tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26601234612487707102024-03-13T22:01:55.977-07:00Canadian TV RecapsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-39240336747145310002008-12-04T13:31:00.000-08:002008-12-04T14:06:04.675-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Top 4Lisa and Izaak were eliminated last week, leaving Nico, Natalli, Miles and Allie. The Final 4 episode is two hours long and the two hours of voting that follow constitute the final vote for Canada’s top dancer. There will be no Results Show Thursday. The final results will be announced at the end of a two hour special airing at 9 pm on CTV this Sunday, December 7th, the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For those who have watched the series, I can’t imagine the grand finale will have much of interest before 10:55 EST, a half hour earlier in Newfoundland. Why a 9 o’clock start after 12 weeks of 8 o’clock starts? My two year old is so disappointed – she loves dancing along, but if she’s not down by 9 the wife starts looking at me funny and eyeing the knife rack in a way that makes me nervous.<br /><br />Host Leah Miller wears a one-shouldered dress of balloon-grade Kevlar. In the parallel universe that got the future with flying cars, this is what the hot Italian women wear.<br /><br />Leah intros the final 4. Natalli wears a solid red micro skirt and a white peasant blouse with flowers embroidered across the top and up the shoulder straps. Allie wears short-shorts made from the material left on the sewing room floor when they made Leah’s dress and a top made of material the same colour as Natalli’s skirt. Nico looks like a castaway on a desert island in ragged Robinson Crusoe shorts and a white tee with a boxing cartoon and a lot of stuff I can’t read written on it in black magic marker. It seems there was some ink left in the tube after he did the faux-tattoos for last week’s show. Now we know he is perfect - he even puts the cap back on. Miles wears a spotless white crew-neck tee, black jeans and ball cap and more eye make-up than Natalli. All are barefoot save for Miles, who wears black deck shoes with white soles.<br /><br />Nice touch – the 16 dancers that have been eliminated from the Top 20 are present in the audience, standing as a group on a catwalk in front of the judges’ balcony box. The Judges are the group I think of as the first string – Luther, Blake, Tre and Jean Marc.<br /><br />We start with a “hip-hop driven” cane-and-dance group routine choreod by Dan Karaty to <em>Genesis</em> by Justice (they tried <em>Justice</em> by Genesis, but found hip-hop doesn’t work well to pseudo-intellectual British science-fiction space rock). The choice was the right one. <em>Genesis</em> by Justice is a bit of ominous, crunchy techno that sets a great mood for the costumes: the guys are in all-red Edwardian suits with matching two foot tall red top hats and make-up by the Rocky Horror Picture Show stylists. They look like Satan’s undertakers. The women wear black top hats, vests, stockings and boots and short, flouncy red skirts. Allie has the top two buttons undone on her vest and for once looks as naughty as Natalli.<br /><br />Loved the entire routine; music, choreo and dancers. Noticed that Miles’ bald scalp scar is back. Did last week’s hair plugs not take?<br /><br />The judging isn’t really judging. Luther congratulates the dancers on making the top 4 and compliments Karaty on the choreo. Tre uses her time to congratulate Leah on winning a Gemini as “viewer’s choice for Canada’s hottest star.” Evidently this was a secret until Tre blabbed (shout out to Tre: love the sparkling white cocktail dress against your caramel skin). Jean Marc uses his time to introduce us to his wife, who is in the audience. It’s like the last day of the school year – yeah, work: I’ll get right to it.<br /><br />Natalli and Nico do the first couples performance. Gustavo Vargas choreos a salsa (Natalli’s third salsa of the series. Somebody get this girl some corn chips and a Corona). In the rehearsal clip both Vargas and Natalli tell the camera about Nico’s quickness in picking up new dance styles. The storyline is two conservative people cross paths, salsa like rutting minks, and then pick up their briefcases and go on their way. Couldn’t happen to a better pair than Natalli and Nico.<br /><br />He’s in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase and, inexplicably, wearing his usual complement of facial studs. She is in a blue business suit, if women’s business suits came with a matching figure skating skirt and glittering, stiletto-heeled strap-ons.<br /><br />And in the time it took me to type that she has stripped down to a sleeveless, backless, shimmering red top with a figure skating skirt and glittering, stiletto-heeled strap-ons; Nico has lost the coat and tie. Can the shirt be far behind?<br /><br />They salsa toward each other, ankles flashing. They meet. They twirl and Natalli lifts one of her perfect legs. Nico takes her heel and… they get twisted together worse than that drunken night the two of you played Twister with the new neighbors. Later in the routine Nico is late on a hand grab, and then Natalli doesn’t have enough momentum on a slide to take her back to her feet gracefully.<br /><br />Sloppy.<br /><br />The judges continue cheerleading. They gloss over the sloppiest job either of these dancers have dome in the entire competition. ?<br /><br />First solo is Miles. He wears sneaks, a black ball cap, a baggy black suit over a blue dress shirt with the top four buttons undone, revealing the crew neck white tee he wore in the opening number. He pops to Slick Dogg’s I<em> Can Make You Dance</em>. If pop and lock is your thing, you no doubt loved it.<br /><br />He adjusts the ball cap as he walks over to the judges and – aw shit – he puts it on backwards. Must just be a nervous mistake. No grown man in his right mind would intentionally wear a baseball cap backwards. That would make them look like they were mentally challenged. Ask the women, guys. The backwards ball cap is only cute on a male if he’s under 10 years old.<br /><br />In the rehearsal clip before they do a hip-hop routine, we learn that Natalli’s favorite routine was the Pasa Double with Francis. For Miles the big moment was having Mia Michaels tell him, “Right now, you’re my favorite.” He doesn’t know that, like all Quakers, Mia’s life philosophy is, “My favorite person is the one in front.”<br /><br />The choreographer is Sho-Tyme. His hip hop routines are usually krump-lite – hard, aggressive and more about two dancers doing the same thing side by side than any dancer interaction.<br /><br />The song is Redman’s <em>Let’s Get Dirty</em>. Natalli wears b&e gloves, black leather billed cap, a gray vest/life jacket over a sweat shirt, camouflage pants and combat boots. Miles wears about the same with the exception of a black winter jacket instead of the vest/life preserver. About halfway through the routine Miles is looking left as Natalli turns right. She transitions into the next movement. Miles turns back and hasn’t a clue what happened. He stands there, obviously lost, until Natalli finishes and they go into the move he had been expecting before he discovered his partner doing the move he forgot.<br /><br />Will the judges finally judge?<br /><br />Miles is nearly in tears even before he gets to the chalk line. Natalli – ever the strongest dancer on the floor – comforts him. Leah won’t even look him in the eye.<br /><br />Luther tells him not to beat himself up over this. He says, “You can’t let the beat defeat you.” Sounds cool, but what did he mean? Blake tells Miles to “wipe that look” off his face because “this game is not over.” Gooooo team!!! Tre asks him not to forget that he’s Mr. Entertainer of the show and Jean Marc tells him people love him because he is human. Not me. I love him because of how he dances, and THAT SUCKED!<br /><br />The partners are switched around, with Allie and Nico doing a contemporary routine choreod by Stacey Tookey. The story is of a soldier returned from war to the woman he loves, who “has a secret she hasn’t told him,” the bitch. The piece includes a portion in which the roles switch and little Allie has to lead big Nic. The song is a heartbreaker – <em>Permanet</em>, a beautiful, slow piano and strings ballad by David Cook.<br /><br />The piece is incredible, with Nico effortlessly doing huge lift after huge lift, and Allie’s ballet-trained body always finding the perfect point of balance. Great choreo, great music, great dancing. The performance of the night. Jean Marc is moved to tears and eloquent in his praise.<br /><br />Natalli solos to Madonna’s <em>Spanish Lesson</em>. She has her midriff exposed from the bottom of her flowery bra to just below the hips. She is barefoot under a black, floor-length Spanish skirt (don’t ask me how the thing is staying on) and wears aquamarine three quarter length sleeves. Best solo so far.<br /><br />Nico solos. We get a montage of his performance first and watching it I realize he makes the women he dances with more beautiful.<br /><br />The first bars of the White Stripes’ <em>Blue Orchids</em> catch my attention. Best guitar sound since <em>Mississippi Queen</em>. Nico’s in unlaced ankle high black shoes, black slacks with the suspenders hanging loose, and a suit coat over a subtly striped white and gray Zellers v-neck tee. Driving routine.<br /><br />Luther calls him the most popular dancer on the show and the dancer with the most presence. Blake tells him to stop by in the Mercedes. Tre tells him he is going all the way to the top. Jean Marc picks up on the masculine theme that has informed this show from the beginning. His sentiment, his desire to remove the stigma that attaches to a heterosexual man wanting to be a dancer, is heart felt and hints at some tough times in his own personal life. I expect him to do one of his puns (You’re not Nico: you’re Neo), but I guess he isn’t a <em>Matrix</em> fan. In any case, that Nico knows exactly what Jean Marc is talking about makes one sad. Good on both of you.<br /><br />Allie and Miles do a theatre piece choreod by Sean Cheesman. The story is a couple fighting over the TV remote. The song is <em>Move (You’re Stepping On My Heart)</em>, from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. It’s a fun, light piece with an insane number of transitions.<br /><br />Luther’s praise is lukewarm. He loved the beginning and end but tellingly says nothing about the middle. Blake is vague in explaining why the piece was “amateurish.” Tre disagrees strongly, saying the routine, “…hit the trinity; dance, choreography and acting.” Jean Marc tells Miles to never lose the remote control. Over the howls of the audience he shouts, “It’s the only thing we own anymore,” and such.<br /><br />Natalli and Allie do the first same-sex pairing in the series. Dare we hope for a storyline that includes a pillow fight? Aw; it’s Go-Go: what women did back before strip joints were legal and brass poles were invented. Melissa Williams choreos to The Hollywood Persuaders’ <em>Drums a Go-Go.<br /></em><br />The routine starts with the dancers up on the catwalk that carries the staircase that sweeps down to the stage. They wear white boots and white shorts layered in fringe, sparkly Madonna-style cone bras, hoop earrings and over the elbow gloves in red (Natalli) and blue (the other one). They don’t have much room to work. The choreo has one dancer still while the other moves. <em>Drums a Go-Go</em> thundering out of a theatre PA and one of the Go-Go dancers is still? Thirty-two bars have passed before the choreo gets them onto the staircase, where they can both move and stretch their arms. You can see the relief on the girls’ faces.<br /><br />At the judging Luther’s long-standing infatuation for Allie creeps just below the surfaces. Come on, Luther – ask her out. This is your last chance. But no, all he can do is moon, the big lug. His last chance passes with no one but us to mourn what could have been.<br /><br />Nico and Miles. Miles tells the camera that people should vote for Nico because he is an inspiration and the best dancer. He sounds sincere. Their choreographer is Paul Becker and he is re-visiting Caoeira, a traditional Afro-Brazilian slave dance. Earlier in the series Becker choreod a Caoeira group dance and I complained about the hackneyed stereotypes in the costuming. Tonight I am relieved to see the dancers wearing white pants with a naval cast to them and nothing else – no grass skirts, no war paint.<br /><br />The dance is to a musical piece called <em>A Amizade / Sacode A Poeira (Coro)</em>, by Mestre Barrao / Axe Capoeira. My Spell Check just blew up.<br /><br />The routine gets off to a weak start when the guys are a bit hesitant on the opening series of unorthodox moves – nothing obvious, just not, as Liza would say, hitting it in the middle of the beat. As the dance progresses it becomes obvious that the source of the hesitancy is Miles, who simply does not yet have the knowledge base wired into his autonomous system that Nico has developed. Maybe some day, but not yet. This was a piece that cried for speed and crispness. More time and they would have gotten it.<br /><br />In the judging Jean Marc gets back on his hobby horse and goes on about how much he would love to have fathers see these two, to prove to them how much dance is just another sport. Put a fight in it and us hetero men won’t be able to resist teaching it to our male children? Is that what you’re saying?