The cats at SYTYCD Social have kindly and pragmatically invited me to their blog so that I can proctor a West Coast live chat. I'll still be doing my recap dirt here, but if you're on the PDT or are staying up past your bedtime (tsk!) to watch the show, head on over to SYTYCD.ca where you can experience my real-time, less funny jokes.
Indie rating: Soundgarden - "Loud Love"
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
So You Think You Can Dance - Top 16 (5x10, 5x11)
Welcome to So You Think You Have License to Throw The Horns With Impunity!
No
more
horns!
Because horn abuse is downright sacrilege.
Avant garde music, uncensored mortgages, and a mortified kitten after the jump.
You may have noticed how I barely talked about actual dance last week, mostly because I was unmoved by most of the performances. This week, however, featured two routines that are probably going to contend for year-end honors: Evan and Randi's contemporary, and Brandon and Janette's hip hop.
Evan and Randi actually got short shrift, I think, even though the judges mostly gave them high marks, because of the amount of style that Mia infused into her routine which tweaks the noses of every other boy-girl lovestory choreographer by making this one straight up about ass and still transporting us to a different time and place, enchantingly. And the two shorties executed it all amazingly, especially Evan with this stunning leap:
Evan and Randi's contemporary (30.63 MB)
On a sartorial tip, and correct me if I'm wrong, he was sporting a zoot suit, so now, if you're going to make jokes about it being Mia's humongous sweat pants, or XXL pajama bottoms, you'll be doing so in bad conscience oh no I am scolding again and I promised myself I wouldn't!
My other routine of the night arrived almost exclusively on Brandon's broad shoulders and the way he annihilated the world with each of his devastating pops, i.e. I've been waiting for someone to own like he did, especially in hip hop. Janette wasn't embarrassing (well, her styling didn't do her any favors), but this was Brandon's show all the way.
Brandon and Janette's hip hop (56.16 MB)
Let me just say this about the caliber of season five hip hop: when Cat was giving out their TEMPO phone number, Janette and Brandon popped along to each of her words and their popping was better than just about all the other hip hop routines this season.
The non-dance dream job segment ("dream") ("job") is an amazing spectacle of frivolous artificiality that embodies reality tv's subtle art of transforming the surface into substance (using these words very loosely), by which I'm still, after all these years watching the genre (for which I feel proud, duh), fascinated. The enactments of these dream jobs were flimsy mummeries since about half of them were extemporaneous reaches, most obviously with Caitlin's stated curiosity in broadcast journalism. "I just thought it'd be fun and interesting job [sic] to have, totally different from dancing," she explained with perspicacious insight ("interesting"!) that did not smack of her casting about randomly for something to fill this segment with and coming up with a cursory reason for it, not at all, no way. Let's not forget Chbeeb, either, who wants to be an "inventor" (look at Phillip trying to be Lil C over here) and who was shown sitting at a laptop, intently scrutinizing the front page of Wikipedia. You know, the page where you decide which language of Wikipedia you want. Or Brandon, who wants to be a lighting and design guy? Someone who manages to sculpt a body like his without gym work does not have interests outside of dance, so seeing him fiddling around with the lighting rig like he knew what he doing was good for a laugh.
Make no mistake, some of these Bizarro World Careers were genuine -- Randi being a special ed teacher, Asuka wanting to live in a trash can, Chbeeb developing a viable cold fusion reactor (for all the staged emptiness of his segment, an engineering major is no frivolous pursuit), and Janette studying to be a (wtf) loan officer. Speaking of, if they were trying to make Janette's backup job as a loan officer look mundane, they failed miserably because: pretty girl + glasses + doing math + rational pragmatism = SPICY.
As if she hadn't already become one of my favorite personalities of the season, Janette was also making with the fart jokes during rehearsals. That sound you just heard? It was not passed gas, it was me swooning.
She's also learned to clutch her pearls when appropriate...
without abandoning her sense of fun.
Growth narrative, hello!
The Rage Boyz Crew, right. The most notable thing about them was that they got Cat to plotz over their cuteness, which is saying something.
