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!

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. ๐Ÿ™‚

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

July 20, 2011 I Written By

Brandon Dumlao and Ariana DeBose Exit Interviews

Fox just posted the exit interviews from Ariana and Brandon, so I thought I’d post them here for you guys. I can’t even begin to say how gracious they are. These dancers are so young, but they handled themselves with so much maturity and grace. Both say it was an honor just to make the Top 20. Brandon said he can’t believe he was asked back, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. I do hope they find a way to let him dance again next season, with some time to grow he could be a beautiful dancer. It can’t be easy to be the first ones eliminated, especially for someone like Brandon who literally just got here!

It’s out there that it’s a possibility that Ariana could be back next week if poor Noelle’s knee doesn’t heal. I obviously can’t speculate because nothing official has been released (that I know of) regarding Noelle’s condition at this point, but it would be a treat to see Ariana dance again, I wish it didn’t have to be at the expense of Noelle.

It certainly has been a crazy beginning of the season!

Ariana DeBose

Brandon Dumlao

October 29, 2009 I Written By

Personal Favorites From This Season of SYTYCD

Hey everyone! It`s been a really long time since I posted last, so I just wanted to say congratulations to John and his adorable new baby! I wish you and your family the best and may you all be happy and healthy!

This season of So You Think You Can Dance was really one of the best, with so much talent and many awesome dances. There were such amazing dancers that after the Top 12, I didn`t want anyone to leave! In this post I wanted to highlight my favorite performances of the season, and want to hear all of yours as well. ๐Ÿ™‚ You can also take a look at Amanda’s post about the judges favorites.

Although each dancer possessed so much potential, I did have my favorites that I rooted for until the very end.

Kayla was by far my favorite and one of the most talented. I know I`m not the only one who feels this way, a lot of the people I have talked to have also voiced this opinion. She should not have been the first to go at the Finale! Her lines were definitely the prettiest, and in all the partner dances, I couldn`t take my eyes off her. I found a lot of the time that the guys she was dancing with had a whole barrel of trouble keeping up wit her and matching her strength. My only problem with her was that her solos were often very desperate and repetitive and a lot of the times I was worried she was going to be booted off because of them. Otherwise, her technique was flawless and she was very purdy. ๐Ÿ™‚

My second favorite of course was Jeanine, for obvious reasons. For one, her solos were the greatest. They possessed a quality none of the other solo`s did. Musicality. That may seem like a small thing, but it really makes a huge difference. Those dances are way more appealing and probably one of the reasons she won. In the partner dancers, she was SO hard hitting, and almost always outdid her partner, whoever it was. I`m really happy she won. There is nothing bad I can say about her.

Favorite Solo this season:

My least favorite dancer was probably Vitolio. He was not dynamic or versatile whatsoever, and he didn`t have much of a likeable personality. I was really glad when he got the quickstep, but I loved Karla, and was really sad when she was partenered with him.

Now, onto the performances that I loved the most.

This season was a super good season for Contemporary dances. There were so many good ones, but my favorite one hands down was Evan and Randi`s Contemporary by Mia Michaels. This piece was full of fun, butt ๐Ÿ˜‰ equally balanced out with superb technique and complex sequences. The music only added to the fun atmosphere and if I don`t watch this piece at least 3 times a day I don`t feel right.

Some other noteworthy pieces include:

Jeanine and Jason to If It Kills Me Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things - If It Kills Me (Jason Mraz) by Travis Wall

Kayla and Kupono to Gravity Sara Bareilles - Little Voice - Gravity (Sara Bareilles) by Mia Micheals

Melissa and Ade to This Woman`s Work Maxwell - Now - This Woman's Work (Maxwell) by Tyce Diorio

Karla and Jonathan to Falling Slowly The Frames - The Cost (Deluxe Edition) - Falling Slowly (The Frames) by Stacey Tookey

This season also had plenty of mentionable Hip-Hop dances, and it was hard to choose my favorite, but the one I was most enchanted with was Kayla and Jason`s by Shane Sparks. The story in this was just hilarious, and surprising light hearted considering it was about zombies and eating brains. It wasn`t anything too complicated, but fun and entertaining, which, if you think about it, is what the show is about. There were other Hip-Hop dances that were less simple, and more technical, but this was just fun!

