Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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.

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!

This is my first edition of what I believe will be many posts talking about the various tweets being sent on Twitter by those related to or on So You Think You Can Dance. Twitter has really become a great way to be able to connect with So You Think You Can Dance. It’s how I got my interview with Bollywood choreographer Nakul and how I was able to connect with Nappytabs for a future interview (assuming things don’t fall apart). Anyway, you can check out our list of So You Think You Can Dance twitter accounts to stay up with your favorite people from SYTYCD. Otherwise, here’s our quick summary of some of the things happening on twitter related to SYTYCD:

Snap, Crackle, and Pop wrote a nice piece covering Lacey Schwimmer’s distaste for the current season of So You Think You Can Dance. Here are Lacey Schwimmer’s tweets about SYTYCD. Seems like she should have had a lesson in PR before sending these out, but I’ll let you be the judge. Here they are:
“Is at home watching a certain reality show….and is very disappointed :/”

“a certain reality show is starting to get on my nerves. no longer professionals….just generic…blah”
and
“uhhmm im sorry im beeing catty but im like gasping for air on how bad it is this season.”

About Max being cut she tweeted, “honestly hes no partner dancer….yuck”

“maybe you forget i went to top 4 on sytycd? and have more qualifing dance credits than many.”

“i never said i wasnt greatful….infact i love it for what it has done for me and my brother and friends.”

“all 3 people who are not liking my opinion… relax….i know what dancing is. and im allowed an opinion…sorry you feel the need to attack.”

I think that most people know that Nigel Lythgoe was having surgery this weekend. Nigel had to miss the SYTYCD season 6 auditions in New Orleans, but is suppose to be back for the show on Wednesday. Nigel tweeted the following after his surgery, “Post-op news. The surgery was a complete success. I now have permanent earplugs!!!! Only kidding, my disc op was evidently completed well!”

Nigel also sent the following tweet to Paula Abdul, “@PaulaAbdul a very very Happy Birthday. I do hope you’re coming to mine. Are you going to choreograph on SYTYCD this year?” Could be interesting and good for ratings to have Paula Abdul on So You Think You Can Dance. I’m not so excited to see her on the show, but it should be a bit of a ratings boost and great to get a big name on the show. Better than that lip syncer.

Adam Shankman sent out this tweet, “Me, @danabrunetti, and the real Deeley. She’s goin on Twitter soon, get ready! http://yfrog.com/0wvw4xj” Did he just say Cat Deeley would be on twitter soon? We’ll be watching for this. I can’t wait.

Lil’ C tweeted about the So You Think You Can Dance 6 auditions, “Jus saw some New Orleans Bounce!!!! It was Bucc!!!!” and “Found some diamonds in the rough yesterday, and hoping that we unearth more gems in todays auditions…operating on no sleep, bucc’n it out!” and “It’s been a very long audition day in New Orleans folks!!!!!! A very long day indeed, and I’ve only used the word “Bucc” 1x”

Let me know if you like this. Maybe we should turn it into a regular post. Good news is it looks like I’m going to be bringing on some help. Not enough of me to go around. Watch for that soon.

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 must admit that I’m not really big into spoilers. I usually try to avoid them. That’s why I have to avoid my Pure SYTYCD twitter account so the east coast doesn’t ruin it for me. However, I know that many of my readers love to read So You Think You Can Dance spoilers. So, here’s a link to some pretty good discussion of who’s made it to SYTYCD 2009 las vegas and who is confirmed as the So You Think You Can Dance 2009 top 20.

Personally, I like to be surprised and guess who the top 20 are going to be without spoilers. However, I don’t mind (and kind of enjoy) spoilers about the audition shows. For example, SYTYCDism posted these SYTYCD spoilers for tonight’s episode:

- Asuka Kondoh [and her partner Ricky]
- Rey Barcena
- The Return of Sex
- Adam Shankman’s audition
- Joshua Allen, Katee Shean, Comfort Fedoke, Lauren Gottlieb cameos
and much more!

I also saw that Nigel said on his twitter feed that Sex won’t be back after we see what happens tonight at the Seattle auditions. Nigel also leaked that there would be a “battle” tonight that made him laugh. I hope the battle is with sex and a posse of past SYTYCD alumni who just dance circles around him. That would be fun to watch.

I hope Adam Shankman doesn’t make it through to Las Vegas. Except maybe as a judge. I don’t mind him behind the desk. Although, him auditioning is a rip off of Dance Wars (I think that’s the one) where Nick Lachey (sp?) auditioned for the show.

