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Boston Auditions Thoughts

This week Amanda and Rachel chimed in with their thoughts about the SYTYCD Boston Auditions. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments. Also, be sure to check out the SYTYCD Boston Audition music post.

Amanda’s Thoughts:

It’s so good to see Adam Shankman back on the judging panel. He has always been one of my favorite judges. I think he was my favorite comic relief for the night with the Lamp Dance was a great moment and I’m so glad he made it to Vegas The girl I thought deserved to at least go to the choreography round.

Day One: I think the biggest stories of the day were the two brothers who were there for there sisters. The 16 year old that stood in for his sister’s missing partner, was really good, especially to learn that dance in three hours. I thought the judges were just going to judge him and not his sister. Now the brother who paid for the trip his sister Jennie was fabulous.

The other standouts for me were the ballroom couple that were the first to audition and the ballerina turned jazz dancer.

Day Two: Bring on the familiar faces…I’ll be honest I didn’t recognize all of them but I’m glad they come back to give it another shot…well almost all of them.

E-Knock: when they showed his initial audition I remembered exactly who he was. What a moving story to produce a powerful performance. Wish he was able to make it through to Vegas.

Alexis.. I love tap dancers. I’m always happy to see them go straight to Vegas.

Anthony B: oh boy not sure about this guy, he is a great dancer and I thought his attitude had improved but guess not…lol.

Anthony S: just absolutely loved him.

Lots of ballroom dancers in Boston and Adam does a great Bruno(DWTS judge) impression.

Toshi loved him so entertaining and fun.

Who were your favorites? Sorry for the lack of names but I was typing as I watched. Next week is Tennessee and Wayne Brady joining the judges.

Rachel’s Thoughts:
On to Boston! I was so happy to see Adam Shankman. I love Adam Shankman. He’s my favorite judge besides Lil C. He’s the loudest and the craziest of the judges (as we saw by the lamp dance). He’s also the easiest to make cry (as seen by the brother/sister salsa number). His Bruno impression is spot on too.

Beat boxer
I think that was a really great idea to combine his dance with the beat box. I’ve seen something like it with a tapper and a singer on America’s Got Talent. It must be hard to dance to the beat box because it’s variable. I wonder if the dancer tells the beat boxer what he wants as far as a sound or if it’s all off the top of the beat boxer’s head. I hope to see him back in a future season.

Jennifer Jones
I have a soft spot for girls with eating disorders who have overcome them. It takes a lot of strength to get through something like that. You can see it in the way she dances. Her movements are a little guarded. You can see a lot of the ballet in her dance. I’m excited to see more of her. She is simply gorgeous.

Tommy of TKO Dance
I don’t remember him from past seasons to be honest. He didn’t impress me much. It was the same move over and over again, although the moves were impressive. He needs different styles to maybe shake him out of how stiff he is. His lines are straight as a board. Beautiful, but not enough for me. I’ll be interested to see how he does later on.

E-Knock
Okay, if you didn’t cry during this part, you have no soul. He didn’t need to start dancing for me to start sobbing. Remember what I said about dancers who tell the story through their dancing? He is a contender. His story stands as a reminder that through the pain and sadness, there is a light at the end and things can and will get better. I’m very surprised they didn’t send him to Vegas and I hope and pray he comes back next season.

Anthony
Recognize that music? It’s from the “Addiction” dance. I personally wouldn’t use a song that has been used as a dance on the show before but he did such a good job. They almost got me with sending him to choreography. He is exactly what they talk about when they talk about dancing from within. So beautiful.

Final Thoughts
Vegas is looming and I’m worried about our fantastic hip hoppers like The Exorcist and Toshi. They are so good in their own styles, but crumble under the weight of other styles. We’ll see what happens next and if our favorites survive the week. I’m rooting for the girl from Temecula (my hometown). Let’s hope no one gets sent to the hospital this time. I’m also looking to see what comes out of Memphis. It’s such a great and musical city. I look forward to it.

Mary Murphy on 10 Seasons of SYTYCD and SYTYCD 2013

Mary Murphy has been one of the mainstays of SYTYCD, so it’s interesting to hear her thoughts about this upcoming season and her experience over the past 10 years (although she wasn’t on all 10 seasons). She’s right that the 10 seasons have passed so quickly. I haven’t seen the numbers for SYTYCD season 10 yet, but I hope they’re doing well so we get a SYTYCD 11.

