So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 - Top 6 performances

Christina Applegate and Lil' C were the guest judges. This week our top 6 dance with each other, with an All-Star and do a solo routine. I'm just going to comment on the two pair routines because the solos are just whatever.

Melanie:
Hip-Hop with Twitch - This was probably the hardest or "krunkest" routine I've ever seen from NappyTabs, and it was funny seeing Melanie get it. But she did kind of great. Can I just say I love Lil' C as a judge? So good.

Sasha:
Contemporary with Kent - Hmm...Tyce Diorio choreographed a very emotional routine. I don't know if I really "got it". But boy did Sasha make an impression. Both Christina Applegate and Lil' C cried as they gave their glowing reviews of this girl who has steadily become my favorite dancer this season. By the way, Sasha's dad is Al Roker.

Marko:
Paso Doble with Janette(!) - First, yay! I'm so glad Nigel & co. have decided to bring back a bunch of different All-Stars. It's so nice being able to see these people dance again. Plus my boyfriend Dmitry Chaplin (another SYTYCD vet from season 2) was the choreographer. There was this one amazing move in the Paso where Marko swings Janette around his head as if she were the cape. It. Was. AWESOME.

Tadd:
Lyrical(?) with Ellenore (!!!!) - My sweet amazing Ellenore is back dancing on my tv and I couldn't be happier. Ok, she's dancing with Tadd in a cool Sonya Tayeh routine, so yes I can get happier. Although I agreed with Nigel that I wish that there'd been more dancing in the routine; it felt like we were watching the first few minutes of something tremendous. I still think Tadd is phenomenal for a b-boy.

Ricky:
Contemporary with Jaime - I really like Dee Caspery's choreography. He is still someone that does not look like a dancer. At all. He looks like a plumber, but he sure knows how to create beautiful art. Ricky has such good flow and movement when he dances. I completely agreed with Christina Applegate's criticism; I wish he had more emotional impact for me.

Caitlynn:
Samba with Pasha - The samba might be my favorite ballroom discipline. A samba choreographed by my boyfriend Dmitry Chaplin and danced by sexiness personified Pasha Kovalev? Yum. Caitlynn was pretty good too.

Sasha & Ricky "Whacking" (?) - Uh, you know that dance move from the 70s that all the couples on Soul Train would do where they move their arms around the head in fast vogueing-like movements? That was called "whacking". Good to know. At least it was a disco routine from someone other than Doriana Sanchez. Choreographer Kumari Suraj reminded me of my cousin Beverly. Everything that Lil' C said.

Melanie & Tadd Broadway - I wanted and waited for this pairing all damn season. And thank God they got Spencer Liff (off topic - could Spencer be any hotter?) instead of stupid Tyce. Such a great routine!

Caitlynn & Marko Jazz - Sonya Tayeh is just brilliant. Marko and Caitlynn were both superb. May be the best of the night.

SYTYCD season 8 Top 8 Performances

Some quick thoughts about the routines performed from the top 8. Even though they separated the girls and boys up for the first part of the show, the 8 danced together for the last half so I've lumped my comments together for the two partners.

Sasha:
Quickstep w/ Pasha - I usually love Johnathan Roberts' ballroom choreo (and it's great to see him on here instead of DwTS) but I did not like this routine. You know something's wrong when even Pasha isn't doing it for me.

Melanie:
Contemporay w/Neil - It's Mandy Moore so OF COURSE she's set the dance to an 80s pop song, this time revisiting Total Eclipse Of The Heart. But you know what? I loved this routine! I really want Melanie to be in the final 2; she's amazing. Shirtless Neil wasn't bad either. Yum. Melanie's grandma's reaction to Gaga saying she was her favorite dancer was priceless.

Sasha/Melanie - Jazz from Sonya Tayeh
I mean, come on. Could you ask for a more perfect partnership. I LOVED this routine. My top 2 in this competition hands down. Can I get an all female finale?

Caitlynn:
Hip Hop w/ Ivan - I'm liking all of the new hip-hop choreographers this season (no offense to NappyTabs ans Dave Scott), especially this Marty Kudelka guy. I thought Caitlynn was pretty great and Ivan was a revelation! I hated him so much in season 2. I'm so worried after the judges tepid praise for her, that Caitlynn will be going home. So I threw a bunch of online votes her way.

