August, 2011 | Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Emilie’s Top Group Routines from Season 8

There are A LOT more fantastic routines from this season than we think about immediately. I know Nigel’s tweeting already about some of the routines they’ll show on the finale tonight, but I’ve been ignoring him so I can remind us about my favorite dances. There have been a LOT of great group routines. Most of Tyce’s great work this season has been in the group routines, actually.

#1 Tyce Diorio’s “The Circus Sets Up” (Top 8)

#2. Dee Caspary’s “Poison & Wine” (Top 16 B Group)

#3. Sonya Tayeh’s “Pop, Drop and Roll” (Top 10 Girls)

#4. Christopher Scott’s “Velocity” (Top 10 Guys)

#5. Kelly Abbey’s “El Fuego” (Top 12)

#6. Dave Scott’s “Sinnerman” (the 2nd Top 20)

#7. Nakul dev Mahajan’s “Kata Kata” (Top 14)

#8. Sonya Tayeh’s “XR2” (Top 20)

#9. Justin Giles’s “Grown Unknown” (Top 6)

#10. Tyce Diorio’s “Little Bird” (Meet the Top 20)

There are *easily* more dances I could’ve picked. I had a hard time leaving the Top 7 Girls and Guys routines off the list. Are there group routines you think I should’ve included instead?

Season 8 Final Performance Power Rankings and Poll

This is both the easiest and the hardest Power Rankings post I’ve done all season. I’m going to break it down in rounds (solos, All-Stars, contestant).

Round One (Solos)

1. Sasha – While hers and Melanie’s solos were neck and neck, I’m giving this round’s top spot to Sasha because hers was later in the episode.

2. Melanie – As I said, she and Sasha were neck and neck with the strongest solos, but hers was just a bit earlier in the episode and that’s the only reason I’m putting her in second place.

3. Tadd – He uses cool music and a lot of personality and had a cute near run-in with the audience.

4. Marko – His solos are strong, but they use slow music that always sounds the same. His solos never really stand apart for me.

Round Two (All-Star routines)

1. Melanie – Her Stacey Tookey with Robert was a bit later than Sasha/Mark and it was really strong. I thought the choreo was a bit confusing, but Melanie and Robert definitely had a connection.

2. Sasha – Her Sonya Tayeh routine with Mark was probably a bit stronger than Melanie/Robert, but since it was the second routine of the night, I’m putting it in second place.

3. Marko – His Tessandra Chavez routine with LoFro was really, really good and the last of the All-Star routines, but I think the girls have the edge on him because LoFro outdanced him just a bit. Just a bit!

4. Tadd – His Lil C hip hop with Joshua was a bit out of sync and boring. Plus, it was the third routine of the night, so that probably won’t do him any favors.

Round Three (Top 4 partners)

1.Melanie – She and Sasha each had one bad routine, one ok routine and one great routine, but I give Melanie the edge because her worst routine was her first of the night (Disco with Marko). Her okay routine (Broadway with Tadd) was in the middle and her great routine (contemporary with Sasha) was her last routine.

2. Sasha – Her okay routine (Broadway with Marko) was better than Melanie’s okay (also Broadway), but it was her first routine, whereas her worst routine (cha cha with Tadd) was middle. She also ended on a high note (contemporary with Melanie), which makes this kinda hard.

3. Marko – He and Tadd both had their worst routine together and smack dab at the end of the episode. They also both had bad routines with their Top 4 partners, but Marko’s worst was the first routine of the night. His okay Broadway was earlier in the episode, but it was better and suited him just a bit better.

4. Tadd – When he was bad tonight, he was really bad. Horrible cha cha with Sasha, alright Broadway with Melanie and then awful stepping routine with Marko. He was in two of the worst routines of the night. Not so hot.

Final Predictions

Winner: Melanie – She’s been slightly ahead of Sasha in popularity all season, at least according to our poll) and was just slightly ahead of Sasha tonight. Her biggest disadvantage is that she hasn’t been out of her style as much as the others and how gross the judge’s favoritism has been all season (not that that’s her fault).

