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Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Top 14 Week

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Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction: Ballet boys as judges, and Ms. Tedholm’s Facebook comment
3:31 – General thoughts about the Mia Michaels episode
5:23 – The Door routine: Cyrus & Eliana
8:44 – Hometown Glory routine: George & Tiffany
11:23 – The Butt Dance: Will & Amelia
14:02 – The Bed routine: Dareian & Janelle
15:58 – Time routine: Audrey & Matthew
18:07 – The Bench routine: Chehon & Witney
20:41 – Addiction routine: Lindsay & Cole
24:45 – Bottom 6/Elimination discussion
30:05 – Wrap-up: Thoughts about Brandon/Amber elimination from Top 16 week, and thoughts on the live shows thus far

Episode Length: 32:24

The Top 14 week of So You Think You Can Dance celebrated Mia Michaels and her iconic routines from the show. Each of the dancers were called on to recreate some of her most beloved routines. Our feelings, along with many fans, were mixed on this approach. Should these routines be performed again, or are they only meant for the original dancers? Can an alternate, yet equally valid interpretation of the routines be presented? We discuss these questions, along with our thoughts on the somewhat shocking elimination of Amelia in this podcast!

We found it very useful to compare the original performances against the new ones. In the time stamps above we’ve linked to blog posts that have both routines embedded for easy viewing.

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.

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 4 Performance and Finale

Summary
For the finale of So You Think You Can Dance season 8 we give you a super-sized podcast with 15 more minutes of content. We were happy with Melanie’s win and were pleasantly surprised that the top two dancers this season were both women, which has not happened before on this program. The performance episode was not up to the high standards of past seasons which was disappointing for us, but there were some highlights such as Marko and Lauren F.’s wonderful contemporary piece by Tessandra Chavez and the captivating performance by Melanie and Sasha in the second Stacey Tookey routine of the night.

The results show reminded us of many of the great routines from the season, although we were surprised by how the judges picks seemed to place less emphasis on everyone except for Melanie, Marko and Sasha (even Tadd only had one non-group routine repeated). This portion of the show has historically served as a warm-up for the forthcoming tour and features many of the routines that are expected to show up. But here we had many routines that involved all-stars, none of which will likely be on the tour. It was unexpected for the judges picks to lack variety.

We conclude the podcast with a discussion of the show’s production and the effect it’s having on the pacing and the way we get to know the dancers. We pinpoint that the approach towards the show changed in season 6, when they moved to the live show format. At this point the packages became shorter and contained more schtick and the judges comments started having less substance due to the time constraints of a live program. We also discuss the choreographers and that some of them tailor their work to their selected dancers and that others do not and whether this is a fair way of doing things. Finally, we discuss the variety of dancers in the top 20 in later seasons versus the early seasons and the effect this seems to have on the type of choreography we see each week.

Please let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment here after listening! We love to hear feedback and what you thought of the show. We also encourage you to check out our twitter feed!

We want to thank everyone that has tuned into our podcasts during the course of the season! We’ve enjoyed doing this and its been a learning experience for us! We’re planning to do podcasts for season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance, so check back with us in May 2012. We’re going to continue doing our Big Brother podcasts and will be adding The X-Factor to our weekly discussions when it premieres on September 21st. We are also adding a Week in Review podcast in the fall for all the other shows we watch during that time. So if any of that sounds interesting to you, then follow our blog Reflections on Pop Entertainment and watch for our updates. If you’re only interested in our So You Think You Can Dance material, we’ll see you again next summer!

Episode Length: 44:53

Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction: Congrats to Melanie! Guest judges: Katie Holmes and Kenny Ortega and the choice to have celebrity judges
2:37 – Melanie and Marko’s disco
4:15 – Sasha and Mark’s jazz
5:44 – Tadd and Joshua’s hip-hop
7:10 – Melanie and Robert’s contemporary
8:29 – Sasha and Marko’s broadway
10:46 – Sasha and Tadd’s chacha
12:57 – Marko and Lauren F.’s contemporary
14:36 – Tadd and Melanie’s jazz
16:01 – Melanie and Sasha’s contemporary
18:27 – Marko and Tadd’s gumboot stepping
20:28 – The order of the placing: 2 girls in the top
22:22 – Results show: The new top 20 routine and tap routine
24:28 – Results show: The judges picks were stacked towards Melanie, Sasha and Marko and didn’t seem to be a retrospective of the season
28:58 – Post-season discussion: The direction of production and how it affects the show – pacing in live shows vs recorded shows, an increasing focus on the judging panel, choreographers tailoring their work to the dancers, variety in the dancers in the Top 20 (stacked towards contemporary/jazz now), variety in routine genres (less ballroom now, more contemporary/jazz)
42:34 – Wrap-up: What are your thoughts on our post-season discussion? What we’re going to be doing in future podcasts (Big Brother, The X-Factor, Week in Review)

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August 15, 2011 I Written By James G

Filed Under: Entertainment FOX So You Think You Can Dance Podcasts So You Think You Can Dance Season 8

Season 8 Finale Part 1 Thoughts and Discussion

Tonight’s Part 1 of the Season 8 finale. I’m going to post my thoughts live and I hope you’ll join in the discussion. Let us know what you think?

