The Next Judge

American Idol 2010! Denver Auditions

2010-02-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol has begun and is well into it's city audition stage of the competition. Tonight is the Denver auditions and the 11,000 hopefuls lining up to perform will audition in front of Victoria Beckham who has returned as a guest judge. Of course she is joined by Randy, Simon, and Kara.

Mark Labriolo was the first audition of the day. He looked like he wasn't going to be very good. Turns out, he had a great voice. His score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges moved him forward. It's a good thing he made it through because he's 28 years old and next year would be too late. He also has a very cute son toddler age.

The next contestant is Mario Galvan is a tabacco-resistance counselor, but fancies himself as another Elvis Presley. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He promises to try again next year. His score from me is 5 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward.

Kimberly Kerbow is a single mom who has a young daughter that has enough confidence for both her and her auditioning mother. It turns out that the daughter knew what she was talking about. Mom made it through. Her score from me is 7 out of 10.

As they day progressed, many contestants were getting through. The judges were liking the talent in Denver.

The next contestant, Danielle Hayes has been working hard to make it into the music world. It's been a long hard rode. She has a very strong voice with a raspy rock edge to it. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges loved her personality and her voice. This is a name I will watch for during Hollywood week. She has the potential to go pretty far.

Casey James has recovered from a horrible motorcycle accident and didn't know if he would ever be able to play his guitar again. He sang well enough to move forward. His score from me. is 6 out of 10. He is going to have to work on his performance skills. The judges didn't all agree, but he moved him forward.

Tori Kelly singing "Gravity" has a pretty good voice. The judges again did not all agree, but this beautiful young lady had a good enough voice to move her forward in the process. Her score from me is 7 out of 10.

We are now at Day 2.

Austin Paul is from Washington DC but plays football at Denver. He fancies himself a singer and a song writer. Austin is extremely (shall we say) confident. Kara said cocky. Whatever, none of the judges felt he had the talent necessary. His score from me is 6 out of 10.

The next contestant Kenny Everett makes Austin Paul look humble. He claims to be the best singer in the world. In fact he sings out on the streets of Denver just as a public service to the community. The problem is that he can't sing. The judges are providing a public service by being honest with Kenny who is convinced the judges are wrong. His score from me is 2 out of 10.

You had to know that since there was so much good talent the first day, the 2nd day was going to be bad.

Traveling 1400 miles to get to this audition, Nikki must have known she was good enough to make it worth her while. All the judges liked her. Her score from me is 7 out of 10.

Haely Johnson has the best voice I've heard this year. She's black, but she's Country/Pop. That is very original. She is the whole package. Look for this name again later on down the season. I think we'll see this talent again.

In all 26 contestants from the Denver auditions made it through to Hollywood. The most unique contestant was the person who took one step past Bikini Girl from last season. Bikini Boy, Ty Hemmerling tried to get noticed by singing in a bikini. Since he was the last contestant of the day, the judges just got up and left him there all by himself. He kept expecting the judges to come back in. They didn't

American Idol 2010! Dallas Auditions

2010-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol has begun. Tonight is the Dallas auditions and the 11,000 hopefuls lining up at Cowboy stadium will be judged by our guest judge Neil Patrick Harris. Of course he is joined by Randy, Simon, and Kara. I have high hopes for Dallas because, after all, this is where Kelly Clarkson was found.

Our first contestant is Julie Kevelighan. This isn't her first try. In fact she was bad enough that she was remembered. Of course, she just kept singing even after the judges told her no. How desperate does a human being get when they keep singing one song after another, even though they've been rejected. Her score from me is 1 out of 10.

Lloyd Thomas is the complete opposite of our last contestant. First of all he can sing. Secondly he has two daughters that he teaches that anything is possible, despite the fact that he grew up in the projects and currently works as a dock worker. The judges moved him forward. His score from me is 9 out of 10.

Kimberly Carver can sing too. She has an extremely strong voice. She seems humble but positive. She should work on her performance skills. She made it through despite Simon's "no". Her score from me is 8 out of 10.

Our next contestant Dexter Ward was an extremely confident contestant. He knew he had the talent, the looks, everything. He is our next American Idol. The only problem is that he can't sing at all. He is surprised, but he was polite. He cried later on, but he was polite. His score from me is 3 out of 10.

Erica Rhodes is actually already acquainted with show biz. She was one of the kids on the Barney show. So to change that squeaky clean image, she came in a black shiny outfit and carried in a whip. I don't know that bondage was the extreme she had to go to to impress the judges, because iher voice was strong enough on it's own to influence the judges. Her score from me is 7 out of 10.

The final contestant of the day is a young man who has Tourette's syndrome.
The funny thing for him is that it does not effect him when he is singing. He doesn't know why. Dave Pittman from Arkansas has a few pitchy moments, but overall has a good voice. He has clear potential. He's good looking and he is a likable young man. His score from me is 8 out of 10. This is one brave young man who will have to continue to fight Tourette's syndrome through all his non-singing moments in the lime light.

The first day in Dallas is over and we have a Jonas Brother joining the gang as a guest judge for the 2nd day. Neil Patrick Harris did a great job as a judge. The only problem he had was getting along with Simon. Oh Well. I don't think he will lose any sleep over it.

Joe Jonas is going to be the biggest heart throb judge of the year.

The first contestant of the day, Todrick Hall was in the Broadway version of the Color Purple with Fantasia. He sang a song he had written himself that was cute but cheesy. He did have a great voice though. The judges liked him. His score from me is 9 out of 10.

Maegan Wright brought her little brother. The recent divorce of their parents has brought the two of them closer. The brother could be a stand-up comic, hopefully she's as good a singer. All the judges loved her. Her score from me is 9 out of 10.

Vanessa Johnston, our next contestant was a 24-hour, 7-days a week cheerleader. Unfortunately, her energy and cheer could not overcome her very pitchy loud voice. Her score from me is 2 out of 10.

Christian Spears was diagnosed with Lukemia when she was just 4 years old. Finally at the age of 8, she beat cancer. She made it though, and now she is a beautiful 16-year old teenager, stronger for the experience. She was blessed with a beautiful voice with a whole lot of soul. Her score from me is 10 out of 10.
The judges moved her forward to Hollywood.

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American Idol 2010 - L.A. Auditions

2010-01-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol has begun. Tonight is the Los Angeles auditions and our two guest judges are Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry. Of course they are joined by Randy, Simon, and Kara.

Our first contestant tonight is Neil Goldstein. This young man is a lunatic. He absolutely refused to leave until the judges moved him forward. Finally when Simon explained that he could leave on his own or leave with the help of security, he came to his senses and left peacefully. He is still convinced that American Idol has lost out on a true talent. His score from me is 4 out of 10. He needs psychological help however.

The next contestant is Jim Ranger. Okay now we're talking. Jim can sing. He has a fantastic voice. The judges liked him except for Avril Lavigne. I don't know what her problem was because his voice was clearly ver good.

Jayson Wilson tried to sing like Adam Lambert, but he couldn't. Jesse Chang tried to sing Kung Fu Lightening, but the only thing he could do well was Karate Kick. Martin Perez started out halfway good but couldn't remember his words after the first sentence. Damine LeFavor was another horrible singer that was absolutely sure he was the next American Idol. He didn't realize that he was a bad singer until his voice kind of cracked. Then all of sudden he stopped singing thinking that because his voice cracked his chance for stardom was over. So he left easy enough, but what he didn't realize was that his singing was atrocious long before his voice cracked. The judges didn't care... whatever works.

Mary Powers took on Pat Benetar. Her voice was great. The judges loved her. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. She is on her way to Hollywood. This rockn Roll chick could go far. We'll see.

There are a lot of contestants that wanted to be the new Adam Lambert. A. J. Mendoza even sent a video to Adam that he reports he received a lot of positive feedback from. This young man was no Adam Lambert. His score from me is 2 out of 10. The judges rejected him as well.

Day Two in L.A., Katy Perry has taken Avril's seat as the guest judge.

We have another sexual singer by the name of Austin Fullmer. Austin's bizarre movement takes your mind off of his really bad voice. His score from me is 2 out of 10. A little more humility and some dance training wouldn't hurt. In his opinion the reason he was not chosen is because Simon just couldn't handle it. I guess that's a fair statement.

Andrew Garcia is a singer! Finally we found some talent. He is also a likable person, a husband, and father. All the judges love him. His score from me is 9 out of 10.

Tasha Layton is also a singer. Her voice has a southern feel to it. She didn't exactly bowl the judges over, but they liked her. Her score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges moved her forward to Hollywood.

Jason Greene is the opposite of the pure voice of Tasha. He is singing "I Touch Myself". This is an obviously effeminate young man who is extremely sexual, inviting Simon to join him on the floor. He didn't have a good voice, so he tried shock therapy. It didn't work. His voice wasn't horrible, but he was. He also gave his phone number to Ryan Secrest who promptly gave it to one of the large security guards. The judges didn't send him through to Hollywood. His score from me is 4 out of 10. Please excuse me for a minute while I go wash my hands.

The last contestant of the 2nd day grew up in the foster system and lived with 25 families over his young lifetime. He used his music to help with the pain. He sings like an angel. He's got great strength and soul in his voice. Chris is in! My score for him is 10 out of 10.

In all 22 voices sang their way to the next round in Hollywood. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from Los Angeles.

American Idol 2010! Orlando Auditions

2010-01-20T18:03:00.001-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol has begun with one hit and one celebrity already. If you haven't heard about "Pants on the Floor" what planet have you been on? Tonight is the fourth night of this brand new season. We will witness the Orlando auditions. The men (Simon, Randy, and Ryan) showed up with a hangover. Meanwhile Kara and our guest judge Kristen Chenowith were making great friends.

During the audition portion of this season, I can only comment on those auditions that we get to see in their entirety. Sometimes we just get video that shows us short clips of a myriad of contestants. There's not much that I can do with that.

Our first character , I mean contestant, is Theo Glinton. He is large black man with a bizarre Lady Gaga look. His voice wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good either. He just kind of yelled the song at them. His score from me is 4 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward to Hollywood.

The next contestant from Orlando is 28-year old Seth Rollins, is singing a Frank Sinatra song. He has a great voice. It's fluid and smooth as silk. You could listen to him sing for a long time. His score from me is 8 out of 10. All four judges liked him and moved him forward to Hollywood. Good luck Seth. I think we might be seeing a lot more of him if he can get his performance side up.
Jermaine Purifoy is trying out his luck for the 2nd time. He didn't get through the first time, but he wants to again this year. He agrees he probably wasn't ready that first time, but he thinks he might be ready this time. His score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges all loved him as well and he got that golden ticket.

The last contestant for the first day in Orlando is Shelby Dressel. She comes to us with a disability but it's certainly not her voice. She's got some trouble with muscle strength and it causes some drooping and muscle movement in her face. She is scared to death, but also courageous at the same time, because she's looking for more acceptance than your average contestant. She needs acceptance of her challenges facially and her voice. She gets both from all four judges. They loved her. Her score from me is 8 out of 10. Oh, she's also a beautiful young lady.

2nd Day in Orlando without Kristen Chenowith

The first contestant the next day was Jay Stone. He was a B-Boxer and a singer at the same time. It sounded like a confusing mess to me. When he just sang, he had a pretty good voice. He did make it through, but only because Kara fought for him. His score from me is 6 out of 10.

Cornelius Edwards was singing really well and then he suddenly jumped into the splits and his pants split with him. After seeing that Simon couldn't help but say yes. His voice truly was good. His score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges moved him forward.

We have two sisters for our next contestants. The sister in blue is Bernadette Desimone sang first and she did a great rendition of "Hit The Road Jack". The second sister, Amanada Desimone sang "I want to dance With Somebody." They both sounded great to me and their voices were very similar. Randy and Kara said yes to both. Simon would have only sent Bernadette through himself, but they both moved on.

Our next contestant is Jarrod Norrell from Marietta Georgia. He sang "Amazing Grace". It was not amazing. It was horrible and whiney. He was amazed however that the judges didn't like him. He kept trying to sing again and, of course argued with the judges. They kept asking him to leave and when the two big security guys tried to escort him out, he resisted and ended up being handcuffed. It left the judges in a state of shocked silence. Then Simon turned to Randy and Kara and said, "Well, Yes or No?". They all agreed NO!!!! His score from me -1 out of 10.

Our next contestant made a huge mistake in his life. He decided to rob a bank with a BB Gun at the age of 15. He did it for an adventure. He sincerely regrets that he did something so stupid. He regrets he made his parents cry and. His name is Matthew Lawrence and he sang "Trouble". Some folks told him he had a good voice, so he thought he would give this a try and see what happens. It's safe to say that he made his parents proud this time. Matthew is moving forward. His score from me is 7 out of 10.

American Idol 2010! Chicago Auditions

2010-01-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol begins at last! Tonight is the second night of this brand new season. We will witness the Chicago auditions with 12,000 hopefuls auditioning. During the audition portion of this season, I can only comment on those auditions that we get to see in their entirety. Sometimes we just get video that shows us short clips of a myriad of contestants. There's not much that I can do with that.

Changes taking place this season are, of course, the loss of Paula Abdul as a judge, and the addition of Ellen DeGeneres as Paula's replacement. However during the audition portion of this season, famous guest judges join the show each week. This week our guest judge is Shania Twain.

The first contestant of the day is Katelyn Epperly from Iowa. She can sing very well and she is a beautiful girl to look at with a sincere likable personality. Her score from me is 8 out of 10. The judges all liked her and moved her forward to Hollywood.

Our next contestant Amy Lang was a precocious drama queen, but she wasn't a singer. Her score from me is 2 out of 10. The judges did not move her forward.

Our next contestant is Charity Vance. Her voice wasn't big, but it was beautiful and she had a good range. She has a unique voice and she's not bad to look at either. Her score from me is 8 out of 10. The judges moved her forward.

Third time's a charm. Angela Martin has made it as high as the Top 50 last year, but she had to leave the show because of a court date for a traffic violation. The first time she made it to Hollywood, but her father died a week before. So she is here again, trying to make her dream come true. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. Hopefully Angela will have a little more luck on her side this time around, because she is definitely talented.

Eight contestants made it through on the first day in Chicago. Day Two Auditions are about to begin.

The first contestant on the 2nd day is Curley Newbern. He is a large man, but he sings with an excruciatingly high voice that was terribly out of turn. His score from me is 1 out of 10. It was painful for everyone involved.

Our next contestant Alannah Halbert could not sing at all. Her score from me is 1 out of 10. It was painful for everyone involved. Ever with the judges coaching her on her pitch, she still couldn't get in tune.

Our next contestant is Brian Krause. He was singing "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" by Tiny Tim. I don't as a rule like Tiny Tim's music, but after listening to Brian, I'm a new fan of Tiny Tim. Brian is tiptoeing home for a hot relaxing bath. His score from me is 1 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward.

Our next contestant is Harold Davis. Singing Usher's "Nice and Slow". Another very poor singer who truly believed he had talent. He just started crying, hung his head, and left.

