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Season 8 Finale Part 2 Thoughts and Discussion

Here are my live thoughts and a space for you to start and join in on the discussion. Spoiler space since I’ll be talking live and relatively uncensored…

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 2 Music

So excited for tonight! I’m going to have to work double hard cause I’ll just want to soak it all in instead of taking notes. 🙂

Sonya Tayeh Top 20/Top 4 (+All-Stars??) Group Routine: District 78’s “Wanna Get Hype” –

Mary picked Tyce’s Sasha/Kent routine: Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s “Fool of Me” –

Nigel picked Nappytabs’s Melanie/Marko routine: Leona Lewis’s “I Got You” –

Robin picked Mandy Moore’s Tadd/LoFro routine: Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” –

Lil C picked Nappytabs’s Miranda/Robert routine: Busta Rhymes’s “Break Ya Neck” –

Cat picked Tyce’s Top 8 Group Routine: James Newton Howard’s “The Circus Sets Up” – from the Water for Elephants soundtrack.

SYTYCD UK champ Matt Flint, Nick Young and Jess LeProtto tap to: Michael Buble’s “Can’t Buy Me Love” –

Mary picked Mandy Moore’s Melanie/Neil routine: Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” –

Jesse picked Sonya’s Marko/Allison routine: Jeff Buckley’s “I Know It’s Over” –

Tyce picked Sonya’s Top 10 Girls routine: Chonique Sneed ft. Lisette Bustamante’s “Pop, Drop and Roll” –

Lil C picked Spencer Liff’s Ashley/Chris routine: Rachel Sweet’s “Please, Mister Jailer” – from the “Crybaby” soundtrack (THANK YOU BETH!)

Nigel picked Christopher Scott’s Sasha/Twitch routine: Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue” –

Sonya picked Christopher Scott’s Top 10 Guys routine: Nathan Lanier’s “Velocity” –

Jesse picked Miriam and Leonardo’s Caitlynn/Pasha Argentine tango: Orquesta Color Tango’s “Malajunta” –

Mary picked Travis’s Melanie/Marko routine: Ingrid Michaelson’s “Turn to Stone” –

Nigel picked Sonya’s Melanie/Sasha routine: District 78’s “Game On” –

Emilie’s Top Partner Routines from Season 8

This one was really, really hard, which just goes to show you how many great routines there have been this season. I know we feel like the choreography has been lacklaster and maybe the dancing too. Maybe it’s felt over-produced. But we’ve said that before. Usually, after the season’s over and we see the tour, re-watch videos, we remember all the great highlights of the season. SO, I’m going to share some of my favorites now.

I can’t even really put these in order because they’re all amazing in different ways. I’ll list the ones with All-Stars first, how about that?

1. Christopher Scott’s “Misty Blue” with Sasha and All-Star Twitch (Top 10)

2. Mandy Moore’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with Melanie and All-Star Neil (Top 8)

3. Miriam and Leonardo’s “Malajunta” with Caitlynn and All-Star Pasha (Top 10)

4. Tyce Diorio’s “Fool of Me” with Sasha and All-Star Kent (Top 6)

5. Stacey Tookey’s “Hearts Ask Pleasure First” with Melanie and Sasha (Top 4, last night)

6. Nappytabs’s “Memories” with Jordan and Tadd (Top 16)

7. Stacey Tookey’s “Turning Tables” with Caitlynn and Mitchell (Top 20 2nd round)

8. Dee Caspary’s “Belong” with Sasha and Alexander (Top 16)

9. Travis Wall’s “Turn to Stone” with Melanie and Marko (Top 20)

10. Spencer Liff’s “Please Mr. Jailer” with Ashley and Chris (Top 20 2nd round)

And because I absolutely CAN’T resist giving you lagniappe (and I can’t keep it to only 10):

11. Sonya Tayeh’s “Heavy in Your Arms” with Caitlynn and Marko (Top 6)

12. Spencer Liff’s “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story” with Melanie and Tadd (Top 6)

Can you tell that I think the Top 6 night was pretty much the best performance night of the season, after the Meet the Top 20 episode? 🙂

Well, what do you think? I *KNOW* there are some routines you’re going to be mad I didn’t include. What are they?

SYTYCD Season 8 Top 8 Performance Music

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” –

SYTYCD Canada Top 18 Results Show – Down to 16

Tonight we said good-bye to another pair of dancers on SYTYCD Canada.

The opening number
Last night Leah Miller was raving about the opening number tonight and I have to say, it was good, but she really over-sold it. There was tango, there was ribbon acrobatics in the air, it was very cool, but not jaw-dropping.

CTV describes it:

The choreographer of “Jersey Boys” and “Memphis,” Sergio Trujillo, created this incredibly dramatic Argentinean tango number that saw the dancers suspended and spinning from the red fabric.

