Posts from — March 2009

The very witty James Mathison will not be co-hosting Australian Idol this year.

In an article he gives his reasons as:

“There is a part of me who has a little bit struggled with being ‘that guy from that thing’ and taking a step back totally allows you to do what you want to do without that scrutiny,” the 31-year-old said.

“For six years Australian Idol has been my life.

“You really don’t have time to do anything else. I might not have been the greatest friend to people because I had no time so it would be cool to change that.”

“I had to follow my gut and I wanted new challenges,” he says.

“I am not going to be on TV for a while now, not Dancing With The Stars or anything like that. I just want to explore other music opportunities while I am here in New York and at home.”

Personally I think it will be a huge loss to the show, considering last year the judging panel was boring, yes Dicko and Marcia I am talking about you. Also does this mean Ricki-Lee Coulter’s role will be expanded?

Full story here. 

As the weeks have gone by on Farmer Wants A Wife it appeared both Farmer Paul and Farmer Jenny were going to find true love.

Well TV Week has an article which states that one of their relationships does not work out.

Here is the article (unfortunately no soft copy) and you decide which one is dumped:

This season, two farmer seemed to have found true love. But in the season finale, we see that one of these couples has split up, leaving the farmer shattered. From the beginning, Paul and Jenny have known exactly who was the one for them.

For 36-year-old Paul it was wool classer Nerena, 35. For Jenny 32, it was 30 year-old fencing contractor Owen. Both couples’ chemistry was obvious when they met at the speed dates. Jenny confessed on camera to being “rocked” by Owen, while Paul says there were “fireworks” with Nerena.

“Nerena had everything I was looking for: great looks, great personality, great sense of humour, great smile, and she worked in the rural industry”, Paul tells TV Week exclusively.” She ticked all the boxes.”

Jenny says that Owen “just seemed to be in tune with things…. a salt-of-the-earth sort of guy”. Although Jenny and paul invited three potential partners to the farm, there was no real competition.

“You have to fill numbers”, Paul says. “But there was only one girl right from the start that I was interested in.” After sending Berenice home first, Paul asked Bridie to leave just three days later.” When Bridie went home, we had five days left,” he says. “Nerena moved into my room straightaway. We just clicked, like that.”

Jenny reveals she wanted Andrew to leave early, too.” A few days after Stephen left, I actually asked if I could send Andrew home as well, but I wasn’t allowed to. so I tried really hard to let andrew know how I felt about Owen.” There were no question whose doors Paul and Jenny would knock on. And, after the city breaks, both romances blossomed.

“We had this amazing start,” Jenny says.  “The euphoria of it all – it was wonderful, amazing. [I thought] ‘I might be in love’,”. Owen was spending almost every day at Tumbarumba, helping out on the family farm. Jenny says he was “completely committed and right into it -  and right into my world”.

Meanwhile, Nerena took her mother and three-year-old son Billy to  Tarcutta for a visit. “We talked about a six-month plan of her moving up with Billy”, Paul says.  “She wasn’t just saying, ‘I love you’, she was saying, ‘I love you dearly’”.

But within a few weeks, things started going wrong for one of the couples. The farmer says the partner became ” a bit more distant, a little more stand-offish”. They talked and the partner expressed the feeling that things were moving a bit too fast. “I said,’Yeah, that’s understandable, I thought the same thing’,” the farmer recalls.

Later the partner admitted to having second thoughts, but didn’t want to talk about it. The farmer was left “shattered and heartbroken”.

“We had something so special and in a matter of a week it’s gone from being so good to just over,” the farmer laments. “Something isn’t right. I know it was no illusion. It was there. I’m still struggling to understand what happened and I think I deserve to know the truth.”

The farmer still holds out hope the relationship can be revived.”I said,’When you’re ready to talk about it, you ring me.”

The farmer turned up to the finale to talk about the experience, but asked that the partner not be there. The program’s producers, however, tracked them down to get the other side of the story.

“It started as a fairytale and it’s just turned into an absolute nightmare,” the farmer says. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t work properly. I’m gutted. I’m absolutely heartbroken. I’ve been heartbroken before, but never as bad as this. This was the one I could’ve spent the rest of my life with, sat on the verandah with when we were 70,80, on our rocking chairs, remembering when….”

So is it Paul or Jenny whose heart has been broken?

My money is on Paul.

So Kat and BJ’s Godfather Foxtrot was voted the favourite routine of last night, but both of them landed in the bottom two. I won’t hypothesise why that is so,  as I would just be talking crap.

