Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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.

I just got news that beloved Katee Shean has launched a makeup line with a company called Cliche Cosmetics. I’ve been told “She designed every detail of the two compacts included in the line. There’s one for stage and one for everyday.” Interesting move by Katee Shean. Since I’m a man, I’ll be interested to hear what the female readers think of this line. Oh yes, that means I should probably give some away. Good idea, watch for a contest for free Katee Shean makeup very soon. Or you can buy them on the Cliche Cosmetics website right now.

Turns out that Courtney Galiano and Chelsie Hightower will also be launching lines on July 20th and August 3rd respectively.

Also, check out some pictures from the photo shoot that Katee Shean did for Cliche Cosmetics.

There are so many people that audition for So You Think You Can Dance, I really don’t envy the producers and editors of So You Think You Can Dance at all. Nigel even said as much in a tweet he sent where he talked about being on the golf course while the editors were hard at work trying to get a few days of auditions down to an hour or two.

I think there are two types of dancers that unfortunately hit the cutting room floor on So You THink You Can Dance. First, we lose dancers that we fall in love with in the auditions and then never see again. Second, there are great dancers that make it to the end of vegas week and just barely miss making the top 20, but which we never actually get to see dance.

This post is a tribute to these dancers who we hope will return for So You Think You Can Dance season 6. If you have a dancer you think I should add to this list leave a comment (preferably with a link to a video of that person) and I’ll add them to the post.

Kelsea Taylor – I’m sure very few people will forget the “beautiful disastrous weirdo” who also introduced us to the music of Oona (even if it wasn’t her original music). Too bad after her killer audition, we never saw her in Vegas week. My source says she went home in the ballroom round in Las Vegas.

Paula VanOppen – She almost made the top 20 and you should have seen the fan club she has in my comments. Considering her fan club and the videos on YouTube of Paula I’d love to see her come back on season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance.

Diana Vaden – Another person similar to Paula which made the top 20, but we didn’t see her dance nearly enough to be able to make any judgments. My source says she’s still undecided about auditioning again. Let’s hope she changes her mind and goes back.

Kellen Stancil (Umbrella Guy) – He made it to Las Vegas, but then we never saw him again. I’d love to have seen how he did in Las Vegas. Hopefully he’ll come back again.

Chimezie Nwosu – Can you say Twitch? Let’s hope he works as hard as twitch did and he’ll be back on the show. Too bad we didn’t get to see more of his work in Las Vegas.

Arielle Taylor – A wonderful audition, but she kind of fell off the show when we got to Las Vegas. She auditioned before and I expect we’ll see her audition again.

Talia Rickards – Remember her audition. Beautiful along with a beautiful back story. I’d really like to see her dance some more.

Geo Smith (African Dancer) – Another disappearing act. It was in Las Vegas, but dancers weren’t meant to disappear. Cris Angel has tried that in Las Vegas and he’s been failing miserably.

Marico Flake (Memphis Juker) – Great audition, but once again nothing in Las Vegas. I’d have liked to see him try some other styles and see how he’d do.

Anna Dunn – I’m sure you remember the name. Great contemporary dancer that we never get to see again. I guess there’s always next year.

Lauren and Lydia Guerra – I’d have love to see the twins in Las Vegas. Too bad.

Amanda Kerby – Where did she go? They did a whole package on her talking about her family and her father and then we get none of her in Las Vegas. Very sad.

This video is really dark, but seeing Chelsie Hightower sing just made me laugh. I think Katee Shean is the girl on the far side from Chelsie also. Not sure about the girl in the middle. Anyway, this gave me a good laugh, but it doesn’t seem that Chelsie will be following in Julianne’s footsteps with a singing career on top of her dancing career. Enjoy!

Nigel Lythgoe was on FOX 5 Atlanta talking about auditions for SYTYCD season 6 (which premieres this fall). So You Think You Can Dance auditions are going on in Atlanta right NOW with Nigel, Mary Murphy and Lil C. In this video, Nigel says there is a lot of good hip hop and street dancing in Atlanta. He also gives us some where are they now updates on past contestants on So You Think You Can Dance Joshua, Twitch, Kherington, Neil and more. Anchor Suchita Vadlamani also asked about Nigel’s Tweet where he referred to one of the current SYTYCD season’s audition moments as “brokeback ballroom.”

I really have no idea how it’s possible that I missed this video of some of the best So You Think You Can Dance performers dancing on American Idol. Ok, I’m not a huge American Idol fan, but the dancers from So You Think You Can Dance were awesome.

I found the following image on photobucket and I think it’s a really iconic image for those of us that are fans of So You Think You Can Dance:

I think the Travis and Heidi bench dance is one of many that will live forever in the minds of SYTYCD fans. I love the black and white that makes it almost feel like it will last forever.

Seeing it made me think that it would look cool on a t-shirt. Only problem is it probably violates some sort of trademark, copyright, etc. So, I don’t think I can do that. However, the thought sparked an idea of creating some cool SYTYCD related t-shirts, hoodies, hats, etc.

I have some ideas in mind and you’ll be seeing them soon, but I’d love to hear any ideas of designs, sayings, etc you’d love to have in your closet.

Mark, Katee, Courtney, Kherington, Josh, and Gev headed on to the Ellen DeGeneres show to celebrate the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance season 5. What a great way to start So You Think You Can Dance 2009. Nice to see a bunch of familiar faces as well:

Man, I fogot how much I loved Kherington. This video didn’t have enough Kherington for me. Not to mention Josh and Katee together. That was beautiful and cute little Courtney was great too. Let’s hope season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance is just as amazing.

Well, after tonight’s performance on Dancing with the Stars, it looks like Chelsie Hightower will be going home. It’s possible that by some miracle, they’re able to get enough votes, but it’s not looking very good.

In honor of So You Think You Can Dance Alumni, Chelsie Hightower, I thought I might as well do a post dedicated to Chelsie.

First, here’s a pretty cool tribute video to Chelsie and Mark:

Next, check out the most popular dance from last season’s So You Think You Can Dance to a Leona Lewis song called Bleeding Love. The video is really something special to watch.

Then, I would be remiss if I didn’t add in the video of Chelsie Hightower giving cowboy Ty Murray a spray on tan for his Salsa.

I just got information that Season 4 contestant of SYTYCD, Kourtni Lind, is in an ALM Talkies independent film, a reality thriller called “DIRTY STEP UPSTAGE.” You never know what you’ll get out of an independent film, but this one looks like it could be pretty interesting to see a little behind the curtains of the entertainment industry.

The following is a trailer for “Dirty Step Upstage” with a couple quick shots of Kourtni.

Always fun to catch up with some of the past contestants and see where their career has taken them.