Crazy changes for upcoming Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance

A couple of days ago I talked about some of the upcoming changes to So You Think You Can Dance that producer Nigel Lythgoe was planning for this summer's upcoming season 7. Today Lythgoe held a telephone press conference and revealed more tidbits.

Here's what Nigel's revealed so far:

• The dance competitors will change partners every week and only one dancer will go home each week.
  
• The producers will form an "All-star dance pool" featuring dancers from seasons 1 - 6. These past faves will partner with the season 7 contestants.
  
• Each all-star is an expert in a particular genre of dance. So the contestants won't choose their genre out of a hat, it will be based on who they get as a partner that week.
  
• There supposedly won't be a "top 20" in season 7. But I don't know if that means that there's only 10 dancers in the competition this season? Also, will all-stars be voted off too?
  
• There will only be two dancers in the finale.

I love the idea of some of my past faves coming back to compete as the experts. I don't know if this means that past season vets will do the choreography as well? We know that dancers like Pasha, Dmitry, Travis, Benji and Artem are all choreographers and have even worked on routines for the show as such. But I would be really sad if I didn't get to see Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, NappyTabs, Jean-Marc Genereaux, Shane Sparks or any of the other talented choreographers that have appeared and helped on the show.

Nigel says he will be revealing the list of all-stars in the weeks to come via Twitter (@dizzyfeet). Some of the people that I hope are included? Why of course I have an opinion.
My wishlist:

• Pasha and/or Anya. Well really just Pasha. I would take Anya as well.
• Dmitry Chaplin. He's proven himself to be an amazing choreographer, and if the all-stars are going to have to choreograph their own routines every week, he's already comfortable doing this from his stints on Dancing With the Stars.
• Travis Wall. Duh. Also c'mon, he's grown into a PHENOMENAL choreographer.
• Can we get some Blake McGrath love up in here please y'all?!
• Season 6's Ellenore
• Broadway Evan from Season 5
• Season 4 winner Joshua Allen. I know from watching this season's Celebrity Fit Club that he's working as a choreographer now so he should be available.
• Artem Chigvintsev. Because I love him dearly.

I know my list is light on the ladies. I expect Season 3's Lauren to be chosen because she helps Tyce choreograph currently and Nigel loves her (even though I can't stand her). It also wouldn't surprise me to see Lacey Schwimmer in the mix, again because of her experience on DWtS.

Anyway, I'm excited to see how this whole thing progresses.

TV Round Up for the week

I'll start off with just a little blurb about my favorite dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance. I follow producer/head judge Nigel Lythgoe on Twitter (@dizzyfeet) and he's revealed this week that there will be some changes coming for Season 7 this summer.
First, they're moving back to the way they did the partnering thing in Season 1, where the top 20 finalists will switch partners each week. For the past five seasons couples were chosen by the producers and stayed together until the top 10 where they then changed every week. I'm both excited and a little anxious about this change back to the original format. On the one hand it really stretches contestants while allowing the best to shine and show real spark and personality with certain people. Take this past season - Jakob and Ellenore were MAGIC together. Imagine if we had been able to see them partnered more throughout the season? On the other hand, it's been nice to see real relationships develop and to cheer for certain couples that had that special quality - i.e. Dominic/Sabra, Chelsie/Mark, Melissa/Ade, Katee/Joshua; so I'm torn.

The other change that Nigel revealed in a tweet this week is that they will only be eliminating one dancer a week. This puzzles me. How will that work regarding routines? Will the odd dancer end up dancing twice in one week? Will a dancer only dance solo?
I like the idea of switching things up on this show even when it doesn't work - like when they decided to air season 6 in the fall and not do a S6 tour, even though last season saw some of the most promising dancers ever to grace this competition. I was angry about that but I love this show enough to go along for the ride no matter what; c'mon Summer, get here soon!



