Here’s a SYTYCD Tour Report from Elizabeth who went to the Columbus show! I know there haven’t been as many reports as we’d hoped, sadly many people who said they would do it bailed. Luckily, Ted from BloggingSYTYCD has had a ton of folks so I hope you’ve enjoyed them over there as well.
*As you’ll read, this is the return of LACEY – her first stop since her injury a while back!
I was so excited to attend this year’s SYTYCD tour, as I was unable to last year. I was dancing in my seat the entire show, it was so engaging. My mom and sister joined me for a girl’s night out, making the event even more special, because they had seen little to none of the season this summer. Most of the dances were new to them—it was great to get their unbiased opinions about the dancers and the dances. We were all blown away by the caliber of talent on the stage last night.
This stop was extra special, because it featured the return of Lacey, after she had taken some time off to heal her injured knee. She only danced a few dances—Shauna took her place in “Dancing” with Kameron and Anya took her place in “Hip Hip Chin Chin” with Danny, but she stood out in the Mia Michaels contemporary routine with Neil.
Each of us had different highlights of the night. My sister loved Neil and Sabra dancing to Mandy Moore’s choreography of “Sweet Dreams” and the Matrix group routine. My mom couldn’t choose between Pasha and Sara’s West Coast Swing and Danny and Anya’s Viennese Waltz, but her favorite group routine was Tyce Diorio’s Lion King number. On my part, I love Sara and Jesus’s Vagabond Cabaret to music from the Triplets of Bellville, but Danny and Anya’s samba to “Hip Hip Chin Chin” was excellent as well. My favorite group number was Mia Michaels’s contemporary routine to Imogen Heap’s “The Moment I Said It.”
Some of our other favorites were Danny and Jaimie’s Jive, Neil and Lauren’s Angel and Devil routine, Pasha and Lauren’s Transformers, and the Hummingbird and Flower routine by Hok and Jaimie. The tour-only breakers dance with Dominic, Hok, and Sara blew us away. Everyone really seemed to be on point tonight. I was impressed with Shauna, as I don’t remember being during the competition, while Jaimie was a favorite of my mom and sister. Neil and Danny were crowd favorites, as well as Sabra.
Seeing Lauren dance in a large venue like the Schottenstein Center transformed my view of her from during the competition. I think that there is something about her stage presence that is made for a large audience as opposed to the smaller audience the television show found. I don’t mean in the studio during the competition, but I wasn’t always impressed with Lauren’s dancing. Something felt a little false for me. Seeing her from a different perspective, watching her dances as a whole rather than in the format that was presented by the show changed my view. Dance is such a hard medium to present on tv, as it is meant to be taken in as a whole, not shown in parts. Having the chance to watch the group numbers without the camera work from the show made me appreciate and love them even more.
Some of the dancers weren’t as comfortable with a microphone in their hands as they were dancing. Dominic stood out—he has the personality to engage with the crowd both when dancing and when speaking. His bit with Sara about knowing famous Hollywood musicals was cute, although obviously scripted.
I have to gripe a little bit about our seats. We were seated on the floor, toward the back by the sound booth. It was difficult to see some of the dances from that perspective. I was constantly craning my neck to watch the dancers as they used each part of the stage. I’m glad I already had a chiropractic appointment scheduled! I wish we had been closer to the stage on the floor, or in the first couple of rows on the first level up. I wasn’t in a good position to take pictures, and I have to admit, I didn’t want to miss anything fumbling for my camera and a good shot.
Saturday night I was able to see the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour in E. Rutherford, NJ. Hell I missed Albany and Boston so I had to do something. When my friends Matt and Armando who live in NYC let me know that they had an extra ticket, I was on my way! After all, they are as obsessed as I am about SYTYCD and their love for these kids knows little boundaries — perfect tour going partners, that and there was always the chance that they’d molest Neil so I didn’t have to make an ass out of myself.
So I’m in NYC eating at Kate’s Joint when I get a voicemail. When we leave I check my message and who is it? Oh, it’s a Neil Haskell sibling wanting me to call her back. So, I punched holes in my iPhone trying to dial Erin Haskell back as fast as I could to find out that Neil is hooking me up with backstage passes.
