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Top 8 to Top 4: Thoughts

It’s hard to believe that we are almost to the end of this season and I still not sure of who I think might win. I enjoyed the Addam’s Family theme of the opening number, just sort of wish Tyce used the music from the musical. Team Street won the night again with 52% of the vote. Travis and Twitch’s exits are just too much fun, though this week they asked social media for help and I was hoping they’d pick leap frog to leave the stage.

Virgil & Jasmine: Sean Cheesman (African Jazz)
“African Jazz Ant Man” really Nigel. Nigel is right I don’t think that Virgil has had a bad night on the show. What I like about Virgil is that he just an entertainer and had the ability to adapt to whatever the show has thrown at him. Love how he got excited about keeping the envelope that said he was safe.

Derek & Jamie: Tyce (Contemporary)
Just as Derek is having a break through, he is eliminated. Like the judges, I think he has great technique but seemed to have trouble with connecting to the emotion/story of the dances.

Hailee & FikShun: Luther Brown (Hip hop)
It was easy to figure out that I would like these two paired together. While I didn’t really care for the dance itself, I did enjoy watching them dance it. Hailee is in my personal top 4 so I hope she stays.

Megz & Paul: Jean Marc (Paso Doble)
I felt bad for Megz, she gave her all in this dance but still fell short of the technique that it takes to truly pull off this dance. However, I think if she had a little more time to practice it may have been a little better.

Neptune & Kayla: Ray Leeper
Neptune was the dark horse of the street side to me. I thought he has done well all season and I hoped he was the one that stayed.

Jim & Comfort: Pharside and Pheonix (Hip hop)
I actually think Jim wasn’t that bad but I can see what the judges were saying. He doesn’t seem quite comfortable with this style, so it’s not quite believable.

Gaby & Robert: Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore did it again…created another memorable routine. This was my favorite dance of the night.

Jaja & Ricky: Al Blackstone (Broadway)
Glad Ricky was given time off from Broadway to be an all star. Nigel was right, Jaja does look like Amy Adams. I love how she always has the character down and she had the skills too.

Bottom 4: Derek, Hailee, Neptune and Megz
Going home: Derek and Neptune

August 24, 2015 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.

Top 10 to Top 8: Thoughts

My favorite part of the season is here…All Stars and solos are back. It’s just something about when the all-stars join the show the dancers step up their game. There are no more saves, so whoever has the lowest votes from each team will go home. Also, there was another injury, this time it’s JJ and her ribs. Before the show gets started, Jennifer Lopez had some news. The winner of this season gets the chance to dance in her Las Vegas show.

Hailee & Brandon: Warren Carlyle (Broadway)
Such a fun, fast paced routine. This is what I like about Broadway numbers. I really can see the Liza Minnelli and Lady Gaga, when it comes to Hailee. It was just another fantastic way for her to show her personality. Side note you can find Brandon dancing in Brittney Spears in Vegas.

Derek & Kayla: RJ Durell & Nick Flores (Jazz)
Okay so not going to lie…I had to re watch this one because I couldn’t take my eyes of Kayla. I sometimes forget who is the one competing. We definitely saw a different side of Derek this week.

Virgil & Comfort: Chris Scott
This was just too cute. Chris Scott does it again…from the music selection to the dancers was just amazing. I love how effortless that Virgil and Comfort made that dance look. Virgil’s personality is infectious (such a goofball)…loved his happy dance with Cat.

Megz & Marco: Ray Leeper (Jazz)
This was another one I had to watch again…this time it was the song choice…it makes me think of “Center Stage” every time.
This was just a simply a fun routine and just makes you want to dance with them. Megz, like Nigel said, stays true to herself which is nice. Anyone else surprised to learn her parents were ballroom dancers.

Edson & Jaime: Travis Wall
Hate that Edson was eliminated tonight…moments like this I really miss the results show. Thankful he left on such a high note. One of the best of the night and Travis deserves to win an Emmy.

Neptune & Jasmine: Pharside & Pheonix
Halloween a few months early? Just a fun concept and good to see Neptune in his element.
Also, Nigel said the wrong dancers name again. This time it was Sasha who didn’t get the credit for dancing “Misty Blue” with Twitch.

Jim & Jessica: Dee Caspary
So weird to see Jim struggle in rehearsals. I’m not sure but maybe the pressure of the competition got to him a little bit. Over it was a beautiful dance but I felt that the story was a little lost…maybe it had something to do with not connecting with his partner. Agreed with everything Jason said.

