SYTYCD Episode 15: IV REAL?

Squiggly light worms squirm as the 12 remaining dancers perform a great routine choreographed by Napoleon & Tabitha. Cat, beautiful and feminine as always, introduces our first couples.
No surprise in our first two couples, Thayne and Comfort are part of that 50% that is going to be in danger, Katee and Joshua are safe. Cat asks Mia her opinion on the Thaynefort predicament and Mia seems to spill the beans as she says that it is sad that at least one of them is going to be sad. When Jessica and Will are bottom-threed (over Mark and Chelsie—not a big surprise), Mary also gives us the preview: Will’s mentor, Debbie Allen is in the audience. He’s not going to be voted off! For the last couple: it is T & K, so I missed one! Even though there was a 50-50 chance of any couple being in the bottom, there is a certain vote manipulation by the producers in the final choice (read the fine print if you don’t believe me). Showcasing Twitchington’s solos actually makes sense at this stage.
For the break before the solos we get Alvin Ailey Dancers—a lot better than Robert Muraine! Thanks Nigel!
The solos seem to be almost irrelevant, as the results may have been previously announced. The solos do show that the “contemporary” style is rather ubiquitous and generic nowadays. Either by the…

(I wasn’t paying attention to the singing number during the break for the jidges decision until I hear the lyrics “I kissed a girl, I liked it” sung by this all legged/short skirted young girl! What’s going on with this show? I found the Pussy Cat Girls singing “When I Grow Up” very inappropriate for a show that has a very young following. And after last night’s Garden of Eden I was feeling kind of uncomfortable with the “amorality” —lack of moral standards, not meaning “immorality”—of the show. This song choice tonight kind of tops it for me. I’m not a prude but there are a million better choices that could’ve been made that would’ve offered so much better role models for the young crowd that sees this show! I understand this is a business as any other, but why not be socially responsible also? Is SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY completely foreign to Fox?)

Okay, back to the results…

As I was saying, either by the audition process or because of the general pool of dance instruction out there, “contemporary” seems to be a catch-all that throws in a lot of tricks, and glosses over a lot of technique. Of the top 20, 13 defined their style as contemporary or contemporary/other. The next category was Hip-hop with only 3 self defined dancers in this category. Clearly either contemporary is a vague category or it is taking over.
However… I am sad to see such a great “contemporary” dancer as Thayne leaving. As seen in his solo he has the technique, strength and training, but given the mix of styles required and the way the show is structured he did have to leave. I am not so sorry to see Comfort go, because despite the fact that she is a great hip-hop dancer, she has really shown zero growth, doing poorly outside her style, and always the same in her own style. Jessica has shown growth and versatility, and for that she deserved to stay, despite my prediction of last night.

P.S. About the IV Real Shirts, I have not found out exactly what they meant (I know, of course, that it means For Real). Someone suggested to me that it has something to do with Season 4, but that’s all I’ve found out so far….

SYTYCD July 9, 2008. Episode 14: About the fabulosity of mixing Tarzan and Jane, the Hot Chahhhhccchaccchacchaaaah, a pair of absobloodylutely...

...dirty gangsta, a golden Bollywood couple and lots of back stabbing by the fabulous Mia.

Please welcome your host… Cat Deeley! In a breezy quasi halo dress, she looks like a girly girl ready for a summer afternoon tea. I am glad that she is out of that techno-retro fashion style and into something more becoming. Maybe all that contemporary-lyrical dancing is having some effect on her. I did think that after the tall dancers left last week she would wear lower heels, but she still had 20" heel shoes on. Perhaps it is her way of Pointe? Her hair, though, could have used some Shear Genius. Oh, well, about the dancing:


