Free SYTYCD Newsletter Want to receive the latest news on So You Think You Can Dance sent straight to your email? Join hundreds of other SYTYCD fans who subscribe to Pure SYTYCD for FREE!

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 10 Performance and Elimination

Summary
It was an exciting night of performances for So You Think You Can Dance. The introduction of the all-stars gave a boost of energy to the remaining contestants and treated us to a bunch of interesting routines that show us just how strong the Top 10 is for this season. We really enjoyed the performances from Caitlynn, Sasha and Melanie as well as Marko and Jess. It goes to show how difficult it’ll be to whittle the remaining field down to a Top 4. At the moment, we believe it’s Melanie’s season to lose as she’s been absolutely phenomenal week in and out. In the podcast we discuss what we enjoyed during the performances, as well as special touches we noticed.

For eliminations, we were a little caught off guard by the judges retention of control over the eliminations after reaching the Top 10. We didn’t disagree with the eliminations of Mitchell and Clarice, we were more just confused about the rationale. We also discuss the effect of Tyce routines on this season of So You Think You Can Dance and how they’ve replaced the Quickstep as the new “kiss of death.” Every single person that has received a Tyce routine has ended up in the bottom three and half of them have gone home (at least one person per elimination week). We discuss what may be happening and wonder if America no longer likes his brand of choreography.

We wrap things up by reviewing next week’s grouping of all-stars. Overall, we like how this season is wrapping up and we eagerly await the next collection of pieces!

Please let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment here after listening! We love to hear feedback and what you thought of the show. We also encourage you to check out our blog and twitter feed to keep up to date with us!

Episode Length: 30:56

Time Stamps
0:00 – Judges retain control over eliminations
2:00 – Neil Patrick Harris was an awesome judge
3:23 – The all-stars and new couples!
4:30 – The Tyce DiOrio kiss of death
7:30 – Bottom 4: Mitchell/Melody
10:40 – Bottom 4: Ricky/Allison
12:22 – We think Tadd should have actually been in the bottom 4
14:27 – Bottom 2 girls, general discussion
15:30 – Bottom 4: Jordan/Brandon
16:36 – Bottom 4: Clarice/Robert
18:00 – Performance: Marko/Chelsie
19:58 – Performance: Tadd/Comfort
20:41 – Performance: Caitlynn/Pasha
22:22 – Performance: Sasha/Twitch
23:47 – Performance: Jess/Kathryn
25:18 – Performance: Melanie/Pasha
27:36 – Next week’s all-stars: Ivan, Jaime, Pasha, Anya, Lauren G., Neil, Ade, Lauren F.
30:10 – Wrap-up


Listen to the podcast

Episode 10 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes

 

July 23, 2011 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!

Top 10 Results Thoughts and Discussion

Here are my live thoughts on tonight’s Top 10/All-Star results episode. I hope you’ll join the discussion, too!

The Top 10 group Broadway routine was cool in some parts, but felt kinda loose and empty in some places. I’m not familiar with the choreographer’s work, so I don’t know if this is typical of his style. Anybody? Was it just me or was there a lot of little wobbles and out of unison moments? Was that Clarice off the the right in the back and really off in the beginning? I really liked the Chorus Line-esque gold hats and unison bits at the end, though.

I’m bummed that they’re still cutting 1 guy and 1 girl and Amanda is confused that the judges are still apparently in control of the fates of the Bottom 4 (got that wrong in the Power Rankings, yesterday).

Here’s a spoiler space as I start to talk about the results…

Read more..

July 21, 2011 I Written By

Season 8 Top 10 Results Music

We’ll see the first individual cuts tonight and (most likely) the reveal of next week’s All-Star’s. I’m excited to see what music goes along with all of that.

The music list will be updated here live…

Top 10 Broadway group routine choreographed by Josh Berebus (sp?): “Act I: On Broadway” – Act One: On Broadway - Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller from “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”

Daniil Simpkin danced to: Jacques Brel’s “Les Bourgeois” – Les bourgeois - Master série : Jacques Brel

Spoiler space for the solos…

Read more..

I Written By

Season 8 Top 10 Power Rankings and Poll

Thoughts….

