I’m still quite sad over Karla Garcia’s short lived stint in So You Think You Can Dance and promised myself will stop watching the rest of the show this season. So I head over to my least liked reality talent show, America’s Got Talent (AGT) just to see what they have been showing.

Watching “America’s Got Talent” turned out to be a cheer me up for me. Oh my, watching and hearing 14 year old Thia Megia sing out “I am Changing” by Jennifer Holiday was unreal. But there she was, confident, beautiful and powerful! Seeing is believing! I have been scouring her and people have already compared her to Youtube sensation Charice.

Yes, she is of Filipino descent, born in Redwood City, California in 1995. Her long full name again gave her “filipino-ness,” Thialorei Lising Megia. (Any relations to Filipino comedian Gary Lising?)

Watch her audition video on America’s Got talent where the crowd goes wild for her, leaving all three judges wowed and awed. Her mom is also shown in the vid:

Forgive me for saying this but I think she is going to be bigger than Charice! I’m a Charice supporter but Thia is something else. A diamond in the rough as they say. I can not believe Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres missed her! They will be scratching their heads now once they hear of Thia. Interestingly, Thia’s been openly singing in public as young as 8 years old and she wrote and composed her first song entitled “I Will Always Love You”, dedicated to her teddy bear, Twinkle at the age of 6! She recorded that song in a demo CD.

She’s got her own Wiki page and her YouTube channel has been out there since November 2006. She was then 10 years old. She has her MySpace Music page as well. This girl is multi-talented. She not only sing but plays musical instruments. She should definitely showcase singing along with playing the guitar or keyboards/piano at her performances in America’s Got Talent. I can’t wait to watch her next performance in AGT. She made it to perform in Las Vegas for the next round sometime the end of this month or perhaps early August.

Is it the Filipino and Filipino-American’s time to finally shine internationally? There are and there have been big names through the years, I know but of recent, some are surely making buzz in 2009! Arnel Pineda, Manny Pacquaio, Charice, Karla Garcia, Anna Maria deTagle and now Thia Megia. I’m sure there are others out there. I hope to find them and feature them here when I can.

AGT premiered its 4th season on June 23rd and I have not watched an episode yet until last night. See SYTYCD on Fox and AGT on NBC competes for viewership and both claim to be the Summer’s number one hit show. I’d like to believe SYTYCD is number one but AGT is strongly up there. I don’t like AGT because they show too much of the judges and the host more than its performers. Worse, they show the judges and the host’s reactions while the act is performing their 30 second or so audition- then you just missed half of it!

They also have a habit of showing what’s coming up before running a commercial and then giving a recap of what you’ve missed after the break… It is trite and unbearable and wastes too much airtime! For crying out loud, just get on with the show! David Hasselhoff says “You’re what this show is all about” and “we’re here’ to find talent” (coz this is what this show is all about, right??) about 100 hundred times spread throughout every season! Geez…

Good luck Thia! Hope you make it BIG!! I’m a FAN!

My most favorite performance of Thia. “New Soul” An original by Yael Naim. Wonderful. Brilliant. Check out tons of Thia’s cover on her YouTube Channel.

Tonight’s results just shed light to my conspiracy theory that this show along with American Idol and all reality TV shows are tainted somehow. It appears conveniently fixed to what they think can earn them more ratings. Did you guys really think Kris Allen won over Adam Lambert if the show didn’t have a hand on it? Show us the numbers!

I challenge So You Think You can Dance to show America the supposed luck of the draw LIVE each week before the results night closes. LET US SEE WHAT THE DANCERS PICK FOR THEIR NEXT DANCE and LET US SEE WHAT THE REST OF THE PAPER SHOWS in the Hat. Why are they doing the drawing in closed doors? They can’t show it live because I bet you, each paper in the hat says exactly the same style they want that particular couple to dance for the week. Whoever they want to eliminate, oh just give them a style that’s not their own so we can justify eliminating them.

I’m saying all these because I am very upset. Tonight, Vitolio is gone. Tonight Karla is eliminated. She didn’t have a fair play from the very beginning nor did Vitolio even Jonathan. They hardly introduced her until the Final 20 dancers were revealed. She was never given the spotlight she deserved. I am not sour graping. I am not making excuses. She is among the best 20 dancers in America for this season. However, while some dancers were highlighted left and right, Karla had to “fight” her way in to get some decent amount of exposure. I only wished she could be in the Top 10 so she could go on tour and have an experience of a lifetime. She needed that extra break for her young career. Did I think Karla would win? Realistically, No. But sure I would have wanted her to win all the way… Having said that, I just lost interest on this show. What a shame.

