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.

August musings

I totally forgot to watch the premier of Showtime's The Big C with Laura Linney, so I'll have to catch it later this week and give my review then (when it's completely irrelevant).

Although I exclaimed my joy about this on Twitter and Facebook - I am ecstatic that Lauren is the Season 7 champion on So You Think You Can Dance. Although I said I didn't care who won of the three finalists, my little LoFro was always my fave. I'm super excited to see all of these kids on tour when they come here in November.

True Blood is getting so good this season, and so very weird. Except for the character annihilation that they've done to my beloved Calvin Norris, I am still loving the changes that Ball and the other writers are making to the stories from the book for their small screen adaptations. I can't wait to see how this season winds down/up.

Finally, I'll leave you with this picture to ponder and wonder about for the rest of the week:

Just WHAT is going on here? Jane Fonda and Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford out on the town? With Jane's little sad bichon (clearly drugged) in her arm, while a gin and tonic's in her other hand? Are the two of them working on a movie/play/TV thing together? Are they lovers? Omigawd! I have so many questions...

Reality TV Round-Up - Early August 2010 edition

Things that pissed me off this week:

1. Kenny packing his knives and leaving Top Chef DC. There is NO GAWDDAM way that Kenny deserved to leave this competition before Amanda, or f*cking Alex. The judges should be ashamed of themselves.
2. Gretchen winning (AGAIN) in the Project Runway challenge. Yes, her weird jumpsuit definitely deserved top 3, but I seriously need Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, and Heidi Klum to explain to me exactly why Valerie didn't win this challenge with her amazing red dress. It was the biggest WTF? moment in some time for this show.

Things that made me smile this week:

I mean c'mon, how cute are they?!

As of this writing/posting the winner hasn't been determined, but Robert, Lauren, and Kent each did a splendid job in the finale performances and I'll be happy for any of them to win. (but I really want Lauren)

Kent seems like a foregone conclusion, but if we're to believe Nigel, the votes each week have been very close and have switched often. So maybe it is anyone's game.

Things that made me ambivalent this week:

1. After a spectacularly bad showing in the veto competition this past weekend, it's a fact that one of my Big Brother office pool picks will be going home tonight.  And most likely it will be Rachel. Sigh... I really can't stand either her or Brendon, but I did want them to stick around in the house awhile longer (beyond the fact that I win money if they stay), because I hate Matt and the STUPID Brigade. Seriously. Vomit. And I also hate that all of the women are being systematically picked off this season. It's depressing. Here's hoping that Ragan can stir some stuff up as the new saboteur.
2. Real Housewives of D.C. premiered last week and it was both better and worse than I thought it would be. I'm surprised that there's only one black D.C. housewife, but I'm not offended, if that makes sense. I also liked that it was acknowledged that very few of the movers and shakers in the area who claim to be from D.C. actually live in northern VA or in the Maryland suburbs. I'm looking forward to the next couple of episodes at least, although I don't know if I'm it for the long haul.

TV Round Up - mid July edition

Wow, this summer is zooming by, and I've surprisingly been out enjoying the gorgeous weather Seattle's been having, and NOT watching television. So my darling Tivo and Tifaux have been backed up waiting patiently for me to catch up on all the trashy and excellent goodness. And this past weekend I was able to get through an amazing amount of tv, thanks to the fact that I had two big home improvement projects that forced me to sit on the floor and put equipment together  - perfect for boob tube watching!
Some random thoughts about what I've seen this week -

