SYTYCD for 7/22: Top 6 Results July 22, 2010
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Late again. Maybe this time I can blame it on Comic-Con, since everybody else is using that excuse. Of course, it means less since I didn’t go to Comic-Con…
Group performance: Jazz choreographed by Kelley Abbey, danced to All that Jazz by Lea DeLaria
This routine made good use of the All-Stars. Every week, the group performances just keep getting better. This one was stellar.
Results, part 1
Lauren is safe
Kent is safe
This was a no brainer. At this point, I’d say that these are the two to beat.
Guest performance: American Ballet Theater’s Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews, dancing Don Quixote – Act III Grand Pas de Deux by Leon Minkus
That was superb. The level of control and training necessary to do what Yuriko and Jared did on that state was tremendous. Ballet is one of those genres that the vast majority of contestants aren’t going to be able to do justice with; it was gratifying to see a real performance of it on the show.
Results, part 2
Adechike is safe
Robert is in the bottom
Jose is in the bottom
I expect Jose to go home. He’s been dragging for several weeks now.
Guest performance: DJ Smart, dancing to Say You Will by Kanye West
This was a magnificent routine, with serious athleticism, fitting for a very serious subject. The use of the manacles in the portrayal of a slave was perfect. It was amazing just how much movement he achieved with his hands chained together.
All-Star Spotlight: Lauren Gottlieb & Neil Haskell: choreographed by Wade Robson, dancing to Night of the Dancing Flame by Roisin Murphy
This was ancient history, from Season three. I didn’t remember it at all until Lauren’s scream. It was great to see this again, and I’m sure that they performed this a whole lot better than the first time. It’s amazing how much skill the All-Stars have picked up since they were contestants.
Robert’s solo: Danced to Fireflies by Ron Pope
That was not bad. I thought that he could have done a better job if he’d paid more attention to the music.
Jose’s solo: danced to It’s Just Begun by The Jimmy Castor Bunch
It looks like Jose is pulling out all the stops; he really kicked it up a notch. This was easily the better solo. There was even an almost-headstand.
Guest performance: Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull, performing I Like It
He’s autotuned. That’s a disappointment. The girls were great, though. And Pitbull has some rapping skills.
No wonder the dancers were so good, they were the All-Stars, Allison, Lauren, and Dominic. The dancing was the definite star of this performance.
Results, part 3
A couple of the judges think that Robert is no longer growing.
The same for Jose. At the same time, Jose’s breaking is growing.
Billy kept himself out this week, which gave him a rest. That was controversial.
As a result, no one is going home this week. Next week, two go home.
Judging from what Nigel said, at least a few of the judges seem to think that Billy took advantage of his injury, thinking that he could slide by and get some rest. I think they want him back in the mix, so that they can judge him properly. I suspect that, like Robert and Jose, Billy is close to going home. That would make the top three Kent, Lauren, and Adechike. As the judges have said, this is probably Kent’s to lose at this point.
SYTYCD Results for 12/2 December 2, 2009
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Fresh off the tube, the results just ended, and here’s my post!
First, the preliminaries. It was bound to happen. The intro for the show was a miss. It’s too bad: “Still Rock and Roll” is a great song; It deserved better treatment. It looked like there really wasn’t any choreography at all, just one long, hot mess. This one was from Tyce. He’s really having a bad season.
Bottom two girls: Noelle and Kathryn. I don’t know what happened. I figured that one of them (probably Noelle) had to end up in the bottom. Ellenore and Mollee both had a really good night. But, Ashleigh didn’t. She should have been in the bottom.
Bottom two guys: Ryan and Nathan. At least I got these right.
Since the solos are now purely entertainment (and I have no illusions that they would even be that), I’m going to skip them.
Results:
Girls: Noelle is leaving. This was a crying shame. At least Kathryn will still be around.
Guys: Nathan is leaving. I was a bit surprised about this. I thought that Ryan had a worse night, but Nathan just hadn’t built a following.
SYTYCD for 10/21: Top 20 Picks October 22, 2009
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Cutting through the drama and moving on to a first-name basis, here’s the top 20 for Season 6:
The Girls:
- Ariana: Contemporary, not shown during the auditions.
- Ashleigh: Ballroom, from the Salt Lake City auditions (and Ryan’s wife). Ashleigh made it in because Paula Van Oppen turned down the judges (she has a movie contract).
- Bianca: Tap, from the Los Angeles auditions.
- Channing: Contemporary, from the Boston auditions.
- Ellenore: Jazz, first shown in Las Vegas.
- Karen: Ballroom, from the Boston auditions (her husband, Matthew, was cut in Las Vegas)
- Kathryn: Contemporary, not shown during the auditions (she was in Los Angeles).
- Mollee: Jazz, from the Los Angeles auditions.
- Noelle: Contemporary not shown during the auditions.
- Pauline: Jazz, first shown in Las Vegas.
The Guys:
- Billy: Contemporary, from the Atlanta auditions.
