Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Thanks, once again, to Malicious Mandy for the music from the Top 20 Performance episode.

Dancers: Bree & Edgar
Style: Dancehall
Choreographer: Jaeblaze
Song: Vybz Kartel ft Popcaan and Gaza Slim’s “Clarks” –

Dancers: Amanda & Denys
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Sabrina Matthews
Song: Hedley’s “Perfect” –

Dancers: Kirsten & Jera
Style: Paso Doble
Choreographers: Francis LeFreniere & Natalli Reznik
Song: Position Music’s “Iron Might/Mind Control”

Dancers: Nathalie & Mackenzie
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographers: Sho-Tyme
Song: DJ Khaled ft T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross “All I Do Is Win” –

Dancers: Claudia & Yonni
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographer: Danny Quillman
Song: Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce’s “Telephone” –

Dancers: Charlene & Jeff
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Alisa Turner’s “Breathing” –

Dancers: Julia & Jesse
Style: Samba
Choreographers: Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin
Song: “Cuban Pete” – from the iSweat Music album

Dancers: Danielle & Sebastian
Style: Theatre
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Song: Idina Menzel’s “No Good Deed” – from the Wicked Soundtrack

Dancers: Janick & Shavar
Style: Krump
Choreographer: Lil C
Song: Buckmouth’s “Whatever” -

Dancers: Kloe & Jonathan
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Blake McGrath
Song: Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg’s “California Gurls” –

I know this is a bit late (this was Episode 4, fyi), but I thought better late than never.

Montreal Auditions:
Opening: Cascada’s “Evacuate the Dancefloor” –
Montage: Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce’s “Telephone” –
Explanation of the process: unidentified techno
Claudia Primeau’s audition (with Francis): David Guetta ft. Akon’s “Sexy Bitch” –
Intro to Jean-Philippe Dube: The Stereos’ “Turn It Up,” which isn’t on iTunes, so try their “Summer Girl” –
Jean-Philippe Dube’s audition: Basement Jaxx’s “Right Here’s the Spot” –
Jessie Mineau and Phil Szopko’s audition: Ursula 1000′s “Kinda Kinky” –
Philippe “Phairy” Laurin’s audition: – Basement Jaxx’s “Romeo” –
As Phairy reveals his horoscope is real: Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” –
Marie-Josee Benoit and Stephan Larose audition: Madcon’s “Beggin’” –
Ariela Levi’s audition: Alicia Keys’s “Fallin’” –
Randi Liberman’s audition: Amerie’s “1 Thing” –
Yonni Fournier’s audition: something Cuban?
Montreal breakers montage: Manafest’s “Bounce” –
Montreal breakers audition: Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” –
Denys Drozdyuk’s audition: very familiar song, used for other paso dobles before
Aditi Dixit’s audition: “Ishq Samundar” from Kaante – Wish I could claim all the credit, but a Bengali friend of mine helped me out.
Julie Dombrowski’s audition: Tortured Soul’s “Fall in Love” –
Sebastian Mersch’s audition: Jay Brannan’s “Beautifully” – LOVE THIS SONG!
Nadia Carpini’s audition: Kevin Rudolf’s “Welcome to the World” –
Chantal Watt audition: no lyrics, really boring actually
Amelia Levesque Demero audition: belly dance/Middle Eastern music, couldn’t identify
Laura Brunelle audition: Cœur de Pirate’s “Comme des Enfants” – GREAT SONG! I can’t believe I found it – all my French classes paid off at last.
Mike Keane audition: Irish dancing to an Irish song
Montreal is flexible montage: The American Breed “Bend Me, Shake Me” –
Sam Frey audition: Adele’s “Hometown Glory” –
Simon Xavier audition: couldn’t identify the song
Olga Churkina audition: Middle Eastern gypsy song – not sure
Olga Zadvornova audition: no lyrics, some violins
Justine Rainville and Dan St-Cyr audition: The Pussycat Dolls’s “When I Grow Up” –
Justin Jackson (tapper) audition: Aretha Franklin’s “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)” –
Whitney Single audition: pretty famous Latin song, but I can’t remember what it is
Jason Noel audition: Hedley “Amazing” – Wow, I love this!
Josue Exposito audition: T.I. ft. Justin Timberlake’s “Dead & Gone” –
Sarah Steben interview: Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” –
Sarah Steben audition: New Boyz’s “So Dope” –
Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli audition: James Brown “Call Me (Super Bad)” –
Blake’s choreography round, aka boot camp: Black Eyed Peas’s “Meet Me Halfway” –
Yes montage: OneRepublic’s “Marchin’ On” –
Going on to finals montage: Amanda Blank’s “Make It Take It” –

It’s killing me that I haven’t been able to catch up on the Canada episodes, but thanks to Malicious Mandy, I have the music.

