My Exclusive SYTYCDISM.COM Interview with SYTYCD’s Season 2 Top 8 Finalist, Allison Holker!
Along with my Q&A with Randi Evans-Strong today, I got a chance to speak with SYTYCD’s Season 2 Top 8 Finalist (and my personal favourite Season 2 girl) Allison Holker!
Allison is on her way to New Jersey today for a dance camp, but had a quick chat with me before getting on her flight!
Watch for Allison in tonight’s special 100th episode Ramalama Bang Bang performance!
In this exclusive Q&A with SYTYCDISM, Allison tells us what she’s been up to since Season 2 ended (including having a baby girl!), how she’s stayed in such tip-top shape, whether or not she would ever participate in a SYTYCD All-Star Season, being back on the SYTYCD stage for Ramalama Bang Bang, Trivallie, Twitter, and more!
Big thanks to pochaccopnai, KayJDance, Dusywingsnhalo, Sytycdismylife, & NatPack for submitting some of the questions asked of Alli!
Listen to the audio interview below:
Here’s the full transcription of the interview:
(Note: I’m going by my ‘Lindork’ alias for this, as you can see, lol)
Lindork: First off, what have you been up to since the show? It’s been 3 years!
It’s been a long time since the show but right after the show I did obviously High School Musical 2 and I did a couple of commercials, so just really random things in Utah, really random stuff. Then I did a production of the off-broadway show Revolution, which was a tap show, which was another weird thing that I did because I’m not really a tapper but you know you learn new things every day. What I mostly do though is I teach with different workshops and conventions, actually that’s what I’m leaving to go to right now I’m on my way to New Jersey [for a dance camp]. Also I recently had a little girl, she’s now a year old and her name is Weslie!
Lindork: How has being a mom affected your dancing or your dance career?
Actually yeah that is a hard topic, it is a little bit difficult I think in the dance world usually people don’t really have children you know but at the same time it’s just like any other working mom. Parents always have to go to jobs every day and do their business and make money and make a living and so that’s what I do and it gets a little hard sometimes to leave her for long periods of time but I had a really supportive family and a really supportive father and everyone is always behind me and actually pushing me to work more. I’m always like ‘Oh I shouldn’t take this, I’m gone for too long,’ but everyone’s like ‘No!’ So it’s just really awesome. I really only took like three months off, like my last month of being pregnant and than I took two months after having her but after that I was working again it’s been awesome and my body is back in shape.
Lindork: How have you kept so in shape after having the baby?
I actually I had a personal trainer and I have a nutritionist that I work with that I mean I always lie to, I hope she doesn’t hear this interview, she makes me write down in a log everything I eat everyday and I’ll eat like a burger but I’ll be like ‘Yo, it’s a turkey burger’ not from Burger King. But you know it’s obviously a good thing right I lost all my weight!
Lindork: You’re going to be on the 100th episode Ramalama performance is that right?
Yes I am. Oh my gosh, it’s a pre-taped thing, I don’t know if I’m not supposed to say that I don’t think it’s really a big deal but we pre-taped it a couple of weeks ago. I’m actually not going to be able to be in L.A. for the taping and the actual 100th show because I’ll be in New Jersey which I’m so sad about because everyone else is going to be there BUT me and it’s like Ah! Reunion! But yeah we pre-taped it and there’s actually, I don’t know if you’ve heard this but there’s a surprise. I’m not going to tell you what the surprise is but it is REALLY cool. I mean it’s the same number that everyone has seen from the past season but there’s a twist to it and it’s really cool oh my gosh it’s like my favorite thing I’ve ever done in my ENTIRE life! It might not be a big deal to everyone else but it is a big deal to us as dancers.
Lindork: What was it like being back on the So You Think You Can Dance stage?
It’s fun. It’s different. It brings back all those memories like everyone cheering in the audience, it’s really overwhelming you know? It was fun to be back up there. And also it brought back all those nerves. I went up to the dancers on this season and I was like ‘Oh good luck to you guys!’ because it brings back all those… there’s always nerves and whatever and I made sure to tell them they are doing a really good job.
Lindork: What do you miss the most from Season 2 and being on the show?
What I miss most is probably the family that we had. I mean a lot of us are still really close but like every single day we were together like we all were so supportive of each other and just helping each other and it was really cool to have that little family you know, it was competitive but not really. Everyone just wanted the best for each other. And then working with all the choreographers.
Lindork: Do you still keep in touch with Trivallie? Travis, Ivan, Natalie?
Yeah, definitely. Me and Travis and Ivan talk all the time. Natalie, we’ve stayed in contact for like a year, a year and a half but then she moved to Greece and obviously it’s a little harder to talk to her if she’s overseas. But like we haven’t stayed quite as much in contact as I’d like but we still check in with each other every once in awhile. I’m so mad I’m not going to see her tonight. The 100th show is tonight right? I’m so sad I’m not going to see her. I actually just saw Musa Cooper in New York the other day which was really random but it was really cool.
Lindork: If there was a SYTYCD All-Star Season and they asked you to compete, do you think you would do it?
If they asked lots of people back? Oh heck yeah! I would be back in a flash. That would be no question. I mean we’ve all been hoping that they do some kind of Vegas show or something to bring all the dancers back together so at one point it was an idea there like oh maybe we should get a show together and we were like ‘We’ll all do it!’ and we’ve never heard back. That was like three years ago. You never know.
Lindork: I know you’ve taught in Canada, do you think you’ll be coming up to teach in Canada again anytime soon?
Oh yeah! I’m actually going to be teaching a convention called Drop Dance Intensive I think, and I go to Canada starting in October I go to… I don’t really know if I’m saying it right but it’s like Sa-skatch-ee-wan or something! (Saskatchewan) I just like that word. I don’t even remember what the other cities are that’s the only one I remember because it was so weird but I’ll be coming to Canada starting in October and I think I come to Canada like three or four times. I’ll definitely have to keep you guys posted on what cities and the dates.
Lindork: Last question, do you have a Twitter account? Do you tweet?