*record scratches*
Does everyone know that I wrote about attacking her brother all summer long? Granted, she knows its all tv blog crushing but whatevs, a little funny. So yeah, I currently heart The Haskell Family more than my own. Fact.
So, after telling Matt and Armando and resuscitating them we were gearing up for the show. Look out Jersey tweens, the bitches are on their way.
Problem #1: We get there and they tell us no camera. I point out that the website for the stadium says the cameras are allowed. They try to pull some crap about at the last minute, production said they didn’t want cameras. Pants on fire much? So we went back to the parking garage, put the camera’s in our crotches and walked back through.
All I could think was, here Lacey hold my camera and then her finding a pubic hair stuck on the lens or something. It was in my crotch afterall. I’m just sayin’…
Problem #2: Go to pick up our backstage passes and realize that as much as I think Neil Haskell is my new BFF, he’s so not. He misspells my last name. Who cares right? Call me Sally Sunshine if needed. I was ready to start saying I was Benji Schwimmer. Any. Means. Necessary.
We get our passes and head on up to our seats. After some borishly lame videos of the dancers telling us random Tour facts and acting quite poorly (I love you kids more than my parents but WOW), the show began.
Executive Producer and Judge Nigel Lythgoe intros the 5 worse auditions from Season 3, we laugh but really it’s just being polite because 5 is a manageable number. 6 and I would have been slapping little children.
Then the lights dimmed, Cat Deeley into’d the kids and the show began! Like I said in my pre-teaser yesterday, I didn’t take notes this year because I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the show. I wanted to take in all the choreography, study the dancers, and obviously be a catty little school girl.
There were a couple new routines just for the Tour, there were the usual favorites, there were solos by each of the Top 10 dancers, there were some dancer introductions, and there was plenty of screaming!
My favorite routine to watch live this year had to be ‘Hip Hip Chin Chin’ with Lacey and Danny. It was good on the show, but there was something about seeing Lacey work that sexual magic on stage that just made my sizzle. I know I’m gay as the day is long but sweet jesus…
I also loved the Imogen Heap number “The Moment I Said It” with Danny Tidwell half naked leading the rest of the cast. It was one of my favorites from the season and it did not disappoint or lose any of its impact in a large stadium. The number is sick! Here’s one of the two videos I took from E. Rutherford.
Watch Danny Tidwell and Cast Dance Imogen Heap’s “The Moment I Said It” Routine
While it was great seeing the actual tour of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE 2007, it was even better getting to hang afterward and meet the gang. No, I wasn’t by the buses this year (though seriously nothing wrong with that) so I didn’t have to beat down any tweens… instead I was backstage with the dancers post-show, pre-bus.
And then there’s the picture that deserves it’s own page… (more…)
Remember a couple weeks back when I was pretty positive I was not going to be able to catch the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour? Remember I went through the 5 steps of grief? Anger, sadness, shopping, random acts of douchery, and pushing a old man down a flight of stairs? That’s them, right?
Well my grieving days are behind me and so were plenty of people backstage when I was trying to become BFF’s with the dancers. Yeah, you read that right. From nothing Ducky has risen and bathed in the embarrassment of riches courtesy of The Haskell Clan.
“Shut the front door!” Yup, a Haskell family member heard the cry of a weeping Ducky and hooked a brother up! Big thanks to Erin and Neil Haskell for scoring me passes and for enabling my SYTYCD obsession, enablers…
Quickly, the venue was great; the kids were frakkin fantastic, the routines ridiculous, and the show seemed much longer than last year and I could totally be making that up… still in a SYTYCD haze. It seemed like they danced a thousand and one dances before the intermission, and let me tell you… the 3 straight guys there with their girlfriends or wives hoped it was over if for no reason other than the constant commentary, laughter, and little girl screams emanating from around them. And that was just Matt, Armando and myself!