My heart goes out to Karla and the Garcia family. I personally do not know any of them and only saw Karla for the first time on SYTYCD. Things I say on this blog are entirely mine and does not necessarily reflect theirs. But in a way, her elimination tonight felt personal to me. I’ve always loved the show as a whole but was never really a fan of any particular dancer until Karla. Maybe because she is also Filipina that I felt ‘connected’ and like family feel the need to show my support. But she is also one heck of a great dancer. She has performed professionally in many avenues, the show would open up more opportunities for her. I wished she could have stayed just a little bit longer.

I’m venting and I’m still upset. I lost interest watching the show. I’m skipping the rest of the season- not sure if I even want to see the show live this year. I can’t watch SYTYCD 5 anymore. I’m flipping channels over to NBC’s corny and boring “America’s Got Talent” and I don’t even like that show. Sigh.

To see Karla and Vitolio’s last solo performances and their journey on SYTYCD 5, head over here.

Posted July 1, 2009

SYTYCD Season 5 premiered on June 10 with 20 dancers teamed up competing as couples. Each week, one couple in the bottom three- the 3 couples with the least number of votes- goes home. Tonight only 14 dancers remain. After three weeks of dancing with Jonathan, Fil-am contemporary dancer Karla is paired with new partner Vitolio Jeune. It means Vitolio and Karla are dancing for the first time to win votes! If that’s not pressure enough, they “picked” were given the dance that’s apart from the Waltz which is also ballroom, is known as the “kiss of death” in the competition (Hiphop when choreographed and or danced poorly is another).

Every week they are only given 5 and a half hours to learn a dance style from the choreographer. It is very interesting that they should pick one of the hardest dances to master in their first partnership but by golly Karla and Vitolio rocked the floor! Choreographers Jean Marc & France Generaux were very creative and dynamic in conceptualizing the entire routine, especially the part where Karla did a quick change of outfit right in front of our eyes and it was magical! The excitement on stage was palpable and the two dancers came out both graceful and strong.

Perhaps what Vitolio and Karla needed were the (quick) change of partners and they may have found a good partnership with each other. Just hope truly hope that America realizes how difficult that dance routine was and how they did it brilliantly and made it look effortless. How can you not vote for these two?! Please VOTE for Karla and Jonathan! Call 1-888-836-7607, it’s free!

Karla’s sister Jitter mentioned that their entire family is flying out to LA to watch the show in support for Karla. They weren’t shown tonight; maybe in the results show tomorrow, we’ll get a glimpse of them.

Find the full video of their performance here with judges comments and introduction.

You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.
You’d be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I’m alive.
You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.

After watching a rerun of “10 Things I hate about you” last night- the classic 90’s teen movie that I’ve seen four times starring the late Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles -that is my current LSS.

Whoever coined the term LSS was clever. Amazing how more and more words and phrases are added in the English language over the years that never existed say 30 years ago. What’s more amazing is how fast it is spread around the world even before the Internet surge, so quick that over time it becomes part of everyday conversations and urban language. How does it get so widespread?

I’ve heard of LSS or the “last song syndrome” years ago yet before the phrase had a name we all have experienced it on occasion or for most people like me- on a regular basis! Last song syndrome is not a serious ailment; it is merely a complaint over a last song heard whereby the song is ‘trapped’ in our heads and we have difficulty erasing it so we end up singing, whistling or humming it over our heads or quite audibly over and over until we are so sick of the song and or the people around us are ready to zip our mouths with duct tape if we don’t stop.

We catch the LSS just about anywhere we go, while driving and listening to the radio; getting out of the supermarket, at work, from a concert, from watching television, even from another person. Wherever it is, it is the last song we hear and seems to be embedded in our brains at the time that we had to sing it. Don’t you hate it when cheesy commercial jingles get stuck though after turning the TV off and you’re going to bed? It is annoying having to sing it in our heads before dozing off and worse, it is still there when we wake up.

I must say it could get contagious at times. You hear the other person’s LSS and next thing you know, you’re singing it too!

Pardon the way that I stare.
There’s nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it’s real.
You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.

Just how do we get rid of it?

I love you, baby,
And if it’s quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.

I read from Real Simple Magazine that the best way to snap out of it is to sing the song in its entirety or listen to the whole song again, to achieve completion. “If you can’t remember all the words or how it ends, rewrite the ending. Sometimes appending a Beethoven coda or even just ‘Shave and a haircut, two bits’ will do the trick,” says James Kellaris, Ph.D., a professor of Marketing at the University of Cincinnati, who studies why catchy tunes- called “earworms” – stick in your head.