Tadd:
Jazz w/ Lauren F. - LOVE. I couldn't even make fun of Mandy Moore using yet another 80s song. Because it's Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" and because she choreographed a fun routine that LaFro and Tadd killed (dropped hat and all).

Caitlynn/Tadd - Foxtrot from Johnathan Roberts
Once again I liked the ballroom routine a lot more than the judges. Gosh I really think Caitlynn is going to go home unless folks out there vote like fucking crazy.

Jordan:
Jazz w/ Ade - Ugh. I really can't stand this girl. She's so annoying that I can't even appreciate how truly a great dancer she is. I hate her face. Not even my beloved Ade could make this crap Tyce Diorio routine good. But then the judges fucking SHOCKED me by gushing over Jordan's performance. You guys! I'm afraid that the judges are totally going to ignore the people (again) and keep this irksome girl to torture me another week.

Jess:
Lyrical Hip-Hop w/ (gag) Lauren G - When did I start liking Jess? Sigh. This isn't good; I need one of the guys to hate. And why is he so good at hip-hop (at least lyrical) all of a sudden? I rarely dislike a NappyTabs routine and this was no exception; Gaga totally trashed NappyTabs though (hee hee). I still HATE Lauren Gotleib though. There's nothing anybody can say that will change my mind.

Jordan/Jess - Rumba from Jason Gilkerson
So much damn ballroom tonight, jesus. Hee hee Jess is so short, Jordan had to dance barefoot. At least Jordan got criticism for once.

Ricky:
Jive w/Anya - Wow. Ricky's kind of great at ballroom. What's up with that?! This was a great jive even though Nigel and Mary had criticism for it; done to one of my favorite covers, "River Deep, Mountain High" sung by Celine Dion. I am concerned based on past weeks and the judges that he might go home this week.

Marko:
Contemporary w/ Allison - Damn Sonya Tayeh, your choreography slays me. Marko and Allison were perfection. Gaga crying was a BIT much though.

Ricky/Marko - NappyTabs hip-hop
These two contemporary dancers kind of killed it with swagger. Gaga really hates NappyTabs doesn't she?

Other SYTYCD stuff:
As of this writing I'm leading in my 2 So You Think You Can Dance fantasy leagues and I'm #6 ranked nationally. Let's see if I can pull this off.

And on a sad note, they just released the list of the 2011 SYTYCD tour cities and neither Seattle nor the surrounding area are on it. In fact, the tour isn't coming to the Pacific NW or western Canada at all. I'm so damn disappointed I can't even tell you. I guess I'll be flying to Bakersfield CA? Fuck.

SYTYCD Season 8 Top 20 (AGAIN)

Just some brief notes about tonight's performances. DEBBIE REYNOLDS!!!! That's all you really need to know; even though she was sort of a bad judge. She couldn't say anything bad; like a sweet grandma.

Ryan & Ricky (Jazz): Choreographer Mandy Moore really can't give up her 80s music can she? Again compared to other seasons, everyone's really strong but I thought the judges overpraised Ryan and Ricky.

Caitlyn & Mitchell (Contemporary): It was good to see Mitchell out there. He and Caitlyn actually have a good connection; speaking of, I still don't see how Mitchell cut Caitlyn's face? With his foot? Anyway, Stacey Tookey's routines can sometimes leave me cold, but I can't complain about this one.

Missy & Wadi (Cha cha): Is it weird that I like Wadi more after the reveal about the Nair? Jean-Marc's routine was so hard. They were both really challenged and I felt for them. But I like these two and hope they stick around.

Iveta & Nick (Bollywood): I love Nick and his chicken legs. Increasingly I find myself not being able to take my eyes off Nick when he's dancing. So maybe that's why I noticed him making a ton of little mistakes. Sigh. Well I voted for them.

Miranda & Robert (hip hop): Not even a cool NappyTabs routine (about woodpeckers?)can make me like these two.

Clarice & Jess (Contemporary): Damn it Jess! Stop trying to make me like you with your cute quirky stick-figure orchestra drawings. These two impressed me with their execution of a fairly rote Stacey Tookey routine.

Jordan & Tadd (Viennaese Waltz): OMG, I fawking hate Jordan. But I couldn't love Tadd's OCD ass more. I want him to have a new partner. The waltz was pretty gorgeous though.