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t take notes or anything because I just wanted to sit back and have a blast. I have some pictures and some videos that I’ll post when I return home. At the moment I’m still in NYC but I had to quick post letting you guys know that the show was amazing.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE had their Tour premiere in Albany, NY this past Friday night and are you ready for this… I thought I was going to be there. I was traveling from Boston to Liverpool for my Cousin’s wedding which was Saturday and I was planning on stopping on the way for the tour as I pass right through Albany. Guess who got stuck in ridonkulous traffic and didn’t get to Albany until almost 9:45pm? That’s right… ME! I was not pleased but I am pleased to give you a quick report from a Ducky reader, KRISTY! Take it away girl…
Albany Tour Report:
The kick off for the So You Think You Can Dance Tour was nothing short of wonderful. The energy given off from the dancers could be felt through the entire arena. The top 10 performed many of the favorite routines including: Lacey and Kameron’s Mia Michaels routine, Sabra and Dominic’s Mandy Moore Contemporary and Shane Spark’s Hip Hop, Lacey and Danny performing the Samba and the Viennese Waltz, Neil and Sara’s Disco routine, to name a few. One of the most memorable performances of the night was Neil and Lacey performing the always touching Mia Michaels tribute to her father. To begin the dance, all of the dancers came on stage with handfuls of flowers, which they proceeded to lay on the floor together. The dance was wonderful, and the crowd was especially touched by the picture of Mia and her father Joe, shown at the end of the performance. There weren’t many dry eyes in the house!
I personally enjoyed the Lion King group routine that was choreographed by Tyce D’iorio. Watching it on TV you do not really get to see the entire dance, since the cameras flip to different angles. Watching it live however, the movements all combine, and I was just mesmerized by how beautiful the choreography is.
At the end of the show the dancers took the stage, and thanked the crowd endlessly. I have to say that every dancer was truly grateful to be there, and you could feel just how happy they were. It was if they didn’t want to leave the stage!
After the show my sister and I decided to hang outside by the tour buses in hopes of obtaining a photo with Neil (we were not the only one). I have to say that every one of the dancers took the time to meet the fans, sign autographs, take pictures, etc. I can not begin to tell you how nice and personable each one is, and how they could not stop thanking all of us for being there and supporting them. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how genuine all of the dancers were.
Overall, I had an amazing time and I can’t wait for next year!
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Season 3 Winner is…
SABRA JOHNSON!
Let’s rewind though shall we?
Before I get to writing this up I have to tell you all some shockingly bad news. I lost 45 minutes of the show tonight. Something happened with our power and from 8:33 to about 9:15 I missed SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE! A part of my soul is missing as well. Anyone who wants to fill me in step by step can in the comments section, help a brother out!
The show starts and Cat Deeley looks like a glorious Grecian Ostrich with her hair pulled back with the crown braid and that crazy poof of ruffles! She loves poof and she loves animal prints, so an Ostrich is actually semi-fitting for our beloved host.
The Top 20 are introduced in the order they were eliminated and the stage looks so insane with all of them there again! Everyone is in white and I’m having horrid nightmares of Idol’s All-White Angelic Charity Event Night(mare). I loved seeing everyone again because as the weeks go on and more happens, I actually tend to forget a face or two. Jessi looks really good, guess that heart of her’s is still holding out. Dominic and Sara got a huge response when they were shown and Pasha gave Lauren a version of the butt-bongos.
Then it was time for our Top 4 and it was glorious to see them up there, the envy of 16 others! Lacey Schwimmer, Neil Haskell, Sabra Johnson, and Danny Tidwell. This game is ON.
The show opens as it always does, with a wonderful opening routine, too bad I could barely enjoy it with Lauren’s dumb head right there front and center. I loved the Matrix like back-bends and slo-mo movements. This is a HUGE improvement over Shane Sparks‘ routine last night, can we all agree on that?
Show of hands if you think Nigel and the other Producers were like, crap we have to mention the bridge collapse because if we don’t we’re going to be seen as heartless and un-American? This is a show of entertainment value, a show that can make people forget their troubles, forget all the cares, and go DOWNTOWN… sorry, I had a moment. It’s hot here in Boston at 9pm at night its still 90 degrees.
Do you know what I mean though, this is not the forum, it comes across as awkward and frankly it comes across as even more heartless because they’re capitalizing on the emotional attachment people have to loss at the moment. Idol did it with the Virginia Tech incident and I thought it was wrong then as well.
