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)

April 2nd, 2010 by soullldiva

Hallelujahhhhhh!! Miss Mia Michaels will be back for season 7 of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Exciting, exciting news in a week where big announcements about the show have me a little crestfallen.

So along with Mia’s luscious, tasty, emotional gorgeous choreography, we get others returning to the SYTYCD floor. These are two of the dance “All Stars” that will be partnering with the season 7 top 10:

The All Star for Popping/Locking, Krumping, Breakdancing, etc. is tWitch Boss from Season 4!

The All Star for Jazz, Contemporary, Broadway and Cultural is Kathryn McCormick from Season 6!

Producer and Judge Nigel Lythgoe will continue tweeting these All-Stars announcements through the next week or so. In fact, he asked for suggestions from fans on who should return. If you want to put in your two cents, poke him through Twitter: http://twitter.com/dizzyfeet.

More later folks!

March 30th, 2010 by soullldiva

In a follow-up to my post about big changes on So You Think You Can Dance, producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe held his press conference via phone yesterday.

Here’s the big change:

The reason that there will not be a top 20, only a top 10 is that the top 10 contestants will be paired with dancers from past seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. WHOA! WHAT?

I am so conflicted on how to think about this. On one hand, I love the pairings, the camraderie, the melding of two personalities into one duo. And I also love seeing so many dancers and their individualities as they develop and bloom into even better dancers and artists. On the other hand, the show would no longer be So You Think You Can Dance. It would morph into So You Think You Can Dance With the Stars (stars being the past pro dancers who now have celebrity status).

I do love the past contestants, It would be really cool to see them again after they have been out “in the real world” for some time. What have they been doing? Have they increased their skills? Are they as personable as before (or limp dishrags)?

A change this big can only signal one thing in my mind: the show is having troubles with ratings. This will most certainly boost it. But for how long? I don’t know if I like the change, I will have to experience it in season 7. But I sincerely HOPE that it WORKS. I want to keep dance on national television, so that it can continue to influence us–give us that injection of aesthetics, art and creation that this world needs so desperately.

Nigel, you’re playing your hand–will So You Think You Can Dance win? I hope so.

March 29th, 2010 by soullldiva

Looks like there are changes in store for the next season of So You Think You Can Dance–I at least hope that it’s a change back to the OLD STAGE ;o)

Judge and Producer Nigel Lythgoe has been tweeeeeting away about “shocking changes” for his show, and they include a shift back to rotating judges (I always liked new blood on the panel each week), only one person eliminated per week, different partners for the dancers every week with the dance styles being chosen for them and the last is the kicker. NO TOP 20.

I don’t know about shocking, but they are certainly big changes. Like I said about the judges, I did like a new choreographer coming in every week (even if they were just from their pool of choreographers). It changed up the predictability of what might be said. The only one person being eliminated per week is most likely tied to the no top 20 item. Might they only choose a top 10? Hmmm, but that makes no sense–when they have odd numbers one person will have to dance with two people (intriguing, though).

I agree with the change that the dancers will no longer be “choosing” their dance styles out of a hat. Even though it will take the randomness of drawing traditional Russian dancing out (that was an odd one), it will give the dancers more likelyhood that they will be given a dance that they look great in. Hence, better ratings.

But…then…where will the real competition be? Nigel Lythgoe has given me much to ponder. I believe he’s holding a press conference today on the changes, so I will return with more news!

February 12th, 2010 by soullldiva

It’s kinda a bummer that a bunch of So You Think You Can Dance videos got taken down. I realize that Fox owns the show, so they get to do what they wish with them. Oh well.

This one from my favorites list is still standing, however, so I get to write about it. I swear, Cat Deely and the Judges couldn’t say “cheeky” enough while talking about this dance. From season 5, Evan and Randi performing a Mia Michaels contemporary to “Koop Island Blues”.

This is a decidedly lighter side of Mia, and I love that as much as her darker side. I’ve always adored mismatched couples, and that’s exactly what you see the first moment in the dance, especially with Randi wearing those stilletto platforms (those come off eventually) and towering a half a foot over Evan. You can just see this slightly dorky guy who can’t believe his luck to get this curvy, sexy bubbly girl on his arm. And of course, the focus of his admiration happens to be her behind.

Mia uses clever and cute choreography to illustrate this admiration and tongue-in-cheek”iness” abounds.