Runner-up: Sasha – It could go either way between the girls, honestly. Her edge is that she overcame a bum partnership to get this far and while she’s always been a great dancer, she’s developed some soft femininity (with the right partners, Twitch, Kent, Mark), she’s stayed fierce.

3rd place: Marko – He’s been more popular than Sasha all season according to our polls, but I think Sasha has edge him out in ability and fight. Especially tonight.

4th place: Tadd – He’s the least popular of the Top 4 (according to our polls) and he was in 2 of the worst routines tonight.

I hope you’ll let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments. How do you think this will go?

And now for your poll (I think I got every possible variation, to be fair):

Season 8 Finale Part 1 Thoughts and Discussion

Tonight’s Part 1 of the Season 8 finale. I’m going to post my thoughts live and I hope you’ll join in the discussion. Let us know what you think?

Spoiler space, just in case…

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 1 Music

Who knows what tonight’s going to bring? I can’t wait to find out!!

Melanie and Marko danced a Doreana Sanchez disco to: Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love (12″ Version)” –

Sasha and All-Star Mark danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz to: Deadmau5’s “Raise Your Weapon” –

Tadd and All-Star Joshua danced a Lil C hip hop to: Ace Hood’s “Hustle Hard” –

Melanie and All-Star Robert danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Sinead O’Connor’s “Sacrifice” – not on iTunes yet.

Sasha and Marko danced a Spencer Liff Broadway to: Ella Fitzgerald’s “Whatever Lola Wants” –

Melanie danced her solo to: Peter Bradley Adams’s “Song for Viola” –

Marko danced his solo to: Joshua Radin’s “The Fear You Won’t Fall” –

Sasha and Tadd danced a Mark Ballas cha cha to: Basement Jaxx’s “Raindrops” –

Marko and All-Star LoFro danced a Tessandra Chavez contemporary to: Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s “Shirk” –

Tadd danced his solo to: Jessie J’s “Mamma Knows Best” –

Sasha danced her solo to: Rachael Yamagata’s “Be Be Your Love” –

Melanie and Sasha danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Ahn Trio’s “Heart Asks Pleasure First” –

Marko and Tadd danced a Chuck Maldonado gumboot stepping routine to: Outkast’s “B.O.B.” –

Here’s YOUR Chance to Interview Season 7 Dancers

Hi everybody!

Ovation TV is interviewing Season 7 dancers next week and they’d like YOU to send in your questions for their “You Asked For It” segments. Better yet, they’d really like you to film yourself asking your questions so they can include them in the interview clips. It’s like YOU get to interview the dancers. They’ll see you asking your question and then they’ll answer you.

You can see their interviews with the Season 6 dancers here, as an example. This is the first time they’ve asked for fan questions to be filmed, so it’s a new experience for everyone. They’re pretty fun interviews – especially the ones with Kathryn and Lil C. I’ll include the “You Asked For It” segment with Kathryn:

E-mail your videos and questions to Ilsa Berg (Iberg at ovationtv dot com) by TOMORROW! I know it’s short notice, but if you don’t have a chance to film a question, be sure to still send in your questions anyway. Tell them you’re a reader of PureSYTYCD and ask questions that any of the dancers can answer and your questions will have a better chance of getting picked for the interviews.

Ovation TV is re-airing previous seasons of SYTYCD Friday-Monday. Right now, they’re in the middle of re-airing Season 6 and the reruns of Season 7 will begin in October and Season 8 in January. Here’s their current programing schedule.

I’m sure Ovation TV has noticed that our community of SYTYCD fans have the best debates and discussions and that’s why they asked for YOU to submit your questions for the Season 7 dancers.

SYTYCD Canada Top 14 Performance Show

Tonight was another great night of dancing on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. The Top 14 danced for Canada’s votes and tomorrow we will send two more home.

Tonight’s judges were Jean-Marc Genereux, Tré Armstrong, Rex Harrington, Melissa Williams and Dan Karaty.