Did you just say Twitter oh my gosh, I mean I’m not knocking anyone that does it but no I don’t have a Twitter. You know what I say I don’t have one now but probably here in a couple months, it’s like a fad so I’ll probably end up having one but as of right now I don’t.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to SYTYCDISM, Alli!
Can’t wait to see you in the Ramalama performance tonight!
Add comment July 23, 2009
My Exclusive SYTYCDISM.COM Interview with SYTYCD’s Season 5 Top 10 Finalist, Randi Evans-Strong!
Today I spoke with this season’s Randi Evans-Strong, one-week post-elimination from the show!
In this exclusive Q&A with SYTYCDISM, Randi tells us what she’s been doing the past week not being on the show, how it feels to have fans, the 2009 SYTYCD Live Tour, what advice she’d give dancers vying for a spot on the show, and more!
Unfortunately I’m not including an audio/video of the interview because of time constraints, but here’s the full transcription of the interview:
(Note: I’m going by my ‘Lindork’ alias for this, as you can see, lol)
Lindork: Today is exactly one week since you were eliminated from the show, can you tell me what the past week has been like? Is it weird not spending every hour practicing a routine?
It definitely is a very nice break for my body! Right after I got eliminated the next day I actually flew to Miami to spend some time with my husband which was awesome and I just finally got back to Utah yesterday so I’ve been relaxing a lot it feels amazing.
Lindork: What are you doing in Utah right now?
I’m just kind of hanging out with my family. I will be at the SYTYCD Season 6 auditions tomorrow at Salt Lake, I’m just going to go out there and kind of see what’s going on.
Lindork: Now I know you’ve actually auditioned for the show more than once, is that right? What made you keep coming back and not getting discouraged?
This is my third time auditioning. I just knew that I had what it took to be on the show. It was just something that I wanted so wanting something like that keeps you going.
Lindork: Are you excited for tour?
Oh my gosh, I cannot wait for tour. We start rehearsal in like a month or so. I cannot wait!
Lindork: Do you know whose going to be your bunkmate on the tour bus?
No I have no idea I really don’t know any details or anything.
Lindork: Which routines do you really want to do on tour?
I’m really hoping I can do the Halo Hip Hop number, that was a lot of fun. And I would like the chance to do Mia’s butt dance again I really liked that one.
Lindork: How did your husband handle you being on the show?
He was just beyond supportive. He was happy for me because he knew how badly I wanted it but as far as dances centered around my butt, he knew that it didn’t mean anything so he was cool with it.
Lindork: What does it feel like to have fans?
Oh my gosh it’s so crazy! It’s really weird like people come up to you and they’re like ‘Are you Randi from So You Think You Can Dance?’ you know. I still feel like myself so it’s really weird when people want to come talk to me or take a picture with me but it’s very cool and I’m very flattered.
Lindork: What advice would you give dancers wanting to make it on the show? What should they be prepared for?
Oh they should be prepared for anything really. During the whole audition process and Vegas Week you think you know what’s coming your way but you really don’t, you never know. Just stay positive and have a good time. If you’re not having a good time than why are you doing it?
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to SYTYCDISM, Randi!!
Goodluck and have fun on tour!!
Add comment July 23, 2009
My Exclusive SYTYCDISM.COM Interview with SYTYCD’s Broadway Choreographer Joey Dowling!
Today I got a chance to interview SYTYCD’s newest Broadway choreographer, Joey Dowling!
Joey is the choreographer behind this season’s Randi & Evan – Top 14 Broadway as well as Kupono & Kayla’s – Top 12 Broadway!
In this exclusive Q&A with SYTYCDISM, Joey tells us her own dance background, what it was like to choreograph for the show, her connection with S2’s Allison Holker and this season’s Randi Evans-Strong, which dancer remaining she thinks is the stand-out star of Season 5, whether or not she’ll be coming back to choreograph for Season 6, if she tweets, and more!
Listen to the audio interview below:
Here’s the full transcription of the interview:
(Note: I’m going by my ‘Lindork’ alias for this, as you can see, lol)
Lindork: Now before you actually choreographed for the show, did you watch it all? Were you a fan of So You Think You Can Dance?
Yeah I actually am a fan of So You Think You Can Dance. I think it’s a great avenue in which kind of reality TV can kind of support and also showcase all of this amazing talent that all these kids across the country have in a television setting. Usually I’m not a big fan of reality TV but when SYTYCD first came on the air I thought Wow what an awesome venue that they can really kind of… you know reality TV is reality TV but in a really variety show type of way, where the reality part of it doesn’t take over the talent part of it and really watching these young dancers grow and learn and showcase what they’re really good at and also showcase what they have to try and get to be good at.
Lindork: So when you were contacted to choreograph, what was your reaction?
I’ve actually wanted to choreograph on the show for a couple of years now. I was still kind of dancing and doing shows here and there, commercials, television, film and dancing and things but I’ve also had a huge love for choreography since I was 15 years old. My mom has a studio and it’s actually in Orem, Utah called The Dance Club and Allison Holker has trained at my mother’s studio. I left to move to New York and then this past year Randi was actually from my mom’s studio like eight years ago so some of those faces I recognize but when I got asked to choreograph the show I was floored! I was floored. It was a great opportunity for me to showcase my choreography and I love choreographing on teenagers because I’ve been doing it my whole life doing it at conventions and going to studios and choreographing on teenage kids. So I was stoked, and I hope I get to do more and they’ve asked me about my availability in the future and it ended up being a fantastic experience the two episodes that I did.
Lindork: Were you nervous (about choreographing for the show)?