Melanie & Marko (Jazz): I just really love these two. They're so damn good. Hee hee about Marko and his romance novels. I could listen to Nigel Lythgoe say the word "Terpsechore" all day long.

Sasha & Alexander (Lyrical Hip Hop): Classic NappyTabs. Done to one of the many songs that I predicted this season would use, that P Diddy "Coming Home" track. Definitely one of the routines that they'll be dancing again at the end of the season. Great job by Alex and especially Sasha, but boy, I am not warming up to Alex at all. Thank goodness he shaved. Oh! Wouldn't it be great if Tadd and Sasha were a couple?!

Ashley & Chris (Broadway): The minute I saw Spencer Liff (HOT) in the audience with the other choreographers at the beginning of the show, I got excited about whatever he was going to create and whoever was going to perform it. Ashley and Chris rocked it out. Seriously Nigel, can we just have Spencer do all of the Broadway and stop Tyce from doing it?

SYTYCD Season 8 - Top 20 Performance

As I said in my last post, this season's top 20 are all very good dancers, so there isn't really anything I can criticize about anyone's technique. Megan Mullaly was the guest judge for some reason. She's supposedly a crazy super-fan who's seen every episode of every season so I could sort of get behind that and ignore that she's not really a dancer anymore.

Jordan & Tadd: Afro Jazz -
Ugh, I was disappointed to see Tadd paired up with Jordan because to tell you the truth I kind of hate Jordan. She's a great dancer, but her personality grates and her face bugs the hell out of me. I hope the positive feedback that Tadd got for his great dancing from all of the judges is a good sign. I really like him! I'm still not sure I like Sean Cheesman as a choreographer though.

Sasha & Alexander: Contemporary - Is there ever going to be a Travis Wall choreographed routine that I don't like? These two lucked out. Going shallow for a minute, Alexander needs to stop it with the weird facial hair that looks like he's wearing makeup, it's creepy. I totally agreed with Mary and Megan that Alex and Sasha didn't seem to connect as a couple and that Sasha was way more invested into the character of the dance than he was. I'm kind of race-biased, I really want a black female dancer like either Sasha or Ashley to go far in the competition this season.

Clarice & Jess: Broadway - Ugh. What are the odds?! That fucking Jess would get this freakin' style? I was so annoyed that one of my favorite girls was paired up with Jess, who is so "ON" all the time that he totally irks me. They were paired I'm quite sure because they're both so tiny. And once again, Tyce Diorio's crap ass Broadway choreography disappoints.

Ryan & Ricky: Lyrical Hip-Hop - Mmmm I'm totally digging choreographer Christopher Scott. Every routine he's done I've loved. I want him to be my boyfriend. Can we talk about Ricky's annoying as hell name? Ricky Jaime? It's so ridiculous. He and Ryan together have...how shall I put it...so many TEETH. They're very perky, but I kind of love them. Definitely one of my fave routines of the night.

Caitlynn & Mitchell*: Jazz from Sonya Tahyeh - Mitchell fucked his elbow up so Caitlynn danced with S7's Robert. It was so sad to see Mitchell crying in the audience. I feel really bad for him because he'll automatically be in the bottom 3 which is only fair. He was one of my early predictions to go far in this comp. I think Caitlynn is a little over praised. My eyes roll when she talks.

Miranda & Robert: Jive - Jason Wilkinson cracks me up but generally this was my least favorite routine of the night. Mostly because I don't like Robert and to some extent Miranda (mostly Robert). I'm already sick to death of the WOO thing. Do people really like this dude? Ugh. But I felt for them because they're the only couple that got screwed with a style choice this week.

Missy & Wadi: Jazz - Sean Cheesman's pectoral muscles scare me. I don't know if I liked his "sexy demon" routine that he did for these two. Hmmm. The judges like it, so there's that.

Melanie & Marko: Contemporary - Love love love. Travis Wall routine + 2 of my faves this season = LOVE. I'm glad that Nigel caught and commented on the tiny errors that Marko and Melanie made, but Nigel agreed with me that those flaws didn't mar how wonderful a performance it was.

Ashley & Chris: Hip Hop - Ashley is so cute. I lurve her. Chris? Eh. So consequently I didn't feel a deep connection between them. But I enjoyed their fun Chris Scott routine.

