AdamShankman-related stories
Posted Nov 25th 2009 2:35AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S06E17) This week determines the top ten of
So You Think You Can Dance. We welcome the top twelve dancers and judging by the audience, Legacy and Jakob are the most loved. With
Dancing with the Stars ending this week, I'm happy that I can devote more time to this show because the dancing is a higher caliber and it isn't just a celebrity popularity contest.
Tonight we got to see the first Can Can and the return of the Lindy Hop. I am happy that the show continues to break the boundaries of dance and shine a light on new choreographers.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 12 Perform
Posted Nov 19th 2009 3:33AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E16) If things keep going the way they've been going, I'm going to start thinking America's really learning something about dance after all these shows they've been watching the past several years. I understood and agreed with every single one of America's choices, which is more than I can say for Nigel and the judges.
We did get to see Nakul Dev Majahan, joined on stage by MDN Bollywood Productions, in a Bollywood routine he choreographed. While I loved the earlier Bollywood piece we got this season, this one didn't grab me quite as strongly. A lot of that probably has to do with how foreign it still is to our Western senses; we don't really understand what we're seeing or why we're seeing it all the time.
Still, I guess I'm glad it's part of the show, as it continues to showcase the diversity in dance around the world. I even applaud their ill-fated attempt to try Russian folk. I say keep trying
SYTYCD, just be very wary of what you put on these dancers.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 12 Revealed
Posted Nov 18th 2009 1:44AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E15) After last week's lackluster performances, I was starting to wonder about the vaunted strength of this season's Top 20. But the 14 remaining dancers came back very strong this week, with improvements across the board. There was only one dance that completely disappointed me, but throughout the night, I cannot easily see the Top Ten dancers we're working toward.
One thing that's a little frustrating when we get down to a smaller number of dancers like this, and they're only performing once ... we get a
ton of filler. The judges went on and on about each contestant. Maybe FOX should consider shortening the episodes to an hour-and-a-half during these weeks and give us more episodes of some of their great sitcoms like
'Til Death or
Brothers.
Hmmm -- maybe I can handle the rambling judges after all.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 14 Perform
Posted Nov 11th 2009 2:27AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E13)
So You Think You Can Dance finally lets America vote. Sadly, I only liked four of the eight dances this week and I wouldn't mind if any of them were eliminated. One thing I did like was the introductory sequence, they finally figured out a way to make the stage a little less huge. The choreographers are doing better to let the dances fill the huge stage.
With only eight performances, the show felt like the critiques were longer than the actual dancing. If they inserted one large group dance, the show could have cut off some of Mary's more annoying comments.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 16 Perform
Posted Nov 4th 2009 4:12PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E12) Yet again, because of the ongoing World Series on FOX, there was no elimination this week, which means we barely had time to process the dancing before two contestants were being eliminated. Luckily for me, it became clear pretty quickly which two performances were the weakest of the night.
There were two that were absolutely amazing as well, one that may go down as one of the top
SYTYCD dances of all time. But the most important question of the night was: Did the judges agree with me as to who should have gone home?
Thankfully, by next week all these distractions will be sorted out and you and I will be able to vote for ourselves who we want to keep around.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 18 Perform
Posted Oct 30th 2009 6:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
So
Ricky Gervais has signed to host the Golden Globes, which means the pressure is on the Oscars to come up with a host or hosts equally as stellar. Or interesting. Or compelling.
One star who has removed himself from the running is last year's host,
Hugh Jackman. He will not return as Oscar host when the show airs on ABC, March 7.
He's currently on Broadway in a play -- with 007 Daniel Craig -- and he "quietly turned down the job" according to sources. It's not because he was a bomb emceeing the proceedings either. He didn't do the "Oprah, Uma, Uma, Oprah" joke nor did he trip on his shoelaces in the opening number. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Hugh Jackman was a perfectly fine host.
But he doesn't want to do it in 2010. Maybe he doesn't want to push his luck? Maybe he just doesn't want to work that hard.
Continue reading Hugh Jackman says 'no thanks' to Oscar repeat
Posted Oct 28th 2009 12:55AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S06E11) We finally get to the actual competition on
So You Think You Can Dance. On tonight's episode, the judges cut one guy and one girl without America's help. It's okay, I don't trust America. Cat welcomes us in a stunning Chinese-inspired dress. I'm still amazed by Cat's ability to look good in anything.
As we watch the dancers open the show, we start with the newest addition to the Top 20: Brandon. Even after meeting these contestants yesterday, I still don't know them. To make it worse, the sound people kept using the live mic on the tappers, and at first I thought my ears were going.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 20 Perform
Posted Oct 27th 2009 12:31PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, So You Think You Can Dance
On last night's special Monday episode of
So You Think You Can Dance, producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe displayed an empty chair, just in case, he said, a special guest decided to grace them with her presence. The chair was marked with the name "Paula Abdul." (On a side note,
SYTYCD was on basically in place of
House -- how can such a popular show go on break so often?).
The current slate of judges, including Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Adam Shankman (in for Mia Michaels), seems perfect. Other than the fact that I wish I had the technical know-how to develop a filter that would detect when Murphy is about to sound like a claxon and automatically adjust the volume of my TV, I enjoy all three judges. And, as
I've said before, I actually feel like I'm learning something from the show when they critique the dancers. When they need another voice, they have Debbie Allen, the sometimes overly loquacious Lil C, and a few others who can easily step in.
Continue reading Paula Abdul on So You Think You Can Dance?