An interview with Mary Murphy discussing So You Think You Can Dance 2013:

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May 18, 2013 I Written By John

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

Filed Under: Entertainment FOX Reality TV So You Think You Can Dance So You Think You Can Dance Judges So You Think You Can Dance Season 10 TV

Tags:Adam Shankman So You Think You Can Dance 10 So You Think You Can Dance 2013 SYTYCD 10 SYTYCD 2013 SYTYCD Judge

Adam Shankman Talks SYTYCD 2013

Adam Shankman is so successful in so many areas of entertainment, that I’m always interested to hear his perspectives. In this video Adam talks about what it means that SYTYCD has reached its tenth season and what SYTYCD has meant to dance. Enjoy!

An interview with Adam Shankman discussing So You Think You Can Dance 2013:

So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Preview Video

One video wasn’t nearly enough for tonight. So, here’s another video with Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman, Twitch, and Cat Deeley talking about So You Think You Can Dance Season 2013. Plus, they show a ton of great moments from last season to remind us why we love the show. Enjoy!

For those who can’t wait for tomorrow night, I’ll try and distract you with more videos tomorrow.

SYTYCD 2013 premiere is a 2 night event Tuesday, May 14 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesday, May 15 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

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May 13, 2013 I Written By John

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

Filed Under: Entertainment FOX Reality TV So You Think You Can Dance TV Videos

Tags:Adam Shankman Cat Deeley Mary Murphy Nigel Lythgoe So You Think You Can Dance 2013 So You Think You Can Dance Premiere SYTYCD 2013 SYTYCD Premiere Twitch

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Vegas Week and Meet the Top 20

Listen to the podcasts

Episode 48: “Vegas Week” direct download

Episode 49: “Meet the Top 20″ direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes

Time Stamps for “Vegas Week”
0:00 – Introduction
1:18 – The cuts during Vegas Week
13:36 – The major narratives of Vegas Week – Alexa Anderson and Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
19:14 – Standouts during Vegas Week
22:34 – MIA dancers during Vegas Week
25:30 – Wrap-up

Episode Length of “Vegas Week”: 28:38

Time Stamps for “Meet the Top 20″
0:00 – Introduction
1:33 – First contemporary routine by Tyce DiOrio: Alexa Anderson, George Lawrence II, Will Thomas, and Amber Jackson
3:57 – Ballroom routine by Jason Gilkinson: Nick Bloxsom-Carter, Witney Carson, and Lindsay Arnold
6:15 – Ballet routine by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden: Eliana Girard, Daniel Baker, and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
8:36 – Jazz routine by Sonya Tayeh: Tiffany Maher, Audrey Case, and Janelle Issis (not in routine)
10:18 – Second contemporary routine by Stacey Tookey: Matthew Kamierczak, Dareian Kujawa, Janaya French, and Amelia Lowe
12:19 – “Mixed” routine by Chris Scott: Cole Horibe, Brandon Mitchell, Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
14:14 – Top 10 girls routine by Travis Wall
15:35 – Top 10 guys routine by Sonya Tayeh
16:59 – Top 20 routine by Mia Michaels
18:36 – Wrap-up

Episode Length of “Meet the Top 20″: 20:07

Wedding planning has consumed a lot of our time, but we’re finally here with our “Vegas Week” and “Meet the Top 20″ podcasts! We apologize for the erratic and delayed release schedule, and ask for your patience as we find time to record and edit these.

The “Vegas Week” and “Meet the Top 20″ episodes have transitioned us from the audition portion of the show into the live competition. We found ourselves unsatisfied with Vegas Week, as many of our early favorites were cut, most notably Mariah Spears. The insistence of the producers to make a narrative out of the Vegas Week process for Alexa Anderson and Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer also did not sit well with us, as this not only smacked of favoritism, but it also consumed so much television time that we barely saw the full routines for the different genre rounds.

We enjoyed the “Meet the Top 20″ episode much more, as the remaining contestants that made it through the Green Mile are the ones we would have selected. The actual routines were quite good, with the routine by Chris Scott being a standout. Already we have some people we are excited for, including Cole Horibe and Witney Carson, and we also worry about the longevity of some contestants, such as Tiffany Maher, Audrey Case, and Janaya French. Finally, we urge the producers and choreographers to take care with how they place and feature Alexa Anderson. Between the Vegas Week episode and the choices in the Travis and Mia Michaels routines, we’re concerned that she will experience a huge backlash from the fanbase, very similar to Ryan from last season. Overall, we’re excited for the final cast of contestants and cannot wait to see the first live show tonight!