I must admit that I’m very excited that Nigel Lythgoe has chosen to get on Twitter. I’m not sure how happy Fox and So You Think You Can Dance is about him being on Twitter, but I love getting little tidbits of information like the one Nigel just posted 3 hours ago saying the following:

“We have just chosen our Top 20 and informed them. Excellent dancers, exciting prospects and a few risks!!?”

Time to start discussing who we think will be part of the now chosen So You Think You Can Dance 2009 top 20.

I’ve already predicted Natalie Reid, Brandon Bryant, and Kayla Radomski to make it into the So You Think You Can Dance season 5 top 20. My prediction is a combination of how great they danced and also how much attention SYTYCD has given to them on the show. SYTYCD likes to build the story lines early I think.

Yes, that means I’ve left Gabi Rojas out of my SYTYCD season 5 top 20. If I’m wrong, that’s good with me. She is a great dancer, but I’m predicting her having trouble with other styles like ballroom.

Is there anyone from the SYTYCD 5 premiere that I should also add into the SYTYCD 5 top 20?

I’ll also drop a name that I heard might have made it to the top 20. My source wasn’t certain if she made it to the SYTYCD 5 top 20 or not, but we should at least see her on an upcoming show. Her name is Diana Vaden. I’ll be watching for Diana Vaden in an upcoming season and make a final judgment, but it’s fun to get little SYTYCD 5 spoilers like this. We’ll see how it all pans out.

Nigel just sent out the following tweet: “I hear I’m taking a beating on the web due to my comments regarding same sex ballroom I thought I was the most accepting of it on the panel?”

I talked about this in my SYTYCD 2009 Premiere thoughts post, but I have a feeling that we’re going to hear a lot more about this. I expect that Nigel and Fox will probably come out with some sort of formal apology as well.

It will be interesting to see the fallout from this. I’ve already seen references to Miss California and asking for Perez Hilton to comment on it.

UPDATE: If you want the music from other SYTYCD season 5 episode’s here’s where I’ll be posting the music from the most recent episodes of SYTYCD Season 5.

I must admit that I always find it a little bit difficult to write about the audition episodes of So You Think You Can Dance. They go through people so quickly that it’s really hard for me to keep up with everyone. So many new people and so many new names. It gets much easier once we make it to the top 20.

Until then, I’ll still provide random thoughts and other tidbits that hopefully you’ll find interesting.

I guess we now know why Nigel was interested in our response to Tiffany Geigle, Gabi Rojas and “Mutations” on SYTYCD 5. Tiffany Geigle was indeed interesting and inspiring. The thing that disappointed me most was that Nigel didn’t allow Tiffany Geigle to go on to the choreography round. Why not let her have a cool experience that she could get no where else? Maybe there were other reasons I didn’t know about.

The same gender ballroom guys I actually feel the opposite. They should have never been sent to choreography. I know that Nigel Lythgoe is getting flamed on the boards for his comments about these guys. However, I think they’re missing the point. These two guys weren’t very good dancers. I don’t care if it was a guy and a girl. They would have never been put through to choreography if they were a guy and girl. Did Nigel forget that these 2 guys fell on their backsides? Seriously, in dancing that’s the equivalent of a juggler dropping something. They didn’t deserve choreography after the fall.

I made a prediction on Twitter that Kayla would make the SYTYCD season 5 top 20. She just was an awesome dancer with an awesome look and an awesome story. The picture of her grandfather sleeping at her dance studio is just awesome.

The story of Natalie (Katee Shean’s friend) coming back this season was good too. I don’t personally think that Natalie has that special star quality that Katee had, but I do expect Natalie to make the top 20 this year, but bow out in the early stages of the show.

I know there are some more people I missed that should be mentioned. I’ll save that for tomorrow when I have a chance to review some of the videos. What I did miss on this episode was dancers that were kind of in that middle ground. I like the raw talents that are hard to select. It seemed like almost all of the dancers on the show tonight were clear cut either Las Vegas, choreography or out. Not too much actual deliberation.

