Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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.” –

The Top 6 Justin Giles Group Routine was danced to: Lia Ices’s “Grown Unknown” –

Sasha danced her solo to: Miri Ben-Ari’s “We Gonna Win” – (I love the name of her album – The Hip-Hop Violinist, awesome!)

Caitlynn danced her solo to: Natasha Bedingfield’s “Touch” –

Melanie danced her solo to: Sia’s “My Love” –

Tadd danced his solo to: Tower of Power’s “Only So Much Oil in the Ground” –

Marko danced his solo to: James Morrison’s “You Give Me Something”-

Rickey danced his solo to: London Music Works and Clint Mansell’s “Requiem for a Tower” –

LoFro and Kent re-danced their Travis Wall Prom routine to: Howie Day’s “Collide” –

The Bad Boys of Dance danced to: Daft Punk’s “Derezzed” – from the Tron Legacy soundtrack.

We say goodbye to Caitlynn to: Greyson Chance’s “Waiting Outside the Lines” –

Pia Toscano sang her single: “This Time” –

We say goodbye to Rickey to: Sharif Iman’s “Shine” –

Oh my! I can’t believe we’re this close to the end of Season 8. I can’t wait to see what great routines the show has in store for us tonight.

Melanie danced a Nappytabs hip hop with Twitch to: Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne’s “Roman’s Revenge” –

Sasha danced a Tyce Diorio contemporary with Kent to: Me’shell Ndegéocello’s “Fool of Me” –

Marko danced a Dmitry Chaplin paso doble with Janette to: Antonia Gomez’s “Zorongo” –

Rickey danced his solo to: Justin Nozuka’s “After Tonight” –

Tadd danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz (?) with Ellenore to: Beirut’s “The Gulag Orkestar” –

Caitlynn danced her solo to: Katie Thompson’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” –

Rickey danced a Dee Caspary contemporary with Jaimie to: Trent Dabbs’s “Inside These Lines” –

Tadd danced his solo to: Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup’s “We Speak No Americano” –

Sasha danced her solo to: Lady Gaga’s “Teeth” –

Caitlynn danced a Dmitry Chaplin samba with Pasha to: Kat DeLuna’s “Drop It Low” –

Marko danced his solo to: James Morrison’s “Wonderful World” –

Melanie danced her solo to: Freestylers ft Belle Humble’s “Cracks” –

Sasha and Rickey danced a Kumari Suraj waacking routine to: Beyonce’s “Schoolin’ Life” – can’t find this on iTunes yet. I’ll keep looking.

Melanie and Tadd danced a Spencer Liff Broadway routine to: Shirley Bassey’s “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story” –

Caitlynn and Marko danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz routine to: Florence + the Machine’s “Heavy in Your Arms” –

Odds are, Lady Gaga will be a better musical performer than last week’s Blush. Excited to see what music we’ll have tonight, all around.

Here we go, the live list…

The Top 8 danced a Tyce Diorio jazz to: James Newton Howard’s “The Circus Sets Up” – from the soundtrack of “Water for Elephants”

LXD performed to: Kerry Muzzey’s “Bernini’s Angels” –

Spoiler space for the solos:

Read more…

Hi everybody! I will be at a meeting tonight and might miss the beginning of tonight’s episode, so I need your help. If you’ll let me know the music in the comments, I’ll make sure it gets put into a pretty list with links as soon as I possibly can. We have such a great community here and I love knowing I can count on y’all for help whenever I’m running late! Thanks!

Sasha danced a Jonathan Roberts quickstep with Pasha to: Terry Snyder’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” –

Caitlynn danced a Marty Kudelka hip hop with Ivan to: Mario’s “Let Me Love You” –

Jordan danced a Tyce Diorio jazz with Ade to: Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limit” –

Melanie danced a Mandy Moore contemporary with Neil to: Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” –

Rickey danced a Jason Gilkison  jive with Anya to: Celine Dion’s “River Deep, Mountain High” –

Jess danced a Nappytabs hip hop with Lauren G. to: Rihanna’s “Take A Bow” –

Tadd danced a Mandy Moore jazz with Lauren F. to: Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” –

Marko danced a Sonya Tayeh contemporary with Allison to: Jeff Buckley’s “I Know It’s Over” –

Caitlynn and Tadd danced a Jonathan Roberts foxtrot to: Ella Fitzgerald’s “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” –

Marko and Rickey danced a Nappytabs hip hop to: Diddy ft. Black Rob and Mark Curry’s “Bad Boy for Life” –

Jordan and Jess danced a Jason Gilkison rhumba to: Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” –

Melanie and Sasha danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz to: District 78′s “Game On” –

This is a silly post I got the idea for last week (Sasha and Twitch made me think of it). It occurred to me that while routines with props can go either way, there are A LOT of routines choreographed around a table that seem to be highly memorable. So, I thought it’d be fun to look at some of those.