Chantelle Graczkowski, along with an extremely irritating line of really bad singers just added to a very long day for the judges. Needless to say, none of them moved forward in the competition.

John Park's parents didn't want him to go into singing, but he has decided to try out anyway. Shania Twain liked his bottom end, she had to clarify that she meant (the low tones of his voice). His score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges moved him forward to Hollywood.

Paige Dechausse has asthma and almost died at one point in her life. She made it through that and is now auditioning for this big show. Simon didn't vote in her behalf. Kara and Shania talked Randy into letting her through, but she has a lot of work to do in her performance skills. Her score from me is 7 out of 10.

A total of 13 Gold tickets were handed out in the Windy City.

American Idol 2010! Atlanta Auditions

2010-01-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol begins at last! Tonight is the second night of this brand new season. We will witness the Atlanta auditions. During the audition portion of this season, I can only comment on those auditions that we get to see in their entirety. Sometimes we just get video that shows us short clips of a myriad of contestants. There's not much that I can do with that.

Changes taking place this season are, of course, the loss of Paula Abdul as a judge, and the addition of Ellen DeGeneres as Paula's replacement. However during the audition portion of this season, famous guest judges join the show each week. This week our guest judge is Mary J. Blige.

27-year old Dewone Robinson is a large man and a confident man. He is so confident that he is going to audition with a song he wrote himself. His audition is bizarre. I know that it's not very nice to say that, but he has an awful voice and his original song was one sentence repeated over and over. Now I know you're not going to believe this, but this man is now going to argue with the judges. His score from me is 1 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward.

26-year old Keia Johnson entered a Miss America contest and won Miss Congeniality. Simon made fun of that, but this girl is beautiful and she can sing. She sang the theme song from Titanic, and that's not an easy song to sing. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges moved her forward to Hollywood. She's on her way. I would watch for this name, because I don't think this is the last we'll see of her.

We just witnessed a string of female singers that all made it through.

26-year old, church singer, Jermaine Sellers, has been taking care of his sick mother for many years. He has a sweet soulful voice, he's good looking in a young and innocent way, and he's very likable. His score from me is 10 out of 10. The judges moved him forward in the competition. This is another name I think we will hear again.

25-year old Christy Marie Agronow, a TV producer from the Atlanta area is singing "Love is a Battlefield". This cheerful contender was not as cheerful on the way out of the audition room. She was, shall we say, of a differing opinion than the judges. Her score from me is 4 out of 10. The judges did not move her forward.

Our next contestant is an interesting story. A young girl with a strong southern accent is tired of living in a small southern town where not many opportunities await her. She's a tomboy that likes jumping off bridges into local canals and river. Vanessa Wolfe wants to find a way out and she thinks her voice might be the vehicle that will carry her. She does have a very interesting voice that could sing a good country song. She looks the part as well. Her score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges like the fact that she iss different and authentic and moved her forward in the competition. She will fly in an airplane for the first time in her life. I suspect she will be having a lot of firsts in this new experience.

2nd Day in Atlanta
26-year-old Jessie Hamilton has had three brushes with death. The show went to a lot of trouble to make fun of his life story with cheap dramatizations of his 3 near-death experiences. Jessie has never sang in front of anyone but his mom before. He is not a good singer and is obviously a simple young man, not of the world, just trying to find his place in life. He is currently a welder and does come across as a stereotypical hillbilly from the back woods. What I don't like is that Mary J. Blige feels free to laugh at bad singers easily. She started laughing before he even sang because he froze up. She should have more class than that. I don't like it when the other judges do it either, but it's even worse when you're a successful singer who has been blessed with the talent to sing and laugh at those who don't. His score from me was 3 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward in the competition.

Our next contestant calls herself the human guitar and that is what she looks like with her costuming. This is another phenomenon that you see in shows like this where contestants believe that hokey gags will somehow get them through. Luckily for this nasally high pitched voice, all of a sudden, breaks out into a Loretta Lynn song with a deep big alto voice that sang in pitch and sounded great. Her score from me is 8 out of 10. The judges moved her on despite the fact that Mary J. Blige said no.

Our next contestant is Blake Smith. He had a voice that would maybe be good in a choir, but not as a soloist. His score from me is 5 out of 10. The judges did not move him on to the next level.

Someone that Mary j. Blige did like was Mallorie Haley, a beautiful young country singer who courageously belted out a country ballad. Watch for this name. She has a lot of potential. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges agreed with Mary and moved her on to Hollywood.

Our next contestant has American Idol shaved into his head. He entertains the crowd in the holding room but not with singing. He is confident and all smiles. He assures the judges that he will blow them away. Antonio Wheeler, who comes across as another joke, starts singing "Heard it Through the Grapevine" and does everything he said he would do. Simon didn't like him, but the rest of the judges said his voice is great, but he needs to work on his image. I'm not sure this young man is mentally stable enough to make it through the harsh reality of Hollywood auditions, but that's exactly where he is headed. His score from me is 7 out of 10.

We now have two BFFs who have been best friends since 3rd grade. They're sure that both of them will both make it through to Hollywood. Lauren and Carmen come into the audition together, but have entirely different voices. Lauren Sanders has a very timid soft voice and has a few pitch issues. Her friend Carmen Turner has exactly the opposite kind of voice. She has a strong beautiful voice and sings her song with differing dynamics. Lauren's score is 5 out of 10. Carmen's score is 9 out of 10. The judges moved Carmen forward in the competition.

Our next contestant is a police officer in a local small town. He loves his job, but he also loves singing. Bryan Walker has the best voice I've heard this season. I love him. His score from me is 10 out of 10. The judges liked him too.

Our next contestant is excited to get in front of Mary J. Blige. Lamar Royal has a powerful voice, but it was not pretty. His pitch problems were significant. His score from me was 4 out of 10. The judges did not move him on. He was determined though. He just kept singing and refused to believe the judges. This is when 2 big security guys move in. Needless to say he did not impress Mary. Of course the camera followed him all the way out so we could witness his, mostly bleeped, reaction to his American Idol experience.

Our next contestant is too old to audition for AI, but they allow General Larry Pratt to audition anyway. He was a great comedy relief for the judges, but that was all.

Twenty-five gold tickets went out in Atlanta. We'll see how well the Atlanta talent does in the Hollywood level of the competition.

I think the main theme we will come away with regarding the Atlanta auditions is "Pants on the Ground".

American Idol 2010! Boston Auditions

2010-01-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol begins at last! Tonight we will witness the Boston auditions. During the audition portion of this season, I can only comment on those auditions that we get to see in their entirety. Sometimes we just get video that shows us short clips of a myriad of contestants. There's not much that I can do with that.

Changes taking place this season are, of course, the loss of Paula Abdul as a judge, and the addition of Ellen DeGeneres as Paula's replacement. However during the audition portion of this season, famous guest judges join the show each week. This week our guest judge is Victoria Beckham. The 9000 contestants in Boston were under a sea of umbrellas as they waited for their turn in the pouring rain.

Our first contestant has been playing the American Idol video game for sometime, practicing for this big moment. Janet McNamara from Michigan cannot sing at all. Her score from me is 4 out of 10. The judges told her no. I guess you can't trust the American Idol video game to give you a "no-holds-barred" evaluation.

Our second contestant is Maddie Curtis. She sings "Hallelujah". She sings it beautifully hitting both the higher and lower notes very well showing her range and maturity. Her score from me is 8 out of 10. The judges told her yes. Maddie is going to Vegas and moving on in the competition.

Pat Ford, Age 17 is a hyperactive teenager who doesn't have a horrible voice, but he doesn't have a good voice either. He has an outrageous personality and more than makes up for his lack of talent in energy. You can't help but like him because he's fun to be around, unfortunately he doesn't have any talent. His score from me is 5 out of 10. The judges told him no.

3 short clips of successful female candidates displayed a triumphant morning for female singers, but as of noon on the first day, no male candidates had maneuvered their way to the next level of the competition. Let's hope the afternoon brings better luck for the men.

Our next candidate is a 28-year old male named Amadeo Dirricco. He has a husky huge voice and sings with a lot of passion. This Italian singer had a raspy Jimmy Durante feel to his voice. His score from me is 7 out of 10. (Mainly because he didn't show a lot of range in the song he chose for his audition) The judges moved him on to the next level of the competition.

Our next male candidate isn't quite as large a personality as Amadeo. He's a more quiet, reflective sort of person. Derek Hilton has a horrific voice. These are the people I don't get. They can't hear how bad they are somehow. His score from me is 2 out of 10. The judges did not move him on to the next level.

Why is it that the hyperactive candidates, that dance around and act in a flamboyant manner, are almost always very bad singers. Mere Doyle is a perfect example of this stereotypical participant that you see every year. If pure energy was enough to make you a good singer, Mere would have impressed us. Mere yelled her song out and she was absolutely shocked when the judges told her no. Her score from me is 2 out of 10. This contestant than moves into the stereotypical temper tantrum and lashes out at the judges.

Luke Shaffer from New York and Benjamin Bright had great fun harmonizing with each other in the holding room. They both had great voices. My score for both of them would be a 7 out of 10. The judges moved them both on in the competition.

Another stereotypical participant named Andrew is the egotistical jerk that appears to come for a fight rather than an audition. Andrew Fenion sang the House of the Rising Sun. He could carry a tune fairly well, but his attitude was so horrible the judges didn't want anything to do with him. At first Simon was put off by him, but after a few minutes, he actually took a liking to him, because people like that sometimes provide entertainment for Simon. His score from me is 5 out of 10 and that's generous. The judges did not move him forward and he left wondering why everyone was so upset with him.

Our next contestant Ashley Rodriguez has the looks. Okay, I love her voice. She could go really far in this competition, so watch for this name later on down the road. She is what they call the "total package". Looks, talent, and humble confidence. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges moved her forward in the competition.

Our next contestant is Tyler Grady who comes to the audition with two broken arms. He plays drums, so this injury is the worse possible injury he could have. It just so happens, he also has pipes. Maybe he can give the drums a break for awhile and give singing a try. His score from me is 8 out of 10. Tyler also has good looks. The judges moved him forward in the competition.

Day Two in Boston
The first contestant of the 2nd day is Lisa Olivero. This waitress was sure that she could turn her days of waiting on others to others waiting on her once she reached stardom. Lisa is beautiful to look at, but her voice was not good. She left with a thank you and seemed to take in what the judges told her which was a nice change of pace. Most contestants that leave the auditions deprived of any opportunity of furthering their singing career leave disgrunted. Her score from me was 4 out of 10. The judges did not move her forward.

The next contestant, Mike Davis, is an actor on a local speedboat named Godzilla. He takes tourists for some thrilling rides. He sang the Beatles tune "Yesterday". He had a soulful clear voice that was surprising. His voice didn't match his looks in my mind, not that he looked bad. He has a great personality with eyes that smile. His score from me was 7 out of 10. The judges moved him forward in the competition. This was the first successful candidate of the day and we're well into the day.

Our next contestant, Katie Stevens, is very close to her Portugese grandmother who has Alzheimers. She would like to see her dream of a singing career come true before her grandmother forgets who she is. She sings the classic song "At Last". Her score from me is 9 out of 10. She is only 16 and sings in a very accomplished manner. She also plays the piano. The judges moved her on to the next level of the competition.

Our next contestant is 28-year-old Joshua Blaylock. He is at the point where this is his last shot to get into the show because of his age. He has a good voice and sings with heart, but first the judges are compelled to make him more aggressive by teaching him how to tell Simon to "Shut up". How come, when they find a nice guy, they try to change him and make him more aggressive. Newsflash to Simon, "You can be confident without being aggressive." His score from me is 8 out of 10. The judges moved him to the next level of the competition.

Our next contestant, Justin Williams, has been through a lot in his life. At the age of 20, while serving a mission, he found out he had cancer. He is now cancer free. He is extremely good looking. He has a terrific voice and isn't short on charisma or confidence. Can you tell I like him? His score from me is 9 out of 10.
He is a crooner with a Michael Buble feel. The judges moved him forward in the competition.

Norberto Buerrero is a young man, who is definitely out of the main stream in looks and hair. His singing voice is poor however. His score from me is 2 out of 10. The judges did not move him forward in the competition.

Our next contestant is Bosa Mora. He sings from the heart and has a good voice, but has a performance issue. He need to step up his performance skills. His score from me is 7 out of 10. The judges moved him forward.

Growing up in a family that did not allow her to listen to secular music, Leah Laurenti, is out to prove more than just that she can sing. She also wants her parents approval. She hopes her success on the show would help with that. She sings "Blue Skies". Her voice is great!. Her look is okay as well. Her jazz style was surprising to the judges. Her score from me is 9 out of 10. The judges moved her forward in the competition, and when she phoned her father, he said he was proud of her.

Tomorrow night we head south, can't wait!

"So You Think You Can Dance " Top 6 Vie For Final Prize!

2009-12-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 6 remaining finalist together to compete. Each female dancer will be paired up with each male dancer before the night is through. This is the Finale, so America's voting is more important than ever.

Katherine and Ryan performed a fantastic Salsa. It had an African theme and music that was very interesting as well. Ryan's final lift/throw of Katherine onto his back was something I've never seen before. They did it very well. It was a great finish to a superb routine. Katherine-10 Ryan-10

Ellenore and Jakob are dancing a Jazz routine. No body can jump like Jakob. Choreographers just can't help but throw a few leaps in each of his routines. I do not mind, but that just left Ellenore with the easier choreography. What Ellenore did, she did well, but it was clear that the choreographers knew they could do more with Jakob. Ellenore-8 Jakob-10

Ashleigh and Russell are performing a lyrical routine. They both clearly did a great job, but Russell was hands down better at expressing true emotion throughout the routine. He also performed harder choreography than she did. She looked beautiful and performed her choreography well, but Russell stole the show. Russell-10 Ashleigh-9

Ellenore and Ryan are performing a Jazz routine. This number has a lot of robotic movement that must be performed with exactness. They're both doing a very good job, but Ellenore is slightly better than Ryan. There are a lot of hard lifts though that require Ryan's strength, and he is extremely strong. Ellenore-10 Ryan-9

Ashleigh and Jacob are performing a Foxtrot. I think both dancers did a respectable job on this number, but Ashleigh stole the show. That's not an easy thing to do, when you're dancing with Jakob. They could have gotten a little more into the old time jazz feel of the music in their movement, but overall they did a good job. Ashleigh-10 Jakob-9

Ellenore and Russell are performing a Paso Doble. Neither dancer has done ballromm, so this should be extremely hard. You wouldn't know it watching them. They have all the drama and stregnth of movement you would expect. Russell is an extremey strong young man, so he can lift with the best of them. Ellenore looks beautiful in anything she does, and this was no different. I loved this number. Ellenore-10 Russell-10

Katherine and Jakob are dancing a contemporary number. I love this number and I love these two dancing together. Jakob is such a technician and a great emotional dancer. These guys got a standing ovation even from the judges. This was a great number and both dancers performed it perfectly. Katherine-10 Jakob-10

Ashleigh and Ryan, the first husband and wife to both make into the Top 20 (let alone the Finale) are dancing a contemporary routine together. They are Latin ballroom dancers so this will be foreign for both of them. You can see how well they work with each other. They're use to dancing together even though they're dancing a dance style that is out of their comfort zone. This is a beautiful routine performed by two dancers who were crying at the end with all of us who watched them. Not only did they have good chemistry, you could feel the love and respect they have for each other. No matter the results of this contest, I doubt these two will feel anything but successful. Ashleigh-10 Ryan-10

Katherine and Russell are dancing a Hip Hop routine. This was a hard hitting, physical routine. They both performed this routine extremely well. The competitive spirit tonight has been amazing. Katherine-10 Russell-10

Score Totals For The Night

19-year old, Russell (krumper) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

27-year-old Ashleigh (ballroom) 1st Dance-9 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-29

18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo- 10 Total-29

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) 1st Dance-8 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-28

28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-10 Total-29

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

Favorites of the Night

I can't choose 3 favorite routines, there were too many amazing routines.

