So jealous of Ellen...

My thoughts SYTYCD's 100th episode (inc Katie Holmes performance)

Like many others, I was left with sort of an "eh?" reaction after seeing the long-awaited Katie Holmes performance. I mean, she looked fabulous BUT compared to the dancing we are used to seeing on the show, her performance was just OK in my book. But I blame a lot of the "Katie backlash" on the show because they teased her performance way too much. I actually wasn't expecting much anyway because when I heard she was doing Judy Garland's "Get Happy" routine, I looked it up to see what it was like.

You can see it below, but basically Katie's rendition was pretty faithful to it. Judy's version also featured her doing a lot of prancing around with most of the real dancing being done by the dudes.



So actually when compared to the original, Katie's version is a bit more flashier.



But yeah, I guess most of the fans were quick to diss her and Nigel himself finally got fed up and reprimanded them via Twitter (@dizzyfeet).



In general, I think they teased this show too much overall. I was expecting it to almost be like the Idol Gives Back special. Yes, I loved seeing that Ramalama routine - especially with Wade Robson joining them (how amazing was he!!!) - but it left me wishing for more. I wished they did one of the Ivan and Allison routines or one of the Benji and Donyelle routines. I also would have loved if they interviewed past contestants so we could learn what they've done since the show and stuff.

What did you guys think about the show?

SYTYCD: Thoughts on Top 16

This is for you Alisa!

I thought tonight's performance was definitely a step up from last week's dudfest where I struggled to pick any favorites. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I am not a fan of Toni Basil as a SYTYCD judge. She rambles on and on and none of her commentary is interesting or entertaining. I miss Adam Shankman, however, he won't be back to SYTYCD until the finale per his tweets.

Anyway, out of the 8 performances, here are my top 3 favorites:

1) Phillip and Jeannine - Broadway by Tyce Diorio

I am always a fan of the Broadway routines and this one was super cute. Nigel was somewhat harsh with Phillip, but come on! He leaped (leapt?) a 6ft couch *and* ripped his pants on national TV!

(Audio disabled - let me know if you have a better link)


2) Randi and Evan - Contemporary by Mia Michaels

The butt dance... very slinky and smooth and sensual... different and fun! And I have to say, Randi is really growing on me - she's really fun to watch.



3) Janette and Brandon - Hip Hop by Dave Scott

This was a toughie... I also liked the Rumba but ultimately Brandon won me over with his hip hop skills! You would never have known that was not his traditional background.



Honorable Mentions:

• Melissa and Ade - Rumba by Tony Meredith
  I also liked them because I love the Destiny's Child version of Emotion, heehee
  
• Kayla and Kupono - Viennese Waltz by Jean Marc Generaux
  Side note: I love Jean Marc, he always cracks me up in rehearsal footage
  
• Caitlin and Jason - Paso Doble by Jean Marc Genereaux
  I was surprised Jason got the harsher critiques as I didn't feel Caitlin danced it as "sharp" as he did

So that means my bottom two are:

• Karla and Jonathan - Hip Hop by Dave Scott
  
• Auska and Vitolia - Jazz by Mandy Moore

My guess is that Jonathan will go home for the guys but it's a toss up between Karla and Auska for the girl.

What did you guys think about the show?

The Return of So You Think You Can Dance

YAY! I'm so happy that So You Think You Can Dance is back on the air. I always look forward to the end of American Idol for this reason alone, haha.

The Top 20 had their first performance show last night... loved it! So great to see all those familiar faces again. Plus Adam Shankman is one of my favorite guest judges.

Here are my favorite performances of the night:

Jeanine & Philip: Ne-Yo / Tabitha and Napoleon piece
I *love* Tabitha and Napoleon's choreography... this had a similar feel to their "No Air" and "Bleeding Love" routines, hip hop with a storyline. It was awesome to see Phillip in his element in a choreographed piece and he and Jeanine both did such a great job. The choreography seemed so intricate!




Caitlin & Jason: Bollywood / Jai Ho
Nice to see they brought Bollywood back this season. I can't imagine them ever going wrong with this style since the costumes alone are always so gorgeous. Great piece!




