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America’s Favorite Dancer is…Season 11 Finale

** SPOILER ALERT** Just in case I finish this post before the west coast is done watching the show.

Season 11 has gone by way too fast, and no word just yet on if there will be a Season 12. Joining Mary and Nigel on the judges panel are Tara Lapinski, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Debbie Allen, and Adam Shankman. Sort of hate that we had to wait till the end of season to see Debbie and Adam. Tonight was filled with favorite routines, new dances and a few surprises.

It’s always intersting to see what Judges, dancers and Cat choose as their favorite, usually I agree but there is usually one or two that surprise me.

Mary: Chose Jessica and Casey’s Travis Wall dance. This was something they both needed at the time, and they shined.

Debbie: She actually surprised me with her pick. I did love the Witch Doctor hip hop but was unable to enjoy it again thanks to the little brother distracting me…oh well there’s always youtube.

Zack: He chose his dance with Amy. This dance truely showed how good his is and how much he has grown over the season.

Nigel: While Dirty Diana wasn’t a personal favorite but this time the camera guys did a better job with less close ups. The fact that Nigel had to fight to get Allison back for the finale is ridiculous to me. I could go on about this subject but I’m just happy things worked out turn into GMA to find out who her DWTS partner is or just go on over to our sister site puredwts.

Paula Abdul: Well this was a surprise. Paula is a judge for the Austrailian version of the show. She also brought the most recent winner Michael Dameski with her. He is absolutely amazing, I remember seeing his solo video that went viral.

Valerie: Chose her tap with Zack which is one of my favorites. I still amazes me that they can do some of those steps on the stairs.

Ricky: Chose his first dance with Jessica. This quicky made him an early favorite.

America’s Pick: Um Carly and Surge? Wasn’t sure why this was chosen but I got my answer later in the show.

Jenna: Wasn’t a fan of her pick but I did like Rudy and Tanisha as partners.

Adam: I’ve missed him on the show…but thanks to twitter I did enjoy his commentary. Love that he chose Zack and Ricky’s hip hop.

Time for some Results: 4th place goes to Zack. I was honestly bummed about this but someone had to be there.

Tara: She actually picked the dance that I thought would have been America’s favorite. Loved everything about this NappyTabs hip hop. Emilio and Jasimine killed it.

I love Jesse Tyler Ferguson. I would give him a ticket to Vegas for sure.

Chris Scott and Sonya paired up to create a new dance for tonight featuring the top 10 and the All Stars. Loved seeing some all stars that we haven’t seen in a while on the stage. I loved seeing Dominic (D-Trix) and Emilio dance together. I also spotted Courtney and Marko.

The Crew winner was the Bollywood Crew…anyone else forget about the crews during the season.

Jessica: Not surprise she chose her dance with Robert, still a great routine but I like her hair down better this time around.

More Results: 3rd place goes to Jessica.

Before we get to the big annoucement Cat asked Ricky and Valerie to perform her favorite dance, their first dance as partners.

2nd Place goes to Valerie…if they kept the 2 winner outcome a tap dancer would have won dang it.

Which makes RICKY the winner of Season 11. Truthfully this was no surprise for me, he had the most consistant season and I thought he had in the bag long before we got to the top 10.

So now what, since we don’t know if there will be a season 12 yet…I guess we might as well go see the tour. I’m going to try to come up with fun post during the off season. I’ll be sure to post if there will be a new season but what would you like for me to post.

Congrats Again to Ricky!!!

September 3, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

*Spoiler Alert* Season 10 Finale

SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SHOW!

It has been another great season and it’s always sad to see it go. Before I get to the run down of the show and of course the winners, I am happy to announce that Fox and Nigel announced that there will be a SEASON 11! Now on with the show that had a 17 min intermission (Presidential speech), well for the east coast. We had Judges favorites, top 4 favorites, and some surprises.

The Top 20 are back, even Jade even thought he can dance cause his knee isn’t fully healed yet. A fun routine choreographed by Ivan from season 2 (who has choreographed for Justin Timberlake).

Paula Abdul Favorite: Edge of Glory, Paul and Makensie

Jasmine H. Favorite: Blurred Lines she danced with Marko. She surprised me with this pick.

Adam Shankman: he picked the FikShun and Twitch hip-hop to Hello Good Morning.

The Top 4 got to see a special screening of Battle of the Year, that features Dominic from season 3. Also Legacy from season 6 is also in the movie (look it up on IMBD if you don’t believe me).

Nigel’s Pick: This really was a no brainer, I knew he would pick a tap number, I just didn’t know which one. It’s fitting that he chose the one with all of the tappers from this season.

Twitch’s Favorite: His choice surprised me as well, mainly just the fact that it was a Broadway number. Kiss of the Spiderwoman- Nico and Hayley.

Aaron’s Favorite: Kissing You with all-star Kathryn

They replayed the sand number with the Top 10 guys, which is actually one on my absolute favorites of the season.

Cat’s Favorite: Run the World, Jasmine and Comfort hip-hop

Mary’s Favorite: Medicine, Tucker and Robert

Puttin’ on the Ritz: Top 20. Really loved this innovative number that NappyTabs created.