Who was that unitarded girl?
The lighting for Kayla and Kupono's Viennese waltz was just swell. (Take note, Brandon.)
Beat Freak in the house, "Out There" Lindsey danced backup for the Veronicas. No surprise for a backup dancer: if you blink, and you'd miss her.
The music wasn't bad, either, though I like it a lot less once it gets stuck in my head. Some trivia, then, to inoculate yourself from its infectiousness. Did you know that the singers are a) identical twins, b) Ozzies and c) fond of insane stilettos?
Another true fact about the Veronicas...
Their session guitarist flew in after gigging with Josie & The Pussycats, hence the cat-ears made from his hair.
Our dance kitten has a rep for outrageous costuming which she earned during her first couple of seasons on the show, but the last couple of years she's toned down her wilder impulses in favor of restraint. Though the results of her conservatism often remain stunning, I miss her ferociously over-the-top audacity. For instance, her outfit in the performance show was youthful and pretty, certainly, but the woman who once stepped into an ostrich and called it a dress could've improved her look a thousand-fold if she had topped the pink Grecian mini off with a tiara.
Thursday night, though, Cat straddled the line between her recent classicism and her older avant tackiness when she came out in what was almost certainly a Farrah Fawcett tribute: big feathered hair and bell-bottomed jumpsuit.
She couldn't keep from channeling the '70s; when she tried bringing out her inner gangsta, our kitten inadvertently turned that into a vintage Charlie's Angels pose:
Was Jason and Caitlin's paso the worst we've seen on this show? I recall Jamile dancing a poorly received paso, but I don't think that his was as tepid as the one we saw between this pretty pair. Neither Jason nor Caitlin brought power or fire, and even I could see that their performance didn't have that sharp snap that I've come to expect from the style. Instead, they were like kids playing at being grown-ups hahaha I am talking about myself so transparently, I should stop while I'm ahead, but I ought to add that at some level Jason and Caitlin must've been aware of how poorly suited they were to playing their paso characters, because in the end, they couldn't maintain straight faces.
Besides, how can anyone else take them seriously when he's in a knock-off He-Man costume, she looks like Princess Jasmine was kidnapped by Jabba the Hutt, and they're dancing to "O Fortuna"? It would've made sense for Mandy to choreograph the routine for all its déclassé '80s signifiers (which would've had the added bonus of keeping Jean-Marc Généreux from embarrassing himself).
Meanwhile, Mandy was off kicking out more '80s jams in what to me looked like a particularly frightened and tentative jazz number, so everybody wins.
(Memo to Mandy -- Slayer, Jesus and Mary Chain, Dead Can Dance, and the Cocteau Twins released their best music in the '80s, stretch out a little and choreograph to "Raining Blood," "Just Like Honey," "Host of the Seraphim," or "Ella Megalast Burls Forever"! Or, more realistically, how long till we get Flock of Seagulls in this joint?)
I'm somewhat aghast that Caitlin is still kicking around and that she has such firm support from the judges for what seem like bog-standard contemporary solos. Add to the fact that she comes across as vapid (see above "dream job" segment) and her struggles with the choreography thus far, and I am quickly revising my "I'm not hating anyone this season" outlook, which, actually, had already been revised because of Jonathan and the Always Hate The Lightweight Pretty Boy rule (which is better known as NEIL).
Six-and-a-half feet is not a difficult jump if you've got a running start -- you're reading blogger who could do a six-foot standing long jump when he was in 6th grade. That said, Phillip was perfectly serviceable for the first half of the Broadway, but then halfway through he gets upstaged by the hole in his pants, which eventually gave way to a tasty view of his tighties (which is standard issue nerd uniform, FYI). This little revelation slightly makes up for his part in the Nerd minstrelsy with the Wikipedia front page.
On the other hand, everyone loves a bit of Gallic minstrelsy! C'est superbe zut alors formidable Zip Zap Cool, hon hon hon!
Karla went to NYU and soloed to Radiohead, so on principle I like her even more now. (I know that I've mentioned my apathy for Radiohead, but appreciation for Radiohead does signal a certain openness for artistic pretension, which I can hang with.)