Ashley & Kupono: Crash Test Dummy / Wade Robson piece
Sometimes Wade Robson routines are hit or miss for me but I really liked this one. Their movements were so fluid and you really believed they were crash test dummies!




Melissa & Ade: Right Here Waiting / Mandy Moore piece
This one is really beautiful and romantic.



All in all, it was a great show. It will be interesting to see which ones get the boot tonight. I'll guess Paris and Tony for now.

And how crazy was it that Louis Van Amstel is now choreographing for the show? I'm used to seeing SYTYCD alums on DWTS but not vice versa. I'll be honest, he was one of my least favorite professionals on that show, but I liked what he brought to the show tonight. I know everyone was raving about that final samba number. It was good, definitely, but not one that I wanted to watch again.

Which ones were your favorite? Who do you think will get voted off tonight?

More SYTYCD alums on Dancing with the Stars!

Ooh... I'm so excited! I was just looking at the new cast photos for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars on Pink is the New Blog and I noticed two new but familiar faces.

Popular So You Think You Can Dance dancers, Chelsie Hightower and Dmitry Chaplin, have been added to the cast as professional ballroom dancers. Chelsie will be dancing with Ty Murray and Dmitry will be dancing with Jewel.

I love this tradition of DWTS picking up new professionals from SYTYCD which started last fall with the addition of Lacey Schwimmer.

It's so fun to see our old friends again - first on America's Best Dance Crew and now DWTS!

Tonight

Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Office... ohmigosh, I can't wait to see all my "friends" return to my TV tonight :)

But I will have to DVR them for now as I already have a date for this evening.

Speaking of SYTYCD, I am really happy to see Lacey Schwimmer dancing on TV again. She's so fun to watch!

DWTS read my mind!

I recently commented to my friend "Madame McTuffy" that I would love to see ballroom dancers from So You Think You Can Dance make the move to Dancing with the Stars as one of the professional dancers.

Well, it looks like it is going to happen!

Dancing with the Stars announced their new line-up today for Season 7 which will premiere on September 22nd. There are three new professional dancers - one of whom is Miss Lacey Schwimmer! She will be paired with Lance Bass from N Sync, or more recently, My Life on the D-List.

The rest of the line-up:

• Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff
  
• Beach volleyball Olympian, Misty May-Treanor, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
  
• Track star Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke
  
• Toni Braxton and Alec Mazo
  
• Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas
  
• Cody Linley (Hannah Montana) and Julianne Hough
  
• Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas (Mark's father and a World Latin Champion)
  
• Ted McGinley and new pro Inna Brayer (current U.S. Amateur 10 Dance Champion)
  
• Brooke Burke and Derek Hough
  
• Jeff Ross (TV's "celebrity roastmaster general") and Edyta Sliwinska
  
• Warren Sapp (football) and Kym Johnson
  
• Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani

SYTYCD Results

Kherington and Gev - really??? Well, Gev was not too much of a shocker (only because all the other guys are so dang awesome!) but for the girls, I actually thought Comfort would go home. If she sticks around for awhile, she could be the Chris March of the season.

Anyway, I'm ready to announce my favorites:

Katee for the girls...


...and Mark for the boys...

... so I was really nervous when he was in the bottom two tonight.

Overall - Katee all the way!


And by the way, I want to see Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe actually perform on stage! I hope they do it for the finale. And not that jibjab nonsense like last season.

SYTYCD: Top Ten

My random thoughts:

• How convenient that Jessica was injured... she was definitely the girl to go this week, dontcha think?
  
• Bollywood, Pas de Deux: Thumbs up / Two Step: Thumbs down
• What's up with Comfort and Twitch? Are they a behind the scenes couple? The bickering rehearsal footage for the smooth waltz was a little suspicious
• Wow, I can't believe how much Mark and Kherington lost their spark with the new partnering... they should have killed that Jamiroquai routine (hello - Center Stage, anyone?) and it fell flat
• Note to self: add "buck" to my urban vocabulary

Overall:

• Round 1: Winner - Chelsie and Gev (Contemporary) / Loser - Kherington and Mark (Two Step)
• Round 2: Winner - Katee and Will (Pas de Deux) / Loser - Kherington and Mark (Jazz)
• Male Solos: Winner - Twitch, Loser - No one, they were all amazing
• Female Solos: Winner - Courtney, Loser - Chelsie
  

Lovin' Napoleon and Tabitha

I agree with Nigel - Napoleon and Tabitha are a great addition to this season's choreographers. Katee and Joshua are still my favorite couple but my favorite routine tonight was the hip hop routine with Chelsie and Mark.