<br /><br />So, after 12 weeks it comes down to this? Women are go-go dancers and men are combatants?<br /><br />To the producers, choreographers and judges: I am grateful to you for bringing this show to Canada. I really am.<br /><br />To the dancers: You make us humble and proud. Even Izaak.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-70455315173257518152008-11-27T07:17:00.000-08:002008-11-27T07:20:51.129-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 6Last week’s elimination took out Vincent and Arrasay, leaving Lisa, Nico, Miles, Allie, Izaak and Natalli. Leah, resplendent in a midnight blue cocktail dress, intros the Top 6 judges; Tre and Jean Marc as usual, with Mary Murphy and Sean Cheesman. Couples, paired at random, will do two genres and a thirty second solo.<br /><br />Natalli and Nico start. She is the best possible replacement for Arrasay. Of the 3 women left, only Natalli has the same level of natural, overt sexuality as Arrasay and Nico demonstrated when they were paired as the contestants were whittled down from 20 to 10. They draw Disco as their first genre and Melissa Williams as their Disco choreographer. Melissa tells the camera they are going to be the doing the real thing, “A peak inside Studio 54, 1978,” not a “parody.” <br /><br />The lights come up and my jaw goes down. Natalli is dressed in a skintight, gold lamé, bell-bottom jumpsuit. The sides are cut out from the bottom of her breasts to inches below her hip bone. The cut-out leaves only a three inch swath of material covering her abdomen from the top of the pubis to the sternum. The total effect is to frame and accent angles and curves that get overlooked when the mid-riff is bare. She is the most naked woman I’ve ever seen and I can’t take my eyes off her.<br /><br />Nico is in a black dress shirt that has had the sleeves removed, black slacks and black shirt cuffs. His is the only male presence in the competition that has ever been able to match the heat of Arrasay, and he matches Natalli’s as well.<br /><br />The routine is done to the Amii Stewart version of <em>Knock on Wood</em> (no match for the Sam and Dave original). They nail it, with the final lift of Natalli to a full splits behind Nico’s head is particularly well hammered. The judges love it.<br /><br />Miles does a solo to Vernon Burch’s <em>Get Up</em>. The routine doesn’t really go anywhere: but at least he doesn’t spend his time polishing the floor. He remains upright for most of the piece, which features a lot of popping and a bit of strolling. I definitely didn’t get the Bay City Roller – Mime look. We’re they going for A Clockwork Orange?<br /><br />Allie and Izaak do a Luther Brown choreod Hip-hop routine to the Diddy/Aguillaro’s <em>Tell Me</em>. They are out fitted in watch caps and khakis – zippered overalls for her, pants with suspenders over a white undershirt for him. Oh yeah – Izaak is also wearing a contraption that looks like a suicide vest minus the dynamite. Halfway through the bit Allie unzips the top of her overalls to reveal a sparkly red bra. Gratuitous, pleasant, and no match for Natalli’s cut-away. The judges find the routine “good but not great.” One week left in the competition and they’re still telling Izaak he has to “step it up,” “try harder,” “give a lot more.”<br /><br />Miles and Izaak pale compared to the performance Nico put on with Natalli.<br /><br />Natalli does her solo. She is in a man’s suit with the shirt untucked and unbuttoned save for the button between her breasts. She looks like a female version of <em>American Gigolo</em>’s Julian. She does a contemporary routine to N*E*R*D’s <em>She Wants</em>. Of the three women, Natalli has the worst technique and the best presence. Her sensuality is amazing. Human Viagra.<br /><br />Lisa and Miles do a Contemporary routine choreod by Blake McGrath to Ryan Dan’s <em>The Face</em>. The story is of a woman whose partner has passed away and she is longing for his presence. The piece uses a full length mirror on a rolling platform to great effect. Miles comes out from behind the mirror when Lisa turns from her reflection. He dances behind her, the two never quite touching. When she finally turns to the presence she has been dancing with, Miles turns the opposite way and they are trapped with the mirror between them once again. Nice job, Blake.<br /><br />Oh yeah – Miles is another Hair Club for Men success story. You know that large, unexplained bald strip on the front left quadrant of his scalp? The bald strip we all have thought was a scar lo these many weeks? Well, it’s gone. No explanation, not even a shower scene.<br /><br />Izaak solos to <em>Alibis</em> by Marianas Trench. He gets great air on his opening ballet leap, as per usual. The whole bit is one of the best solos we’ve seen –a beginning, middle and end, all in thirty seconds.<br /><br />Nico and Nat are back with a Quickstep routine to the Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s version of <em>Swinging at the Savoy</em>. She is in an angle-length, blue satin evening dress with a broad, sparkly empire line, spike heels and her hair up. He is in a three piece suit minus the jacket. The tie is a Windsor knot, done fat, right and tight. Nico has left the facial hardware in the garage and his Mohawk has grown out. For the first time I think, yeah, I could see this guy in a movie that’s not about a meth-head.<br /><br />Lisa does a solo to Radio Citizen’s <em>The Hop</em>, a musical piece with a slinky beat that she exploits well. She does a kind of tough chick stroll I like. Poppy, but more to it than just that.<br /><br />Allie and Izaak do their second number, a Melissa Williams choreod Jazz routine to <em>Forever</em> by Chris Brown. Thank you, Allie, for the blue short-shorts. At one point in the rehearsal scenes ever smiling Allie starts crying from the pressure of the competition, but her smile barely dips. Not sure that’s a good thing.<br /><br />In the dance Allie wears a white gown and pink sneakers. Izaak wears an open black shirt, black slacks and shoes and black and white basketball shoes. It’s a Cinderella bit, with Allie running off at the end, leaving a pink sneaker behind. Izaak was sloppy with the climactic lift. Tre tells them, “You pulled up out there, you pulled up.” Evidently this is a good thing, as when the pilot does it and doesn’t crash. It is not a bad thing as in you-didn’t-give-it-your-all.<br /><br />Nico solos to Radiohead’s <em>Reckoner</em>. Open shirt, barefeet, ho-hum. Didn’t grab me.<br /><br />Lisa and Miles Cha-Cha. He’s in a girly black sleeveless tee and faded jeans, she’s in a shimmery red bra, flouncy black mini-skirt and silver strap-on spike heels. The two do a great job that is wasted. Choreographers Tony Melanie and Melaney Lapatin decided to set their Cha-Cha to Lady Gaga’s <em>Just Dance</em>. Trying to Cha-cha to something other than Latin is like watching a great but badly dubbed porno. You want to get excited, but you keep being distracted by the out-of-synch moans and sighs.<br /><br />The episode ends with Allie’s solo, a full-on ballet piece from Tchiakovsky’s <em>Sleeping Beauty</em>. She wears a turquoise green ballerina costume, complete with tu-tu and tiara. I have been wondering when she’d get around to this. She knows what she’s doing and does it well.<br /><br />So that’s it. Top 4 should be Nico, Natalli, Allie and Miles, but we’ll see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-25506283900085324282008-11-20T07:46:00.001-08:002008-11-20T10:13:27.150-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 8First, I wasn’t able to get the results show recap done last week due to other stuff. That’s the way it goes sometimes.<br /><br />The Top 8 are coupled as follows: Miles and Allie; Izaak and Arrasay; Vincent and Natalli; Nico and Lisa. They look pretty casual in the intro. There will be two performances by each couple. Apparently I wasn’t the only observer who thought last weeks pseudo Dance for your Life segments were out of place – but when are we going to see for-real solo routines?<br /><br />Leah is in her Eighties purple prom dress (she doesn’t look that old, ya know?). Judges are Tre and Jean Marc as per usual with SYTYCD US judges Mia Michaels and Dan Karaty filling in.<br /><br />Miles and Allie start with a Samba Adam and Eve routine choreod by Eric Katy. All three are from Calgary, by the way.<br /><br />They dance to <em>Aquanile</em> by Hector Lavoe. We know that this dance occurs after Adam and Eve got the eviction notice because they have covered their nakedness. Allie is costumed in a bikini made out of green material designed to look like leaves. Miles wears a pair of brown polyester bell bottoms. Oh, I miss Disco 2000. The dance begins with Allie in front of Miles. When she steps to the side there is an audible gasp from the audience at the sight of shirtless Miles’ abs. They are so huge it looks freakish – like he’s wearing a flesh coloured, sleeveless Batman suit.<br /><br />Miles continues to impress with his abilities as a complete dancer, not just a B-boy. Allie looks great and dances the same. Only weak spot is the tentative way they came out of the first lift and spin. There’s one point where Allie does a backward limbo-like bend. Just as she passes the point of no return and falls, Miles, who is looking the other way the whole time, slips out a foot and catches her head. Nice.<br /><br />Mia tells them, “You need to always dress like this.” Dan says, “I saw things there I’ve never seen before.” Yeah; like, Allie needs to wax.<br /><br />Izaak and Arrasay do the Lindy Hop to My Chemical Romance’s <em>Welcome to the Black Parade</em>, choreod by Benji Schwimmer. Leah intros it as, “From the war zone: a punk rock Lindy Hop.” It is hard, athletic and speed-metal fast. The judges complain the punk-rock war zone motif was a confusing non-starter. Mia and Dan tell Izaak he was overshadowed by Arrasay. What a shock.<br /><br />Natalli and Vincent do a Lil “C” Krump routine to <em>Lost Boiz Anthem</em>, by Tha J-Squad. They come out in cat-burglar outfits, with the hoods on their black hoodies tied tight so their faces look like kabuki masks. Vincent carries two bags of money. We know because of the dollar sign on the bags. The routine is alright, but not great – certainly not as good as the Krump bit Lil “C” choreod for Miles and Lara a few weeks back. At one point Natalli clearly misses a move Vincent was expecting.<br /><br />Mia tells the pair, “Don’t be too hard on your selves.” When a judge tells you that, it’s not a good sign.<br /><br />Nico and Lisa are next, a Blake McGrath choreod Jazz Funk (translation – whatever you want) routine to the Pussycat Dolls’ <em>When I Grow Up</em>. Lisa is in another one of her Galaxy Quest porno outfits; a black, slit to the pubic bone leotard with a black crinoline rooster tail. Nico is done up like Jimmy Olsen, complete with the fedora and camera. He starts snapping pictures. She comes out of her director’s chair to writhe on the ground while Jimmy straddles her and clicks away. Jimmy gets too turned on, ditches the camera, pulls her to her feet and they dance passionately.<br /><br />The two US judges are so shocked by the lasciviousness of the choreography that neither of them mentions the awkward pause in the lift that got Lisa out of her chair the second time. Both Mia and Dan tell us the routine would not have been allowed on SYTYCD shows in some other countries. The crowd cheers for Canadian sensuality. I have a vision of adult video store clerks flooding onto Yonge Street from their second-floor hidey holes, raising their fingers in the air and chanting, “We’re #1,” while Heritage Canada bureaucrats dance in the background, chanting, “We’re not boring! We’re not boring!”<br /><br />Allie and Miles are back for their second routine, an Afro Jazz number choreod by someone I don’t recognize, Vicky Lambert. The music is S<em>hosholoza</em>, by the Soweto Gospel Choir, who were used in a piece a few weeks back (Vincent and Lisa, maybe?). The set up is a man and women waiting for a train. They are on opposite sides of the track. They make eye contact and ease into relieving the boredom of their wait with a quick dance.<br /><br />The two are outfitted like Depression-era poor white southerners; an odd choice. The routine is received well by the judges. Tre goes off on one of her making-it-up-as-I-go critiques. That’s what I call them, which is more polite than, “talking out of her ass again.” She says, “To do African there is a grounding, emotional and with the body, that has to occur before anything comes out.” Right. And it rolls off the palate leaving a persimmony aftertaste.<br /><br />Arrasay and Izaak tango; Alex DeSilva choreos. The couple are costumed as a Thirties gangster (black suit, white tie and spats) and a showgirl (Arrasay does Las Vagas in white). As with Allie, we learn a waxing might be in order. Mia and Dan again dump on Izaak for not giving more to his partner. This is sooooo tired.<br /><br />Vincent and Lisa do a contemporary piece for their second routine, choreod by the choreographer with the best name: Stacey Tookey.<br /><br />The story is a broken girl and a guilty man who has to let her down, but wants to do it gently. They dance to MIKA’s <em>Happy Ending</em>. She has on a nightshirt and black panties, Vincent wears his favorite jeans and tank top. Both are barefoot. The choreo is terrific and the dancers are totally into the mood. Moving. Dan calls it the best routine of the night, Jean Marc gives it a standing ovation.