My Ranking of the female dancers for tonight are:

Katherine, Ellenore, Ashleigh

My Ranking of the male dancers for tonight are:

Russell, Jakob, Ryan

America votes tonight and we'll post the results of tomorrow night's Results Show.

6th Place-Ryan

5th Place-Ashleigh

4th Place-Ellenore

3rd Place-Katherine

2nd Place-Jakob

1st Place-Russell

Also, I'll be judging American Idol in January.

"So You Think You Can Dance TOP 8!

2009-12-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 8 remaining finalist together to compete. Four male dancers and four female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other three couples for a spot on the Finals.

America determines which dancers will be leaving the show. The show's judges are no longer a part of the decision making process. Each couple is determined by the female dancers pulling their partners name out of the hat. In addition, each couple pull the two styles of dance they will perform out of a hat. America will vote for their favorite dancer rather than their favorite couple. Each dancer will also perform a self-choreographed solo.

The first thing you notice right off the bat is that Ashleigh didn't do her introduction solo, so you're left wondering what the story is. It turns out that she pulled her left shoulder out of the socket earlier today, and the doctors won't clear her.

Katherine and Ryan will be performing a Disco dance choreographed by Dorianna Sanchez.They'll be dancing to one of my favorite disco dance songs: Last Dance. This was an energetic routine with a log of lifts. Ryan is strong and a great partner when lifts are required. They both had great energy and superb chemistry as a couple. Katherine-10 Ryan-10

For their 2nd routine, Katherine and Ryan performed a Chachacha choreographed by Jason Gilkison. This was a hot routine. They perfomed a very hard routine articulately. They had technique and chemistry out of this world. Katherine-10 Ryan-10

Molly and Jacob will be performing a Viennese Waltz with choreographer Jason Gilkison. This is great music for a Waltz. They're performing a beautiful routine, but there hasn't been a lot of standard couple waltzing. What they are performing is done very well though. They had a lot of lifts and leaps that again are not seen in Waltzes usually, but they had a high level of difficulty and performed beautifully with very strong technique. Molly-10 Jacob-10

For their 2nd routine, Mollee and Jacob will be performing a Broadway routine choreographed by Joey Dowling. Jacob was phenomenal, but Mollee struggled. She struggled with some of the movement, but also with the character. Mollee-9 Jacob-10

Ellenore and Legacy will be performing a contemporary routine choreographed by Travis Wall. This unique routine was a Mr and Mrs Smith type of routine. Two people fighting over a dinner table. You're not sure if they're going to kill each other of fall in love. The intensity of the routine was fantastic. The technique was coordinated with some of Legacy's great tricks. This was a great routine. The level of difficulty and the potential for something to go wrong in this routine was extremely high. They took a chance and they pulled it off. Ellenore-10 Legacy-10

For their 2nd routine, Ellenore and Legacy will be performing a Tabitha and Napolean Dubo Hip Hop routine. This was a very unique routine from a choreography perspective. It was performed well. It was not my favorite routine and especially Ellenore could have been more hard hitting. Ellenore-9 Legacy-9

Jakob's Solo wasn't his best of all time, but it was unique and well danced. Jakob-9

Ashleigh can still be voted back for the finale next week by America based on her body of work throughout season.

Her partner, Russell will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Shane Sparks. Lucky for Russell, this was his style or at least close to his style of dance. This was hiphop and Russell is a Krumper. The fact that he was dancing with an associate of his choreographer's at the last minute just gave this dancer even more credibility. He has a great attitude for being put into such a horrible position at such an important time. Russell, you should be proud of yourself! Russell-10

For his 2nd routine of the night, Russell will be performing a Bollywood routine choreographed by Nakul. Again Russell has to dance with a totally new partner at the last minute. This kid is such an amazing talent and so resilient under such unbelievably difficult circumstances. Russell-10

Molly came out fighting in her solo. She had gymnastics, spins, leaps, .. a little bit of everything. It was choreographed very well to interesting music. Molly-10

Legacy's solo was not well choreographed. He had a prop that didn't work out very well, but his tricks are always fun to see. Legacy-9

Ellenore's routine didn't look like it was planned. It was choppy and scattered. She's good at what she does but this was not her best. Ellenore-9

Russell's solo as Santa was absolutely unbelievable. Not only did he plan this out but he showed a lot of creativity. He is a star! Russell-10

Katherine's solo was well choreographed and danced perfectly She is an amazing talent. Katherine-10

Ryan's solo was again too repetitive. He has a hard time choreographing a competitive solo, but performs just about anything that is choreographed for him. Ryan-9

Score Totals For The Night

19-year old, Russell (krumper) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

27-year-old Ashleigh (ballroom) 1st Dance-NA 2nd Dance-NA Solo-NA Total-NA

18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-9 Total-29

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-9 Total-28

28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo- 9 Total-29

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-9 Total-28

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-10 Total-29

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Travis Wall's Contemporary Table routine danced by Ellenore and Legacy and Jason Gilkison's Chachacha perfomed by Katherine and Ryan, and Nakul's Bollywood routine danced by Russell.

My Ranking of the female dancers for tonight are:

Katherine, Mollee, Ellenore, Ashleigh

My Ranking of the male dancers for tonight are:

Russell, Jakob, Ryan, Legacy

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 2 Female Dancers are: Mollee and Ellenore

The Bottom 2 Male Dancers are: Legacy and Ryan

The Two Dancers Eliminated this week: Mollee and Legacy

Watch for my review of next week's final show for SYTYCD. Also, I'll be judging a brand new show on CBS called "The Sing Off". This will be singing groups that sing without any instrumental help. Their voices are the only instruments you will hear. This is a fairly new phenomenon that reminds me of the old Barber Shop Quartets, but there is much more involved than just harmony.

Also, I'll be judging American Idol in January, so plenty of new and interesting shows coming up.

"So You Think You Can Dance TOP 10!

2009-12-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 10 remaining finalist together to compete.Five male dancers and five female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other four couples.

Beginning this week several changes take place. First, America determines which dancers will be leaving the show rather than just who falls in the bottom three. The show's judges are now taken out of the decision making process. Second, they lose their regular partners and, both the person they partner with and the dance they will perform, will be chosen randomly out of a hat. Third, they stand on their own. America will vote for their favorite dancer rather than their favorite couple.

The reason the Top 10 is such a magical number, aside from the fact that they're that much closer to winning, is the fact that they will perform in the show that will tour America after the season is over.

Each dancer performs two dances with their partner and a self-choreographed solo. This should be very interesting.

The first couple out of the gate are Noelle and Ryan. They are performing a hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dubo. This looks like a little office romance is taking place. I was just about ready to give up on Noelle, but she did a fantastic lyrical routine last week, and did a great job on this routine. Her and Ryan had great chemistry. She just looked better dancing with Ryan. It's unbelievable how much better dancers look with different partners. Both dancers did a good job on this routine. Will it be memorable enough for voters to vote for them, maybe not. The night is still young, this was definitely a respectable showing. Noelle-9 Ryan-9

Their second routine of the night is a smooth Waltz. They have great chemistry in this dance. Their movement is fluid and beautiful. They both had great upper body carriage and Ryan's partnering skills really showed in this particular number. Noelle-10 Ryan-10

The 2nd couple is Ashleigh and Legacy. This was choreographed by Gary Stewart. It was very difficult and it requires a lot of effort. It looked like they were both really struggling from the very beginning. It didn't flow, it was extremely choppy and nonsensical. That was partially the fault of the dancers, but also the choreographer. The dancers did dig in deep and get through the dance the best they could. The ending of the dance, with Legacy doing a head stand was very unique, but the routine as a whole wasn't enjoyable for me. Ashleigh-8 Legacy-8

I like this second routine much better than their 1st routine of the night. This is a hip hop vampire themed routine that was well performed by both dancers. Their characters were fun and interesting. There were times when they weren't together and should have been better synchronized. The choreography could have been more demanding but their performance of that choreography was respectable. Ashleigh-9 Legacy-9

Molly will be the first solo of the night. Interestingly enough, we have 3 Utahns in the TOP 10! Molly auditioned in Las Angeles, but she grew up in Utah. Since I'm from Utah, I'm very proud of that fact. The solos are choreographed by the dancers themselves, so they're being judged on dancing and choreography. Molly is a very dynamic performer, but she is also a very young performer, so she has not reached her full potential yet. Her solo was executed well, but not memorable. Molly-8

Russell performed the 2nd Solo of the night. This young man is so talented. He can choreograph and perform in an exciting dynamic manner. He has so many tricks and movement that has not been seen before. Russell-10

Katherine and Nathan are dancing a Broadway routine. Wow this routine takes me back to the days of Fred Estaire andThe took the song "Choreography" from one of my favorite movies "White Christmas" with Danny Kaye. Katherine can do no wrong. This girl can dance. I would not have expected Nathan to do as well as he did. He was great. Maybe Katherine rubbed off on him. Katherine-10 Nathan-9

The 2nd routine of the night is a Rumba. Katherine is so very good. She is also bringing out the best in Nathan. He is dancing with so much feeling and charisma. Wow, I liked this routine and both dancers had terrific chemistry. Katherine-9 Nathan-8

Noelle's solo was okay, but not memorable. Noelle is very good at balance, spins, and flexibility. Her leaps are a little heavy. Her choreography is respectable and she has a refreshing look that makes you want to watch her. There is no wow factor tonight however. Noelle-8

Ellenore and Jakob are dancing the Quickstep for their first routine. This is a good couple even though Ellenore is just as tall, maybe even taller than Jakob. That being said, they did a good job. I don't think I've ever seen both the male and female do running jete's together let alone two in a row. They moved across the floor with a lot of fluidity. Both dancers had great upper body carriage and their feet weren't having any difficulties eitheEllenore-10 Jakob-10

Their second routine was a contemporary routine very different from their Quickstep. Jakob surprises me every time he comes out on the floor. The man can do anything. Their chemistry was phenomenal. Ellenore's movement wasn't as full at times as Jakob's but I don't know if it's fair to compare anyone to Jakob. She was fantastic! Ellenore-10 Jakob-10

Ryan's solo is very dynamic. There are no huge leaps or any hard spins, but it was dynamic and powerful which is what Ryan is very good at. Ryan's problem, like every other ballroom dancer that has had to perform solos on this show, is that without a partner, they're a little lost. Ryan is making a courageous attempt to overcome that, but he still has problems with repetitious footwork and tricks in his solos. Ryan is the 2nd Utahn in the TOP 10! Ryan-8

Katherine's Solo was well choreographed. She is beautiful to watch. She is joyous in her movement. Her choreography was fluid and refreshing. Katherine-9

Mollee and Russell are dancing a lyrical routine. The first lift of the routine was extremely good. Russell is a very strong dancer and Mollee is light on her feet and you can tell that she trusts him implicitly which allows her to dance full out. I'm not sure she had that kind of trust with Nathan. This was a good pairing. The routine was well choreographed and the pairing of this couple was tremendous. Mollee-10 Russell-10

The 2nd dance of the night is the Jive. Mollee should have been a little more comfortable with this routine than Russell, but I don't believe she was. Russell looked like he had been dancing the Jive for a very long time. This is a good couple and they both did a good job. Mollee-8 Russell-9

Nathan's solo is, so far, the best choreographed solo of the night. He can spin, leap, and dance passionately. What a performer. It's hard to believe he started out as a hip hop dancer because he can execute contemporary movement beautifully. Nathan-10

Ellenore's solo is a quirky unique routine with strong movement and fun intricate movement that leaves you wanting more. Ellenore-10

Legacy's solo defies gravity and every form of balance known to man. He isn't as unique as Russell, but his movement and tricks are extremely hard and well executed. He could work on the choreography side of it to ensure a better sense of movement with the music. Legacy-9

Ashleigh's solo is pretty much ballroom done without a partner, but she did some intricate footwork that is not easy and she can surely shake it. She's very good, but has the same problems, from a choreography perspective, with repetition. Ashleigh is our 3rd Utahn in the top 10. Ashleigh-8

Jakob's solo was the most perfect solo of the night. He has balance like he's nailed to the floor, but his leaps are like he defies gravity. He unbelievable. Jakob-10

Score Totals For The Night

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) 1st Dance-9 2nd Dance- 10 Solo-8 Total-27

19-year old, Russell (krumper) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-10 Total-29

27-year-old Ashleigh (ballroom) 1st Dance-8 2nd Dance-9 Solo-8 Total-25

18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-10 Solo-10 Total-30

28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) 1st Dance-9 2nd Dance-10 Solo-8 Total-27

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-9 Solo-9 Total-28

18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) 1st Dance-8 2nd Dance-9 Solo-9 Total-26

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) 1st Dance-10 2nd Dance-8 Solo-8 Total-26

18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) 1st Dance-9 2nd Dance-8 Solo-10 Total-27

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Sonya's Contemporary danced by Ellenore and Jakob, Mollee and Russell's Lyrical and Katherine and Nathan's Broadway routine.

My Ranking of the female dancers for tonight are:

Ellenore, Katherine, Noelle, Mollee, Ashleigh

My Ranking of the male dancers for tonight are:

Jakob, Russell, Ryan and Nathan tied, Legacy

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 2 Female Dancers are: Katherine and Noelle

The Bottom 2 Male Dancers are: Ryan and Nathan

The Two Dancers Eliminated this week: Noelle and Nathan

"So You Think You Can Dance" Top 12!

2009-11-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 12 remaining finalist together to compete. Six male dancers and six female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other five couples. If they make it to next week, they will be picking their partner randomly from a hat.

America determines which couples will fall in the bottom three. Then tomorrow night the shows judges will determine which female dancer and which male dancer will go home after watching the bottom 3 couples dance for their lives. They each perform short solos that only last for about 30 seconds. When we get to the top 10 next week, the judges are taken out of the decision making process completely. Only America's votes will determine who moves on each week.