However speaking of bullshit, I read today  the rumour ciruclating that Kat and BJ revived their romance after working intensively together last week.  The crotch in the face manouvre must have done the trick. For those who don’t know BJ and Kat went out for 18 months. To be honest I think their reconciliation could be bollocks as well.

Just an aside did anyone understand what Nacho Pop was saying when he was telling us about his Road Trip. What is the point of the roadtrip? As a way for the producers to avoid having to give him any routines to choreograph?

Bottom two girls were unsurprisingly Kat and Gianne, and bottom two boys Timomatic and BJ.

Gianne was eliminated, as was Timomatic. It was pretty much expected.

Natalie spruiked Timomatic’s singing voice. Future Idol contestant? Tim was the best hip hop dancer in the two season’s of SYTYCDA.

New partnerships:

• Talia and BJ,
• Ben and Amy,
• Charlie and Kat.

It was good to hear NapTab otherwise known as Napolean and Tabitha from the US version of SYTYCD will be choreographing a routine this week. Cool.

Well you would have to be living in a cave today if you did not know Natalie Bassingthwaite has been nominated for a Gold Logie.  She has also been nominated for a Silver Logie in the category of most popular presenter.

Matt Lee the judge from So You Think You Can Dance has been nominated for most popular new male talent, as has Ricky Lee for most popular new female talent for her “work” on Australian Idol.

The nominations for Most Popular Reality TV Program are Australian Idol, The Biggest Loser, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance and Farmer Wants A Wife.

In my usual glance at the weekly gossip mags I noticed an article in NW which said Penny did not want to leave the competition but was forced to leave.

She said the first doctor she saw said she could continue dancing with her strained rib. However the producers said she had to get a second and third opinion. It was the third opinion who said she should not dance injured.

In the article she said if it had been her choice she would have stayed in the competition.

This will give fuel to the conspiracy that once the prize of dancing on the US SYTYCD show was announced the judges did not want Penny to win as her technique was not as good as the other dancers.

Why all the secrecy about Gianne taking over from the injured Penny Higgs? It was obvious who it was going to be the last girl eliminated, why not just put in the press release that Gianne was back in?

I did feel sorry for Penny. She did say in an interview that she had been unhappy about her topless shots being shown in Australia. Apparently they were only meant for Denmark. Doesn’t she realise in this cyber world that these things always leak?

Also we knew she was upset but did channel ten have to show 5 minutes of footage of her bawling.

All Boys Routine – Broadway -  Chicago – Roxie’s Suite

 Adam Williams choreographed this Damn Yankees  routine to a Chicago song that confused me. I thought the beginning of this when they were off the stage was a mess. Timomatic never recovered. Don’t take this the wrong way and I would not normally say this but the whole routine was GAY. It was a camped up Red Sox team doing chest wiggles and Fosse type moves.

Jason Gilkison loved it. Matt Lee said good job. Jason Coleman thought it was macho. He and I definately have a different view of the definition of that word.

Amy and Timomatic – Contemporary – Newton Faulkner – To The Light

Sher Manu choreographed this quirky routine. I really liked it and I thought Amy was brilliant in it. Probably the best the most enjoyable routine I have seen her in. And she made Timomatic look good.  Rave reviews all gushing over Amy’s technique. Is she peaking at the right time? Did she knock her head in this routine?

Talia and Ben – Hip Hop – Beyonce – Diva

Rosa Agius choreographed this routine which with lesser dancers could have been a bit dull. But Talia’s dancing was excellent almost reminiscent of Comfort from last year’s SYTYCD. Ben was great as well and the unison was amazing.

Gianne and Charlie – Disco – Chic – Le Freak

Gianne was a solid gold dancer in a past life. Ok they probably did not get much time to rehearse, but Gianne rocks in this Aleeta Blackburn routine. Jason Coleman said he was going to judge the routine on the fact they only had one day to rehearse. Then he criticised them for being stiff arms in the turns.

Matt Lee said in a surprised voice “I think this week has effected the two of you the most.” DUH. SACK HIM NOW FOR BEING A COMPLETE MORON. Yes you were looking at one who had lost his partner, and the other a dancer called back in with one day to rehearse. What other dancers would have been effected by it more???

Kat and BJ – Foxtrot – The Godfather – The Godfather Waltz

Leanne Bampton choreographed this foxtrot. Leanne was Dicko’s partner on Dancing With The Stars. Now this is why you need a ballroom specialist  like Jason Gilkison on the judging panel as he can tell you whether you nailed it. He said it was the best foxtrot technique he had seen in the competition.