Before I go, I did want to list a couple of the songs that I’m sure people will be looking for from the So You Think You Can Dance season 5 premiere:

Song at the beginning of the episode was “Pocket Piano (Joakim Remix)” by DJ Mehdi

Montage of girl dancers (when Sonia was freaking out) was to the song “Jungle Drum” by Emiliana Torrini

Natalie Reid from Seattle danced to “Breakdown More” by Eric Hutchinson

Gabi Rojas danced to “Moonray” by Zap Mama

Brandon Bryant danced to “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff (from “Carmina Burana)

Kayla Radomski danced to “Blackbird” by Dionne Farris Buy CD on Amazon

Saalim “Storyboard” Muslim and his partner Habby “Hobgoblin” Jacques (”Mutation”) danced to the song

Chimezie Nwosu danced to the song “I Question Mark” by Wade Robson

Arielle Taylor danced to the song “Walking On” by Blaire Reinhard

Peter Sabasino (italian tapper) danced to the song

Kellen Stancil (umbrella) danced to the song “Like I am” by Rascal Flatts

Elias Holloway and Enoch Holloway danced to the song “Techno Rock” by Heiko And Maiko

Background song at beginning of SYTYCD season 5 Denver auditions is “Dancing On The Perimeter” by The Actual

Lauren’s choreography was done to Neyo – “Nobody”

After New York choreography round: “Lights and Music” (Boys Noize remix) by Cut Copy

Mitch & Misha Intro – The Weather Girls – “It’s Raining Men”

Mitch and Mishka danced to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes with the Black Eyed Peas

Mitch & Misha Exit – James Brown – “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

Nobuya Nagahama talked with the background music “Tokyo Drift” (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) by Teriyaki Boyz and then danced to the song “Peace Pipe” by BT Express

Intro to New York – KISS – “New York Groove”

Brooklyn Bounce – The Hives – “Well All Right!”

Mutation intro – Paul Wall – “My Life”

Tiffany Geigel – Enya – “The First Of Autumn” Download MP3 on Amazon

Maksim Kapitannikov – Blackout All-Stars – “I Like It (Like That)”

Day 2 New York Intro – Andrew WK – “I Love NYC”

Thomas Martin – Destiny’s Child – “Emotions”

Day 2 New York Bad Dancer Montage – Daft Punk – “Robot Rock”

Day 2 Vegas Tickets Montage – Ben Lee – “Just Say Yes”

Katherine Lynch – Janet Jackson – “Feedback”

Alison Moist – John Williams – “Theme From Star Wars”

Denver Day 2 Bad Dancer Montage – Leo Sayer – “Long Tall Glasses”

Arielle Taylor danced to the song “Walking On” by Blaire Reinhard

Montage sending people through in Denver (starting with Max) is to the song “Don’t Stop” by Lauren Elle (seems like the song is only currently available on Lauren’s myspace page) (This is the Don’t stop dancing, dancing song)

I’ll keep adding songs to this list of SYTYCD 5 music as I find it.

In anticipation of tonight’s premiere of So You Think You Can Dance season 5, I thought it would be fun to look at the things I’m least looking forward to see on this season of SYTYCD. No worries though, I will be following up with a post of my favorite reasons to watch So You Think You Can Dance season 5 shortly.

Without further ado, the least anticipated parts of So You Think You Can Dance season 5:
Mary Murphy Screaming – This was funny the first time. Pretty good the second time. Now, it’s just annoying. Nigel faking like it’s hurting his ears is old too. Just stop screaming. That’s not good entertainment.
Nigel (or other non athletic choreographer) Dancing – There are far too many great dancers on the show to try and do some cutesy thing and have Nigel come out dancing. I know Adam Shankman challenged Nigel to a dance, but just don’t do it. Remember Mary Murphy and Dmitry Chaplin? Just as big of a bomb. There are some of the choreographers I wouldn’t mind seeing dancing. Wade, Shane, Lil C and probably a few others, but none of the others. Cat would also be fun since she’s so adorable and untrained.
Favorite Dancer Getting Sent Home – Yes, this is bound to happen. Remember Allison Holker? Yep, she was sent home far too early and the cry was heard around the world. Someone else that is an incredibly talented dancer will get sent home too early again this year and we will mourn their loss.
Sex – No, they don’t have sex on SYTYCD. Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about that wretched dancer who must be delusional to keep coming back to audition. Maybe this year, Nigel and company will finally cut him out in the editing process and he’ll stop coming back for good.
Single Style Dancer Sent Home – Someone who’s incredibly incredibly talented in their own style will get sent home because they can’t do the other styles. This is really sad, because usually you want to see them dance for their life again and again.

Any other parts of So You Think You Can Dance that are the worst?

Looks like So You Think You Can Dance is trying to reach out to the Latin community. Makes a lot of since to promote to them. There are a ton of really great latin dancers that probably should be trying out for the show and aren’t doing so yet. All of that said, it is pretty goofy to watch Nigel Lythgoe try and speak spanish to promote So You Think You Can Dance 5.

The good part about dance is that language matters very little. The show is still wonderful to watch.