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SYTYCD Alum in Movie Roles

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m going through SYTYCD withdrawal a little bit. I don’t like not having a second episode this week! 🙂

This past weekend, I rented this flick called “Love N’ Dancing” and was surprised to see bitty cameos by Season 2’s Benji and Heidi and that tided me over a bit till last night’s Season 6 episode. I remember that Seasons 3’s Neil had a cute and memorable role in “American Mall” that amused me when I saw it. Maybe you can still catch Kherington in “Fame” theaters somewhere in the country.

Still, we’ll have to wait till next year to see Season 4’s Joshua, Katee and Twitch in Adam Shankman’s “Step Up 3-D” (and Season 2’s Ivan, too). 2010 will also bring the movie that Paula van Oppen turned down a place in Season 6’s Top 20 for – “Burlesque.” It sounds a bit like “Coyote Ugly,” but with a burlesque club instead of bar. Season 4’s Chelsea Traille will play a character named Coco. 🙂

Our friends at SYTYCDism mention that Katee, Kherington and Season 4’s Comfort will be on upcoming episode(s) of “Glee,” as well.

Do you know of any SYTYCD alumni movie roles I might’ve missed? Planning on seeing any of these movies? Already seen them? Lemme know what you think.

You know what I’d love best at moments like this, when I’m craving some SYTYCD? DVDs of past seasons!

November 4, 2009 I Written By

Mia Michaels Leaving SYTYCD

Some surprising news coming out of the SYTYCD world today. If you all haven’t heard, Mia Michaels took to her Twitter yesterday to announce that she’s leaving our beloved show after 5 years. The reaction has been intense. Many people feel that the show won’t be the same without Mia, which is definitely true. Over the seasons, her pieces have been among the most memorable ones ever performed. Just think about these…

-Ashlé and Melody’s Message in a Bottle dance

-Travis and Heidi’s Bench dance

-season 2 group routine to “Hide and Seek”

-Lacey and Kameron’s week 1 contemporary

-her tribute to her father danced by Lacey and Neil

-Danny and Neil’s Dance of the Princes

-Chelsie and Mark’s “what would Tim Burton’s wedding look like?”

-Kherington and Twitch’s dance on the bed

-Katee and Joshua’s Hometown Glory dance

-Twitch and Katee’s Door dance

-Evan and Randi’s Butt dance

-Kupono and Kayla’s Addiction dance

these are a selection of Mia’s best dances, but there are obviously more. It’s pretty obvious this show has meant a lot to Mia, she’s an Emmy winner because of SYTYCD.

For an opposing opinion, check out this article from Entertainment Weekly online, the writer makes some good points about there being plenty of great choreographers that can fill the void left by Mia.

what do you guys think?! is the hole Mia leaves too big to be filled by people like Travis, Benji, and Sonya? And what have been your favorite Mia Michaels pieces over the 5 seasons of SYTYCD?

October 15, 2009 I Written By

SYTYCD Top 10 Power Rankings

What an amazing show!! First, let me say that I loved both the girls’ and boys’ numbers, especially that each featured a “foreign” dance style that was so high-energy and that both included all five linking arms and dancing together. And the FAME trailer got me sooo excited. It’s been too long since my last Kherington fix.

So, the rankings. Here we go.

Girls –

1. Jeanine had a terrific contemporary with Jason, choreographed by Travis Wall and it was stunning. Her solo was also incredibly strong. I think she acquitted herself quite well.

2. Janette and Ade had a wonderful Nappytabs hip-hop that was a lot of fun. More amazing chemistry here. Her solo was the last and pretty strong and she showed a lot of personality when Cat asked her, “So where are you from again?” and she whipped out, “New Zealand!”

3. Kayla continued her “flawlessness” with Evan. I really enjoyed her personality a lot when she and Evan discussed the height differences, switched shoes and after the performance revealed the “shoe fix.” Flats! On a waltz! That’s pretty neat, actually. Her solo was good.

4. Melissa has a cute personality and did well tonight with Brandon and in her solo, but I never seem to feel much variety from her. Of the girls, she’s my least favorite and I suspect that though she was gorgeous, she’s probably surprised us the least and showed the least growth (probably cause she has the most experience and is pretty technically trained). She’s my vote to go, though she probably performed better than –

5. Randi unluckily drew Kupono and, I think, suffered for it. I think the wig and the awkwardness of the routine (though there were some pretty elements) might hurt her. I suspect it’s between her and Melissa and I’d rather that she stay so I can see her with more partners. She’s my mom’s favorite, so I know she wants her to stay as well.

