Save the Last Dance, but for Who?

So at the beginning of the summer I was pretty good about updating all of you about what was happening on one of my favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance?. I mean, I updated you guys about it like, twice. Which is pretty good.

Well there are only two more weeks in the competition, and it's not too late to start watching. To be honest, this is one of the better times to start watching because only the top six dancers are left, meaning almost ALL of the routines should be really good at this point. I know from talking to friends that some people don't watch the show but happen to catch a few of the more popular performances while surfing YouTube. Well I thought I'd save you all some trouble (because I love you) and showcase the final six dancers with videos of my favorite of their performances. That way you know who to vote for (Chelsie).

First, the girls.

Katee Shean
I imagine Katee will be one of the two finalists, and is a SHOE IN for top four. She has never been in the bottom (via audience voting), and the judges have never disliked one of her performances. She's trained as a contemporary dancer, but has also been noted for her great Broadway style. She almost didn't make the show after expressing to the judges that this was her last year auditioning. For someone who was the last pick for the Top 20, she has done VERY well. One of my favorite performances from her was Week 4 in which she does a contemporary routine with her original partner Joshua (another top six dancer).



Chelsie Hightower
Chelsie is a Latin Ballroom dancer, and is younger than me. Which is just nutty, because she's already a star on a hit TV show and has is like a national champion or something. Meanwhile, I, at the rip age of nineteen, have trouble getting over fifty hits on my blog each week. Chelsie has been my favorite since about week two or three. I'm not saying she's THE BEST dancer on the show, but she's definitely one of the best and my favorite to watch. It doesn't hurt that she's totally cute either. I think Chelsie is destined to make the final four (she also has never been in the bottom), but I don't think she'll take the title home at the end of the season. My pick for my favorite routine? There are a LOT to choose from, but I decided to go with a contemporary piece with Gev (eliminated two weeks ago).



Courtney Galiano
Alright. I love the girl, and think she has the best solos every week (trained as a contemporary dancer), but she's only got one more week in the competition. She's up against Chelsie and Katee, neither of which have ever been in the bottom of the voting scale (unless Miss Galiano). She really is a great dancer, but for whatever reason she doesn't have the fanbase the other two women do. So sorry, Courtney, but hey! Top 3 girls isn't too bad! My pick for her routine is a jazz routine (done by my favorite choreographer Mandy Moore- no, not the singer/actress) with Gev (again). A really great concept, and just an all around fun piece.

Joshua Allen
All right here is my pick for the winner of the competition. He is a hip-hop dancer (with a little ballet training) that has won the heart of America. He's so humble and sweet and just adorable. Plus he's a surprisingly versatile dancer. The judges have never said a bad word about him and he has also NEVER been in the bottom. Plus, he has braces, which just adds to his charm. Seriously, he's like a big teddy bear that you just want to hold. I absolutely think he will be one of the final two (final four is a guarantee), and I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't win (though his only competition may be his long-time partner Katee). My pick for my favorite Josh routine is probably his and Katee's first (a lyrical hip-hop) but I've already linked that once in this blog (see like, my second post ever) so I'll choose another. His Bollywood routine with Katee. Something about a large black man dancing Bollywood is just tooooo good.

"Twitch" Boss
Twitch missed the Top 20 last season by just a hair. Luckily he made it this season, is in the top six, and has a pretty good chance at making top four. He's a hip-hop dancer with AMAZING solos, but doesn't always do the best in his partner dances. The audience loves him, but he was surprisingly in the bottom two this past week. Twitch fans will have to step up their game if they want him in the season finale, but he has a pretty good shot at it. My favorite Twitch routine is another contemporary one. I think I just really like the concept of this rather than Twitch's dancing (not that it's bad). Whatever, here's the vid.

Mark Kanemura
If you had told me at the beginning that this Hawaii native was going to be in the top six I probably wouldn't have believed you. Hell, if you had told me four days ago I wouldn't have believed you. But, the people have spoken and he is still in the competition. It's not that he's a bad dancer (hell he was one of my favorite simply because he was paired with Chelsie), but it doesn't seem like Mark has really done anything to garner such a big fanbase. I suppose its his quirkyness and charm. Whatever it is, I think this is going to be the last week for it. He has a shot at top four, but I think Twitch fans will vote in the millions after he was in the bottom two this week. My favorite Mark performance in a lyrical hip-hop with his original partner Chelsie (and to be honest, I think she outdances him in the routine).

