Category — Australia So You Think You Can Dance

It has been reported frequently that SYTYCDA has seen an increase in people partaking in dance classes. However it also has shown that more people are going to see dance performances.

Raphael Bonachela, the director of the acclaimed Sydney Dance Company has seen the link in action.

In an interview in  the Sydney Star Observer he said:

“We performed on So You Think You Can Dance a few weeks ago,” he said, “and all I can say is the next day we had double the hits on our website and double the ticket sales. The results are clear as water.

Hopefully Meryl Tankard is reading this, as she contemptuously said SYTYCDA was fast food for the masses. My argument at the time see post here, was that it was an opportunity for choreographers to gain more patrons for their company’s. Let’s hope this trend continues.

In the TV Week this issue they reveal that Charlie is the favourite to win, if a readers poll is anything to go by.

The poll asked Who Do You Want To See Win SYTYCDA? Charlie polled 32%, Talia 30%, Amy 22%, and Ben 16%. Ok it is not the Morgan Gallop poll, but it is an indicator on how popular Charlie is.

Also this week the top four revealed their secrets unfortunately none of them are particularly salacious:

Charlie he said:

I am really superstitious. My pyjamas have to be under my right pillow, I watch out for black cats and I try to avoid ladders. Plus, I always knock on wood.

I’m a Sophie Monk fan. The first time I performed was at the Dubbo Eisteddfod in 2003 and it was to Sophie Monk’s “Get The Music On”. I picked the song myself and did all my own choreography. The ruffled shirts, the swquins – oh dear!

I love talking about myself. I love doing all the video blogs and being interviewed by people like TV Week. I thought I’d be nervous but it’s really fun and I’m enjoying it more and more. It’s good being able to watch it back and have a bit of a laugh at myself, too!

After I left home I lived in a boarding house in Sydney for a year. The room was in a big house and I only had a curtain for privacy – it was really full-on. I had all my belongings crammed into about 10 square metres. I’ll never do that again, hopefully!

Amy revealed:

I’m really into AC/DC. When I was five, my parents put an AC/DC album on and that’s when  I started listening to them. I have a special playlist on my iPod for when I feel like I need an AC/DC fix and “You Shook Me All Night Long” is probably my favourite track.

I’m really uncoordinated. I’m always looking the wrong way when it’s time to cross the road and I can’t walk in a straight line on the street. It’s weird because on stage I’m really coordinated. My sisters hate that I’m constantly walking into them, so even now, when I’m 25, they always tell me, “Watch where you’re going, Amy!”

I can surf. When I went to Hawaii with a bunch of boys they were like,”You can’t surf,” but Iwas the first one to stand up. I grew up on the Central Coast, so it’s what we did every weekend. It was a good way to make friends.

I’m an aerialist… but I’m scared of heights. I guess when I do my aerial tricks I’m just so focused on what I’m doing that I don’t realise how high up I am. But I can’t look out from a balcony or anything like that.

Talia revealed:
I collect Teddy bears. I have a good luck teddy and he’s the one I brought to the show. His name is Jasper and he’s a big husky who’s wearing a tiara. he’s doing well for me so far!

I taught my puppy to pirouette. She’s a little Maltese  called Vegas and I wanted her to learn some tricks. She actually spots and everything on two legs – and she can do about five in a row! If there was a So You Think You Can Dance  for dogs, she’d do pretty well.

I only own one pair of flat shoes. I’m a high-heels girl. I’m short, so I like to add a bit of height when i can. In my family, we use any occasion to dress up, so even when we’re going grocery shopping we’ll take ages to get ready. You’ll never see a photo of me without make-up!

I still watch the Disney Channel. I have two younger sisters so I watch Hannah Montana  constantly. When my friends ask what I watched on TV last night, i’m like,”Um, I was with my sisters so I had to watch Hannah Montana…” I have to be so much older when I’m dancing – especially when I’m in the [Queensland Ballet] company – so at home I like to take a step back.

Ben revealed:

I’m a mad golfer. I love going out with my mates and playing 18 holes. Sometimes I’m really good and sometimes I’m really bad – let’s leave it at that. I’ve never made a hole in one but I’ve got a birdie, which is two shots, so I’ve been pretty close!”

I enjoy going to the movies by myself. A lot of people hate it but if I have some time to kill and I want to relax, that’s one of the things I’ll do. I’ll go to the movies by myself, eat in a restaurant by myself, sit at a bar by myself – I’m fine with that. I know I have friends, I don’t need to tell everyone.