Today, a very special PONO'S POMO CORNER, replete with multimedia offering! Click on the close-up to listen to the audio accompaniment!
Just kidding, you don't have to click on it, it's already playing.
Indie rating: Stereolab – "John Cage Bubblegum"
No
more
horns!
Because horn abuse is downright sacrilege.
Avant garde music, uncensored mortgages, and a mortified kitten after the jump.
You may have noticed how I barely talked about actual dance last week, mostly because I was unmoved by most of the performances. This week, however, featured two routines that are probably going to contend for year-end honors: Evan and Randi's contemporary, and Brandon and Janette's hip hop.
Evan and Randi actually got short shrift, I think, even though the judges mostly gave them high marks, because of the amount of style that Mia infused into her routine which tweaks the noses of every other boy-girl lovestory choreographer by making this one straight up about ass and still transporting us to a different time and place, enchantingly. And the two shorties executed it all amazingly, especially Evan with this stunning leap:
Evan and Randi's contemporary (30.63 MB)
On a sartorial tip, and correct me if I'm wrong, he was sporting a zoot suit, so now, if you're going to make jokes about it being Mia's humongous sweat pants, or XXL pajama bottoms, you'll be doing so in bad conscience oh no I am scolding again and I promised myself I wouldn't!
My other routine of the night arrived almost exclusively on Brandon's broad shoulders and the way he annihilated the world with each of his devastating pops, i.e. I've been waiting for someone to own like he did, especially in hip hop. Janette wasn't embarrassing (well, her styling didn't do her any favors), but this was Brandon's show all the way.
Brandon and Janette's hip hop (56.16 MB)
Let me just say this about the caliber of season five hip hop: when Cat was giving out their TEMPO phone number, Janette and Brandon popped along to each of her words and their popping was better than just about all the other hip hop routines this season.
The non-dance dream job segment ("dream") ("job") is an amazing spectacle of frivolous artificiality that embodies reality tv's subtle art of transforming the surface into substance (using these words very loosely), by which I'm still, after all these years watching the genre (for which I feel proud, duh), fascinated. The enactments of these dream jobs were flimsy mummeries since about half of them were extemporaneous reaches, most obviously with Caitlin's stated curiosity in broadcast journalism. "I just thought it'd be fun and interesting job [sic] to have, totally different from dancing," she explained with perspicacious insight ("interesting"!) that did not smack of her casting about randomly for something to fill this segment with and coming up with a cursory reason for it, not at all, no way. Let's not forget Chbeeb, either, who wants to be an "inventor" (look at Phillip trying to be Lil C over here) and who was shown sitting at a laptop, intently scrutinizing the front page of Wikipedia. You know, the page where you decide which language of Wikipedia you want. Or Brandon, who wants to be a lighting and design guy? Someone who manages to sculpt a body like his without gym work does not have interests outside of dance, so seeing him fiddling around with the lighting rig like he knew what he doing was good for a laugh.
Make no mistake, some of these Bizarro World Careers were genuine -- Randi being a special ed teacher, Asuka wanting to live in a trash can, Chbeeb developing a viable cold fusion reactor (for all the staged emptiness of his segment, an engineering major is no frivolous pursuit), and Janette studying to be a (wtf) loan officer. Speaking of, if they were trying to make Janette's backup job as a loan officer look mundane, they failed miserably because: pretty girl + glasses + doing math + rational pragmatism = SPICY.
As if she hadn't already become one of my favorite personalities of the season, Janette was also making with the fart jokes during rehearsals. That sound you just heard? It was not passed gas, it was me swooning.
She's also learned to clutch her pearls when appropriate...
without abandoning her sense of fun.
Growth narrative, hello!
The Rage Boyz Crew, right. The most notable thing about them was that they got Cat to plotz over their cuteness, which is saying something.
Who was that unitarded girl?
The lighting for Kayla and Kupono's Viennese waltz was just swell. (Take note, Brandon.)
Beat Freak in the house, "Out There" Lindsey danced backup for the Veronicas. No surprise for a backup dancer: if you blink, and you'd miss her.