Mark and Chelsie start the night with a hot Salsa number. Chelsie nailed the number and, regardless of what the jidges said, I think Mark did too! Mia, with a killer hat (was she sharing that hat with Alex Da Silva?), tells Chelsie that she is so gorgeous she wants to stab her!! Wow, it is becoming really difficult to understand what this judges are saying most of the time. I think I have to go back to school and take MSL 101 (Mia as a Second Language).
For their second number, Mark and Chelsie do Broadway, and I really enjoyed watching this number!! I even forgot that I was supposed to “judge” and write my comments for this blog because I was just into their dance!! And that’s the difference between watching amateurs and watching professional dancers! When watching a professional dance, you can just sit back and enjoy! This number was a chemical reaction all over, from the couple, the jidges and the audience. However Mia, always the shocker, says that Mark does not have training and technique… ?!?! Please… if that’s the case, what do most of the others dancers this season have then?!?! I don’t know what Mia has against Mark, or where was she coming from, but honestly I do not see her point. Or, I wonder, maybe she thinks he’s so gorgeous that she was just showing her appreciation by backstabbing him with her comments? Again, I really have to enroll into an MSL 101 class asap! After their two numbers, my score for Chelsie and Mark tonight: 9.

Let’s move on…

Comfort and Thayne: Hip Hop. A well choreographed routine with sharp movements. Comfort in her zone (or so we expect) and Thayne working hard at it. Unfortunately the costuming did not help at all, with so many shoulder snaps and movements hidden by Comfort’s padded fluffy vest and Thayne’s oversized jacket. Definitely, not a number worth remembering. Comfort and Thayne’ second number was… flat! Poor execution, no magic. It was not a number for which you want to stop everything you are doing and watch. I think I’ll go feed the cats (not… I’ll watch every second so I can write this for you). Overall score tonight for Thaynefort: 7.5.

For Jessica and Will’s first number, Tyce D’Orio choreographs a number he says is evocative of the Garden of Eden… which for him means scantly clad dancers doing snake like moves, trying to show us what all that fuss about the Original Sin is about, however… the panting was not effortless. It seemed a little strained, but then it was primitive times back there in that Garden, wasn’t it? To me, Jessica struggled through most of the choreography, but Nigel, Mary and Mia say that Jessica is growing. Hence, I question myself, who will be voted out tomorrow, Jessica or Comfort? Because I truly believe that it will be one or the other… Mia says the music was to sleep by. My opinion? This was a good choreography that somehow was too hard for these dancers to perform without making it look too difficult… Does that make sense?
Will and Jessica’s second number: Quickstep AKA The Kiss of Death (remember Chelsea T?). The choreography showcased Will’s skills. The number was okay, though, nothing to write home about (or a blog about). The judges blamed the choreography, the costuming and Jessica for everything wrong. Hint: Will will not be voted off if he’s down. By the way, since when did Nigel become a purist about mixing styles? The Quickstep, mixed with Twist and Jive a problem? We have seen hip-hop/contemporary, lyrical/waltz, disco/salsa, and many other impure dances before. This couple’s score tonight: 8.

Anya and Pacha do the Cha cha for Courtney and Gev… And they not just bumped hips and crot…s (can we say that word in national television?) but they shaked every little muscle and extremity. Watching them dance this choreography, however, I couldn’t help but imagining Pacha and Anya in their place and how much better it would have been. Sorry, I like Gev and Courtney, and I think they really did their best with this number. But the choreography was not tailor made for them, or they did not make it their own; Courtney and Gev just looked like very good imitations. The judges loved it, however. They loved it so much that new words came out of everybody’s mouths!! Absobloodylutely says Nigel, Magic Hot Chahhhhccchaccchacchaaaah says Mary as she puts them on that Mexican train to the border. Fabulosity is the term that comes from Mia – After Will’s abs, Gev’s chest gets in the picture, with a little more detail than we really wanted to know. Apparently it itches! Courtney rubs it down and Nigel, with all his wisdom and experience suggests that he should wax it.
Courtney and Gev’s second number was pretty good. A cool choreography by Mandy Moore that was well executed and, two weeks ago, would have kept any couple safe. However, with a 50:50 chance of being in the bottom three this week, I’ll say they will be in the bottom tomorrow. My score for them tonight: 8.5.