Spoiler space, just in case…

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 1 Music

Who knows what tonight’s going to bring? I can’t wait to find out!!

Melanie and Marko danced a Doreana Sanchez disco to: Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love (12″ Version)” –

Sasha and All-Star Mark danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz to: Deadmau5′s “Raise Your Weapon” –

Tadd and All-Star Joshua danced a Lil C hip hop to: Ace Hood’s “Hustle Hard” –

Melanie and All-Star Robert danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Sinead O’Connor’s “Sacrifice” – not on iTunes yet.

Sasha and Marko danced a Spencer Liff Broadway to: Ella Fitzgerald’s “Whatever Lola Wants” –

Melanie danced her solo to: Peter Bradley Adams’s “Song for Viola” –

Marko danced his solo to: Joshua Radin’s “The Fear You Won’t Fall” –

Sasha and Tadd danced a Mark Ballas cha cha to: Basement Jaxx’s “Raindrops” –

Marko and All-Star LoFro danced a Tessandra Chavez contemporary to: Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s “Shirk” –

Tadd danced his solo to: Jessie J’s “Mamma Knows Best” –

Sasha danced her solo to: Rachael Yamagata’s “Be Be Your Love” –

Melanie and Sasha danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Ahn Trio’s “Heart Asks Pleasure First” –

Marko and Tadd danced a Chuck Maldonado gumboot stepping routine to: Outkast’s “B.O.B.” –

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I Written By Emilie

Filed Under: music So You Think You Can Dance So You Think You Can Dance All Stars So You Think You Can Dance Alumni So You Think You Can Dance Choreographers So You Think You Can Dance Music So You Think You Can Dance Season 8

Top 6 Results Thoughts and Discussion

I’ll be a little behind posting my thoughts tonight, at least for the moment. But, just in case, a spoiler space…

SYTYCD rumblings

What a great show last night!! I sprinkled my thoughts here and there on other posts but overall I was really impressed. I thought I’d bring you all a smattering of SYTYCD news that I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks. Much of it comes from our friends at Entertainment Weekly

*added 6/24
I haven’t had the chance to read some of your comments about the results last night, but Kate Ward, a writer at EW.com has written an article aptly titled, “SYTYCD results make fans angry. you won’t like them when they’re angry”

I have to admit, I was pretty annoyed to see them keep Ryan after her abysmal “dance for your life”. I was watching the live feed online and it shorted out so I missed Missy’s and Iveta’s but from what I’ve heard Iveta’s was better. I saw all the guys and I thought Ricky really made his case to stay, his solo was great. Frankly, it’s not his fault Ryan seems to rather look at the camera and mug than connect with him. One of the posters recommended that they should have let all three girls and one of the boys go and kept Nick and Ricky or Nick and Wadi. I agree that Nick had a great personality and I would have loved to have seen him do contemporary with his long limbs to really see what he can do.

thoughts on this? I think it’s pretty interesting…

————

They’ve recently released their list of the 25 greatest SYTYCD performances of the past 7 seasons.

25. Kathryn and Ryan’s cha-cha (Season 6)
24. Pasha and Sara’s “Rockafella Skank” (Season 3)
23. Lauren and Twitch’s “My Chick Bad” (Season 7)
22. Lacey and Kameron Week 1 (Season 3)
21. Jakob and Ashleigh’s “Hit Me With a Hot Note” (Season 6)
20. Tranji’s “Gyrate” (Season 2)
19. Melody and Nick’s “All That Jazz”
18. Ellenore and Jakob’s “Tore My Heart”
17. Jeanine and Jason “If It Kills Me”
16. Brandon and Jeanette’s Disco
15. Katee and Joshua’s Bollywood
14. Jaimie and Hok’s “Hummingbird and the Flower”
13. Robert and Allison’s “Fix You”
12. Brandon and Jeanette’s “Ruby Blue”
11. Chelsie and Mark’s “Bleeding Love”
10. Ade and Billy’s “Mad World”
9. Danny and Lacey’s “Hip Hip Chin Chin”
8. Allison and Ivan’s “Why”
7. Kayla and Kupono’s “Addiction (Gravity)”
6. Heidi and Benji’s “Black Mambo”
5. Allison and Alex’s “Hallelujah”
4. Neil and Sabra’s “80′s Power Lunch (the table dance)”
3. Travis and Heidi’s “The Bench”
2. Katee and Joshua’s “No Air”
1. Alex and Twitch’s “Outta Your Mind”