The music wasn't bad, either, though I like it a lot less once it gets stuck in my head. Some trivia, then, to inoculate yourself from its infectiousness. Did you know that the singers are a) identical twins, b) Ozzies and c) fond of insane stilettos?
Another true fact about the Veronicas...
Their session guitarist flew in after gigging with Josie & The Pussycats, hence the cat-ears made from his hair.
Our dance kitten has a rep for outrageous costuming which she earned during her first couple of seasons on the show, but the last couple of years she's toned down her wilder impulses in favor of restraint. Though the results of her conservatism often remain stunning, I miss her ferociously over-the-top audacity. For instance, her outfit in the performance show was youthful and pretty, certainly, but the woman who once stepped into an ostrich and called it a dress could've improved her look a thousand-fold if she had topped the pink Grecian mini off with a tiara.
Thursday night, though, Cat straddled the line between her recent classicism and her older avant tackiness when she came out in what was almost certainly a Farrah Fawcett tribute: big feathered hair and bell-bottomed jumpsuit.
She couldn't keep from channeling the '70s; when she tried bringing out her inner gangsta, our kitten inadvertently turned that into a vintage Charlie's Angels pose:
Was Jason and Caitlin's paso the worst we've seen on this show? I recall Jamile dancing a poorly received paso, but I don't think that his was as tepid as the one we saw between this pretty pair. Neither Jason nor Caitlin brought power or fire, and even I could see that their performance didn't have that sharp snap that I've come to expect from the style. Instead, they were like kids playing at being grown-ups hahaha I am talking about myself so transparently, I should stop while I'm ahead, but I ought to add that at some level Jason and Caitlin must've been aware of how poorly suited they were to playing their paso characters, because in the end, they couldn't maintain straight faces.
Besides, how can anyone else take them seriously when he's in a knock-off He-Man costume, she looks like Princess Jasmine was kidnapped by Jabba the Hutt, and they're dancing to "O Fortuna"? It would've made sense for Mandy to choreograph the routine for all its déclassé '80s signifiers (which would've had the added bonus of keeping Jean-Marc Généreux from embarrassing himself).
Meanwhile, Mandy was off kicking out more '80s jams in what to me looked like a particularly frightened and tentative jazz number, so everybody wins.
(Memo to Mandy -- Slayer, Jesus and Mary Chain, Dead Can Dance, and the Cocteau Twins released their best music in the '80s, stretch out a little and choreograph to "Raining Blood," "Just Like Honey," "Host of the Seraphim," or "Ella Megalast Burls Forever"! Or, more realistically, how long till we get Flock of Seagulls in this joint?)
I'm somewhat aghast that Caitlin is still kicking around and that she has such firm support from the judges for what seem like bog-standard contemporary solos. Add to the fact that she comes across as vapid (see above "dream job" segment) and her struggles with the choreography thus far, and I am quickly revising my "I'm not hating anyone this season" outlook, which, actually, had already been revised because of Jonathan and the Always Hate The Lightweight Pretty Boy rule (which is better known as NEIL).
Six-and-a-half feet is not a difficult jump if you've got a running start -- you're reading blogger who could do a six-foot standing long jump when he was in 6th grade. That said, Phillip was perfectly serviceable for the first half of the Broadway, but then halfway through he gets upstaged by the hole in his pants, which eventually gave way to a tasty view of his tighties (which is standard issue nerd uniform, FYI). This little revelation slightly makes up for his part in the Nerd minstrelsy with the Wikipedia front page.
On the other hand, everyone loves a bit of Gallic minstrelsy! C'est superbe zut alors formidable Zip Zap Cool, hon hon hon!
Karla went to NYU and soloed to Radiohead, so on principle I like her even more now. (I know that I've mentioned my apathy for Radiohead, but appreciation for Radiohead does signal a certain openness for artistic pretension, which I can hang with.)
Today, a very special PONO'S POMO CORNER, replete with multimedia offering! Click on the close-up to listen to the audio accompaniment!