Kherington and Twitch: This was Krump! Twitch’s turning, Kherington’s chest heaving, both their faces in a toughie look made this the number of the night so far (competing with Katee and Joshua’s Bollywood for best of the night). Kherington, who knew?!? And it is the first time in SYTYCD that I enjoy watching Krump. Twitchington’s second number, a smooth tango, did not work as well as their Krump. The costuming and lighting worked. The dancing didn’t. Oh, if they'd just kept their Krumpy attitudes for this tango, they could have killed it! Instead, they kind of murdered it. They looked good, however, and considering their strong following it is very likely that they will be safe tomorrow. Twitchington’s score tonight: 8.5.

Katee and Joshua do a Waltz inspired on the Pas de Deux from Le Sylphide, and the “City of Angels” fallen angel Seth—whose movie theme was that Goo Goo Dolls song Iris (remember the Angel that comes down to Earth, falls in love with Meg Ryan, and then she leaves with Russel Crowe?). Anyway, the whole ghost story did not really materialize (or it materialized too much?) because the choreography did not keep through the illusion of them not being able to touch each other. Hence, it was a pretty waltz, but nothing amazing. The judges comments made me wonder, could Joshua be in trouble tomorrow? But, then came Bollywood and all my worries faded away (as you can tell, I have become to appreciate Joshua’s mass appeal). That Bollywood number was cheesy and fake and oversold by the judges as an “ethnic” dance but it was also so entertaining and enjoyable and cool and precise and well performed… I would not call it authentic "Indian cultural dancing" as Nigel said (but what do I know?)... I must admit, however, that I loved it!! Congrats to the dancers who made it really wonderful! Tonight, Joshua and Katee along with Mark and Chelsie demonstrated once more that they are able of creating magic through their dancing. These four dancers have been consistently great. They come, as Mary Murphy said once referring to Joshua, with a label: Satisfaction Guaranteed!!! Katua’s score tonight: 9.5! (A 10 for their Bollywood).

My prediction for bottom three tonight: Courtney and Gev, Will and Jessica, Comfort and Thayne. Who will be out? Among the girls, I know that the decision will be between Comfort and Jessica. Based on the comments that they received tonight, I believe Jessica will be voted off. Among the guys, the decision is even more difficult. Gev has worked really hard and done a very good job throughout the season. However, he does not have the level of technique than any of the other two. Will has not done such as brilliant a job as was expected from him, especially after all the building up during the auditions: He’s Debbie Allen’s protégé and is supposed to possess very strong training and technique. He’s been fair, but not amazing. However, Jessica has been blamed for it. Thayne, a very strong technician and the dancer with the most professional experience in the show (he’s 27 years old and has been dancing professionally with a company for sometime), has been in the bottom too many times and criticized for his lack of chemistry and audience appeal. I like Thayne, and agree with Mia (for once) in that he is a wonderful dancer. He's done things through the show that I doubt any of the other dancers could do. But I believe Thayne will be out (he’ll go in the tour anyway as traditionally they hire two understudies; Mia even hinted at it by saying that no matter what, even if he’s out, she’ll love to work with him). I'll like to watch his solo tonight for sure!

In summary: Jessica and Thayne are the dancers that I predict will be out.