(The performance starts at around 02:45)

It's another N&T routine that, in some parts, seemed similar to the No Air routine, but I still loved it. It was sick. :)

So You Think You Can Dance and other summer shows...

Yay - we're now at the performance part of So You Think You Can Dance (Dance, Dance, Dance...)

I think my favorite routine / couple was Katee and Joshua and their hip hop routine. The first time I watched it I focused on Katee, but when I watched it again, Joshua was just as amazing!

Coming in a close second was Twitch and Kherington - they might be my favorite overall dancers. And I think Twitch will give us the most entertaining solo's if he ever has to "dance for his life". (Although I doubt that will happen - at least not this week.)

The slow waltz was really beautiful although I'm not really drawn to either Susie or Marquis.

Tomorrow brings the return of a couple other fun shows:

My Life on the D-List (Bravo)
My Boys (TBS)

Then next Thursday, we have the return of America's Best Dance Crew (MTV)! I caught the auditions and it should be a fun season. Flips in the house!!!

And according the my recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, Mad Men and The Closer are returning in July - yippee!

Curious about those SYTYCD tickets to Vegas?

... or is just me?

My favorite dance show, So You Think You Can Dance, is back - yay! We start with the audition rounds. If you make it to the next round (similar to Hollywood for American Idol), you get a ticket to Vegas.

Now on Idol, your ticket to Hollywood is some generic looking yellow piece of paper. But on SYTYCD, you get this very legitimate looking old school paper plane ticket. You know, the kind you used to get before the era of e-ticketing.

And I wondered - can you still get generic plane tickets? With no name associated with them? I know, I know, why am I wondering about this??? I can't help it. I like useless info! (See previous post.)

Anyway, on tonight's episode, I actually paused my DVR on a close up of a ticket so that I can examine it.

What did I learn?




IT IS FAKE!



I know, no surprise. But they make it look pretty real. Except that the "ticket" is slightly larger and the airline is "SYTYCD Airlines".


Anyway, you know that mom that brought all her kids to the audition and did sort of a hip hop routine? Is that what I looked like during all those dance recitals that I dragged all my friends and family to???


Eh... don't answer that.

Idol Gives Back Highlight #1: Oh, how I've missed you, SYTYCD!

OK, I'm only 5 minutes into the "Idol Gives Back" special and I already know I'll be saving this one on my DVR for awhile. The opening number was amazing!!! I heard the dancers from "So You Think You Can Dance" were going to open, but I didn't know it would be dancers from all the previous seasons! SO. AWESOME.

Plus they danced to one of my current favorite tunes. Rhianna is my girl.

Heck - I might even shell out some money to the cause, it was so good!

Tyce Diorio rocks!

As I happily bummed around my apartment on Saturday in preparation for my second first marathon :P, I was happy to discover that MTV was running a marathon of its own - of Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance! (i.e. the Benji / Travis season)

I got to see some of my favorite performances including Ivan and Allison's contemporary piece to Why by Annie Lennox. (This is the one where Allison is wearing a black slip dress and Ivan is wearing black button down and pants.) This whole time I thought that had been a Mia Michaels piece but no, it was actually choreographed by Tyce Diorio!

You know, I think he might be my favorite all around choreographer because he can do pieces like that plus all his fun Broadway ones, like Benji and Donyelle's Hairspray, Shauna and Jimmy's Ease on Down the Road, the group Lion King, etc.

My least favorite? Dan Karaty. He is so generic and boring compared to all the other choreographers. He typically choreographs "pop" routines, which is described as hip hop with jazz elements or something like that.