Dancers: Yonni & Claudia
Style: Salsa
Choreographers: Tony & Meredith
Song: Calabria 2008 (ft. Natasja & MIMS) “Single” –

Dancers: Jera & Kirsten
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Ron Pope’s “Fireflies” –

Dancers: Denys & Amanda
Style: Tango
Choreographers: Tony & Meredith
Song: Bajofondo’s “Grand Guignol” –

Dancers: Charlene & Jeff
Style: Jive
Choreographer: Danny Arbour
Song: Marianas Trench’s “Celebrity Status (Shake Shake)” –

Dancers: Danielle & Sebastian
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Longinus Fernandes
Song: Sajid-Wajid’s “Jalwa Mera Hi Jalwa” (Wanted Cast) –

Dancers: Jonathan & Kloe
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Sho-Tyme
Song: DMX’s “X Gon’ Give it to Ya” –

Dancers: Jesse & Julia
Style: New Disco
Choreographer: Melissa Williams
Song: Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” –

Dancers: Janick & Shavar
Style: Afro-Jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Songs: Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain’s “Dances with Wood” –

Dancers: Nathalie & Mackenzie
Style: Viennese Waltz
Choreographer: Pierre Allaire
Style: Hedley’s “For the Nights I Can’t Remember” –

Dancers: Bree & Edgar
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Jaeblaze
Song: Usher’s “O.M.G” –

Dancers: Hanni & Tara-Jean (Shelaina out on injury)
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Nico & Wynn
Song: Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is” –

Sorry this is so late, but it’s been a busy week. Though you already know who the Top 20 are and they’ve even performed, here is the music from the Top 20 reveal episode, thanks to Malicious Mandy.

Opening: ?

Claudia: Duffy’s “Mercy” –

Jeff: ?

Amanda: Leona Lewis’s “My Hands –

JR: ?

Montage: Black Eyed Peas’s “Rock That Body” –

Danielle: ?

Dennis: ?

Montage: B.O.B.’s “Magic” –

Yoni: Salsa Song?

Chloe: ?

Mackenzie: ?

Jenni: Télépopmusik’s “Close” –

Joe: ?

Montage: David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” –

Sebastian: ?

Julia: ?

Justin: ?

Montage: ?

That’s all I’ve got at the moment, but I’ll add more when I get a chance to watch the ep. And feel free to help us out, of course!!

Hey everybody. If you liked Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails” from the Top 6 Performance show (Kent and Twitch steppin when Billy was injured), check out the free Daytrotter session here.

I’ve been working on this post for a while and luckily I got a lot of help from my fellow writers here at PureSYTYCD. I suspect that y’all have been waiting for it, after all my teasing.

Not only are we listing YOUR favorite songs from the season, but we’re also recommending songs you may like for each of the top songs. Whew. It’s been a lot of work, but we love you and you’re great readers so it’s all worth it.

The numbers were hard to figure out, but they’re pretty accurately your favorite songs from Season 7. Please let everybody know if a song suggestion jumps out at you – I bet our readers know a lot of great music in the same vein as some of these phenomenal songs. With no further ado…

1. Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go” –

**This is a HARD one. Not because there aren’t a lot of female vocalists that I love, but because I love Lissie so much and I want to be careful who I liken her to. However, Sydney Wayser is a very good one to recommend. Try “Carousel” – and her free Daytrotter session download. I really like Isobel Campbell for example “Come Undone” – and “Who Built the Road” – . And there’s always Ellie Goulding, who’s very different from Lissie, but has sung “Everywhere I Go” with her. Try “Starry-Eyed” –

2. Damien Rice’s “Prague” –

**Margaret suggests Josh Kelley’s “Almost Honest” –
**I recommend Greg Laswell’s “And Then You” – , which I heard on the Vancouver audition episode of SYTYCD Canada Season 3.

3. Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” –

**Margaret suggests Sara Bareilles’s new song “King of Anything” –
**I suggest The Pretty Reckless’s “Make Me Wanna Die” –

4. Lil Jon ft. LMFAO’s “Outta Your Mind” –

**Amanda recommends Enrique Inglesias ft. Pitbull’s “I Like It,” – , which was featured on SYTYCD this season, actually.

5. Annie Lennox’s “Wonderful” –

**I recommend Ashley Chambliss “A Little More of You” – from SYTYCD Canada Season from the Vancouver auditions.

6. Tom McRae’s “You Only Disappear” –

**I recommend Matt Duke’s “Rabbit” – , also from SYTYCD Canada’s Vancouver auditions.

7. Roisin Murphy’s “Sinking Feeling” –

**Something by Josefine Cronholm, who “I discovered” from watching the film MirrorMask and seeing that sequence with her disjointed, haunting cover of “Close to You”, which immediately reminded me of Mia Sara’s dance to the evil side in Legend. Try “In Your Wild Garden” -. Also Kate Miller-Heidke’s “Politics in Space” – (this would make a great routine!)

8. Skunk Anansie’s “Squander” – and Thomas Dybdahl’s “Adelaide” – , which is kind of a weird choice, but I think it works. He kinda sounds like Anthony and the Johnsons, fyi. He’s my new favorite find and I found him because I did this post.

**I recommend Zola Jesus’s “Sea Talk,” which you can download free from rcrdlbl.

9. DeVotchka’s “How It Ends” –

**I recommend Beirut, particularly “Nantes” – or “Cherbourg” –

10. Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” –

**I’m thinking maybe Sky Ferreira’s “17″ – or maybe this song I just found, Noor Kamil’s “Indestructible” –

11. Florence + the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” – and “Addicted to Love” – and “Dog Days Are Over,”

**Margaret recommends Feist’s “Mushaboom” –
**Marianya recommended another Feist song (“I Feel It All” – ), then switched to Metric’s “Help I’m Alive” – , which is a great choice. Both of them, really.
**I recommend A Fine Frenzy’s “Electric Twist” –

12. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult’s “Wasted Time” –

**I recommend Julian Casablancas’s “River of Brakelights” –

13. Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold” –

**I recommend Thieves Like Us’s “Forget Me Not” – or O.Children’s “Dead Disco Dancer” –

14. Ryan Leslie’s “You’re Not My Girl” –

**I recommend Anine Stang’s “Trying You On.” Even though it’s in English, she’s Swedish or Finnish and I haven’t been able to find the song on iTunes. The first line is “You’re not my boyfriend,” though.

15. Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope” –

**I recommend Paloma Faith’s “New York” – or moi’s “After You, Sir”

16. Telepathe’s “Lights Go Down” –

**Marianya recommends Autolux’s “Asleep at the Trigger” – or School of Seven Bells’ “Connjur” –

17. Basement Jaxx ft. Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk’s “Scars” –

**Marianya recommends the Felix Da Housecat Heavenly House mix of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” – I concur – I love Nina!
**I recommend Andrew Graham and Swarming Branch’s “Take It Easy on Kathy At Least She Can Dance” –

18. Rebecca Sayre “New Girl” –

**I recommend Kate Voegele’s “Manhattan From the Sky” –

19. Michael Andrews ft. Gary Jules’s “Mad World” –

**I recommend The Weepies’ “The World Spins Madly On” –

20. Anouk’s “Lost” –

**I recommend Lykke Li’s “I’m Good, I’m Gone” –

21. Last Voices’ “Jungle” –

**I recommend Bomba Estero’s “Fuego” –

22. Dinah Washington’s “Is You or Is You Ain’t My Baby? (Rae & Christian remix” –

**Marianya suggested Dick Haymes’s “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” –
**I recommend Anna Christoffersson’s “Remember Me” –

23. Howie Day’s “Collide” –

**Margaret recommends Jazon Mraz’s “Details in the Fabric” – which was used in the Toronto audition episode of SYTYCD Canada this year. They use great music, those Canadians.

24. D.H.T. ft. Edmee’s “Listen to Your Heart” -

**I recommend Sky Ferreira and DJ Skeet Skeet’s cover of “Stand Back”

25. Kosheen’s “Hide U” –

**Marianya recommends Conjure One’s “Endless Dream” – or FC Kahuna’s “Hayling” – , though these songs are very different from each other.

26. V.V. Brown’s “L.O.V.E.” –

**Marianya recommends KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” – , which she reminded me was the elimination song on SYTYCD Season Two.
**I recommend Martine Marbel’s “Hypocrisy.”

27. Black Gold‘s “Shine” –

**I heard Neon Trees’ “Animal” – on the radio this morning and it seemed to have some of the same flavor. Plus, I love this song. Also, maybe you’d like Miniature Tigers’ “Cannibal Queen” – , too.

28. Project Jenny, Project Jan ft. So Percussion’s “You Said” –

**Again, though it was originally my suggestion and not used on the show, I’m still gonna recommend another. Yawn’s “Kind of Guy” , which is awesome and would make a great routine.