<br /><br />Nico and Lisa end the show with a Luther Brown choreod Hip-Hop number to T.I.’s <em>Whatever You Like</em>. They come out in white shirts, hats and shoes, black pants and suit coats, carrying briefcases with dollar signs on them. They are the second couple to use cases as props tonight (Miles and Allie had suitcases in their Afro-Jazz routine) and the second couple to have $ on the props (the $ on the bags Vincent brought on stage at the start of his and Natalli's Krump bit). As for the routine; it is the least hip-hoppy hip hop routine I’ve ever seen. Could as easily been called Contemporary. It’s okay but nothing to put on this year’s Christmas cards.<br /><br />That’s about it. Mia tells them, “You guys are pimping hard tonight.” Nothing like using a word for making female children into whores as a metaphor for doing good work. Way to be hip, Mia.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-57365678101473805332008-11-13T17:04:00.000-08:002008-11-13T17:21:17.992-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 10Host Leah Miller introduces the Top 10:<br />-Natalli sparkles in a dress of Christmas Tree tinsel – great recycling, girl.<br />-Nico’s freshly polished face studs catch the spots and twinkle like misplaced teeth.<br />-Allie pirouettes in a turquoise version of Tony Curtis’ smart and snappy slave toga in Spartacus.<br />-B-boy Miles drops and spins, polishing the floor with his head.<br />-Arrasay performs a jumping jack for Jack Russell terriers.<br />-Izaak in an I heart PG tee, sparking an international incident when the City of New York threatens to bankrupt the hometown Prince George Chamber of Commerce for copyright infringement.<br />-Lisa in knee high, high heeled black boots, a mile of thigh, shiny black shorts, a half mile of mid-riff, a purple sports bra, evidently no breasts and a shiny grey jacket.<br />-Danny, looking like Ward Cleaver in pressed slacks and a gray V-neck over a white shirt and black tie.<br />-Kaitlyn, looking very Appalachian in bare feet, shorts and the kind of frilly undershirt you see on saloon girls when they are awoken unexpectedly in the middle of the night.<br />-And finally, yachtman first class Vincent, looking very Naval in white pants and a long sleeve striped sweater.<br /><br />Leah fills us in on the rules for this portion of the competition.<br />1. Dancers participate in a random draw for a new partner and dance genre each week. Apparently they do this onstage and in full make-up, as we see them drawing from a hat held by the host, on stage, under the lights.<br />2. Voting is for individual dancers, not couples.<br />3. No bottom three. The man and the woman with the least votes go home. The judges no longer make the final decision.<br /><br />But that doesn’t mean no judges. The original crew – Luther, Blake, Tre and Jean Marc, will continue to give us the benefit of their educated opinions.<br /><br />First up, Izaak and Natalli do a Hip Hop routine, choreographed by Show Tyme. He is worried his dancers don’t have the mean for what he wants to do – something just this side of Krump. He tells the camera that Natalli, “will almost have to go from sexy to ugly.” Izaak sounds scared of Natalli, telling us he is “socially challenged” and she will probably wind up telling him what to do, being the strong women that she is.<br /><br />They start as prize fighters in red and blue silk robes with matching white trim. The robes come off and they do the routine dressed in NBA-length boxing shorts and bulky, long sleeve sweatshirts. Hip Hop is all about the movement and stillness of joints and limbs. These outfits obscure the waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists and arms. Terrible costuming choice. The dancers are working it, but the sweats rob their best moves of the Wow Factor.<br /><br />Vincent gives the first solo performance. He does a contemporary routine in bare feet, white slacks, red dress shirt and black tie. The music, <em>Pour Gabrielle</em> by Jorane, is spare jazz with an upright bass doing most of the work. I’m shocked when the routine ends with the fog horn fart that ends the dance for your lives portion, back when they were part of the process. I was looking forward to real solos – is a minute too much to ask? There’s no judges comments on the solos, either. It’s like they’re throwaways. I don’t get it.<br /><br />Arrasay solos to Celine Dion’s <em>Eyes on Me</em>. She is breathtaking in a low cut, flowing white gown. The dance is Spanish in flavor, an impression accented with a yellow flower in her hair. Breathtaking.<br /><br />Kaitlyn and Danny mambo to Tito Puente’s <em>Salsa y Saber</em>, choreographed by Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. Kaitlyn has taken a page out of Natalli’s wardrobe philosophy. She shows as much as is legal in a red swag bikini. Danny is his usual uncharismatic but totally reliable self. It must be like dancing with your brother. Nevertheless, he is the most consistent and skilled partner in the competition.<br /><br />Lisa solos to <em>Secret</em> by Missy Henderson. Surprise – she does a contemporary routine. It is technically impressive, but I have lost my feel for her. There seems to be a coolness now that wasn’t there earlier in the series. It’s almost as if she has lost some of the cockiness that I found so charming early on. I have a feeling she didn't expect the competition to be as stiff as it is turning out to be.<br /><br />Miles solos to <em>Juice (Know the Edge)</em> by Eric B and Rakim. Surprise – he does a break dance solo.<br /><br />Big, strong Nico gets paired with the dancer Luther calls Mouse, Little Allie. They do a waltz to Michael Buble’s version of <em>That’s Life</em> – a song I’ve always thought of as <em>My Way</em> without the self pity. Allie is resplendent in a flowing, spaghetti strap, floor length red silk gown. Nico is tieless in a suit and dress shirt. The waltz incorporates theatre elements, with a number of spectacular, nearly flawless lifts and spins. Oh, they made it look easy.<br /><br />Danny, in a thirties gangster outfit that would do Cagney proud – all black save for the white tie and hat – solos. He gets off to a great start, quick stepping his way across the stage in an ankle-busting flash. But then he stops, throws off the hat and switches to a contemporary routine. He finishes looking very much like a ballroom dancer on his own; a little lost, a little lonely, but what a nice strong frame.<br /><br />Kaitlyn solos to Adele’s <em>Best for Last</em>. As she often does in her bare feet, print swim suit tops and black short-shorts, Kaitlyn looks like she just came in from sunning on the deck of the hotel pool with the Cat in the Hat.<br /><br />Arrasay and Vincent disco to Hot N Cold in a routine choreod by Melissa Williams. Chameleon Arrasay has a dominatrix thing going with mid-thigh high, stiletto heeled boots in a shiny metallic grey with a tight black latex one piece bathing suit with side panels cut out to frame her hips. Vincent looks great in monochrome grey slacks, sleeveless grey dress shirt and black vest. The routine is not one of Melissa’s best, but, damn, they look good doing it.<br /><br />Allie does her solo wearing a red and black plaid vest over a pink tutu with one cherry red ballet slipper and one silver one. She dances a classical routine to Moloko’s <em>Fun for Me</em>. She looks like a ballerina in the <em>Nutcracker Suite</em> who moonlights as a waitress at Oleg’s Smorgasbord on I-94 at the Illinois-Indiana border.<br /><br />Nico does a contemporary routine, wearing the first open shirt of the night. He wears a black mask with one starry eye, making him look like a member of the Kiss Army. Good, hard contemporary routine done to the ripple of good, hard contemporary abs.<br /><br />Lisa and Miles do a contemporary routine choreod by Sean Chessman to Natasha Bedingfields, slow, sensuous <em>Soulmate</em>. For a B-boy, Miles does amazingly well. With that said, it is obvious Chessman understood Miles’ possible limits and designed a routine that used him as the lamp post to Lisa’s Gene Kelly. Tre says that, for the first time, she didn’t see Miles transform himself. Chessman calls from the audience: “He transformed! He was a B-boy and he transformed.”<br /><br />Natalli solos a samba to <em>Quimbara</em> by Colie Crwz. She’s wearing another selection from her multi-layered pastel fringe go-go girl collection, this one orange. You go-go, girl.<br /><br />Izaak solos to Alicia Key’s <em>No One</em>. Beautiful. He does a leap with an extra kick at the top that pushes him into a new level of getting air. He lands it perfect and spins across the stage. He shows a confidence and command of ballet that has yet to be exploited in a couples segment.<br /><br />And that’s it. Sorry I’m late with this. Things came up. I’ll get the Results show done in a few hours.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-13118200905517772112008-11-07T09:29:00.000-08:002008-11-07T13:28:20.108-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 12 ResultsSo let’s talk about the results.<br /><br />Bottom 3 couples were Miles and Lara, Natalli and Francis and Danny and Allie. Of the six, Lara and Francis were eliminated. And god, Lara looked ghastly after she received the verdict. She put a smile on that looked like a skull’s and her unblinking, over-made-up eyes looked like the eyes painted on Captain Jack’s eyelids. A shame. You should have let out the pain, Lara. You have been so vibrant and fun to watch. Had you cried we would have cried with you, instead of for you. Maybe it is that stiff backbone that made you want to follow in B. J. Palmer’s path.<br /><br />Do you think Lara should have gone, rather one of the five women left? Frankly, I’ve been disappointed the past couple of weeks by Lisa and partner Vincent, who I thought were best in class when the top 20 started. They don’t seem to have the versatility of the others, and I feel versatility is as important as mastery. If a dancer is the best ballerina in the country but can’t do hip hop as well as Tamina or foxtrot as well as Lara or salsa like Natalli, it doesn’t seem to me they should win this competition.<br /><br />And what about Francis? It seems to me that Jean Marc, with his ballroom background, understands the male role in dancing in a way those judges whose backgrounds are more in the solo-style dances (ballet, hip-hop, break) just do not. As stated in the recap, I was actually starting to think of Francis as possibly the best all-round dancer in the competition.<br /><br />So, in no particular order, here’s the top 10.<br /><br />MEN<br />Vincent<br />Nico<br />Danny<br />Myles<br />Izaak<br /><br />WOMEN<br />Lisa<br />Arrasay<br />Allie<br />Natalli<br />Kaitlyn<br /><br />Were this a pairs competition, Nico and Arrasay would have already won. Now we get to see how they do when not in each other’s arms. My fear, which I share with Sheryl Lee (see the comments from last week and this), is that this competition is devolving into a battle of who has the best support group, like Canadian Idol and any high school talent competition you can mention. If that’s the case, the eventual winner will be Izaak or Miles, neither of whom can hold a candle to Nico or Vince. As for the women – a much closer group in terms of talent. Let me know what you think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-50209201949661078472008-11-06T11:15:00.000-08:002008-11-06T11:32:26.093-08:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 12Final 12 dancers. After the elimination tomorrow night the couples, who have danced together since they became the Top 20 (save for the one occasion when the elimination of Bre and Kevin broke up two pairs and resulted in Natalli and Francis becoming a couple) will be broken up. From next week on the dancers will be paired by a random draw.<br /><br />I didn’t know this was coming and, though I know it’s fair in a competition where the best individual dancer, not the best pair, wins, I’m still disappointed. It’s just human nature to identify with what we watch, so like all the rest of you I’ve been wondering:<br /><br />Will Francis’ sweet girlfriend, who we met in the audition rounds and watched get eliminated after making the top 200, take him back after witnessing the eyebrow-singeing heat between him and Natalli?<br /><br />Can Vincent and Lisa overcome the impediments our society still places in the way of interracial love?<br /><br />When are Myles and Lara going to make it official and will they live near her parents or his?<br /><br />How will Nico find life in communist Cuba? And will Arrasay’s father ever forgive him for taking away his little girl?<br /><br />Getting on with the show – choreographer Melissa Williamson (probably my favorite, except for maybe Lil “C”, the guy who did Lara and Myles’ Krump routine – still cracks me up when I think about it.) is judging this week, replacing Mary Murphy. The National Ballet’s Rex Harrington (wasn’t there a character with the same name on GM? Y&R? Melrose?) is back for a second week and stand-bys Tre and Jean Marc anchor the line-up.