Anyway, there was this school kid routine he did with Lacey and Kameron this season to Fergie. Lacey was this sassy girl and Kameron was chasing her around. Well, it turns out that he pretty much copied this routine from one he did last season with Natalie and Musa to Nelly Furtado's Promiscuous.

I don't even like him as a judge, either. I don't feel like he gives any good, solid feedback, just criticizes them. I think he is just jealous of the dancers. heehee

Sabra Rocks!

Well, it seemed like everyone knew that Sabra and Danny would be in the final two - and the adorable Sabra won the whole thing! Who would have thought? That's actually pretty impressive because I don't think she got any exposure during the audition shows, right? And it just shows... you don't have to be able to do a million turns to win! She's a little powerhouse, you know? Like Lacey commented, she really is all muscle, huh?

I liked all the dances that got "encore" performances, but the main thing I will take away from the season finale was the DISAPPOINTING "performance" between Cat and Nigel that they kept teasing about throughout the whole finale. I kept thinking that silly video was just the opener and that after it was over, the two would come out on stage and do a dance. C'mon ... the other show did it! Both Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris from Dancing with the Stars did performances with the professional dancers and they ended up being cute routines. I'm very disappointed in those Cat and Nigel.

And I had no idea that good-bye song was from Ryan Cabrera! His live version wasn't so hot, though. However, it was definitely a better performance than Nicole from PCD. (BTW - Did she drop her last name?) I thought the staging was lame with the whole singing inside the box and the weak choreo... I appreciated that she sang most of it live, however, that song is eh. Is that her debut single? She didn't have anything better?

Another random note - Neil actually has a pretty TV-friendly face. And they've already established this week that the girls adore him... I could really see him being a breakout star here. Like the next Zac Efron (any of you catch that reference???).

Also, what are your thoughts on the American Band show? I don't think that will make the cut for me this fall, how about you?

The Hills!!!

Before we begin... yay for the SYTYCD final four, Lacey, Sabra, Danny, and Neil! I'm happy with those choices. I'm so sad the show is ending though. Hey, wouldn't it be cool if some of the good ballroom dancers went on to Dancing with the Stars? You know, like Pasha, for example.

As for the Hills... yay, the gang is back! And I've got LOTS of comments!

First episode:

• So - was there a sex tape or not? And I could see Spencer starting that rumor - but Heidi?
  
• Spencer and his fishtank - ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously, what is wrong with this kid?
  
• C'mon, Whitney, Lauren's London boy was cute!
  
• Speaking of which, I can appreciate Lauren wanting to date like a guy... but she was getting kind of annoying with boasting about her "jackpot" at the club
  
• Jen Bunney and her "focusing on real friendships"... PLEASE!!! Did she forget that Heidi basically told her to beat it when she visited her at Bolthouse after the Brody scandal?
  
• Ooh - catfight at Les Deux! It almost got as intense as when Alex bitched out Jessica in Cabo. Almost. But it was still good.
  
• Yay, it's Elodie! Diggin' the new brunette 'do...
  
• Random comment - I'm a big fan of Lauren and all her "frocks"
  
• What version of the Umbrella song did they play at the end of the first episode? Was that Rhianna? I like the original version better.

Second episode:

• Spencer's "gift".... where do we even begin? Obviously, the fish tank was not really an indication of the *horrible* taste Spencer has in home decor. Graffiti??? All over the living room??? In a really nice apartment??? Heidi - how many red flags does a girl need?!!!! Geesh.
  
• OK, first impression of Justin, Audrina's ex - did anyone see that coming? I was *not* expecting a long-haired, artsy looking fellow - especially one that wants to be nicknamed Bobby.
  
• YAY - Lo is back! And I'm with her, I prefer a guy who is good already - none of this bad boy nonsense
  
• Lauren is *really* good at giving the evil death stare - has Audrina learned nothing from the Heidi fiasco?
  
• How many cats do these girls have?
  
• Spencer is so incredibly lame when he was shopping for rings... "Where's the bling?" Ick. As for the proposal... well, I just don't get why Heidi loves him so much.
  