SYTYCD Top 12: Who’s who in So You Think You Can Dance

Mark Kanemura (24) is a Contemporary/Modern dancer born and raised in Honolulu, HI. His ethnicity includes: Samoan, Japanese, Irish, English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Scottish, English, & Portuguese. He has been dancing since he was 13. Mark Kanemura trained with 24-7 Dance Force in Honolulu and danced at Tokyo Disney. He also directed and choreographed Miss Hawaii pageants and performances on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Mark’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=390406607



Chelsie Hightower (18) is a Latin dancer born in Las Vegas, NV, currently leaving in Pleasant Grove Orem, UT. Chelsie H. started studying ballroom dancing when she was 9 years old. She has worked with many world-renowned choreographers. Chelsie Hightower was a U.S. Worlds finalist in 2005 and competed on Team USA. She graduated from Timpanogos High School, and then attended Utah Valley University for a fall semester. She has also performed in musical theater across the nation. She declares herself to also be a singer “by hobby.” Chelsie’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=107676635


Katee Shean (20) is a Contemporary dancer from San Jose, CA. Shean is a graduate of Pioneer High School and currently attends Chapman University in Orange, CA. She is pursuing a double major in leadership and dance and is active in many volunteer organizations. Katee Shean trained at the Team Dance Company and Atlas School of Dance. She started dancing when she was 4 years old. Katee’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=38186020

Will Wingfield (21) is a Contemporary dancer from Nashville, TN. Wingfield started dancing at age 9 at DC Dance Factory in Nashville, and later moved to Los Angeles to train under Debbie Allen at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.


Joshua Allen (19) AKA as Batman, is a Hip Hop/Popping dancer from Fort Worth, TX. Joshua started dancing when he was 8 years old. Allen hopes to be a professional dancer and recording artist.


Thayne Jasperson (27) is a Contemporary dancer who grew up in Springville, UT. Jasperson was a featured dancer in “High School Musical” and “High School Musical 2.” Joshua says that he started dancing when he was 21 years old. He danced five years with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City. Direct link to Thayne’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=24241561


Gev Manoukian (21) is a Hip Hop/Break dancer originally from Kazakhstan, was living in Salt Lake City, UT; is now living in Beverly Hills, CA. He started training “seriously” when he was 16. Manoukian was a featured dancer in “High School Musical 2.” Before SYTYCD, Gev was attending University of Utah. Direct link to Gev’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=389243815


Kherington Payne (18) AKA: KK. She is a Contemporary/Jazz dancer from Placentia, CA. Payne will graduate from El Dorado High School this summer. She started dancing when she was 2 ½ years old. Kherington is also an avid soccer fan who has played for many years. In dance, she has formally trained in ballet, Pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, as well as gymnastics. Direct link to Kherington’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=389469947


Stephen Laurel “Twitch” Boss (25) is a Freestyle dancer from Montgomery, AL currently living in Santa Ana, CA. Twitch started dancing at age 16. A career highlight for Boss was performing “Thriller” with Wade Robson on “The Wade Robson Project” in 2003.


Courtney Galiano (20) is a Contemporary dancer from Commack, NY. Though she specializes in Contemporary, Galiano also loves to dance Hip-Hop. Courtney started dancing when she was 3 years old. Recently, she appeared in the music video for Kat De Luna’s “Whine Up” and has been dancing with the New York Knicks. Direct link to Courntey’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=387302797


Comfort Fedoke (20) is a Hip-Hop dancer raised in Lagos, Nigeria, now living in Dallas, TX. Comfort started dancing when she was 8 years old. She is a graduate of Booker T. Washington Performing Arts High School. Comfort was a featured performer for the past few years on “Dallas Dance Club 21,” the local Dallas dance television show. Link to Comfort’s MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=36478005

Jessica King (23) is a Contemporary dancer from Myrtle Beach, SC, where she was born and raised. Jessica started dancing when she was 3 years old. She trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop and contemporary. She is currently attending Coastal Carolina University studying Fine Arts with a minor in Art History. King also teaches dance and performs in local theaters.

SYTYCD Episode 13: Results on the Money for the Tour.