Each couple performs two numbers tonight, so let's get going:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing a Samba choreographed by Melanie Lepatin and Tony Meredith. I'm really surprised at how well these two dancers did not do. I thought they would really nail it, but they truly struggled. The Samba is suppose to be sensual not cutesy. They both struggled with flexibility in their backs. My Scores: Noelle - 8 Russell - 8 Their second dance of the night is a contemporary routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio. This was a beautifully quiet routine for me. Both dancers were right on, in the moment. This was their best routine this season, especially Noelle. My Scores: Noelle-10 Russell-10

27-year-old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) will be dancing a lyrical jazz choreographed by Sonya. Both dancers did very good, but the choreographer clearly gave Jakob the hardest moves. At times in the routine, he looked like he was dancing circles around her. That being said, Ashleigh gets stronger every week. I really enjoy watching her and she pulled her weight again. My Scores: Ashleigh - 10 Jakob -10 The second dance of the night is a Chachacha choreographed by Jean Marc Genereaux and France Messeau. These two did it again. They were hot. This was Ashleigh's style of dance so she should have been hot and she was. Jakob however danced just as well. I am more and more amazed by this couple each week. My Scores: Ashleigh -10 Jakob-9

27-year-old, Karen (ballroom), and 20-year-old Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a Tango choreographed by Melanie Lepatin and Tony Meredith. I didn't care for the music very much, but the dancers did a superb job. They related to each other very well especially considering that this was their first week dancing together. High difficulty level for these two dancers. My Scores Karen - 10 Victor - 9 The second dance of the night is a hip hop routine choreographed by Laurieanne Gibson. They're having problems dancing in unison. This is a slow hip hop routine and that helps with intensity, but it doesn't help with the hard hitting hip hop dance style. The dancers did a pretty good job with it, but the choreographer really let them down this time. My scores Karen -8 Victor -8

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be performing a Lindy Hop for their first number tonight with new choreographer Carla Heiney. This is a high energy routine and it contained a lot of hard lifts and throws that are very unique to this style of dance. They struggled with one of the lifts slightly, but covered it well. Both dancers did a good job of bringing us to the party and took us back to the days when they use to burn a rug. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 9 Their second dance of the night is a Broadway routine choreographed by Spencer Liff. This is about the temptation of fame. This is an interesting story line and performed beautifully by this strong couple. A combination of technique and drama performed dramatically. My Scores: Ellenore - 10 Ryan - 10

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a jazz routine choreographed by Sonya. This was a very unique routine. The choreography and the music was very different. Katherine and Legacy did a very good job. The related to each other well. The technique was very good and the level of difficulty was extremely high. My Score: Katherine - 10 Legacy -10 Their second dance of the night is a Waltz choreographed by Jean- Marc Genereaux and France Mosseau. This is a story about a guardian angel guiding a young man. Even though Legacy is struggling with some of the technique, he dances from the heart and Katherine can't dance a bad step if she tried. Overall this was one of the stronger routines of the night. The music helped to build the drama of the routine and then it finished softly. My Score Katherine -10 Legacy - 9

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing hip hop choreographed by Jamal Simms. It's all about phones and making a connection. These two dancers definitely have a connection and seem to really enjoy doing this dance. Molly doesn't hit her movement hard enough for hip hop, but Nathan is doing a good job in that respect. My Score: Mollee - 8 Nathan - 9 Their second dance of the night is a Can-Can routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio. This is a first for SYTYCD because a Can-Can had never been danced before on the show. Nathan had an incredible spin section that was done unbelievably well. His control was amazing. They both had a lot of high kicks and did them well. The routine was cute and unique, but not my favorite. They did a respectable job on this routine. My Score: Mollee 9 Nathan - 9

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Sonya's Lyrical Jazz danced by Ashleigh and Jakob, "Razzle Dazzle" performed by Ellenore and Ryan choreographed by Spencer Liff, and Tyce Diorio's lyrical "Paint" routine danced by Noelle and Russell.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ashleigh, Ellenore, and Katherine.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Ryan, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples are:

Karen and Victor

Mollee and Nathan

Ellenore and Ryan

The Two Dancers Eliminated this week: Karen and Victor

"Dancing With The Stars" The Final Three

2009-11-23T18:02:00.001-08:00

Tonight we'll watch the top3 contestants vie for the coveted (or not so coveted) mirror ball trophy. The only man left standing is Donny. The two women left are Mya and Kelly. The personal favorite is Donny Osmond, but I'm from Utah and I grew up on Donny, so I'm prejudiced. The best dancer is clearly Mya. She was born to dance. I never thought Kelly would make it to the finals, and quite frankly I'm not sure why she's still here. The big surprise of the season was when she beat out Joanna last week. I've enjoyed watching Kelly grow throughout the season and I have nothing against her, but I don't understand why she is still in the competition.

First Round-Latin
Donny and Kym: Donny looked confident and like he was having the time of his life. He is a ham and he just can't help it. I think he did a great job and improved greatly on his posture issues throughout the season.
My score 9 Mom's score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Mya and Dmitry: Paso Doble-This was absolutely amazing. This was powerful choreography done to powerful music. Mya came out strong, and even though there were moments when her movement could have been bigger, overall she was phenomenal. She was so good, if you didn't know who the professional dancer was and who the star was, you would have a hard time deciding just by watching them dance.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Kelly and Louie: Argentine Tango-Kelly did a great job. She looked great in her sparkly outfit. She always looks like she's a little off balance and just half a beat behind Louie, but altogether she did a great job on this dance. She also lacks the self-confidence on the floor as she is performing. She does have a regal quality about her that is quite charming.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,8 Average Score 8.6

2nd Round-Group Dance-The dancers all danced together doing the exact same routine. The judges placed them in the same order we did
Mya-1st place-30 points
Donny-2nd place-28 points
Kelly-3rd place - 26 points

3rd Round-Free Style
Donny and Kym: Jg.
My score 10 Mom's score 10 Average Score 10
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Mya and Dmitry: The only problem I have with Mya is that, if it's not Latin, she tends to dance down. She doesn't dance full out. Her musicality is very good. She is coordinated and flexible, but her energy and motion did not meet the standards of the music. The music was the finale in Hairspray-very energetic.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Kelly started out pretty strong on this routine and then the mistakes began. She had a more confident approach to the dance even as the mistakes added up. She handled her stumbles really well! She looked absolutely adorable. Way to go Kelly!
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Donny & Kym
1st Round-9.5 & 9
2nd Round-9.3 & 9.3
3rd Round -10 & 10
Total= 57.1

Mya & Dmitry
1st Round-9.5 & 10
2nd Round-10 & 10
3rd Round-8 & 9
Total=56.5

Joanna & Derek
1st Round-8.5 & 9
2nd Round-8.6 & 8.6
3rd Round-8 & 8
Total=50.7

Kelly & Louie
1st Round-8 & 8
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=50.5

The Next Judge's "Top 3 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Donny
2nd Place Ranking: Mya
3rd Place Ranking: Kelly

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe 1st place will go to Mya or Donny and 3rd place will go to Kelly.

This is a surprise to me, but they're having each couple dance one more time to determine their final placement. I think that's stupid, but they didn't ask me. For one thing, we don't know where they're placed after America's vote, so it's kind of meaningless to us as an audience. I think it's just one more chance for America to get a good look at the top 3 one more time.

First of all they're dancing routines, they already danced earlier in the season. I think it's also just one more chance for the judges to really say nice things to each of the finalist also, because they're not even scoring them. In fact they're only commenting on their general transformations throughout the season. They're not commenting on the routine that was just performed at all.

Now that the judges have seen all three dances, they are conferring together to determine the final placement of each dancer. Their first place ranking will get 30 points, 2nd place 28 points, and 3rd place 26 points.
Kelly and Louie were placed in 3rd place
Mya and Dmitry were placed in 2nd place
Donny and Kym were placed in 1st place

The couple taking 3rd place for the Season 9 of "Dancing With The Stars" is Kelly and Louie

The couple taking 2nd place: Mya and Dmitry
The couple taking 1st place: Donny and Kym

I Will Never Watch the "American Music Awards" Again!

2009-11-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of talk about Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards. I was appalled by what I saw on the AMAs on ABC, but it didn't start with Adam Lambert. No, quite the contrary, Adam Lambert was the grand finale. He was strategically placed there by the producers of the show. That's how it looks to me.

Let's start with the first act of the night. I haven't found anybody, in the news or on the internet, who is disgusted by Janet Jackson's performance. Holding your own crotch when dancing has become pretty acceptable in this day and age. It was shocking at first, but now many people have become desensitized by this move, because they've seen it so often, especially in hip hop dance choreography. Janet Jackson performed that move and her background dancers did , but what was a new low for me was when a male dancer that danced in front of her and stood with his legs extended in a V formation was fondled by Janet Jackson. She very clearly reached forward and underneath him and grabbed him in the crotch and actually pulled him back towards her. It was quick, and, if you blinked, you missed it, but it was there. That was the first routine of the night, and it went downhill from there.

As the night continued, it was like everyone was in on the secret except the viewing public. There was a feeling of competition or one-up-man-ship between some of the performers. Not the county music crowd. This was the Pop, RocknRoll, and hiphop crowd. For example: Lady Gaga is known for her crazy extreme outfits. She looked naked. She wasn't. She had flesh colored tights on with weird strapping around her legs and arms. She had lights strapped around her chest and head. Her dancers were wearing the same revealing and evocative apparel.

Midway through her performance, Lady Gaga smashes through a huge glass window to get to her piano, which by the way, catches on fire. While she's playing her piano, she doesn't sit at it in a normal manner. She has one leg under the piano and the other leg is opened up beyond a 90 degree angle. She is very flexible. She also, at times, is sitting in a reclined position, which brings the focal point of the audience to her crotch. There was no doubt what her intent was. There was no other reason on the face of this earth for her to sit in that manner while playing the piano and singing.

Rianna sang a song from her new album "Rated R". Her performance and most of the rap numbers were "silenced" at certain points, so much so, that we thought there was something wrong with our TV at first. We realized eventually that the words were being cut out. In one routine, you couldn't have known the lyrics, even if you wanted to, because there were so many holes in the audio portion of their performance that it was impossible to follow or make sense of.

In one performance, the dancers were pretty much dressed in S&M strapping. The pelvic thrust was the main repetitive motion in the routine. It wasn't enough to have 30 of these dancers on the stage performing this movement repeatedly in unison. To give it more power, dancers came down the aisle ways performing the same repetitive motions. They then turned sideways and danced directly into the faces of the audience. This lack of creativity in the choreography in this routine wasn't just some choreographer having an off day. It was on purpose and intentional. They had a message to get across and they knew exactly what they were doing.

Adam Lambert took the show to a new low that I have never seen on TV before. I am so disappointed in the AMAs and in ABC who is owned by Disney! I hate to even put it into words, because it was that offensive, but for those who did not see the show, I will describe it as discreetly as possible. I jumped out of my chair when Adam grabbed a riding harness that was harnessed to two male dancers crawling on their knees. Then Adam grabs the face of a male dancer who is on his knees and pushes it into his crotch. No I'm not kidding. No, I didn't misunderstand. That is exactly what he did. Then about 30 seconds later he was fondling the crotch of a female dancer who came down on a pole from above him. He just reached up and for about 5 seconds, just so no one would misunderstand, he fondled her.

The only redeeming thing that happened in this show is that Taylor Swift, who is not only a gifted singer, but also a song writer, and producer of her stage show, etc., won five awards last night. True talent can make it 's way through all the disgusting, competitive sleaze and violence, that was witnessed on this show last night.

There were also some very good performances. Kelly Clarkson performed her new hit. It was a ballad, and wow that lady can sing and she didn't have any gimmicks, sleaze, or violence. Just a solid voice and a beautiful ballad. Carrie Underwood, again a solid performance, although someone has talked her into more suggestive choreography and costuming then we are use to seeing from her. Be careful Carrie, you have so much talent, you don't have to go there. Keith Urban, another Country and Western artist, wowed the audience with his talent. He just got up and sang and played a guitar. But it was really good and the audience truly enjoyed him.

The only other redeeming thing that happened if I didn't misread it was the audience reaction to Adam's debut on stage. There were a lot of standing ovations that night for different performances, he wasn't one oft them. It appeared to be a very tepid response from an audience who are typically much more tolerant of this type of entertainment than I am.

I will never watch the AMAs again. I think we have to stand up and say "enough" and not support programs that trample on common decency this way. Some people called this "pushing the envelope". I call it revolting!

"So You Think You Can Dance" Top 14!

2009-11-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 14 remaining finalist together to compete. Seven male dancers and seven female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other seven couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home.

America determines which couples will fall in the bottom three. Then the shows judges will determine which female dancer and which male dancer will go home after watching them dance for their lives. They each perform short solos that only last for about 30 seconds. When we get to the top 10 (or five couples) the judges are taken out of the decision making process completely. Only America's votes will determine who moves on each week.

Here we go, let's watch:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing a Foxtrot choreographed by Eddie Simon. This routine will discuss teamwork and partnership, something these two should know a lot about after what they've been through so far this season. Russell has problems with extension of his limbs. Noelle is doing fairly well, but there is no "WOW" factor. Russell appears to be working really hard on his smoothness of footwork and his posture, and he did a great double pirouette, but he also looked cautious mostly. I did not enjoy this routine as much as the show's judges did.
My Scores: Noelle - 8 Russell - 9

27-year old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob (contemporary) will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dubo. These two dancers will be dancing out betrayal and forgiveness of a cheating man. In the beginning, Ashleigh was not one of my favorite dancers, but with each week, I get more and more impressed. It ends up she did not forgive him, and at the same time she impressed me. Jakob did well also, but I expected him to. He has been one of my favorites since day one. Good routine, great choreography, and great performance. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -9in

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary), and Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a Jazz routine choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. This routine is about two blackbirds. I think Tyce literally expects them to fly. We'll see. This was terrific choreography matched with great dancing. Thank goodness! the bird cage was a very unique prop for this routine. The lifts were so strong. The dancers have been really struggling this year with lifts, but they did very well. The technique was extremely good. Victor's spins and leaps were tremendous. My Scores Channing - 10 Victor - 10

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing a Broadway routine choreographed by (new to the show) Spencer Liff. Karen did a respectable job, but it wasn't her best. Kevin struggled. He looked like he was almost embarrassed. He didn't fully extend his movement. These two dancers are two of the best, but they clearly didn't really grasp the spirit of the routine. My Scores: Karen - 8 Kevin- 7

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a contemporary routine choreographed by Travis Wall. This routine is about a reunited couple. No problems with lifts here. If Ryan is anything, he is strong. Ellenore is flexible, strong, and has great technique. She is showing more emotion than Ryan, but they're both dancing very well. These two were in the bottom three last week, but this is a strong come back. If anyone can help to fill in the obvious absence of choreographer Mia Michaels this season, it's Travis Wall. My Scores: Ellenore - 10 Ryan - 9

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a Paso Doble choreographed by Tony Meredith. This dance is a fight to the finish for control of their partner. This is very dramatic music. Legacy was great in this routine, but Katherine was the star. They both had to be very dramatic in their posture and movement in order to pull off anything that would match the music. They did do that. It seemed that from a choreographic stand point, Katherine had a lot more demand, but regardless it was well done by both. My Score: Kathere - 10 Legacy -9

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Pop-Jazz routine choreographed by Laurieanne Gibson. This was a fast paced, hard hitting routine. Nathan didn't dance with as much heart as Mollee, but technically did a pretty good job. My Score: Mollee - 9 Nathan - 8

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Tyce DiOrio's "Black Bird" routine, Tony Meredith's "Paso Doble Fight" routine, and Travis Wall's "Reunited" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ellenore, Channing, and Katherine.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Victor, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples are:

Karen and Kevin

Channing and Victor

Mollee and Nathan

The Two Dancers Eliminated-Channing and Kevin

"Dancing With the Stars" Final Four!