Top Three

1. Sasha (& Twitch) – Sasha had the best combination of incredible routine, chemistry with a popular All-Star and her own popularity (she came in 5th in our Top 10 Prediction Poll). I think it was the most memorable routine of the night. Plus, it came in the 2nd half of the routines and towards the end is always a nice little bonus.
2. Caitlynn (& Pasha) – Caitlynn was 4th in the same poll and she had a breakout performance with Pasha tonight. This was one of the sexiest, most sensuous Argentine tangos I’ve seen. She’s quickly become my #2 favorite and I think this routine will help win over a lot of holdouts (if there are any).
3. Melanie (& Pasha) – Melanie came in first in our poll. Her Viennese waltz might’ve been just slightly better technically than the Argentine tango, but I’m going to put it in the bottom of the Top 3 because tangos seem to be a little more popular than waltzes. That could just be me, though.

Middle Four

1. Marko (& Chelsie) – Marko was 2nd in our poll and while his samba with Chelsie was really good, it was also the first routine of the night and I think the choreo showed off Chelsie more than him. I still think the combination of his own popularity and people’s excitement that Chelsie was back on the show will make the routine memorable enough to keep him safe.
2. Jess (& Kathryn) – Jess ranked 6th in our poll. While he’s not a favorite of mine, he probably danced his best routine tonight with Kathryn, who is a very popular (and talented) dancer. She brought out a lot in Jess tonight, but I can’t help wishing it’d been another dancer in Jess’s place, in the routine and with Kathryn.
3. Clarice (& Robert) – Clarice was 7th in our poll, but I think that dancing a strong Bollywood with Robert and being the last of the episode will help her a lot. Her solo surprised me tonight and it’s hard to tell how she’ll do without Jess. I think she danced better with Robert than she did with Jess, but that she still might be one of the weakest.
4. Tadd (& Comfort) – Tadd was 3rd in our poll and his solo rocked. If not for those two things, I think he’d be in danger tomorrow (and he might still). It was one of the weaker routines, or at least not my favorite because it felt very strange. Comfort redeemed herself a bit as an All-Star last season, but she’s not the most popular of the All-Stars.

Bottom Three

1. Rickey (& Allison) – Rickey was 8th in our poll and his solo tonight wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been. I think he’s picking up more of a following apart from Ryan. He probably danced his best in this routine and it was one of the later ones, but I had to put somebody in the Bottom 3, so I put him here because of his low ranking in the poll and his solo.
2. Jordan (& Brandon) – Jordan was 9th in our poll. I could see her trying to change up her solo, but she seems over-reliant on the same moves, not growing as much as other contestants. She danced the 2nd routine of the night and while it was beautiful, it might not be the most memorable. Some people struggled to connect to Brandon in his season and sometimes people don’t connect to Desmond & Dwight routines, so those factors might not do her any favors.
3. Mitchell (& Melody) – Mitchell was 10th in our poll, danced with one of the lesser known All-Stars and was unlucky enough to get the weaker of Tyce’s two routines, an awkward Broadway (hit or miss with voters). His solo was really strong, but he looked like he was wearing a large diaper. I thought he handled the judge’s comments really well – he’s come a far way in my opinion, but I think this may be the end of the road for him.

Because we can vote for individual dancers, they probably won’t arbitrarily cut 1 boy and 1 girl anymore. Still, it might be kneejerk for the judges and I think they might cut Jordan and Mitchell tomorrow night. Oh, wait, we’ll only lose 1 dancer a week now, won’t we? Well, if that’s the case, I think Mitchell will be the one to go tomorrow night.

And here’s a poll (you can pick up to 3 couples):

July 20, 2011 I Written By

Season 8 Top 10 Thoughts and Discussion

SOOOOOO extremely happy to see Neil Patrick Harris as the guest judge. I adore him and I’m not surprised he’s a fan of the show or of Cat Deely. She cracked me up when she said, “You’re not popular at all,” after all the cheering for Neil and then told Nigel the audience didn’t have any energy left for him. Lol.

My live thoughts follow, so I guess I’ll put in a spoiler space here…

Read more..

I Written By

Season 8 Top 10 Performance Music

I’m so excited to see the routines tonight – Top 10 is always a great moment in the season and I’m excited to see what the All-Stars bring to the table. Many of them were All-Stars last season, we we already know they’re great, but it will be nice to see them interact with new dancers. And oh yes, I’m sure the music will be incredible. 🙂 Here we go…

Marko danced a Jason Gilkison samba with Chelsie to: Kate Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano” – Cinema Italiano - Nine (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Sasha danced her solo to: Duffy’s “Syrup & Honey” – Syrup & Honey - Rockferry

Jordan danced a Desmond & Dwight contemporary with Brandon to: Jessie J’s “Who You Are” – Who You Are - Who You Are