Jaja & Alex:  Nakul (Bollywood)
This was so much fun…especially to see yet another side of Jaja. She is my favorite street dancer and has a really chance of winning.

Gaby & Joshua: Pharside & Phoenix
My favorite of the two Pharside & Phoenix routines tonight. Gaby is the other chameleon on the show. I have a feeling it may come down to Gaby and Jaja in the final two.

Bottom 4: Megz, JJ, Derek and Edson Going home: JJ and Edson

Stay tuned for tour info.

August 17, 2015 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.

Top 8 to Top 6: Power Rankings and Thoughts

It’s hard to believe that this season is almost over, the stage seems so empty with just eight dancers on the stage. This week was a Michael Jackson theme…well, just all MJ music. Jenna Dewan Tatum joined the judges this week. I really emjoyed this week and the All Stars were great as usual. Still don’t like that the All Stars have to leave the stage right after they dance.  So on to the rankings.

Top 3

Ricky and Jamie: This was a great pairing and I agree with Travis, Ricky is the one to beat. I really don’t think that there is anything he can’t do. Plus it was just another simplistic dance that was just beautiful.

Zack and Makensie: Spencer said it the best Zack is just a sponge, soaking up everything he is learning and growing every week. I did enjoy the dance but in the back of my mind I was think about on of the dances in Center Stage that was danced to the same song.

Valerie and Ryan: I wasn’t too sure if she would be able to pull this off. Thankfully she did and she looked like she was having fun out there.

Middle 3

Jacque and Twitch: I loved the smoothness of this dance. I thought the style of the dance suited her and she had the attitude right as well.

Jessica and Will: While I loved the dance, I’m just not liking Jessica anymore. While she is a fantastic dancer I just feel she started off great, had a few so-so weeks and then suddenly bloosomed again. So good to see Will.

Casey and Comfort: I was quite surprised that he did as well as he did. However, it was hard not to want to watch Comfort and even the cameras seemed to do the same thing. He did connect well with her but I think he could of gotten into it just a little bit more.

Elimnated Dancers

Tanisha and Nick: I honestly had Tanisha in my top 4. I’m not sure how she how she ended up in the bottom 2. Regardless she had another great dance. I love Nick as a dancer ever since the first season.

Rudy and Allison: I had a hard time trying to watch Rudy because Allison kept draw my attention away from him. Her facial expressions we a bit too over the top for me. I did think he left on a high note.

Next weeks pairings.

Ricky and Anya

Valerie and Twitch

Casey and Makensie

Zack and FikShun: this should be fun

Jacque and Will

Jessica and Ade

 

August 13, 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.

All The Right Moves

If you are looking to get you dance fix while SYTYCD is taking time off for the Olympics, then I have the perfect suggestion. All The Right Moves (ARTM) a reality show that follows Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Teddy Forance, and Kyle Robinson on their journey of forming the dance company Shaping Sound and hoping to make it succeed.

ARTM premiers Tuesday, July 31st at 9/8 central on the Oxygen Network, and yes episodes will be available online. In fact the first episode is already up and it’s also available on Comcast’s On Demand feature. I’ve watched the episode twice already and I can tell this will be an entertaining, drama filled show with some amazing dancing.

Just to give a few basics of the show, Travis, Nick, Teddy, and Kyle are all living under one roof in a house they call “The Manor”. So living and working together there is bound to drama. I’m looking forward to getting to know Teddy and Kyle as the season progresses and yes ladies they are easy on the eyes, oh and straight. Travis and Nick we already know, so I’m sure we will learn more about them we didn’t know. For example Nick has a crush on Kyle, and Travis talks in a baby voice when talking on the phone with his boyfriend (not his best trait). Also you will see two girls that will be featured Jamie Goodwin (who isn’t able to dance due to her knee) and Taja Riley both girls grew up dancing at Denise Wall’s Dance studio.

Meet the Guys

Fun interview about the show and catch a glimpse of who is in the company also look for two familiar faces from this season of SYTYCD.

So tune in and watch and let us know what you think.

July 29, 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.

Top 14 Spoilers!

What better way to start off the weekend than with some awesome news about next week’s show!

p.s. I will be posting Peter and Pauline’s exit interviews as soon as they’re available.

**SPOILERS after the jump**
– thanks to our friends at SYTYCDism (love the new site layout guys! looks fantastic)
Read more..

