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So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Vegas Week Video

We’ve been talking for a while about doing a video where the writers of Pure SYTYCD talk about the various things that happened on So You Think You Can Dance. Marianya and myself finally scheduled a hangout and talked about SYTYCD 2013 Vegas Week and projected who we thought would be in the SYTYCD top 20. It was a lot of fun analyzing the various genres including how few contemporary men there could be in the SYTYCD top 20. Plus, I pushed Marianya into predicting the SYTYCD Season 10 top 4. We have it on video now, so you can hold us accountable.

Enough summary, if you’re a SYTYCD fan then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this video:

We’d love to hear if you agree or disagree in the comments of this post or on the YouTube comments.

Also, let us know what you think about the video. Do you like the format? Should we do it again? Would you like to join us in a future G+ hangout?

June 17, 2013 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Vegas Week Music

We’re back again with the list of music from SYTYCD 2013 Vegas week. The music on Vegas Week is always hard to do since it doesn’t always follow the same pattern, but Marianya’s a rockstar and will likely get most of it for you. Feel free to share the songs you know in the comments as well. You can find the previous week’s music here.

Also, we’re excited to announce that Thursday June 13th at 6:30 PM EST (3:30 PM PST) we’re going to do our first ever SYTYCD 2013 G+ hangout. We’ll post an embed of the video stream here on Pure SYTYCD, or you can watch it on the linked G+ hangout event page. If you love SYTYCD, then I think you’ll enjoy our SYTYCD Vegas Week banter. If you can’t make the live broadcast, you can subscribe to the Pure TV Network YouTube page where the video will be posted after the event.

Now on to the music!

SYTYCD Vegas Week Music
Before Title Credits
Nuttin But Stringz(?) (I am fairly certain that a piece of music from a Nuttin But Stringz soundtrack was used, I just don’t know which song off the top of my head).

SOLO ROUND
Malece Miller’s Solo: Elizaveta – Meant Meant - Beatrix Runs
Staying in Vegas Montage: OneRepublic – Life in Color Life In Color - Native (Deluxe Version)
Donovan Gibbs Solo:
Montage of Dancers being sent home: Lykke Li – Tonight Tonight - Youth Novels (Special Edition)
DuShant “Fik-Shun” Stegall: Drehz – Heart Cry Heart Cry - Perpetual Emotions

HIP HOP ROUND
Pass Round: Capital Cities – Safe and Sound Safe and Sound - In a Tidal Wave of Mystery

JAZZ ROUND
Choreography Music: Disclosure feat. Sam Smith – Latch Latch (feat. Sam Smith) - Settle
Next Morning: Elton John – Good Morning Freedom Good Morning Freedom - The Legendary Covers Album
Pass Round: The Knocks – Magic Magic (feat. Gary Go) - Magic - EP
Did Not Pass Round: Nikisha Reyes-Pile – So Cold (lyrics by Ben Cocks) So Cold (The Good Wife trailer) - ...As Heard In

BALLROOM ROUND
Choregraphy Music: Aretha Franklin – Respect Respect - Aretha Franklin: 30 Greatest Hits
Pass Round: Cimorelli – Believe It Believe It - Believe It - EP

GROUP CHOREOGRAPHY
Boston Inspired Group: Mark Masri – I Can’t Make You Love Me I Can't Make You Love Me - See My Face
Group Two (including Fik-Shun, Jasmine): Timomatic – Set It Off Set It Off - Set It Off - EP
Pass Round: Heavy feat. The Dap-Kings Horns – Coleen Coleen (feat. The Dap-Kings Horns) - Great Vengeance and Furious Fire

CONTEMPORARY CHOREOGRAPHY
Choreography Music: Ed Sheeran – Give Me Love Give Me Love - + (Deluxe Version)
Not Pass Round: Jake Bugg – Someplace Someplace - Jake Bugg
BluPrint vs Jade Animation Battle: Thriftworks – Tho Sthick

June 11, 2013 I Written By

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

SYTYCD Vegas Week Drinking Game

I’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance for quite a while now and I’ve noticed some tropes that happen every single year. Despite the dancing getting better, the stories being more and more dramatic and the injuries going up every year, it can be a bit boring to have the same trope year after year. That’s why they invented drinking games.