29. Ryan Calhoon “Who We Are” –

**Margaret suggested Jon McLaughlin’s “Human” -, which rocks.
**I recommend Brett Dennen’s “Because You Are A Woman” –

30. N.E.R.D. ft Nelly Furtado’s “Hot-N-Fun” –

**I recommend Santogold, Juliana Casablancas and N.E.R.D’s “My Drive Thru”

31. Jimmy James “Fashionista” –

**Marianya recommended RuPaul’s “Jealous of My Boogie” –
**I recommend Maximilian’s “Back to Start” – . He’s from Norway.

32. Kate Nash’s “Nicest Thing” –

**Margaret suggested Regina Spektor’s “Us” –
**Marianya recommended Regina Spektor’s “On the Radio” – (Isn’t it cute how they keep picking the same artists? Lol)
**Much as I love Regina, I’m gonna pick Jenny Owen Youngs’s “Porchrail” – . My favorite song of hers has a cussword in the title and throughout, so I know I’ll never see it on SYTYCD, but “Porchrail” is also really good.

33. Amy Winehouse’s “Amy Amy Amy” –

**Marianya recommends Raheem DeVaughn’s “Revelations 2010″
**I recommend Van She’s “Strangers” – or Beth Hart’s “Am I the One” – . They’re weird choices, but you’ll like the songs.

34. Sylvestor “Summertime” –

**How about a reggae version of “Must’ve Been Love” by Michelle Gordon?

35. Kate Earl “Impossible –

**Even though this was already my recommendation and not used on the show, I’m still gonna recommend another song sorta like it. A Fine Frenzy’s “Almost Lover” –

36. Ludacris and Nicki Minaj’s “My Chick Bad” –

**I recommend Santogold’s “I’m a Lady” –

37. Katie Thompson’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” –

**John actually reminded me of Elisa’s “Dancing” – and “Rainbow” – which were featured in Season 3.
**I also recommend The Watson Twins’s “Just Like Heaven” – , which has been featured on True Blood.

38. Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion” –

**Marianya recommends Pablo Agri Sexteto’s “Eramos Tan Jovenes” – or something by Bond, maybe like “Allegretto” –

39. Coldplay’s “Fix You” –

**Margaret recommends The Weepies’s “Can’t Go Back Now” –
**Marianya recommends Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” –

40. Debi Nova’s “Drummer Boy (SYTYCD remix)” –

**I recommend a possibly crazy choice (but great song), Fol Chen’s “In Ruins” –

41. Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails (Rusko remix)” – or Robyn’s “Bum Like You” –

**Marianya recommends Hyper Crush’s “Robo Tech” –

42. Joshua Radin’s “Sundrenched World” –

**I recommend Matthew Ryan’s “Jane, I Still Feel the Same” – and of course, another one of my favorite songs ever, Joshua Radin and Patty Griffin’s “You Got Growing Up to Do” –

43. David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s “When Love Takes Over” –

**Amanda recommends Flo Rida’s “Club Can’t Handle Me” –
**I suggest Ida Maria’s “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” –

44. Florence + the Machine’s “The Drumming Song” –

**I recommend Peggy Sue’s “Watchman” –

45. Cinematic Orchestra’s “That Home” –

**I recommend Thomas Dybdahl’s “Someday You’ll Dance for Me New York City” – . Told you I’m loving this dude.

46. 3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha’s “My First Kiss” – , which was on my predicted music list

**I recommend Swedish singer Pernille’s “Turn the Lights Off” –

47. District 78′s “Battle for the Beat” –

**I recommend Madcon’s “Glow” –

48. Melissa Etheridge’s “Fearless Love” –

**Marianya recommends Civil Twilight’s “Quiet in My Town” –
**I recommend Krista Detor’s “Dancing in a Minefield” –

49. Trevor Hall’s “Parachutes” –

**I recommend Ben Harper’s “Show Me a Little Shame” –

50. Train’s “The Finish Line” –

**Marianya recommends Drift Effect’s “Shifting Plates” –

And your lagniappe…
51. Max Richter and Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of Daylight” – from the “Shutter Island” soundtrack.

**Mariyana recommends Ray Charles’s “That Lucky Old Sun” –
**My weird suggestion is Joshua Bell’s “The Gypsies/Journey Across Europe” – from “The Red Violin” soundtrack.

And there you have it. Sorry for taking up almost the entire front page. Enjoy!!

So I stumbled upon this series of Black Gold performances from Spinner earlier. They’re really beautiful quality and the guys sound amazing. I can’t help feeling a little proud, like some of their success is due to SYTYCD (and us!), just like with Christina Perri and her song “Jar of Hearts” .

