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A big thanks to Selly from Dance Outlook for sending us the following writeup about the So You Think You Can Dance Tour visit to Kansas City. If you have been to a different city and have pictures, videos or want to write about your experience, then let us know. About one more month left for the So You Think You Can Dance tour and there are still tickets available for future tour stops.

Without further ado, here’s Selly’s experience and pictures from the So You Think You Can Dance Kansas City tour stop:
On Wednesday night, I attended the 2008 SYTYCD Tour at Sprint Center in Kansas City. I had amazing seats (thanks to presale) in the 5th row. I actually enjoyed the show more than I expected to. This has been my least favorite season, but I had a lot of fun seeing all of the dances live. I didn’t take notes, so this isn’t going to be a formal review by any means, but just some general notes/comments.

Kherington needs to close her mouth. Instead of smiling at inappropriate times like she did on the show, most of her facial expressions are approximately :O This was actually one of the first things I noticed during the show.

After the requisite video montage of Nigel’s Top 5 “memorable” (aka bad) auditions, the dancers came out and performed Shane Sparks’s Elevator group number.

The dancers were introduced and did mini-solos. They then re-introduced themselves live. Katee then said that she would not be performing at all that night due to injury. I knew she had hurt her back, but I still had hope for at least the Will/Katee Complexions Pas De Deux or at least No Air.

Twitchington performed first with their “We’re Escaped Convicts” hip hop by Napoleon and Tabitha. Among other dances, they did a “world tour” of dance styles from around the world featuring Thayne and Chelsie’s Cha Cha, Josh and Twitch’s Trepak which Gev introduced in Russian (and a dress), Courtney and Mark’s Viennese Waltz (once again, Gev wore a dress), and the group Bollywood number.

Some of the highlights of the night for me were Bleeding Love, Five Guys Named Moe, The Garden, The Dance, Twitchington’s “Bed” contemporary (which I have rose petals from in my purse), Money Money, and pretty much anything involving Chelsea H., Courtney, or Mark.

Despite the odd facial expression, I was actually really impressed by Kherington. Because all of the dances involving Katee except for group numbers were cut, some “emergency backup dances” were added in addition to the ones on the normal set list. These included Courtney and Josh’s Frankenstein hip hop (which I have no recollection of ever seeing before), Courtney and Gev’s Rumba, Jessica and Will’s “Shirt” contemporary, Marksie’s Kiss Kiss jazz and Twitchington’s Too Darn Hot Broadway.

I think there were a coupe other Courtney dances added, too. Because Katee did not perform, Jessica King did her solo which I was not at all impressed with. I know there’s a lot I haven’t talked about, but it’s really hard to remember everything. However, if you have any specific questions, it would probably make it a lot easier for me to come up with an answer than to post every single little detail that I can dredge up.

At one of the merchandise stands, I bought a tour t-shirt (just the regular one, not anything dancer-specific), leggings, and a program, all of which were ridiculously overpriced, but super cute. People were going crazy with grabbing fake money, rose petals, and confetti when they swept the stage off. I managed to grab some rose petals and ended up with a random lost bobby pin from the stage in an attempt to get confetti.

I took a lot of pictures before intermission, when my camera
conveniently died, but I’m fairly sure my camera is broken. They all
turned out massively blurry and most of them had weird lines across
them. I tried to pick out some of the better ones though.

Stay on your toes,

Selly from Dance Outlook

I just got word that the fourth episode of So You Think You Can Dance Canada isn’t going to be on until Wednesday October 1st.

I decided since we have to wait a week to see the next episode, I might as well do a little flashback on the last season of So You Think You Can Dance US.

Here’s the video of my favorite dancer from the last season: Kherington Payne. She just has a wonderful personality that is so lovable. Plus, Nigel’s comments about Dominique watching her dance were hilarious (probably because he’s right).

I decided that during the off season of So You Think You Can Dance I’d do some flashbacks to some of my favorite dances throughout all the So You Think You Can Dance seasons.

The following is a video of Twitch and Kherington Payne’s Viennese Waltz. When I think about this season of So You Think You Can Dance, this has to be the most memorable dance of the whole season for me. Jean Marc Genereux did an amazing job with the wonderful song: A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion

I really don’t think there’s much argument that Joshua Allen was a great dancer and was very deserving of the prize of America’s Greatest Dancer. However, after the success of my top 4 SYTYCD poll, I thought it would be fun to put a couple polls up to see how readers of this site would vote for their FAVORITE dancer and then for the BEST dancer.

Here’s the poll for your FAVORITE So You Think You Can Dance season 4 dancer.

Here’s the poll for the BEST So You Think You Can Dance season 4 dancer.