Then another favorite of mine Mark and Jenna.

FikShun and Amy both picked the same dance as their favorite. After Party, the bell hop hip-hop.

So we are treated to the “partnership” of Nigel and Mary. Though the video montage, I’m sure I wasn’t the only that was wondering where they were going with this…a dance with Nigel and Mary. This did make my night, especially Adam not wanting to be left out of the fun.

The Top 5 moments from the Auditions with the number one spot going to Movement Box.

Twitter’s Travis Wall routine Favorite: Seriously no surprise that it is Wicked Game that he danced with Amy.

The Top 10 and All-Stars perform and fun surfs up number by Nappy Tabs.

Now time for the Winner’s, Cat announced that a girl got the top number of votes. With that said she began with the guys and then the girls.

The Season 10 Winners ARE….FICKSHUN and AMY!!! Congrats to them both and Aaron and Jasmine. What a great season can’t wait till next year.

 

 

September 10, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Boston Auditions Thoughts

This week Amanda and Rachel chimed in with their thoughts about the SYTYCD Boston Auditions. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments. Also, be sure to check out the SYTYCD Boston Audition music post.

Amanda’s Thoughts:

It’s so good to see Adam Shankman back on the judging panel. He has always been one of my favorite judges. I think he was my favorite comic relief for the night with the Lamp Dance was a great moment and I’m so glad he made it to Vegas 😉 The girl I thought deserved to at least go to the choreography round.

Day One: I think the biggest stories of the day were the two brothers who were there for there sisters. The 16 year old  that stood in for his sister’s missing partner,  was really good, especially to learn that dance in three hours.  I thought the judges were just going to judge him and not his sister.  Now the brother who paid for the trip his sister Jennie was fabulous.

The other standouts for me were the ballroom couple that were the first to audition and the ballerina turned jazz dancer.

Day Two: Bring on the familiar faces…I’ll be honest I didn’t recognize all of them but I’m glad they come back to give it another shot…well almost all of them.

E-Knock: when they showed his initial audition I remembered exactly who he was. What a moving story to produce a powerful performance. Wish he was able to make it through to Vegas.

Alexis.. I love tap dancers. I’m always happy to see them go straight to Vegas.

Anthony B: oh boy not sure about this guy, he is a great dancer and I thought his attitude had improved but guess not…lol.

Anthony S: just absolutely loved him.

Lots of ballroom dancers in Boston and Adam does a great Bruno(DWTS judge) impression.

Toshi loved him so entertaining and fun.

Who were your favorites? Sorry for the lack of names but I was typing as I watched. Next week is Tennessee and Wayne Brady joining the judges.

Rachel’s Thoughts:
On to Boston! I was so happy to see Adam Shankman. I love Adam Shankman. He’s my favorite judge besides Lil C. He’s the loudest and the craziest of the judges (as we saw by the lamp dance). He’s also the easiest to make cry (as seen by the brother/sister salsa number). His Bruno impression is spot on too.

Beat boxer
I think that was a really great idea to combine his dance with the beat box. I’ve seen something like it with a tapper and a singer on America’s Got Talent. It must be hard to dance to the beat box because it’s variable. I wonder if the dancer tells the beat boxer what he wants as far as a sound or if it’s all off the top of the beat boxer’s head. I hope to see him back in a future season.

Jennifer Jones
I have a soft spot for girls with eating disorders who have overcome them. It takes a lot of strength to get through something like that. You can see it in the way she dances. Her movements are a little guarded. You can see a lot of the ballet in her dance. I’m excited to see more of her. She is simply gorgeous.

Tommy of TKO Dance
I don’t remember him from past seasons to be honest. He didn’t impress me much. It was the same move over and over again, although the moves were impressive. He needs different styles to maybe shake him out of how stiff he is. His lines are straight as a board. Beautiful, but not enough for me. I’ll be interested to see how he does later on.

E-Knock
Okay, if you didn’t cry during this part, you have no soul. He didn’t need to start dancing for me to start sobbing. Remember what I said about dancers who tell the story through their dancing? He is a contender. His story stands as a reminder that through the pain and sadness, there is a light at the end and things can and will get better. I’m very surprised they didn’t send him to Vegas and I hope and pray he comes back next season.

Anthony
Recognize that music? It’s from the “Addiction” dance. I personally wouldn’t use a song that has been used as a dance on the show before but he did such a good job. They almost got me with sending him to choreography. He is exactly what they talk about when they talk about dancing from within. So beautiful.

Final Thoughts
Vegas is looming and I’m worried about our fantastic hip hoppers like The Exorcist and Toshi. They are so good in their own styles, but crumble under the weight of other styles. We’ll see what happens next and if our favorites survive the week. I’m rooting for the girl from Temecula (my hometown). Let’s hope no one gets sent to the hospital this time. I’m also looking to see what comes out of Memphis. It’s such a great and musical city. I look forward to it.