Let us know what you think after listening to the podcast! You can leave us a comment here or on our blog, Reflections on Pop Entertainment. You can also follow us on Twitter and tweet with us. You can also visit our Facebook page, like us, and leave a comment there! We love feedback and will respond either with a comment or in our next published show.

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July 11, 2012 I Written By James G

Over the past few years my fiancée Meghan slowly brought me into the world of television, turning me into a full-fledged fan of both scripted and reality shows. So You Think You Can Dance turned into one of my favorite reality shows as it is a competition that takes itself seriously, providing the audience with artistic choreography and talented dancers. It's certainly not something I ever expected to get emotionally invested in, but here I am! Meghan and I are very analytic when it comes to the things we enjoy. We constantly discussed and analyzed shows with each other and after doing this for a couple years, we decided that we should turn these discussions into a podcast. We created Reflections on Pop Entertainment, a podcast that provides commentary and analysis of popular entertainment as found in visual mediums, particularly television and film. So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 is the first television series we're covering with weekly podcasts and has allowed us to find our voice as well as actively contribute to the fan community. We hope that you'll enjoy our installments as they are posted to Pure So You Think You Can Dance!

Filed Under: Entertainment FOX So You Think You Can Dance Podcasts So You Think You Can Dance Season 9

Step Up Revolution: Meet the Leads, the Mob, and the Choreographers

Step Up Revolution hit theatres Friday, July 27th and I honestly can’t wait. So here’s a little sneak peak of what we can expect for the next installment of the Step Up franchise. After watching these videos I’m really excited for this movie the dancing looks amazing and for all the Moose fans out there he is in the movie.

Meet The Leads: Kathryn McCormick and Ryan Guzman

Meet The Mob:

Meet the Choreographers:

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Salt Lake City

Listen to the podcast

Episode 47 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes

Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:04 – “No” to Vegas (non-ballroom): Lynn Gravatt, Leroy Martinez, Murphy Yang
5:04 – Burlesque and Krump: Rachel Applehans, Mariah Spears
8:55 – Contemporary/Jazz: Deanna “Dee” Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo, Dareian Kujawa, Adrian Lee
15:44 – Ballroom: Whitney Hallam & Johnny Anh, Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson
20:41 – Who we’re excited to see in Vegas
26:23 – Wrap-up

Episode Length: 28:20

It’s the last stop of the season 9 audition tour and while we were largely underwhelmed by the turnout in Atlanta, Salt Lake City more than made-up for it, providing us with many solid, diverse performers and a whole host of ballroom at last! Of the non-ballroom performers, Mariah Spears, Deanna Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo and Dareian Kujawa all impressed us with their stand-out solos, from Mariah’s surprising and convincing krump routine to Gene’s clever choreography about the life cycle of the male praying mantis. The moving story of Leroy Martinez and his work with disadvantaged youth was an uplifting segment and a fitting way, we think, to close out the first part of the audition process. And of course, we finally had some proper ballroom! In particular, we found Witney Carson’s ability to transform herself the second her routine began to be particularly impressive, and she has great skill to boot!

Obviously, since we’re posting this after the airing of the Vegas week episode, a lot of the people we were excited to see in Vegas wound up cut. We’ll dig into the particulars when we get the podcast for Vegas together, but we are getting frustrated. After two seasons of rosters that were stuffed with contemporary/jazz dancers, we were hoping they would expand beyond that model this season. Although it has some inaccuracies, the Vegas spoilers list (which doesn’t list a Top 20, and is no longer really a spoiler after this past episode) shows that the majority of people that made it through the week are contemporary/jazz. I think what bothers us most about that is if the Top 20 contestants from the first 4 or so seasons were to try out now, it’s doubtful that some of them would even make it to the end of the week (like Ivan, for example).