July 3, 2008. As the dancers come out to Cabaret’s “Money, Money” circling about the stage I am not so surprised by the revelation of Nigel’s hobby: money printing! Cat struts out on her 10” heels, apparently still in her Hannah-Barbera period, yesterday with the Jetsons, today with the Flintstones and goes directly to the point of the show.
As the bottom three couples are called out (which I predicted correctly, I might add), we can see that the final decisions have already been made—Mary calls Thayne “The Sure Thing Dude”, Napoleon talks about how Comfort has grown over the season, Nigel says that Courtney and Gev just happen to be on the bottom three because someone had to be, and well, they are talking in past tense to Kourtni and Matt. As I expected, by the end of the show K & M see the highlights of their appearance in this season.

As a hiring decision for the SYTYCD Tour, today’s results make sense. The remaining couples have some good solid numbers already, and a variety of styles, backgrounds and ethnicity. It can be said of any of the ones remaining, but I stand by Thayne and Gev, for example who obviously can get quickly whatever is thrown at them. The decisions taken made sense, and they will make for an awesome tour. Ten dancers and two understudies: the tour is set; start buying your tickets now.
By the way: Boneless Chicken Joe (Robert Muraine) still thinks he can dance. I know he can move but he is better for a You Tube mini video. Please Nigel: Bring back some real dancers (or did you run out of mone, mone, money?)! Enough with Audition side shows! Robert should be on “America’s Got Talent” not on SYTYCD.
By the way, by the way: am I a cynic or did Nigel suggest that over the seven seasons he has produced American Idol he has had to made tough decisions on who to cut? Is he saying that in AI the voting is rigged? Isn’t AI’s elimination just based on popular vote? Maybe I just misinterpreted, right?
Special Message to Kourtni and Matt: You brought something special to the show and just because you are out tonight it does not mean you are not among the top. Paraphrasing Nigel someone had to leave tonight and the stars moved in a way not so favorable for you. As you know, this is a step forward for your career, not backwards in heels.

SYTYCD: Double Trouble for the Lucky Seven!

You have to hand it to Cat that she does not cease to surprise us. What was she wearing!?!?! I’ll give it to her that although the 30’s hairdo was not my cup of tea (no British witticism intended) it kind of became her, but the dress, OMG, what was that? Was she trying to go for the WALL-E’s bride look? Whatever it was, I think I’ve never seen anything like it…

This week it is two for the price of one, and three out of seven couples will be in danger, so it is real easy to be bottom threed. The six remaining couples after tomorrow will be the ones likely to go on tour, with the top ten dancers and the two understudies, so this is a critical night for all. All rightee then…

Will and Jessica do a Broadway Jive in their first number. Some interesting kicks but this choo-choo is not of the hot Tamale kind, not even of the warm kind. Begins slow, ends better but the unevenness makes it a chancy proposition. Posture was off—the train makes it only to 7.5 MPH… Mandy Moore’s choreography for their second number is really interesting but Will: posture posture… The number was a very passionate “Lyrical Jazz” Pas de Deux that does not look effortless: A shirtless Will throws her around, one, two, three times; Will pulls her leg, grabs and turns her over on his legs; Will rips her shirt off and puts it on himself at the end (Tabitha then asks him to take it off and show off the six-pack again). The passion a 10, the technique a 7, makes it an 8.5 for me on this one! Are they back on the hot choo-choo? Total tonight: 16. Mary’s aphorism for them was: “Talent is flame and genius is fire, and that was fire” so, there was no talent? What does that mean? Maybe self-consciously she was right on target?

Tonight, Broadway seems to be the thing, and Comfort and Thayne do another one again! West Side Story with a contemporary twist!!
A Comfort stretch, she did not do well, even considering that this is way out of her C Zone. She brings down the score for the couple and Thayne—though he showed us how well trained a dancer he is—was weighed down by her. By the way, her tattoo showing was sooo out of place! There is tattoo make-up (and dress rehearsals) for that! For not being up to the level--- 6.5 points over 10. With the second number, the Waltz, Thayne shows off his technique and Comfort once again shows her limitations. However, thanks to Thayne, she did much better. If I were hiring for a dance company, Thayne’s got the job. This was an effortless Pas, not like Will and Jessica’s. 9 at least! Total tonight: 15.5. Will they be bottom threed? I think so, although their second number may get them votes.