What a show!! Both of my favorites get sent home. Sucks for me. I guess that’s why I’m posting this music a little later than usual. If I’m late just check the music from past SYTYCD episodes.

Group dances:
All dancers: “JBJ” from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom by Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan & Zubin (Bollywood; Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan)

Female dancers: “Ave Maria”—Celine Dion (Contemporary; Choreographer: Mia Michaels)

Male dancers: “Five Guys Named Moe” from Five Guys Named Moe (Broadway; Choreographer: Nigel Lythgoe)

Solos:
Comfort Fedoke: “Egypt, Egypt”—Egyptian Lover

Mark Kanemura: “Black Betty”—Ram Jam

Kherington Payne: “Myphilosophy”—Inner

Gev Manoukian: “Feeling Good”—Michael Bublé

Eliminated:
Kherington Payne
Gev Manoukian

Elimination songs:
Kherington Payne: “Forever You May Run”—Gavin Rossdale

Gev Manoukian: “It Ends Tonight”—All-American Rejects

After dealing with Jessica being out and Comfort back in, there was 2 hours of incredible dancing on SYTYCD. The 2 hour show also means tons of great SYTYCD music. Here’s the full list of songs from the top 10 show.

Courtney Galiano and Joshua Allen danced Hip-Hop to the song Skippin’—Mario choreographed by Dave Scott

Courtney Galiano and Joshua Allen danced Rumba to the song Hero—Enrique Iglesias choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

Kherington Payne and Mark Kanemura danced Country/Western Two-step to the song Kick Back—Ty England choreographed by Ronnie DeBenedetta and Brandi Jobais

Kherington Payne and Mark Kanemura danced Jazz to the song Canned Heat—Jamiroquai choreographed by Tyce Diorio

Comfort Fedoke and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced Smooth Waltz to the song Open Arms—Journey choreographed by Hunter Johnson

Comfort Fedoke and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced Hip-hop to the song Forever—Chris Brown choreographed by Dave Scott

- Original Music Video
Katee Shean and William Wingfield danced Broadway to the song Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat from Guys and Dolls choreographed by Tyce Diorio

Katee Shean and William Wingfield danced Pas de deux to the song Imagine—David Archuleta choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson

Chelsie Hightower and Gev Manoukian danced Contemporary to the song These Arms of Mine—Otis Redding choreographed by Sonya Tayeh

Chelsie Hightower and Gev Manoukian danced Jive to the song The House is Rockin’—Brian Setzer choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

Music from the Top 10 SYTYCD Solo Performances
Chelsie Hightower danced a solo to the song “Pon de Replay” sung by Rihanna

Gev Manoukian danced a solo to the song “Hello Goodbye (Uncool)” sung by Lupe Fiasco ft. Unkle

Courtney Galiano danced a solo to the song “I Want You to Need Me” sung by Celine Dion

Mark Kanemura danced a solo to the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” sung by Queen

Comfort Fedoke danced a solo to the song “Need a Boss” sung by Shareefa ft. Ludacris

Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced a solo to the song “I Question Mark” sung by Wade Robson

Katee Shean danced a solo to the song “This Woman’s Work” (MTV Unplugged) sung by Maxwell

William Wingfield danced a solo to the song “Dance With My Father” sung by Luther Vandross

Kherington Payne danced a solo to the song “Breakin’ Dishes” sung by Rihanna

Joshua Allen danced a solo to the song “Jam” sung by Michael Jackson

Today, Rocky and myself were chatting about tonight’s SYTYCD top 10 show. I thought it might be of interest to our readers. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments. Also, let me know if you think a SYTYCD chat on this blog would be cool too.

Rocky says:
I’m with you! I can’t wait till the sytycd comes on tonight….but I’m not looking forward to Thursdays anymore.
John says:
why not?
John says:
it will make you cry?
John says:
2 hours tonight…should be good
Rocky says:
I think what I will feel most is annoyed For the next few weeks elimination will be strictly fanbase without regards to quality of performance on Wednesday. Every season good dancers go home because weaker ones still have pity votes.
Rocky says:
Kherington may well go home tonight and that will make me sad.
John says:
nope…she can’t go home…i won’t let her
John says:
everyone said that twitch was carrying her, but I think that she might have been carrying twitch, although since they were in the bottom 3 it’s hard to say either was carrying the other
John says:
tonight should be exciting, because it’s the night where they get new partners
Rocky says:
I know, that makes it exciting to see what everyone can do with new partners. I’ve read that overall it will be a good show. They are doing a group Bollywood routine Thursday night, I can’t wait. I love it.
John says:
sweet…i loved the previous Bollywood number. Bollywood can be really cool if done right or really bad if done wrong. Like most dances really
Rocky says:
Very true, but for this show, I’m sure they will make it good! The dancers will be doing another routine on Thursday, as well. One with just the females, and one with just the males. Mia choreographed the one for the girls so it will be interesting, for sure.
John says:
Well, I’m biased and will certainly love almost any dance with all females. Mia can do some really cool stuff, but some of her stuff is just weird. I definitely haven’t drunk the Mia koolaid. She’s very talented, but not God.
Rocky says:
I agree, she’s not the world’s greatest choreographer but I love weird and quirky so most of her routines are great to me.
John says:
I’m really looking forward to the show…nothing like a beautiful Wednesday night of SYTYCD
Rocky says:
Agreed. Lots of dancing tonight. Two dances per couple and a solo each.