Once again the couples were swapped up, which seems to be a weekly thing now, however, it seemed more couples had at least one dancer in their genre. I like the switch up because it moves the votes around a bit more, but it is also scary because it puts certain dancers in danger undeservingly perhaps. Tonight’s dances left me a little disappointed overall… but I will talk about that more at the end of this post…

Anyhow, here is a summary of the night:

Francois & Jordan
Samba – Gustavo Vargas
“Chillando Goma” – Fulanito

Francois was in his genre, Jordan was way out, but you wouldn’t know it (unless you watched her feet carefully ha!) There were a lot of cool twists, spins and lifts. Gustavo warned it was about hips, hair and legs – and he was right! It was sexy and fun!

Joey & Geisha
Contemporary – Stacey Tookey
“Gasoline Rainbows” – Amy Kuney

The idea was that Geisha comes from the polluted future to warn Joey and encourage him to protect the environment. To me, the story was not really told, but the dance itself was beautiful as was the song. This was good for Geisha, who I feel is not as strong as the other female dancers. She was paired with the most amazing Joey and pulled it off, though he was still the star of the routine.

Yulia & JP
Hip Hop – ShoTyme
“Give ‘Em What They Asking For” – Busta Rhymes

This was so-so for me. JP was starting to grow on me, and this being his genre I expected a lot more. Yulia, as I have always said, is a ballroom girl and generally excels in her genre and never really peaks in anything else.

Lindsey & Christian
Jazz Funk – Blake McGrath
“Blow” – Ke$ha

This was a couple reuniting again this season not only with each other but with Blake as choreographer who worked with them week two. Given that, I think I expect a bit more since they have that history together. The story was a couple who has to choose love or career. For me it was weird. It didn’t feel Jazz-Funk (though who am I to judge what that even is exactly, I expect it from Sonya or Sean Cheesman usually) and was just a bit strange. I don’t know if it was the choreo or the execution. I typically love Blake and I really love Lindsey, but this was just so-so for me.

Denitsa & Matt
Cha Cha – Francis LaFreniere & Claudia Primeau
“Give Me Everything” – Pitbull ft Ne-Yo

It was nice to see alumni Claudia and Francis back to do choreography again. This routine had a lot of potential but fell flat in some areas. First, Denitsa was in her element and did well and Matt did his best but there were some technical errors that even my husband noticed. The most obvious was near the end when Matt went to grab for al ift too soon then stopped, then when they did the lift he slipped and they kind of fell forward. We have seen this before, it is part of life, but coming off an average performance, it puts a damper on the whole thing. Also there was far too much time spent in a slow embrace when there could have been dancing, and right in the middle of the routine.

Carlena & Shane
Contemporary – Sabrina Matthews
“Wise Up” – Aimee Mann

This was about being unable to take back words once you say them, as if that can be portrayed clearly in a routine? It was pretty slow moving and as far as Sabrina Matthews goes, it wasn’t my favourite.

Adam & Melissa
Hip Hop – Luther Brown
“Buyou” – Keri Hilson

Well, Melissa has had four consecutive standing ovations from all the judges, whoever they may be that week, with whoever she may be dancing with that evening. Amazing! It was a fun, sexy, hard-hitting routine that was my favourite of the night and being last of the night will be memorable and likely get them plenty of votes to stay safe.

Power Rankings:

Top 3:

-Adam & Melissa
-Joey & Geisha
-Francois & Jordan

Middle:

-Carlena & Shane

Bottom 3:

-Lindsey & Christian
-Denitsa & Matt
-Yulia & JP

I was really off last week, so we will see how it goes this week. To be honest, I was a tad disappointed overall this week with the routines. They weren’t as impressive as past weeks. I feel like based on JUST tonight’s dances, many would risk going home. Though, some of it may have been choreography, and maybe my own mood, but I just didn’t feel it tonight as much as I usually do.

Anyhow, please comment below if you agree or disagree or have something to add….

Results Show is Tomorrow Night, I will be away camping so unless wordpress agrees with my blackberry and service is clear at the lake, I won’t post until I return Friday evening.

Also tomorrow on the results show Melissa Williams’ group routine is about relationships and rumours. Host Leah Miller reminded us a trillion times to tune in….