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:48AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E09) Tonight, we started with 38 dancers, and by the end of the hour, the Top 20 stood revealed. I'm never quite sure how to take these episodes;
American Idol always has one, as well. For the most part, it's just contestants walking in front of the judges and hearing "Yes" or "No." For those of us who've been watching since the beginning and finding our early favorites, it can be a little tense and exciting.
But then I think about someone who's never watched the show, and who's maybe tuning in for the first time tonight. What a boring hour of television they would be in for. You barely get any snippets from the good dancers who make it through. Mostly it's just a parade of faces you don't know and lots of crying.
But before we get to the tears, we need to get excited. For the first time, and to give everyone a more even playing field going into the first performance show, this Monday at 8pm ET, FOX offers a special non-elimination episode where the Top 20 get to show us their stuff.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Top 20 Revealed
Posted Oct 21st 2009 11:29AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free, So You Think You Can Dance
Maybe they'll change the name of this year's
Academy Awards to
So You Think You Can Win An Oscar? Or maybe it'll be
Oscar, You Should Be Dancing. What else can we expect now that
Adam Shankman has been assigned to produce the Oscar broadcast... with Bill Mechanic. The Bill Mechanic part is almost like fine print. (Or that cute kid Brick on
The Middle who whispers under his breathe in a funny, creepy way. "Mechanic...")
The story here is
Adam Shankman. He's a director/choreographer and dancer. He's a judge on the current season of
So You Think You Can Dance. His biggest credit is
Hairspray, one of the few movie musicals that has made it to the big screen and was a bit hit in the last decade. Shankman should bring movement, energy and -- perhaps -- dance to the
Academy Awards?
Continue reading Adam Shankman, the dancing Oscar producer
Posted Oct 8th 2009 3:05AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E07) So many judges, so little time. Tyce DiOrio, Mia Michaels, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe all sat in judgment of the 152 dancers who survived the audition rounds. The pace of the show picks up dramatically when we get to Vegas, and somehow I had myself convinced they were going to cram the entire week into tonight's one-hour episode.
Thankfully, I'm an idiot. Vegas Week continues next week for you and me. In fact, we only got through the first two days. But in that time, we lost nearly half of the contestants including several early favorites, and certainly some favorites of mine.
The more I see of these dancers, though, the more excited I am for this season. I thought last season suffered from the blands through a lot of it, despite some amazing choreographed performances, but there are a lot of really dynamic personalities already shining through.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Vegas Week, Part 1
Posted Oct 1st 2009 9:00AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: OpEd, So You Think You Can Dance
I've
said before that
So You Think You Can Dance is one of the few reality shows that I actually like, despite the fact that I'm not really one who appreciates dance as an artform. It's a show that I don't think exploits its contestants or talks down to its audience, and that seems to take its subject matter more seriously than, say
American Idol or other talent shows. And last night's show was more proof for me.
On
American Idol, we often hear that the more insulting advice from the judges is a form of tough love, and in some cases, they have a point. Some people think they can sing and just can't, and need to be told. And there are similar scenes on
So You Think You Can Dance, and similarly, some people stomp off convinced that they are "it" instead of, well, something that rhymes.
But
So You Think You Can Dance is much more up front and even aggressive about telling people how they can grow. The system is better - if you show promise but the judges aren't sure, you go to the "choreography" phase and you are shown fairly empirically what your faults are, and most contestants seem happy for the knowledge, and many of them do come back.
Continue reading Mary Murphy's Rules for What Not To Do
Posted Aug 7th 2009 1:18AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S05E23) I think Cat Deeley looked fabulous tonight. The panel was chock-full of choreographers: Lil' C, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. They brought them all up on the dais so they could each choose their favorite dances from throughout the season. That means encore performances of the best of Season 5. That's not a bad way to fill two hours.
In the end, though, it comes down to Kayla, Brandon, Jeanine and Evan. Who did America love the most last night and throughout the summer? The recap actually gave me tingles. Despite a distinct lack of personalities, there were some stunning moments of dance. And I'm ever so thrilled that the new season is less than a month away. It's a long show, so hang in there.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: America's Favorite Dancer (season finale)
Posted Aug 6th 2009 2:46AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S05E22) The judges were so excited about the final four that they even critiqued the solos. I was glad to see Adam Shankman on the panel as he's one of the few guest judges who truly offers quality criticism to the dancers. Surprisingly, hip-hop was completely absent tonight, but there were some amazing performances. And ballroom came on strong!
GROUP
"Boys Boys Boys," Lady Gaga (Pop-Jazz, Wade Robson)
That was cute. It was a little more mellow than I expected, but I do believe that every man out there with a cheerleader thing just passed out. It was a hot and fun little high school number, and nobody stood out in a negative way so I'll give them that. A feel good opening for sure.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Top 4 Perform
Posted Jun 12th 2009 12:22AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S05E06) The show opened, as usual, with the group number. And because The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" isn't getting enough airplay,
So You Think You Can Dance threw the band a bone and used it for this Shane Sparks piece. Unfortunately, with 20 dancers on stage it's hard to make the piece not look like a bit of a mess. Sparks' choreography was pretty good, but I don't think the dancers were all equally up to the task.
When the majority of your dancers are not familiar with the style you're using, it must be even harder to put these things together. This isn't to challenge them, nor is it for votes, it's just supposed to be for entertainment. Unfortunately these numbers aren't as impressive until later in the season. At least they're superior to those awful group numbers they force on the
American Idol contestants.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: 2 of 20 Voted Off
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