Make something up and just finish the stupid song. If you still can’t , replace it with another song in your head. Listening to classical music, unfamiliar tunes or music without lyrics usually helps too.

Sometimes all those works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. If all else fails, you’re on your own because the thing is sometimes I simply enjoy singing my LSS! Like now. How do you deal with LSS?

Oh, pretty baby,
Don’t bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

Good luck erasing my LSS! “Can’t take my Eyes off you” from the brilliant Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe who wrote the song in 1967 and popularized by the equally talented Frankie Valli, and has been covered by a good number of singers all over the world- my LSS is now passed on to you…

I was searching for the trailer and anything I could find of “Fame,” a remake of the 1980’s smash hit movie opening this fall 2009 because So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 Top 20 finalist- Kherington Payne is part of the cast. As I was watching, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle introduced herself and my “Fildar” (Filipino radar!) beeped. I scoured her name and my hunch was right!

Anna Maria, 19, born in San Francisco, CA is of Filipino, Irish and Spanish descent. She is the granddaughter of Filipina singer-actress Sylvia La Torre.

I think her long name: Anna Maria Francesca Enriquez Perez de Tagle kind of also gave it away for her. We Filipinos are among those who carry 4-6 names total. I have 5.

I didn’t realize how popular she is on TV playing alongside Miley Cyrus aka Miley Stewart in the hit Disney show “Hannah Montana” as Ashley Dewitt and another Disney hit show “Camp Rock” as Ella. I’m sorry but I’ve never seen a Hannah Montana or Camp Rock episode so I didn’t know. I never knew she existed until today. Yay!

Check out her official website. Tons of info about her and great photos. She really seem like a sincere individual, not some hung-up teenager who is full of herself. She credits her family for keeping her grounded. “It doesn’t make things better to have an attitude and a high head. I always say, “Keep your head high but only to a certain extent” …I have the best family to fall back and that’s why I love them,” she says on her page.

She has a knack for fashion and design and cites Monique Lhuillier as her favorite designer. She states of Monique: “She has the most beautiful dresses. Her designs are so intricate and the detail she puts into her dresses is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Plus, she’s also a Filipina.”

I find the most endearing on the website is her message center. She actually responds to personal messages sent to her by fans and even responds to snail mail. Whether she is the one personally writing the messages or her PA, (every celebrity has an assistant!) is beside the point. The messages are official and coming from her own site with her photo on the responses. Who does that in Hollywood?! Nobody takes the time to respond to fans. She does.

I’m excited to watch “Fame” coming in theaters on September 25th because I have seen the original and liked it and this remake not only has Kherington Payne in it but also Anna Maria. It will be interesting to see her in the big screen in an international movie.

cast of Fame

Fame Trailer

FAME “Meet the Cast” Exclusive

Fun Facts:
Birthday: 23 December 1990
Height: 5 feet 2 in
Weight: 100
Hair Color: Brown
Hair Length: Long
Eyes: Hazel
Ethnicity: Asian, Mixed
Voice Type: Soprano
Education:
* Gorman Learning Center, Los Angeles, CA, Undergraduate, 2006
* Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA, High School Under Graduate, 2005
* St. Justin School, Santa Clara, CA, Elementary /Jr. High School – Graduate, 2004
Awards:
The 1st Filipino American Visionary Awards, Rising Star, 2008, Venue: The Kodak Theatre – March 7, 2008

UPDATE: Karla is SAFE but Jonathan has been eliminated (rightfully, might I add- Sorry Jonathan…) from the competition. My ‘prediction’ was right; the judges kept Karla and let Asuka and Jonathan go.

A new partnering emerge with Karla paired now with Vitolio Jeune. This is kind of an odd combination. Karla and Vitolio both have been in the bottom three twice. That’s not exactly good track record however it could work in their favor. As new partners they could just come out there strong and kill the dance for next week. There is the element of surprise on what the two can do on stage. Here’s hoping that they would make that chemistry and connection work fast or at least ‘fake it’ it really well initially until they get comfortable working together.

Good luck Karla and Vitolio! Don’t scare us again like that Karla… Not sure what Nigel was talking about with your solo. It was beautiful and strong, not desperate as he claims. Check out Karla, Jonathan and Vitolio’s Solos here.

Uh oh. So you Think You can Dance couple Jonathan Platero and Karla Garcia may find themselves in the bottom three the second time with tonight’s hiphop routine. Sure, it is with reason. After seeing all eight couples dance and rank them from great to bad, Karla and Jonathan’s performance was weak. However, I thought Asuka and Vitolio’s Jazz dance were the weakest and Philip and Jeanine’s Broadway routine were weaker or vice versa. That still puts Karla and Jonathan in the bottom three but ahead of the two couples mentioned.