You don’t have to do this with alcohol. I would recommend doing it with soda or water. Fill up a tall glass and get ready for Vegas week.

Note: I created this before the Vegas show aired. Judges/choreographers could be different.

Initial Solos

Take a shot/sip if:

A judge cries during a solo

Mary screams

Lil C makes an elaborate analogy

Lil C uses a fancy word to sound smart and eloquent

Extra shot/sip: if the other judges are confused at his vocabulary too

Adam starts screaming

Different Styles

Take a shot/sip if:

A dancer exclaims “This is hard!” or “I’m tired”

A dancer mugs to the camera (optional to avoid alcohol/water poisoning)

A choreographer yells at a dancer

Bonus if it’s Mia, Tyce or Sonya

The Judges say “I expected more out of you” or “We’re disappointed in you”

Somebody hurts themselves

Dancers start crying and/or claim they don’t understand what the judges are looking for

A dancer out of their element gets called out for being out of their element

A dancer quits because they can’t do choreography

The Group Number

This one is ripe with tropes. Take smaller sips to avoid dying.

Two dancers of different styles don’t get along

Two dancers start screaming at each other

Dancers scream “I’m done!” or “I’ve had enough”

One dancer bashes a member of their group to the camera behind their back

Groups go to bed early after giving up

Dancers admit to being nervous about their group

The Judges are not impressed

Bonus if the judges say “I’m disappointed” or “I expected more”

Dance for Your Life

If your favorite dancer gets sent home, drown your sorrows and drain your glass.

Picking the Top Twenty

Take a shot/sip if:

The judges psyche out a contestant

A dancer with an entire back story gets sent home

A dancer the show spent no time on in auditions makes the top twenty (there’s always one)

 

If your favorite dancer makes the top twenty, drain your glass. WOO HOO! TOP TWENTY!

I Written By

Rachel considers herself a dancer in that she loves to dance and has fun doing it. She works part time for RAW Hollywood Artist of the year Ricky Rebel as his street team leader and loves watching him dance on stage. She has brushed arms with Alexander Fost from season 8 and other famous people.

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.

July 11, 2012 I Written By

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!

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?

June 20, 2012 I Written By

I am a blogger and reality tv lover. I blog here for SYTYCD but mostly the Canada version, since I live in Vancouver BC. I also blog about other reality tv shows on my own blog www.mandysmind.com

SYTYCD 7: Las Vegas “Special Mentions”

So while watching the show, again (and again and again)… I noticed that after the first solos of Vegas Week and cutting twenty-odd dancers, the judges called up about fourteen dancers because they believed that this group of dancers deserve a “special mention”

I don’t know if this was ever done in a previous Las Vegas week, but I found it kind of intriguing that they called out fourteen dancers (five men and nine women) for a special mention because the judges seem to like them a lot… is this an indication of who could possibly be in the Top 10 this season?

Of the names and faces I was able to catch:

Women (9):
– Giselle Peacock (New York) – Ballroom
– Ida Saki (Dallas) – Contemporary
– Alicia Clifton (Dallas)
– Arielle Coker – Contemporary?
– Lexie Contursi (Los Angeles) – Contemporary [black jacket w/ white zipper, off-white flower patterned top]
– Lauren Froderman (Los Angeles) – Contemporary/Jazz [green top, black shorts, shorter blond hair]
– Rebecca Hart (Dallas) – Contemporary [blonde, black two-piece w/ white overlay top (same outfit from Dallas auditions)]

Men (5):
– Billy Bell (Las Vegas) – Contemporary
– Alex Wong (Las Vegas) – Ballet
– Anthony Burrell (New York) – Contemporary
– Kent Boyd (Ohio) – Contemporary
– Dujuan Smart – Contemporary

If anyone could help complete the list, that’d be great… Just leave a comment or contact us with information!

