June 11th, 2010 by soullldiva

I’m still not certain how the new format for season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance is going to sit with me. All I know is, I had a frickin’ BLAST watching the introduction show, where all the dancers are showcased with their respective “all-stars”. No pressure this time around, no cutting this week, it’s all fun and hard work and lots of sparkling. The only thing I will say about cutting 20 down to 11 is that 9 new dancers lost out on the chance to be on the show. But we won’t get less dancing, so I guess I am satisfied.

The show stared off with a gigantic, explosive bang with a Wade (thank you gawd) Robson dance: Teaparty and Croquet anyone? Only Wade can turn something stuffy into a hawt, cutting edge dance. On grass. To “Fame” by David Bowie. I watched it three times in a row. Love. It. Let’s treat ourselves again, shall we?

This is most likely the last chance that we will get to see the Top 11 dance without (or nearly) a care with phone numbers or judges’ thoughts. And a dancer who dances with the knowledge that nothing negative will be said about their performance on prime-time TV is something special to see, ya’ll. Free expression and excitement on a level that is causing me to salivate in my Venti Iced Green Tea with 1PCL.

Let’s get going. First up is Lauren and Kent, dancing a Travis Wall number with all-stars Mark and Kathryn. How do you even describe this? The costumes are complicated and rock with parasols and cravats–and don’t upstage the dancers. Fierceness and grandness with fire in their eyes. Travis tells us it’s set in the 20′s in Paris and about the dark and twisted souls who come out at night, celebrating the fall of an empire. Totally got it. And Mr. Wall is now my favorite new choreographer for this season. I have my stand-bys with Wade and Mia, but am looking forward to much more Travis.

Alexie (finally made it!!) and Melinda are up next doing a Tyce DiOrio jazz number with all-stars Allison and Lauren. Ooo, and it’s a Sweet Charity number. A little predictable for four girls (or West Side Story), but he girls are pure pleasure to watch, and the song is so character driven how could they not get that much into it? The only thing I miss is the live singing (but that would be a different show). LOVE the dresses. The red one shouldered one on Allison is my favorite. Love that Cat wants to come up and pose with them on the stage. And even though I thought there would be no negative notes, Nigel felt the need for the critique for Melinda, shame.

Jose, the lone B-Boy in the top 11 is next doing a TappyTabs number with Comfort, Twitch and Dominic. What a crew. I love the beginning, bedcuase it’s Jose vs. the three all-stars, like they want him out, and it also makes it easy for him to dance solo. Sweet booty shake by Comfort! And OH what a move putting the feet inside the hoodie and doing a backwards somersault to reveal his shirt–he’s part of the group, ya’ll. Very cool, high, energy, great  stunts. Fresh NappyTabs, baby.

Did I just hear the words Jason Gilkison? Oh yes, I did, and it’s coming up for all-stars Pasha and Anya and newbie ballroom hottie Cristina. Two girls, one guy and a big competition. Amazing lift and flip of Anya over Pasha’s shoulder. Jason does it again with an incredibly hot ballroom number that breaks the mold. I’m getting chills. You get that they BOTH really want the guy and are fighting for him. Loved that they stretched out the ending and the girls led him on then pushed him to the floor. Go girls. (and another critique again, Nigel? Ugh.)

Celebrated returnees Alex and Billy are next dancing a Mia Michaels piece with Ade (love him). Mia gets to talk about the piece beforehand, and speaks about time and the journey of life for a man, from childhood to the infirm age. Billy is the boy, Alex is the man and Ade is the elder. Beautiful lines, amazing extension and a huge amount of emotion laced right in. “This Bitter Earth” plays and these three men dance their lives out on stage, this is a truly gorgeous piece and not overdone in any way, IMO. Storytelling at it’s best. Thanks, Mia.

Adechike, Ashley and Robert are the last three doing a Sonya Tayeh number with all-stars Neil and Courtney. The costumes leave a bit to be desired, but I love the combination of a little hip hop and classic jazz moves. Sony a knows how to do that best. Just plain fun. And I love Sonya because she loves dancers and loves making them give all they have.

Next week the competition stars for REAL. I hope my nails can grow a little more!  I’ll be there watching.

Didja love it, didja hate it? The stage is still the infernal new stage, but no video projections. What do you think? Let me know!

June 9th, 2010 by soullldiva

Ok. Classic Television happened on Sunday evening with the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Who’s idea was it to have Les Grossman, Tom Cruise’s alter ego from Tropic Thunder “produce” the show? Utter Genius. To have Les dance a full number with none other than JLo? Uber Genius.

Who knew Tom could dance THAT well? I mean, I knew he could move, but huh? Plus, he’s probably got 15-20 lbs of makeup and padding and prosthetics on to boot. What a guy. What a dance number.

May 25th, 2010 by soullldiva

Finals night came in the blink of an eye on Dancing With the Stars last night. In fact, I was in the middle of a rousing rendition of “Ring My Bell” from the Wii game Just Dance with my family (we’re at a reunion) when I panicked and realized I was missing the show (DVR, I love you).