Was I nervous?? Oh my gosh, I spent three weeks on a minute and a half duet. I was lucky enough to have a lot of… I had about two and a half week’s notice before I had to go and choreograph on the show and so I really took my time and really wanted to do a song that was really true to my heart and a style that I absolutely love and I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades. In my career I’ve been lucky enough to have opportunities to tour with Mariah Carey so I got to do a lot of hip hop and do music videos and I was also in broadway shows where I got to really learn true musical theatre style. I got to do company work where I got to do a lot of classical work. I was a Rockette so I learned that kind of style and it helped me and has helped me in doing choreography to really push the box and try and incorporate other styles within musical theatre. Because I think there’s a lot of room for interpretation so I chose the song because I just love the music and I think it’s amazing music and also a lot of inspirations in my life and Bob Fosse was one of them so I decided to choose that song and I was lucky enough to get two dancers that really did it quite well. But yeah I was nervous, I think I’m very intense and I’m very specific and I like working very hard and very focused in a room and I think it was kind of funny because I had a lot of people go ‘Yup that is exactly how you are!’ you didn’t try to be the little ‘Oh nice Joey, don’t scare anybody off! Don’t intimidate anybody!’ It was like ‘Okay let’s get to work!’
Lindork: How long did you have to work with the couple, to show them the routine?
Mary Murphy is right you really honestly only have about five and a half hours. You have about an hour and a half the first day and that’s when the cameras are on and you really only have about five and a half hours. They get on stage for about an hour and they have a dress thru (?) which is about an hour and then they do the show. So when they say really only have five and a half hours they’re not kidding it’s pretty amazing that the numbers end up looking as good as they do after only working with those kids for five and a half hours.
Lindork: Just this past week, Randi and Kupono who you worked with, were eliminated, I’m just wondering what you thought of the elimination and what you think of them as dancers?
A lot of times the show is a little bit like a gambling game and when you get dealt a card when everyone else’s card is stronger than yours, that’s just the way the game goes. I thought they should have gotten kicked off that week I thought they were the weakest couple and America obviously agreed. It kind of sucks that there’s certain things on the show that the kids are not in control of and when they end up getting judged on those variables then that’s kind of difficult, you know a costume or a style of dance or whatever, it’s kind of 50/50. If you end up having to do solos the entire time, then you would put 150% into yourself but it kind of a little bit towards the beginning of the game a duet competition so it’s 50/50 so if your partner’s not strong enough and he kind of gets ripped apart that reflects upon you as well. I thought it was fair, I thought it was fair that Kupono and Randi ended up going.
Lindork: Which dancer would you say is the stand out one right now?
I’d have to say that I really truly think that Melissa has been a little bit of a dark horse. I’m usually very wary of ballerinas, I think they’re usually very stiff and they’re ability to new styles is usually very, very hard. As far as really getting styles, having a really technical base is always going to save everybody. As far as somebody who is a major hip hopper, the minute they have to do something technical it just shows like a sore thumb, there’s no hiding it. But I have to say that Melissa has really kind of blown me away. She did the hip hop group number, she was awesome. I think she’s going to possibly be in the Top 2. I really do. I think Ade is great. I think Brandon is fantastic. I think they have a lot of talented people on the show right now. All of them are technical dancers and all of them have adapted to other styles so well that it’s just kind of a guessing game. It just ends up being what card they get dealt, what style they get dealt, I just think it’s kind of a gambling game a little bit to me which is also really fun because you get to see how the cards are dealt and what they do with those cards.
Lindork: Now you said they were asking you your availability so do you think you will be choreographing again for Season 6?
Probably for Season 6 but I don’t want to guarantee that. They have asked me about my availability like I said, I don’t really know about Season 5 because when there ends up getting to be less dancers they kind of have set schedules and I was lucky enough to jump into the mix this year and very humbly and very excited about that. I hope I end up doing some stuff in Season 6 and that’s kind of all I know right now. So hopefully.
Lindork: Do you have a Twitter account? Do you tweet at all?
My sister and I have a clothing line called JO AND JAX and we have a Twitter account that is called http://twitter.com/joandjax. I also have a Facebook account that I’ve gotten a lot of activity on since [being on the show]. It’s awesome I ended up getting a lot of support, people I don’t even know are like ‘I loved that! That was awesome! I want to have a fight on stage!’ It’s pretty great.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to SYTYCDISM, Joey!
Looking forward to seeing your routines in the coming Season!
Click here to see the post on SYTYCDISM.COM!
Linda (:
Add comment July 22, 2009
Andrew’s pretty unbeatable surprise!
July 21 2009.
This is Andrew & I on iChat several months ago!
Anyway, so I had a lot of errands to do today and I ended up running late, so I told Andrew I’d be home and online by 3:00pm instead of 2:00pm, to which he replied, ‘You’ll regret that!’ (i didn’t really understand why I would regret it). Anyway, when I got home and got on, Andrew says “Hold on let me prepare” so I am getting ready to be blown away by an overly adorable inside-joke-riddled original birthday serenade, when the iChat video screen pops up and it shows Andrew in one window and then an empty room in another window. I say “Um, why is there two screens?” And Andrew says his friend wants to watch as he sings to me. In my head I am thinking that’s the weirdest thing ever. BUT THEN…
LADY GAGA STARTS PLAYING AND MARK JUMPS OUT!!!!!!!!
Surprise!!!!!!
If you don’t know, Mark Kanemura was my favourite dancer on So You Think You Can Dance last season. I also have a fansite of him: MK-O, which has a very active forum filled with awesome people who also loved and still love Mark!
Anyway, Andrew had concocted this entire lie about how he was going to write and sing me a birthday song when actually he had been plotting a big surprise video interview / chat with Mark! He called me a bad journalist for not having questions prepared spontaneously. RUDE. Lol but just kidding, not really rude. Basically Andrew is the best and along with Mark has given me thus far the most thoughtful birthday gift to date. (My birthday is on Sunday, by the way 
) SO SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3
Here's the three-part giggly, fun-filled fest:
Andrew forgot to include his own audio when he was recording so unfortunately you can't hear anything he says!)
I swear I am more professional as an actual journalist than this but come on, I love the guy and the whole thing was hilarious. I’d much rather have this rocking-back laughter video with Mark than a serious one. Well actually I don’t think I could even do a serious on with him, hahaha. Too funny. <3
In terms of looking at this as an actual interview and what information was gathered, I would say a lot that would be of interest to the Mark / So You Think You Can Dance community! We learn about Mark's original audition, his living in L.A. as a dancer, opinion on SYTYCD judges , thoughts about Kupono's departure and which remaining dancers he likes, and more!