2009-11-16T17:43:00.001-08:00

Tonight we'll watch the top 4 contestants vie for the next weeks finals. The only man left standing is Donny. The three women left are Mya, Joanna, and Kelly. I think this will be Kelly's last week unless someone has an unexpected bad performance. I admit I said that last week and Aaron bit the dust and Kelly is still with us. I don't have anything against Kelly. In fact I think she has been a lot of fun to watch this season, but I think her time has passed. For the first time, each contestant will have to perform three full routines.

First Round
Donny and Kym: Tango-This was not a good routine for Donny at all. His partner got entangled in her dress, and then he got entangled in it. They were both making it up as they went. They got through it some how, but there was clearly something wrong. I couldn't tell that they were entangled; I could only tell that something was very wrong.
My score 7 Mom's score 7 Average Score 7
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,7,7 Average Score 7

Mya and Dmitry: Waltz-This was absolutely beautiful. Her quality of movement was on the level of a professional dancer. You would think she has danced ballroom all of her life. I loved this dance! Mya has beautiful lines. She doesn't have the natural long neck that Joanna has, but you couldn't tell in this dance. She was amazing.
My score 10 Mom's Score 10 Average Score 10
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,10 Average Score 9.3

Joanna and Derek: Viennese Waltz-Joanna does better on the Latin routines, but this was the best I've seen her do in actual ballroom. She was still a little stiff, her extension could improve, and there were some transition issues, but overall Joanna did very well.
My score 8 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Rumba-Kelly's hair is gorgeous. Her flexibility has improved, and her confidence has improved. The solo they did mid dance was a little strange, but other than that she did a good job. Her technique has also improved in a remarkable way throughout the season.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

2nd Round
Donny and Kym: Samba-Donny is BACK!!!. Donny didn't have any equipment or wardrobe malfunctions this time. It was an enjoyable routine danced to one of the Osmond's famous songs "One Bad Apple". He was able to do a lot of his signature moves which was fun to see. Great routine-Fun to watch.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Mya and Dmitry: Salsa-Again. Mya looks like she has been dancing the Salsa her entire life. She has got to be one of the best on this show in my opinion. She really kept getting some pretty rough scores from Len in past episodes, but even he is a Mya fan now. Her solo was clearly the strongest of all the solo sections we've seen tonight. Mya doesn't just dance the steps she's been taught. She performs them with joy. I love watching her.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Joanna and Derek: Chachacha-Joanna starts out with a very sexy solo. She has a cranberry red outfit that looks very good on her. As with any Latin routine, she does very well with this style. She is extremely flexible, especially in her back, but also her legs. Her sense of rhythm was also better than with the waltz.
My score 9 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Quickstep-Kelly is doing a surprisingly good job on this dance. I actually didn't expect her to. It's fast, and you're suppose to glide across the floor, which isn't her strength, but she's actually pulling it off. Was it perfect? No. There were several missteps, and the end pose was not good at all. That being said, it was mostly very good.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

3rd Round-Knockout Dances
Donny and Kym: Jitterbug-This is Donny's kind of dance, because he knows how to ham it up and have fun. He has no problem being funny either. These are short dances, but what he did do was entertaining.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Mya and Dmitry: Chachacha-Mya did a great job. She is just so strong at this point. In my opinion she should take the whole show.
My score 9 Mom's Score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Joanna and Derek: Salsa-This was well done also. This is after all her style. This wasn't her best though, but it was good enough. She should make it into the Finals.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Chachacha-This was Kelly at her best. She looked great with hot pink and black. She was sharp and precise. I was impressed!
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Donny & Kym
1st Round-7 & 7
2nd Round-9 & 8.6
3rd Round -9 & 9
Total= 49.6

Mya & Dmitry
1st Round-10 & 9.3
2nd Round-9.5 & 10
3rd Round-9.5 & 9.6
Total=57.9

Joanna & Derek
1st Round-8.5 & 9
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=53

Kelly & Louie
1st Round-8 & 8
2nd Round-8.5 & 9
3rd Round-9 & 9
Total=50.5

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mya
2nd Place Ranking: Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Kelly & Donny

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe Kelly will probably be the one to go home. Donny had the worst showing tonight, but he's the only guy left, so Kelly might get fewer votes, if they end up getting divided up between the girls. I think Donny has a bigger following as well.

Donny was safe, but the surprise of the night was that Joanna went home!

"So You Think You Can Dance" 16 Contestants Remaining

2009-11-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 16 remaining finalist together to compete.Eight male dancers and eight female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other eight couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home. This is the first week America will get to vote.

Here we go, let's watch:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be dancing Afro Jazz choreographed by, new to the show, Sean Cheeseman. In this routine, they are frogs. Russell was the strongest dancer of the two, but Noelle did a great job too. This was the most unique routine of the night. It was energetic and required a lot of strength on the part of both dancers.
My Scores: Noelle - 9 Russell - 10

27-year old Ashleigh (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob will be dancing a jazz routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. A cane prop will take center stage with this couple. Not to take anything away from Ashleigh's talent (she's getting better every week), but I am a Jakob fan. He is phenomenal! That being said, this couple is finding their chemistry and hitting their stride together. I love Mandy Moore routines and Jakob actually reminds me of Neal who was in Mandy's "Table" routine. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -10

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary), and Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a contemporary routine by Stacey Tookey. This is about a couple who are in a toxic relationship and are tired from all the drama. This is my favorite routine so far tonight. This was Channing and Victor's first week as partners and their chemistry was phenomenal. Both dancers were on their game, and this is the best I've seen Channing do this whole season. They were technically beautiful and the performance of the characters was good. Did they become vulnerable enough to make me cry? No, but I was genuinely touched by the beauty and quality of the performance. My Scores Channing - 9 Victor - 8

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing the hustle tonight. Choreographer Maria Torres will take us to a girl's choice dance. Disco is back, baby. This was a great routine performed by a very strong couple. Kevin performed a leap like a ballet dancer. Karen was great as usual, but Kevin grabbed our attention also. Adam Shankman called Karen's slower moves "Quiet Fire", I like that, because it's true. Kevin struggled slightly with lifts, but overall did quite well. I wasn't as amazed as last week, but I still like this couple. My Scores: Karen - 9 Kevin- 9

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Lil C, one of my favorites. Their task tonight is to successfully rob a bank. Ellenore is actually doing a better job with the hard hits and the swagger than Ryan is. She clearly executes the routine more convincingly. That being said, Ryan did a respectable job. I felt Nigel was too harsh on the couple. I felt they did a better job, than he did. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 8

18-year-old Pauline (Jazz) and 21-year-old Peter (Tap) are dancing the Quickstep (known as the kiss of death on the show). Most dancers are not thrilled when they pull this dance out of the hat, and I must admit it's not one of my favorite dance styles. That being said, a quickstep well done can be very entertaining. A Quickstep not done well can mean the end of the road. Choreographer JT & Tomas are new to me. I'm not sure if they're new to the show. We have a soldier and a hula girl with a South Pacific theme which is very different for a Quickstep. This was okay, but it won't go down as my favorite routine of the night. The routine felt more like they were just rushing to keep up, but overall it was cute. My Scores: Pauline - 8 Peter - 8

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a Broadway routine tonight. Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler is giving our dancers characters to play. They will be fighting with each other. Let's see who wins. Well Katherine wins the fight, but they both needed to do a better job convincing us they were fighting. Legacy did a better job of establishing his character and is so convincing no matter what style he gets. Katherine, who I have loved from day one was more cutesy than anything else. My Score: Katherine - 8 Legacy -10

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Salsa routine by Gustavo Vargas. This routine was hot and cold. Mollee especially looked hot in the yellow outfit and she had some really hot moves. That was the good news. The bad news is that they made so many mistakes I couldn't keep up. I'm not sure who was messing up in each incident, but there were some clear problems with the lifts. Nathan was struggling the most out of the two. This is really too bad, because these two had a very good week last week. My Score: Mollee - 7 Nathan - 7

Favorites of the Night

My three favorite routines of the night are Mandy Moore's "Cane" routine, Stacey Tookey's "Toxic Relationship" routine, and Sean Cheeseman's "Frog" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Ashleigh, Channing, and Noelle.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Russell, Legacy, and Jakob.

America votes tonight and we'll post the names of the one male dancer and the one female dancer who are eliminated from the show after the results show airs tomorrow night.

The Bottom 3 Couples

Karen and Kevin

Ellenore and Ryan

Pauline and Peter

Pauline was chosen to go home.

Peter was chosen to go home.

"Dancing With the Stars" Eigth Week - FINAL FIVE!

2009-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight we'll watch the top 5 contestants vie for the semi-finals. The two men left are Donny and Aaron. The three women left are Mya, Joanna, and Kelly. I think this will be Kelly's last week unless someone has an unexpected bad performance. Each contestant will dance two full routines for the first time. One Latin routine and one ballroom routine must be performed by each couple.

Ballroom Round
Aaron and Karina: Foxtrot-Aaron looked stiff and a little uneasy. They might have had trouble practicing as much as they would have liked, because Karina caught the flu bug that has pretty much gone through the whole group the last couple of weeks. His footwork was very choppy, his shoulders were up, and he looked worried at times. The choreography might have been a little lax since Karina was ill as well.
My Score 7 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 7,8,8 Average Score 7.6

Donny and Kym: Vienesse Waltz-Donny's got reputation for having bad posture in his upper frame. That will be critical for this dance. I know I am a Donny Osmond fan, but this was maybe my favorite routine that he's done so far. He swept over the floor with grace and ease. He was confident, his posture was better, and he genuinely looked like he was enjoying herself.
My score 10 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,8,9 Average Score 8.6

Mya and Dmitry: Quickstep-This was a delightful energetic routine. Mya had complicated footwork that she performed very well. They flowed across the floor effortlessly and Mya is always easy on the eyes. Her gown was a shimmery peach that not too many could pull off, but she absolutely did. The biggest news about this dance is that Len gave Mya a perfect score of 10! Finally!
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,7,9 Average Score 8.3

Joanna and Derek: Quickstep-Joanna needs t0 elongate her neck more, but other than that she had fairly good posture. Her dress is a beautiful silver pink. When she runs across the room, she looks kind of heavy and off balance. Her footwork done in place looked very good. There were times when her footwork was off from Derek's especially when they were moving across the floor. Derek made the mistake of making her move across the floor several times and that was the move she didn't do as well.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,7,8 Average Score 7.6

Kelly and Louie: Foxtrot-I' m not sure I like the aqua blue dress she is wearing. The dress is beautiful, just not the color. Kelly has a natural elegance about her, so I actually like her better in the graceful ballroom dances rather than the Latin style. She is also more flexible than you would expect her to be. There were a couple moments where she looked a little stiff, but they were short moments.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,9 Average Score 8.3

Latin Round In the Latin round, each contestant, not only had to perform a specific style of Latin, but also from a specific era, like the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or the future.

Aaron and Karina: 90s Samba-Aaron looks confident and like he's actually on top of the world. They were able to utilize some of his moves from the 90s when he had hits on the charts. He felt right at home. They did a good job in welding the 90s and the Samba together from a choreography perspective! Aaron has matured over the weeks. He never gave up even when the judges were hard on him. Good for him.
My Score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Donny and Kym: 80s Paso Doble-Donny looks like Michael Jackson. Really! I'm sure that's what they were trying to do. It's hard to do a funny Paso Doble because it is usually a very dramatic dance. They were able to keep the drama and add humor to it. It wasn't his best dance, but it was definitely entertaining.
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Mya and Dmitry: 70s Samba-Dancing the Samba to Donna Summer's "Bad Girl" is very different. A Samba with disco moves in it is different also. That being said, it was very good. They didn't lose the Samba and still managed to incorporate the 70s into it. Hats off to Dmitry for pulling that off. Hats off to Mya for dancing it very very well. Now that Len likes Mya, she has a very good chance of taking the whole competition. Two tens from Len!
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,10,10 Average Score 10

Joanna and Derek: Futuristic Paso Doble-This is the dance of the night. It was like watching 2 robots do the Pose Doble. The music was perfect. The choreography was unique and perfect. Derek has out done himself. Joanna performed the complicated routine perfectly. The competition is on!!! I'm sure that will be the favorite routine performed on tomorrow night's show.
My score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Kelly and Louie: 60s Jive-Kelly has a bad habit of looking at Louie when she's dancing side by side.She didn't do it as much this week as she has in the past. There were some hard, complicated moves and, for the most part, she did them very well. The choreography was good once they got rid of the prop. It didn't fit what they were doing or the the theme. It just didn't make sense.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Aaron & Karina-
Ballroom-8 & 7.6 Latin-9 & 9 Total=33.6
Donny & Kym
Ballroom-9.5 & 8.6 Latin-8.5 & 8 Total= 34.6
Mya & Dmitry
Ballroom-8 & 8.3 Latin-9.5 & 10 Total=35.8
Joanna & Derek
Ballroom-7.5 & 7.6 Latin-9.5 & 9.6 Total=34.2
Kelly & Louie
Ballroom-8.5 & 8.3 Latin-8 & 8.6 Total=33.4

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mya
2nd Place Ranking: Donny & Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Aaron & Kelly

I'll edit this post tomorrow night after the results show, but I believe Kelly will probably be the one to go home. I was wrong. Aaron went home. Personally I will miss him, but even when the judges loved Aaron, America would put him in the bottom two or three. He just didn't have the following that Kelly has. Good luck to Kelly, Donny, Mya, and Joanna next week.

"So You Think You Can Dance" 18 Dancers Remain!

2009-11-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will bring the 18 remaining finalist together to compete. Nine male dancers and nine female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other eight couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home. Because FOX is broadcasting the World Series, the judges will pick the one male and one female dancer that will be eliminated. Starting next week, America will start voting.

Several notes of interest: 1. Noelle is healed up and ready to dance this week. 2. Brandon will be able to audition for the Top 20 next season, despite the fact that they brought him into the show at the last minute last week to fill in for Billy Bell. 3. Billy Bell will be able to come in at the level of the Top 100 in Vegas next season. All these announcements seem very fair to me. 4. Paula Abdul is still a no show, so they moved her chair over by Adam Shankman to see if there would be a better draw. Only time will tell.