• This season of So You Think You Can Dance has got to be the strangest on record. Not only because of the new "All Star" format, but because the eliminations have been so wacky. First we had the imbalance of more guy than girl contestants. Then America and Nigel & Co. decided to systematically eliminate 3 girls in a row. Then we had the HORRIBLE injuries for Alex Wong and Ashley Galvan. So now we're left with only ONE GIRL (the amazing Lauren), and 5 guys. The season is kind of turning into a disaster. The only thing saving it is Cat Deely and the chance to see some of my favorite All Stars dance again. I swear to God if Jose or Adechike don't go home this week I'll be super pissed off.
• You know what SYTYCD thing I am excited about? The upcoming tour that will feature Season 6 (hell yeah!) Season 7 and All Star dancers. Yippeee! Tix go sale at the end of July.
• True Blood is AWESOME this season. And getting "awesomer" with every episode. There are so many good things that I don't even know where to start to list them. This past Sunday's episode was one of the high points of the season; and seriously, if you haven't seen Mr. Fabulous himself, Lafayette Reynolds, blushing and flirting shyly with hot nurse Jesus, then you haven't seen the definition of awesome. I say this all the time but I really love the way the writers have taken the stories and characters from the Charlaine Harris books and morphed them for the small screen. They stay true to the essence of the book and stories, but expand, switch, cut, and add wonderful things. And the actors this season are really stepping up - and thank you Alan Ball and the HBO wardrobe dept for not spending much in the shirt budget. Keep that part up.
• I'm still a fan of Bravo's Work of Art, but if that faker Miles wins the whole thing I will be peeved.
• Dear Allison Grodner and the rest of the Big Brother producers - ha ha ha hee ah ha Your big twist this season got busted with the very first elimination! Nice. And while I'm actually thankful that you chose houseguests that are relatively sane this season, they're also kind of boring. So now I'm worried that this will cause you to go back to your crazy stunt casting and fill season 13 with a bunch of Evel Dicks, Chimas, Jesses and Boogies. Don't do that  please.
• Thank god odious Vern Yip, cool Genevieve Groder, and the queen Candice Olsen finally got rid of that hag Nina this week on HGTV's Design Star. I was starting to worry that they were forgetting that the winner of this show is supposed to be someone that we want to watch on television. Nina is NEVER going to be the answer to that question.
• I am living for the return of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in the latest Masterpiece Mystery series. In fact this season of Mystery has been excellent all around and only promises to get better with Inspector Lewis coming back in a couple of months.
• I've already gushed about The Choir, but seriously why aren't you watching this gem yet?!
• I thoroughly enjoyed the debut of TNT's Rizzoli & Isles a new cop drama starring my #1 girl crush Angie Harmon. And evidently its premier did gangbusters in the ratings, so yay!

And with the upcoming Season 8 of Project Runway starting up next week, this summer's line up is really heating up.

SYTYCD Season 7 Top 8

Just a couple of comments about the July 7 Top 8 performance show -

• F*#@!! Both Alex Wong and Allison Holker are injured! And they put Alex automatically in the bottom 3 which I think is fair, but worrisome. Eeek my favorite All-Star girl...but wait they got my all-time fave SYTYCD girl Katee Shean to fill in - YAY.
• I know choreographer Spencer Liff plays for the other team and all, but gawddam he needs to be my boyfriend RIGHT NOW. Also Nigel take note - that's how Broadway choreography is done. Tyce Diorio needs to be retired from this genre. Permanently.
• The African Jazz number that Billy and Jose danced was very homo-erotic n'est pas?
• As much as Adechike bores me and as much as I'd like to see him go home, Mia's comments to him tonight were totally harsh and kind of out of line. And it may have backfired - I think it drove people to vote for him like crazy. Damn.

The two stars of the night for me were the girls - way to go Ashley and Lauren; you both danced your two routines perfectly. I'll be seriously pissed off if either of you is in the bottom 3 with Alex tomorrow.

Reality TV musings for the week of June 14

So You Think You Can Dance - we got through the first round of competition for this season 7 and eliminated our first girl. Even though it saddens me that we've only had 2 female winners for this show (Katee should've won season 4), I've resigned myself to the fact that this season the girls are severely out-classed by the guys. The talent level for the men is off the effin' charts! I've already predicted an all male top 4 in my SYTYCD fantasy pool (hurry and get your vote forms in before 6/23/10). So far I'm liking the All-Star concept, but I'm worried that we're going to have a serious lopsided field gender-wise.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist - Boy did I want to hate this show. But, Bravo TV has done it again, by creating a reality show that TOTALLY appeals to me and has me hooked. Gosh, my mom would've loved this show. She was an artist that never got to have her day, but instead taught and went into the administrative end of things (at the Smithsonian). But she kept up on the NY and European scene and knew who was being promoted as the "next hot thing". Maybe it's the contestants on this innagural season, who are surprisingly likeable even when they're acting like pretentious pricks. Maybe it's the fact that the judges and host (take note Shear Genius!) are totally legit and real experts in the art world (I mean they have gawddam Simon de Pury as the mentor on the show. What?!) But so far this gem is nicely filling a void that I didn't realize I had in my reality tv world.

HGTV Design Star - season 5! In NYC! With no Clive as host! This week's premier got us off to a good start. I don't hate, nor have I bonded, with any of these candidates yet, but I like what I see from a few of them. Now if only Vern Yip would stop being so patronizing I think the show would be perfect.