Bravo reality shows - Best of the week as always goes to Kell On Earth. I don't know what I'll do without my beloved Andrew and Skinner after next week's finale. Or who I'll turn to for no-nonsense advice besides Kelly Cutrone.
Worst of the week is a tie between Shear Genius and the NY Real Housewives. My ferocious love of Jonathan Antin is failing to save the hair cutting competition show. I removed my season pass this week after Jon got robbed(!) by not only not winning the challenge but being in the bottom 2 with Brig. And my intense hatred of wonder-twins Matthew and Janine continues to grow, endearing me to Brig of all people. Stop it show!
And don't get me started about the Real Housewives. My gawd, is Bravo purposely trying to ruin this fawking franchise for me? First there was this past OC season which was insufferable and had me rooting for Vicky Gundalfson which is a sign of the apocalypse. And now this new NY season has shown my girl Bethenny to be a HEINOUS bitch, and faves Leanne and Jill to kind of be jealous old ladies. Why are you torturing me Bravo/Andy Cohen? I'm actually starting to enjoy the antics of Kelly Bensimone which is something I can't abide so I am done watching this crap show.

American Idol - for a season that looked so promising during Hollywood Week, I can't remember being this disappointed and bored and disillusioned with a batch of AI contestants since maybe season 3 (the year of Diana Degarmo, Jasmine Trias, John Stevens and George Huff, all of whom I loathed); but at least that season had the battle of the divas with awesome Jennifer Hudson and ultimate winner Fantasia Barrino. This season? Nothing.
There's amazing Crystal Bowersox and quirky-as-shit Siobhan Magnus but let's face it, neither of these ladies are going to win. And there's some eye candy in the form of Casey, Lee, and Tim, but this is the first season in maybe ever that there hasn't been at least one person who I care about. At all. I could give a crap about any of these people going home or winning this contest. I haven't even purchased any iTunes downloads for this season; I have at least 2 from every season since 19Entertainment started partnering with iTunes back in Season 6. I'm this close to being done with the show altogether, but I know something cheesy like Barry Manilow night will suck me right back in.
But if these damn kids don't start choosing better songs to sing, I'm going to punch someone.

Best TV-related thing I've heard all week (maybe all month) -
Mike Tyson is getting his own show about PIGEON RACING. Hee hee hee


Yes folks. There are actually people that race pigeons.


They're organized and everything.
Can you say TIVO season pass?

Damn foreign commercials have all the fun!

Why the hell can't American commercials be this entertaining?!

The Lost Boy

80s teen actor Corey Haim was found dead this morning in his mom's North Hollywood home. And even though we could all see this end coming for awhile, the actuality of his passing makes me sadder than I would've expected.



Corey Haim was the first celebrity crush that I had the was my same age. You see, all of my other fantasy boyfriends as a pre-teen/teen were "older guys"; men like Andy Gibb, Julian Sands, James Spader, and Paul Weller. And Jason Patric of course. See it was the mid 80s, and there was this little movie called Solarbabies? Heard of it? I had a huge crush on Patric and was super excited when The Lost Boys came out.

I knew the cute dorky kid from Lucas was going to be in the movie too but I didn't think much about him. That was until I was sitting in the theater watching the film for the first time and fell in love with Corey Haim. I loved the character of Sam. He was funny, cute, loyal, slightly nerdy, had an awesome dog, was a cool dresser.
Okay, Sam was gay right?
I always thought so. He was kind of prissy and cared too much about his appearance. He took bubble baths. My crush on him was really my first experience at being a fag-hag.
But it also cemented my love of Corey Haim. We were the same age; he could really relate to what I was going through etc. ** cough** Ahem.


Anyway, as years passed and Haim dated people I hated like Alyssa Milano and Victoria Beckham my crush on him quickly dissipated. But everytime I catch The Lost Boys on cable I still get that little tug on my heart for Corey Haim. And for Jason Patric and his weird breathy voice. Oh, my heart also flutters for my longtime crush Billy Wirth (who by the fawking way is 48 gawddam years old! Jeezus...).