Mollee Gray Music Video – You Don’t Know Anything

I have to admit that I haven’t kept up on a lot of the past dancers as well as many, but tonight on Twitter I saw that Mollee Gray released a new music video with Mollee singing (and a little dancing). It’s called “You Don’t Know Anything” I did a search for it on iTunes and couldn’t find it, but I do have the music video which I’ll embed below:

I liked the song and the video was pretty well done. Shauna Noland was also in the music video, but was the only SYTYCD alumni that I could find in the list of dancers. I especially like the last sequence of the video where Mollee joins the dancers. It had some really intereing choreography.

To be honest, I didn’t know that Mollee had started a singing career. Turns out Lacey Schwimmer was singing in Las Vegas this weekend as well. I wonder how many other past SYTYCD dancers are singing as well. We should make a list.

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 6 Performance and Elimination

Summary
The top 6 proved to be an interesting week as it wasn’t clear which dancers were going to be in the finals and what two were going to be sent home. It turned out that Caitlynn and Ricky were the ones that had their journeys end, which was predictable but still sad to see. Ricky did well in his contemporary in showing us why he made it as far as he did in the competition and Caitlynn had an excellent night with two solid routines. In another season with a weaker pool of girls Caitlynn may have made it into the finals.

The top 4 makes for an intriguing mix and we go over their performances from this past week. Like last week, we spend some time on Tadd and go over what we liked from him, but that we feel like the choreographers, for better or worse, aren’t challenging him in the same way as the rest of the contestants. Marko, Sasha and Melanie all have been strong the entire season and we’ve loved nearly everything put forward by Melanie and Marko. Any of these four contestants can win the whole win, which is not a normal situation for most SYTYCD finales. Next week should prove to have a gripping conclusion.

We spend a few minutes going over and debunking the “Melanie conspiracy.” We don’t see any evidence for this view and it’s not something we like seeing appear all over the internet, not because we’re Melanie fans but because we like to keep the dialogue about reality competitions honest and based in what we see, not what we imagine.

We wrap up by giving our list of good routines from this season that we’d like to see appear in the finale.

Please let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment here after listening! We love to hear feedback and what you thought of the show. We also encourage you to check out our blog and twitter feed to keep up to date with us!

Episode Length: 35:11

Time Stamps
0:00 – The guest judging by Christina Applegate and Lil ‘C
1:35 – Eliminated: Ricky – Contemporary and Waacking
5:57 – Eliminated: Caitlynn – Samba and Jazz
9:05 – The end of the Tyce kiss of death
10:45 – Top 4: Tadd
15:10 – Top 4: Marko
17:45 – Top 4: Sasha
20:18 – Top 4: Melanie
24:00 – The alleged Melanie conspiracy
27:30 – Who’s going to win overall?
28:15 – The routines we’d like to see reprised in the finale
34:33 – Wrap-up

Listen to the podcast

Episode 14 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes

SYTYCD Season 8 – Week 8 Results, Kent Boyd, Lauren F, Judges, Lil C, Caitlynn, Ricky

Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and guest judge Lil’ C talk about the week 8 elimination on So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 8! Also hear from Caitlynn and Ricky about their SYTYCD journey, and from All Stars Kent Boyd and Lauren Froderman. Video Below 🙂

Cut Footloose Contest

Hi Everybody,

Paramount Pictures and Herbal Essence is having a Cut Footloose video contest where you can create and post a video of your dance moves for the chance to go to the premiere of Footloose, which is out Oct 14th. Check it out:

Go here to see the rules, upload your video and vote on the video “battles.” There’s also a message from Kenny Wormald, who stars in Footloose with DWTS alum Julianne Hough. It would be really, really cool if one of our readers won the contest and could tell us all about the premiere!

Here’s the trailer if you want to get hyped up for the movie and the contest:

Emilie’s Top Group Routines from Season 8

Season 8 Final Performance Power Rankings and Poll

Season 8 Finale Part 1 Thoughts and Discussion

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 1 Music

Here’s YOUR Chance to Interview Season 7 Dancers

SYTYCD Canada Top 14 Performance Show

Mollee Gray Music Video – You Don’t Know Anything

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 6 Performance and Elimination

SYTYCD Season 8 – Week 8 Results, Kent Boyd, Lauren F, Judges, Lil C, Caitlynn, Ricky

Cut Footloose Contest

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