Jess danced his solo to: Harry Connick, Jr.’s “Come By Me” – Come By Me - Come By Me

Tadd danced a Chuck Maldanado hip hop with Comfort to: Chris Brown ft Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes’s “Look At Me Now” – Look At Me Now (feat. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes) - Look At Me Now (feat. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes) - Single

Melanie danced her solo to: Angus & Julia Stone’s “You’re the One that I Want” – You're the One That I Want - Big Jet Plane - EP

Mitchelle danced a Tyce Diorio Broadway with Melody to: “Take Off With Us” Take Off With Us - Fosse (Original Broadway Cast Recording) – from “All That Jazz”

Rickey danced his solo to: Cassidy Haley’s “Daylight Breaks” – Daylight Breaks - Little Boys and Dinosaurs

Clarice danced her solo to: Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” – Royal T (House of House Remix) [feat. Roisin Murphy] - Southern Fried & Tested, Vol. 3

Caitlynn danced a Miriam & Leonardo Argentine tango to: Orquesta Color Tango’s “Malajunta” – Malajunta - Con Estilo Para Bailar

Mitchell danced his solo to: John Legend’s “This Time” – This Time - Evolver

Sasha danced a Christopher Scott hip hop to: Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue” – Misty Blue - Misty Blue

Jordan danced her solo to: Lykke Li’s “Tonight” – Tonight - Youth Novels (Special Edition)

Jess danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary with Kathryn to: Christina Perri’s “The Lonely” – The Lonely - Lovestrong. (Deluxe Version)

Tadd danced his solo to: Robin Thicke’s “Everything I Can’t Have” – Everything I Can't Have - The Evolution of Robin Thicke (Deluxe Edition)

Melanie danced a Jason Gilkison Viennese waltz with Pasha to: Tina Arena’s “Everybody Hurts” – Everybody Hurts - Songs of Love & Loss

Caitlynn danced her solo to: Florence & the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” – Cosmic Love - Lungs (Deluxe Edition)

Rickey danced a Tyce Diorio jazz with Allison to: Tori Amos’s “Precious Things” – Precious Things - A Tori Amos Collection - Tales of a Librarian

Marko danced his solo to: Gavin DeGraw’s “More Than Anyone” – More Than Anyone (Stripped Version) - Chariot - Stripped

Clarice danced a Nakul dev Mahajan Bollywood with Robert to: “Aila re Aila” – Aila Re Aila - Khatta Meetha (Music from the Motion Picture) from the “Khatta Meetha” soundtrack

I Written By

Top SYTYCD Music of 6/27 – 7/4

Happy 4th of July, everybody! Everybody American, anyway. 😉 For a holiday treat, here’s your list of the Top Ten SYTYCD songs this week.

1. Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” – Jar
2. Florence + the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” – Lungs. SYTYCD has featured three of their songs. “Addicted to Love” was on the 6/13-6/20 list.
3. Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” – Defected
4. Lil John ft. LMFAO’s “Outta Your Mind” – Crunk
5. Annie Lennox’s “Bare” – Bare
6. Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go” – Why
7. Damien Rice’s “Prague” – O
8. N.E.R.D. ft. Nelly Furtado’s “Hot-n-Fun” – Hot-n-Fun
9. Skunk Anasie’s “Squander” – Squander
10. M.I.A.’s “XXXO” – Xxxo

And because they were pretty close, your lagniappe –

11. D.H.T. ft Edmee’s “Listen to Your Heart” – Listen
12. Amy Winehouse’s “Amy Amy Amy” – Back
13. Amanda Blank’s “Something Bigger, Something Better” – I

Check back later for my personal Top Ten so far of the season – as requested by our commenter Anna. And of course, all of the Season 7 music is here.

July 4, 2010 I Written By

SYTYCD Top 9 Performance Thoughts/Power Rankings

Once again, I’m going to combine my Top 9 performance thoughts and power rankings this week.

This one’s gonna be rough. Roouuuggggh. I’ve been reading a few of your comments to help me out here, but I’m still pretty confused.