I hope you're in a happier and safer place Corey.

Best moments of the 2010 Oscars

I won't go into a big long thing here about last night's Oscar ceremony. It's being rehashed and discussed everywhere and I'm sure y'all are "Oscared" out. Sure last night's production was super long and could've been shortened by removing unnecessary bits - Horror movie montage I'm looking at you - but in general I thought it was one of the more entertaining Oscar telecasts in recent memory. And I didn't even win my office's Oscar pool this year (2nd place) and I'm not upset about it, so you know I had to be enjoying the show if it took my mind off that loss.

From reading various blogs, some of the highlights for me weren't that popular with other folks:

Best Score nominees presented with interpretive dance -

I know I'm a So You Think You Can Dance fanatic, but I can't be the only person who loved this part of the ceremony, can I? It was great seeing past season SYTYCD alums like Travis, Jakob, Russell, Kathryn, Nick, and Ivan. And the choreography was amazing! I thoroughly approve of them getting rid of the Best Song performances like they did this year and replacing it permanently with these dance presentations.

John Hughes tribute -

Even though this loving tribute from Hughes' past teen stars made me feel incredibly old, it was still very touching and brought a little tear to my eye. Also bringing a tear? Judd Nelson's tux and facial hair. I loved the beginning with Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick even more than when the rest of the Hughes alums came out on stage; and I was happy to see that they did something special for Hughes beyond just the normal "parade of dead people" that happened later in the show.

Kathryn Bigelow WON!!
Okay, how funny is the photo below? Hee hee. I'm sure James Cameron tried to play it off as a "joke".
I was totally stoked for Bigelow, who absolutely deserved her historic win for Best Director. And to get to have the Oscar presented to you by Barbra Streisand herself? AWESOME.

Best Presenters/Witty Teleprompter Banter -

Tina Fey & Robert Downey Jr. really brought the funny with their little tete a tete about the difference between what actors want and what writers expect of them before giving out the Oscars for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay. Maybe these two should host next year!



Finally, FASHION!

A big WOO HOO shout out to my beloved gay teddy bear (and Project Runway S4 contestant) Chris March and his awesome dress that he made for Meryl Streep. Seriously, a chance of a lifetime. Yay Chris!

And now for something a little more controversial...

I am like the only person on Earth (except for Zoe Saldana's stylist apparently) that really liked Zoe's Givenchy gown. Yes, it does look like two different dresses sewn together. And yes it does sort of look like those 2 dresses were then attacked by a rabid band of purple plastic and crepe paper leis.

But somehow I still adore this dress. Maybe it's just my love for Zoe Saldana that's blinding me? Oh well.

This Week's Reality TV obsession

As a super-fan of So You Think You Can Dance, and really all dance competition shows, I've known about MTV's own dance show America's Best Dance Crew (oh, I'm sorry "Randy Jackson presents:" America's Best Dance Crew) since it's first season. SYTYCD choreographers Shane Sparks and "Nappy Tabs" have both been a part of the show, and most famously the ABDC's first winners the Jaberwockys have gone on to become a pretty famous dance crew.
In previous seasons I've just been able to catch a couple of episodes here and there, and I've never really had a chance to attach myself to a particular group.

All that's changed in season 5. Just by chance I was able to catch a rerun of the first episode of this new season and have enjoyed every second since then. What I like about ABDC is that it begins with a regional sort of semi-finals; so there's no annoying "audition rounds" and we just get to see quality dancing right from the get go. It would be like if American Idol or SYTYCD started right off with Hollywood week.
After each regional competition the judges decide who gets to move on to Nationals; this is where America jumps in to vote. At the beginning of each show host Mario Lopez announces the crews who garnered enough votes and are safe that week; as he reveals this we're then treated to each team's routine for that week's challenge. When it gets down to the bottom 2 teams, they each battle it out using their routines or another routine that they're asked to prepare ahead of time.
The judges then decide who of the two crews is safe for the week.