<br /><br />Leah is in a spaghetti-strap knee length grey and black dress with an interesting reach-around palm silhouette pattern. (Speaking of which – what did you think of that black and red concoctions Michelle Obama wore on election night? I hated it – made her look blurry around the edges, like the transporter was still in the process of beaming her down.)<br /><br />First up: Natalli and Francis doing a Gustavo Vargas choreod Salsa. Like – is there any doubt this is going to be hot?<br /><br />And, oh, the outfits. Natalli is wearing a swag bikini. The underframe is as close to a thong as you can wear on non-cable primetime, with 10-inch purple swag attached, front and back – the sides aren’t bare; they are naked. The top is the same – swag covering her breast like a single large pastie. When she spins it is like the clouds parting. As for Francis, he’s in a snap-brimmed straw that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Superman sequence from The Godfather II, with a V-neck white tee, jeans and sneakers. Great look for him.<br /><br />They dance to <em>Hasta Que Se Rompa el Cuero</em> by Sonora Carruseles. While I couldn’t take my eyes off Nat the first time, on replay you can see that Francis has a better command of the dance than she does. Vargas choreod 4 lifts and Francis nailed them all. There is tight, close-in synchronized hand and arm work and Natalli gets a little tied up at one point. She fakes her way out of it with a Marylin Monroe O-mouth oops look and Francis rescues her without missing a beat. Not perfect, but who cares. Looking forward to the best dancer as opposed to the best pair, this routine was argument in Francis’ favor.<br /><br />Next are Allie and Danny doing a Luther Brown choreod Hip Hop routine to Flo Rida’s <em>In the Ayer</em>. She’s wearing big hoop earrings, a white tube top, red leather jacket, jeans with chain loops hanging down on both sides and white sneaks. Danny’s got a ball cap on sideways, black leather jacket, white tee, jeans and sneaks. Allie’s auburn hair has been ironed straight as the crease in a lawyer’s pants and the baby fat of her exposed midriff is way more erotic than bulging abs.<br /><br />The routine is snappy and invigorating – lots of arm pumping in the ayer – but they seem to get lost about halfway through and have to fake their way back into it. Rex felt they were too cute and innocent when they needed more “gangster.” Melissa agrees they needed to hit it harder. Tre and JM are kinder, complimenting the fun feel as a redefinition by the dancers of the genre in a way that fit their personalities.<br /><br />I’m with Tre and JM on this one. I think they brought a welcome sense of fun to a genre that too often degenerates into embarrassing displays of jive-ass humps drowning in there own testosterone. You come from the neighborhood I grew up in, gangster isn’t a cutesy-pie term for a dance style – it’s a name for the scum you struggle to rise above before it sucks you into the mud.<br /><br />Lara and Myles do a Foxtrot choreod by new guy Danny Quilliam. He is surprised by how short the pair is in real life as compared to how they look on TV. I never thought they looked tall on TV, so now I’m wondering whether they’re midgets or what.<br /><br />They dance to Michael Duble’s version of the Sinatra warhorse, <em>Summer Wind</em>. Lara wears a flowing, white, ankle length dress that uses more material than you’ll find on a fully made king-sized bed. The dress has a floral pink print and the hem attaches to her wrists. This creates a billowing cloud at the slightest turn. Myles wears a white shirt and pants ensemble of a loose India-influenced cut. The result of the costuming is that the two dance in their own self-contained cloud of swirling pink and white. Romantic in the extreme.<br /><br />Lara does an effortless leap and Myles catches her as they turn and it is, as Leah says, “lovely.” Rex compares them to Fred and Ginger. Melissa says they get the growth award, Tre compliments Myles’ frame. Jean Marc concurs, amazed at the strength of the classic ballroom frame coming from a B-boy.<br /><br />Izaak and Kaitlyn do a Jive routine choreod by Dimitry Chaplin, who warns that Jive is one of the fastest dances out there and the main thing is not to blow your lungs out in the first 30 seconds.<br /><br />The song is on odd choice, <em>Untouched</em> by The Veronicas, a Flock of Seagulls-ish bit of New Wave fluff. The start includes a kiss, which is smart – gets the two right back into the intimate touch groove they finally established last week. They lose some momentum on a behind the back spin around but pick it up fast and rock. Kaitlyn does a leap into the one leg over the shoulder position they used to great effect last week and this time they come out of it with a swooping head down to the floor spin that draws gasps from the studio audience.<br /><br />Rex, however, is unmoved. He found the footwork was slower than it should be. Melissa points out the misses (there were a few). Tre, on the other hand, calls it Izaak’s best so far but then says it "is still not enough." Jean Marc says it wasn’t precise and takes them off his Very Insane Dancers list. Ouch.<br /><br />Arrasay and Nico pick Jazz. Paul Becker is doing the choreo and, after his spectacular work on as personal a piece as it gets last week, I’m eager to see what he comes up with. The song is James Brown’s <em>It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World</em>, which is a great choice for this super-sensuous couple.<br /><br />Arrasay is in her red chemise once again, Nico is in a suit, the tie undone. The piece starts with her taking his coat off from behind. They slow dance; lots of big moves and space, then rushing together. The crowd hoots and hollers like an office party of receptionists at a male strip joint. Rex calls it the best routine of the night. Melissa agrees, Tre sighs, says they are the leaders of the competition. Jean Marc calls them magic. For the second week in a row Becker impresses.<br /><br />As dancers, these two are going to miss each other the most of all the couples. And Canada’s going to miss them. Every week, they up the bar.<br /><br />Vincent and Lisa go last, doing a House routine choreod by newcomer Sho-tyme to Crystal Waters’ <em>100% Pure Love</em>. Tre will later tell us that House is a genre that takes elements of many genres – hip hop, break, jazz and others – and puts it all in the feet. I loved it but didn’t care for the costuming. Vincent and Lisa are mature dancers. pushing 30. Dressing them like teenagers seemed to me a show of disrespect.<br /><br />While the choreo was beautifully fluid, these two are dancing outside their strength for the second week in a row. About halfway through they seem to get lost and have to improvise some before they get back into the routine. I fear for them in the voting.<br /><br />So that’s it. Lisa and Vincent, Izaak and Kaitlyn, and Allie and Danny for the bottom three, Izaak and Kaitlyn to go. I batted 100 last week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-49104791495367378412008-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:002008-10-31T08:27:14.055-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Top 14 ResultsThis is the shortest, easiest recap ever. From the final paragraph of the recap of Wednesday night's top 14 performance episode: "For me, Lisa and Vincent, Myles and Lara, and Jesse and Caroline are the bottom three. And of those Jesse and Caroline should be eliminated."<br /><br />And that's what happened.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-64163886198976525412008-10-30T10:44:00.000-07:002008-10-30T15:20:31.872-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Top 14This episode was full of surprises:<br /><br />· The wardrobe department finally stepped up to the plate and outfitted the dancers in costumes that were appropriate to the routines, enhancing the choreo rather than distracting from it, as has happened no less than twice and frequently more in every previous episode.<br />· The final word from the judges, which I complained about at length in last week’s recap, was cut in its entirety (which is preferable to the wishy-washy nonsense we heard last week - but not as edgy as true critiques would have been).<br />· Some of the front runners stumbled.<br />· The judges did step up in at least one case and flatly told a dancer that this is likely the end of their stay<br />· And one routine redeemed my least favorite choreographer with a brave interpretation of a great song that brought tears to the eye and a healing touch to the heart.<br /><br />Oh – and host Leah Miller wore a dress that fit like the case for a fine musical instrument, leaving no doubt that she is built with hips that could pop out babies with the ease of any of the Irish Catholic girls of my youth.<br /><br />Here we go:<br /><br />Luther Brown and Blake McGrath are choreos again this week. Their seats at the judges’ table are taken by scream queen SYTYCD-U.S. judge and champion ballroom dancer Mary Murphy (who was featured prominently during the audition rounds) and National Ballet of Canada artist-in-residence and Canada Walk of Fame member Rex Harrington.<br /><br />Lisa and Vincent earned my vote last week for their Afro-jazz-ballet-theatre fusion performance. Both Lisa and Vincent are contemporary dancers and have danced shoeless in every performance. Choreographer Dimitry Chaplin asks them how their samba skills are and both dancers reply that they have none. Dimitry informs us that the samba is considered the most difficult of all South American dances – a region known for difficult dances. Not only that - the samba requires shoes.<br /><br />Can they pull it off? The song is <em>Skip to the Bip</em> and the short answer is no. It wasn’t ugly, but it was sloppy enough that I will be voting for another couple for only the second time. The judges are kind. They know what artists these two are. But this is a competition and this week they were not crisp and clean enough to deserve my vote. Good luck in the dance for your life segment tomorrow night. I will hate the judges if they eliminate you. Judge Mary says straight out – no, the routine wasn’t good, but she will not vote them out in the final 6. Rex is aware the shoes were an issue, so I hope I’m right and Lisa and Vincent stick around. But it’ll be up to the judges to save them, and the judges let us down two weeks ago when they dumped Dario despite Jean Marc's assurances that that wouldn't happen.<br /><br />And costume department: – loved Lisa’s outfit. I asked a woman how to describe it and she said “Christmasy Galaxy Quest porn.” Works for me.<br /><br />Lara and Myles do a Benji Schwimmer choreoed West Coast Swing routine. Keep in mind, Benji follows dance styles rather loosely. The story is it’s payday for two kids working McJobs (again, good job wardrobe). They start dancing to the O’Jays’ <em>Livin’ for the Weekend</em> in uniform, as if they are dancing behind the counters at work; hestitant, slightly clumsy. The song kicks into high gear, the Velcro rips and we have Lara in a sparkly bra and black stretch pants, Miles in black pants, stripe dress shirt and tie and the two of them ripping it on a club dancefloor.<br /><br />I don’t know if it was the choreography or Lara and Myles finally reaching the edge of their envelope, but, like Vincent and Lisa, the performance was not up to their usual high caliber. Rex mentions “the in between bits” were awkward and hesitant, showing they didn’t have a firm grasp on the piece as a whole.<br /><br />Nico and Arrassay do a Luther Brown Hip-Hop routine to Busta Rhymes’ <em>Don’t Touch Me</em>. They are dressed in camouflage outfits that are stiff and not flattering at all. That said, these two are so vibrant they still make you want to rip their close off and get them in bed. Crisp, sharp, totally in sync. Nice bit was when we saw them in rehearsal and Luther asked each dancer, “What can you give me?” Loved that respect for the dancer. And loved Luther’s confidence in getting his dancers to show him their best moves and incorporating those moves into his routine. Mary called it buck, Rex waxed eloquent on the sensuous connection these two have even under stiff military uniforms, Tre pointed out ones native tongue is Spanish, the other’s is French, their choreographer spoke English and for all that, they have mastered the language of hip-hop. Best routine so far.<br /><br />Caroline and Jesse do the Hustle in the night’s second Schwimmer choreod routine. Odd thing is Jesse is supposed to be a womanizer (they dance to Britney Spear’s <em>Womanizer</em>), but the routine has him playing subservient to Caroline. With that said, I think it’s one-trick-pony Jesse’s best routine to date and am a little taken aback by the hammering he takes from the judges. One after the other they tell him that, at this point in the competition, he is still unable to show “partnering” skills outside of the parallel partnering in his core strength of break dancing – an essentially solo dance genre. It is the same dilemma that got Tamina eliminated last week. And it’s true – the intricate, multi-directional spins of the Hustle are not for the novice. The judges make it clear to Jesse and to us that they think he has gone as far as he should.<br /><br />It’s harsh, but that’s what these judges should be doing. They compliment Caroline quite highly, and you have to wonder, if Jesse goes and she stays, which of the other women will go?