Top Three

Alex – Is there any question? I think we can all agree on this one. And this is coming from me, the “hater” of hip-hop. Helllloooo…let’s just say I’m most likely to like hip-hop if it’s NappyTabs. And if Twitch is dancing, I’m always in love. But Alex is what made this routine, which was choreographed brilliantly for him and all, but he held his own with TWITCH BOSS! I mean, boss is in his name. 🙂 And Alex killed it. Did you hear that audience? Cat kept saying it was the loudest crowd she’d even seen on the show. It sounded like they were in a stadium. I especially loved Mia’s, “Who the hell are you?” Even though, I’m not really that surprised Alex rocked because he’s just phenomenal. When I saw the SYTYCDism spoilers that Alex and Twitch were dancing together, I made very girly sounds. 🙂

Billy – The judges came down hard on him (but they kinda have to, since he’s been a judge favorite all along, right?), but it was a gorgeous routine. Billy still has a lot of fans and I thought the combination of his mentioning Legacy as his role model, dancing with Kathryn (who danced with Legacy) and a powerful routine from Stacey Tookey put him up top. He was a bit stiff and arrogant while getting his feedback, I think, which makes me like him less. But the routine was lovely and his solo was strong as well. Overall, I think the judges were hard on him because they’re trying to give him a possibility at a “journey/arch” that he might not be perceived as having since he’s so technically good.

Ashley – When Top 11 started after Vegas Week, I was thinking, “Who is this girl?” I had no idea who she was. But I loooooooooove her now. Yes, she needs to dance something other than contemporary. But she’s been able to show something different in this routine and it was a chilling and wonderful routine with Ade. She has quickly become one of my favorites and will be my biggest solace when we probably lose the girl who has been one of my favorite from the beginning.

Middle Three

Robert -I love him. He got BIG cheers, supported Jose (yes he can, when Cat asked rhetorically if Jose could hold his own) and had great chemistry with Courtney. But, he danced with Courtney again to a blah-ish Sonya (not her best, at least) routine that  happened earlier in the show, which makes it sadly a bit forgettable. He was compared to Mark, however, and I think he does suit Sonya’s choreography. I hope it doesn’t put him in danger cause I loved when Sonya was taking America to task for not voting for Robert. He definitely deserves to stay.

Lauren – I thought it was a fun Broadway, and though I don’t always love her personality, I do enjoy her dancing. I thought both she and Neil were technically strong and had great lines, but there wasn’t a lot of chemistry between them. She’s starting to get a lot of flak, but a lot of people still really love her, I think. Also, I think the wardrobe malfunction and the resulting brou-ha-ha (“I enjoyed that tremendously,” and “I bet you did”) will make her stand out. She got a lot of time – and honestly kudos to her for carrying on with her entire strap dangling. I think that would have been just a bit distracting.

Kent – This is a tough call. It’ll either be Kent or Jose in this or the first Bottom 3 spot, in my opinion. But, they’re kinda on the same level, I think. Both didn’t dance strongly this week, both have huge fan bases. I do have to say I don’t think enough has been said about Dmitry’s phenomenal choreography here – smart and sexy work. While Jose got better feedback (and I liked his performance better), I think Kent’s fan base is a little more rabid AND I think that he’s perceived to have danced better in genres outside his own…

Bottom Three

Jose – Whereas Jose has been giving a lot of “Legacy choreography” – stunts within the choreo that show off his skillz and remind us why he’s on the show. I liked Jose’s performance tonight, but I agree with some of the comments I’ve seen that he didn’t do a lot of real dancing, more like excellent partnering. I think the routine (and most of his routines) have cleverly disguised his weaknesses and the judges are mostly glossing them over. So while I think he may be in the Bottom 3 tomorrow night, I think he’ll be a the “top” of the Bottom 3, which will mean he’ll be back next week.

Adechike – A lot of people are raving about his Dave Scott hip-hop tonight. After watching it back three times now, I think he made *some* improvement. But you know what? He had all the personality of a prop, to me. He might as well have not been there. The only times I noticed him was when he was being sloppy and cheesy. It’s kinda the reverse of Melinda for me – I don’t get the hate for her and a lot of people probably won’t get (or agree with) me putting him in the bottom 3. But honestly, I think that any little sign of improvement was going to be seen as a huge step for him because he danced like a stick with two beautiful women in his own genre in the weeks before this. I think he should be getting a lot of heat for that and I don’t care if he danced a slightly better hip-hop this week. I would’ve rather’d seen that routine with *anyone* other than him. Even not always loving hip-hop, I could see how that could be a great routine. With somebody else.

Melinda – I love her, but… it seems like I’m one of the few left who do. Especially if you count the judges. I thought Mia’s comment was so gross. What is the constructive point of telling her “we might have made a mistake keeping you” on national t.v.? Why not, “You didn’t dance your best, or as strongly as you needed to”? And, after watching the routine back, it galls me to admit this, but it was pretty awful. I enjoyed it in the moment, I did. I thought there were some especially awkward transitions into jumps, lifts and tricks and a moment that might’ve been choreographed or might’ve been a colossal mistake. I think the only thing that could save Melinda now is the sympathy vote after Mia’s ugly, pointless comment or if ALL of Melinda’s fans stay up all night voting for her.