Here's how each couple did:

18-year old, Noelle (contemporary) and 19-year old, Russell (krumper) will be taking instruction from choreographer Jamal Simms. We're going to be playing a round of tennis hip hop style. This routine is fast and Jamal handles it better than Noelle. From a choreography perspective, the props kind of become more of a burden towards the end of the routine. Both dancers do a good job, but they also look overwhelmed at times with the speed. That prevents them from really getting into the characters which is extremely important. Noelle really messed up on her aerial cartwheel. Her hand touched the ground and her legs were bent and all over the place. My Scores: Noelle - 7 Russell - 9

18-year-old, Channing (contemporary) and 25-year old Phillip (tap) will be dancing the Samba choreographed by Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. Channing looks hot in the pale blue outfit. The lifts are atrocious. It looks like Phillip doesn't have the strength to lift Channing, so I don't think it's her fault. Her dancing was also more convincing than Phillips. Bravo to her bravery for trusting a partner who clearly was not in control of the lifts. When Channing was just dancing, she executed several Samba motions with amazing expertise. My Scores: Channing - 8 Phillip - 6

27-year old Ashleigh Di Lello (ballroom) and 18-year-old, Jakob will be taking their instruction form Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. We're going to a wedding and their performing a Waltz. It starts out with a "and now you can kiss the bride" kiss. Ashleigh is elegant and has beautiful lines both in her dancing and her lifts. Jakob can leap like there is no tomorrow. Their chemistry is good but I'm not totally convinced they're in love. The routine was suppose to be a Waltz, but there really was not a lot of actual Waltzing in the routine. That was a good thing for Jakob, because he was terrific at all the lifts, but his actual footwork in the Waltz was not good. The up and down motion and the movement across the floor was not dynamic enough. My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob -8

20-year-old, Bianca (tap) and 20-year-old, Victor (contemporary) will be chorographed by Tyce DeOrio. We're going to church now. This is a southern revival "praise the Lord" kind of church. The dance starts out great from the beginning. However, the music becomes more dynamic in speed and intensity, and the dancers don't. They had good technique and they were entertaining, but they were truly not converted, and neither were we. This could have been a great routine and it was just okay. My Scores Bianca - 7 Victor - 8

27-year-old, Karen (Ballroom) and 23-year-old, Kevin (Hip Hop), will be dancing a hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dumo. We're going to a repair shop now, and Kevin is the mechanic. Karen is the sexy customer that comes into the shop. Karen is performing this routine like she's done hip hop all her life. She's even giving Kevin a run for his money and he is a hip hop dude. Nevertheless, they're both hot. They had amazing chemistry and they got the story. This could be my favorite routine of the night. We'll see. My Scores: Karen - 10 Kevin - 10

19-year old Ellenore (Jazz) and 28-year-old Ryan (Ballroom) will be dancing a Argentine Tango routine choreographed by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barraionuendo. There are a lot of very hard lifts in this routine. Ellenore could work a little harder at relating to Ryan as well as he relates to her, but to her credit, her dress catches on the high heel of her shoe at the very beginning of the routine. That had to be very distracting, but she kept going. She danced beautifully. They performed the lifts flawlessly. My Scores: Ellenore - 9 Ryan - 9

18-year-old Pauline (Jazz) and 21-year-old Peter (Tap) are dancing inside Van Gogh's "Starry Night" choreographed by Wade Robison. They are literally turning the strokes of genius into characters and movement. The music was great and the choreography was very original. Wade Robison's routines are sometimes controversial, only because sometimes his artistic impressions don't always show the dancer's full potential. Having said that, he is brilliant and his work is entertaining. I love his work. Pauline and Peter both did a wonderful job on this unique piece. They were completely committed to a character that was a little hard to understand. My Scores: Pauline - 10 Peter - 9

18-year-old Katherine (contemporary) and 18-year-old Legacy (Hip Hop) will be dancing a contemporary routine choreographed by Stacey Tookey. This was a powerful song "Two Steps Away" sung by Patti LaBelle. Watching this powerful routine, you would never know that Legacy was a Hip Hop dancer. He and Katherine danced this routine about "Fear" in a convincing, fearless manner. The execution was clean and the performance was done with total abandonment to the feelings and characters of this routine. My Score: Katherine - 10 Legacy -10

18-year-old, Mollee (Jazz) and 18-year-old, Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing a Bollyoood routine. Imagine that Mollywood will be dancing Bollywood in Hollywood. Sorry, Mollee thought that was cute. Let's see if her dancing is as cute. Nakul Dev Mahajan is the choreographer in charge and he tells a story of a warrior going off to battle and a lover who isn't very happy with that. This routine starts out so beautifully with the backdrop of a yellow moon. It just continues to go uphill from there. These two dancers gave this routine everything they had. They were sharp and dynamic. It showed off their skill levels very well, especially Nathan's. It ends with the same beautiful backdrop. I loved all of it and Mollee continues to mature as a dancer. My Score: Mollee - 9 Nathan - 10

Favorites of the Night My three favorite routines of the night are Stacey Tookey's "Fear" routine, Tabitha & Napolean Dubo's "Mechanic Shop" routine, and Nakul Dev Mahahan's "Bollywood Warrior" routine.

My three favorite female dancers for tonight are: Karen, Catherine, and Pauline.

My three favorite male dancers for tonight are Kevin, Legacy, and Nathan.

Dancing For Their Lives The four who have to dance for their lives are Bianca, Noelle, Phillip and Victor.

First up is Noelle dancing for her life. Great choice of music and her dancing was moving. Powerful solo.

Second up is Victor, one of my personal favorites, dancing for his life. He too dance in a moving an powerful manner. He reminds me of Brandon from last season.

Third up is Bianca dancing for her life. Bianca is a awesome tap dancer, but she didn't come close to Noelle in my opinion.

Fourth up is Phillip dancing for his life. Again, Brandon is a great tap dancer, but it's hard for a tap dancer to move you with the same power and emotion as Victor did.

Judges Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe will make the decision this week. There will not be a vote from America. Evidently the judges felt the same way I did because we just lost two of the three tappers. Bianca and Phillip have been eliminated.

7th Week of "Dancing With The Stars" Season 9

2009-11-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight's Show will garner new expectations for the seven remaining contestants. The first round of dancing will find our contestants dancing either the Foxtrot, the Quickstep, or the Samba. In the second round, they will be divided into two teams and compete one team against the other. They did that once last year, and it really wasn't that revealing. You can be on the winning team, but still be one of the worst dancers. This week will be another double elimination leaving only five couples for next week's competition.

One special note: Lacy Schwimmer caught the flu and is being replaced by Anna just for this week.

Aaron and Karina: Jive-Aaron is BACK! That was a high energy routine with footwork that is so hard and fast. His flicks were better than some of the professionals I've seen. His movement was controlled, but bigger than life. He was sharp, fast, and fun. I loved it. Even Len loved it. They had a colorful, pink purple look also, and it was as hot as the dance.
My Score 10 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 9,10,10 Average Score 9.6

Mark and Lacey: Samba-Redheaded Anna is back filling for Lacey. I love watching her. This is a great routine, and despite what Mark has been through this week, he looks confident and is dancing very well. They put this together in 48 hours! The judges had mixed reviews for the performance, but I really enjoyed it.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 6,7,6 Average Score 6.3

Donny and Kym: Quickstep-The quickstep isn't my favorite ballroom dance, but I really liked this. Great choice of music. There were some mis-steps, but Donny covers them up well. The performance from a theatrical point of view was great, but there were clearly some errors. Their costuming was great, and Kym didn't hold back on degree of difficulty
My score 8 Mom's score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Mike and Anna: Foxtrot-Every week I expect Mike to go home, but he keeps surprising me. He gets better each week. I still think he has outlasted his actual talent. This week, he smiled, held true Foxtrot form very well, and actually performed some footwork. I'll be darned. Good for him. He also designed the costumes this week, and they were a beautiful burgandy dynamic duo.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,7 Average Score 7.6

Mya and Dmitry: Foxtrot-I don't know if Mya will ever catch a break from Len. I'm starting to think maybe it's Dmitry he doesn't like. which Mya doesn't control to a great degree. A lot of Len's remarks are about the choreography. I don't know, but it's starting to look like Len has something against this couple. Their outfits are purple pink and cream white. Again tonight Len goes after what he calls the "gimicky" parts of the choreography. Bruno, stuck up for her thank goodness. They had great flow and footwork in this routine. It won't be super memorable, but it was respectable.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,7,9 Average Score 8.3

Joanna and Derek: Rumba-The dance of love. Gold, white, and black costuming is out of this world gorgeous. Joanna is really hitting her stride. She struggled for a couple of weeks, but she looks like a pro tonight. The choreography isn't highly difficult, but Joanna knows how to do sultry and sexy. She has a balance issue on one of her poses, but overall did very well.
My score 8 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Kelly and Louie: Salsa-In their practice session, Kelly states that this is the first time in her life that she can't talk her way out of this or dramatize her way out of it, although she gives it a good try. She knows she has to dance her way out of it and that will require discipline that Kelly has not been subject to before. Louie is gentle but firm with her. He is the epitome of a great teacher. He cares about his student, but doesn't let that blur his vision from expecting the best out of her. He gently pushes her over the cliff, so she can fly, the only problem is that she's afraid she'll fall. "Drama Queen" is the term that comes to mind. Having said that, I'm proud of Kelly. She's not giving up, even though she's afraid. Kelly starts out great, loses it in the middle of the dance, and finishes big. She still watches Louie a lot which makes her look unsure at times, but she did seem more confident and performed well tonight. She doesn't perform her movement big enough or sharp enough, but overall it was pretty good.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Aaron
2nd Place Ranking: Joanna
3rd Place Ranking: Donny
4th Place Ranking: Mya
5th Place Ranking: Kelly

Round Two-Team Dance
Team Tango is Joanna, Donny, and Kelly
Team Paso is Mark, Aaron, Mya, and Mike

Team Paso takes the floor first-The black, red, and silver costuming has a great presence on stage. There are too many chefs in the kitchen. The choreographers should have had their you-know-what together before the team met. Competitors now become team mates. They are all depending on each other, because they're only as strong as their weakest link. Everyone did well in this performance. I think the two strongest were Mya and Aaron. Mike struggled and Mark was just okay.
My score 8 Mom's score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Team Tango is next-black and red costuming. The choreographers worked better together than the last group. The team mates are sure of one thing. They don't want to be the weak link that brings the team score down. Donny and Kelly did a good job, but the strongest couple was clearly Joanna and Derek. I thought the choreography for this routine was much more dynamic than Team Paso.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,10 Average Score 9.3

This will help boost Donny and Kelly up the board, and solidify Joanna's lead.

As there was last week, there is a double elimination this week. The couple with the lowest overall score is eliminated immediately. The next two couples will participate in a dance off. Based on the dance off, the judges will determine which of the two couples will remain and which will go.

The bottom three couples are:
Aaron & Karina
Mike & Anna
Mark & Lacey (Lacey was absent for last night's show due to the flu)

Sidenote: Mark and Derek did more than dance tonight. They also sang a song from their first album. It's hard to dance and sing at the same time, but they did it quite well.

Getting back to the results:
Mike and Anna are sent packing.
Aaron & Mark will dance for their lives.

I choose Aaron as the winner of the Dance Off. The judges also chose Aaron!

Our Top Five Couples Left in the Competition for Season 9 are:
Donny and Kym
Mya and Dmitry
Aaron and Karina
Kelly and Louie
Joanna and Derek

"So You Think You Can Dance" Top 20 Finally Compete!

2009-10-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network will finally bring the Top 20 picks together to compete. Ten male dancers and ten female dancers will be paired up, and each couple will compete against the other nine couples until they are eliminated from the show or until they reach the point when partners are rotated each week by picking names out of a hat. This week one guy and one girl will go home.

This year is unique already. They have a husband and wife ballroom team that both made it, on their own merit, to the "Top 20". You have three tap dancers. Not even one tap dancer has made it to the "Top 20" before. Billy Bell, who was one of my picks to make it into the finals became sick and is out before he got a chance to compete. Brandon, a hip hop dancer will be filling in for him at the last minute. Good luck to Brandon and his partner Pauline.

We have four hip hop dancers:
From Boston, MA, Russell Ferguson, Krumper, Age 19.
From Booklin, New York, Kevin Hunte, Age 23
From Los Angeles, CA, Jonathan "legacy Perez, Age 17

We have seven contemporary dancers:
From Haverhill, MA, Channing Cook Age 18,
From, Orlando, FL, Jakob Karr, Age 18
From, Raleigh, NC, Ariana DeBose, Age 18,
From Downing, CA, Nathan Trasoras, Age 18
From Miami, FL, Victor Smalley, Age 20
From Burbank, CA, Katherine McCormick, Age 18
From Sandford, NC, Noelle Marsh, Age 18
From Palm Beach, FL, Billy Bell, Age 19

We have three tap dancers:
From Los Angeles, CA, Phillip Attmore, Age 25
From Detroit, MI, Bianca Revels, Age 20,
From Philadelphia, PA, Peter Sabisino, age 21

We have three jazz dancers:
From New York, NY, Ellenore Scott, Age 19
From Upland, CA, Mollee Gray, Age 18
From West Covina, CA, Pauline Mata, Age 18

We have three ballroom dancers:
From Fort Lee, NJ, Karen Hauer, Age 27
From Orem, UT, Ryan Di Lello, Age 28
From Orem, UT, Ashleigh Di Lello, Age 27

Noelle has had an accident and hurt her knee, and Billy Bell has become ill. Noelle may be back next week, but Billy is out. Too bad, he was one of my top picks.

So how were they paired up? We'll do a play by play.

From Haverhill, MA, Channing Cook Age 18, and From Los Angeles, CA, Phillip Attmore, Age 25 will be performing a jazz routine. Phillip (tap) is not that much larger than Channing (contemporary), so it was a pairing I'm not sure I like yet. That being said, they did a pretty good job. I didn't come a way with a "wow, that was unbelievable", but it was respectable.

My Scores: Channing - 8 out of 10 Phillip - 8 out of 10

From Orem, UT, Ashleigh Di Lello, Age 27 and From, Orlando, FL, Jakob Karr, Age 18. This routine felt more like a sultry old-time jazz routine. Even though Ashleigh (Ballroom) is from my home state of Utah, and she is beautiful, I don't think she has half the talent of her partner. Jakob (Contemporary) His leaps defy gravity. This couple had more chemistry between them than the first couple. Jakob is an unbelievable dancer. I love watching him.

My Scores: Ashleigh - 9 Jakob - 10

From, Raleigh, NC, Ariana DeBose, Age 18, and From Philadelphia, PA, Peter Sabisino, age 21. Ariana (Contemporary) and Peter (Tap) will be dancing a hip hop dance. Okay, I just watched a tap dancer slide across the floor on his head. Not only that, but he did it very well. Peter was more convincing than Ariana in this style of dance. It was respectable and their chemistry was good, but they weren't clean enough. Their movement was not concise enough.