I’m an uncle of 11. I have six nephews and five nieces and I love hanging out and having fun with them all. I’m the youngest of my siblings and the only boy – I have three older sisters. So the pressure’s off me to have kids, for now.

I’m a great poker player. It’s a good thinking game and I love playing a bit of Texas hold’em. I don’t really gamble with it but I do alright at the game. Some of the [SYTYCDA] boys can play and , while we don’t really have time for poker nights now, on tour there’ll be heaps of time. I can’t wait.

Tonight on SYTYCDA it was an Easter special, with an overview of all the group dancers, and some new routines from the eliminated dancers.

Just a few thoughts on the show:

• Is Stephen the most unlucky dancer on the show. Ever. Before he was eliminated he was paired with Ash-Leigh the most unpopular girl, and a pretty ordinary dancer outside her ballroom genre, and then tonight he was paired with Max. Max who was eliminated in the first week, was probably the weakest dancer in the comp and this was shown tonight in the Adam Williams routine, which all Stephen was required to do was lift her and do a couple of back flips. Just as I realised what a great dancer he was he was eliminated. Talia had been in the same situation having to dance with Emmanuel but just managed to survive to flourish after he was eliminated. Who you get paired with is so important.
• The group routines have been fantastic this year and it was not hardship to have to watch them again.
• Charlie seemed to get the best editing tonight of the four, I suspect this is because he is the wittiest of the bunch.
• Nacho Pop is back from his exile, oops sorry I meant his road trip. His routine for Pania and Emmanuel was beyond ordinary and if his contract is renewed next year it will be a travesty.
• The Gianne and Loredo Pebbles and Bam Bam routine was my personal favourite tonight, but their body language quite telling when they were chatting to the judges it was like they could not stand any further apart. I wonder if there is friction between them.
• The weakest dancers in the top 20, confirmed for me tonight, were Max, Penny, and Damien (his feet in his foxtrot were just awful).
• Finally Matt Lee uber judge and choreographer top 4 routine was dull, and was nowhere near as good as the other group routines we have seen this season.

Next Sunday it is back to normal and the competition and show is very close to coming to its conclusion.

Ok after all my bitching about Tabitha and Napoleon last night, their group opening routine was absolutely sensational. All the dancers were fabulous, but special mention must go to Kat who really shone.

It was great they all had a solo tonight. I wasn’t blown away by any of the girls solos. I like Amy’s the best except for the smile she had on her face the whole way through, it did not seem to go with either the music or the body movements. Talia’s was beautiful but I just thought she put together a series of difficult dance steps with little in between.

BJ’s solo made me smile, I really like his solo’s they show a high level of creativity.

I wasn’t as enamoured by Charlie’s or Ben. Charlie’s was quite jarring, but points for dad pumping his fist with pride at the end. Ben’s was just a lot of flips ala Anthony Ikin.

It was no surprise when it was announced Kat was eliminated.  Just an aside how high were the heels those girls were wearing. All of them were at least 5 inches.

Also not a great shock that BJ was the guy to be eliminated. I love the fact that he was so cool about it and plug his venture Alive Entertainment.

It is an interesting top four and all very strong dancers, and anyone can take out the title. I expect Talia is not lost many things in her life and on tonight’s episode she did say she wanted to win it. I think Charlie is probably the weakest dancer out of the four.

Anyway if you want to see Kat and BJ again you can always see them on the top 10 tour. Details here. The tickets are between $55 and $75.

So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Alex Da Silva has ensured he won’t be invited to work on series 5 of the show by being arrested on suspicion of sexual assault charges of four of his dance pupils on the weekend.

The Daily Telegraph says:

Detectives say the alleged assaults occurred between May 2003 and March 28.

The female accusers told police Da Silva lured them to his homes in North Hollywood and Van Nuys, used a ruse to get them into his bedroom and raped them.

It’s not immediately known whether the 41-year-old Da Silva has retained an attorney. He is being held on $3.8 million bail.

Hopefully talented Australian choreograher Jason Gilkison will be asked over to choreograph in his stead.

Can someone sleep with Nigel Lythgoe so we can get Bonnie OFF the show? Tonight she was unbearable with her rabbiting on about what the routines storylines were. Are we a dumping ground for ex-wives of powerful producers?

Also can they give Natalie Bassingthwaite botox next year to stop her nose from wrinkling up when she is reading from the autocue?