The judges are known to have favorites from season to season, and those that don’t make it for any reason in a particular season, are known to come back in a future season. Some come back multiple times (Hok Konishi, Bianca Rivels), some were given free passes to Vegas week (Phillip Chbeeb, Nathan Trasoras), or some have worked with the choreographers before (Lauren Gottlieb) or they happen to be related to past contestants in some capacity and as thus know the judges/choreographers via association… so even if any of the above don’t make it this season, the fact that they already seem to have caught the eyes the judges I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them in a future season.

[Addendum] So I was watching last night’s episode again and couldn’t help but wonder, had Adechike Torbert not danced tap during the morning solos of Vegas week… and instead danced contemporary… would he have been part of the “Special Mentions”? At the same time, had he danced contemporary instead of tap, he may not have had the opportunity to “dance for your life”. What’s done is done, but it’s fun to speculate!

June 4, 2010 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

So You Think You Can Dance 2010 Las Vegas Week

Earlier Emilie posted about the SYTYCD Season 7 contestants that were seen participating this week in the SYTYCD 2010 Las Vegas Week: Billy Bell, Brandon Dumlao and Alex Wong. The good news is that we have more information about the So You Think You Can Dance 2010 Las Vegas Week.

Motivated by Emilie’s post and a little bit of prodding from Pure SYTYCD’s new blogger, Marianya, I decided to make the trip down to the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas to see if I couldn’t crash the So You Think You Can Dance season 7 auditions. I say crash because we recently reached out to our SYTYCD press contact to get access, but hadn’t heard anything yet. Why we don’t have a direct line to the So You Think You Can Dance PR people, I don’t know. You’d think they’d love SYTYCD bloggers like our site. Not like we’re hard to contact. Just go to our Contact Us page, but I digress.

So, I headed down to the SYTYCD 7 Las Vegas week auditions. Before heading down I realized a few issues. First, I had my 6 year old son with me. Not a huge deal, but I’d have to explain to a 6 year old boy why it’s fun to hang out in front of a theater seeing random people come out. Second, my wife is out of town with my other 2 kids and of course took the camera and video camera with her to record the trip. That left me with our older video camera which turned out to have a dead battery.

I charged about 10 minutes of charge on the video camera and headed down to see what I could see. Luckily, I knew the theater they were using since I’d been there previously for the Miss America pageant and some other event. I was also lucky that the doors to the theater lobby are glass.

When we got there, sure enough there was a big sign saying that they were filming So You Think You Can Dance and some message about you might be caught on camera and shown on broadcast TV. Then, there was a security guy at the door. Inside the lobby I could see some producers sitting at a table and then a girl came running out the lobby door. So, I pulled out my camera and started shooting the sign and inside the lobby.

Remember I only had 10 minutes of battery so I had to save the battery as much as possible. After my first shot, I saw a girl run out of the lobby door and seemed to be heading to her room. I was mad the camera was off and missed her. So, I somehow convinced my son to hang around with me, hoping I could catch her as she came back. Of course, she came running back even faster and I missed her again. Dang.

Well, long story short, I did a number of circles around the place with my son with him likely not having any idea what I was really doing. Although, it was funny when I got him on camera and the sign for “Peep Show.” Uh, no. I did catch 2-3 girls on camera as they were exiting or inside getting interviewed. Didn’t recognize any of them, but one of them came out and was with her parents and some luggage. So, I’m assuming she must have been sent home?

However, the most exciting find was when I saw Teddy Tedholm. You remember Teddy? The guy with the bow tie and the crazy golf pants his mom bought him? I actually got quite a bit of video of Teddy. Even saw him being filmed leaving and then I filmed him leaving completely. It was kind of funny. He did look kind of disappointed, but maybe I was just reading into things. (Update: SYTYCDism has Teddy listed as cut in the hip hop round (which was today), so I must have seen him just after he was cut.)

