Fan Fare

Quickstep proves to be a dream on SYTYCD

It may be the first time ever that the dreaded quickstep has proven to be dreamy, with Ellenore Scott and Jakob Carr being crowned the new “Dream Team” on Tuesday’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

Previously paired with the respective halves of husband and wife duo Ryan and Ashleigh Di Lello, both Ellenore and Jakob did well with their old partners, but proved to be magical with each other.

The quickstep was fun, but it was their lyrical jazz number that really got the crowd, and the judges, cheering.

Judge Nigel Lythgoe called the routine his favourite of the season and commended Ellenore on her chemistry with both her partner and with choreographer Sonya Tayeh.

“You and Sonya both probably speak the same language, you’re probably from the same planet,” Nigel said to Ellenore. “And to drag Jakob into your world, that was brillant.”

While Ellenore and Jakob are the new couple to beat, Russell Ferguson and Mollee Gray also stood out as strong contenders with a trick-heavy contemporary and a fun jive.

“I’m feeling so good about this pairing,” said judge Adam Shankman. “You guys are bringing out something really wonderful in each other, something playful.”

SYTYCD shake-up to hurt some, help others

They came, they danced and the judges were almost too positive, especially since two more dancers will be sent packing from So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow, leaving only the all important Top 10, who are expected to go on tour in 2010.

For the dancers who remain after Wednesday night’s elimination, next week will bring new styles and a new partner. So who will the shake-up help and who will it hurt?

Topping the list of those who may feel the squeeze is Ashleigh Di Lello. Last week, we speculated that without her partner Jakob Carr, Ashleigh may find herself in trouble. Jakob‘s strength was certainly evident in their first number, with judge Adam Shankman saying the only flaw was his pants. But Ashleigh got high praises after their second number, a cha-cha, with judge Nigel Lythgoe again saying that those who questioned her abilities in Vegas were eating their words.

“That may have been a cha-cha, but you are waltzing through to the top 10,” said Nigel of the performance.

Mollee Gray may also find herself in a bad place when her partnership with Nathan Trasoras breaks up. The couple seem to have been buoyed by Nathan’s popularity and Mollee may not fare so well with voters on her own. But a more mature partner could prove to give her the push to make it through to the top 4.

Meanwhile, if Karen Hauer makes it through the elimination, she will need to connect with one of the stronger men if she hopes to survive another week. A fresh partner may also prove the right move for Noelle Marsh, who has done well with Russell Ferguson, but may shine with someone else.

As for who will be headed home this week, expect to see Karen and partner Victor Smalley among the bottom three couples. As for the rest – it really is anyone’s game right now.

So You Think You Can Dance taps out to top 16

The top 18 dancers sashayed straight into competition — and eliminations — on Tuesday’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

The two-hour long show was the final round to be decided entirely by the panel of three judges before voting is handed back over to viewers on November 10.

It was a packed show, with all nine couples performing ahead of the same-day elimination.

The night started off with Noelle Marsh, freshly recovered from an injury that kept her out of the competition last week, and partner Russell Ferguson in a tennis-inspired hip-hop battle.

The routine, choreographed by first-time contributor Jamal Sims, was fast-paced, but fell short for all three judges.

“It was just so fast that I think you really didn’t get a hold of it,” said judge Nigel Lythgoe, adding that he found the routine disappointing.

Ashleigh Di Lello and Jakob Carr were up next with a Viennese Waltz that prompted judge Adam Shankman to gush, “I am madly in love with you guys.”

Audrina Patridge talks about new slasher film “Sorority Row”

Hollywood starlet and tabloid favorite Audrina Patridge takes to the big screen in horror movie “Sorority Row,” which opens September 11.

She plays a sorority girl who ends up being the victim of a prank gone wrong — which later sparks a killing spree at the sorority.

She talked with Reuters about the film and her upcoming reality TV show on MTV, which you can read here.

In the video below, she shares what her favorite horror movies are, talks about her character in “Sorority Row” and dishes on bonding with her fellow castmates.

It turns out, Patridge said, that on the set there was none of the cattiness that colors “The Hills,” the top-rated reality series on MTV that made her a celebrity. Click below to watch the video.

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” celebrates 100th show; cuts pack to six

It was a night of celebration on Fox’s summer hit “So You Think You Can Dance” as the show marked it’s 100th 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.