November 13, 2009 I Written By

Blake McGrath wants to choreograph for SYTYCD!

Happy Thursday!
whew, what an intense results show last night. nigel was pretty peeved with the lack of “dance for your life” solos. he has since apologized for his comments via Twitter…want some good news?

as the official spoilers/behind the scenes guru here at Pure SYTYCD, I set myself up a Twitter account because a bunch of contestants (both current and past) have them. One of the former contestants I “follow” is Blake McGrath, he of the insane solos in season 1. I still can’t figure out how he physically changed directions that quickly, I’ve watched this a ton trying to get it, and I just don’t, haha. I checked out a Twitter conversation he was having with Mary, and it looks like he really wants to come choreograph! currently, he’s in canada as they begin auditions for S3 of SYTYCD Canada, but from his tweets it looks like he would love to come do a piece on the US show!

HOTtamaleTRAIN=Mary

@HOTtamaleTRAIN hey baby! Its me blake. Let the kids know if u want some Blake sexy action choreod on sytycd us! RETWEET! Love u and miss u!

he’s also tweeted his interest to Nigel:
@dizzyfeet hey mr. I really wanna come set a piece for ur show in the states! Hope ur well! Xoxo Blake
Nigel responded that he would love it if Blake could come…

Blake has done some fabulous routines for SYTYCD Canada, and I’d love to see what he could do here.

what do you guys think?

p.s. an extra treat, Travis is back this week!
via his Twitter, Travsola
so excited about the couple i have this week on sytycd……like so excited!!

*update 11/12–looks like Travis will have a familiar face helping him choreograph this week: Jamie Goodwin from season 3! She and Travis have been friends for years, Travis’s mom taught Jamie as well as Travis and Danny (S3). They were also longtime dance partners.

John’s UPDATE:
You can see our full list of all the SYTYCD Twitter accounts. If you know of one we don’t have, please let us know and we’ll update the list. Also, even if you know nothing about twitter, check out this webpage with the latest tweets (messages) from SYTYCD Season 5 and SYTYCD season 6 contestants. It’s fun to see what’s happening with all of the various dancers in near real time.

November 12, 2009 I Written By

My So You Think You Can Dance 100 Episode Thoughts

I must admit that I’ve been reminiscing about the 100th episode and enjoying the whole experience thoroughly. My list of past So You Think You Can Dance routines (only the amazing ones) was my favorite part so go check it out.

Now on to thoughts about tonight’s show. Plus, tonight I’m including some videos. It seemed the right thing to do in honor of the 100th episode.

I must admit that I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard that Jason and Janette were going home. Don’t ask me why, but I just had a feeling that Kayla and Brandon were going to make it through. That said, figuring out who’s going to be in the bottom 2 is so hard. Week to week it changes depending on their partners and the routines they get.

Now about Jason and Brandon…
With that said, I’ve kind of not liked Jason this whole time. He just never really clicked for me. As I watched the recap of his best moments I decided that I think it was the producers fault that we didn’t really get to know Jason. Everyone’s loved how he was the first one to hug whoever was safe. I also noticed when I think it was Kayla was safe, she went over and Brandon didn’t even acknowledge her, but Jason reached out to greet her. I think we missed this side of Jason and I think I would have liked him better had they shown more of that side of Jason on the show.

At the end of the day, I would have been very happy if Brandon had been sent home and Jason stayed. However, when I was watching it, I was surprised that I had kind of turned around to almost liking Jason. Plus, Brandon just has never been right for me. Tonight Brandon proved in his solo that he’s an amazing dancer. I’m just afraid he’s an amazing solo dancer and not very good in partnering.

Think back on Brandon’s dances. I can’t think of one moment where I can say that Brandon totally connected with his partner. The only one that comes to mind is in the Vegas auditions when Brandon and Natalie did that Sonya routine before Natalie was sent home. For me, Brandon just fails to connect with his partner. Yesterday hit that home when I saw no chemistry between Brandon and Jeanine. Add in something about his head (some people say it’s his big neck) and let’s just say I’m not a huge fan. Although, I will be excited to see Brandon’s solo next week.

While we’re on the boys….
Evan is unique. He has a Benji like following. However, it doesn’t feel quite as strong and it does seem to be waning. Plus, Benji had very few people that wanted him gone. Evan isn’t so lucky. I’ll be a bit surprised if Evan makes the top 4. I think the tide is turning for those not called Kasprzaktivists.