It was a lovely dance. BJ said he had to do some research for this role. I would have thought he wouldn’t have had the time to watch the three hour long movie.

Amy and Timomatic – Hip Hop Broadway – The Wiz – Ease Down The Road

Project Moda choreographed this routine based from the show The Wiz. Wow did Timomatic luck out this routine it so suited his style. I was lamenting at the beginning of the show that Tim was here and not Loredo, but Timomatic does deserve to still be on it.

Did Bonnie have to talk for so long on this one? Can we vote her out? This was the two Jason’s favourite routine of the evening.

Talia and Ben – Samba/Quickstep – Michael Buble – It Had Been a Better Night

I bet Kat wished she had had Talia costume on last week for her Samba when she was stuck in a leotard for her Samba. The Natalie Lowe routine was great. Is Jason now pimping for Talia to win? He said her dancing has improved so much since she started in the competition. Jason G gave Ben a bit of a tickle up about technique and also criticised the loss of eye contact.

Gianne and Charlie – Hip Hop – Broadway Project – The Wobble

Ok I interviewed Supple this week see it  here, and he was such a sweetie I am going to find it hard to bag the routine. It was original and of high quality, but not my favourite Supple routine. The judges loved it especially Charlie. I felt sorry for Gianne getting hip hop again considering it got her eliminated last week.

Kat and BJ – Jazz – Fatboy Slim – Wonderful Night

Lucky they were ex girlfriend/boyfriend as some of the moves were very intimate especially when she had her crotch right in his face. The Sue-Ellen Sook routine and the music was fun, but I am not sure how memorable it was. I think Kat will be bottom two again this week. I think her technique is not as strong as Tahlia and Amy.

Girls Routine -Dance Hall – Sean Paul -Watch Dem Roll

Tiana Joubert should have just given the girls a pole each and got it over and done with. I thought the pelvic thrusts were OTT. Matt Lee said “The problem with dance hall is that it looked a bit hoochie.” For the first time this year I agreed with Matt. Andrea Dworkin rolled over in her grave.

It was just such a waste of dancing talent. I normally like Tiana’s routines but tonight I did not need to see a D-Grade rap MTV clip. I note the boys Matt and Jason C both had difficulty with all the female overt sexuality. So if you are one of the thousand’s of people googling “Is Jason Coleman Gay?” you have your answer now.

Bottom two girls – Kat and Gianne. I think Amy and Talia are dead certs for final four.

Bottom two guys – I’m throwing at a dart board for this one. Charlie and Timomatic?

Your thoughts?

In Season 1 hip hop choreographer Supple blew Australian audiences away with some of his fantastic choreography on So You Think You Can Dance Australia . This week he is back again to share his unique choreography style. To remind yourself how great his routines were last year check out the You Tube clip above.

Last week Supple gracious enough to take the time from his busy schedule to answer a few of my questions.

First I had to get to the bottom of  his rather unusual accent he revealed his parents are Korean, but he was born in South America and raised in Australia, and has been based in London since 2000.

In Australia he was granted a scholarship in Year 11 to go MacDonald College in Sydney but prior to that he was a self taught dancer. He represented Australia in Hip hop world championships and after that he ended up basing himself in London where there were more dance opportunities for his unique style of dancing.

How did he get the name Supple? He revealed at a high school disco he was dancing in a bendy and windy way. People would say to you the ‘dancer that dances like a rubber band’ which he hated. But his sister said you are supple and she started calling him that. “Pretty much 90 per cent of people I know, know me as Supple.” he said.

Supple’s Singing in the Rain routine was one of the people’s favourite routine from Season One SYTYCDA. He revealed he had previously choreographed a routine to an advertisement which used the same music. The commercial won three awards at Cannes Film Festival. When the producers of SYTYCDA were looking at his body of work they really liked the commercial, and asked him to choreograph a routine to this song.

Supple said he was reluctant to do so at first. However he said, “I did it and thankfully it turned out great.”.

When he is working on SYTYCDA. He gets two days with the dancers, “Those two days are pretty limited….maybe four hours, three hours each day.”

First day he shows them the  routine where “hopefully they pick up everything.”

The second day is refining it. He said on the second day “I make sure it looks good and if they cannot do what I have asked them to do I will work out their strengths so they do not look bad.”

