun and amazing together. Or Kayla and Evan – would that be dance heaven or a total disaster?

Caitlin and Ade could be interesting together. I like her and Jason together, but Ade seems like a good mix of silly and strong and that could be really good for Caitlin.

What would a Tony and Janette pairing have looked like? I almost can’t fathom it. Or Kayla and Tony? Perhaps he could have learned a lot from her, become a stronger dancer and lasted longer.

I like the Randi-Evan pairing a lot, so maybe it’s blasphemous, but what do you think she’d dance like with Jason? Or Phillip? Or Phillip and Kayla?

I’d love to know what you think!

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).

Note from John: I just wanted to welcome Max to Pure SYTYCD. This is his first writeup about an episode of SYTYCD. He makes some good points about tonight’s show. I’m glad to have his help on the site and I hope you’ll all give him a nice welcome (yes, that means lots of comments with your opinions).

Tonight’s Top 16  elimination show was a bittersweet way to say goodbye to two dancers. The bottom 3 tonight was hardly a surprise, until it came time to reveal the final couple nominated for elimination. Before that, however, the evening contained a well thought out balance of entertainment and reality, full of fun and quirky surprises. All in all, however, tonight’s final curtain for two dancers was a suspenseful hour full of distractions from the real world.

Hip-Hop Group Dance; Top 16; A wonderfully quirky hip hop routine choreographed by Dimitry Chaplin, Tabitha and Napoleon. Besides the insane camera angles provided by the show, this routine was lively, exciting and well danced by all, in my opinion. I felt that everyone was in sync, and really seemed to enjoy themselves. While hip-hop is not my favorite style in the least bit, Napoleon and Tabitha’s routines never let me down, and I always find myself wonderfully immersed in them, and the stories they convey to us.

The Judges; Nigel’s beginning speech was a big buzzkill for me, especially after a dance like that. Nonetheless,  Nigel was feeling pain, and I thought it sweet and humble of him to pay homage to his friends the way he did. It felt more like a eulogy at a funeral more than a reality TV show, let alone a dance show such as this one.

Still, it doesn’t make me like his awful, dreadful hair any more. R.I.P Farrah, MJ, and Ed McMahon.

Toni Basil, the guest judge this week, really rubbed me the wrong way on last night’s show. She came off as very old-fashioned to me, and not as ‘with-it’ as the other judges seemed to be. However, she redeemed herself in my eyes after her humble commentary tonight. She refused to call out and humiliate specific dancers, which I found quite admirable.

On to the real stufff now…

Dance School (The Rage Boys Crew): This was fun. The kids here were obviously VERY talented, because the routine and choreography were complex, and everyone had great lines, as well as posture and attitude. I couldn’t find anybody in this dance that was incapable, or even weak. I was blown away by the incredible talent on that stage. And some of those kids were cute, but I think Ms. Deeley made more than it was out of it, as always.

Bottom Three: The bottom 3 this week didn’t surprise me until the very end. Aside from those first 2 couples, all the other ones were extremely strong, with some of the best dancing so far.

I don’t think any of us were surprised to see Asuka and Vitolio in the bottom. Asuka being eliminated was not a shock in the least, and I think that it was even anticipated by many. Her solo was just too mushy containing little substance, and just felt like a lot of glorified movement. From the moment she started out on stage tonight, she was doomed, especially competing with the likes of Karla and Caitlin, two amazingly strong dancers.

I think the only reason Vitolio was saved was due to his background story, and the judges raving comments about his sincerity last week, although truthfully, I didn’t see it. Even so, Jonathan’s performance was weak last night, and his solo was grasping, throwing in a ton and a half of flashy moves and gymnastics out of desperation. It was his time to go. He just was not diverse enough in his dancing skills, and didn’t have the range of movements the others possess.

Finally, I was extremely relieved they kept Karla, as she is quickly rising to the top of my list of favorite dancers this week. I’m happy that Jonathan won’t be weighing her down anymore, but I’m anxious to see if Vitolio will do the same. Still loving Jason and Caitlin, glad they weren’t too harshly judged.  A great week, week 3, eager for our top 10!

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?