Fun times. Great surprise. Awesome day! Thank you Andrew & Mark!
Linda (:
2 comments July 22, 2009
This is what I’ll link people to when they ask me what I thought of Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince.
July 15 2009.
Disclaimer: I am a major fan of the Harry Potter books!!
So I went to the midnight Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince show last night (well, very early this morning technically, lol), and since then have been asked by a few people what I thought about it, and whether or not I liked it. I found that I couldn’t fully answer their question in just one sentence or one simple ‘yes or no’ or ‘I LOVED it’ or ‘I HATED it’ response, so I decided I would jot down my thoughts in the form of this blog post and direct people to it the next time they ask! Hehe.
Basically this is what I have been telling people:
The good:
- I loved Draco Malfoy scenes and thought Tom Felton did an excellent job. I thought the way Draco’s plan with the Vanishing Cabinet scenes progressed was great and well-done.
- I loved little Tom Riddle and teenage Tom Riddle scenes and thought those two actors did an excellent job. In fact all the pensieve scenes were top-notch.
- I loved Fred and George and liked the scene with their joke shop. I wish they had gotten more screen time/lines in this movie!
- I love Ron!!! Adorable. And his arms are quite nice in this movie as well. Lol.
- Staying on the superficial theme for one more bullet point, I think the actor who played Cormac McClaggen was totally cute too.
- I loved when Harry was on the Felix Felicis (Liquid Luck). Hilarious.
- Luna Lovegood was the best part of the last movie to me, and she carries on being awesome in this movie. I love her and I love the actress who plays her. Fantastically quirky and great delivery of lines. Plus she’s totally cute and when the lion was on her head I was LOL-ing.
- Dumbledore’s fire magic scene in the cave was awesome. Loved it.
- Ron and Hermione holding hands in the hospital bed. Super cute.
- There were actually quite a bit of laugh-out-loud scenes, so that was good.
The bad:
- Ginny Weasley.
- The actress who plays Ginny Weasley.
- Ginny and Harry’s super awkward “romance” scenes, both the body language and the dialogue and the delivery of the dialogue such as:
- Ginny saying Harry’s shoe is untied so she leans down to tie it for him. WTF?
- Ginny feeding food to Harry, and saying ‘Don’t you trust me?’ WTF?
- Ginny kissing Harry, then saying they can keep that kiss up there if he wants. WTF?
- Harry’s overall awkwardness as well.
- Hermione’s freakout with the poor birds.
- Ron staring at Lavender and somehow that is causing it to snow. Huh?
- Most of the acting, but I’ve never thought the acting in any of the Harry Potter films was too terrific.
- And the fact that they MADE UP a scene that was completely irrelevant and had no purpose and could have included an extra actual scene from the book instead of the pointless one that they did include.
Basically, I thought that the movie did a good job of telling the essential plot (the Horcruxes/getting the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, Dumbledore’s death, etc), but the cringe-worthiness of the extremely awkward relationship/romance scenes totally killed the movie for me. To me, Harry Potter films have never been movie brilliance and the acting has never been incredible. If I was watching the movies without any knowledge of the books, I would probably think the movies are terrible. Since I do read the books and love the books, I’ve always been super excited about watching the movies regardless of their suckery, same goes for this most recent one. It’s really exciting seeing books you’ve read translated onto the big screen.
I know that the movie got pretty good reviews though, and some people have been telling me they think it’s the best Harry Potter film to date. I don’t know if I’m just taking the awkwardness between Harry and Ginny more seriously than everyone else, but it really was just really awkward to watch and it’s the first thing I think of when I think about the movie now.
Still, it was the first midnight show I’ve ever attended and it was super dorky exciting to see people dressed up and carrying wands or robes or with lightning bolts drawn on their foreheads and the audience in the theatre I was in, all clapped and cheered when the movie began which is yes, super dorky, but I loved it! Despite some random and poorly-performed scenes/dialogue, it was still entertaining to watch and held my attention into the wee hours of early morning. Just, seriously… Ginny needs to go. I mean, not going to happen clearly (sigh), but oh my gosh she is so awkward. And I think if the movie avoided its romantic relationship focus, it would have been that much better. I also am quite sure they didn’t include a ton of great stuff that was from the book but it’s honestly been so long since I’ve read HBP that I can’t complain about that because I don’t remember what was left out really, lol. /slightHPfanfail.
And honestly, despite any disappointments I have for this film, I’m still sooooooo excited to see the remaining two!!! (Because the final book is being split into two separate movies let’s remember).
Also, I love the twinkly Harry Potter music in the opening. Always gets me so excited.
So, what did you think of the movie? 
Linda (:
1 comment July 15, 2009
Lindork’s So You Think You Can Dance Recap – Top 16/14/12 Performance & Results Thoughts
July 11 2009.
Okay so basically I fail at my recaps given that I missed recaps for the past two weeks. My bad. I swear I’ll do a better job for Season 6.. lol. Anyway this recap is going to go in a weird sequential order because I want to touch on things from the recap/thought blog weeks that I missed!
So here’s a jumbled Top 16/Top 14/Top 12 post:
Jonathan Platero, Asuka Kondoh, Karla Garcia, and Vitolio Jeune are eliminated Top 16 and Top 14 week. I would have traded Caitlin for Karla to stay an extra week but I’m not really upset at all over these eliminations and I think these four (well, excluding Karla because again, I’d prefer if she had stuck around for at least Top 12 week), were definitely at the bottom of the stack when compared to the other dancers. It was definitely their time to leave and their routines won’t really sorely be missed on tour. In fact I really couldn’t name or describe any of the routines that these four were involved in, besides Jon & Karla’s Stacey Tookey (woot woot, Edmontonian!) contemporary.