I could blame the choreographer for a boring, super smooth hiphop with very little ’storyline’ to work with. Sorry Dave Scott, it isn’t so much as the dancer’s fault but has greatly to do with you as their choreographer as well. What wins votes are smooth hiphop with compelling stories and memorable songs in them. Chelsie and Mark’s “Bleeding Love” and Joshua and Katee’s “No Air” from last season especially comes to mind. I don’t even know the hiphop track “By My Side” from Karla and Jonathan’s performance tonight even though it is from Neyo.

I could also blame the supposed ‘luck of the draw.’ Every week, each couple dances a routine randomly drawn from a hat. If you wiki it and check season to season, dance to dance (visit main article per season), Hiphop and ballroom have been the kiss of death on this show dancing as a pair. Picking a contemporary routine for any couple is a dream. No couple have ever been in the bottom from dancing Contemporary. You can’t pick contemporary every week of course but I’m just wondering what are really the odds of the couple getting new dance style every week of the performance night versus getting two consecutive contemporary routine for example- for 2 weeks.

My conspiracy theory is the “drawing” is staged so that the dancers never have to repeat a specific dance style the following week. C’mon, each couple- and there’s only 10 of them and now down to 8 -have each danced different styles for the last three weeks, how lucky or unlucky of them to pick a new routine every week if the hat isn’t already pre-set to the dancers picking the dance. The producers already decide what these dancers will dance for that week and all that’s there on the hat are the very styles the producers want for them to dance. Isn’t that convenient? Of course, this is just my unwarranted presumptions. Who knows what goes on in the show when the camera is off?

In this current season, we’ve seen the first couple eliminated doing hiphop and the second girl also from doing hiphop. Each week, the couple/s who have done hiphop find themselves in the bottom of the pack.

This is truly sad but I must say I think Jonathan is also the culprit. He is pulling Karla down. I thought initially Karla and him are going to be great as partners! On their first dance as a couple doing the Cha-cha- the judges have pointed out some weaknesses on Jonathan, not on Karla. They were in the bottom three. On the second dance, he got lucky they got contemporary which was Karla’s forte. They were amazing and were safe from eliminations. Now on their third dance, hiphop- Jonathan wasn’t doing his share of the dancing as a couple and the judges picked on him. If the audience do listen to the judges, they’re doomed. I hope the audience make their own judgment.

Judges Comments

What bothers me is the judges’ critiques specifically that of Nigel Lythgoe’s. He is the Simon Cowell of So You Think You can Dance as Piers Morgan is in America’s Got Talent and he’s known as being “Nasty Nigel.” Any rhetorics or punches from him is almost expected week after week. However, if he keeps up with that the least he can do is be fair when firing the meanness to those who really sucked!

Karla and Jonathan weren’t the worst dancers of the evening yet they were the only couple Nigel was mean to. Perhaps being the first performers of the evening really is a great disadvantage. They get the first beating and by the time the two-hour show ends, people might have forgotten about the first couple who performed. So Karla and Jonathan were first and Nigel’s ‘attack’ on the pair doesn’t help at all.

This was how he critiqued Karla and Jonathan:

“It (the dance) feels like it’s been sort of ironed out. There’s no excitement in the routine. The one great thing for me with hiphop is fear… what are they gonna do, what’s gonna happen? There’s no danger in it…”

More blabber from Nigel with lots of gesturing and facial disgust. Asks Jonathan if he was comfortable doing the routine. Jonathan answers, “actually, today I did.”

“All right, I can’t forgive you then, because you had no contact with your partner. If you’d been worried about yourself, I could have forgiven you.” Nigel responds.

I didn’t know Nigel could have that power to forgive (or not) in the show.

Nigel continues: “That wasn’t good enough either in style or anything else you did tonight. For me, that wasn’t gangster, it was more like a Sunday school picnic outing.”

Audience boos.

Nigel: “You can boo as much as you like, I bet you they’re going to be in the bottom three. Wanna take bets? I’ll take bets with you. It wasn’t good enough.” Looking really confrontational.

Oh so now he scolds and offends the audience- the very audience who make the show number one!

He continues to ramble until host Cat Deeley says; “Someone got up at the wrong side of the bed this morning…”

Judge Mary Murphy and Toni Basil were ‘kinder in their criticisms even though they still rat on Jonathan and Karla who were keeping their poise and grace from the rough comments they have received. So sorry to see that.