May 28, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Mary Murphy on 10 Seasons of SYTYCD and SYTYCD 2013

Mary Murphy has been one of the mainstays of SYTYCD, so it’s interesting to hear her thoughts about this upcoming season and her experience over the past 10 years (although she wasn’t on all 10 seasons). She’s right that the 10 seasons have passed so quickly. I haven’t seen the numbers for SYTYCD season 10 yet, but I hope they’re doing well so we get a SYTYCD 11.

An interview with Mary Murphy discussing So You Think You Can Dance 2013:

May 18, 2013 I Written By

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

Adam Shankman Talks SYTYCD 2013

Adam Shankman is so successful in so many areas of entertainment, that I’m always interested to hear his perspectives. In this video Adam talks about what it means that SYTYCD has reached its tenth season and what SYTYCD has meant to dance. Enjoy!

An interview with Adam Shankman discussing So You Think You Can Dance 2013:

May 17, 2013 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Preview Video

One video wasn’t nearly enough for tonight. So, here’s another video with Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman, Twitch, and Cat Deeley talking about So You Think You Can Dance Season 2013. Plus, they show a ton of great moments from last season to remind us why we love the show. Enjoy!

For those who can’t wait for tomorrow night, I’ll try and distract you with more videos tomorrow.

SYTYCD 2013 premiere is a 2 night event Tuesday, May 14 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesday, May 15 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

May 13, 2013 I Written By

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

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!

Step Up Revolution: Meet the Leads, the Mob, and the Choreographers

Step Up Revolution hit theatres Friday, July 27th and I honestly can’t wait. So here’s a little sneak peak of what we can expect for the next installment of the Step Up franchise. After watching these videos I’m really excited for this movie the dancing looks amazing and for all the Moose fans out there he is in the movie.

Meet The Leads: Kathryn McCormick and Ryan Guzman

Meet The Mob:

Meet the Choreographers:

July 3, 2012 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Salt Lake City

Listen to the podcast

Episode 47 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes


Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:04 – “No” to Vegas (non-ballroom): Lynn Gravatt, Leroy Martinez, Murphy Yang
5:04 – Burlesque and Krump: Rachel Applehans, Mariah Spears
8:55 – Contemporary/Jazz: Deanna “Dee” Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo, Dareian Kujawa, Adrian Lee
15:44 – Ballroom: Whitney Hallam & Johnny Anh, Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson
20:41 – Who we’re excited to see in Vegas
26:23 – Wrap-up

Episode Length: 28:20

It’s the last stop of the season 9 audition tour and while we were largely underwhelmed by the turnout in Atlanta, Salt Lake City more than made-up for it, providing us with many solid, diverse performers and a whole host of ballroom at last! Of the non-ballroom performers, Mariah Spears, Deanna Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo and Dareian Kujawa all impressed us with their stand-out solos, from Mariah’s surprising and convincing krump routine to Gene’s clever choreography about the life cycle of the male praying mantis. The moving story of Leroy Martinez and his work with disadvantaged youth was an uplifting segment and a fitting way, we think, to close out the first part of the audition process. And of course, we finally had some proper ballroom! In particular, we found Witney Carson’s ability to transform herself the second her routine began to be particularly impressive, and she has great skill to boot!

Obviously, since we’re posting this after the airing of the Vegas week episode, a lot of the people we were excited to see in Vegas wound up cut. We’ll dig into the particulars when we get the podcast for Vegas together, but we are getting frustrated. After two seasons of rosters that were stuffed with contemporary/jazz dancers, we were hoping they would expand beyond that model this season. Although it has some inaccuracies, the Vegas spoilers list (which doesn’t list a Top 20, and is no longer really a spoiler after this past episode) shows that the majority of people that made it through the week are contemporary/jazz. I think what bothers us most about that is if the Top 20 contestants from the first 4 or so seasons were to try out now, it’s doubtful that some of them would even make it to the end of the week (like Ivan, for example).

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.

June 22, 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!

SYTYCD Season 9 Las Vegas Callbacks Thoughts

Now that the Vegas Callbacks have aired it was difficult to know for sure who made it to the end and who is left for the final cut that would air next week. The spoilers show only up to 30 dancers made it to the end of callbacks but according to the show 35 actually made it to the end of the Vegas Callbacks. Although the majority (if not all) of the spoilers seem to be correct it would still be difficult to see who actually made it. Nigel keeps insisting that we have some really strong hip hop and ballroom dancers this year and yet the only ones that we know of in the Ballroom genre are Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold… while the ones in the hip hop genre is Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer… Interesting. Anyway let’s move on with the program.

Las Vegas Callbacks started out with 181 dancers who were invited back. As John mentioned earlier: What we see on television isn’t exactly what happens, sure everyone starts with a solo but in between sessions the dancers actually get a chance to learn more about what to expect in the dance industry. How to survive… this is truly an educational experience for anyone lucky enough to get a chance to be invited to be a part of the Vegas Callbacks experience.

DAY ONE VEGAS CALLBACKS: OPENING SOLOS
Sometimes the first solo is an advancement of what they showed in the city auditions, or it is a chance for the dancers to show more than what they displayed in the city auditions. Take Janelle Issis the belly dancer for example…
Read more..

June 21, 2012 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... =)