- Jakob: Contemporary, from the New Orleans auditions.
- Kevin: Hip Hop, from the Boston auditions.
- Legacy: B-Boy, from the Boston auditions.
- Nathan: Contemporary, from the season 5 auditions (he was under age).
- Peter: Tap, not shown during the auditions (he was in Boston).
- Phillip: Tap, from the Los Angeles auditions.
- Russell: Krump, from the Boston auditions.
- Ryan: Ballroom, from the Salt Lake City auditions (and Ashleigh’s husband).
- Victor: Contemporary, from the Atlanta auditions.
I was a little disappointed that Paula Van Oppen turned down a position in the top 20. I kept seeing her in the background, during the Las Vegas episodes, and was hoping that she would make it to the top 20.
Word as a Blog editor, part 2 October 8, 2009
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Cool. It worked. I’m going to try this for my SYTYCD notes next week.
I’m trying Word as a Blog editor October 8, 2009
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WordPress did it to me again. I went to save my draft. Instead of saving it, WordPress popped up the login page. This time I didn’t lose just a paragraph, I lost two thirds of my post. Word 2007 is supposed to have a blog publishing feature. I’m going to see how this works.
September game-o-rama September 7, 2009
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I’m a long time Word of Warcraft player (since it started in 2004). It’s just the latest in a long line of computer games that I’ve enjoyed. I’ve continued to try new games as they become available, looking for new ways to waste time that would be better spent blogging.
Recently, two games have gotten my attention: Champions online, a super-hero based online role playing game (MMORPG), and the Dungeons and Dragons Online reboot.
Champions was a no-brainer for me. I’d played the paper and pencil version back in the ’80s. Back then, the game had an elaborate system for creating super heroes with just the abilities a player wanted. I was interested in seeing if they were able to translate that into a 21st century online game.
Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) was more of a surprise for me. Out of the blue, I’d received an e-mail, letting me know that (since I’d played the original version of the game), I was entitled to a free upgrade to the new version. More to the point, DDO is now what’s called a “free to play” game, not requiring any subscription fee. How could I go wrong?
Fast forwarding a bit, I’ve been playing Champions Online for a couple of weeks (first the open beta, and now the released game) and have been playing DDO for the weekend.
Both games do some things well. They don’t just rehash the game mechanics that Blizzard has fine tuned in World of Warcraft. Instead, they’ve successfully created games that push into other areas of entertainment.
For Champions, it’s the super hero aspect of the game. Instead of a short list of possible “classes”, they allow you to use their framework to build a character that you want to play, complete with designing your superhero outfit. The game is still pretty rough. My first two characters were rousing failures, as I learned the ins and outs of character creation. I’m still struggling with the game, stuck at a point where it feels like I’m beating my head against a wall.
Overall, DDO was a big surprise for me. Like Champions, the graphics of the game leave a lot to be desired, after the downright beauty of World of Warcraft. And, the user interface is unlike anything that I’ve experienced elsewhere, much more keyboard bound and less mouse oriented. However, the game is quite solo-friendly, more so than other MMORPG’s I’ve played. It makes for a nice diversion from the commitment of a game like World of Warcraft.
The upshot of all of this is that both games will be on my shelf for a while. I purchased six months of Champions play time in order to get into the Start Trek beta, later this year (how could I pass that up?). I may not continue with Champions after that, unless I figure out just what I’m not doing right. DDO may have a brighter future. I like the lack of any required commitment in the game. They have a micro-transaction system to purchase various game items, which I’m not hating (since I do the same thing with my XBox 360 subscription). If the game continues to entertain me without some big amount of offline effort in “figuring it out”, I could stay a happy player for a long time.
I’m still here September 7, 2009
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I haven’t gone anywhere. With the new job and commute, it’s been tough to find the time to blog. I’m working on it, especially with SYTYCD starting up again this week (woo hoo!). Stay tuned.
The new TV is here June 27, 2009
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It looks great. Even though it’s six inches smaller than the old Sony (46 inches from 52 inches), it’s much sharper. Once again, non-HD content looks like garbage.
The set is interesting: it has tons of HDMI connections, but only two analog connections (one composite/component and one RGB). I’m wondering if this is a sign of the future. I noticed that the previous year’s model had 2 component connections (as my upstairs TV does). Once I get the cable switched over to HDMI, the single component should be fine, I think (though I won’t have a composite connection for older equipment available).
I’ll be spending tomorrow cleaning up my cable mess and getting everything set up the way I want it. I’ll probably have to pick up one or two more HDMI cables.
A new TV’s coming June 19, 2009
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My six year old Sony’s picture has been degrading for a year. Two days ago, it began restarting by itself, once a minute. The first night, I was able to stop it by cycling the TV’s power. However, yesterday it started doing it again. I had to bring the upstairs TV to the living room to watch SYTYCD (thank goodness for lightweight flat screens). That was the last straw.
