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Entertainment behind the scenes
Will the lawnmower racer and the “dream team” survive to top 14 on SYTYCD?
The Season 5 dancers were in the house, taking a break from their North American tour. Was it really only this past summer that Jeanine Mason was crowned?
Before the show hustled down to business, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe and the other judges plugged the Dizzy Feet Foundation Show, telling viewers that dancers from the “dance reality TV trifecta” (SYTYCD, Dancing With The Stars and America’s Best Dance Crew) would all be performing.
Karen Hauer and Kevin Hunte kicked off the dancing, but not before Karen told the world that she and her husband — who auditioned with her — were getting a divorce. Awkward pause. The judges praised their Maria Torres hustle number, with Nigel telling Karen she was “going to go a long way in this competition.”
Jeanine Mason takes the title of “America’s Favorite Dancer”
It was a night of celebration and tears at the Kodak Theater as contemporary performer Jeanine Mason was crowned “America’s Favorite Dancer” on season five of Fox’s summer hit “So You Think You Can Dance.”
“I never ever imagined this,” the 18-year-old said following the announcement, adding she never thought she would be giving an acceptance speech on the same stage that hosts the Academy Awards.
Down to the final four on “So You Think You Can Dance”
The “dreaded quickstep” was once again the kiss of death as ballerina Melissa Sandvig was eliminated on Fox’s fifth season of the popular “So You Think You Can Dance.”Comments from the judges on Wednesday night were mixed for Sandvig’s challenging ballroom number as Mary Murphy said she was “disappointed” with Melissa and Evan Kasprzak‘s performance while Nigel Lythgoe raved, “it’s routines like I just watched now that started me dancing.”And in what was probably the biggest shock of the season, Ade Obayomi failed to inspire voters to pick up the phone, sending him packing rather than to the finale. Ade and Jeanine Mason got down and dirty with a well-received Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop number, but their samba failed to impress due to technical shortcomings.
“It started to fall apart for me. Ade, you were hopping around that floor,” Murphy said on Wednesday, adding the routine had a novice feel. The panel agreed the couple physically looked great but it wasn’t enough to keep the critiques at bay. “We were hoping to get an explosion of excellence and it really fell short for me,” crump choreographer and guest judge Lil C said of the performance. Despite the elimination of two dancers, Thursday’s show managed to retain somewhat of a celebratory feel as past finalists and winners took to the stage to perform Emmy-nominated numbers from last season, including “Bleeding Love,” “Silence” and “A Los Amigos.”This week’s competition got under way with Wednesday night’s performance show, which was a hotbed of sexy samba, high-flying disco and infidelity-inspired contemporary.After fielding some scathing critiques for his Tyce Diorio-choreographed Broadway number, Evan managed to inspire the judges during his quickstep routine, prompting Lil C to say,”I’m going to commend you for dancing bigger than you’ve ever danced on the show for me.”Judge favorites Brandon Bryant and Kayla Radomski continued their ride on the coveted hot tamale train with two first-class tickets doled out by Murphy. Their “beyond intense” contemporary number, choreographed by Canadian Stacey Tookey, was a technical feast for the eyes. Kayla shone as an abused mistress in the adultery-inspired performance. “You have never taken a wrong step for me Kayla,” Murphy said, “That was perfection up there on the dance floor.”Lil C continued the compliments saying Kayla, who he described as “a beast,” has a tendency to outdance her partners, but her coupling with Brandon was the first time she was evenly matched.Kayla and Brandon will join Evan and Jeanine in the final four, competing for a chance to win $250,000 and the title of “America’s Favorite Dancer.” Did the final four come as a surprise or did the top dancers make the cut?Captions: (Right) Melissa Sandvig, 29, is a ballet dancer from Los Alamitos, CA. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOXAde Obayomi,20, is a contemporary dancer from Chandler, AZ. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX
“So You Think You Can Dance” narrows to eight
It was — perhaps predictably — the end of the road for Randi Evans and Kupono Aweau on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance.
The search for America’s favorite dancer kicked up a notch with the top 10 dancers now vying individually for viewers’ votes with three separate performances: a group number, a couples dance with new partners, and a solo.
Karla and Vitolio get the “kiss of death” on “So You Think You Can Dance”
Judge Mary Murphy hit it on the nail when she said, “This competition is probably the closest competition in ‘So You Think You Can Dance‘ history.”
The race on the fifth season of Fox’s summer hit has been incredibly tight from the beginning and this week’s bottom couples exemplified that.
Ashley and Max dance home on “So You Think You Can Dance”
“So You Think You Can Dance” host Cat Deeley — looking fabulous in a white pant suit — kicked off Thursday’s results show with a hilarious compilation of judge Lil’ C’s critiques from Wednesday — often incomprehensible, inventive, and always verbose.
The laughs didn’t last however, and it was a sad night for Ashley Valerio and Max Kapitannikov, the second female and male dancer to be sent home on Fox’s hit summer reality show.
Hip hop is tops on “So You Think You Can Dance”
As the judges liked to say, Thursday’s finale of “So You Think You Can Dance” was BUCK!
America loves inspiring underdogs and season No. 4 proved no exception to that rule as hip-hopper Joshua Allen beat fellow street dancer Twitch (Stephen Boss) to be crowned America’s Favorite Dancer on the final episode that brought back the very best of the show.
As fans saw in earlier episodes this summer and previous seasons, technical perfection doesn’t always outshine charm and charisma. The very polished Katee Shean — whom many expected to either win or at least be in the top two — was out before the two final male contestants.
“So You Think You Can Dance”, a Hip-Hop Heavy Finale?
The search for America’s favorite dancer on Fox TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” narrowed Thursday night to a surprisingly strong showing from the hip-hop league.
After Mark Kanemura’s elimination, Twitch (Stephen Laurel Boss) and Joshua Allen advanced to next week’s finale, marking the first time hip-hop dancers will represent the top-two male performers and half of the final four — spots reserved in previous seasons for classically-trained dancers.
“So You Think You Can Dance” narrows field to 8
Down to the final top 10 dancers, it was gearing up to be a tough decision-making week for fans of TV talent show “So You Think You Can Dance,” but someone — or some two — had to go.
In the end, it was Kherington Payne and Gev Manoukian who were the first to say goodbye. Joining them in the bottom (but safe for another week) were Mark Kanemura and Comfort Fedoke, who rejoined the group after original top 10 contestant Jessica King had to bow out. (Doctors told her the pain in her side was due to broken and fractured ribs, but there were no explanations on how she got those injuries. A previous dance number?)