Moving on to the show… CAT’s looking swank tonight and who else loves that in the last two episodes, she’s dropped having the audience say “Jidges“? Whoo-hoo! Apparently my emails are getting through to someone over at Fox!
SYTYCD Scalpers? We’re big-time now kids! Tickets go on sale August 11th. For a list of cities and dates, visit Fox.com/dance (more…)
I feel like I haven’t posted about So You Think You Can Dance in so long, I miss writing about it. Remember to never go to Comic-Con again and miss a week’s worth of shows and commentary. I usually am a fairly heavy poster over at TVGuide and in the week I was gone, all hell broke loose so obviously I can’t go anywhere. It’s hard being Ducky. I KID!
Kidding aside, I do feel like the Earth has shifted and things are all wonky because I watched last week’s episodes and thought that VoldemortDanny was fan-frakkin-tastic! I know, that’s a sin and believe me when I tell you that I went into last nights performance determined to hate him but damnit if that Argentine Tango he did with Sara didn’t make that impossible! CURSES VOLDEMORT!
Sometimes Alex Da Silva nails it and last night was a crucifixion of goodness (that doesn’t work at all does it – hell I’m sticking with it because I’m too worn out to worry about it). The kick board is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. It’s a clipboard that acts like a stop sign of sorts and Sara has to hit the top circle or Danny goes from a Rooster to a Hen like *that*. It was a pretty HOT number! Danny might be the gayest thing this side of Joe from Big Brother 8 but there is no denying he has quite the manly physique and can work a stage making a girl like Sara look pretty and perfect. The pretzel was SICK! Danny’s spins are OOC and I’m finding it hard to criticize them.
I love having Adam Shankman back as Guest Judge because only a big queen like him can get away with calling Danny out as a big homo on national television. He basically called him a nelly for using that fan so lady-like at the end of the routine and why not? (more…)
So I’ve received way too many emails from some of you asking me where the hell the So You Think You Can Dance spoilers are for this week’s Top 8 performance. I’m getting to it, y’all! I just got home yesterday from Comic-Con after what was an unbelievably fun but incredibly tiring experience and sleep is of major importance.
I hate to say it, but I haven’t even watched last weeks results show yet. Yes, I know that Kameron Bink and Jaimie Goodwin were given pink slips but apparently there was some controversy about the Wade Robson Peace dance. The contro shouldn’t be about the message, it should have been about forcing us to listen to that John Mayer song 10 times in a row. Someone should take the time to call about that instead of a peaceful dance number of hope. And Mia’s jacket? Who the hell cares. Come on folks, get serious. It’s Mia Frakkin’ Michaels wearing a shitty outfit, nothing more.
Anyhow, here are the couplings and routines for this week’s Top 8 Performance of So You Think You Can Dance. (more…)
So You Think You Can Dance introduced us to the Top 10 this week and there was some hardcore dancing, some hardcore personalities, some hardcore dissing, and some hardcore overdoing of John Mayer.
Quickly because I leave for the airport in 6 hours and have to sleep at some point… I love having Mia back as a Judge! An Emmy nominated Judge at that! I was psyched to see Wade get his shot at choreographing this new twist in the show. All of the solo’s will be the exact same routine which gives us a chance to critique each dancers take on the choreography. I was psyched to see me some Neil in some tight polyester and I was psyched to just have the show on!
Lacey is one hot sexy ass lady. Her Mormon relatives must flip their lids to see her sex it up as she does. WOW can the girl command a stage. Working it out from front to back, there was nothing wrong with her performance. Flawless. Danny’s as well. She ate him alive, but the boy can move.
Neil and Sara were electric, energetic, and quite the disco duo! Those pants did not disappoint, I love Neil even more now! Hot Tamales!
Sabra and Kameron were good I thought. She was absolutely stunning to watch and he was better than he has been for weeks. I get that he’s still lacking something but you’ve got to hand it to the kid for trying! I still miss Sabra and Dominic together though, don’t you?