They play “Shine” first, of course. But then they play some of their other songs – “Dreams & Reveries,” “The Breakdown” and “The Comedown.” I could totally see “The Comedown” being used for a Mandy Moore jazzy contemporary – it’s got just enough of that funky retro 80s vibe to be right up her alley. Dare I say Eric sounds a little Bowie-esque? Maybe a bit T.Rex-ish? Tell me what you think!

And there’s an interview, fyi. I’m still partial to my own interview with Eric, of course, but it’s really cool to see Than talk a bit, since he wasn’t around when we recorded. I met him later, but we didn’t get it recorded for posterity. Anyway, the best part of the interview is when Than is so passionate talking about his vintage instruments.

If you’re a bit sick of all my raving and maybe you think you’ve heard “Shine” too many times on the show, take a moment to listen to one of their other songs or watch these videos (they’re great performers!) and you’ll quickly see why I love them so much. For instance, check out “Breakdown” below:

So I said I got Lissie‘s new album just a bit ago – and that I was loving it. Here are some more details for those of you who love her song “Everywhere I Go,” which was featured on Season 7 of SYTYCD.

Her album, “Catching a Tiger” is available now and you can catch her on tour here:

OCT. 6 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL
OCT. 7 – LOS ANGELES, CA @ TROUBADOUR
OCT. 9 – AUSTIN, TX @ AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL (12:15-1pm, ZYNC Card stage)
OCT. 10 – HOUSTON, TX @ HOUST OF BLUES Bronze Peacock
OCT. 11 – DALLAS, TX @ GRANADA THEATRE
OCT. 13 – DENVER, CO @ BLUEBIRD THEATER
OCT. 15 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB
OCT. 16 – DAVENPORT, IA @ REDSTONE ROOM @ RIVER MUSIC
OCT. 17 – CHICAGO, IL @ LINCOLN HALL
OCT. 20 – WASHINGTON, DC @ 9:30 CLUB
OCT. 21 – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ JOHNNY BRENDAS
OCT. 22 – NEW YORK, NY @ HIRO BALLROOM
OCT. 23 – BOSTON, MA @ T.T. THE BEARS

Ticket presales start today. Click here and use the username lissie and password tickets.

I think it’s really, really not cool that she’s not coming to New Orleans. I’d love for her to cram a local show in (maybe on the 8th, on your way to Austin, eh Lissie?) and come see me. If you’re lucky enough to be near one of her tour dates, I hope you’ll check her out. And tell us all about it!

In the meantime, there’s a free download of her song “In Sleep” available from rcrdlbl, one of the free and legal download sources that our readers told me about in the “So You Want Free Music” post.

Enjoy!

Filip Filipi wrote to us and let us know that Shane Sparks performs on the track “Boom” – from Filipi’s new album “Design and Origin of Stars.”

You might remember that Shane Sparks choreographed the Season 4 Top 20 group routine to “Boom.” Check it out below:

This is the last of the weekly Top SYTYCD music posts EXCEPT for one very special upcoming post where I’ll profile the top songs of the entire season – with a personalized surprise.

Top SYTYCD Music of 8/8-8/15:
1. DeVotchka’s “How It Ends” –
2. Basement Jaxx ft. Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk’s “Scars” –
3. Joshua Radin’s “Sundrenched World” –
4. Kosheen’s “Hide U” –
5. Anouk’s “Lost” –
6. Michael Andrews ft. Gary Jules’s “Mad World” –
7. Cinematic Orchestra’s “That Home” –
8. Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion” –
9. Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go” – [Speaking of Lissie, I just got her album "Catching the Tiger" in the mail and it's fantastic!]
10. Tom McRae’s “You Only Disappear” –

And your lagniappe (cause they were all pretty close this week):

11. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult’s “Wasted Time” –
12. Roisin Murphy’s “Sinking Feeling” –
13. Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope” –
14. Black Gold’s Season 7 elimination song “Shine” –
15. Telepathe’s “Lights Go Down” –
16. Coldplay’s “Fix You” –
17. Project Jenny, Project Jan ft. So Percussion’s “You Said” – from my “I Hear Music” suggested music post
18. Kate Earl “Impossible – , also from my suggested music post
19. Caravan Palace’s “Suzy” –
20. Kanye West’s “Power” –

And because the list has to end somewhere, I’ll cut it off there. Keep an eye out for my “Top SYTYCD Music of Season 7″ post with special surprise and, in the meantime, you can check out all Season 7′s music here.