For the music lovers it was from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack:El Tango de Roxanne by Ewan McGregor , Jose Feliciano and Jacek Koman

Results
Geisha & Adam – no safe
Jordan & – safe
Shelaina & JP – safe
Francois & Yulia- not safe
Melissa & Joey – safe
Shane & Lindsey – safe
Denitsa & Matt – safe
Carlena & Kevin – safe
Teya & Boneless – not safe

I have to say, I was really unsure about my power rankings last night, but seems I was right on target – yay me!

Solo’s

Geisha – Unknown song
She did well, nothing mind-blowing, in fact, I felt it was pretty average and she may be the one to go!

Yulia – Tuttie Frutti – Little Richard
She did well. She always does in her style, but I feel like doing well in your genre will only take you so far. After Leah said she looked nice and she said, “I made it” (referring to her dress) I don’t know Yulia just rubs me the wrong way.

Teya – Party ROck Anthem – LMFAO
I actually liked her solo, it was old-school hip-hop, very cute, but not very complex. Super fun though!

Adam – Dancing Machine – Jackson 5 (I think, based on lyric search)
Lot’s of rolls and flips. Overall entertaining.

Francois – Uknown Song
Like Yulia, he is very good in his style, but comes across a bit cocky in coversation and attitude.

Boneless – Teach me how to Dougie – Cali Swag District
Like Teya, very entertaining. He did popping and some fun moves.

In the end
Teya and Boneless went home. Judges said it was unanimous for Teya but not for Boneless. Carlena lost it, like shaking violently as she cried, when they announced Teya. Leah Miller said he whiney sympathetic goodbye.

Music for the “look back” video montage:
Life After you – Daughtrey

Now we are down to 16 dancers who will perform next Monday, August 1, 2011.

The Table Has It

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:

SYTYCD Canada Top 18 Performance Show

Tonight the Top 18 dancers performed with new partners. The change up worked well, I think, and allowed dancers to shine and showcase their talents for viewers.

Judges:Jean-Marc, Tre Armstrong, Luther Brown, Mary Murphy, Nico Archambault.

Here is a summary with some thoughts about the evenings show. At the bottom I attempt to power rank, though I am not feeling entirely confident on my rankings this week so PLEASE feel free to comment.

Christian & Jordan
Paso Doble – Francis Lafreniere & Natalli Reznik
La Crimrosa Dominae (Firebender) – Serge Colbert / Jeffrey Fayman, Yoav Goren – Immediate Music

It was an end of the world theme and was very powerful. I love choreographers/past contestants Francis and Natalli. Jordan is my favourite and I was worried for her being in this routine, but they pulled it off amazingly. The Flip & Drag was stunning and the lift and split at the end – wow!

Matt & Denitsa
Contemporary – Sabrina Matthews
Can’t Breathe – Fefe Dobson ft Orianthi

This was emotional and well done, but not as powerful as most of Sabrina’s routines. I really loved the spin lift and thought the pair were well matched. I usually fast forward through Jean-Marc’s comments but forgot to on this one and had to witness him talking about “Dreams” of Denitsa – he is so pervy… reminded me to remember to fast forward his comments the rest of the show!

Carlena & Kevin
Hip Hop – ShoTyme
Clear – Kardinal Offishal

This was fast and hard hitting, but it was also out of sync and noticably so because of the hard hits. Carlena was obviously better as it is her genre, but Kevin did well overall. He had fake tattoos on his arms and it was a nice edgey look for him.

Lyndsy & Shane
Disco – Melissa Williams
Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches & Herb

This was amazing! I usually enjoy the fast disco routines, but this one was out of this world! I loved her look, especially her eye shadow, and the way they moved around the dance floor, was fun and precise and – just fantastic!

Adam & Geisha
Jazz – Blake McGrath
Who’s That Chick – David Guetta and Rihanna

This routine was fun! It didn’t look difficult, but the judges made a point to say it was. The costumes were bright and fun, neon and even glowing – they took the lights out and the black light colours of their clothes and body painted glowed.

Yulia & Francois
Mambo – Gustavo Vargas,
Mambo Gazon – Tito Puente

The outfits were hot, the moves were sexy and overall this was a spicy routine. I did notice the tough lift they were practicing in rehearsal clip did not happen in the routine, which makes me feel like they couldn’t get it and had to make the routine “easier” I don’t know much about Mambo but this was pretty hot!

JP & Shelaina
Bollywood – Longinus Fernandes
Baawre (Lucky By Chance) – Loy Mendonsa & Shankar Mahadevan

This was a pretty amazing puppet style Bollywood routine. They were in sync, they had the look and did wonderfully. There was a slight wardrobe issue where Shelaina got caught up in her skirt, but she recovered well and kept smiling.

Boneless & Teya
Crump – Lil C
Get Krazy – Buckmouth

This was hard hitting, but not hard enough. Crump is rough and these guys were too soft. Not only that, but the song was kind of rough and tough to follow – it felt scattered.