The teasers for the rest of the season look awesome! Whitney kisses Brody? Lauren hangs out with Jason again? Lauren and Jason run into Heidi and Spencer? Can't wait!

Darn MTV - why did you have to debut Newport Harbor afterward? I need to get to bed!!! I'll comment on that one later...

I want to be on the hot tamale train!

These dancers really have improved so much since the beginning - it's kinda cool to see.

Pasha was awesome tonight! He was so "funky" with the hip hop, not ballroom-y at all. And he was perfect in the waltz :)

I think Danny figured out the secret to winning over the audience - smiling!

My favorite routine of the night was the Mandy Moore one (no, not that Mandy Moore). It was just so different and cool! Very slick...



And about Neil's "planche" move... did anyone else find that really hot??? (TMI?) I have to admit I did an instant replay on that one... :)

So bummed that we have to wait until Monday for the results...

Not a night for breakers

I guess when there's only 8 dancers left, there's no way not to be disappointed with the results. But I really didn't think it would be Dominic and Sara. Who the heck is voting for Lauren???

Random comment - other than Danny and his amazing spinning ability, no one is really *that* good of a solo dancer, dontcha think? I thought Lacey would wow us but she sort of just ran all over the stage. And Pasha just waved his cape around (still love him though). Actually, I guess Sabra and Neil did a pretty good job as well. Sabra is so adorable - she is so tiny and she just flies off the stage.

Also, I love that the show is really good about introducing new music. Well, new to me, anyway, since I'm not that hip with the tunes. I like how they always show the name and artist at the beginning of the routine. Having them come on to perform, like with One Republic, was really cool, too. I never would have heard of them if it wasn't for the show. Unless maybe their song was used in the background of a Grey's Anatomy episode - that's also where I pick up new tunes as well. :)

Anyway, here's the video of the song they performed on the show, "Apologize."



And here is when Danny and Anya performed to it:

I Guess I Just Didn't Get It

Here's the thing - I missed Mia Michaels' intro before Neil and Lacey's contemporary piece. So I didn't know the whole backstory while watching their performance. Sure, it was nice - but it didn't have any huge impact on me. And then there were everyone's reactions! People crying and saying this was one of the best performances - not just from this season, not just from this show, but one of the best performances on television *ever*... I was so confused.

Even after rewinding and hearing the intro and then watching the piece again - I don't know... it still didn't do anything for me. I could understand why people were crying but I don't think that will be a dance piece that would rank as one of my favorites from this show. To be honest, I liked their Latin jazz number better.

Here it is - take a look and let me know what you think:



I still think last season's "Park Bench" routine was more interesting:



BTW - did you know that this was nominated for an Emmy??? (That was a sarcastic comment, BTW, since they constantly mention this!)

Top Ten of SYTYCD

So using Lost terminology, this week's SYTYCD is the "game-changer". There are ten dancers left so that means:

• Dancers will have a new partner each week
• Elimination is helded American Idol style where audience votes for individual dancer, not the pair, and the girl and boy dancers with the lowest votes are eliminated
• Judges no longer have a say

And then they added a new element - all dancers perform a solo using the same choreo. What are your thoughts on this? Personally, I am not a fan. To watch the same piece 10 times??? I don't even care if was by Wade. I get bored when they have the American Idol finalists sing the same song in the finale - and that's only two people! And then to have them all line up at the end and listen as each judge critiqued them one by one on their solos? BORING!

I don't know... I thought this whole week was a dud. I didn't really even have a favorite routine. Well, maybe Sara and Neil and their disco just because they were so cute and fun. Sara's dress was adorable - but did it rip open or something at the end? I know she almost flashed but then she spent the rest of the judging session holding her dress closely.

Even the eliminations were boring - was anyone surprised that Kameron and Jaimie were kicked off this week?

Random comments:

• Wade is married? So sad...
• I was expecting Danny to rip open his shirt during their samba routine since it was choreographed by last season's Dmitri... you know - since Benji included a lot of his "signature" moves in that west coast swing routine
• I felt bad for Dom and Jaimie and their critiques... how could you not be over-the-top with that Don Quixote (sp?) / Man of La Mancha song???

That's all for now!