SYTYCD Season 7 - first competition episode

What can I say that hasn't already been hashed out on Twitter and message boards? The opening competition episode of this season of So You Think You Can Dance was overall pretty great, although I don't know if the All Star format is as much of a success as Nigel Lythgoe seems to think. I won't disect every routine, just talk about some highs and lows and ah-ha moments.

Good stuff:

• Damn Neil Haskell, I f*cking missed you. And Tyce Diorio really needs to stick to contemporary routines. Ashley and Neil got a nice piece, while Billy Bell was saddled with Tyce's crap "Broadway" stuff.
• Someone on this show FINALLY USED JASON MRAZ'S SONG BUTTERFLY for their choreography. I know so many people hate Mraz but I'll always love him for his live performances and seriously, I love "Butterfly". A lot.
• Sean Cheesman's African dance. Kind of tremendous. And Robert is so sexy and such an amazing dancer.
• Alex and Allison dancing a Sonya Tayeh contemporary routine to Jeff Buckley. Breathtaking.

Bleh:

• One of my favorite songs was finally used on this show...but used very poorly by Napoleon & Tabitha for a lyrical hip hop routine that was totally uninspired. I had always imagined Butterfly being used for a latin dance choreographed by someone like Jason Wilkinson.
• Kent's coming real close to annoying me. C'mon kid, I want to like you.
• Hey Nigel, Mia, and especially Adam? Could you take it down about 100 notches? I am already exhausted by you and it's the first damn episode. You almost overpraised Alex tonight; and he was AMAZING. Just step back a little.
• Hey Nigel and producers, if we're going to be stuck with this shitty stage and lighting all season, at least have quality camera work. PLEASE. That opening was a total mess.

Hmmm...

• Jose does yoga. And has a totally hot body that is hidden under all that b-boy swag.
• Mandy Moore still loves her some 80s music. I'm serious; there's maybe been 2 routines she's done for this show that hasn't featured a song from the decade when I graduated from highschool.
• Adam Shankman had a bad case of "gay face" in 1991. He's so much more handsome now.

Reality TV catch up - First week of June 2010 edition

So You Think You Can Dance - while I watch the audition shows (the producers do a slightly better job than "American Idol" of not wasting time with crap attention-starved asses), it's not really until Vegas semi finals that I even remotely care or become emotionally invested in any of these people, with a few exceptions. This week the two audition cities featured were LA and Chicago.

Standouts included that kid Adrian with the looooooong neck who choreographer Stacey Tookey couldn't wait to get her hands on, and Alexie who made it to the last round in Vegas Season 6 and whose movements I really liked. But more importantly she reminded me how much I freakin' love Janis Joplin's version of Summertime. Seriously, musically this version kicks so much ass. The guitar parts alone make me weep.

And y'all is there anything cuter than the fact that Cat Deeley puts a coat on to protect herself from the sweat pouring off the kids as they come out of the auditorium to hug her after they've been given a ticket to Las Vegas? Cat loves these folks so much - take note Ryan Seacrest.

RR/RW Challenge: Fresh Meat II -

Yay for my boyfriend Landon and his Fresh Meat partner Carley, she of the bad hair and weird frowny face. They beat loathsome sore loser Evelyn and perma-smile Luke in the Exile and then did well enough to come in 2nd place not have to face the last Exile which would have been totally unfair. Here's hoping they can continue to kick butt and win that prize money.

Nine By Design - I haven't really talked about this show. It chronicles the ridiculous Novogratz family, a husband and wife design team with their 7 gorgeous children in tow as they build, design, sell, kvetch, yuppify and annoy the living hell out of everybody in Manhattan (really the tri-state area, oh, and London).

To be truthful, I actually love the relationship that Bob and Courtney Novogratz have. Theirs is a real partnership, in both love and business, and they are truly a great team. Courtney is kind of kick-ass actually. She's really why I watch the show. I would have been jailed for murdering Robert Novogratz long before I had a chance to birth 7 of his children. The way Bob whines about them being in debt and their lack of money (sure, whatever Bob, you own three $20 million dollar homes) and the way he treats their best client (developer Dave Barry) grates on my nerves to no end. On a shallow note, I also HATE his thin lipped mouth.

But other than his fondness for dumb hats and overpriced ridonk "desks" aka fiberglass art, his parenting and husbanding skills kind of make up for every other douchey thing he does.

The season finale was this week - can't wait to see if they were able to sell their $25 million home on West St in NYC (Tribeca?), and all of the new projects they've roped poor Antonio and Steve, their contractors, into next. And seriously those kids? With the whacked out names like Five, Breaker, and Major? ARE UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL!