Just kidding, you don't have to click on it, it's already playing.
Indie rating: Stereolab – "John Cage Bubblegum"
Natalie's SYTYCD Top 16 Performance and Result Shows Music Recaps
[I picked this picture because, although it did not make the "official" group of images from the performance night, it speaks volumes about the dancing and Mia Michaels]
I had to fast forward through Toni Basil’s “speech” in the beginning. Going from Lil’ C to Toni is like going from English to Mandarin Chinese with no subtitles. Makes little to no sense. ADAM SHANKMAN FOR 3RD PERMANENT JUDGE!!! I know that Shankman gets a bad wrap for sometimes being too nice, but I like that he supports the dancers but can still give them constructive (coherent) criticism.
Onto the music recaps for the Top 16 Performance and Results shows…
Karla & Jonathan’s Hip-Hop routine choreographed by Dave Scott
What a disappointment with Karla’s background with the Boogie Bots. The first problem, I think, was with the song choice. It’s kind of an in between song. Not hard-hitting and not smooth enough for lyrical hip-hop. That translated into the movement. There wasn’t much going on there, Dave Scott. Better work next time.
Song: By My Side
Artist/Band: Jadakiss feat. Ne-Yo
Where you’ve heard the song before: Apparently it got good airplay but I don’t listen to the radio so that might explain my non-exposure to this song.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Asuka & Vitolio’s Jazz routine choreographed by Mandy Moore
Thrash Rocker Jazz. Asuka was bound to break down. A la Cousin Heidi and the Bench routine. The dance started out slow. It seemed even slower with Pat Benatar playing. I don’t know. I didn’t think it was hard enough. Maybe I’m used to more steps? I just don’t know.
Song: Heartbreaker
Artist/Band: Pat Benatar
Where you’ve heard the song before: Cheyenne Kimball of an MTV series fame sand this song with Benatar in a Candie’s ad. It was performed on Charmed by Pat Benatar and a parody was done on My Name Is Earl. Idina Menzel, of RENT, Enchanted, and a short arc on Private Practice, sang this song on her “I Stand” tour. It’s a song available to play on Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Melissa & Ade’s Rumba choreographed by Tony Meredith
Who doesn’t love some Destiny’s Child once in awhile? As far as rumbas go, this definitely wasn’t one of my favorites. I think they danced it well and even got into the emotion, but I just didn’t get it. It looked a little rough around the edges.
Song: Emotion
Artist/Band: Destiny’s Child
Where you’ve heard the song before: It was originally sung by Samantha Sung in 1977 and then later recorded by the Bee Gees. It was off of Destiny’s Child’s album Survivor.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Janette & Brandon’s Hip-Hop routine choreographed by Dave Scott
As much as I hated Dave’s first routine, I actually kinda liked this one. Maybe loved it. I didn’t love all of Brandon’s stops, but I did love that both of them went for it and pulled it out 90% of the time.
Song: What a World
Artist/Band: Common
Where you’ve heard the song before: It’s off of his newest album Universal Mind Control.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Kayla & Kupono’s Viennese Waltz choreographed by Jean-Marc Generaux
Fancy lights! Pulling out all the stops SYTYCD. I liked it. It kept my attention and I like that he used a song off of Jewel’s new album, Lullaby. It’s actually called Sweet Dreams on iTunes, if you’re searching for it. Kayla was amazing. I’m glad we got to see her do a waltz. Pono did better than I expected as well.
Song: Sweet Dreams for You
Artist/Band: Jewel
Where you’ve heard the song before: As I said above, it’s from her newest album Lullaby. If you liked the song, give the rest of the album a listen.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Randi & Evan’s Contemporary routine choreographed by Mia Michaels
I kinda wanted wardrobe to put a unitard on Randi. You had to look really close at this dance to see that it was a Mia Michael’s original. At first glance it could have been a Mandy Moore or a Tyce Diorio. Strange song choice, but it all worked together.