Okay, let's talk about this season's judges. JC Chasez (yes, the dude from N Sync) and dancer/hip-hop choreographer/rapper Lil Mama have been mainstay staples since the beginning. Past seasons have had awesome Shane Sparks as a judge, Tabitha & Napoleon, and other choreographers have also sat in.
This season they went with singer Omarion as the third judge. I dislike Omarion. He's annoying. He was in that stupid hip-hop boy band B2K right? Were they known for their dance moves? Is he now, as a solo artist famous for being a good dancer? Because he sure as hell acts like he's God's gift to hip-hop dance movement. He sits there with this super smug look on his face at all times and is usually really condescending to the contestants. And often his critiques make no sense. I want Shane Sparks back! If he's not doing this show that better mean he's back on SYTYCD dammit!

Anyway, this week was the Lady Gaga challenge for all of the crews. But first Mario announced that there was some fuck up with the television voting so they weren't going to have a bottom 2 or eliminate any team this week, but will be getting rid of two teams next week.
Oooh I bet some of these crews were thanking their lucky stars that the phone lines got jacked up (I'm looking at you Saltare). I'll give some highlights on my favorite crews this season.

Static Noyze - these kids are the arty theatrical (read "gay"/fag hag) ones from Cambridge, MA. I LOVE them. Their style is like if Bob Fosse and Lil' C had a child. You know that scene in The Birdcage where Robin William's character is hilariously going through all the choreography styles? - Fosse Fosse Fosse, Martha Graham Martha Graham, Madonna Madonna Madonna - well Static Noyze takes that and adds hip-hop and poppin' & lockin' to mix as well. This Gaga challenge was right up their alley and they felt a ton of pressure. The song that they were assigned was Gaga's "Beautiful Dirty Rich". One of their main dancers is this little Filipino boy name Pete who totally rocked the drag (dancing in heels!), taking the Gaga role and being awesome as usual.

The next group that I like this season is Blue Print Cru from Montreal Canada. Now, Canada can't vote, so each week I worry about these guys getting enough votes, and considering that last week they were in the bottom, I definitely think they benefited from the vote screw up. They got "Bad Romance" which I think is one of the more danceable tracks. But this eclectic mixed gender crew is very structured, and their routines have all of these precise movements so I wasn't sure if they'd be able to translate Gaga's disjointed "Bad Romance" choreography. I shouldn't have worried. They were AWESOME. JC and Lil' Mama both proclaimed it was the best routine of the season. Even Omarion had to grudgingly give it up to them (although with a total backhanded compliment as is his wont). And they were the only team to get immunity for next week. Well deserved y'all.

And I want to give a quick shout-out to the 2 all male crews that I usually don't pay that much attention to - my big boys in Heavy Impact, and the poppin' robots Poreotix. I thought they'd suck at this challenge but they did pretty well considering.

arrgggh

I've been doing this new diet for the past couple of weeks - sort of a hybrid of about 5 different ones out there - basically eliminating alcohol, cutting back on wheat, eating at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and not eating any processed sugar. For the most part I haven't had many of the cravings or fallen into any pitfalls like I thought I would.

That is until today. For whatever reason today of all days I want nothing more than a king-sized Snickers bar and a diet Mountain Dew. And Wheat Thins. Or some sort of salty cracker. The cravings are killing me people!

Instead of giving in to temptation, I'm gonna sit here and drink my third liter of water today and contemplate on just why exactly, my boyfriend Matt Damon is growing this fugly mustache?

Also, the upcoming tenth (!) season of Dancing With the Stars contestant line-up was announced today. For the first time in several seasons I'm actually excited about most of the competitors this time around. Ochocinco! Niecy Nash (paired with my angel Louis Van Amstel)! Shannen "Picasso Face" Doherty!

And maybe scary mean Russian dance pro Anna Trebunskaya will knock the smug assiness right out of Evan Lysacek! Although he'll be right at home with all of the self-tanner used on the show.