I think Jonathan Platero is great at what he does, he wouldn’t be in the Top 20 otherwise. However, the partnering isn’t working for him and Karla. His pretty face can only get him into the top 20, the rest of the way he has to deliver the powerful dances! I voted for the couple extra tonight, like 100 times or so! Seriously. Many including I would truly be upset if Karla goes home tomorrow because of a weak partner. Let Jonathan go home if he has to go but if I were one of the judges (I Know, I’m not…), I will keep Karla and let Asuka go.

PLEASE AMERICA, PROVE NIGEL LYTHGOE WRONG!

For the complete performance video with judges comments and introduction, click here.

Please say hi and introduce yourself if you are one on the cool Karla fans with the signs!

Hey, Karla is wearing a Manny Pacquiao Shirt!!

All three judges raved on Karla and Jonathan’s performance as they take on a contemporary piece created by Canadian choreographer Stacey Tookey on Wednesday night’s Top 18 show. Call me biased but that was the best dance of the night! Nothing really stood out unlike last week’s opening performances where there were really some over the top dances that pushed the two into the bottom of the pack.

As I was saying, the fact that they are overly underexposed make them vulnerable to eliminations just as drawing a hard dance style is.

They are the real underdogs in the competition and judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe realizes that! Nonetheless, I find it a little disingenuous or perhaps contrived coming from Nigel given that he is one of the directors of the auditions and happens to be one of the Executive producers! He has a strong hand on how the show develops from day one, what and what not to show, who or who doesn’t get highlighted. He now seems to be “undoing” his faux pas in front of the audience. I hope it isn’t TOO late…

It was great that they got to draw a Contemporary routine! The music by The Frames “Falling Slowly” was perfect for the piece. The choreography simple yet sweet. The performance honest and lyrical; the facial expressions heartfelt. The technique was flawless, even for Jonathan who isn’t a contemporary dancer; their lines were clean and beautiful and Karla was just fascinating to watch. She was in her best element. This was her style of dance and as they tritely say on the show, she “nailed” it! It’s one of those dances that just makes you feel good and smile and get goosebumps or as host Cat Deeley exclaimed after the performance: “It’s official, the first Deeley chills of the season!”

Check out the video performance by clicking here.

Note: Please link back to this site when grabbing photos. No, it’s not ok to steal...

Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to “bury” our favorite appliances that have indeed served us through the years? That first TV we bought from our first paycheck. The old coffeemaker where we get our daily caffeine boost for years that has stopped working.  That old radio our grand father gave us from way back when that’s not playing anymore. How about that noisy cheap hairdryer with good memories from siblings fighting over whose going to use it first?!

When we visit its grave, do we bring flowers? Do we talk to them too? That would be weird.

Had a kick reading this ‘fake ad’ from the community paper I just had to share it.

Since our recent move, we have been getting The Homesteader. It is a publication for new and established homeowners throughout New England that we receive monthly for free in our mail.

One of the things I have enjoyed doing is tying to find its “fake ad” of the month. Hidden among its pages and real ads is one fake ad that is usually original, creative and often funny. It is also a contest which makes it more fun to find! A $50 monthly and $500 quarterly prizes isn’t so bad! I haven’t won yet though.

But that’s just me- always unlucky in contests and prizes…

What’s in your local paper?

* Karla Garcia: “Blackbird”—Dionne Farris
* Vitolio Jeune: “Here Comes Goodbye”—Rascal Flatts

7/1 Karla and Vitolio’s Quickstep Performance with introduction and judges comments

7/1 Top 14 Solo Introduction plus Dance Recap

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6/25 Results Night: Includes Solos of Vitolio Jeune, Karla Garcia and Jonathan Platero plus judges decision.
Music to the solos are:

> Vitolio Jeune: “Viva La Vida”—Coldplay
> Karla Garcia: “15 Step”— Radiohead
> Jonathan Platero: “The Hunted”— Kodo

6/24 Third performance, Hiphop Routine | Music by Jadakiss featuring Ne-Yo, “By my Side”

Top 16 Solo Introduction and Dance Recap

Short tribute to Jonathan’s Journey on SYTYCD:

This is a special section covering videos of Karla Garcia’s exposure on So You Think You Can Dance Season 5, along with partner Jonathan Platero.

This will be updated weekly showing all their performances and more.

Join the ride with me! Watch SYTYCD every Wednesday night at 8pm (eastern) and Vote for Karla! Results night follow every Thursday at 9pm (eastern) on the Fox Channel.

Q: How old were you when you started dancing?
A: 3 years old

Q: Do you have any formal dance training?
A: Yes, I trained in ballet, tap, and jazz for 15 years. Then I attended NYU’s Tisch School, where I studied modern dance.

MORE next page…

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