Tonight was a big night for the dancers as they were starting to smell the money, and they were becoming a bit more uptight when they were listening to the judges comments. Again it was huge show and I don’t know how they rehearse it all in a few days.
All boys – Mantronix – King Of The Beats

Supple choreographed this cops and robbers routine where cleverly he designed it so the dancers were both the cops and the robbers. Considering Charlie is meant to be a hip hop specialist I thought Ben was the strongest dancer. Jason said it was time in the competition for comparisons, but someone obviously had not told this to Matt and Bonnie.

Jason Coleman basically told BJ he did not pop as hard as the other two.

Talia and BJ – Contemporary – Yellow – How How

Project Moda routine was fun, and reminded me how I used to love Yellow. BJ played goofy good. And Talia played off hand 50′s belle beautifully. Talia has not missed a beat since Emmanuel got the flick. 

Bonnie picked up a low catch in a lift and raised it with Talia, said she was fine with it and thought it was fun, then Jason Coleman said “Come on I saw your face at the end of the lift….” then he said “Be real, this is reality television tell the truth.” WTF. Is he the only person left in the world who really believes this?

Jason also bitched about Project Moda’s  routine saying there wasn’t enough dancing in it. He may have a point.

Charlie and Kat – Busta Rhymes – Arab Money

They got guest choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon from US SYTYCD  in what they called a “ghetto chic” routine. What were they trying to say with routine that arabs are crims? Personally I found the song and the choreography and costumes to be slightly racist.  Also got to be honest was not wowed by the choreography.

Jason Coleman gushed over Charlie and criticised Kat about poking her tongue out. Matt and Bonnie were just complimentary as usual.

Amy and Ben – Pase Doble – Jesus Christ Superstar – Overture

Jason Gilkison is the master, I expect to see him again on the US version of SYTYCD. The routine was amazing. Both dancers were great.

Has Bonnie been told by the producers that her role is to explain the story of the dancers to the audience. Jason Coleman said he had such a high expectations of the routine it left him a little flat. He thought the routine did not lift.

Talia and BJ – Lyrical hip hop – T.I. feat Justin Timberlake – Dead and Gone

Do NapTab do anything other than lyrical hip hop? Also does the camera man have a unhealthy obsession with Talia’s boobs? Anyway have seen enough of both. I just don’t think either of NapTabs routines tonight really hit it out of the ball park.

Bonnie thought it was top routine of the night. Is this something the overseas choreographers have in their contracts that they have to have their routines fawned over? Jason was just over the top routine, basically telling them it was the best routine of the series. Hold on Matt Lee did say it was the best routine of the series. It was cultural cringe at it worse. God what are they going to do if Mia Michaels choreographs a routine here? Canonise her? Not that that would be a negative thing.

Kat and Charlie – Tango – Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This

Kat playing sultry and Charlie playing hetero butch was going to be a big call. I loved the music and the choreography I just did not feel any passion between the pair, probably because the above mentioned issue.

Jason thought it was the best performance he had seen Kat give. When Jason was bollocking Kat for being off balance, Charlie ‘fessed up that this may have been his fault. Clever tactics to get the aw shucks isn’t he a nice guy votes.

Amy and Ben – Contemporary – Secondhand Seranade – Fall For You

Ame Delves routine was great. I still don’t see Amy winning the competition, and I suppose at this stage it is still anyones game to take out. Last year you knew it was a two horse race between Rhys and Jack Chambers and that Jack would probably take it out. But I do not have any idea at this stage who is the favourite. But  I am not connecting with Amy but considering she has half the  CFMEU voting for her she is shoo in for top four. And she probably does deserve to be there.

The Girls – Broadway Jazz – Wilkommen

Kelly Aykers had a me moment with a “it has to be clean, as it has my name on it” . Clearly Kelly was believing the hype the choreographers are the stars of the show as well.

I thought Talia nailed this routine, and outdanced the other two. I think Kat is going to struggle to make the top 4. Jason Coleman nit picked and then said that Talia won the routine.

Top four to be Talia, Amy, Ben and Charlie (as he has Dubbo voting for him).

Mia Michaels is coming to Australia and will be teaching dance workshops in the major cities. How freaking fantastic is that?

Nigel Lythgoe in a previous interview indicated Mia Michaels may appear on So You Think You Can Dance Australia. The first workshops are in Sydney on the second and third of May. Full details here.

Also don’t despair if you cannot dance as they are selling audience tickets at $50 a pop. Also you can pay $50 to have your photo taken with her – not sure how I feel about that, but I suppose it is an opportunity for some fans to get up close and personal.

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.

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?