soyouthinkyoucandance-related stories
Posted Nov 12th 2009 2:42AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S06E14) I'm very surprised that
So You Think You Can dance had no musicians this week. I thought any desperate pop/dance musician would jump for the opportunity to hawk their song to America. Instead we get only one amazing dance group, but that wasn't enough to fill an hour's worth of television.
I hope that the show was really live because there were some awkward camera angles, a microphone that wasn't adjusted in the beginning, and graphics that appeared out of nowhere. Luckily, it was adjusted in the first five minutes, but it shows that
SYTYCD was depending on their pre-taped nature for the past few weeks.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - 2 of 16 Voted Off
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 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 27th 2009 8:31AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Watercooler Talk, So You Think You Can Dance
I don't want to toot my own horn, but I predicted that illness would fell more reality show competitors in
last week's TV Squad APB podcast. It turns out that the first to be affected was Billy Bell.
Fox's official website posted a message wishing Billy a speedy recovery. There were no details of his illness.
It's a shame to see Billy go so soon. After seeing
Monday's performance, which was pre-taped, he showed power and technique. He hopes to try out for Season Seven.
If you want to be spoiled on who replaced him, the replacement's partner and dance, and another injury continue reading.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance dropouts and injury spoilers
Posted Oct 27th 2009 1:08AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S06E10) In a
So You Think You Can Dance first, we get to meet the Top 20 before competition starts. It's nice to see the dancers doing well in their element before they fall apart trying to learn Disco, Bollywood, or Russian Folk.
We also welcome Adam Shankman as a permanent judge. Nigel wants Paula Abdul to guest judge eventually. Since she was in the audience of
Dancing with the Stars, she's probably got the time.
I dislike the return of last season's finale stage as the new permanent stage. The camera angles constantly have heads in the corners, and there are no more stairs for cool performance elements.
Continue reading Review: So You Think You Can Dance - Meet the Top 20
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 15th 2009 1:27PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: So You Think You Can Dance
So You Think You Can Dance may never be the same again. In all-capitalized
Twitter messages, Mia Michaels has announced that she is quitting. The last of the three messages read:
"
THANKS SYTYCD AND LOOK FORWARD TO WHATS AHEAD FOR ME...LOOKOUT WORLD!!!!!"
It's really weird seeing that Mia has been not only an anchor for the choreographers and judges, but she has been so enthusiastic about season six being on of the best seasons. She has also left a message on her Facebook account with similar sentiments.
Mia Michaels wasn't the same strict choreographer
last night in Vegas' callbacks. She was calm and organic with her teaching.
Continue reading Mia Michaels is quitting So You Think You Can Dance?
Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:50AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S06E08) We're down to 77 contestants trying to get to the top 20 of
So You Think You Can Dance. It's day two of Vegas and we follow the rest of the contestants as they go through choreography from several of our favorite choreographers including
Making the Band's Lorrie Ann Gibson.
Injuries plague several of the dancers tonight, and it makes me wonder how far I would make it on this show before I sprained my Achilles' tendon.
I was all excited that we would find out the top 20 tonight. Sadly, I've been duped and will have to wait for next week.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Vegas Callbacks 2
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 Oct 1st 2009 12:57AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E05) After last night's supposed
vagina-flashing, I was ready to watch Wednesday's episode of
So You Think You Can Dance with a sharper eye. With Nigel away, we have Lil C and now permanent third judge Adam Shankman joining Mary Murphy.
With the same choreography from Anya and Pasha, the judges continue to place untrained hip-hop dancers into the choreography rounds, just to make sure that they can survive harder challenges later. If any hip-hopper (or any dancer in general) was smart, if they made it to Vegas, they would try to practice some basic Jazz, Contemporary, Waltz and Cha-Cha to give them some training in the general categories.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: New Orleans Auditions
Posted Sep 24th 2009 5:26PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip
Simon Cowell's
The X-Factor has been a huge in the UK for several years now; that's where we got Leona Lewis. Due to his contract with
American Idol, he hasn't been able to bring it to the US. FOX feared the increased competition from a similar singing competition might hurt their juggernaut.
Now that Cowell is in the final year of his current contract, open negotiations to keep him on
Idol are including
talks of bringing The X-Factor to FOX. If
So You Think You Can Dance continues to underperform in the fall,
The X-Factor might be a logical replacement, pushing
SYTYCD back to the summer.
Continue reading Simon Cowell may bring The X-Factor to FOX after all
Posted Sep 24th 2009 1:20AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E03) It still looks like we're in for a great season of
So You Think You Can Dance. There have been some amazing talents already making their way to Vegas, and Boston delivered several more. They also delivered a middle-aged man in blue tights, so there's that. Yeah.
Tyce DiOrio joined Nigel and Mary on the panel to face the circus, and as usual, he came with plenty of sass and attitude. He's one of the better third judges they bring on board, and he was an effective critic for many of the dancers we saw, until he got crabby.
As has been the case this season, we've seen about 80% quality dancers to 20% terrible, which is a ratio I'm very pleased with. Especially as
SYTYCD tries to build a fall-sized audience to compete with the best the networks have to offer. It's about a celebration of dance, and not a circus of freaks. Except for the one ... in the blue tights.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Boston Auditions
Posted Sep 17th 2009 12:38AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(S06E02) The auditions arrive for the first time in Phoenix, and our guest judge is Mia Michaels. Choreography was the focus this week, and we'll end up seeing Anya and Pasha's "simple" choreography a lot in the future. I'm disappointed that they don't change choreo every audition spot.
Last week's auditions focused on tap dancers and cute contemporary women. I was hoping that Fox would mix it up this week. Although we got a handful more contemporary women, we're given one of the best breakers. Breakdancers are what can differentiate this show from
Dancing with the Stars.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Phoenix Auditions
Posted Sep 4th 2009 10:08AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, House, Reality-Free, So You Think You Can Dance
The only way Fox will air President Obama's prime time address next Wednesday will be if he joins the glee club. No, seriously, if the Prez could sing or dance with the kids at McKinley High School on the new Fox series,
Glee, he'd have a better chance of getting air time than he does as the Commander in Chief.
Fox is not expected to show President Obama's address to Congress.
Fox has already shown an unwillingness to interrupt prime time for
President Obama. Back in March,
the network chose not to air a press conference. To be honest, Obama has been on TV a lot more than President George W. Bush. All that prime time real estate is expensive, and the networks have squawked about how often Obama has requested the air time.
Continue reading Don't count on Fox giving up Glee for Obama
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