Sidenote: Did you know Jonathan and Karla are dating now in real life? WEIRD.
And so it was. Lol.
Phillip’s departure from the show this week (Top 12 week) was a sad one but he was up against the seemingly-unstoppable Ade (who had by far the best solo of the night, and one that was done to the same song that Travis Wall has done solos to), and the ever-adorable Jason. Nigel and Co. were super smart and timely with this elimination however, because they were able to ensure that Phillip gets to be a tour alternate, thus still ensuring the thousands and thousands of fans who will be sure to buy their tour ticket in order to get a chance to see/meet Phillip once tour kicks off which equals cha-ching $$$$ for Nigel and the producers.
What do you get when you combine Mia Michaels with Kuponohi’ipoi (YES I LIKE TO WRITE HIS/SAY HIS FULL NAME BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME!) Aweau & Kayla Radomski? The stand-out, memorable routine of the season, where once Season 5 is over and you think back to it, this routine is the one that pops out (or well, one of the ones that pop out, as I expect more memorable brilliance is yet to come). This “addiction” piece is intense, mesmerizing, beautiful and so sad. Kaypono perform the hell out of it and the choreography is fantastic. Everything about it is perfection and I am still blown away by how eerie Kupono’s smirk is throughout the routine, especially at the part where Kayla is fighting to get out of his grasp near the end. I thought Nigel’s critique about Kayla’s hair was ridiculous. I saw her face just fine thanks. And Kupono in the rehearsal clip, voice wavering + tearing up over his friend & family’s experience with addiction was heartbreaking. Let’s everyone re-watch the routine again now:
The other stand-out performances from this week is obviously Brandette’s Argentine Tango and Wade Robson Jazz. Wade is so amazing. He is a dance choreographing genius and he looked fantastic this week. Seriously. So pretty.
Other things to note from this week:
Looks like there’s not going to be a SYTYCD Michael Jackson Tribute which is REALLY sad news. Do you know how kickawesome an MJ dance tribute would have been? Seriously. (P.S. if you’re confused about the picture choice that accompanies this MJ paragraph, that is a shot of the Season 4 dancers on tour last year during their Halloween “Thriller” finale dance special). Anyway, I’m hoping that because Nigel expressed his disappointment and sadness nationawide, whoever is in charge of music rights (Sony or something?), feels bad and decides to let SYTYCD do a tribute after all, because really, that would be such an insane show..
I didn’t really like Tyce’s Top 14 group routine. Which is unfortunate because it kind of ruined the streak of group routines that I all really enjoyed. And also…
AND I WOULDN’T MIND IF SHE WON. I WOULDN’T MIND AT ALL.
Now let’s watch this:
Frick. <3
Kupono's still my favourite guy/overall though.
In fact, here is my ranking for the remaining dancers:
LOVE
1. Kupono
2. Jeanine
3. Jason
Like
4. Kayla
5. Evan
6. Ade
7. Brandon
8. Janette
9. Randi
Meh
10. Melissa
Overall, a very strong Top 10.
Okay anyway, for Top 12 week, the bottom 3 guys and bottom 3 girls were:
- Jason Glover
- Phillip Chbeeb – eliminated (but will be on tour)
- Ade Obayomi
- Caitlin Kinney – eliminated (but will be on tour)
- Jeanine Mason
- Melissa Sandvig
Caitlin’s elimination was right (and should have happened sooner in my opinion). I wrote my thoughts about Phillip’s elimination above. As strong as Melissa’s performances with Ade have been the past few weeks, as of now she is my least favourite girl and I’d like her to leave as soon as possible but I highly doubt that will happen, especially given that the judges are in love with her.
I also enjoyed NappyTab’s group routine this week:
ALSO, major awesome news…
And please be sure to watch this video of Kupono’s “Signature Move”, hehehehe:
And if it says not available in your country, because America hates Canada, click here!
Anyway, here are my little picture elims for the last three weeks:
Dancers remaining:
Comments are very welcome!
Linda (:
7 comments July 11, 2009
[June 8th - 12th 2009] Final week of internship at the Edmonton Journal
… or technically my fifth week, if you add onto the three weeks I did during the Winter Break. (:
Articles I wrote for the week of June 8th – 12th:
- Partiers liable for hefty fines, June 9 09, A1
- Rec centre a boost to McCauley, June 11 09, B2
- Huggable Hero walks and talks the road to a cure, June 13 09, A17
- If mothers use drugs, open dialogue helps keep teens clean, June 13 09. A14
- Owen Schlosser’s death spurs friends, family to live better lives, June 18 09. B3
So I found that the stories I did for the week of June 8th-12th inspired/affected me in different ways.
The story I did about the city recognizing volunteer drivers made me want to volunteer my time more. The story I did about Sylvan Lake’s partiers, made me want to go to Sylvan Lake sometime this summer (and party responsibly, or else be fined, ha ha). The story I did about the new recreation centre encouraged me to stay fit and active. The story I did about the drug research reminded me that, hey I probably shouldn’t do drugs and I’m also glad my mom doesn’t too.. The story I did about the Huggable Hero, Connor Hibbard, reminded me that KIDS CAN BE AMAZING AND INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS!!!! And the story I did about Owen Schlosser made me realize life is short, and you really don’t know what’s going to happen so you really SHOULD live every day to your fullest. Be happy, be healthy, and love your friends and family.
I’m really glad I got an opportunity, especially, to do the story about Owen Schlosser and his family. It was a first experience for me, speaking to a family where a family member has just died. I felt that it was a really important story and I feel honoured really, to have met and spoken to Owen’s friends, brothers, and sisters, and I spent a lot of time making sure the article was just right before filing it.
I received kind and encouraging words from the assistant editor and the breaking news editor, who were both my supervisors for the duration of my internship. We also discussed how probably the splitting-up of the five week internship from winter break and post-semester, probably wasn’t the best idea. I was kind of the guinea pig in terms of that little split-internship experiment. I suggested that in the future, definitely offer the three weeks to a student because that is great experience for sure, but have it be separate from the five weeks at the end of the semester, because I found that my last two weeks literally just flew by. I was there and then it was over. While the three weeks during winter, I had been improving and progressing and momentum was being had, until the winter break ended and it was back to school and the momentum was lost.