Here’s all the music from the SYTYCD Top 12 Elimination show. Here’s all the previous SYTYCD music.

Group dance to the song “Closer” sung by Ne-Yo (Choreographer: Napoleon D’umo and Tabitha D’umo )

Guest dancer(s): Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater “Revelations” (”Sinner Man” sung by Billy Pointer)

Musical guest: “I Kissed a Girl”—Katy Perry

Comfort Fedoke danced a solo to the song “Oh Timbaland” sung by Timbaland

Thayne Jasperson danced a solo to the song “Come Home” sung by OneRepublic

Jessica King danced a solo to the song “Best For Last” sung by Adele

William Wingfield danced a solo to the song “Daraijan” sung by Kodo

Kherington Payne danced a solo to the song “All We Are” sung by OneRepublic

Stephen Twitch Boss danced a solo to the song “We Gonna Win” sung by Miri Ben-Ari

STYCD Top 12 Eliminated:
Comfort Fedoke
Thayne Jasperson

SYTYCDElimination songs:
Comfort Fedoke was eliminated to the song “The Greatest” sung by Michelle Williams

Thayne Jasperson was eliminated to the song “Believe” sung by Staind

Back with all the music from SYTYCD. If you missed the music from past shows you can find all of it here.

Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura danced the Salsa to the song Fuego sung by Joe Bataan choreographed by Alex Da Silva

Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura danced the Broadway to the song I’m a Woman from Smokey Joe’s Cafe choreographed by Tyce Diorio

Comfort Fedoke and Thayne Jasperson danced the Hip-hop to the song Can We Chill sung by Ne-Yo choreographed by Napoleon D’umo and Tabitha D’umo

Comfort Fedoke and Thayne Jasperson danced the Contemporary to the song A Different Corner sung by George Michael choreographed by Mandy Moore

Jessica King and William Wingfield danced the Contemporary to the song Silence from Unfaithful choreographed by Tyce Diorio

Jessica King and William Wingfield danced the Quickstep to the song Bandstand Boogie sung by Barry Manilow choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin

Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian danced the Cha-cha-cha to the song Don’t Stop the Music (The Wideboys Club Mix) sung by Rihanna choreographed by Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev

Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian danced the Jazz to the song Standing There sung by The Creatures choreographed by Mandy Moore

Kherington Payne and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced the Krump to the song 2 Buck 4 TV sung by Tha J-Squad choreographed by Lil’ C

Kherington Payne and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced the Tango to the song Assassin’s Tango from Mr. and Mrs. Smith choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

Katee Shean and Joshua Allen danced the Viennese Waltz to the song Iris sung by Goo Goo Dolls choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

Katee Shean and Joshua Allen danced the Bollywood to the song Dhoom Taana from Om Shanti Om choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan

Everyone knows that making the top 10 on So You Think You Can Dance is a huge deal since that means that you get to go on the So You Think You Can Dance tour. Sure, they always take a couple alternates, but it’s much better to have your name in lights as part of the top 10.

So, without further ado here is my projected top 10 finalists of So You Think You Can Dance and then who I personally think should be in the top 10.

Projected So You Think You Can Dance Top 10 (and my projected locks)
Girls
Kherington Payne (lock)
Courtney Galiano (lock)
Katee Shean (lock)
Chelsie Hightower
Jessica King

Guys
Twitch - Stephen Boss (lock)
Joshua Allen (lock)
Gev Manoukian
Mark Kanemura
Will Wingfield (lock as long as the judges are choosing)

Personally So You Think You Can Dance Top 10 (Basically who I would keep in my top 10)
Girls
Kherington Payne
Courtney Galiano
Katee Shean
Comfort Fedoke
Jessica King

Guys
Twitch - Stephen Boss
Joshua Allen
Gev Manoukian
Mark Kanemura
Thayne Jasperson

What do you all think?