DebbieAllen-related stories
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 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 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 Jul 16th 2009 12:22AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S05E16) America finally has full control of the eliminations on
So You Think You Can Dance. Cat reminds us that the couples will all be shuffled randomly. Was height ever a hot topic as is was tonight? The tallest kept getting paired up with the shortest in random draws. At least it reinforced the idea that the pairings were no longer rigged.
I want more Debbie Allen as the third judge. Her comments may be equally insane as Mia Michaels, but she comes off as the supportive mother with the way she speaks and the words she uses.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Top 10 Perform
Posted Jun 4th 2009 2:04AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, So You Think You Can Dance
Were the Vegas rounds ever this hard? I never remember the intensive dancing in previous seasons, but I feel as though the contestants were pushed really hard because they were all a lot better than the judges expected.
It's a little childish, but I laughed when Mia Michaels exclaimed, "I'm a cutter." She seems to always say or do things that are a little risqué, but her opinions are always heard. As for the other judges, Mary was sedated, Lil C only said "buck" once, and I missed Debbie Allen for being that supportive mother type.
Instead of day by day analysis, we're going to take a look at some of the hits and misses for the dancers.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Vegas Part 1
Posted Aug 9th 2007 4:40AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(
S03E20) Holy smokes. Call me crazy if you don't agree, but I'm calling this the best episode of the season. There hasn't been a standout number one performance every week, but there has always been something that didn't quite work, or didn't quite measure up to the rest. I didn't find that here.
It would seem that the talk about the choreographers stepping things up wasn't just talk as all of them delivered great routines for the dancers to perform. The criticisms were few and far between this week, from me, and from the judges. That would be Nigel and Mary as usual, joined this week by Debbie Allen. After the jump, we'll get to all of the performances, and a rant about Fox scheduling.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Week 8
Posted Jun 29th 2007 5:00AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(
S03E11) After a crazy performance show it was only natural to expect that anything could happen on elimination night. Things started out normally enough with a group performance to "The Lion's Hunt" from the
Lion King soundtrack, choreographed by Tyce Diorio.
It was not my favorite of the group performances, but it was fun. The thing I found interesting was that, like last week, this one also ended with the focus on Sabra. I'm taking that as a subliminal message for people to vote for her. She's quickly becoming my favorite in the competition.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Week 3 Results
Posted Jun 28th 2007 4:16AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(
S03E10)
So You Think You Can Dance, come for the dancing, stay for the drama... One of the things I really like about the show is that they stay pretty heavily focused on the competition. Sure, we get the sometimes useless backstage bits, but they have to fill out the two hours of their summer hit somehow. For the most part though, they do steer clear of the theatrics and keep the actual dancing in the spotlight. That broke down a little tonight, though maybe not as much as it could have. More on that later.
First, look over there, it's dance legend (we can call her a legend, right?) Debbie Allen sitting in as guest judge. I had heard that she was going to be making an appearance and have been looking forward to it. She didn't disappoint either. Throughout the show she was a lot of fun. Nigel and Mary were, of course, along for the ride. So, with the introduction out of the way, on to the performances... and the drama.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Week 3
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