All in all, it was a great internship, both this leg of it, and the prior winter break portion, and just overall. I learned a lot. I made a lot of contacts and reporter friends and acquaintances. I feel I became a better writer, and more professional. And I got some great clips to add to my portfolio and overall experience. If I didn’t have summer plans, I would have asked if I could stay longer, honestly.
Now I need to work on .pdf-ing my articles (both from this end of the internship and the winter break end), because I just checked the links from the winter break portion of my internship and all the links don’t work anymore!
Linda (:
Add comment June 21, 2009
Lindork’s So You Think You Can Dance Recap – Top 18 Performance & Results Thoughts
June 21 2009.
Okay so this is how I ranked the performances from Wednesday night:
1. Max and Kayla – Brian Friedman – Pop Jazz
2. Jonathan and Karla – Stacey Tookey – Contemporary
3. Brandon and Janette – Doriana Sanchez – Disco
4. Kupono and Ashley – Shane Sparks – Hip Hop
5. Ade and Melissa – Sonya Tayeh – Jazz
6. Jason and Caitlin – Shane Sparks – Hip Hop
7. Evan and Randi – Louis Amstel – Jive
8. Asuka and Vitolio – Louis Amstel – Waltz
9. Phillip and Jeanine – Tango
So let’s talk about…
The Under-Rated Hip Hop Performances:
Shane Sparks is back as couples choreographer this season and he choreos not one, but two routines this week! Both Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover + Kupono Aweau and Ashley Valerio get Shane hip hop for Top 18 week, both coming off of very well-done, well-received performances from the week prior. Unfortunately both these routines are not to the judge’s liking. Personally I enjoyed both of these hip hop routines (Ashono’s more so than Caitson’s) and I think the judges weren’t fair in their critique. I felt both the males performed way better than the judge’s comments made it seem and I find it funny that while they state their very lukewarm comments for the performances and routines themselves, they all the while rave about how fantastic Shane is and how excited they are that he’s back. I doubt their compliments about Shane’s choreography and talent made him feel any better about the fact that the judges seemed to throw this hip hop foursome under a bus. Either way, I thought both hip hops were underrated and the dancers deserve some more credit for their performances.
To be fair, though, pretty much all of the routines from Top 18 week were only politely received and well, mediocre at best. Ones that stand out in my mind are Max & Kayla’s Pop Jazz choreographed by Brian Friedman (who also returns as choreographer this season! Exciting!! BFREE is fantastic), Jonathan & Karla’s Contemporary choreographed by Stacey Tookey from Canada! (And not just Canada, but she’s from Edmonton, Alberta! My hometown. She seriously gives me hope that Edmontonians can break into the SYTYCD America world! Of course, I’m no choreographer but I’m sure there’s a job for me in that industry somewhere… ha ha!). Brandon & Janette’s fun fun fun Disco choreographed by Doriana Sanchez, the Disco choreographing queen. Such a fun routine, despite Janette’s minor slipups, it was thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
This week’s pre-performance ‘get-to-know-the-dancers’ clip centered around something America doesn’t know about the dancer including secrets such as Kupono’s OCD (things cannot be diagonal! Too precious), Jeanine’s teddy bear boyfriend, Brandon never having worked out in his entire life, yet having the body that he has (this literally made me drop my jaw, I didn’t believe it!), Evan loves cars and building cars, Randi talks to her dog/treats it like a person, and more. Definitely a really likeable Top 18!
Overall though, I thought this week’s performances across the board were not as up to par as last week’s. I am pleased that Brian Friedman and Shane Sparks are back to choreograph, however, and I also hope that they bring back Stacey Tookey to choreograph more as well!
Now here are some things I noted for Thursday’s results show:
Bottom 3 guys and bottom 3 girls:
- Caitlin Kinney
- Jason Glover
- Kupono Aweau
- Ashley Valerio
- Kayla Radomski
- Max Kapitannikov.
This was an absolutely stressful bottom six, particularly in the case of the guys for me. (The guys are always more important to me, it is apparent, ha ha). Anyway the fact that Jason and Kupono were both in the bottom stressed me out to no end as they are my two favourite guys of the season. I was praying, praying, that the third guy would be either Jonathan or Max, who I felt could both be eliminated way before Jason & Kupono. Granted, Max has done a really brilliant job the past two weeks. It was a surprise that him and Kayla were both in the bottom this week but I took that as my answer from the SYTYCD Heavens, that they would sacrifice Max to keep Pono.
It was bittersweet really. I think it’s completely unfair that there are SO many likeable (and talented) guys in this season’s group. I can only see the remaining results shows becoming increasingly difficult and stressful to watch. I’m really glad the judges decided to give Pono another chance and I hope he lives on that stage for Top 16 week and really show everyone that the judges’ decision to keep him was not in vain. In terms of girl eliminations, I am really sad that Ashley was eliminated. It was NOT her time at ALL. She was becoming one of my favourite girls and is so, so talented. If it had been up to me, I would have chosen Caitlin to leave before Ashley or Kayla.
In terms of solos, again like the performance show this past week I thought that the solos were all only okay really. Jason’s solo stood out the most for me so it was completely understood when the judges spared him first. Also, Jason chose to dance to Robin Thicke’s Superman, so he gets extra points for doing a Travis Wall-danced song: NYCDA Pittsburgh Solo!
The other thing to note was that given Nigel’s prophetic blessing to Kayla that she was headed straight for the top, I knew there was no way in hell she was going to be eliminated.
Also, the Mia Michaels Top 18 Group Routine to “Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder was, much like last week’s group routine, SO GOOD!!!!!!! Re-watch it here:
Ade, Jason, and Pono dead front & centre were all brilliant, thank you Mia for that positioning.