Kourtni and Matt’s Hip Hop: Pleaase see again Joshua and Katee’s extraordinary Hip Hop number and compare. This was so, sooo bad! What is going on tonight!! No synchronization, butts sticking out when they shouldn’t --- bad and boring! 6.5 points at best! Their mambo number was painful to watch… I am sorry, but I’ve seen hotter, and better. Between both, however, Kourtni was the better of the two tonight. The partnering and dancing looked hard, not spontaneous and effortless. With a score of 7.5 it gives them a 14 tonight. They were really off tonight.

With Mark and Chelsie’s first number we have at last a number to watch without gagging! (and I don’t mean that because of the Pizza I am eating as I watch and write) I like the costuming: they don’t wear shoes but they wear gloves! It is not the best they’ve done, but it certainly is the best tonight so far. This couple works very well together even in this combination Hip-hop-contemporary-and-even-a-bit-of-ballroom-moves-in-there number. A 9 for this performance. The Fox Trot number makes the jidges disagree and Nigel gets boo-booed and screamed into his ear with Mary-Decibels—twice! Blue feathers fly in a multi-complexed-lift routine that makes me give them another 9 for tonight, total 18! This is the top couple and the couple to beat!

Kherington and Twitch do a Paso Doble called Dimitry’s cape, the Return! With drama but, honestly, not much technique by Miss K., it is an entertaining performance. She had the look, but not really the steps. Maybe it was because this was the first time in the show that she danced with shoes on (remember the shoeless waltz?). Her troubled steps make me give them an 8 for this one. Their second dance, Once upon a Mattress, the Routine started, again, with a shirtless dancer! And Miss K. is back to her shoeless ways.
Dream choreography of a dream makes Twitch and Kherington look very good. But, was he really dancing, or just striking poses? They were in character, but I am not sure that if it had not been for the amazing choreography and compelling story-telling you could say that this was excellent dancing. I am doubtful, trying to separate the dancers from the dance… but I will give them an 8.5 for a 16.5 tonight.

Joshua and Katee do Contemporary, again a good partnership. Out of breath at the end of a great number, it was as if they had slowly been moving underwater and at the end came up for air. The walks, the lifts and the chemistry were there. In the execution perhaps the synchronization was a little off because they had to prepare two performances for tonight but they are safe (I hope) after this number: 9 points! The West Coast Swing number was boring for me, I am sorree… Bumping and grinding, ending with Benji’s signature cartwheel spinning, not well executed by Joshua, and then a bump off to the floor by Katee’s power hips. This number is not my cup of tea, once again. Obviously they worked harder on their contemporary, which was so good. Their WCS number deserves a bump, down to a 7.5, total tonight: 16.5. By the way: Joshua might make it to top five guys, but I am not sure who I would bump off from my list… I’ll make my final prediction tomorrow. Right now I have to say that this couple has at least three solid numbers: Their Hip Hop, last week’s Samba and today’s Contemporary, which makes a good case for Joshua and his grills on tour.

Courtney and Gev are hip-hoppers now! Another couple that works well together but the routine did not seem to be a great stretch of technique or dancing. No major tricks, just a safe routine for both. They may have had a 10 on their shirts, but in my book, this is an 8. In their second number, with an energetic Broadway Routine, they try to salvage their night, trying to show off a choreography that was complicated, with miming and jumping, and smiles galore. This routine, however, may not give them enough votes to keep them out of the bottom three.
On top of that, the costumes were awful and they did look kind of silly. But I will give them an 8.5for the pure Broadway feel of it: a total of 16.5 points tonight. By the way Nigel, that Frenchman in a sailor suit was Jules Munchin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7QfCxuvLo
The bottom three will be Kourtni and Matt, Comfort and Thayne, and Courtney and Gev.
After so many times down there, this time it will be Kourtni and Matt.