<br /><br />Jesse impresses with how he takes the raking over the goals. He thanks the judges and says he will use their critiques to become a better dancer. I have a feeling Jesse will be back next season.<br /><br />Danny and Allie dance a contemporary routine to <em>Someday</em>, John Legend’s song of lost love and the faint hopes we cling to as a way of enduring heartbreak. I’ve always interpreted the song as speaking of a failed relationship between adults with the narrator comforting himself with the unlikely belief that one day, in some uncertain future, he will be reunited with his beloved. Here choreographer Paul Becker, who I have not been impressed with to date, takes the risky, brave step of choreographing a routine that tells the story of his mother, who gave up her first born for adoption at birth, and the mother and child reunion that occurred 26 years later.<br /><br />Danny, nude save for flesh colored tights, lies on the stage, apparently asleep. Far in the background a dim spot lights Allie, standing, nude save a flesh colored leotard. She walks down stage, apparently unaware of the sleeping form. Danny rolls forward, she steps over him. He rolls and curls around her ankles. She notices him. He rises and the pas de deux begins. It is one of the most moving routines I have ever witnessed, with the dancers fully cognizant of the meaning of each move as they come together, part, dance in their own spaces and finally come together again.<br /><br />Paul – I take nothing back. You are not a consistently good choreographer. But now I know that doesn’t mean you are a consistently poor one. This piece was great art. The difference between craftsmen and artists is that artists get better. You’ve shown me you deserve my respect, and I assure you that now you have it.<br /><br />As for the judges, Tre sums it up: “You guys,” which I hope includes Danny, Allie, Paul and Mr. Legend and even Paul’s mother and brother, who are in the audience, “are brilliant.”<br /><br />Natalli and Francis do a Theatre number, choreographed by Sean Cheesman to <em>Cell Block Tango</em> by Countdown Singers, a fun tune with a spoken intro reminiscent of the Shangri-Las and <em>Leader of the Pack</em> (vroom-vroom).<br /><br />Last week these two made a surprise appearance in the bottom three and I sympathize with Francis when he says, “I don’t know what more I can do.” The rumba was hot. So I implored the wardrobe department to rescue him from his dated, cheesy look, which I described as a parody of a Hull, PQ, disco stud circa 1975. This week, for the first time in the competition, he is not dancing in a long sleeve dress shirt unbuttoned to his navel. His hair has also been restyled in a short, clean look; he is dressed all in black with shiny purple highlights on his sleeveless tee that make the outfit dressy rather than greasy. Natalli starts in red silk baby doll, which gets ripped off to reveal a black slip when the spoken word intro ends. The choreo is over the top – kicks, pushes, hair pulling and throws – all done clean and crisp.<br /><br />Mary gushes over Nattalli, telling her she has a “wild and crazy” edge to her sexuality that no one else in the competition has. Rex seconds the motion and Tre tells them (i.e., us) “I don’t think this competition can afford to lose you.” Jean Marc points out the Bob Fosse influence, which is spot on, but then he spoils it with unnecessary hype, claiming choreographer Cheesman brought it, “to another level.” On a good day Theatre choreographers reach Bob’s level, Jean. Nobody has ever or will ever take it beyond Fosse. He’s like punk. Thirty years after the dawn of punk, it remains unchanged and unsurpassed as an expression of adolescent alienation and angst. There is no level beyond it. Fosse’s the same.<br /><br />And oh yeah –Francis, ever the gentlemen, is the first dancer to include the choreographer’s dancing partner in his thanks, so I’ll do it too: hey Cheri – good job.<br /><br />Last are Kaitlyn and Izzak. Izzak was in the bottom two last week and was essentially told that, gay though he may be, he had to find a way to perform a believable sexual connection with his female partner or he would be eliminated. Blake McGrath does the choreo and I believe he designed his Jazz-Funk routine to Riahanna’s <em>Breakin’ Dishes</em> specifically to force Izzak to either overcome his one weakness or be forced out.<br /><br />The piece is highly theatrical, with Kaitlyn as a waitress in a diner serving bespectacled nerd Izzak. Like all of Blake’s choreography the dancing is aggressive, with lots of small, fast moves and close-in turns, spins and head snaps. The money shot of the piece is Kaitlyn leaping from the diner table and Izaak catching her; one of her legs over his shoulder, the other against his chest inner thigh first, her crotch pressed against his lface. She leans back, grinding her pussy against his lips and they let her momentum spin them around and down to the floor, where they finish with a passionate, lingering kiss.<br /><br />Blow me away. Maybe blow me, period. Loved that Blake pitched Izzak high hard and inside and love that the nineteen year old refused to bail. Dances are one thing – guts are something else. Great television.<br /><br />So, as I mentioned 4 pages back, no last word from the judges. For me, Lisa and Vincent, Myles and Lara, and Jesse and Caroline are the bottom three. And of those Jesse and Caroline should be eliminated. And, much as I loved the other 4 couples, my vote goes to Danny and Allie, and by extension, to Paul, John Legend and Paul’s mother and brother.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-83850379438889248912008-10-23T18:30:00.000-07:002008-10-23T18:51:39.401-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Top 16 ResultsBefore we start, can anybody help with this comment: "Hi there - I am looking for video of the Nico and Aarrasay performance using Marc Broussard's song "<em>Let Me Leave</em>". I am in the U.S. and so can't see the show here, but I work with Marc and would love to share a video of the performance with his fans. It sounds like it was AMAZING! If you know where I can find the video online, please let me know. Thanks so much!" If you can help email VPTV at <a href="mailto:beontvresource@yahoo.com">beontvresource@yahoo.com</a> and we'll hook you up. Thanks.<br /><br /><br />We open with the final 16 doing a Viennese waltz. All are dressed in black and white. A large picture frame stands center stage. The dancers waltz around and through it. The tradition of women in appropriate dress and men in odds and ends continues. One of the guys has a skull and cross bones on his tattered T, another is in a clownish tux outfit. And Francis shows his manly chest. Maybe it’s a medical condition. If this show isn’t nominated for worst wardrobe that creaking sound you hear will be Edith Head spinning on hers, down in the cold, cold ground.<br /><br />The safe five are:<br /><br />Jesse and Caroline: a bit of a surprise. Jesse is trying hard, but is clearly out of his depth in this competition. He can pop and lock and break and spin with the best of them, but his inexperience in other dance styles gets more obvious every painfull week. Caroline, on the other hand, gets hotter. She saved your ass this week, Jesse.<br /><br />Danny and Allie: The cute couple. Skilled, non-threatening, G- rated. I want to see what these two can do with a newer style, like we saw with Myles and Lara last night.<br /><br />Speaking of whom: Lara and Myles killed it with his abs (the guy has an eight pack), her flips and their krump. Myles is a b-boy like Jesse, but his feel for dancing with a partner is so natural. One of the top three couples. Leaders in the feel good category.<br /><br />Lisa and Vincent: I thought these two had no equal, but this week I have to admit that…<br /><br />Arrasay and Nico are challenging Lisa and Vincent for front runner status.<br /><br />That leaves Izaak and Kaitlyn, Joey and Tamina, and Natalli and Francis in the bottom three. Nat and Francis are the yin surprise to the yang surprise of Jesse and Caroline being safe. Personally, I voted for Lisa and Vincent, but I may have to throw these guys a vote next week. No way should these two be in the bottom three. They are as seamless as a couple can be every time they perform. He has the strength and training she needs, she has the heat and passion that he needs. They may not be the caliber of my top 3 but they are a strong #4.<br /><br />So in my mind, it comes down to Izaak and Kaitlyn or Joey and Tamina. Based on last night’s performances I’d have to say Tamina as the female and it doesn't matter for the guys as long as it's not Francis.<br /><br />Not that Tamina didn’t crush Luther Brown’s hip-hop routine; in fact, she should go because she crushed the hip-hop so hard. It demonstrated how average she is doing anything else. She is the best female hip hop dancer in the competition –the best in the country, for all I know. But she has clearly focused on the one genre to the detriment of her versatility. She was so good it put a big spotlight on how average she is when she isn’t dancing her strength.<br /><br />As for the guys – it’s a toss up. Izaak and Joey are two of a kind. Great soloists, lousy partners. That said, they are at a disadvantage. Both are gay. If Canada primetime was ready for two men as dancing partners, maybe they could tap into the connectivity that sexual attraction is all about. But they have to dance with female partners and simply can’t generate the sexual heat the judges are clearly looking for.<br /><br />The judges return with their decision. Tamina and partner Joey are out.<br /><br />This is not going to get any easier.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-7915464137688516342008-10-23T06:29:00.001-07:002008-10-23T09:38:43.339-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 16Tonight the Top 16 start down the road to the Top 14. What will the judges do then, when the number of couples left doesn’t evenly divide by 4? What am I talking about? I’m talking about the failure of these judges to judge (more ranting at the end of this recap). And yes, I am still mad at them for dumping Dario and Romina last week.<br /><br />The show begins with the introduction of two new judges. Judges Luther Brown and Blake McGrath are doing choreo this week. Replacing them are my least favorite choreographer, Paul Becker, and legendary Hollywood choreographer Kenneth Ortega, a man with 3 Emmy’s on his mantle and a string of hit movies (Dirty Dancing, High School Musical) on his resume.<br /><br />Jean Marc and Tre, evidently smarting from criticism of their choices last week, implore us to make their jobs easier by voting more because, “We love them all.” Their logic escapes me. No matter how few or how many votes are cast, 6 dancers will have to dance for their lives tomorrow night and the judges will have to send 1 male and 1 female home. So if the judges love them all, how is more voting by the audience going to make their task any easier? Am I missing something here?<br /><br />Lara and Miles go first. They do Krump, to <em>Tiny Ray Anthem</em>, by Tha J-Squad, choreographed by someone new to us, Lil “C.”<br /><br />The quotation marks are what the name banner uses, so don’t ask, Lil “Abner.”<br /><br />Krump is a hyper-aggressive style of extreme hip-hop that knocks me out right from the rehearsal scenes. This is something that might work in the new version A Clockwork Orange I hear is in development. Drop Lil “Alex’s” love of Beethoven and the <em>Singing in the Rain</em> dance of death and go full out aggro with Krump.<br /><br />Lara and Miles, who have been all sweetness and light to date, are amazing. The routine starts with Miles slowly rising from a prone position. Lara comes flying out of the shadows at the back of the stage, putting her acrobatic skills to their best use to date. She executes two complete flips at a full run and bang!, they are into a dance that reminds me of Godzilla tap dancing through Tokyo. Krump rules. The judges love it. Lil “C” is my hero, despite the stupid moniker. Jean Marc tells him he’s capital "C" now.<br /><br />Kaitlyn and Izaak do a Cha-Cha that is unrecognizable as such, choreod by a choreographer I don’t think we’ve met before – Benji Schwimmer. Clearly Izaak and Benji have some history, based on Izaak squealing, "Benji!” when he first glimpses him in the rehearsal scenes.<br /><br />The routine is a fast stepping affair. The judges unenthusiastically compliment the couple on showing somewhat more of a connection than they have demonstrated previously. Tre tellingly remarks that if Izaak could show the same enthusiasm for Kaitlyn that he showed in the rehearsal scenes for Benji, they would have a better chance of surviving in the competition. “Just imagine you are dancing with Benji,” she says.<br /><br />I find her comments interesting. Earlier in the series I observed that the judges were favoring two things – hip hop in dance style and hetero in sexual orientation. Tre has just made the first open reference to what has been clear to all of us for 3 weeks now – that gay Izaak and straight Kaitlyn are being hurt by their lack of a sexual connection.<br /><br />Nico and Aarrasay go next with a contemporary routine to Marc Broussard’s <em>Let Me Leave</em> as choreographed by Blake McGrath. Nico wears ripped jeans and a black tank top; Arrasay’s in a short, blue, one piece dress. Both are barefoot. The story is he’s trying to leave and she’s physically preventing him from going.