Ryan Kasprzak’s S6 audition was also given considerable airtime during this week’s show. He better make Season 6!
So in the end, Max Kapitannikov and Ashley Valerio are eliminated quite bittersweetly for Top 18 week.
Dancers remaining:
Comments are very welcome!
Linda (:
2 comments June 21, 2009
Lindork’s So You Think You Can Dance Recap – Top 20 Performance & Results Show Thoughts
June 12 2009.
Okay so this is how I ranked the performances from Wednesday night:
1. Phillip and Jeanine – Hip Hop
2. Ade and Melissa – Contemporary
3. Kupono and Ashley – Jazz
4. Jason and Caitlin – Bollywood
5. Randi and Evan – Jazz
6. Max and Kayla – Samba
7. Karla and Jonathan – Cha Cha
8. Paris and Tony – Hip Hop
9. Brandon and Jeanette – Foxtrot
10. Asuka and Vitolio – Broadway
Now for some of my thoughts and reasonings behind the rankings and the performance show itself!
What is in this post:
- Thoughts about each routine from Top 20 Performance Show.
- Notes about Top 20 Results Show.
- Who was eliminated and thoughts.
Let’s start with the routines that I enjoyed:
The first performance of the night (and my favourite of the night) was done by Philip Chbeeb and Jeanine Mason with a NappyTabs lyrical Hip hop to “Mad” by Neyo. I loved this routine! I thought they both performed it fantastically but Phillip moreso, obviously because it is closest to his style. I also thought Phillip REALLY performed it well like NappyTabs like their routines to have a story and to have emotion and I felt Phillip really got into character and really put his emotion into the dance. You could feel it in his movements as well as see it resonate through his facial expressions (see photo).
Other things to note: I felt that Jeanine’s outfit was way too similiar to Chelsie’s from Mark & Chelsie’s Bleeding Love NappyTabs Lyrical Hip Hop last season. Also, I think Jeanine could very well climb up in the list of girls that I like! (But again, none of the girls this season will ever climb past any of the guys I like, lol).
My second favourite of the night was Ade Obayomi and Melissa Sandvig’s Contemporary piece to “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx, choreographed by Mandy Moore. I thought this was a beauuuutiful piece. I loved the beginning with the very gentle wind — subtle but effective start! There were some great lifts, movements, and I don’t know what it was but I just thoroughly enjoyed watching this.
Other things to note: I was shocked actually that I enjoyed this so much because I didn’t care too much for both Ade and Melissa pre-Top 20 performance. (Well, I still don’t care for them that much but the routine was really well done). I also didn’t like that Ade had a pick in his hair for the entire rehearsal / pre-performance package and also you could totally tell Melissa is old.
Coming in at #3 (though I’ve re-watched this so many times now that it could easily get the first or second place spot now), is Kupono Aweau and Ashley Valerio’s Jazz routine choreographed by the dance God himself, Wade Robson! My first opinion about this routine was that it was incredible BUT I was so distracted and thrown off by the costuming and white make-up that I couldn’t fully enjoy it first time around. Having said that, I still thought that the performances by both Kupono and Ashley were flawless. The execution was fantastic. They were so clean, they had great lines, great technique, and how in-character they both got (but especially Kupono), made everything ten times better. Taking all of that into account and then re-watching the routine and not letting the makeup and costuming throw me off, I appreciated the routine that much more. Wade truly is a genius and I seriously cannot imagine what goes on in his mind. His wife is also a genius.
Other things to note: I had been praying that Kupono would get Wade ever since I heard Wade would be choreographing a piece for this week’s show and I literally squealed when they revealed Kupono got Wade. I had been jotting down notes throughout the show and this was what I had written when I saw Kupono got Wade: “WADE ROBSON YAYYYYYYYYY JAZZ OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
I LOVE WADE.” Lol. In my eyes, getting Wade is like being ~blessed~ I’m waiting for a Pharoh-Egyptian-like routine from Wade specifically for Kupono in mind. I feel it will happen. Cross your fingers! Also, the cross dummy dog was adorable. Mark was sitting behind Wade in the audience looking fabulous. Oh and I had also written in my notes “I don’t know anything about Ashley but I hope she doesn’t suck because Pono needs a good partner.” Lol. She didn’t suck. So all is well. ♥
My fourth favourite routine of the night was Jason Glover and Caitlin Kinney’s Bollywood routine by Nakul Dev Mahajan to “Jai Ho” from the Slumdog Millionare Soundtrack. I LOVED this routine. I think in terms of Bollywood, you are always going to get an entertaining, upbeat, energetic and exciting routine (or at least that’s what you should get and what the performers should be giving you) and in this case I think Jason and Caitlin delivered. But especially Jason. (Haha are you seeing this trend where I am flattering the guys more than the girls?) Anyway, I think this was a fabulous routine and I think the number one reason why it ranks high is that, simply put, it entertained me.
Other things to note: I really want to take like a Bollywood dance lesson. I also really love Bollywood costumes. I also downloaded the Pussycat Dolls version of Jai Ho the night of the performance and have had it repeating on my iTunes for some time now. Jason Glover is also adorable!
Now this Jazz routine with Evan Kasprzak and Randi Strong-Evans, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio to “I only have eyes for you” by Jamie Cullum, was originally #2 on my rankings. I thought it was sooooo good. I mean I still think it’s so good but comparably, it has to drop a little bit. Again with the emotion and the connection, I really felt it in this routine. I thought this Tyce piece was a lot better than his broadway, and I just really thought Evan and Randi performed this beautifully. There were some great moves throughout the piece that made me perk up. Really beautiful performance.
Other things to note: I laughed outloud at Evan’s comment about how he didn’t know big Randi’s husband was! Also, Randi being a contestant with a husband made me think she’s like the Kris Allen of So You Think You Can Dance. Of course, she isn’t REALLY because that means she’d be winning this season and we all know that’s not going to happen. (No offense to Randi, she’s proven quite good but I seriously don’t think a girl is winning this season).