First, probably the most memorable table routine, the one that people generally think of when you say “the table routine” is from Season 3. Sabra and this week’s All-Star Neil dancing a Mandy Moore jazz routine.

Next memorable I’d say is the Travis Wall contemporary routine danced by Ellenore and Legacy in Season 6, the “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” routine.

Then, there’s the super-hot crossbreed of samba and hip hop that Dmitry and Nappytabs choreographed for Season 5′s Top 16, which featured several tables (and water!).

I also couldn’t help thinking of this Tyce Diorio-choreographed jazz routine with Season 7′s Kent and All-Star Courtney featuring one of my favorite Amy Winehouse tunes, “Amy, Amy, Amy” .

Season 7 also had a phenomenally memorable Top 6 group routine which featured a table. Choreographed by Mia Michaels, it should’ve shown off eventual winner (and this week’s All-Star) LoFro, who was injured, but instead All-Star Allison (then and last week) took her place.

Here’s a video of LoFro performing it on tour:

Which brings us to the inspiration for this post, last week’s “Misty Blue” , choreographed by Christopher Scott and danced so fabulously by Season 8′s Sasha and All-Star (of all time) Twitch.

All of this “evidence” that tables make for great routines *almost* makes me wish that Caitlynn and Mitchell’s Stacey Tookey choreography to “Turning Tables” had had a table in it instead of two armchairs and lamps. Except, it’s just so memorable on its own. I’ll include it anyway.

Can y’all think of any other great table routines I’ve forgotten? Can you think of a bad table routine ever in SYTYCD history? And you’re not limited to the American version of the show. Go for it!

UPDATE:

Thanks for commenter Anne who reminded me about Wade Robson’s Season 6 Top 20 routine, “Comanche.” I miss Wade so much. This is such a good one, check it out:

We’ll see the first individual cuts tonight and (most likely) the reveal of next week’s All-Star’s. I’m excited to see what music goes along with all of that.

The music list will be updated here live…

Top 10 Broadway group routine choreographed by Josh Berebus (sp?): “Act I: On Broadway” – from “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”

Daniil Simpkin danced to: Jacques Brel’s “Les Bourgeois” –

Spoiler space for the solos…

Read more…

I’m so excited to see the routines tonight – Top 10 is always a great moment in the season and I’m excited to see what the All-Stars bring to the table. Many of them were All-Stars last season, we we already know they’re great, but it will be nice to see them interact with new dancers. And oh yes, I’m sure the music will be incredible. Here we go…

Marko danced a Jason Gilkison samba with Chelsie to: Kate Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano” –

Sasha danced her solo to: Duffy’s “Syrup & Honey” –

Jordan danced a Desmond & Dwight contemporary with Brandon to: Jessie J’s “Who You Are” –

Jess danced his solo to: Harry Connick, Jr.’s “Come By Me” –

Tadd danced a Chuck Maldanado hip hop with Comfort to: Chris Brown ft Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes’s “Look At Me Now” –

Melanie danced her solo to: Angus & Julia Stone’s “You’re the One that I Want” –

Mitchelle danced a Tyce Diorio Broadway with Melody to: “Take Off With Us” – from “All That Jazz”

Rickey danced his solo to: Cassidy Haley’s “Daylight Breaks” –

Clarice danced her solo to: Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” –

Caitlynn danced a Miriam & Leonardo Argentine tango to: Orquesta Color Tango’s “Malajunta” –

Mitchell danced his solo to: John Legend’s “This Time” –

Sasha danced a Christopher Scott hip hop to: Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue” –

Jordan danced her solo to: Lykke Li’s “Tonight” –

Jess danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary with Kathryn to: Christina Perri’s “The Lonely” –

Tadd danced his solo to: Robin Thicke’s “Everything I Can’t Have” –

Melanie danced a Jason Gilkison Viennese waltz with Pasha to: Tina Arena’s “Everybody Hurts” –

Caitlynn danced her solo to: Florence & the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” –

Rickey danced a Tyce Diorio jazz with Allison to: Tori Amos’s “Precious Things” –

Marko danced his solo to: Gavin DeGraw’s “More Than Anyone” –

Clarice danced a Nakul dev Mahajan Bollywood with Robert to: “Aila re Aila” – from the “Khatta Meetha” soundtrack

Well, I’m dying to see if the results of our Poll predict who’s going home tonight. According to your preferences, Ryan and Alexander should go home tonight, but we’ll see how it shakes out. And tonight, we’ll find out about the All-Stars, too.

Kelly Abbey Top 12 Group Routine: Sean Peter’s “El Fuego,” which I did not see on iTunes. Try Santana’s until I can grab it for you:

Jason Samuel Smith and Anybody Can Get It tapped to: “Sole Sessions Part 1,” which is not on iTunes

Spoiler space for the solos…

Read more…