So there you have it America, you're top six dancers. Even if you don't watch the show, I do urge you to check out at least some of the posted videos or to look some up on YouTube. These dancers really are extremely talented, and there's stuff from hip-hop to samba, to contemporary, to the cha-cha. Whatever you're in to, they've probably done it.

ALSO. The new Danity Kane video for "Bad Girl" (featuring Missy Elliot) has premiered and can be found on YouTube. I'll let you look it up for yourselves because to be honest, I'm not that impressed with it.

So You Think You Can Read?

Ahh! Sorry it's been so long, I've been keeping busy with work and the usual.

So here it is. I'm a total dork. Like, stereotypical dorky guy in movie type of dork. I collect comic books, read fantasy and sci-fi novels, and I'd rather play Final Fantasy or Suikoden games than Guitar Hero of Halo. The only thing I'm missing is a twenty-sided die and a Dungeon Master's manual. But obviously I know what these things are, so I'm not too off from total nerdville.

For some reason, I've always felt a need to defend these dorkier interests of mine. I spent the better part of the past two days finishing "A Storm of Swords" by George R.R. Martin. I planned to write about it here, and found myself trying to find ways to "legitimize" my interest in the book. I was going to write about how it stands apart from other fantasy novels due to its complex world and cast of hundreds (which it does), and discuss the fact that the storytelling is so strong it's being scripted for an HBO series (which it is), and ramble on about how the fantasy genre in general is a guilty pleasure. But screw that, I like the book and I'm glad to say it. I know there are a lot of trashy fantasy novels put out that are written in a few weeks, but the genre does have a lot to offer to the world of literature as well. And even if that's only in my own little delusions, the point is that it was a piece of literature I really enjoyed (and have started reading the next book in the series). So, if you're looking to get into the fantasy genre but don't want to be overloaded with sorcery and monsters, but do enjoy political intrigue, suspense, and a great cast of characters pick up all of the books of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, the first in the series being A Game of Thrones.

I was really excited to finish this book for two reasons. One: I was finishing a book and this always gets be geeked. For me, the last fourth of a book flies by because I'm so excited to see how everything wraps up. I generally tear into a book, reading the first fourth very quickly and then get distracted by games, DVDs, friends, or TV in the middle, and then tend to shut off all communication with the outside world while finishing the book. Two: I'm one step closer to catching up in this series. Yes, once again I am playing catch up. Just as I want to finish LOST and the Office to feel a part of their respective fan-based communities, I too want to finish up the remaining books in ASoIaF. I've only got one book left (three finished) before I'm all caught up and can sit in anticipation for the fifth installment to the series (supposedly coming out later this year). I feel like a kid again, waiting for the next Harry Potter book to come out. Freaking out when the title of the book is released, or the cover art, or if the author does an interview about it.

I guess there's another reason I'm excited to be finishing up this series. It means I get to start a new one (of maybe just find a great stand alone novel). I haven't gone book hunting in about a year, as I only read for pleasure during the summer and winter breaks. I wish I had enough time/drive to read just for fun at school, but I find studying, drinking, and sleeping seem to command most of my attention there. I figure I can finish this next installment of ASoIaF within a week or two, leaving half of the summer to find and read something new and exciting. I love book shopping. Grabbing a venti french soda with raspberry at my Barnes&Noble Starbucks and then spending the day looking for some great books is just a really relaxing thing for me. Of course, I then have to drive to Borders to buy the book I'm looking at, because their rewards program is about a million times better than the one at B&N. Gots to save that money. I wish Borders wasn't so loud and flashy. It all feels so new to me, whereas Barnes&Noble has an oldschool quality to it that I much prefer browsing in.

Oh, and don't think I forgot that So You Think You Can Dance? was on this week! The top nine couples (eighteen dancers) performed, doing everything from hip-hop, to salsa, to contemporary, and krump. This week's performances weren't as good as last week, but some definite favorites are starting to leap to the front of the pack.

A shout-out to my favorite couple of the week, Mark and Chelsie for their Argentinean Tango!

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And a pretty big BOO! to my least favorite routine, Comfort and Chris with their Krump. I like both of these dancers, but this week they were not turning it out for me.



So who was in the bottom three? Chelsea and Thayne (Jazz), Susie and Marquis (Salsa), and Comfort and Chris (Krump). I wasn't surprised, but I thought Jessica and Will or Matt and Kourtni also could have landed in the bottom spots.