Iveta & Nick: Quickstep - I call foul! Iveta pulls ballroom as a style? harumph  Anyway, I knew these two would be paired because they're the tallest. But I loved their quickstep to Ballroom Blitz. Jason Gilkinson is a nut.

Predictions for bottom 3:

Girls = Miranda, Jordan, and either Ashley or Missy

Boys = Mitchell*, Robert, and either Tadd (frowny face) or Wadi

Season 8 of So You Think You Can Dance

I've been lame and haven't posted anything on this latest season of So You Think You Can Dance. Dearest Vance over at Tapeworthy wrote up a great summary about the show last week that showcased our season 8 Top 20 dancers that I encourage everyone to read.

But I'm going to try and end my writing hiatus now by briefly talking about the top 20, and five of the finalists that I'm excited to see perform tonight. In general I'm impressed by every single contestant this year, which might be a first for me. So far I've really enjoyed everyone's performance. Although I'm a little concerned that I may grow tired of some of the dancers and their annoying personalities (I'm looking at you Robert and Ricky!), and fear that I'm already weary of Jess' schtick and that thin line he rides right on the edge of arrogance.
I'm super excited that they've brought back a top 20, and can't wait to see who they pair up together. And then once it's down to a top 10 this season the All-Stars are back!! They showed Allison, Twitch, and Kathryn in the audience of the LA auditions which made me think they're coming back, and we got Pasha(!) on the top 20 reveal last week, but will the rest of last season's All-Stars be returning? As much as I love him, I could do without Dominic and maybe see Legacy in his place. And I'd really love to have Jakob on my screen again beyond the 2 seconds they showed him doing some of the choreography at the auditions. MarK Kanemura is on tour with Gaga again I believe so I'm not sure if he's available. Maybe we could get Will!

Anyway, here are the dancers that caught my eye last week that I'm excited to see tonight. I'm not saying that they're my favorites yet, just that they stood out the most and left me wanting to see more. True favorites probably won't emerge until after tonight or next week.

Clarice - She's just so pretty. And I love her jazz style. I don't remember her original audition if we saw it, but she was a shining star in Vegas.

Marko - I think this is the dude with the bullet in his shoulder? Anyway, he's kind of great. I remember his audition in NY or wherever and his lyrical jazz style surprised me but on last week's ep he was amazing. Can't wait to see who he's paired up with.

Melanie - My #1 choice to win this whole thing. Her smile and joy is infectious. How can you not love her? Also? She's a fawking AWESOME dancer. Totally kickass.

Nick - Hmmm, I didn't really like this kid in his initial audition. And I don't remember them showing him in Vegas at all. But then all of a sudden he comes out on stage last week and totally wowed me; both in the Broadway routine with Jess and in the boys "hip-hop" routine. I won't lie; I am hot for him.

Tadd - I saw this guy for the first time in last week's Vegas semi-final eps. I haven't liked a b-boy this much since Legacy, and Tadd seems to have a real knack for other styles of dance. Whenever he was on stage during the top 20 reveal episode I couldn't take my eyes off him. I am completely intrigued.

Burn The Floor!

Tonight was opening night in Seattle of the Burn The Floor tour. What an amazing show it was!
My friend Robert and I were in the first row. And when I say "first row" I mean in special chairs set up over the orchestra pit so that we were literally just a yard and a half from the dancers on stage. AWESOME.

This touring cast was full of dancers that had been in the original West End and Broadway productions. The cast features So You Think You Can Dance alumni - season 3's Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis, Janette Manrara from season 5, season 6's Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello (and Ryan's chest, which is its own entity), and Karen Hauer who seemed so flat and dull during season 6 but who was the most captivating female dancer on the stage tonight. What a surprise she was!

Here's Pasha and Anya performing a number they do in the show. The charisma and pure sex appeal that pours off of Pasha and the Lativian Diva is palpable.

Other notable standouts (besides Ryan's chest, did I mention that?) included world-renowned ballroom couple Damon and Rebecca Sugden, and Irishman Tristan Macmanus who was so hot and I swear, checked my friend Robert out twice during the performance.

All in all it was a phenomenal performance. If these guys are coming to your town don't hesitate to go see the show!

Edited to add:
I forgot to say that "hot tamale train" Mary Murphy herself was in attendance on Tuesday night's opener. I practically brushed shoulders with her coming out of the theater.