I’m not happy about it, but I think Melinda’s going home. (Or maybe it’s a plot to use reverse-psychology are the voting audience….) I hope that it’s two guys in the bottom with her and I’m fairly confident in my picks. Though, as I said earlier today, I think we’re ripe for a shocker.

Some last thoughts before I go –

-I love that Cat’s talking more than ever – especially about the routines. Even if she’s not a dancer, she should get to put her 2 cents in after all the years she’s hosted and participated in the show. I like knowing what she thinks!

-I thought the solos were all pretty strong and interesting. I wasn’t thrilled with Ashley using the same music as last week’s group routine – I think it was too soon and indicated (whether this is fair or not) that she didn’t try as hard to be unique. Same thing with Adechike – he used at least the same song as his dance for his life in Vegas and it might have been the same solo, I’m not sure. I thought Lauren had the strongest solo of the girls and I was very impressed by Kent’s solo (his “new Billy Belly status” has never been clearer). I enjoyed Jose and Melinda’s solos quite a lot as well.

-The minute Alex’s footage started and up to the last minute on screen was some of the best SYTYCD has ever had to offer. Pure enjoyment. Even though Adam’s “This is your world and I’m just visiting” comment was regurgitated (Marianya reminded me he said it to Ashleigh last season), I think the emotion behind it was truly genuine. How could it not be? You could see the mass hysteria going on in that studio. I think NappyTabs were incredibly smart to forsake an easy route “battle” dynamic for this routine and in doing so, they made this an incredibly memorable routine, one that showcased both of its incredible dancers. If this is the quality of dancing we have to look forward to, I don’t mind *as much* that we’ll probably lose Melinda and be at 2-6 girls and guys.

-You know…some of the problem with this season’s female-male dynamic may originate with the choreographers. Hear me out… I suspect that the choreographers are just plain more inspired by the guys and they’re using the choreography to showcase and protect the guys, yet they’re not doing the same thing for the girls. Especially when you consider the enormous amounts of ballroom that the in-danger and eliminated girls have danced. The ballroom routines usually don’t have intense back stories, are very technically fussy and difficult, usually have less appealing music (hey, I’m considering the types of songs YOU tend to click on) and are a hit-or-miss when it comes to audience appreciation.

-Did you see Legacy on stage with all the dancers at the end? He and Kathryn seemed to have a bit of a reunion. 🙂

Well, bring on my heat for all the cranky-puss comments about Ade. I know a lot of you are going to think I’m crazy for my power rankings this week, so time to hear it! 🙂

July 1, 2010 I Written By

Top SYTYCD Music of 6/20/10 – 6/27/10

Last week, I started a new regular post where I’ll list each week’s Top Ten songs on SYTYCD the previous week. These results are unique to our site and not based on any numbers from Billboard or iTunes – just the songs that are most popular here at PureSYTYCD.

Keep in mind, these are the most popular songs of the week, so many of them come from the most recent performance or results shows. If not, I’ll link to the original episode it aired. Enjoy!

Top SYTYCD Music 6/20-6/27

1. Annie Lennox’s “Wonderful” – Bare

2. Skunk Anasie’s “Squander” – Squander

3. D.H.T. ft. Edmee’s “Listen to Your Heart” –Listen

4. Sylvestor “Summertime” – Mutual

5. Amy Winehouse’s “Amy Amy Amy” – Frank (One of my personal favorites from the week!)

6. Lissie’s “Everywhere I Go” Why
(This song has remained popular since the audition episodes!)

7. Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” – Defected

8. “Marjaani Marjaani Kasame” – Billu from Billu Barber

9. Damien Rice’s “Prague”O (This has been the most popular song overall this season so far.)

10. James Dooley’s “Ira Deorum/Sanctus” – Position

And for lagniappe, the #11 song just happens to be the “goodbye” song that everyone’s been talking about: Black Gold’s “Shine” – Rush, from the Valentine’s Day SoundtrackValentine's It remains to be seen whether this is the exit song for everyone or just the girls. We’ll have to lose a guy, just to be sure.

This week’s Top Ten was mostly from the week’s episodes, so I can’t wait to see if any songs stay with you like “Prague” and “Everywhere I Go” have. As always, all Season 7’s music is here.

June 27, 2010 I Written By