Other awesome Hip-Hops:

Randi and Evan to Hal Beyoncรฉ - I Am... Sasha Fierce (Deluxe Version) - Haloo (Beyonce) by NappyTabs

Janette and Brandon to What A World Common - Universal Mind Control - What a World (Common) by Shane Sparks

Jeanine and Philip to Mad Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman (Bonus Track Version) - Mad (Ne-Yo) by NappyTabs

Jeanine and Philip to Love Lockdown Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (Bonus Video Version) - Love Lockdown (Kanye West) by NappyTabs

Other AMAZING dances:

Caitlin and Jason Bollywood to Jai Ho A. R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer - Slumdog Millionaire (Music from the Motion Picture) - Jai Ho by Nakul

Kayla and Max PopJazz to Hot Like Wow Nadia Oh - Hot Like Wow - Hot Like Wow (Nadia O) by Brian Friedman

Janette and Evan Jazz to Move CSS - Move 12" - EP - Move (Metronomy Remix) (CSS) by Sonya Tayeh

Group Dance Top 8 Let it Rock Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne - In the City (Bonus Track Version) - Let It Rock by Travis Wall

Group Dance Top 16 I Know You Want Me Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - EP - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) [More English Extended Mix] (Pitbull) by Dmitry Chaplin, Napoleon and Tabitha Dโ€™umo

Worst dance of the season:

Jeanine and Philip Russian Folk Dance
Only the choreography, dancing was superb.

That`s it, my favorites of Season 5, looking forward to 6, and SYTYCD Canada starting Tuesday the 11th!!

August 10, 2009 I Written By

A Remix of Travis Wall’s First Choreography on So You Think You Can Dance

Fans of Jason will adore this video and miss Jason even more. Fans of Jeanine will be ready to proclaim her the winner. Fans of Travis Wall will laude his name even more. Fans of So You Think You Can Dance will be reminded why we love SYTYCD so much. Enjoy this amazing remix of what is definitely one of the most memorable and best routines of the season:

Of course, it would be wrong of me to show the remix without the original video of Jason and Jeanine doing Travis Wall’s choreography too:

Thanks to SYTYCDism for pointing this video out.

July 28, 2009 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2009 Los Angeles

This is a really great video from the So You Think You Can Dance 2009 LA auditions. You get to see a bunch of the crazy personalities of the dancers and they even have a bunch of clips of people busting some moves on the sidewalk. The line in LA seemed pretty long too. This is not quite a So You Think You Can Dance season 5 spoiler video, but pretty close. Things are looking good for So You Think You Can Dance 5. Can’t wait to see the SYTYCD 5 premiere tonight. Check out the video:

May 21, 2009 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2009 Memphis Video

This is a pretty nice video outside the So You Think You Can Dance 2009 auditions in Memphis. You get to meet some of the dancers. You get to hear a little bit about their journey and you get to see them doing some of their warm up routines. This is not quite a So You Think You Can Dance season 5 spoiler video, but pretty close. I’m getting excited for the start of So You Think You Can Dance 5. Enjoy the video:

I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance 2009 Preview Video

The season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance is just around the corner on Thursday 5/21, at 8/7c, on FOX! I absolutely can not wait for the return of So You Think You Can Dance. Not to mention that we’ll get to see 2 seasons of So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. Check out this video preview and get excited for season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance:

I Written By

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

Funny Moments Video from So You Think You Can Dance Tour

I honestly can’t believe that I never posted this before now. Check out this video of some of the funny behind the scene moments from So You Think You Can Dance. Absolutely hilarious stuff.

March 12, 2009 I Written By

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

SYTYCD Flashback – Robert Muraine’s Audition

I’m not sure there’s much argument that Robert Muraine had to be one of, if not the best So You Think You Can Dance audition ever. It was creative, it was unique it was hilarious and was truly incredible to watch.

Watching him dance makes you wonder how many other dancers like him are left out there in the world that people know nothing about.

December 20, 2008 I Written By

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

So You Think You Can Dance Flashback – Gev and Courtney

Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian dance to Lost by AnoukAnouk - Hotel New York - Lost I’m putting this performance as one of the best from last season and somehow got lost in the show. Watching it again I enjoyed it even more than the first time I saw it.


Warning: Mary Murphy scream at 5:53.

October 6, 2008 I Written By

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