Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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

Along the same lines as my previous SYTYCD Finale posts, here’s all the judges favorite videos from the final results show.

Nigel Lythgoe’s Pick
Katee Shean and Joshua Allen danced Bollywood to the song “Dhoom Taana” from Om Shanti Om choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Joshua & Katee

Mary Murphy’s pick
Katee Shean and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced Contemporary to the song “Mercy”—Duffy choreographed by Mia Michaels

- Original Music Video
Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Katee & Twitch

Top 5 Male dancers group dance to the song “Five Guys Named Moe” from Five Guys Named Moe (Broadway; Choreographer: Nigel Lythgoe)

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - The Top 5 Guys

Adam Shankman’s Pick
Courtney Galiano and Mark Kanemura danced Jazz to the song “The Garden”—Mirah choreographed by Sonya Tayeh

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Courtney & Mark

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Katee & Will

Lil C’s Pick
Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura danced Hip-Hop to the song “Bleeding Love”—Leona Lewis choreographed by Napoleon D’umo and Tabitha D’umo

- Original Music Video
Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Chelsie & Mark

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

- Original Music Video
Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Comfort & Twitch

Mary Murphy’s Pick
Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian danced Rumba to the song “Wishing on a Star”—Rose Royce choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Courtney & Gev

Nygel Lythgoe’s pick
Katee Shean and Joshua Allen danced Hip-hop to the song “No Air”—Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown choreographed by Napoleon D’umo and Tabitha D’umo

Video of So You Think You Can Dance Finale - Katee & Joshua

Debbie Allen’s pick
Kherington Payne and Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced Viennese waltz to the song “A New Day Has Come”—Celine Dion choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

- Original Music Video

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.

Today I was sent a TV Guide article that has some quotes from Nigel Lythgoe talking about the departure of Will Wingfield from So You Think You Can Dance. The part in quotes is from the article with my commentary in between.

Did the brilliant Will Wingfield exit Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance too soon? Head judge/executive producer Nigel Lythgoe certainly thinks so.

Who cares what Nigel thinks? It’s not his choice anymore it’s America’s.

When the moment of truth arrived during last week’s results show, here’s what the audience didn’t see: Lythgoe putting his head down on the judges’ table as if he couldn’t bear to watch what was going to happen next. Would it be Will or another audience favorite, Twitch, getting the boot?

How funny is this? Nigel acts as if Will getting booted off is wrong. This of course would assume that there’s a right and wrong answer. The fact is that there isn’t. There’s no such thing as right or wrong when we’re talking about a favorite dancer. Especially since Fox has said repeatedly that So You Think You Can Dance is “America’s Favorite Dancer.” Considering Nigel Lythgoe isn’t even an American, then does his opinion really matter in a contest for “America’s Favorite Dancer?” America voted and America decided. It’s great that way and that’s the beauty of America.

When Cat Deeley announced that Will would be going home, the crowd gasped. Widely acknowledged to be the finest all-around dancer this season — and coming off of a sensational pas de deux with Katee Shean and a rousing James Brown imitation in his Wednesday solo routine — nobody saw it coming. After the initial shock, the audience gave a standing ovation. “To me, it’s very much like losing Chris Daughtry or Tamyra Gray from American Idol,” Lythgoe said after the show. “Either one of them leaving — Will or Twitch — was a big disappointment. I really thought Will, Twitch and Joshua would be fighting it out until the end.”

So I must admit. I really actually enjoyed Will’s James Brown imitation. The pas de deux was incredible because of Katee I thought, so no surprises there for me when Will got booted. I can agree that Will is a great dancer, but dancing isn’t just about technique. Will didn’t have that it quality that I think the final three men had and that’s why he’s gone.

Twitch had fallen to his knees, with his back to the audience, when he landed in the bottom two, and had to be comforted by Deeley. “I had words with him,” shares Lythgoe. “I said, ‘Look, you’re in the Top 10. After this, there’s only going to be one winner, so please use the next few weeks just to enjoy yourself.’”

Cat Deeley comforting Twitch was one of the nicest parts of the show. As if we needed another reason to like Cat even more. I also love how Nigel “had words with him.” What a commanding father figure.

Lythgoe says Twitch will probably get the same kind of sympathy vote this week that hip-hopper Comfort got the week prior — before she was sent packing for a second time. Who will be standing at the end? “A boy is gonna be the winner this year,” says Lythgoe. “That’s my gut.”

It’s not about sympathy, but Nigel is right. Twitch fans will not provide sympathy votes, but they will get out and vote more than they ever have before. That spells trouble for Mark Kanemura.