<br /><br />Wicked choreography: all possible props to Blake. Difficult as hell (close-in, aggressive, fast spins and lifts - Nico dislocated his nose during rehearsals) but mesmerizing and passionate. At one point she attacks him on the stairs and he has to carry her down to the dance floor as she squirms wildly – and he does it on time and with grace. Coming on top of the passionate, moving fallen angel routine they did last week, this performance makes them the only couple to rival Lisa and Vincent in technique and Myles and Lara in passion.<br /><br />Ken tells Nico, “You’re the reason guys want to dance. Powerful, masculine, strong.” The comment clearly goes to the core of Nico’s art and his eyes fill with tears of wonder. It is a great thing that we are witnessing here – seeing an artist find his audience; seeing what it means to him to be understood. Jean Marc speaks of the two dancers having a conversation, and he is right.<br /><br />And again a judge has referenced a dancer’s sexual orientation. Understand, I’m not complaining – I think that at this level a sexual connection between the partners adds an element that cannot be faked; something primal, beyond words. I guess I’m just surprised (and pleased) to see the judges being so open about such a touchy, easily misunderstood topic.<br /><br />Lisa and Vincent do an African piece leavened with ballet and Broadway by choreographer Sean Chessman. Vince wears white pants and nothing else, Lisa is barefoot in a flowing white dress. The music is a haunting number by the Soweto Gospel Choir, a multi-octave harmony tour de force.<br /><br />The routine is absolutely stunning. Last week’s Raggedy Ann and Andy fades from the mind – these two are more a force of nature than mere dancers. Bravo.<br /><br />Even Tre’s attempt at painting a word picture of the dance can’t ruin it for us. “The lion and his tigress awake.” Boy, hope Mrs. Lion doesn’t find out Mr. Lion is running around with one of those slut tigers. Jean Marc entreats us to “Give it away,” for the pair.<br /><br />Tamina and Joey do a Luther Brown choreod hip-hop number. Slight, fey Joey opines that his biggest challenge is going to be “getting down and getting funky.” Luther is more succinct: “He’s gotta be a tough guy.” The routine is aggressive, the two dressed in black, looking like they are out for a night of pulling B&Es more than hitting the clubs. Krump lite. And Luther has included a squeeze-your-boobs-together-for-the-folks-at-home move for Tamina. Thanks Luther – but does the audience for this show want their seven year old daughters learning boob squeezing?<br /><br />Joey, in his soft wispy voice, tells the judges, “I’m ballin’.” Tre tells him he needs to lower his voice an octave or two if he wants to say “ballin’.” In complimenting Joey on his ability to act like the tough guy Luther wanted, guest judge Ken tells Joey, “We all come from different places.”<br /><br />What the hell is going on here? Hetero on Parade?<br /><br />Natalli and Francis do a Rhumba choreographed by Gustavo Vargas to The New 101 String Orchestra’s <em>Perfidio</em>. She is spectacular in a Gucci dress that isn’t so much slit to the hip as it is gathered there. This woman gets hotter every week. The sexiest dancer of them all, without question. Ballroomer Francis hits it out of the park, supporting his partner perfectly. But Francis – you look so sleazy and dated in the shirt department. Unbuttoned to the belly button makes you look like a joke – a parody of the French Canadian guys in the Hull discos, circa ’75. Will somebody in wardrobe help this man out? He dresses like a pervy uncle of mine after he’s had a few.<br /><br />Becker tells the pair the dance, “made me hungry.” Tre pulls back and gives Paul an eyebrows up look, which he responds to by saying defensively, “Not sexually.” Is he telling us, "No, I'm gay. Really I am. I just missed supper is all."?<br /><br />Okay, guys. That’s it. This – all the gay versus straight allusions - is planned, isn’t it?<br /><br />Allie and Danny dance a Quickstep, choreographed by a man we haven’t met before, Pierre Allaire, a ringer for my 9th grade algebra teacher. See, Francis? Danny's dancing without his shirt unbuttonedand he isn't falling down. You can do it, Francis. We believe in you.<br /><br />The music is <em>The Boogie Bumper</em> by a German group. The costumes are great but the dance is only fair. Too much circling, not enough ankle work, for my taste. But the judges are okay with it. Jean Marc again wants us to “Give it away,” for the performance.<br /><br />Caroline and Jesse have Melissa Williams as their choreographer. She’s been consistently brilliant, giving us the best routines of the Top 20 and Top 18 episodes. But this week she got stuck with the Rock category. And, as Caroline tells the camera, “I don’t know what that means.” What the heck does Rock mean as a dance style? The Solid Gold Dancers?<br /><br />Based on what we get here, to Melissa Rock, as a dance style, means a contemporary-jazz routine done to a rock song. Which, come to think of it, is what the Solid Gold Dancers do, isn’t it?<br />Jesse is in a suit and tie, Caroline wears a lipstick-red faux-latex one piece bathing suit with a plunging neckline that shows a good bit of boob. Whatever the material is, it is so thin and tight we can see the folds of her inner navel. And no, I am not exaggerating for effect. It’s an inny whose base has more flesh on the right than the left. Two flowing lengths of sheer pink gauzy material accent the outfit, kind of a cross between a scarf and a cape, one draped from her neck, one from her hip. Pink stiletto heeled strap-ons complete the wet dream of an outfit. It ain’t Gucci, like Natalli’s, but it is every bit as hot.<br /><br />The judges are unanimous – Caroline overpowered Jesse. Ken tells Caroline, “There’s a choreographer, Robin Anton. She created the Pussycat Dolls. She should hear about you.” Yeah, Ken – it was definitely more burlesque than ballet. As Tyra would say, “Hoochie Mama.”<br /><br />So that’s it save for the judges’ last words and a final desperate plea from Leah. For the umpteenth time in the show she reminds us, “It’s free if you use your own phone; so vote, Canada.”<br /><br />As for the judges – they totally abdicate their responsibility. Four judges, eight couples. Do we get each judge’s honest pick for best or worst of the night? NO. Ken pimps for Lisa and Vincent and Arrasay and Nico; Paul for Joey and Tamina and Laura and Myles; Tre for Natalli and Francis and Jesse and Caroline; Jean Marc for Danny and Allie and Izaak and Kaitlyn. No one is left out. How idiotically Canadian. Come on, guys (and Tre) – do your job. Tell us who is best and why. You’re JUDGES, not cheerleaders. Risk offending someone. You owe it to your art, don’t you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-90336202369750456292008-10-16T16:41:00.000-07:002008-10-17T08:15:41.220-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 18 ResultsAre you kidding me? Are you freakin' kidding me? When I wrote "I still want to see Dario dance for his life – it’s the only time we get to see him practice his art, not someone else’s," to close last night's recap I only wrote it because Jean Marc practically guaranteed he wouldn't send Dario home even if he <em>was</em> in the bottom 3.<br /><br />And Dario's firebrand partner Romina, as good a dancer as this show has, is gone, too? Both of Jean Marc's picks are out?<br /><br /><div>Over the hill b-boy Jesse, who has two good moves and stumbles through anything that's not hip-hop is still in and Dario - as magical a dancer as God ever created - is gone?</div><div><span style="color:#ffffcc;">.</span></div><div></div><div>Izaak, who has yet to show he can make sparks with a partner, is still in and the man Blake called "the most creative dancer I have ever seen" is gone?</div><div><span style="color:#ffffcc;">.</span></div><div></div><div>Izaak's 18 year old partner Kaitlyn, a dancer so bloodless she is offended by her partner touching her butt, is still in the game and Romina, who oozed life and passion, is gone?</div><div><span style="color:#ffffcc;">.</span></div><div>Tamina and Joey, who have shown us nothing to compare with Dario and Romina, didn't even land in the bottom three and DARIO AND ROMINA ARE GONE?</div><div><span style="color:#ffffcc;">.</span></div><div></div><div>Last night Blake said he wanted to change the name of the show to We Know We Can Dance Canada. Maybe so. But the judges sure as shit don't know how to judge.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-59228983647246171492008-10-15T21:48:00.000-07:002008-10-16T12:29:04.636-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 18Changes from last week:<br />- 18 dancers/9 couples;<br />- With Kevin and Bre eliminated last week their partners, Natalli and Francis, have been partnered up;<br />- No big opening production number with dancers dressed and painted to look like south sea island cannibals in a circa 1950 black and white two reeler on the bottom half of the local RKO theatre’s Saturday matinee.<br /><br />Other than that, it’s the same as last week:<br />- Luther, Blake Tre and Jean Marc are still the judges;<br />- Tonight’s voting will still determine the bottom 3 couples and those 6 dancers will still have to dance for their lives in tomorrow night’s results show;<br />- The dancers again do a 5 second turn when they are introduced;<br />- Izaak again grabs his crotch;<br />- Francis, shirt unbuttoned to the belly button, still looks like a Via Venetto gigolo;<br />- Vincent still looks like he slept in his clothes. Come to think of it, he may be wearing the same tank top and jeans he had on last week.<br />- The women are still uniformly beautiful.<br /><br />Leah reviews the prizes the dancers are competing for and has to coax the audience to get it to applaud the $100,000 grand prize and the (shades of the Price is Right) NEW CAR!. Give it up for Mister 100 Grand! Reminds me of the time Oprah said orange was the new pink and the audience gave pink a round of applause and even a few cheers – swear to God.<br /><br />Back to SYTYCDC. Before we get to the competition, the judges have some scolding to do. It seems we are not the perfect audience and need to shape up. Blake feels compelled to educate us: last week’s opening production fiasco was not the racist piece of crap we thought it was, but was in fact derived from a traditional Brazilian “martial arts” dance that “has never been done before on a So You Think You Can Dance stage across the world.” Wow. Do I feel stupid. I had no idea that aboriginal Brazilians even knew where the Orient was, much less the fighting techniques developed there, nor did I realize they wore grass skirts. Then Tre has “to get serious for a moment.” It seems some anonymous person out there – and she stresses that it is just “one person out there” – has criticized Jean Marc’s accent.<br /><br />I’m stunned. Boorish behaviour? Sure. But worth a fucking second of my time, much less a dressing down on national TV? You’ve got beautiful skin, Tre, but it is dangerously thin. If you can’t stand 1 anonymous critic (I’m guessing a forum post or a crank letter) taking a cheap shot you should find a different line of work.<br /><br />Please, judges - don’t waste our time like this again. Be the professionals you are getting paid to be. If your feelings are hurt, tell your lover. I’ve got enough problems of my own not to have to listen to you whine about yours.<br /><br />First up are Allie and Danny. We get a “What is the best thing/worst thing about your partner” bit. For Allie, the best thing about Danny is his work ethic and the worst thing is his habit of leaving the top six buttons on his shirt undone. “Chest hair doesn’t turn me on,” she tells us. How can you not love this girl? And hand me the wax when you’re done. For Danny the best thing and the worst thing about Allie is the same thing – her effervescent cheerfulness. Seems she never turns it off. Yeah, boofreakinhoo, Danny. So tough having to endure Allie smiling at you all day long. But one must suffer for ones art, right?<br /><br />Tonight they are doing a “New York style mambo” (mambo with kosher pepperoni?) choreographed by Melanie Lapatin and Tony Meredith. Melanie tells Allie, “There’s no cute in a mambo.” She wants them “Raw. Sensuous.” Looks like we are going to find out once and for all whether potato bug ear cute Allie has another gear in her transmission.<br /><br />And boy; does she ever; a second gear, a third, a fourth and an overdrive.<br /><br />They take their positions in the shadows. The opening paradiddle to Tito Puente’s <em>Mambo Gozon</em> raps out, the lights come up and Allie, wearing a bejeweled taffeta bikini, has a spike heel in Danny’s chest. The piano does that crazy opening rift, the band kicks in and cute little Allie is off on the road to perdition, shaking her boobs and butt just like a grown up lady.<br /><br />The judges love it. Luther, who has had a crush on Allie since she first auditioned, calls the couple, “Unstoppable and undeniable.” Allie’s not daddy’s little girl anymore.