Linky link - 2010 Summer TV edition

God, I love tv. I know that's probably horrible, and I totally agree that I should spend at least half the time I "waste" watching television on healthier activities like exercising, cleaning, and sleeping. But I don't really care; it's my main vice - judge me all you want.

So once again we're entering the summer months where all of our regular season shows are ending their seasons (or ending altogether - so long 24, Law & Order, and Lost). And now from June through September we get a bunch of new reality and scripted shows to tempt us (me) to stay inside on the couch instead of enjoying the sunshine and good company of friends and family.

To that end I'm linking the excellent lists compiled by the staff of Television Without Pity of the upcoming:
New shows for summer 2010
and
Summer 2010 returning shows

For the returning shows I'm the most excited about Drop Dead Diva, True Blood, So You Think You Can Dance, and Beautiful People and I'll probably devote whole posts just to them in the coming weeks.

The new shows that look intriguing are Hot In Cleveland (even I can't resist the lure of Betty White fever - plus hello, it's got Valerie Bertinelli, I'm there); The Choir (because it's a trifecta of things I love - reality show, British, show choirs); Memphis Beat (my boyfriend Jason Lee! and it's another TNT cop show that I can enjoy watching with my dad when I visit him); and Persons Unknown (a mini-series murder mystery by the dude who won the screenwriting Oscar for The Usual Suspects? Yes please. Plus it's got Jason Wiles who I love). 

I hope my DVRs are ready for the onslaught.

Maybe I'll buy an exercise bike and kill a few birds with one stone. And maybe I should hook it up Ed Begley style to the tv and dvr so that I have to bike in order for the electronics to even work? Anything to fuel my tv addiction!

Upcoming SYTYCD Season 7 - A discussion between two fanatics

Kitty: So I think we finally have all of the pieces of Nigel Lythgoe's demented Wizard's pie for this upcoming season of SYTYCD.

Kathie: Yep I think so but I'm still confused over some things. But let's talk about the "All Stars" first. We've got:

tWitch Boss - Kitty: Some of the choices for the All-Stars were obvious and Twitch was one of them.
Kathie: I love Twitch though so I was excited that he was one of the first names that Nigel announced.

Kathryn McCormick - Kitty: She really grew on me last season, so while I'm disappointed that Ellenore isn't an All Star, Kathryn will do. And at least she spells her name correctly.
Kathie: Zzzzzzz. Sorry I think they could've gotten someone much more charismatic. And you're wrong about the way she spells Katherine.

Pasha Kovalev - Kitty: Sigh. In my top 3 SYTYCD boyfriends.
Kathie: Who are the other 2? Kitty: Artem and Dmitry.
Kathie: All ballroom dudes? What about some contemporary guys like Jakob, Mark, or Blake? 
Kitty: I have a rule that while I can admire the dancing abilities of the gay boys on this show, I only crush on the straight ones. Neil and Will round out my top 5 crushes. Anyway, Pasha was another All-Star choice that seemed like a no brainer, especially since Dmitry is still doing Dancing With The Stars.

Allison Holker - Kitty: Oh, I missed her.
Kathie: Who the hell is Allison? She has great hair but I don't remember her at all.
Kitty: C'mon, season 2? Danced with that white popper Ivan? She went home too soon.
Kathie: I got nada.

Ade Obayomi - Kathie: Oh, lord here we go. Kitty: WHAT?!
Kathie: I know how much you love Ade. You must've bust something when he was announced as an All Star.
Kitty: well truth be told, even though evidently Nigel announced him days ago, I only found out yesterday that he was chosen. But yes, I did gasp a little with excitement. I lurve him; even more so since we saw him on tour.

Comfort Fedoke - Kathie: Don't start. But really who else could they have gotten for the girl hip-hopper?
Kitty: I know. She and Lauren were the people I knew were probably inevitable but who I was praying wouldn't be brought back to torture me. I was thinking they might pick Sarah from S3 but she was more of a B-girl than a true hip hop dancer. But still, I really effin' hate Comfort.

Lauren Gottlieb - Kitty: cough*fawkingbeeyatch*cough 
Kathie: please explain your hatred of Lauren. She was so great with Neil in S3; the Wade "devil dance"! She's Tyce's assistant.
Kitty: for all of the reasons you just named and more I can't stand her. I never understood why people loved that Wade dance; I thought Neil was a pompous douche until he reached top 10 and started dancing with different girls, so it was obviously Lauren bringing out the worst in him; and anyone who Tyce handpicks I have to give a big thumbs down to on principle.
Kathie: but c'mon, "Transformer" dance with Pasha? That was awesome.
Kitty: Ok, I'll give you that one; she and Pasha were pretty great in that routine, but I attribute that more to Pasha and Shane Sparks' choreography than Lauren alone. Anyway, I was 99% sure that Nigel and Co. would choose her and Comfort so whatever.

