It was a night of celebration on Fox’s summer hit “So You Think You Can Dance” as the show marked it’s 100^th episode with special guest appearances and the return of Emmy-winning performances.

Familiar faces from seasons past, including Travis Wall, Heidi Groskreutz, and Hawk, performed award-winning routines such as the zombie-inspired group number Ramalama (Bang Bang) and the contemporary gem “Calling You.”

Thursday’s show also featured a new, and perhaps the most eagerly anticipated addition, as actress Katie Holmes performed a pre-taped tribute to screen legend Judy Garland.

Despite the jovial feel, salsa dancer Janette Manrara and contemporary dancer Jason Glover were sent packing as the top eight was cut down to six.

“Janette, you were my favorite too and I really wanted you to win this year,” said executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe. “You bring so much to this.”

Lythgoe added he thought America got it wrong, but ultimately elimination is decided by viewers. So do you agree with Lythgoe? Was Manrara’s elimination as much a shock to you as it was to host Cat Deeley?

Manrara faced stiff competition on Wednesday’s performance show, which was filled with a number of memorable numbers.

Tyce Diorio’s contemporary routine, inspired by a friend’s battle with breast cancer, was hailed as a “perfect portrait” by an emotional judge Mia Michaels. Performed by Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi, Lythgoe said the number prompted an overwhelming audience response, including a personal message from Olivia Newton-John, herself a breast cancer survivor.

“I think television at its best can reach out and unite a country with a shared experience and I think that happened last night with Tyce’s routine,” Lythgoe said on Thursday.

Guest judge Ellen DeGeneres provided some much-needed comic relief on Wednesday’s show as Lythgoe dished out biting criticisms before and after the tears, including his contention this season’s hip hop numbers disappointed.

However, both street-inspired performances blew the judges away. Jeanine Mason and Brandon Bryant hit hard on Wednesday with a Laurie Ann Gibson pop-jazz routine, breaking Lythgoe out of his funk. “This is the flattest night I have ever experienced on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ up until now,” he said of the routine.

Michaels praised the camouflaged-clad couple saying, “you guys danced in a place that was more than dance, you were inside it.”

Kayla Radomski and Glover’s ghoulish Shane Sparks hip hop routine was one of the few numbers to prompt judge Mary Murphy’s coveted bloodcurdling screams. Michaels described the pair as “disturbingly hot” and noted it was her favorite Sparks number to date.

Was the milestone 100th show bittersweet with the elimination of Manrara and Glover or did you have your cake and eat it too?

Captions: (Top) Janette Manrara , 25, is a salsa/ballroom dancer from Miami, Fl. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX

Jason Glover, 21, is a contemporary/lyrical dancer from Fresno, CA. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX

Every year in Hollywood when the long, hot days of summer set in, some story comes along to shake up the media, and reporters seem to bite into it like a dog with a bone. Absent anything else going on in town, that story is becomes the tale of Hollywood’s summer.

So far, early in this summer of 2009,  the story has been celebrity deaths. When Karl Malden died yesterday, he was added to a growing list of celebrities who either died after long illnesses or suddenly, topped off by the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson.

When Jackson died last week, fans across the world went into shock and are still waiting news of an official funeral or public memorial.

Also catching fans by surprise was the strange demise of “Kung Fu” actor David Carradine, who was found in the closet of his Bangkok hotel on June 4. A pathologist who oversaw a private autopsy told

Reuters the cause of death was asphyxiation, but so far an official cause has not been released by Thai police.

However, most of the stars who have passed on to that major studio in the sky were in poor health or had a serious illness.

Farrah Fawcett, the 1970s icon who captivated teenage boys with her smile and golden wavy hair, ended her struggle with cancer on June 25, the same day Jackson died.

Ed McMahon, America’s favorite sidekick on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” died on June 23 at 86 and had battled a series of illnesses.

Karl Malden, who won acclaim for his roles in “A Streetcar Named

Desire” and “On the Waterfront,” had been in failing health in

recent years. The actor, famous for playing ordinary guys, died in his sleep on July 1. He was 97.