Boys (mom and I were in 100% agreement here) –

1. Evan has an enormous fan base, as well as a lot of flair and personality. His solo was strong and he did admirably in the African dance, though Nigel said he looked like a “dancing milkshake.” But I was actually never in any doubt that he would do well here, as he’s always been adept at leaping. He partnered Kayla with incredible strength (THOSE LIFTS!!!) and I think he’s learning more about masculinity and strength and sexiness every week. Which is great, cause he’s always been cute and charming.

2. Ade just wowed me tonight. He’s won me over more and more each week and I was excited to see him dance with Janette. What a wonderful partnership! So much chemistry. His solo rocked as well. Love that he got to demonstrate the power of the pick. Lol.

3. Jason was in the strongest routine of the night, with Jeanine and I’m thoroughly impressed with him. I hope he can keep it up. He gets major cool points from me for solo-ing to Muddy Waters Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters: The Chess Box - Train Fare Home.

4. Brandon had a good night, good routine with Melissa and a good solo. But he’s still a bit cocky and he’s almost too proficient. It’s kinda boring sometimes. Not all the time, but I think that people have latched on to people like Evan and Ade so much more at this point, and Jason just had such a great routine with Jeanine.

5. Kupono needs to go. He really let Randi down with all that awkwardness in the Paso Doble. I was proud of him in the African dance and liked his solo. But of all the guys, I think he’s probably the weakest (least consistent, at least) partner, which puts the girls in danger.

I can’t wait to see what y’all think!

July 15, 2009 I Written By

Kherington Payne and Jason Williams in Fame Trailer

Last season, Kherington Payne was my favorite dancer. So, you can imagine my joy to find out that Kherington Payne had a major part in Fame. Turns out that Jason Williams from SYTYCD season 2 is also on the show. Check out the trailer which includes some really nice images of Kherington Payne, but honestly includes a lot of really talented people. I’m excited to see Fame this Fall.

June 17, 2009 I Written By

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

Nigel Lythgoe Interview on Fox 5 Atlanta

Nigel Lythgoe was on FOX 5 Atlanta talking about auditions for SYTYCD season 6 (which premieres this fall). So You Think You Can Dance auditions are going on in Atlanta right NOW with Nigel, Mary Murphy and Lil C. In this video, Nigel says there is a lot of good hip hop and street dancing in Atlanta. He also gives us some where are they now updates on past contestants on So You Think You Can Dance Joshua, Twitch, Kherington, Neil and more. Anchor Suchita Vadlamani also asked about Nigel’s Tweet where he referred to one of the current SYTYCD season’s audition moments as “brokeback ballroom.”

June 2, 2009 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2009 on Ellen

Mark, Katee, Courtney, Kherington, Josh, and Gev headed on to the Ellen DeGeneres show to celebrate the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance season 5. What a great way to start So You Think You Can Dance 2009. Nice to see a bunch of familiar faces as well:

Man, I fogot how much I loved Kherington. This video didn’t have enough Kherington for me. Not to mention Josh and Katee together. That was beautiful and cute little Courtney was great too. Let’s hope season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance is just as amazing.

May 20, 2009 I Written By

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

Review of So You Think You Can Dance Tour – Kansas City

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 LoveLeona Lewis - Bleeding Love - Single - Bleeding Love, Five Guys Named MoeVarious Artists - Five Guys Named Moe (Original Broadway Cast Recording) - Five Guys Named Moe, The GardenMirah - Advisory Committee - 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

October 17, 2008 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance Canada Episode 4

I just got word that the fourth episode of So You Think You Can Dance Canada isn’t going to be on until Wednesday October 1st.

I decided since we have to wait a week to see the next episode, I might as well do a little flashback on the last season of So You Think You Can Dance US.

Here’s the video of my favorite dancer from the last season: Kherington Payne. She just has a wonderful personality that is so lovable. Plus, Nigel’s comments about Dominique watching her dance were hilarious (probably because he’s right).

September 27, 2008 I Written By

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

Twitch and Kherington Payne’s Viennese Waltz – SYTYCD Flashback

I decided that during the off season of So You Think You Can Dance I’d do some flashbacks to some of my favorite dances throughout all the So You Think You Can Dance seasons.

The following is a video of Twitch and Kherington Payne’s Viennese Waltz. When I think about this season of So You Think You Can Dance, this has to be the most memorable dance of the whole season for me. Jean Marc Genereux did an amazing job with the wonderful song: A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion Céline Dion - A New Day Has Come - A New Day Has Come

September 5, 2008 I Written By

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

Final So You Think You Can Dance Poll

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.

August 7, 2008 I Written By

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