What can I say about Ade? It’s the pick. It’s the pick. Definitely a possible dark horse. He surprised me out of the chute with a few good routines with Melissa and some great choreography. I don’t see him winning it all, but won’t be surprised if he wins the top boy prize (assuming they do that again this year).

Now my dear Janette…
I must admit that I like Miami. However, I’m going to stick with the tweet I sent as they announced the girls “I’ll be very sad if Kayla or Jeanine goes home.” Janette will be missed. Some people suggested to me that it might be an Allison-ed. I don’t think it’s quite the same. In fact, it’s probably closer to a Kherington-ed. Allison was a GREAT (and probably still is) technical dancer who was sent home too early because she probably lacked in the personality department a little (or at least it wasn’t shown). Kherington was kind of the opposite. Solid technically, but oozed personality. Janette is definitely more like Kherington. Do I dare admit that Brandon’s popularity was keeping Janette on the show? Hmm…Miami will certainly be missed.

Seems like a lot of people are unhappy that Melissa is still there. As I watched her during the announcements I couldn’t help but think that if Melissa was a 21 year old girl, she’d have never made it to the top 20. I can’t think of really any dancer before Melissa that has embodied the more mature dancer this way. It’s been a nice storyline that I’ve enjoyed this season. It’s crazy to think that the “naughty ballerina” is now the “mature dancer.” I will admit that Melissa was a bit lucky to have gotten a couple Impressive routines at the start of the show and then of course yesterday’s Tyce piece. I’ve liked Melissa a lot, but it will be a sad finale if it doesn’t include both Kayla and Jeanine for me.

Speaking of Kayla and Jeanine…
Kayla has become my favorite dancer. Yesterday I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she danced. Plus, little pieces of her personality have really started to show through for me as the season progresses. Maybe it’s just her smile. Kayla does seem to be enjoying herself more as the season progresses. Yes I’ve become a real fan.

Jeanine has been the surprise of the show for me. She was hidden in the shadow of Phillip to start, but ever since that broadway routine she’s stood out to me. Even her less than stellar Waltz her face still had that star quality for me.

Of course, just don’t make me choose between Kayla and Jeanine.

Now I promised you videos. Read more..

July 23, 2009 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 100th Episode

A lot has been made about the So You Think You Can Dance 100th episode. Considering I’ve been blogging about SYTYCD since June 30, 2006 (man I had a crush on Heidi Groskreutz…and still do) that will make this my 78th episode blogging about SYTYCD. 457 posts and somewhere around 1.5 million pageviews later and I still love writing about and watching SYTYCD. I love the prediction I made in my first post about SYTYCD linked above, “I don’t think it will be the blockbuster that American Idol(same producer) is, but it is well worth watching.” Well, it’s not as big as American Idol, but it’s gone on longer and gotten bigger than I thought it would be. What most of you don’t know is that if it weren’t for that first post about Heidi, I wouldn’t be 1/20th the blogger that I am today. I’ll save that story for another time. Ok, excuse that small walk down memory lane for me.

Back to the 100th episode. We’ve beat to death that Katie Holmes will be doing a Judy Garland tribute on SYTYCD. Cat also told us that the following 3 dances would be re-danced for the SYTYCD 100th episode. Of course, why wait for Thursday? Might as well enjoy them now and again on Thursday.

First up, the Travis and Heidi (Woot!!) bench routine by Mia Michaels to the song “Calling You“—Celine Dion. This is a fan favorite and is officially called “The Bench Routine”

Next up, Hummingbird and Flower by Hok and Jamie choreographed by Wade Robson to the song “The Chairman’s Waltz” John Williams - Memoirs of a Geisha - The Chairman's Waltz from Memoirs of a Geisha. What I think makes this dance so special is that only Hok could do this dance justice. I can’t see anyone else execute it the way he did.

Finally, a Wade Robson group routine called Ramalama Bang Bang to the song “Ramalama (Bang Bang)” Róisín Murphy - Ruby Blue - Ramalama (Bang Bang)—Róisín Murphy. This wasn’t my favorite routine, but it includes my favorite SYTYCD top 10 and so I’ll be very glad to see them again.

I’m sure we’ll have more discussion about this again on Thursday, but why wait until Thursday. These routines are really quite incredible.

July 21, 2009 I Written By

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