For the finals this year the stars need to perform an unprecedented FOUR dances (two on Monday, two on Tuesday). Tonight they must do a Redemption Dance, where they will attempt to redeem themselves for a dance the judges say they should have done better on, and the infamous Freestyle, who everyone says locks in the trophy.

SO! Were they redeemed or not? Let’s see…

First is Erin and Maks, and they must attempt to redeem themselves on the Samba. Ooh, tough one for the judges to pick for them. Bruno stops in to help her with her hip action, which (along with your arm work) is really the most important thing in the Samba (oh, along with the Par-Tay!). Bruno likes what he begins to see: “Look at the ass! So much better!”

As they begin the dance, Erin and Maks button UP Maks’ shirt. Very cute. Erin’s dress is fabulous, love the red flutters and her necklace. They did very well, but I feel this was not as earth-shaking as it needed to be. Improvement, yes, fantastic, no. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-9 (which will turn out for me to be the most surprising score of the night).

Evan and Anna is next. They get help from the Great Len Goodman for their Viennese Waltz, which they did all the way back in week one. Chemistry is what is needed here for the two of them here. Evan needs to put more focus and love on Anna, rather than thinking and going to the next move (yeah, Olympian).

Anna choreographed a really, really lovely intro for this Viennese Waltz (her dress is fab), and they kept the connection the entire time when not in hold. Truly lovely. Probably the best Viennese Waltz I’ve ever seen on DWTS. Great work and absolute redemption. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-9

Nicole and Derek have Carrie Ann come in and help out with their Rumba. When they did it the first time, Nicole’s nerves got the bes of her and it was probably her worst meltdown (among quite a few). Carrie Ann really pushes her to take the meltdown and convert it into vulnerability (so use it before rather than after). Really let go and show she’s more than a pretty face and a dancing machine.

Their Rumba is sensitive and beautiful. Nicole is vulnerable and connected to Derek, and Derek himself is more connected to any partner than I’ve ever seen. The choreography is solid and that hold at the end is new and very interesting (she wraps her leg around him and holds herself up, whew). They are completely redeemed here. Carrie Ann’s lift police rant is absolutely necessary here, and I wish she would have just shut up. Judges’ Score: 9-9-10

Freestyle: POP! or fizzzle…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is the most highly anticipated dance of the entire season, and somehow it is always a disappointment. Either the couples go crazy and do stuff that is just “not them”, or they play it safe and do stuff that they would normally do (like a pop star does hip-hop). What will happen for season 10?

For the first time ever, there is a Contemporary/Lyrical freestyle on DWTS. WHAT?? Erin has decided to do something different, and more of what she would do (she had years of ballet and jazz). They even call the lovely Ms. Mandy Moore (woo hoo) in to help out with the choreography. This is unprecedented (there’s that word again, she keeps on using it), and I am anticipating the performance highly.

I expected to love it, but I just…didn’t. And I’m really sorry I didn’t. Erin took a real risk with this and really showed what she wanted to do. I suppose it just looked too odd to me on the ballroom floor, and I felt that contemporary should just stay over on the Fox So You Think You Can Dance set. Plus, there was a bed AND a sofa. Too much, even for a contemporary piece. Off the mark for me personally. However, this dance gave us the best Tom Bergeron moment of the entire season: “In ten seasons, ‘It’s not the bed I rehearsed on’ is the my favorite excuse ever!” Judges’ Scores: 9-8-9

We see Evan and Anna butt heads for the first time this seaon, over the steps for their freestyle. Evan wants to take more chances, and Anna wants to stick to what they do best. They both really want to win, you can tell. Things smooth out when they bring in a choreographer in to help out and be the go-between.

Their freestyle is a prom theme from “Footloose” (this made me think what a great freestyle the prom scene from “Grease” would make). Lots of fun and a huge crowd please. They looked like they had a great time. Technically speaking (except for the impossible lift at the end) that the choreography was a little light, but still super fun. The judges, however, were uniformly disappointed. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8 Boo.

What, oh what will Nicole bring? Her Pussycat Doll card or something new? I adore their sparkle-y tux outfits with the chartreuse shoes and ties. Really popped. They chose “Little Less Conversation” by Elvis (love it) for their song and they just brought it ALL. This was super-fantastic and absolutely perfect (with a slight hesitation on the lift at the end). Clearly the Winner of the Freestyle Round, and Len hit it right on the nose: He saw all different styles of ballroom dance used together in a new and inventive way. Now THAT’S a freestyle! Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

So in a surprise on the leaderboard, Erin and Nicole are tied for first with 55 out of 60 points. Evan is second with 52 out of 60 points. The stars and their partners will do their third and fourth dances on the Results show. What will they do? My money is on one dance will be the stars pick and the other will be the judges’ pick. We’ll see. It’s shaping up to be an exciting and very interesting show Tuesday night. My early pick for the winner? Nicole Scherzinger. And she would deserve it. Tune in tonight!