I would normally say I don’t know at this point if a guy or a girl is going to win this year, but Nigel has more than his gut to determine if a guy is going to win. I imagine as producer of the show he’s seen the numbers of votes so I’ll go with him and say a guy will win. Joshua Allen winning So You Think You Can Dance would be a great ending and well deserved.

The following is all the music for the elimination dances and other group dances on SYTYCD top 8. It’s amazing to me how this elimination was the opposite of last week. I was fine with both people getting sent home. Last week I didn’t want to see either person leave.

Here you can find all of the previous SYTYCD music.

Top 8 hip-hop Group dance: “Universal Mind Control” sung by Common

Guest dancer(s): Los Angeles Ballet Pas de deux; (The Man I Love from the ballet Who Cares?)

Musical guest: “Baby” sung by LL Cool J featuring The-Dream debut this new single on So You Think You Can Dance

- Original Music Video

Solos:

Comfort Fedoke: “Like This” sung by Mims

William Wingfield: “Closer” sung by Goapele

Courtney Galiano: “Passion” sung by Kreesha Turner

Stephen “Twitch” Boss: “Hollywood Swinging” sung by Kool and the Gang

Eliminated:

Comfort Fedoke: “Come Home” sung by OneRepublic

William Wingfield: “Love Remains the Same” sung by Gavin Rossdale

- Original Music Video

The following is all the music for the solo dances on SYTYCD. Here you can find all of the previous SYTYCD music or the couples music for SYTYCD.

Comfort Fedoke danced a solo to the song “I Got This Down” sung by Simian Mobile Disco

William Wingfield danced a solo to the song “Get Up Offa That Thing” sung by James Brown

Katee Shean danced a solo to the song “Taking Chances” sung by Celine Dion

Mark Kanemura danced a solo to the song “Creator” sung by Santogold ft. Switch and Freq Nasty

Chelsie Hightower danced a solo to the song “Damaged” sung by Danity Kane

- Original music video
Joshua Allen danced a solo to the song “Shawty Get Loose” sung by Lil’ Mama ft. T-Pain and Chris Brown

- Original music video
Courtney Galiano danced a solo to the song “Where I Stood” sung by Missy Higgins

- Original music video
Stephen “Twitch” Boss danced a solo to the song “Go To Work” sung by Kay L

The following is all the music for the couples dances on SYTYCD. Here you can find all of the previous SYTYCD music or the solo music for SYTYCD.

Courtney Galiano and William Wingfield danced a Samba to the song I Fell in Love With the DJ—Che’Nelle choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

- original music video
Courtney Galiano and William Wingfield danced a Hip-hop to the song Like You’ll Never See Me Again—Alicia Keys choreographed by Tabitha D’umo and Napoleon D’umo

- Original music video
Katee Shean and Stephen Twitch Boss danced a Contemporary to the song Mercy—Duffy choreographed by Mia Michaels

Katee Shean and Stephen Twitch Boss danced a Broadway to the song Sweet Georgia Brown from Bubbling Brown Sugar choreographed by Tyce DiOrio

Comfort Fedoke and Mark Kanemura danced a Hip-hop to the song Party People—Nelly ft. Fergie choreographed by Tabitha D’umo and Napoleon D’umo

Comfort Fedoke and Mark Kanemura danced a Foxtrot to the song Lady Luck—The Brian Setzer Orchestra choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux

Chelsie Hightower and Joshua Allen danced a Argentine tango to the song A Los Amigos from Forever Tango choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin

Chelsie Hightower and Joshua Allen danced a Disco to the song Everlasting Love—Gloria Estefan choreographed by Doriana Sanchez

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

People have been totally freaking out about Twitch being in Hairspray. Well, it turns out that William Wingfield isn’t just Debbie Allen’s dancer, but it looks like he also did some work with Celine Dion. Take a look at this video of William Wingfield with Celine Dion (scroll to about the 5 minute mark):

Certainly he’s just singing raping not dancing, but it’s still interesting to see what he was doing before SYTYCD. I don’t think this will draw the same ire as Twitch in Hairspray, but it makes me wonder how he got the job with Celine Dion. I can’t believe that he just got the job as a “singer” for the show. I have to believe that he was a dancer with Celine Dion and they asked him to do this little bit of extra.

Assuming that he was dancing for Celine Dion’s show, it’s amazing how far SYTYCD has come. When Benji Schwimmer won in season 2, his reward was to dance for Celine Dion’s show. I guess now that’s just the entry criteria.