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June 22, 2012 I Written By James G

Filed Under: Entertainment FOX So You Think You Can Dance Podcasts So You Think You Can Dance Season 9

Tags:Adam Shankman Adrian Lee Alexa Anderson Andre Rucker Asher Walker auditions Boris Penton Bree Hafen Chehon Wespi-Tschopp Cole Horibe Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer Daniel Baker Danielle Dominguez dareian kujawa deanna "dee" tomasetta Dragonhouse Crew Eliana Girard FOX gene lonardo George Lawrence II Hampton Williams johnny anh leroy martinez lindsay arnold lynn gravatt mariah spears Marshea Kidd Mary Murphy murphy yang Nigel Lythgoe Podcast rachel applehans Reality Competition Reality TV Reflections on Pop Entertainment Shafeek Westbrook So You Think You Can Dance So You Think You Can Dance 2012 So You Think You Can Dance Auditions So You Think You Can Dance Podcast So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Auditions SYTYCD SYTYCD 2012 SYTYCD 9 SYTYCD Auditions SYTYCD Podcast SYTYCD Season 9 SYTYCD Season 9 Auditions SYTYCD Vegas Week SYTYCD9 whitney hallam witney carson

SYTYCD Season 9 Las Vegas Callbacks Thoughts

Now that the Vegas Callbacks have aired it was difficult to know for sure who made it to the end and who is left for the final cut that would air next week. The spoilers show only up to 30 dancers made it to the end of callbacks but according to the show 35 actually made it to the end of the Vegas Callbacks. Although the majority (if not all) of the spoilers seem to be correct it would still be difficult to see who actually made it. Nigel keeps insisting that we have some really strong hip hop and ballroom dancers this year and yet the only ones that we know of in the Ballroom genre are Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold… while the ones in the hip hop genre is Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer… Interesting. Anyway let’s move on with the program.

Las Vegas Callbacks started out with 181 dancers who were invited back. As John mentioned earlier: What we see on television isn’t exactly what happens, sure everyone starts with a solo but in between sessions the dancers actually get a chance to learn more about what to expect in the dance industry. How to survive… this is truly an educational experience for anyone lucky enough to get a chance to be invited to be a part of the Vegas Callbacks experience.

DAY ONE VEGAS CALLBACKS: OPENING SOLOS
Sometimes the first solo is an advancement of what they showed in the city auditions, or it is a chance for the dancers to show more than what they displayed in the city auditions. Take Janelle Issis the belly dancer for example…
Read more..

8 rounds of Vegas Call-Backs

It’s been a while since I posted, I used to cover the SYTYCD Canada show, until it was sadly cancelled.

I have been watching the SYTYCD USA auditions, but I have to say, Vegas week is my most favourite and it inspired me to write a little something about the eight rounds we watched tonight.

8 rounds:
Solos
Hip hop
Broadway
Jazz
Groups
Ballroom
Contemporary
Final solos

I appreciated seeing the various choreographers testing the dancers in a variety of genres, much like the live shows will go. I wanted to talk about each round a bit.

1. Solos
This is usually boring for me because it is mostly a refresher of what each dancer can do and a catch-up for judges who perhaps didn’t see them dance in their hometown auditions. There were a few stand outs and a few cuts, but as a viewer this part doesn’t interest me too much. Sometimes there is a new dancer who wasn’t highlighted at a previous audition, so it’s nice to get to know more about the contestents style.

2. Hip Hop
I love Twitch and Comfort, who choreographed this round. I hope we get to see more past contestents as choreographers this season. The routine was funky and as Comfort said, very “ATL” It had that Atlanta, southern swag and was fun to watch.

3. Broadway
Tyce DiOrio is intense. This routine had a great story. I loved the idea of the drink of “water” making everyone go a bit crazy. It was fun, but youc ould see who took on the character and who was just dancing the moves. Broadway certainly needs more character and the dancers who got that component were far more enjoyable to watch.

4. Jazz
Sonya Teyeh choreographed. She is so awesome! One of my favourites, I love her strangeness. What I adore about her choreography is the way it lets the unique, quirky stylistic dancers shine.

5. Groups
This is by far my most favourite part of Vegas. I really hope one day to go to the taping of this part of the show. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see a lot of the overnight drama and practicing and brainstorming and idea sharing. It is entertaining to see all the drama that kicks in with lack of sleep and bubbling personalities. I am really upset we didn’t get to see more drama from the night, but I was impressed with the routines that aired.

They formed their own groups of 5-6 people then picked a piece of music at random and had all night to practice and perform in the morning.

6. Ballroom
Jason Gilkison takes the remaning dancers through choreography for the Cha Cha. It is challenging but the dancers do pretty well. I love seeing non-ballroom dancers take on this challenge. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be.

7. Contemporary
Travis Wall leads the rest of the dancers through a beautiful routine. I love Travis and this was stunning. Some dancers couldn’t handle it, but what I like about this round is that dancers who are so exhausted really push to make it through this final round… or they do not. It seems to show the most passionate dancers. Nigel announced that judges would not share who was going through and who was not until they had seen all dancers. It was intense.