Dominic and Jaimie’s Viennese Waltz was soooo not what I expected. It was not the Viennese Waltz we’ve come to know and love. She is always stunning with her lines and all but this was hands down Dom’s worst week. Like Mia said, 1 bad week… not too shabby!
Lauren and Pasha were really good tonight, I hate to admit it. The whole transformers opening and close were incredible to watch and sooooo perfectly in sync. I still don’t like her though. She annoys me.
Remember how I said I was excited for Wade’s choreography? Yeah, it wasn’t his best and to then see it 10 times was a little, how do I say this… TOO FRAKKIN’ MUCH! If I had to hear John Mayer say he was waiting for that world to change one more time, I was going to turn on every light in the house, run every air conditioner and start dumping oil into the Boston Harbor. That world needed to END!
In theory it was a good try. I did like watching how each one was different. Of the girls, I thought Sara, Sabra, and Lacey were the best. Of the boys, Neil, Pasha, and Danny.
So who goes home and who stays? Ideally I want Lauren gone. I worry about Jaimie because her solo was weak and then getting stuck with Dom was not good for her this week. Over on the guys side, it’s gotta be Kameron right? Poor Kam Kam!
Oh and how funny that once again Cousin Heidi got NO LOVE AT ALL? Dmitry’s up there shaking his thang and there’s poor Cousin Heidi screaming LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, I’M ON TV AGAIN! Tragic.
Raise your hand if you wanted to KNOCK ON NEIL’S WOOD?
Ducky reader MELLIEMEL (hiding her real name for gangsta purposes I presume) was lucky enough to attend the taping of last night’s SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Top 10 performances. As she promised last week, she’s bringing us all the scoop from inside the house!
MellieMel will spoil you, she’ll treat us, and she’ll make you laugh when we go ON SET WITH MELLIEMEL! (more…)
Wow, we’re into the Top 10 America! So You Think You Can Dance is heating up and its time for the pairings to get a little remix and its time for the dancers to show us what they have when they perform solos each week.
If you want to know the couplings and routines for this coming Wednesday night’s performance, they are revealed after the jump. (more…)
Wow, we’re into the Top 10 America! So You Think You Can Dance is heating up and its time for the pairings to get a little remix and its time for the dancers to show us what they have when they perform solos each week.
If you want to know the couplings and routines for this coming Wednesday night’s performance, they are revealed after the jump. (more…)
So You Think You Can Dance Announce The Top 10 Dancers!
Wow, tonight’s show was extremely hard to watch. I was a nervous mess from 9:40 on and as I type this I’m still a little jittery.
Here were the Bottom 3 Couples this week: Danny Voldemort and Anya Garnis
Hok Konishi and Jaimie Goodwin
My BF Neil Haskell and Lauren Gottlieb
I was off by one couple but I did pretty well in my predictions based on the Top 12 Performances. I was sad to see the amazing Hok Konishi go, as well as Anya Garnis.
While the show has ended, I can’t help but wonder how the hell someone in particular is still in this competition. I’m sure you’re expecting me to say Voldemort, but that’s not it. It’s that shrew Lauren Gottlieb. While her solo tonight was pretty good, it stank of desperation (not Jaimie’s solo, thank you Nigel) and was a little too frantic and nervous for my liking.
Granted, I don’t love the girl and I guess I understand her staying and being more versatile than Anya but damn it hurt to see Anya go before Lauren. Did anyone else notice that she made way too much eye contact with the camera during the opening Jive number? She works a nerve.
There were moments of elation and hope when Voldemort was announced to be in the Bottom 3 but deep down I knew it was a crap vote to have him there. Based on this week’s performance, there was no way in hell he deserved to go but I still kind of wanted to see it happen.
I’m just 100% happy that I can breathe again knowing the My BF Neil Haskell has made it to the Top 10 SYTYCD Tour and that I’ll be able to molestattack meet him this fall. The boys damn cute and he’s fun and dorky and seriously that body is OOC! I heart him, as you know.
*If you love SYTYCD, check out our latest TV Podcast where we talk heavily about our favorite dancers, and our love of all things SYTYCD. Granted, it was recorded last week but it’s still fun.
I’m tired. Must sleep… or watch the premiere of MAD MEN.
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