My Scores: Arianna - 7 Peter - 8

From Sandford, NC, Noelle Marsh, Age 18 and From Boston, MA, Russell Ferguson, Age 19.Noelle (Contemporary) and Russell (Hip Hop/Krumper) are suppose to dance a Foxtrot. Russell has to dance with the co-choreographer, Melanie because his partner has hurt her knee. Russell just performed a Foxtrot like he has been dancing ballroom his whole life. I love this guy. He is going to be big this year like Twitch and Josh from Season Four. He has huge potential. I can't say enough about him. I am impressed.

My Scores: Noelle (didn't dance) Russell Ferguson - 10

From Detroit, MI, Bianca Revels, Age 20, and From Miami, FL, Victor Smalley, Age 20. Bianca (tap) and Victor (contemporary) will be dancing a contemporary routine choreographed by Travis Wall. It took awhile for Bianca to warm up and get into the routine. Victor was definitely a stronger dancer in general than her. However, she ended the routine better than she started it. There were some great original tricks in the unique choreography by Travis Wall.

My Scores Bianca - 8 Victor - 9

From Fort Lee, NJ, Karen Hauer, Age 27 and From Brooklin, New York, Kevin Hunte, Age 23) Karen, (Latin Ballroom) and Kevin (Hip Hop) will be dancing the ChaChaCha. I'm excited to see what these two can do together. Needless to say Karen took to the Chachacha very well, but even Kevin, who was out of his comfort zone, did a respectable job. They had one hard trick that they worked their way through, but it looked scary and slow. They struggled. I agree with Mary that Kevin could have been sharper in his movement.

My Scores: Karen - 9 Kevin - 8

From New York, NY, Ellenore Scott, Age 19 and From Orem, UT, Ryan Di Lello, Age 28. Ellenore (Jazz) and Ryan (Ballroom) are dancing a contemporary jazz dance. With the theme of a fallen angel, these two dancers performed a strong dance. With equal ability and good chemistry, they were impressive. This is a good strong pairing. I expect great things will come from this match up.

My Scores: Ellenore - 10 Ryan - 10

From West Covina, CA, Pauline Mata, Age 18 and filling in for Billy Bell is Brandon. Pauline (Jazz) and Brandon (Hip Hop) have only practiced together for 2 days. They are performing a Waltz together. This was the surprise of the night for me. I liked them better than the shows judges did. Great couple with huge potential if they make it any further.

My Scores: Pauline - 9 Brandon - 8

From Burbank, CA, Katherine McCormick, Age 18 and From Los Angeles, CA, Jonathan "legacy Perez, Age 17. Katherine (contemporary and Legacy (Hip Hop) will be performing a hip hop routine. This is another good couple. They're well matched and have a great chemistry between the two of them.This will be another coupling that will be tough competition for the rest of the couples.

My Score: Katherine - 10 Legacy -10

From Upland, CA, Mollee Gray, Age 18 and From Downing, CA, Nathan Trasoras, Age 18. Mollee (Jazz) and Nathan (Contemporary) will be dancing disco, so both dancers were a little out of their comfort zone. There was more good than bad in this routine. It was fast and high energy. The performed some hard lifts and tricks. They're both young and a very cute couple. This was tough, extremely tough. They could improve on the sharpness of some of their moves, but overall a great first performance.

My Score: Mollee - 9 Nathan - 8

Dancing For Their Lives

The four who have to dance for their lives are Ariana, Brandon, Pauline and Russell.
First up is Ariana dancing for her life. I agreed with the choice of Ariana. She did a good solo, but there is something about her movement that is unattracitve.

Second up is Russell dancing for his life. I disagreed with the choice of Russell. He came out and amazed the crowd with his krumping. He clearly already has a following.

Third up is Pauline dancing for her life. Pauline did a good job on her solo. She has substantial talent. I predict she will beat Ariana.

Fourth up is Brandon dancing for his life. Brandon, who was called in just two days ago, did a phenomenal job on his dance, but he's up against Russell unfortunately. This is where luck comes into play in this show, because Brandon is going to lose to Russell probably and he's a better dancer than some of the other male dancers that will remain.

Judges Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe will make the decision this week. There will not be a vote from America. As I expected Ariana and Brandon were eliminated. However, because of Brandon's extenuating circumstances, they're hoping they can make an exception to the rules and Brandon will get another chance to be in the Top 20 next season. I hope it works out that way for him, because I think he is a phenomenal talent.

Sixth Week of "Dancing With The Stars"

2009-10-26T19:09:00.001-07:00

We are now in the sixth week of "Dancing With the Stars" , and the rules change slightly this week. The lowest two couples will have a dance off on tomorrow night's show. Each couple prepares a dance of their choosing, but it's a dance they hope they don't have to perform. This will take place in the next two episodes. We have nine couple left in the competition. They will dance either the Waltz or the Jitterbug. After that, they will all come together to do a group Mamba that should prove to be interesting.

Aaron and Karina: Waltz-First of all, I love Karina's outfit. Her light green against his dark green suit was beautiful. Aaron is trying so hard. You have to give this kid an "A" for effort. His posture and upper body movement is really done well in this dance. His footwork isn't as smooth as I would like it, but it's pretty good. This was a good week for Aaron. He has matured as a dancer.
My Score 8 Mom's Score 7 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 8,9,8 Average Score 8.3

Mark and Lacey: Jitterbug-Great choreography. Mark looks like he is having a good time. He does several surprising gymnastic movements. They have humor in the routine. Lacey makes him do quite a few hard moves, and he pulls it off. It was fun and energetic. He got a standing ovation from the audience. Way to go Mark.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,8 Average Score 8.6

Donny and Kym: Jitterbug-this was an energetic, fun routine. Kym is such a creative choreographer. Donny is coordinated, and he has a good sense of tempo. He is a clown and a showman. There were a couple of sight stumbles, but nothing big.
My score 9 Mom's score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Louie and Chelsie: Jitterbug-This a cute routine. Louie is confident, funny, and at ease. He has some genuinely hard tricks and movement that he does well. His energy level is much better than in past episodes. He does some great lifts and catches with Chelsea that take a lot of strength. There were definitely some transition issues, and Chelsea covered at least one place where she was dropped by Louie. Overall this was a step up for Louie.
My score 8 Mom's score 7 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,7,7 Average Score 7

Mike and Anna: Waltz-Michael looks sharp in in his dark blue suit up against Anna's light blue dress. Her dress just floats. This has not been my favorite couple in past episodes, but they look very good tonight. His movement is smooth and fluid. It wasn't a hard routine, but it was done well. Bruno didn't like his posture, but I thought he had excellent upper body posture. It was nice to watch. The judges are calling it a charming and gentle waltz. I would agree with that. I'm not sure that makes it a winning waltz.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 6,8,6 Average Score 6.6

Melissa and Mark: Waltz-Melissa has huge problems with her arms. She doesn't extend them fully. Her posture is lacking in some parts. She has really improved throughout the season, but not enough. She looked nervous and her movement was stiff. The up and down motion and the fluidity of the dance was not there.
My Score 6 Mom's Score 7 Average Score 6.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 7,7,6 Average Score 6.3

Mya and Dmitry: Jitterbug-I didn't care too much for their outfits. The choreography was okay, and the dancing was good. This routine was not my favorite, but what they did was done well. Mya executed a fun light-hearted routine, but didn't have that intangible pizazz. I think her partner let her down as well, because it wasn't a memorable routine. She will be lost in the crowd this week.
My score 7 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,7,9 Average Score 8

Joanna and Derek: Waltz-Derek is back this week from the flu. I love Derek, but I really liked Joanna much better when she danced with Max last week. Joanna just floats in her light pink dress. JShe has a slight stiffness to her dancing and a lack of flexibility that really inhibits her dancing. However, she looks grand tonight. She has a holding spin at the end of the routine that requires a lot of balance and technique, and she does it very well. She was fluid and moved across the floor very well. Her confidence has grown and it shows.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Kelly and Louie: Jitterbug-Kelly looked more at ease this week. Her worse enemy is her lack of self confidence. She needs to believe in herself and relax. That being said, she did have genuine fun in parts. Most of the dance steps were simple and cute. Her energy was somewhat lacking as well.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,6,7 Average Score 6.6

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mark
2nd Place Ranking: Donny
3rd Place Ranking: Joanna
4th Place Ranking: Mya
5th Place Ranking: Aaron

Round Two-Dance Marathon
Group Mambo: This is a totally new thing this season. I think I will really like this. All the couples are dancing on the floor at the same time. When a judge taps them out, they're off the floor. So obviously, you don't want to get tapped out. Last couple out gets ten points and so on down the line. I don't know how the judges can even judge this. It's a whole lot of chaos and confusion to me. This is going to be interesting.

Michael and Anna go first-2 points-22 total judges points for the night.
Louie and Chelsie go second-3 points--24 total judges points
Melissa and Mark go third-4 points-24 total judges points
Kelly and Louie go fourth-5 points-25 total judges points-currently in the lead
Mark and Lacey go fifth-6 points-32 total judges points-new leaders
Donny and Kim go sixth-7 points-31 total judges points-2nd place total judges points so far.
Aaron and Karina go seventh-8 points-33 total judges points-New leaders so far for the evening.
Mya and Dymitri go eighth-9 points-33 total judges points-Tying with Aaron and Karina for 2nd place for the night.
Joanna and Derek go ninth-10 points-36 total judges points-1st place judges points for the night.

The 2nd round moved the top 5 around in the top 5 spots, but other than that, there were no huge changes in the rankings. I believe Melissa will go home this week.

The bottom three couples were Chelsie and Louie, Mike and Anna, and Melissa and Mark. Because there is a double elimination this week, the couple with the lowest overall score is eliminated immediately. The next two couples will participate in a dance off. Based on the dance off, the judges will determine which of the two couples will remain and which will go.

The couple with the lowest score was Melissa and Mark, so we bid adieu to this couple, who improved greatly throughout the season, but didn't improve enough.

Louie and Chelsie will dance against Mike and Anna. Let's see how they do. The couples got to chose their music and their dance style for this dance off.

First up is Mike and Anna: Dancing the Samba, Mike looks the best I've seen him all season. He also looks confident and fluid. Usually Anna is dancing around Mike, but he did his part this time.

Second up is Louie and Chelsie: Performing the Jive is this couple's choice. The step work is hard and fast and Louie is giving it his best, but he's struggling. He has a hard time with his sense of timing and his coordination.

The judges confer together to determine who, out of these two couples, will join Melissa and Mark in the elimination-of-the-week club. Louie and Chelsie were eliminated. I won't miss Louie so much, but I will miss Chelsea.

"So You Think You Can Dance" Introduction to Season 6 Top 20!

2009-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX network is something they've never done before. They're introducing each dancer to us as we watch them dance in their own dance style. Tomorrow night's episode starts the actual Season 6 competition when America votes. New permanent judge, Adam Shankman, is in his seat and ready to go. I think he will be a fantastic addition to the show. There is an empty chair sitting next to Nigel with Paula Abdul's name on it. We'll see if he can entice her to be a visiting judge this season.

We have three hip hop dancers.
From Boston, MA, Russell Ferguson, Krumper, Age 19.
From Booklin, New York, Kevin Hunte, Age 23
From Los Angeles, CA, Jonathan "legacy Perez, Age 17

These 3 B-Boys will be dancing to a routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napolean Dubo, a husband and wife choreography team, that has received an Emmy nomination for their past work on this show. This is a dream come true for the dancers and the choreographers. The routine is exciting with plenty of "wow" factors to grab your attention. Watch out for Russell Ferguson. I predict he will go far in this show.

Seventeen dancers to go.

Tyce Diorio is the choreographer for the first of two contemporary numbers. The four dancers in the first number are:
From Haverhill, MA, Channing Cook Age 18,
From, Orlando, FL, Jakob Karr, Age 18 Orlando FL
From, Raleigh, NC, Ariana DeBose, Age 18,
From Downing, CA, NathanTrasoras, Age 18

This routine was great, but not my favorite "Tyce" routine at all. No particular dancer stood out for me either.

Chorographer Derek K Grant, (new to the show this season) will be teaching the routine for not 1, not 2, but 3 tap dancers. A tap dancer has never made it to the top 20 before. This year we have three.
From Los Angeles, CA, Phillip Attmore, Age 25
From Detroit, MI, Bianca Revels, Age 20,
From Philadelphia, PA, Peter Sabisino, age 21

Chorographer Sonya Tayeh, will be teaching the routine to our three jazz dancers.
From New York, NY, Ellenore Scott, Age 19
From Upland, CA, Mollee Gray, Age 18
From West Covina, CA, Pauline Mata, Age 18
I didn't care for this routine very much at all. I don't think the dancers did either. They all looked heavy on their feet and nervous. Hopefully they will do better tomorrow night when they're being judged.

Choreographer Mandy Moore is teaching the 2nd contemporary routine for the night. She does a great job, and it was a very hard routine. The four dancers were phenomenal!
From Miami, FL, Victor Smalley, Age 20
From Burbank, CA, Katherine McCormick, Age 18
From Sandford, NC, Noelle Marsh, Age 18
From Palm Beach, FL, Billy Bell, Age 19
This was the better of the two contemporary routines. Billy Bell is definitely one to watch this season.

Choreographer Jason Gilkison will be teaching a Latin Ballroom routine:
From Fort Lee, NJ, Karen Hauer, Age 27
From Orem, UT, Ryan Di Lello, Age 28
From Orem, UT, Ashleigh Di Lello, Age 27

This was my favorite routine of the night. A husband and wife team with another hot Latin female dancer. The routine featured the two women fighting over the male dancer which was pretty funny. They were fantastic. I loved it. Out of the husband and wife team from Utah, the husband will probably go further than his wife.

"So You Think You Can Dance-Third & Final Week of Vegas

2009-10-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

This week is the final portion of the Las Vegas round which will end in the decision by the judges of the "Top 20" finalist for the Season Six Episodes. I've made some predictions, so we'll look at how many of my picks made it all the way.

At the beginning of the episode, 38 contestants are left, and they're so close at this point, they can taste it.

Nathan-Contemporary, The first contestant actually auditioned last season, but he was only 17, so he wasn't old enough. He was so good though, that he got a ticket to Vegas for the next season. He made it into the top 20 at the age of 18!

The next one up, David, a male ballet dancer that I don't believe they have focused on at all in any of the previous shows didn't make it. Several others, who's names were not shared with the viewing audience are rejected as well.

The female contemporary dancer Kathryn has a tendency to cry. Now I'm not putting her down, because I cry at the drop of a kleenix, but the longer she cries, the higher the pitch of her voice goes. It is a little irritating. It could be a long season if she has very many emotional moments. Kathryn make it through.

Channing Cook-a contemporary dancer was voted in by all the judges also.

Mollee has been very close to Noel since they were room mates in Vegas. She's young and she has struggled with the more mature level of dancing expected of her in this show. Despite that she made it through. They're expecting her to mature and grow into it.

It's Noel's turn now. Mollee was cut during the Broadway piece of season 5 Vegas auditions, but she made it all the way. If there is anyone happier than Noel, it's Mollee. They didn't get split up yet.