8. Final Solos
Unlike the opening solos which I don’t care much for most of the time, these final solos are awesome to watch. You see some true superstars and of course they highlight the best of the best on air. There are, however, still some cuts to be made and it is sad to see some favourites head home… some of them, again.

Which round is your favourite to watch? Any stand out dancers? Favourite Choreographers?

What do you like best about Vegas week?

Some Interesting Notes from My SYTYCD 2012 Las Vegas Week Taping Experience

As many of you know, I was lucky enough to attend the first day of the SYTYCD 2012 Las Vegas week tapings. It was an amazing experience for someone who writes about SYTYCD and also loves SYTYCD. Since I have a number of reality TV blogs, I’ve been to quite a few tapings. In case you missed it, I also was able to do a bunch of SYTYCD video interviews at SYTYCD Vegas Week as well.

Disclaimer: I don’t find any of the items in this post to be real spoilers for the show. I don’t talk about who’s eliminated or anything like that. However, some people might consider some of the comments as spoilers. So, read at your own discretion. You’ve been warned.

I was really happy to see that the SYTYCD taping was quite authentic. Sure, they had a few retapings of dancers running up the aisles, but for the most part they didn’t try and contrive something that didn’t happen. It was pure dancing and they moved along really quickly. They also did a number of other seminars/talks that won’t appear on camera, but were designed to help the dancers understand the dance industry. It was a great example, that Nigel and company really do care about the dancers that participate on the show.

The SYTYCD Las Vegas week judges are: Lil C, Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Tyce Diorio, Mary Murphy, and Nigel Lythgoe. It was quite the crew. One funny thing about the judges is that a number of them changed into slippers when they were sitting at the judges table. I don’t blame them. That would be a long time sitting there in uncomfortable shoes that no one will see.

The big news that they announced while I was there and that was also mentioned in Mary Murphy’s interview was that they were only doing a Top 18 instead of a Top 20. Of course, since then they could have certainly changed their minds and gone back to a SYTYCD top 20. Considering Marianya’s SYTYCD Olympic schedule change post they have enough weeks for a SYTYCD top 20, so maybe they have changed their minds. Or maybe they just have something else up their sleeve for the extra week that Marianya didn’t know about when she created her post. It will be fun to see what they do.

For those keeping track at home, there were 86 girls and 86 boys that made it go SYTYCD Vegas week. I believe Nigel said that they didn’t require that there be the same number of boys as girls, but that it was nice that it worked out that way. 172 dancers all in one place was awesome. Although, you can imagine how many of them land on the cutting room floor. It’s unfortunate since so many of them are such good dancers.

A few other quick hits and quotes:
-Adam Shankman running (or trying to run) when he was introduced was hilarious. I hope it makes the show.
-Tyce offered some really sound feedback, “Have a likeability and you can do ball change, and we still like you.”
-”We’ve basically seen it all.” A great comment by Adam Shankman to remember.

Some other must see solos were from the blonde ballroom girl, the belly dancer, and the excorcist did his thing nicely as well. Although, of those three if they don’t show the belly dancer’s first solo I’ll be shocked. It was absolutely phenomenal.

After the first round of solos, 42 people were already cut from the competition. It goes fast for many. Although, that still left 130 dancers. So many that they had to divide them into two groups to learn the choreography. Speaking of which, the first choreography was Hip Hop by Comfort and Twitch.

A quick word about the choreography. The TV show does a terrible job capturing how quickly all of these dancers pick up the choreography. I was utterly amazed at how every single person was picking up the choreography that Comfort and Twitch put out there. Sure, some have a little more style or skill with that choreography, but all of the dancers I saw picked it up so well. It was astounding to watch live.

There you have it. A sneak peak into the first day of SYTYCD 2012 Las Vegas week. I think Marianya’s going to follow this post up with some spoilers she found on the internet. I know nothing about those and didn’t help in that post at all. So, take it for what it’s worth.

Boston Auditions Thoughts

Mary Murphy on 10 Seasons of SYTYCD and SYTYCD 2013

Adam Shankman Talks SYTYCD 2013

So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Preview Video

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Vegas Week and Meet the Top 20

Step Up Revolution: Meet the Leads, the Mob, and the Choreographers

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Salt Lake City

SYTYCD Season 9 Las Vegas Callbacks Thoughts

8 rounds of Vegas Call-Backs

Some Interesting Notes from My SYTYCD 2012 Las Vegas Week Taping Experience

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