This is a pretty stellar list, I must say, but there are a few glaring omissions. Where is Will and Katee’s spectacular pas de deux from season 4? Or Kayla and Max’s incredible WEEK 1 samba from season 5? I know this doesn’t include solos, but I don’t think anyone has topped Blake’s amazing solo from top 6 week in season 1, I’ve rewound it 100 times at least and still can’t figure out how he switches directions in his back handspring!

any other routines that didn’t make the cut?
Read more..

Los Angeles Audition Music – SYTYCD Season 8

So far, the music of Season 8 has been stellar, so I’m excited to see what music tonight’s Los Angeles audition show brings us. I hope you’ll help me hunt down all of tonight’s music because I always rely on our awesome readers for the assist.

Los Angeles Auditions

Opening Music: Two Steps from Hell’s “Am I Not Human?” –

Welcome to L.A.: Taio Cruz ft. Travie McCoy’s “Higher” – (thanks to our reader, Michelle)

Jordan Casanova (is innocent, despite her fierce alter ego, made Nigel a dirty old man): Beyonce’s “Naughty Girl” –

Derion “DC” Chapman (pregnant girlfriend, taught Nigel a dance move) intro: Bruno Mars’s “Count On Me” –

DC’s audition: Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” –

Arielle Coker (returning from the last two seasons, stronger) audition: Our reader Stephanie says it is Frisson’s “Groundhog Day” –

Yes to Vegas montage: Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull’s “I Like It” –

Audition line: The Briggs’s “This is L.A.” –

Hero McRae (Japanese dubstepper/locker) audition: Dinglesalad’s “So You Think You Can Dance Dubstep” –

Back from commercial: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour’s “The Golden Age” –

Joe “Big C” Doyle (Santa krumper with the “6 pack”) intro: Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” –

Big C’s audition: Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails (Rusko remix)” – (thanks, Johnny B for correcting me. I keep blocking this song for some reason)

No to Big C: Mud’s “Lonely This Christmas” –

Bad dancing montage: Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” –

Alexis Mason (Jeanine’s little sister): Our reader Ryan says it is David Lanz’s “Variations on a theme from Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major” –

Patty Anne Miller (adorable tomboy hip hopper/stylist/Berkley drummer): Ke$ha’s “Blow (Dubstep remix)” –

Yes to Vegas montage: Panic! at the Disco’s “Ready to Go” –

Sasha & Natalia Mallory (African/contemporary sister dancers) intro: Edvard Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King” –

Sasha & Natalia Mallory audition: Our reader Brenna pointed out that it’s Darnel Alexander’s “We Ride on the Wind” –

Choreography round: Usher ft Pitbull’s “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again” –

Yes montage/Vegas Week teaser: Chris Brown’s “Yeah 3X” –

I was so bad about the music tonight, y’all, cause I was distracted by tweeting my reactions. Help me out?

My thoughts on Step Up 3D

As we all know Step Up 3D hit theatres this weekend, and being the dancer that I am I went and saw it Saturday afternoon. I was a little bit skeptical about the movie being in 3D but I decided to give it a chance, and I’m glad I did. The movie was awesome with some amazing dance numbers. Compared to the first two movies the third installment has a lot more dancing, so the storyline lack a little but it really doesn’t matter. I could just flat out review the entire movie but I really don’t want to spoil the movie for everyone. However I will talk about the dancing.

We all know there is a good amount of SYTYCD Alumni in this movie. Nine to be exact, Tony Bellissimo, Musa Cooper(who isn’t credited for being an extra), Cedric Gardner, Ashlee Nino, Ivan Koumaev, Katee Shean, Joshua Allen, Legacy, and of course Twitch. Twitch makes his acting debut playing a character named Jason. Twitch is a good actor, which really doesn’t surprise me. Though I did love the fact that his character like to wear glasses with punched out lens just like Twitch. His dancing in this movie is off the charts, insanely good and reminds you why he is an All Star this season and quite possibly the best hip-hop dancer to dance on the SYTYCD stage.