Joey & Melissa
Contemporary – Mandy Moore
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Side Project

This was beautiful. The story was about being swept off your feet and Melissa was literally swept off her feet, floating through the air. It was emotional and absolutely peaceful! Love Mandy Moore, Love Joey and now I love Melissa.

Top 3
-Joey & Melissa
-Lindsey & Shane
-JP & Shelaina

Middle 3
-Carlena & Kevin
-Christian & Jordan
-Matt & Denitsa

Bottom 3
-Adam & Geisha
-Yulia & Frencois
-Boneless & Teya

We will see. I really don’t know this week

What do you think?Stay Tuned for Results tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 8pm Local time on CTV. I will post the results here tomorrow night.

Introducing Your Season 8 All-Stars

Tonight’s Top 10 episode is going to rock, not least of which because it’s the first time we’ll see the Top 10 dance with the All-Stars.

First, we have Melody Lacayanga, the Season 1 runner-up. I chose her disco with SYTYCD Canada judge/choreographer Blake McGrath because I don’t normally go for disco and this Doriana Sanchez disco was fun. I didn’t watch Season 1, but looking back over the season, it seems like Melody’s partners tended to get eliminated a lot. I hope this doesn’t happen to her Season 8 partners!

Allison Holker from Season 2 was an All-Star last season and had some phenomenal routines. I’m going to resist my urge to find videos from last season and instead give you something from her original season. Here is her Alex da Silva Argentine tango with her original partner Ivan Koumaev.

Pasha Kovalev was also an All-Star from last season and I am NOT going to show you the phenomenal tango he did with winner Lauren Froderman. No, I am NOT. I’m going to stick with first seasons and show you him “out of his element,” dancing Mandy Moore jazz with Sara von Gillem.

Yet another All-Star from last season, Twitch Boss was originally the runner-up from Season 4. Chelsie Hightower, who was also from Season 4, was scooped up by DWTS along with Lacey Schwimmer, danced this fun Nappytabs hip hop with Twitch during their season.

Comfort Fedoke, also from Season 4 and also an All-Star last season, also danced with Twitch. Instead of showing you that video, I’m going to show you dancing with Mark Kanemura, Chelsie’s partner for most of the season, in another awesome Nappytabs hip hop.

Brandon Bryant was the runner-up of Season 5. I so want to show you his Wade Robson jazz with Janette, but Margaret showed that video in her All-Star post (same reason I didn’t show Pasha & Sara’s West Coast Swing). So instead, I’ll show you their Dave Scott hip hop, where they were both “out of their comfort zones.”

As an All-Star last season, Kathryn McCormick danced so much with Robert that I could just give you one video for both of them. However, let me show you Kathryn in her Season 6 glory (she came in 3rd), especially since her season didn’t get their own tour. So here she is, with runner-up Jakob Carr in a contemporary routine choreographed by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden.

Season 7’s Robert Roldan (3rd in his season) has already danced once in Season 8, with Caitlynn Lawson, so he was already an All-Star as far as I was concerned. Because the All-Stars started at Top 20 last season, most of his dances are with Kathryn or another All-Star. I wanted to show you his Dee Caspary contemporary with winner Lauren Froderman, but it wouldn’t embed. Instead, I’ll show you their Dmitri Chaplin (Season 2 and DWTS) samba because it’s fun and they were both out of their element.

Chelsie’s only going to be an All-Star for tonight’s episode and it sounds like they may switch up the All-Stars from week to week. It’ll be interesting to see who else they bring on board and all of the great routines that result. Also, I haven’t ever seen it confirmed, but Allison and Twitch may be dating and it’ll be interesting to see them together as All-Stars again. Also, I’m dying to see our Georgia peaches, Kathryn and Season 8’s Melanie Moore dance together. You know what else I’d love to see? I’d love to see a current contestant dancing with an All-Star and choreographed by another SYTYCD alumni. That would be awesome. 🙂

Are they any Season 8 contestant/All-Star pairings you’re dying to see?

So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 – Week 4, Top 14, Carmen Electra, Mandy Moore

Week 4 post-performance interviews with the top 14, Mandy Moore and guest judge Carmen Electra of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 8!

Top 14 Performance Thoughts and Discussion

I’ll be updating my thoughts on tonight’s episode live (with a little lag, I’m sure, while I’m working on the music). Feel free to begin the discussion in the comments. What are you most looking forward to tonight? Dreading?

Spoiler space just in case…read on after the break…

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Season 8 Finale Part 2 Thoughts and Discussion

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 2 Music

Emilie’s Top Partner Routines from Season 8

SYTYCD Season 8 Top 8 Performance Music

SYTYCD Canada Top 18 Results Show – Down to 16

The Table Has It

SYTYCD Canada Top 18 Performance Show

Introducing Your Season 8 All-Stars

So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 – Week 4, Top 14, Carmen Electra, Mandy Moore

Top 14 Performance Thoughts and Discussion

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