Billy Bell has drawn a huge focus on the show from his beginning audition to his Vegas solo. Billy has a scholarship at Julliard and they're willing to hold his scholarship for a short time, in order to allow him to be on the show. It's a good thing because he made it.

Amber Jackson, who danced like a gazelle, but was expressionless in her face in her original audition has worked hard to overcome the initial bad first impression. it almost ended her ambitions. She fought back in choreography which got her through to Vegas. Even though she didn't make it into the top 20, the judges loved her technical talent. The judges want that intangible dancing-from-the heart, sharing-with-the-audience thing.

Russell Ferguson, our famous Krumper from Boston, who has received so much attention in past episodes is up next. He amazed the judges time after time when he could pick up other forms of dance that he has never received training in. Needless to say, the underdog has made it all the way. I predicted her would if he could do the other forms of dance. He is another Twitch/Josh kind of talent.

Kevin Hunt also made it through. A hip hop dancer that had to work his way through dance styles he had never attempted before.

3 tap dancers have made it to the final pick to vie for the top 20 for the first time. Bianca is the first tapper up. She originally tried out in Season 4 and came close to making the top 20 then. She was going to give up, after that, but pulled together enough courage to try again. She made it!! Good for the girl who didn't give up on her dream. She got stronger and fought harder and she's the first tapper to make the top 20.

Victor Smalley was well liked by the judges. The more he danced, the more the judges took note. He even shaved off his hair when they commented on how distracting it was. It was well worth the haircut.

Phillip, our 2nd tapper has received some pretty harsh comments from the judges and had a hard time taking criticism. When he got defensive, it almost ended it for him, but he learned to shut up and take it all in. It worked out well, because he made it.

Peter, our 3rd tapper, was getting some rough reviews as well, and now that 2 tappers have made it, he's worried that he won't get the chance. He's wrong. Three tappers made it through to the top 20 this year. It looks like it will indeed be the year of the tappers.

Pauline, who couldn't finish Vegas week due to an injury during the Broadway piece, isn't expecting much but takes the walk on stage to hear her future. Despite that fact, she made it through. The judges were impressed enough with what they saw to put her through.

So contemporary, hip hop, and tap are the lead dance styles taking the top 20 positions so far this year. I haven't seen any ballroom dancers yet.

Legacy Perez B-Boy is pretty nervous about making it through because two hiphop dancers have already made it through. So did he.

We now have 3 girls and 2 spots left.

Paula, who has already made it this far before comes to hear her verdict. This time she made it all the way. Perseverance has proven to pay off for several dancers this season.

Two guys and two girls are left for one male position and one female position. They're all ballroom dancers and two of them are married.

The two guys go first. Ryan and Gene are both quite capable of filling this position, but my personal favorite Ryan made it. I predicted he would and I am so happy he did.

Can his wife make it too. She hasn't received as many favorable remarks from the judges as her husband has. Karen and Ashleigh are also both capable and beautiful dancers. The wife did not make it with her husband. Karen has to go back and tell her husband the heartbreaking news that he must move on without her.

Then they surprise everyone by telling us that Ashleigh made it through also because Paula turned down the offer to be in the "Top 20",because she accepted contract for a movie. I guess everyone wins under these circumstances. I love happy endings.

So you're "Top 20" are:
Channing, a contemporary dancer
Nathan, a contemporary dancer
Russel, a krump dancer
Katherine, a contemporary dancer
Betty, a contemporary dancer
Ariana, a contemporary dancer
Ellenore, a Jazz dancer
Jakob, a contemporary dancer
Bianca, a tapp dancer
Kevin, a hip hop dancer
Mollee, a jazz dancer
Phillip a tap dancer
Noelle, a contemporary dancer
Victor, a contemporary dancer
Pauline, a jazz dancer
Peter, a tap dancer
Karen, a ballroom dancer
Legacy, a B-Boy dancer
Ryan, a ballroom dancer
Ashleigh, a ballroom dancer

This is history making for krumpers and tap dancers, one of the oldest and one of the next forms of dance. Good luck to one and all!

The season begins officially now on Monday night on FOX.
Tuesday night will be the results show.

Fifth Week of "Dancing With the Stars"

2009-10-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, we are already half-way through the season. The 10 couples remaining in the competition, will dance either the Paso Doble or the Argentine Tango, and they will also join with the other couples for a group Hustle. That's roughly the equivalent to learning 1 and 1/2 dances. In future weeks, they'll be learning 2 complete dances a week.

The Paso Doble and the Argentine Tango are two of my favorite styles, so I'm excited for this week. Both are very artistic, dramatic, and have complicated technique and footwork to learn. The Hustle will probably be defined in more varied interpretations by the choreographers.

So let's get going:

Aaron and Karina: Argentine Tango-Aaron toned it down this week, so he wasn't as wild and reckless. He does need to show some emotion on his face though. At times he does, he has great eye contact with his partner and looks very passionate, but then he loses it in parts. He is dancing technically much more precise. He was a strong partner, and the judges had nothing but praise for him. Aaron grew from a boy to a man in his maturity on stage. The suit didn't hurt either.
My Score 8 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Mark and Lacey: Paso Doble-The cinnamon red costuming for this number was hot. I absolutely loved it. Lacey's choreography is always strong. She can do traditional, and add in new and interesting movement to spice up the routine. Mark is a strong partner tonight. He has to be aggressive and he is. He has clean footwork and precise arm movements. Very strong performance.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,8 Average Score 8.6

Donny and Kym: Argentine Tango-Donny looks a little more like he's mad rather than passionate at times. Surprisingly these two emotions are very similar, and if you're worried about footwork and posture, you can go with the easier show of intensity. Looking passionate is an intangible look in the eyes that comes straight from the heart. That being said, he was clean, precise, sharp, and a very strong partner. Donny and Bruno have got to stop flirting with each other though. They're hysterically funny, and Bruno's happy now that he's brought Donny to the dark side.
My score 9 Mom's score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 10,9,10 Average Score 9.6

Louie and Chelsie: Argentine Tango-Chelsie's Argentine Tango on "So You Think You Can Dance with JOsh won them an emmy nomination, so she should be able to choreograph something pretty hot. He's in black and she's in a glittery cinamon red outift. Chelsie couldn't look bad if you put her in coveralls. The dance is good and it's choreographed well keeping in mind that Louie really can't dance. He must not be very coordinated, because there was no real footwork. This was the best he's done for several weeks, and his stage presence was good. The judges were much happier with Louie this week as a whole.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,8,7 Average Score 7.3

Mike and Anna: Paso Doble-I hate the music Anna chose for this routine. It doesn't go with the style of dance at all. Their costuming is terrific. The choreography is okay. Michael is not as laid back as he has been in past dances. His footwork is better this week. His cape work is messy, but overall he did better than last week. He's a football player, so the strong, aggressive style of the dance better suited his personality.
My score 7 Mom's Score 6 Average Score 6.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,7,7 Average Score 7

Melissa and Mark: Argentine Tango-Melissa was the top score last week, however, I don't think we'll see that repeated. Her partner Mark has the flu, so he's fighting his way through the week. He calls in his friend Anna to practice with Melissa, and it was very helpful because she was able to get some tips from a female dancer. Melissa has poor posture from the very start, and posture is a key component to pulling this dance off. Also when her face is close to Mark's, instead of looking like they are intensely in love, it looks like she's off balance and is leaning on him. She looks nervous and her lack of flexibility works against her in this dance. The judges had mixed reviews for Melissa.
My Score 6 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 8,8,7 Average Score 7.6

Mya and Dmitry: Argentine Tango-If anyone can do justice to this very intricate style of dance, Mya can. I love the dark blue teal color of her dress. She is not disappointing us at all. She has the technique of a trained dancer, so that speaks to a lot of natural ability on her part. She also has the dramatic stage presence, the precise movement, and the flexibility it takes to pull this off. Even Len should like Mya this week. The judges suggested that she could have been a little less distant, I agree.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,9 Average Score 9

Natalie and Alec: Paso Doble-Needs stronger posture-If fierce was her goal, she came short at meeting that goal. She is flexible, coordinated, and very precise, but she didn't dance with confidence or heart this week. In the past weeks she has, but she fell short this week.
My score 7 Mom's score 6. Average Score 6.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,8,7 Average Score 7.3

Joanna and Derek: Argentine Tango-Derek got the flu this week also, so Max took over as Joanna's partner. That's hard, because you start to get use to your partner at this point the competition, so she's clearly at a disadvantage. At this point, you've developed trust, and you're use to the choreographer's teaching style. This is a little bit like starting over for her. In my opinion, she actually looks better matched dancing next to Max, but that's just me. They're dancing to "Lola" which is a perfect song for this style of dance. Joanna looks the best I've ever seen her. I think it's the height between the two of them. Joanna could be more flexible, but this was her best dance yet. There was a huge stumble in the middle of the dance, but other than that, I really enjoyed the performance.
My score 9 Mom's Score 7 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Kelly and Louie: Paso Doble-As Louie explains the dance to Kelly and the fact that he is the bull fighter and she is the cape, she doesn't look thrilled, but she digs in and works hard. Kelly is dancing to one of her dad's (Ozzy Osbourne) songs, and that's a little scary to her. She looks amazing. They are both in a grey black look with a little sparkle. She's very strong and dynamic in her movement, but loses her confidence in her face and eyes at times. At times her posture becomes very rounded as well, but she has a very dynamic style, if she could just be more consistent in her stage presence.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Donny
2nd Place Ranking: Mya
3rd Place Ranking: Mark
4th Place Ranking: Aaron, Joanna, and Kelly

2nd round tonight is the group "Hustle": When Donny Osmond saw the Disco ball in the middle of the room, he felt right at home. All we need is John Tavolta and the Bee Gees. At one point in the group routine, there is a short solo by each couple, they can pretty much do anything they want, including lifts and tricks. Louie, Chelsie's partner is not as thrilled with this style of dance or the era as Donny is. The wigs and costuming are fun or maybe funny is the right word. The shows judges don't get to vote on this routine, so America's votes are the only judges this time. They all really had a good time with this and no one really stuck out. Mya, normally a showstopper, did a great lift, but tripped over her dress also, so it was just a good time for all. Nothing happened that would change the rankings above.

Tomorrow night on the results show, we'll see a tribute to Michael Jackson! I suspect that Louie or Mike will go home this week. Most likely Mike.

The actual results for this week: Natalie is leaving the show. This is hard for everyone to believe. The judges, the audience, and me are all very disappointed to see Natalie leave so early. Sometimes America's voting is fickled.

"So You Think You Can Dance "Las Vegas" 2nd Week

2009-10-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, we watched some of the dancers we truly loved, bite the dust for a myriad of reasons. Three rounds of eliminations took their toll on the, less than half, remaining contestants. The eliminations continue this week, as each dancer vies for the coveted Top 20 positions. So here we go:

It's evening of day 2 with 77 Dancers remaining and they're going to meet the toughest (or in my opinion, the meanest) choreographer, Laurieann Gibson. She takes over as choreographer. She screams at the dancers, but she also insults them. I know it's a tough competition, but come on, we're all human beings here. This is a tough jazz routine, and many of the dancers are struggling.

We lost Matthew, our Latin Lover Dancer to this round. His wife who is continuing on is naturally upset.

Molly, originally from Utah, made it to Vegas through the Las Angeles auditions. She has hurt her foot, but short of Nigel telling her to dance like a woman, not a girl, she made it through. The show's medics decide her foot is injured enough to take her to the hospital. All her effort might be for naught, if she can't continue to dance, because they're going to dance everyone on through the night.

Russell Ferguson, the first Krumper to make it to Vegas has made it this far also. He is amazing. I can't believe what they've thrown at him, and he has no formal training at all. Even Nigel is in a better mood now.

It's 9:00 pm and all the 69 remaining dancers are pulled up onto stage. They are divided into groups and given their mission. They must choreograph a routine as a group and have it prepared by first thing in the morning.

Let the fun begin. We have Russell Ferguson and four lyrical dancers going first. They had a Broadway routine, They worked extremely well together. They were the 1st group to bed last night, so let's see how they did. They were fantastic. I have to admit. That may be the best overnight choreographed routine I've seen on this show. Nothing but love came from all the judges.

Next we saw short clips of the good the bad, and the ugly, but nothing long enough to make remarks about.

Molly who got hurt earlier in the night was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. She showed up two hours after the group got started. They brought her up to speed, but they tried to baby the ankle as well. It was a lot of added stress on everyone. I was impressed with how hard they worked to make her successful in this phase of the competition. They even worked her hurt ankle into the routine. These young people are not only talented, but they have big hearts as well. It wasn't the best choreographed routine, but they all get an "A" from me on the human being scale., The judges must have felt the same way, because everyone in the group made it though.

Comtemporary with Mia Michaels
Mia is known for her talented artistry, and her brutal honesty. She kind of chills everyone out, and has them meditate a little before they start the session. Kevin, our B-Boy is the first dancer to pass through. The judges are very impressed with this young man.

"Legacy", who had to dance for his life the day before is now going to dance Mia Michaels and he is scared to death, but he is also touched by the dance and the emotion behind the movement. The judges were happily amazed at his improvement. He danced with his heart, and his body. Wow, another hiphop dancer that made it through a phase that 11 contemporary dancers didn't.

The day is not over. The final round of choreography is a Broadway routine from Tyce. At this point, you can only imagine how tired these dancers are. A dancer by the name of Pauline, who just missed the Top 20 by "this" much last year is hoping to make the cut this time. While performing the routine, she lands wrong at the very end, and hurts her ankle. More cuts are made; we're getting closer to the top 10 girls and the top 10 boys. Ballroom dancers, husband and wife team, Bryan and Ashley are both still in the running. The judges felt that Ashley was probably the most improved dancer of everyone.

While the girls who made it through are splashing in the pool, the men are now trying their luck at Tyce's routine. Bryan looked great, but he did take his shirt off at the end of routine which put a smile on everyone's face. Bryan and his wife are officially in.

Maybe, it's just because we're down to the best dancers now, but everyone seems to be having a real good time, contestants and judges alike. One dancer, does succumb to the incredible stress of the moment. Dominique, who made it all the way through to the final round in Season 4, only to be injured, is hoping to go all the way this time. However he messes up, and the judges have to let him go when comparing him to the rest. Dominique breaks down, and he gets the "buck up, it's not the end of the world speech" from the judges. After he gathers his emotions, he does state on his way out that he will come back next year. I hope he does.

Several dancers must dance for their lives, because the judges are not quite sure about them yet. Billy Bell made the judges cry. Safe to say, they're rethinking him. It's just nothing short of amazing as you see some of the clips of these last solos. These dancers defy gravity, and pull at your heart strings all at the same time. Now it's all up to the judges. They have to decide who will make it into the top 20. Next week we find out who is out and who is in. I can't wait!

This video is of a routine performed at a summer dance recital for a group of girls I taught back in the 1980s.

Do The Conga from Vickie Niesporek on Vimeo.