Today, I headed down to Best Buy and ordered a brand, spanking new Samsung LED/LCD TV. I’m dropping down from 52″ to 46″, but (frankly) 52″ was way too big for my living room. Heck, there was a time when my TV was 20″. It gets delivered next Saturday, so I’ll have to limp along next week. I guess I’ll be toting the upstairs TV up and down for a while. I’ll survive.
SYTYCD results for 6/11 June 12, 2009
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Here we are, at the first week’s results, with the couples assigned for the first part of the finals. This week, Adam Shankman is the guest judge.
Side note: Adam announced that he’s currently filming Step Up 3D for Disney, and it will include Katee, Joshua, and Twitch! It looks like I have a movie to see next summer 
On to the dancing.
Jeanine & Phillip started off dancing a Hip Hop routine by Tabitha and Napoleon. The routine was built to Phillip’s strengths, and he was great. Jeanine kept up with him well enough that the judges loved it.
Asuka & Vitolio were next with a Broadway routine by Tyce. Technically, they looked good, but there wasn’t any chemistry. As Nigel said, their personalities didn’t’ come out.
Karla & Jonathan next did a Cha Cha by Tony Meredith. The acrobatics were good, but it was a pretty lukewarm performance. The judges were positive, but I thought that it should have been better.
Randi & Evan did a Jazz number by Tyce. Randi was great. I thought that Evan could have been better, but they showed great chemistry. Mary thought that they’d stepped it up since Las Vegas, where she considered them at the bottom of the list.
Paris & Tony then did a Hip Hop routine by Tabitha & Napoleon. It was “interesting” that the two B-Boys got to start with Hip Hop. It seemed a bit against the odds. I thought that it looked good, but the judges were underwhelmed: they liked it, but thought that Tony needed to do better. This has been a theme since Las Vegas.
Caitlin & Jason did a Bollywood number by Nakul Dev Mahajan. I’d expected Bollywood this year, since Katee and Joshua’s number went over so well last year, but I was surprised that we were seeing it the first week. Jason looked sharp, but Caitlin appeared a little sloppy. The judges loved it.
Jeanette & Brandon then did a Foxtrot by Louis Van Amstel. It looked fantastic to me, but the Foxtrot is really technical and I could miss the details. Other than a comment about Brandon’s footwork (this is the kind of thing I’d miss), the judges liked it.
Ashley and Kupono did a Jazz number by Wade. It was pretty avant garde, crash test dummies (wasn’t there a crash test dummy number in a previous season?). I thought that Ashley was fantastic. Kupono reminded me of Mark from season 4. The judges loved it.
Melissa and Ade did a Contemporary number by Mandy Moore. It was out of this world. Melissa especially was amazing. Adam called it “special”.
Kayla & Max did a Samba by Louis. This was a big shock. As a ballroom / latin dancer, Max was in his element, but this was a stretch for Kayla. She rocked. Adam pointed out that, even though Kayla had never done ballroom, she seemed like she was “born in a ballroom”. We have the first passengers on the Hot Tamale Train for season 5. What a way to end the night.
My first reaction was that the bottom 3 would be: Asuka/Vitolio, Paris/Tony, and Caitlin/Jason. I didn’t think that Caitlin and Jason did that poorly, but I was unsure how Bollywood would be accepted this early in the season.
Down to the results show. I’m going to skip the usual grouping shenanigans done, and get to the bottom 3.
In the bottom were Paris/Tony, Asuka/Vitolio, and Karla/Jonathan.
Karla & Jonathan surprised me at first, but when I went over my notes again, it made sense. They just weren’t performing at the same level as the other pairs (barring the the others in the bottom).
I think Tony’s making it hard for Paris. I think she ended up in the bottom because of him.
Asuka & Vitolio were just too stiff. Broadway numbers are all about the story, and they didn’t tell a story, just do the steps. it looked even worse in the recap.
Without seeing the solos, it looks to me like it’s going to be Tony and Asuka going. Tony’s been struggling since Las Vegas, and Asuka didn’t do herself any favors with her performance.
All six solos looked good, which is understandable since this year’s crop of finalists are a cut above what we’ve had before at this time. Yes, even Tony.
The judges didn’t agree. Nigel thought that all six solos were not up to “final” quality.
For the girls, the judges thought that Karla did the best, and Paris is going home. Apparently, Paris fell victim to the same thing that got Ryan Kasprzak in Las Vegas: Paris was a contemporary dancer, and there were others that filled that same style, so Asuka gets to dance again.
For the guys, Nigel thought that both Tony’s and Jonathan’s performances were disappointing. Due to his performance in Las Vegas, Tony was sent packing.
I thought that it was significant that both contestants were cut for reasons other than their solo performance. It shows just how close all of the contestants are, which is unusual at this time. As I said before, there are usually a few strays that obviously shouldn’t be in the finals after the first dance. This isn’t true this year. It really is going to be a tough competition.
That being said, keep your eyes on the Melissa/Ade and Kayla/Max pairs. Their performances were a cut above everyone else’s (this was especially evident when watching them the second time).