“Harry Potter” works like magic at box offices

With the latest Harry Potter movie opening across North America tomorrow, “The Half-Blood Prince” is already — and perhaps expectedly — among the hottest-selling movie tickets of the year.

From Alaska to Florida, 2,500 midnight showtimes of “The Half-Blood Prince” have sold out, according to Fandango, a top movie and entertainment online ticket seller.

The website is currently selling an average of eight Harry Potter tickets per second.

It seems the British boy wizard has cast the right spell to reclaim his spot among the top 3 advance-ticket sellers of all time, a coveted honor lost last fall to “Twilight”.

In fact, by the end of the day, “The Half-Blood Prince” may even outpace “The Dark Knight” in advance-ticket sales.

“Harry Potter fans are insanely loyal,” said Fandango spokesperson Harry Medved. “And it’s clear that the online buzz and positive reviews for ‘The Half-Blood Prince’ are fueling the online ticket sales.”

This should come as a surprise to the Wall Street Journal.

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.

This week saw some of last week’s favorite couples performing under par and last week’s bottom dancers delivering.

As a testament to the incredibly strong and fairly evenly matched crop of talent this season, executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe told the bottom three couples, “if it were up to us, we probably wouldn’t lose any of this six tonight.”

Despite strong routines last week, Ashley and Max’s solos and performances on Wednesday were less memorable and simply didn’t make the cut for audiences and judges alike.

Living to see another week of competition were Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover along with Kupono Aweau and his new partner Kayla Radomski.

Despite hip-hop’s popularity and the return of choreographer Shane Sparks (a judge on “America’s Best Dance Crew“), it was “hip-not” this week with two of last week’s star couples unable to deliver, landing them in the bottom.

Vampire trend bites into big, small screens

(Writing and reporting by Laura Isensee)

These days vampires seem to be all love and no bite.

Or they bite mainly when they’re making love, as in the case of “True Blood,” the original HBO series that premieres its second season on Sunday, and is the focus of aggressive marketing with an advertisement that took over the front page of the ailing Los Angeles Times on Friday.

The series, based on Charlaine Harris’ book series called the “Southern Vampire Mysteries,” tells the story of telepathic Sookie Stackhouse, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton in a small Louisiana town where vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak.

The show stars Anna Paquin and is one of HBO’s brightest hopes after the cable channel suffered the one-two punch of losing “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under.”

The series also is part of the latest phenomenon of vampires biting into movies and television.

The blockbuster “Twilight,” featuring rising stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, recently swept the MTV Movie Awards and the trailer for “New Moon,” the second installment in the movie series, earlier this month received 10.6 million online views in its first week..

After Iraq broadcasts, can Stephen Colbert declare “Mission Accomplished”?

(Writing and reporting by Laura Isensee)

Two presidents, a major general and a shaved head all played a part this week in comedian Stephen Colbert’s declared mission to bring attention to the 6 year-old war in Iraq and the troops still fighting abroad.

On Thursday, Colbert broadcast from Iraq the last of four episodes he starred in this week from the battle-torn country. On Thursday’s edition of “The Colbert Report,” a program which spoofs U.S. politics and culture on cable channel Comedy Central, the show featured a special shout-out to the troops by former President George W. Bush. It was one of several guest video spots that included politicians from right and left, from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to President Barack Obama.

The political satirist went to the Middle East under the humorous title “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando,” but he seemed serious about his mission. This week he guest-edited Newsweek magazine, albeit as his fictional on-screen persona.

“I know what you’re thinking: ‘Isn’t the Iraq War over?’ That’s what I thought, too. I hadn’t seen it in the media for a while, and when I don’t see something, I assume it’s vanished forever, like in that terrifying game peekaboo. We stopped seeing much coverage of the Iraq War back in September when the economy tanked, and I just figured the insurgents were wiped out because they were heavily invested in Lehman Brothers,” Colbert wrote in Newsweek.

“Turns out there are still 135,000 troops in Iraq, which I don’t understand because we’ve already won the war,” he continued in his column.

Colbert, who is splashed on Newsweek’s front page this week, also helped select stories for the issue that focus on Iraq. But he didn’t drop his humor, also publishing fake letters that his character has sent to the magazine over the years.