Much to my surprise Twitch is not the only one that has a speaking role. Joshua and Legacy had some lines as well. Some of the other dancers are easy to spot compared to others, so pay close attention to all of the dance scenes to find them; I know I didn’t spot them all. Also be on the look out for Dave Scott to show off his dance moves. Dave is also one of the choreographers and has been involved with all three of the Step Up movies. There are other recognizable faces from the first and second movie. You might recognize Harry Shum Jr. (Cable) from glee. Then there is Kendra Andrews, if you are DWTS fan she is Erin Andrews’s sister.

Overall if you are a dancer or if you like dancing then this movie is a must see. If you aren’t a big fan of the 3D movement this movie is also being shown in 2D. I suggest seeing it in 3D it make the dance numbers that much cooler. Oh and if you want to save money try checking out a matinee showing they are usually cheaper. I’m have to agree with Lauren with what she said after seeing the movie…it might just be my new favorite dance movie.

It ranked thrid at the box office for the weekend behind The Other Guys, and Inception

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August 9, 2010 I Written By Amanda

Filed Under: Entertainment So You Think You Can Dance So You Think You Can Dance Alumni

Tags:Adam Shankman Ashlee Nino Cedric Gardner Dave Scott Ivan Koumaev Jonathan "Legacy" Perez Joshua Allen Katee Shean Musa Cooper Step Up 3D Stephen "Twitch" Boss Tony Bellissimo

Who was in Step Up 3D (Spoilers)

Okay, so, I went to see the movie yesterday with a couple of my dance friends. The movie was excellent and was pretty surprised they used up to 7 previous SYTYCD contestants in the movie. The 3D version is a definite see if your cinema is showing the 3D version

Here’s what I spotted and also caught with the end credits of who was featured:
Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss (Season 4 Runner-Up) – Major character in the film who played Special Effects wiz Jason
Joshua Allen (Season 4 Winner) – Had a small role as part of his winner’s prize as ‘Samurai’ crew member in the first half of the movie. He wasn’t featured in the end for the final crew battle
Jonathan ‘Legacy’ Perez (Season 6 Contestant) – Had a minor role in the movie who played Legz was part of the ‘Pirate’ crew
Katee Shean (Season 4 Contestant) – Was featured as a background dancer in the Tango scene during Natalie’s Masquerade birthday party
Ashlee Nimo (Season 2 Contestant) (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) – Was part of the Pirate crew in the final crew battle
Musa Cooper (Season 2 Contestant) – Was a blink and you miss role. He was seen at the beginning of the movie where Moose started his first day at college where Moose spotted a group B-Boy dancers competing against each other outside NYU. Musa was the guy holding cash in his hand with a black hat
Cedric Gardner (Season 3 Contestant) – I didn’t notice him in the movie but spotted his name in the closing credits
Dave Scott (Choreographer) – Was featured as one of the crew members in the first crew battle of the movie couldn’t remember the Crew name sorry. He was also choreographer for the film
Hi Hat (Season 7 Los Angeles Auditions Judge) – Choreographed the steps in the movie and was also featured as judge in the final crew battle
Adam Shankman (Judge of SYTYCD) – Was Executive Producer of the film.

Share your thoughts on the movie. And if there was anybody I missed feel free to comment

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August 8, 2010 I Written By McPhee

Filed Under: So You Think You Can Dance

Tags:Adam Shankman Ashlee Nimo Cedric Gardner Hi Hat Jonathan "Legacy" Perez Joshua Allen Katee Shean Musa Cooper So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 So You Think You Can Dance Season 3 So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 So You Think You Can Dance Season 7 Step Up 3D Stephen "Twitch" Boss

SYTYCD S7 – Which new partnership surprised you the most?

What did you think of the dances? Which pairing were you pleasantly surprised about?

Since there were a few repeat partnerships… this is just all the *new* ones. Now as much as I was surprised that there was some man on man action this week, I wasn’t terribly surprised that it would work well… SYTYCD has a long history of strong male/male dances.

So when it came to pass that there was going to a man on man dance last night, naturally I had very high expectations for this dance…. but that’s just me.

Season 2 – Tranji (Benji & Travis) – Hip Hop choreo by Shane Sparks
Song: Da Muzicianz & Mr Collipark – Gyrate

Season 3 – Neil & Danny – Contemporary choreo by Mia Michaels
Song: The Presets – Are You the One?

Season 4 – Twitch & Joshua – Trepak choreo by Youri Nelzine
Song: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker – Trepak

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Top 14 Week

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 4 Performance and Finale

Season 8 Finale Part 1 Thoughts and Discussion

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 1 Music

Top 6 Results Thoughts and Discussion

SYTYCD rumblings

Los Angeles Audition Music – SYTYCD Season 8

My thoughts on Step Up 3D

Who was in Step Up 3D (Spoilers)

SYTYCD S7 – Which new partnership surprised you the most?

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