Mark Kanemura - Kathie: Eeeeeeeeeee! I thought he was out because he's been on tour with Gaga.
Kitty: I know! This All Star announcement was probably the most exciting for me. Sonya Tayeh must be so happy.

Anya Garnis - Kathie: Another snoozer for me. They should've gotten Janette.
Kitty: Don't be a hater, I kind of love how "over the top sex kitten" Anya is.
Kathie: I think she's ridiculous but she's sort of a package deal with Pasha so her pick was not a surprise.

Dominic Sandoval - Kitty: Oh goofy Dom.

Kathie: Man, I was really hoping that they'd choose Legacy as the other B-boy. He's so much hotter and so less annoying. But since he's done those "man on the streets" pieces for them I kind of figured he'd be chosen.
Kitty: Yep, it seems like the producers specifically chose past contestants that made strong fan connections and are generally well liked so that this season's finalists are all on an even playing field. And Dom is a good dancer. I was reminded of that the other night when I watched the ABDC charity show and saw Quest crew perform again. All kinds of awesome.

Courtney Galiano - Kitty: I was pleasantly surprised that Courtney was an All Star pick. I really liked her in her season (4) and still feel that the lyrical hip-hop routine from NappyTabs that she and Will did is one of the most beautiful and underrated performances this show has had.

Kathie: Eh, she's fine I guess. I still wish they had gone with Ellenore or Janeane.

Neil Haskell - Kathie: Hubba hubba. Now this is what I'm talkin' about! A little eye candy up in this joint. Neil was my favorite from the 3rd season.

Kitty: When Nigel originally announced this whole All-Stars thing, I made a list of who I wanted to be on the show and Neil, Travis, and Jakob were my top Contemporary guys, so I'm happy that I got at least one of them. I know he's been doing Broadway and tours and I'm excited to see him dance again. He was definitely a contestant that grew in my eyes throughout his season. Besides thinking he was cute, I didn't care for him at the beginning of S3 but by the end I was a fan.

Kitty: So that's the pool of All Stars that the ten Season 7 finalists will randomly be paired up with. People will change partners every week, and only one person gets eliminated each week; although the All Stars don't go home.

Kathie: One question I had was whether or not the pairings will all be boy/girl. Will we see any fabulous same sex action?

Kitty: Are you kidding? Not with Nigel "gay panic" Lythgoe at the helm. Nigel tweeted (@dizzyfeet) that the partners will always be boy/girl which is a shame because the same gender routines that are done in the finale each season are always some of my faves.

The other thing that Nigel tweeted is that the All Stars won't be choreographing which I'm fine with. I would truly miss the talented cadre of choreographers this show uses.

Kathie: The only question I have left is around how they're doing the judges this year. I heard that Mary Murphy is going back to choreographing and won't be a permanent judge. I don't really care as long as Cat Deeley is still the host.

Kitty: I too heard that Mary Murphy is going back to creating routines - she's really good at it. And anything to keep her horrifying voice out of my ears is appreciated. I also missed Debbie Allen, Lil' C and others as rotating judges last season. But let's face it Season 6, besides giving us amazing talent in the form of Jakob, Ellenore and Legacy, was a huge failure in almost every other aspect.

Kathie: Yeah, and are we ever going to get to see the S6 dancers on tour? I'm still so effin' mad at Nigel & Co. about that.

Kitty: Maybe they'll do a combo tour with seasons 6 and 7?!

Kathie: Harrumph...

Kitty: I have to give it to Nigel. This whole slow reveal of these rule changes and All Stars for season 7 has been an excellent promotional and marketing scheme. He had the fans talking it up and obsessing on who would participate for weeks. And now we only have a few short weeks before we get our fix.

Kathie: I wouldn't say we were obsessed. I mean yes, we talked about and analyzed every single All Star announcement for a few hours, but it wasn't like it was all I thought about.

Kitty: **ahem** You're right. We also got caught up in our other reality shows Project Runway, NY Housewives, Sober House, and my new fave 9 By Design.

Kathie: Oh those hip yuppies with their GORGEOUS children, don't get me started.

Kitty: That's another conversation for another time...

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?