<br /><br />Vincent and Lisa, who brought the house down with last week’s best routine, do the best/worst bit and we realize we are going to get this from each couple. It can’t help but get repetitive and boring, so I’ll only note original comments, like the worst thing about Lisa from Vincent’s point of view. Vince, a Caucasian going back several generations, who clearly spends most of his life in practice studio, says “Next to Lisa’s beautiful brown skin I look transparent.”<br /><br />Dressed as Raggedy Ann and Andy, they do a hip-hop number choreographed by Jae Blaze. Popping to <em>Anti Matter</em> by N*E*R*D*S*, they do a story of the two childhood icons loving each other in front of the camera but trying to kill each other whenever the other’s back is turned. Blaze must be talking about the graphic novel Raggedy Ann and Andy.<br /><br />The bit isn’t bad, but it isn’t great – but that’s no fault of the dancers. The costumes were great – they wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Big Comfy Couch. Had they hip-hopped to something bright and innocent, it might have worked better; but doing this to N*E*R*D*S*? Terrible choice. The judges liked it, I didn’t. Maybe I was expecting too much after last week’s opus.<br /><br />Nico and Arrasay. According to Nico the worst thing about Arrassay is she makes him look like a construction worker. To counter this impression Nico has shaved his head and gone from a Ryan Seacrest hairdo to a full Mohawk. Better a punk circa 30 years ago than a working stiff, hey dude?<br /><br />Choreographer Melissa Williams describes her Theatre routine (evidently it’s an actual style of dance. Later in the show we will see a style called Dancehall. Is Mall a dance style? Grocery Store?) as a girl at her wits end and her guardian angel decides to become human to save her life.<br /><br />They dance to Queen’s <em>Somebody to Love</em>. Oh, I get it: the girl is at her wit’s end because she doesn’t have a lover. Arrasay is costumed in a lovely red silk camisole with black panties. She collapses in longing. Nico steps out of the shadows and catches her as she falls. Like the guardian angels of old, he wears nothing but a pair of jeans and black ostrich feather wings. Maybe they should have used the Jefferson Airplane’s <em>Somebody to Love</em>. This bit is more psychedelic than glam.<br /><br />For all that, the routine is magnificent in its evocation of sexual longing and romantic fulfillment. William’s choreography is the equal of what Stacey Tookey did last week for Vincent and Lisa. Thank you, guys. When this competition is complete I am going to make a mixed tape of the best routines. So moved are the judges that they don’t even mention the sloppy lift and spin at the end.<br /><br />Natalli and Francis, our new couple of the week, do the Pasa Doble, a traditional Spanish flamenco dance with choreography by Lapatin and Meredith. Natalli is spectacular in a pale pink, ankle-length dress with a black lining that envelopes her when she spins. Francis wears the pirate shirt that Seinfeld so hated. As always, it is open to the navel. But the black pants with medallions up the side are kind of cool.<br /><br />The performance is great. Natalli, who has never done the Pasa Doble, is mesmerizing, while Francis looks like he was weaned on this stuff. Leah, and the judges who made this pair possible by sending their partners home last week, ease their guilt over dumping Kevin and Bre by touting the coupling as something that was meant to be. “Everything happens for a reason” is uttered more than once. I hate that aphorism. Embrace chaos, I say. Didn’t Dylan free us from the tyranny of reason 40 years ago?<br /><br />Oh, and Natalli’s breathlessness when she tries to address the judges is great. Nice to be reminded of the effort effortlessness requires.<br /><br />Kaitlyn and Izaak. Last week the judges complained about a lack of connection between the two. They’ve got a chance to erase that complaint this week – they are doing Dancehall, a sexually charged dancing style from the streets of Jamaica, according to Luther. It looks like the choreography from the back lots of Burbank used in the movie Dirty Dancing back in ‘87. And, ooops – it is just the thing to expose what nobody is saying but what is increasingly clear. The youngsters, 18 year old Kaitlyn (straight, I assume) and 19 year old Izaak (openly gay), are unable to fake the sexual tension that underlies all dance but war and tap. This pair are my first pick of the night for the bottom 3.<br /><br />Lara and Miles. Last week this unlikely duo – a contemporary/acro dancer and a hard core hip-hopper – killed a disco routine and showed some sexual spark when they slipped a kiss into their routine. Tonight they have a challenge. Miles has 0 formal training. When he learns they will be doing a Viennese waltz he asks, “What’s a Vietnamese waltz?”<br /><br />Amy Wright choreographs a “passionate, steamy” waltz to Etta James singing <em>At Last</em>. The costuming is great – pure <em>Street Car Named Desire</em> with Lara in a red silk nightie and robe and Miles in a torn wife-beater tee and pants with the suspenders off the shoulders. And, yes, they brush lips. The crowd loves it. These two will be around for awhile.<br /><br />Caroline and Jess do a hip-hop routine to <em>Touch It</em> by Busta Rhymes, choreographed by Tanisha Scott. I do not get the toy soldier oufits – and when I say toy soldiers I’m talking about 18th century French military full dress uniforms, not G.I. Joe. Luther thinks they didn’t “Sell” the moves as well as they could. Blake and Tre liked it. But all of them point out that b-boy Jesse, who should have killed in any hip-hop routine, was badly outdone by partner Caroline.<br /><br />Tamina and Joey, criticized last week on the same no-connection basis that hurt Izaak and Kaitlyn, have a Paul Becker choreographed contemporary dance bit to Elton John’s <em>Crocodile Rock</em>. The story is Joey is a prisoner in a jail cell remembering his teen sweetheart. Tamina complains to the camera about Paul’s instructions. I’m thinking he is a protégé of Blake’s because they both use the same, “It’s a pow and a pow and a whoosh,” nomenclature (or lack thereof) we watched Blake use in the choreography rounds of the auditions.<br /><br />The routine is, in Blake’s words, “a mess.” And it is – there are several moves that require them to use the cell bed as a prop and the dancers have to wriggle slightly to get to where they need to be to launch their next move. A firm thin vinyl covered mattress pad with next to no give should have been used. Not only would it have been more authentic as a jail bed, it would have been far better to dance on and off of. As for the lack of connection; the routine ends with a bang (Gun? Door slamming shut?) and Tamina dropping out of sight off the far side of the bed. The move and effect work well – that’s not the problem. The problem is Joey gets up and walks over to Leah, leaving Tamina to get to her feet and cross over alone. You know, earlier Arrasay complained that the worst thing about Nico was that he forgets that the woman goes first. Looks like Nico isn’t the only male dancer here who could afford to integrate the courtliness of dance a little better into their non-dance behaviour.<br /><br />The judges ridicule the routine. Luther says it is the happiest jail dance he’d ever seen. Tre calls it more juvie than jail and says it looked like a sleep-over. Tamina stands up to them, telling the judges, “We did the best we could with what we were given." Here, here. Vecker also choreographed last week’s tribal dance production number. Let’s keep Tamina and Joey and vote off Becker instead.<br /><br />Dario and Romina do a Sean Cheesman choreographed jazz pop routine to Rihanna’s <em>Disturbia</em>. It is 2nd best choreo of the night. But judge Luther still has problems with Dario – he’s such a fantastic, unique solo talent, but he is weak in dancing with partners. Romina, on the other hand, is looking stronger every dance. Jean Marc listens to the others and speaks for me when he says, “Dario is always going to be out of his element because there is no element for Dario. I don’t want this guy to leave this comp.”<br /><br />That’s it for the dancers. Last words from the judges:<br /><br />Luther praises the b-boys. He encourages Jesse, tells him he’s starting to get the hang of the new styles and should be proud. He then turns to Miles and tells him, “You are doing it.” The crowd cheers and Miles clearly has them wrapped around his finger.<br /><br />Blake singles out Nico and Arrasay. Absolutely.<br /><br />Tre picks Allie and Danny, calling them, “Stunning. You two have the chameleon god standing over you.” Is that like the Lizard King?<br /><br />Jean Marc votes for Dario and Romina, “The most raw and the most talented dancers.” He looks into the camera. “I don’t want to lose them, so you know what to do.<br /><br />But I still want to see Dario dance for his life – it’s the only time we get to see him practice his art, not someone else’s.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-34518307417073290672008-10-10T06:20:00.000-07:002008-10-10T06:51:14.062-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 20 ResultsThe first So You Think You Can Dance Canada results show opens with a huge dance troupe – 3 dozen at least – that includes the show’s 20 contestants. That these 20 familiar faces are part of the troupe isn’t immediately evident because the troupe is costumed as members of a tribe of south sea aboriginals. The music is dull chanting, which the grass skirted dancers accompany with sticks they are knocking together while hopping around in a badly choreographed performance that is as inauthentic as it is insulting in the Canadian multicultural context. Hopefully the producers were suitably embarrassed.<br /><br />The troupe exits and we go to commercial to give the contestants time for a quick costume change. When we come back they are brought out on stage in two sets of 5 couples to watch a synopsis of their performances and get the news. The 3 couples with the fewest votes will have to return for the Dance for Your Life round. But they will not dance as couples. Each of the 6 will have a mere 60 second solo to show why they should stay. One man and one woman will be eliminated.<br /><br />The first group is Izaak and Kaitlyn, Jesse and Caroline, Francis and Bre, Danny and Allie and Lara and Myles. Jean Marc delivers the results. Of the 5, only ballroomer Francis and contemporary dancer Bre will have to come back for the Dance for Your Life round.<br /><br />The group exits, Francis and Bre to warm-up, the others to celebrate. The second group of Kevin and Natalli, Vincent and Lisa, Nico and Arrasay, Dario and Rowina and Joey and Tamina is brought out. Of them, two couples will be left in danger. The results are delivered and Kevin and Natalli and Dario and Rowina will be dancing for their lives.<br /><br />Bre, in her signature one sock and white Flashdance-style tee, dances to a slow tempo song of loss and anguish. Maybe not the best choice – she has to embrace mourning.<br /><br />Natalli bursts on the stage in a snow-white dress of fringes. Tina’s <em>Rollin on the River</em> is pumping out of the speakers and Natalli shakes it hard. Her dance is nowhere near as accomplished as Bre’s, but far more captivating.<br /><br />Rowina is the Yin to Natalli’s Yang; the dark hot latino to Natalli's thawed ice queen. Dressed in a revealing black dress, Rowina rips off a high energy salsa.<br /><br />Francis starts for the men with a crazy fast jive to <em>Johnny B. Good</em>.<br /><br />Kevin follows in burgundy silk short-shorts and the long sleeve top half of a pair of long johns. He does a mid-tempo contemporary routine to Jimmy Bondoc’s <em>Wish You Were Mine</em>. It’s like the Bre - Natalli contrast; likely a more accomplished performance than Francis but not nearly as captivating.<br /><br />Contortionist Dario is last. His solos are the dancing equivalent of magical realism. You stare and then start looking for the wires. Dreamlike and haunting. I fear he will be sent home because his art does not lend itself to a partnered performance.<br /><span style="color:#ffffcc;">.<br /></span>The results are announced, ladies first. Jean Marc calls Rowina out and tells her she is safe. It’s down to Bre and Natalli. Speed and sex appeal trumps introversion and grace. Bre is gone.<br /><br />Tre delivers the men’s results and confounds the usual elimination dynamic. Rather than tease and stretch it out for the sake of building suspense, she simply wants to get through this – you get the sense she finds this part of the competition more emotionally distressing than she had imagined it would be.<br /><br />“Lets get this over with, “ she says. “Kevin, you are done.”<br /><span style="color:#ffffcc;"><em>.</em><br /></span>The blow is struck so quickly that Kevin has had no chance to prepare himself. He wobbles and for a second you think he is going to faint. He’s pole axed. So am I.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-56110041863890755092008-10-09T08:43:00.000-07:002008-10-09T09:01:40.682-07:00So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20Leah introduces the top 20. Each takes a 5 second spin on the floor.<br /><br />Natalli; frilly, one-armed snow-white top that stops at the bottom of her boobs. Pink and blue silk flower corsage on the upper left. Bare midriff, short-shorts made of free hanging long pink fringes of a variety of lengths laced through shiny metal disks. The disks whip about to a samba move. Heavy dark eye make up, spike heels, shoulder length blonde hair parted down the middle, hanging loose, flying. She will probably never again look as hot.