The sixth routine that I thoroughly enjoyed was Max Kapitannikov and Kayla Radomski’s Samba to “Jum Bah Day” by House of Gypsies, choreographed by Louis Van Armstrong. Again this comes down to entertainment value and I was completely entertained by their performance. Fast-paced, energetic, fun and they performed it really well.
Other things to note: Max is quite lucky he got his style pretty much this first week because pre-Top 20 performance I was absolutely certain that Max would have been the first guy to leave but lucky him, he got his style and I thought he did reallllly good! Max, quite non-sexy in photographs and standing still, can really turn on the hot factor in a samba I must admit. As for Kayla, I know for a lot of people online she appears to be the favoured female and for good reason she’s definitely good but again, none of these girls appeal to me on a higher level than the guys do.
Finally, I’m smushing the four remaining performances together:
Jonathan Platero and Karla Garcia’s Cha Cha to “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, choreographed by Tony Meredith, was not hot. I think Jonathan fails quite hard at being ’sexy’. No hate intended, I think he’s quite adorable but it feels wrong watching him try and move his hips in a sexy way, it just doesn’t work. He doesn’t pull it off. I think Karla has been great in the very few youtube videos I’ve seen her in and she wasn’t bad in this routine either but comparably, it fell short.
Tony Bellissimo and Paris Torres’s Hip Hop to “Let the Beat Rock” by the Black Eyed Peas, choreographed by NappyTabs. I didn’t think this was that bad. Honestly I can’t really remember it anymore though. I think the main issue I had with this, as superficial and horrible as it sounds, is Paris’s chin. I’m sorry. But once you notice it, it’s like you can’t get it out of your head and your field of vision and that’s all I kept coming back to and it just ruined everything for me. Am I horrible for making that big a deal about her chin? I just can’t focus on anything else. My bad.
Brandon Bryant and Janette Manrara’s Foxtrot to “Come Fly With Me” by Michael Buble, choreographed by Louis Van Armstrong. It’s not that this wasn’t done well. I thought it was done quite well actually. It’s just that foxtrots tend to rank lowest for me in anything. Even if my favourites are doing foxtrots, out of say my favourite’s history of routines, the foxtrots would be at the bottom of the lists just because they don’t appeal to me very much. I thought Brandon did a really good job of putting personality and character into the routine though so props to him! It was a pretty dance but I’m just not interested in foxtrots and again, comparably, it couldn’t beat out the first six favourite routines on my list.
Asuka Kondoh and Vitolio Jeune’s Broadway to “Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. BORING. This was my least favourite routine. Both dancers were so boring. It really did feel like they were just going through the movements. Broadway, I feel is ALL about the character and personality you put into it and there just none put into this. Unimpressive.
Overall though, as I wrote in the quick rankings write up prior to this post, I loved and was entertained very much by the top six routines that I listed ( ♥ ) and overall I thought it was a really good Top 20 performance show and I am so excited that WADE IS BACK!
Now here are some things I noted for Thursday’s results show:
- Bottom 3 guys and bottom 3 girls: Tony Bellissimo, Paris Torres, Vitolio Jeune, Asuka Kondoh, Jonathan Platero, Karla Garcia. (I completely agree with this bottom, no disagreements here).
- Kupono was wearing a Discrete Royalty shirt. The clothing line is designed by one of his friend’s (who is also Mark’s friend, which is why I know this) and I think the clothes from that line are really great. I also think it’s way cute and supportive of Kupono to model DR on national TV! (Side note, Mark has modeled for DR as well)
- Adam Shankman and Nigel shouted out to Twitter! I think the fact that the judges are tweeting this season and that they are/will get thousands of direct tweets of opinions to them before each performance show and before each results show, is definitely going to have an impact on the results this year.
- I thought all 6 solos were weak and forgettable. In fact, I’ve already forgotten about them.
- Ashley and Kupono’s animal sounds was HILARIOUS!!
- Cat faked out Phillip and Jeanine and I believed it at first too. It was actually a really good fake out.
- The Shane Sparks Top 20 Group Routine to “Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas was SOOOOO good! I loved it! A must re-watch. Why not re-watch it now?:
Also, did anyone else think of Heroes and the whole Claire “Save the Cheerleader. Save the World” thing when the “Save the Dancers. Save the World” voice happened at the beginning? Haha!
In the end, Tony Bellissimo and Paris Torres are the first to leave Season 5.
Are you sad? Am I sad? Not really. Tony had a fun personality but that can only take you so far and I hate to be superficial but I don’t think I could watch Paris dance each week because her chin is just so darn distracting, UGH I’m sorry if that comes off as extremely mean but seriously.. 
But, again, overall, a GREAT Top 20 week!!!! This season is really looking like it’s going to be a fantastic one and I don’t think I’ll dislike any of the dancers really! Yay for positivity!
I also need to shout out to my friend Lisa. I watched the Top 20 performance show at her house this week on the East Coast channel. T’was a lot of fun. I don’t usually watch SYTYCD with people. Ha ha. (:
And this is something I want to add in every week’s blog thoughts post:
Dancers remaining:
Comments are very welcome!
Linda (:
2 comments June 12, 2009
Lindork’s So You Think You Can Dance Recap – Top 20 Performance Show Rankings
June 11 2009.
I’ll add more details and my opinions tomorrow (well technically later today, since it’s about 1 a.m. June 11 now), but for now after watching and re-watching routines, this is my ranking for tonight’s performances:
1. Phillip and Jeanine – Hip Hop
2. Ade and Melissa – Contemporary
3. Kupono and Ashley – Jazz
4. Jason and Caitlin – Bollywood
5. Randi and Evan – Jazz
6. Max and Kayla – Samba
7. Karla and Jonathan – Cha Cha
8. Paris and Tony – Hip Hop
9. Brandon and Jeanette – Foxtrot
10. Asuka and Vitolio – Broadway
I basically think routines/couples one through six were fabulous though. ♥
It was a greeeat kick off to the season and I’m so stoked that Wade is back.
What do you think?
Linda (:
7 comments June 11, 2009