“I believe as a choreographer, just like a leader you have got to bring out the best of the people around you.”

“It does not make sense for me to get dancers to do things they cannot do, as it represents my piece. And if they don’t represent my piece very well people will think Supple’s work is not great.” he said.

He also turns up to the dress rehearsals of the show to ensure his vision is realised.

He said the producers basically gives him as much creative freedom as they can. They do however have to approve the song choice.

Supple said by being on the show last year further career opportunities emerged. “At first I was only meant to do two routines.” . However after these the producers wanted him to stay to do more routines. “I was very flattered.” he said.

“A production company called Dion and Randall snatched me up to choreograph and stage direct one of their productions called Gypsy Moon in Korea.”

On being asked if there was going to be any opportunity to choreograph on the US version of So You Think You Can Dance he said “They actually asked me last year… but unfortunately because of my timetable it did not work out, but this year fingers crossed if they ask me I guess I will be more prepared.”

Bonnie Lythgoe gave great feedback to the US producers of the show which helped them take notice of his work.

When I asked him who his favourite choreographers were he was a little overwhelmed ” There are so many I love… I love choreographers that challenge. I love Mia Michaels work, also Marty Kudelka (who choreographs Justin Timberlake.) and Richard Tone. I loved the work that Wade Robson did for Brittany Spear’s Circus.” But he summed it up as ” I love choreographers work, and I love choreographer who are willing to take risks.”.

After he leaves Australia he will continue to work on a production using Shakespeare’s words in a hip hop forum. He is doing this with the music composer Ilan Eshkeri  who wrote the music score for the movie The Duchess.

While he is in Australia Supple is doing some workshops. There are still some places left, however get in quick as the numbers are limited.

He says “The workshops cater for all different styles from beginners to advanced.”

He has a very zen outlook on life he said he would rather do “Not so great work and have a great time, rather than doing great work and having a miserable time.”

Details of the workshops below:

SOUTH
Saturday 18th April 2009

12.00pm = Open Level
2.00pm = Intermediate to Advanced Level

@ Latin Motion Dance Studios

47-51 Unwins Bridge Rd, Sydenham (corner Railway Rd)

* Book now by ringing 9557-7751 or email vali@latinmotion.com.au

WEST
Sunday 19th April 2009

4.30pm = Special Tricks with Popping & Breakdancing

6.30pm = Open Jam Session
Studio 11 Dance Studios

1/2 Harford St, Jamisontown NSW in Penrith
* Book now by ringing 0405-776799 and 0404-601675 or email rjt_35@yahoo.com.au

CITY
Tuesday 21st April 2009

8.30pm = Intermediate Level
Wednesday 22nd April 2009

8.00pm = Advanced/Professional Level
@ Salsa Republic Studios

42 Kensington Street Chippendale very close to Central/Broadway. Opposite UTS.

Just off from the corner of Harris Street and George Street (Chippendale for those that use GPS in the car)

* Book now by ringing 0404-885787 or email supple@dancelife.com.au

 Further information can be found out about the workshops and Supple at www.thedancescientist.com

In a press release it was confirmed Gianne has replaced Penny in tonight’s So You Think You Can Dance Australia.

Penny Higgs has had to withdraw due to cracking a rib.

Project Runway Season 4 Christian Siriano Latest Collection Picked Up By Saks

The diminutive winner of Project Runway is certainly the most successful of the Project Runway alumni. NY Mag writes that his latest collection has been picked up by Saks, an American department store. This is a big deal. He also has a maternity range happening, as well as designing costumes for the upcoming movie Eloise.

The Australian Has An Article About So You Think You Can Dance

Elizabeth Merryment has written an an article in the Australian about what SYTYCDA has done to increase the profile of Australian choreographers. The Meryl Tankard comment is again raised.

Simon Cowell Gives Advice About The Credit Crunch

The Sun has an article with Simon Cowell giving advice about the credit crisis. He knows as he has been through this before and had his porsche repossessed, shock horror. Seriously I have never read a bigger puff piece. They even suggest Simon should go into politics.

David Cook To Guest Star On Idol On Wednesday (Thursday In Australia)

Last year’s American Idol winner will guest star on American Idol this week. This has started the who is better talk, David or Adam Lambert. Full story here.

Rachel Zoe To Produce An Afforable Clothing Range.

Fans of The Rachel Zoe Project will know she has been talking about producing her own range of clothes. People Mag indicates that Zoe will be making it affordable. What her definition of affordable is will be interesting indeed.