BTW, Spoiler Alert for Season 11: Hugo “Hurley” Reyes wins!!! (thanks to Jimmy Kimmel’s Aloha to LOST show, which helped stop my tears over watching the final episode ;o)

May 11th, 2010 by soullldiva

I don’t know if anyone remembers watching the movie Napoleon Dynamite for the first time. I remember sitting in the dirty, small AMC theater in the Burbank Town Center Mall (this was the only theater that was showing it at the time) and laughing at the odd comedy. I also was thinking that I knew at least a couple of people exactly like Napoleon in my little High School in Kansas growing up (you know who you are out there). The other thing that I thought, reluctantly, was that there was a little Napoleon in ME. WHAT???

This is such an interesting character that was developed by Jon Heder and Jared and Jerusha Hess. An outsider, an introvert, sometimes a jerk, bullied, pushed around, abused, and just weird. But he also loves fantasy, is creative, befriends the new guy, is unaware that he’s really that much of a dweeb, and willing to take risks and just show what he’s got.

Then comes the true surprise in the last 10 minutes of the film. The SKIT. When Pedro’s opponent for student body president, Summer, does her dance/sign language ditty, I’m thinking “what does this have to do with a school election?” Come on, what high school election was EVER based on platforms and NOT popularity? None of the ones in my school, that’s for sure. Pedro is done for. No one even told him there was a “skit”.

Napoleon to the rescue. With no second thought, with no thought at ALL (add dependable friend to the list above), he gives his audio tape to the stage manager and steps out in front of the crowd.

My jaw was literally on the floor as I sat in the theater. And the music? “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai. Singularly one of the most danceable songs out there (and also used in the fun dance romp “Center Stage”). Nothing will endear you more to me personally than just letting it all hang out and really having a moment of pure enjoyment for yourself while you move your body. And that dance is completely improvised. Jon is not a trained dancer nor was he helped by any pro. But you can tell dancing comes very naturally to him. Those loose hips are sometimes very hard to teach (watch any first time dancers on DWTS), and he’s got them in spades. I wanted to stand up and scream at the end, and when the auditorium crowd does just that after a long pause, you feel completely vindicated for loving Napoleon and his original dance.

Bonus? He gets the girl in the end.

May 10th, 2010 by soullldiva

Five couples are left on Season 10 of Dancing With the Stars:

Niecy and Louis
Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks
Chad and Cheryl

Three couples stand out (ability-wise) as shoo-ins for the semis:

Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks

It is really up in the air for the last spot. Who will survive the cut tomorrow night? As much as I love Niecy, she may just not make it based on her performances. Chad as well. BUT–who knows?? Last season I wished and hoped (and voted) and got my “dream finals”. Anything can happen with a big enough fan base holding their phones in their hands.

This week the stars learned two whole routines with their pros. Tonight was split up into the Ballroom round and the Latin round. The Latin round was to have it’s own slant: the couples drew decades out of the hat to see how they had to theme their Latin dance: 50s, 60s, 80s, 90s and Future (why no 70s?).

Each of the pros sized up each of the stars in segments before the rounds. This was great, I thought, and seemed candid and sometimes a bit harsh with the truth. What was great to hear from the pros mouths was not only notes on technique and precision, but heart, enjoyment, emotion and connection. I like hearing the pros opinions, and this is a segment that you would probably have not seen the first few seasons. The pros are now stars in their own right, and their opinion matters.

Tonight the dancing for most of the couples seemed to be a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of round. Last week was really fabulous all around, but this week seemed to lack a bit.There were three absolute standout dances this evening, and two of them were from the same couple. While everyone worked very hard, I’m going to focus on these three.

Even though they were in the bottom two last week, Erin and Maks’ Argentine Tango really sizzled. And yet Another dress that I’m totally stealing for my tango. The leap and catch off the stage into the upside-down extention was truly dazzling. Beautiful lines and very passionate hold. She just needs to stop making that funny pursing-thing with her lips to approximate anger. I know she’s capable of real emotion, huh? One thing for sure, those two are really good at the double-entendre (“Just jump on me woman!”).

I’m pretty sure we’re in for three more weeks of Nicole completely freaking out about every dance during rehearsals. If I were Derek, I would be pulling out my hair. Nicole, Nicole, Nicole. Let yourself off the hook puh-leeze. We get it that this is not easy for you. And we totally get that you want it to be good–perfect. And you care–LOTS. Bonus points, baby. Just check out this light, funny, charming and cute Foxtrot, full of chemistry and excellent precision dancing.

So that’s the first two stand out dances for me tonight. The second round, the Latin “decades” round is something that I can’t quite fathom and I’m wondering if the execs should just chuck it. I can’t remember it working that well last year, either. I just don’t think that trying to “force” a specific dance into a specific time period just doesn’t actually work. Well, Chad’s seemed to work. But then–a stroke of genius.

When Nicole drew 50s from the hat, Derek stood there, dumbfounded. How in the hell were they supposed to meld the 50s with the Paso Doble? It wouldn’t work. I had an idea that they could do it like the “cool beatniks” in all black and shades, that might work. But what they came up with was just pure brilliance, and at the same time revived the usual tired and overwrought dance that is the Paso.

So it was an interesting night to say the least. And the couple that originally I did not embrace for being a ringer are now fully in my heart. Will my underdog favorite make it into the semi-finals and beyond? We’ll find out tomorrow on the Results show (cross your fingers)!