Of course, you could be the judge for yourself, but unfortunately I have some issues with getting the video off the camera. Since it’s my old camera I have to reinstall a special card to export it to my computer…Ugh! So, hopefully tomorrow I’ll get around to doing that and I’ll upload a few videos for you all to enjoy. Plus, then you can tell me if you recognize any of the dancers in the videos. One of them was with Teddy and she was really excited when Teddy wasn’t so happy. So, I’m assuming she made it through.

It was pretty fun going and kind of being paparazzi like. I might have to try this again tomorrow and/or Saturday. Anyone know how long the Vegas Auditions go? Videos from the experience tomorrow.

April 15, 2010 I Written By

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

The SYTYCD Rant: Let’s Hear About Your Favorite Dancers Getting Sent Home

Since we’re in the Las Vegas round, it’s the perfect time to have what I’m calling the SYTYCD rant. This is where I’m going to rant about my favorite dancers getting sent home. Only problem is that I’m on the west coast and so I still have an hour until the show airs. Once the show airs I’ll be updating this post with my feelings on who I thought shouldn’t have been sent home. Until I get to enjoy So You Think You Can Dance, I welcome you to post your SYTYCD rant in the comments. Come on! Let it all out. It will make you feel better to see other people who feel the same way you do.

My SYTYCD rants…

Natalie Reid – I’m sure that no one will be surprised with this rant. What a way to cut tonight’s episode. First, you show Natalie Reid and Brandon Bryant rocking out and demonstrating Sonya’s choreography for the others and then next thing you know she’s being kicked off of So You Think You Can Dance. I do have to agree that Natalie’s actual performance wasn’t as good as what Brandon and her did together, but it does seem like something’s missing in this story.

Everyone watching the show from home thought that Natalie Reid should have gotten a chance to dance for their life. To be honest, they didn’t use the Dance for Your Life card nearly enough this season. Lil’ C said on his twitter that you only get to dance for your life if someone disagrees, but they said that Natalie Reid going home was unanimous. I guess there goes my theory that she maybe did dance for her life and it just landed on the virtual cutting room floor.

All of this said, I thought that Natalie Reid would make it to the So You Think You Can Dance top 20, but I wasn’t too disappointed to see her go. Just sad for her more than anything.

Caitlin Kinney Dancing for Her Life
Ok, I know that Caitlin kind of screwed up Mia’s choreography, but that doesn’t matter to me. The judges should lay their hands off my Caitlin Kinney. Sure, I was glad to be able to see more of Caitlin Kinney dancing, but they definitely shouldn’t have scared me by leaving the vote to Mary Murphy. Seriously, it may be the only time I was happy with Mary Murphy this season. She made a phenomenal choice to keep Caitlin Kinney on the show.

Ok, so yes I’m showing some utter and complete bias on this rant, but that’s what being a fan is all about. Now everyone that reads this website will know my bias up front. Although, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Mia is Such a Wench
There are probably a few other words that aptly describe Mia, but I like to avoid using those words. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy watching her choreography. She definitely has an awkwardly creative mind that has hit a few home runs on So You Think You Can Dance. I just didn’t like her as a judge. She was so arrogant about being a judge. Nice to see she’s opinionated, but it went too far a few times I think. Of course, Mary Murphy is still at the top of my list of least favorite judges and will remain there forever. Anyone else notice that Mary Murphy said so little in this round. That’s because she says so little of worth.

Missing Dancers
I’m not really sure how they resolve this issue, but I’d like to get to know more of the dancers and see more of the dances. I’ll give the show a bit of a pass since they have a lot of dancing to cram into 2 hours. However, I wish they offered the bonus footage of all the extra dancing and outtakes on fox.com. Maybe they’ll finally figure that out in their 10th season of the show.

I must admit that I thought I’d have a lot more rants. I think that’s a really good sign for the show. It was incredibly entertaining and the quality of the dancers in the top 20 is awesome. I can’t wait to find out who are the official So You Think You Can Dance top 20. Are there any other SYTYCD rants that I missed?

June 3, 2009 I Written By

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