After dancing their solos, we had to say goodbye to Susie (who looks like a rejected Pussycat Doll) and Marquis (which the audience was NOT happy about). I wasn't sure which guy was going to be sent home, and I have an inkling that Marquis was eliminated both because he hasn't stood out to the audience as a memorable personality, and because the judges wanted to wait until at least next week to eliminated dancers from different couples, creating a new couple in the process. Susie will not be missed (and now I won't have to listen to my mom complain about how she looks like a girl in a club instead of a dancer), and Marquis will be missed less than the other two, though he was a great dancer. This show really brings out the fire in my mom. She thought Marquis was safe for sure and started yelling when he was eliminated, "Chris isn't going home? C'mon! He didn't DO SHIT!"

I trust my mom's opinions on dance though. I mean, she wanted to take tap and jazz as a kid, and I think that counts for a lot (even if she never had a single lesson).

So You Think You Can Dance? We don't.

I watched a whole lotta TV today, so I'm not completely sure what to write about today. So much has happened in my [TV] life. Good friends have died (LOST), people I hate may steal my adolescent dream of starring on Broadway (MTV's Legally Blonde: Search for the Next Elle Woods!), simpletons have triumphed (Tila Tequila's Shot at Love 2), but most importantly: TWO DANCERS WERE SENT HOME ON FOX'S "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?".

Let me begin by saying I LOVE this show. Dance is one of my favorite types of performance (I'll bet you didn't know that I was the dance captain for my high school's production of Footloose: The Musical) and this show spotlights real dancers doing some really incredible things.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show: no worries. This season has just begun so you have plenty of time to become emotionally attached to the twenty (now eighteen) contestants before one is crowned America's Favorite Dancer. Which by the way, is one of the other reasons I love the show. Right there in the title, the producers concede that the winner is not America's Best Dancer, but their favorite. Granted, we trust the judges to hand pick the top twenty dancers from a pool of thousands, but after that it's in the hands of the untrained American eye.

Last night was the two hour performance premiere in which ten male/female partners dance everything from disco, to tango, to hip-hop, broadway, and contemporary. America (including yours truly) vote for their favorite couples and the bottom three must then dance for their lives the next night in front of the judges.

Let's go ahead and start with my favorite and least favorite dances of the week. A big shout out to Katee and Joshua for this hip-hop routine:



And a big BOO to my least favorite: Rayven and Jamie with their hip-hop routine:




If you've DVR'd this weeks episodes and are (for some unknown reason) still waiting to watch them, avoid the rest of this blog as it is spoiler-rific.

Cat Deeley (the eight foot tall British blonde bombshell hired to host the show) pysched us all out by bringing forward three couples and threatening to announce who would be in danger for elimination. After hearing rave reviews for each of the couples she reveals that they're ALL SAFE. You punk'd me alright Cat. I for sure thought at least ONE of them would be in the bottom three. Tricky temptress you.

Cat eventually reveals the bottom three couples: Kortni (who looks like Cameron Diaz)/Matt, Rayven/Jamie, and the surprise couple of Jessica/Will. The six dancers performed their mindblowingly short solos (they're supposed to convince the judges to keep them with fifteen seconds of dancing?), Cat brings in the Pussycat Dolls to keep the masses entertained while the judges confer "backstage" (where there are cameras) about who to send home (even though it's painfully obvious at this stage of the game).

The Pussycat Dolls grind on each other, shake their asses, and I'm pretty sure Nicole even sang a little bit. The performances on this show are always great because the groups have to dance a lot more than they normally would so it almost makes sense that they're performing on said program.


After the commercial break nobody was surprised to see Rayven and Jamie get the ax. The best part? Cat has the audacity of showing them a montage of "some of their greatest moments on the show", which consist of their one performance from the previous night and clips of them sitting in the cold waiting to audition. And at the end of each clip Cat says, "And those were only a few of your great moments!". Listen, nobody but these individual dancers and their respective family/friends care. They've been on the show for a week, and weren't as good as the rest of the cast, so I can't imagine too many were emotionally attached at this point. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for all of the dancers on the show, I'm just saying that the "long farewell" act seemed out of place and a little absurd.

At any rate, their five minutes of fame seem to be up. So here's one for me, and one for the departed homies. Peace.





OH. And why in the world would the producers have random popper/lockers on the show tonight instead of last year's champion Sabra? Mad love goes out for her (absence) tonight.