And over the weekend, there were three other deaths: impressionist and singer Fred Travalena, who could voice nearly everyone from Bugs Bunny to George W. Bush; pitchman Billy Mays; and 1950s sitcom star Gale Storm. Maybe they were not all on the A-list. But they were well-known during their time.

The real question is whether the stretch of celebrity deaths is over? There is an old saying that celebrity deaths come in threes, and so far, we’ve had far more than three.

It’s difficult to ignore French cinema at the film festival in Goa. Alain Corneau is here presenting his latest film “The Second Wind”, a French gangster film set in the 1960s. Film noir is a genre Corneau loves and it shows in this remake of a 1966 French classic.

Turns out it was Monica Bellucci’s idea to dye her hair blonde for her role as a gangster’s moll. A decision Corneau doesn’t regret.

I thought the use of vivid blue and red colours in “The Second Wind” is an influence from Bollywood. But Corneau tells me I am wrong - his influence was cinema from Hong Kong and South Korea.

A decade or so ago, the Indophile made a small-budget French film in Mumbai and Goa. And he’s not averse to coming back for a film in India - albeit with European protagonists.

Denis Dercourt is in Goa too with “Turning Pages” - a film he describes as the story of revenge set in the world of European classical music.

The 2006 film was the first box-office success after five duds for the accomplished viola player and Dercourt admits he’s finding it tough to move on to his next film.

There are several other French films being shown at Goa - among them is the year’s action blockbuster “Taxi 4″ and the romantic comedy “Change of Address”. As for filmmaker Jan Kounen, he’s using humour to expose the world of glamour and advertising in his dark comedy “99 Francs”.

Dercourt says the French churn out some 250 films a year, a fourth of India’s output. But it certainly seems they are going to more places.

Au revoir, anyone?

Too many films. Too little time. Nearly 200 films from more than 40 countries are being shown during the 11-day film festival in Goa, India. Add to this the daily grind of press conferences and interviews. Aaargh! To attend or not to attend, that is the question.

I really have to catch up on sleep — yawning during a screening of Ingmar Bergman’s “Wild Strawberries” is really not a good sign. But thanks to much of Bollywood ignoring the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year, I don’t have the added stress of chasing popular actors.

Fans go berserk when they spot a Bollywood star - and thankfully I haven’t been witness to much of that here. The only exception was Shah Rukh Khan. At a party on the night of the opening ceremony, security personnel had a tough time keeping fans away from the VIP area. I remember one teenager rushing back in triumph, screaming “I touched him!” and being congratulated by some of her less unfortunate peers.

Excitement also built up around Amitabh Bachchan attending the Indian premiere of “The Last Lear” on Friday with fans lining up on both sides of the red carpet. But disappointment was writ large on their faces when only director Rituparno Ghosh walked in.

Not surprisingly, regional-language actors and directors have been able to move around freely. In fact, after the screening of filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Malayalam-language “Naalu Pennungal” (Four Women), a woman walked past actress Geethu Mohandas, looked back and asked “Weren’t you in this film?”

And when I was talking to director Sameer Hanchate, whose film “Gafla” (Scam) is being screened here, a man selling mobile phone connections walked up to him and asked if he wanted one.

Well, the glitz and glamour may be missing from Goa this time but no one’s really complaining. After all, a film festival should be about good films and IFFI 2007 is a success on that count.

You can’t really forget your first sight of Goa as the plane lands. Before you is the shimmering blue of the Arabian Sea, the golden sands of its world-famous beaches and the leafy green of limitless palm groves.

It’s pleasant weather here - peak tourist season has just kicked off - and the place has a global feel , so much so that foreigners don’t even merit curious glances from Goans. The states population is just 1.4 million but it doubles around this time - including many visitors from other parts of India .

It’s the fourth straight year the International Film Festival of India, is being held in this tourist haven, but despite being India’s largest, it hasn’t quite registered on the global festival map. But maybe there’s hope.

A chatty Italian festival goer on Day 2 was upbeat. Water is the connecting thread for film festivals, he said - Cannes and Venice and now Goa - and I would not argue. There is something refreshing about the breeze coming in from the Mandovi river as I wait on the waterfront next to the main venue.

And if beaches are the measure of a film festival’s success, you can’t really go wrong with Goa.

More on the films here in my next post.