Song: Koop Island Blues
Artist/Band: Koop feat. Ane Brun
Where you’ve heard the song before: I’ve never heard it before. It’s off of their album Koop Islands.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Caitlin & Jason’s Paso Doble choreographed by Jean Marc and France Generaux
Brandon’s audition song. They went through the steps but it definitely wasn’t good. The song is huge, HUGE. There are very few dancers that can stand up to that music. Caitlin and Jason were not two of them.
Song: O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana)
Artist/Band: Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg & Kurt Prestel
Where you’ve heard the song before: This song has been all over. I can’t list it all. Go over to Wikipedia to ch-ch-check it out.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Jeanine & Phillips’ Broadway routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio
I wonder if Tyce got any of his inspiration from this dance. It was nice to see Arielle in the audience. One of the few Broadway routines that I enjoyed. I loved the song and the concept.
Song: Moses Supposes
Artist/Band: Singing in the Rain
Where you’ve heard the song before: I imagine most SYTYCD fans and dance fans in general have seen this movie. If you haven’t, watch this YouTube clip of Moses Supposes from the movie.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Top 16 Group Opening Routine choreographed by NappyTabs & Dmitry
One of my Top 3 Group routines ever. I loved the combination of hip-hop and whatever it was that Dmitry threw in. That whole routine goes on the Hot Tamale Train for me.
Song: I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
Artist/Band: Pitbull
Where you’ve heard the song before: Some of the SYTYCD Season IV Real dancers did a dance to this song on Ellen. It’s also getting lots of airplay these days. On my iPod. In the gym.
Buy the single on iTunes:
The Rage Boys Crew Performance
I think that this dance should have been limited to those dancers under 4 feet tall (like Evan and Randi). Too adorable. But Cat Deeley takes the “Cute” award of the night.
Song: Feel It
Artist/Band: Colby O’Donis and Mauli-B
Where you’ve heard the song before: I couldn't find this song anywhere in mp3 format. Sorry!
I didn’t get a chance to re-watch the solos so no commentary this time around.
Asuka’s Solo
Song: Don’t Trust Me
Artist/Band: 3OH!3
Where you’ve heard the song before: It’s from their album Want.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Vitolio’s Solo
Song: Viva La Vida
Artist/Band: Coldplay
Where you’ve heard the song before: It was featured on the showMedium and the re-boot of 90210. If you don’t have this album already, go out and buy it. It’s worth it!
Buy the single on iTunes:
Karla’s Solo
Song: 15 Step
Artist/Band: Radiohead
Where you’ve heard the song before: It’s from their album In Rainbows. Apparently the song used a group of kids from the Matrix Music School & Arts Centre in Oxford.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Jonathan’s Solo
Song: The Hunted
Artist/Band: Kodo
Where you’ve heard the song before: High praises for the SYTYCD music people and their wide variety of music this year. Kodo is a drumming troupe from Japan. I imagine this song is from the movie The Hunted.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Caitlin’s Solo
Song: Que Sera Sera
Artist/Band: Jennifer Terran
Where you’ve heard the song before: This song has a loooong history. Read it over at Wikipedia because I can’t process all of that information right now.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Jason’s Solo
Song: New American Classic
Artist/Band: Taking Back Sunday
Where you’ve heard the song before: Taking Back Sunday needed to make an appearance on SYTYCD. It’s only right. Great choice. Go buy this album as well. Where You Want To Be.
Buy the single on iTunes:
The Veronicas’ (+ Lindsey of the Beat Freaks) Performance
Finally! A half-decent song and kickass dancers. Now let’s keep this up SYTYCD.
Song: Take Me On the Floor
Where you’ve heard the song before: This song was used for promos for the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. And I’m sure it’s stuck in your head by now. Catchy tune.
Buy the single on iTunes:
Asuka’s Goodbye Montage
Song: Already Gone
Artist/Band: Kelly Clarkson
Where you’ve heard the song before: The last 2 weeks plus the next 5 weeks. Or maybe they’ll change the song when we get to the Top 10. SYTYCD keeps me guessing!
Buy the single on iTunes:
Jonathan’s Goodbye Montage
Song: On Your Own
Artist/Band: Green River Ordinance
Buy the single on iTunes:
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