<br /><br />Jesse; dorky b-boy hat, wire-frame glasses, scoop neck short sleeve blue top, single long gold chain a’ flying around his throat, red doo-rag hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans, light blue sneakers.<br /><br />Allie; black slip top and matching panties. The top is under a backless plaid vest. Sounds stupid but looks great. She makes good eye contact before effortlessly launching a ballet leap and spin.<br /><br />Nico; white, long sleeved (to the middle of the palms of his hands long) collarless sweater under an unbuttoned flannel work shirt with the sleeves rolled up to mid forearm. His pants are falling off because the suspenders are hanging loose, whipping against his legs as he moves. Black sneakers. His turn is all arms and hips and shoulders – hardly any foot work. Grunge.<br /><br />Tamina; red bikini top under an unbuttoned (or tied) cross between a hoodie and a Hugh Hefner smoking jacket, black parachute pants tucked into brown mid-calf lace up boots that aren’t laced up.<br /><br />Francis; jean shirt with the sleeves ripped off over a sleeveless black tee, black track pants complete with the stripe down the sides, barefoot. Toughest guy in the ballet class.<br /><br />Arassay; white leggings down around high heels gives her feet a cowgirl boot look, fringed scarf tied around her waist over short-shorts, square-necked short-sleeved white top. Total effect is a Texas go-go dancer.<br /><br />Miles; black leather jacket over a brown tee, black slacks and black sneakers. Most normal looking costume so far.<br /><br />Bre; sports bra made of the stuff our one piece body suits will be made of when they finally start selling flying cars, black shorts with suspenders, barefeet. She starts her turn by pulling the suspenders off her shoulders and letting them drop in a nod to dancing’s origins in the ancient art of stripping. Barefoot.<br /><br />Dario; sleevless black top, black slacks and sneakers.<br /><br />Romina; Xena with a flower in her hair, dressed up as Gabriella.<br /><br />Izaak; blue, fringe-y scarf tied around his neck, grey tank top, black sweat pants with one of the legs rolled up, white socks and red sneakers. Gives the camera his gayest leer, puts a fist in front of his crotch and humps it.<br /><br />Lara; with the exception of her barefeet she is the very vision of a Las Vegas waitress in her red sequined cocktail dress.<br /><br />Joey; sleeveless blue zip-up hoodie over a white tee, jeans with a belt worn through the loops, barefoot.<br /><br />Lisa; the blue version of Lara’s dress. Rum and coke and a white wine spritzer, please.<br /><br />Danny; open white dress shirt, slightly low riding baggies showing the top inch of his white boxers. The white-boy version of the gang-banger look.<br /><br />Caroline; brown baby doll top with built in black panties. Looks like something you’d put on a 2 year old. Not to say it doesn't look hot on her. The juxtaposition is disturbing.<br /><br />Vincent; long sleeve midnight blue neckless top, khakis, unshaven.<br /><br />Kaitlyn; red slip top, black short-shorts, barefoot.<br /><br />Kevin; brown tank top, beige long shorts, barefoot.<br /><br />First impression: Nice moves. Too bad about all the browns and blues.<br /><br />Host Leah Miller introduces the judges; hip-hop entrepreneur Luther Brown, dancers/choreographers Blake McGrath and Tre Armstrong and ballroom champ and US SYTYCD judge Jean Marc Genereux.<br /><br />Leah gives us a rundown on the process. Ten couples will dance tonight. Voting is for the couple – no individual voting. Tomorrow night will be the results show, with the couples in the bottom 3 having to Dance for Their Lives (yes, it’s capitalized).<br /><br />Time-wasting montage of the 20 making their way through the audition rounds.<br /><br />Nico and Arassay are first. Over clips of Arassay dancing she tells us in heavily accented English that she is a 22 year old Cuban who dances Latin contemporary. She has only been in Canada for 6 months. Her dance teacher is her father. Did they immigrate specifically for this competition? We learn that the rest of the family is back in Cuba, so I think yes, they immigrated to Canada to compete in this show. Nico, as scruffy as Arrasay is groomed, describes himself as a Montrealer who does a unique blend of hip-hop and contemporary. Best line, “I don’t love to dance: I am dance.” Gustavo Vargas is their choreographer. We get clips of the couple and Vargas working out a salsa routine to <em>La Salsa la Traigo</em> by Yo Sonora Carruseles. They are well matched, with Nico big enough for the lifts but not too big.<br /><br />The dancers start on opposites sides of the dance floor, Arrasay in a blue cocktail dress with pink panties and spike heels, Nico in a vest over a sleeveless tee, jeans and sneakers – and he has shaved. The routine is remarkably done with no obvious misses and some great, unusual moves. Judges and crowd love the work. A high bar has been set.<br /><br />Natalli and Kevin. She describes her style as salsa with a bit of hi-hop. Kevin, 22, calls what he does, “lyrical contemporary.” Don’t know what that means, but it sounds good. Tanisha Scott describes herself as a “hip-hop dancehall choreographer.” Kevin, raised in a family that ran a dance school, tells the camera that Natalli has “trouble remembering choreography” (as opposed to free style?).<br /><br />They are dressed in matching outfits for their performance. The outfits make them look like virile movie ushers wearing grandma’s church gloves. The routine doesn’t have them doing any touching beyond a hand on a shoulder once and a slap on the butt once. Other than that they dance like young toddlers play – in parallel but not together. Natalli misses a move once, but they blow by it with no aftereffects. Judges are not as impressed as they were with Nico and Arrassay.<br /><br />Twenty-eight year old Montreal ballroomer Francis is paired with Bre. He lost his “love and partner” Claudia in the last whittle to the top 20. Amy Wright is the choreographer. She’s particularly happy to haveFrancis because she has choreographed a contemporary waltz and Bre does contemporary while Francis can waltz.<br /><br />They dance to Aretha’s Natural Woman. Bre wears a spectacular diaphanous gown, Francis wears a white dress shirt, untucked and unbuttoned. I liked the routine, Luther and Blake didn’t. But Tre and Jean Marc were more into it. Most of the negative attention focuses on Bre.<br /><br />Gotta say, I am not impressed with the costuming of the men. The women look hot, the men look sloppy. I can take either, but not both on stage at the same time. Are they dancing together or is she fighting off a mugger?<br /><br />Ballet dancer Allie and Latin ballroom dancer Danny are next. Choreographer Melissa Williams gives them a rockabilly jive dance to the Stray Cats’ <em>Rock This Town</em>. Danny is happy – it’s his style.<br /><br />The costumes for the first time are appropriate. Allie misses a through-the-legs slide, catching her high heels. Danny is much more confident. Luther loves Allie and tells us so every time he gets a chance. There is praise for the choreographer and none of the judges mention Allie’s errors but Jean Marc. The crowd loved the energy.<br /><br />Kaitlyn and Izaak. Eighteen year old contemporary dancer Kaitlyn is the youngest member of the top 20. Nineteen year old Izaak describes his style as contemporary hip-hop, but from the audition episodes we know he is not above throwing in some jaw-dropping leaps and spins that are pure ballet. Sean Cheesman is the choreographer. The youth of the couple worries him. Izaak calls the routine a theatre piece. It has those wiggling fingers that, ever since I watched Bring It On (Rocky for cheerleaders), I can only think of as “magic spirit fingers.”<br /><br />They dance to <em>All That Jazz</em>, she in a flapper outfit, he in an unbuttoned sleeveless vest over a tee shirt and tie. Luther only gives it “alright.” Blake says it was the 18 year old version, not the professional version I was looking for. Most of the negative comments are directed at Izaak.<br /><br />Twenty-seven year old contemporary dancer Lisa, without a doubt the most confident person in the Top 20, is paired with Vincent, who I love. He does contemporary and hip hop. Vincent entered the competition with his girlfriend and partner, who made it to the top 200 but not beyond. From what I’ve seen, these are two of the best 4 dancers in the competition. Choreographer Stacey Tookey has a contemporary routine for them to Emmy Rossum’s <em>Slow Me Down</em>, a haunting, layered, almost a capella vocal piece. This is going to be great.<br /><br />She is barefoot in a lovely dark purple full skirted dress with an asymmetrical hem line; he is barefoot in a blue shirt a black pants. The routine brings oohs and ahhs from the crowd during and a standing ovation after. Spectacular and moving.<br /><br />Lara and Miles. Lara describes herself as “a contemporary acro dancer,” by which she means acrobatics are a big part of her skill set. Miles is hip-hop. Choreographer Williams has a disco routine to Metro Station’s <em>Shake It</em> in mind.<br /><br />Miles is the first guy to be neatly dressed – a shirt with a collar, sleeves buttoned, shirt tucked in his trousers. He could definitely do without the white belt, though. She’s wearing a go-go dancer outfit with white vinyl boots and a short, side-less electric blue dress. They start the routine with a flawless over the head, arms fully extended, lift and spin. They get sloppy a couple times, but the energy is great. At one point they steal a kiss that didn’t look planned but surely was. Judges are amazed at popper Miles’ skill in the disco genre. Lots of talk about the kiss. Can’t hurt the voting to get a romance going.<br /><br />Twenty-two year old Romina is a salsa specialist. Nineteen year old Dario is a Montrealer who does contemporary. Tanisha is the choreographer for a hip-hop routine about “a business man trying to pick up an innocent tease.” The routine is to Kardinal’s <em>Dangerous</em>.<br /><br />Romina’s “innocent tease” is dressed as the French maid in a porno movie. Dario’s “business man” wears a suit and tie outfit the likes of which I haven’t seen since the Fine Young Cannibals topped the charts. The routine bears no relationship to the story we were told it was supposed to tell, with the French maid seducng the innocent, not the other way around.<br /><br />Luther and Brad berate Dario for not being as strong as Romina. Myself, I thought the routine sucked and Dario got buried.<br /><br />Tamina and Joey. Tamina, a 19 year old hip hopper, likes to wear work boots when she dances – no doubt the result of too many viewings of her mom’s copy of Flashdance at an impressionable age. Ninetween year old Joey is a contemporary dancer with a relaxed vibe. Vargas choreographs a tango to Gotan Project’s <em>Santa Maria</em> for two dancers who know nothing about the dance. She is in a sequined, backless dress of silver and red, he is all in black, his hair greased to his head. They did not give me a stiffy, which is how I know when a tango is working. The judges agree.<br /><br />Jesse and Caroline. Caroline is a twenty three year old contemporary dancer, Jesse is the oldest competitor at 29 and a b-boy at heart. Choreographer Clarence Ford calls his plans for Soul Man “a retro jazz pop thing.”<br /><br />The perform in Afro wigs and matching orange suits. The performance wasn’t great – loose, timing not perfect, the funny bits not funny. Weakest routine of the show and, unfortunately the last.<br /><br />I’m calling for these two, Romina and Dario and Kaitlyn and Izaak in the bottom three. See you tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-11963648895551886112008-10-06T14:00:00.000-07:002008-10-06T14:10:54.981-07:00SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA - TOP 200An open letter to the producers.<br /><br />Love that you have done this. Scream Queen Mary was right – who knew Canada had so many great dancers? You did, and thank you for bringing them into my living room. With that said, however, there are some things I think could be done differently and better.<br /><br />1. Too many dancers, not enough conflict. The defense to this criticism will be, “We wanted to show as many as we could.” With thousands of auditioners there is no way every try-out could be shown, so “show as many as we could” isn’t a reason, it’s an excuse. Next time, pick fewer dancers to go to air and follow them more closely.<br /><br />2. There are dancers in the first 3 episodes that I was looking forward to seeing as the top 200 were whittled down to the Top 20, and they were left on the cutting room floor for far too long. never to be seen again. Don’t get me emotional invested in someone and then not show them again until they get named to the Top 20 almost a month later.<br /><br />3. Name banners. Ever watch Canadian Idol? They always show us the name of the performer – even the ones who are horrible and about to be eliminated. Not in the montages, sure, but why miss a chance to help us identify contestants by name? It helps at the water cooler the next morning.<br /><br />4. Clarify the rounds. In the top 200 episode we couldn’t tell what someone was being sent on to. Several times it seemed we were ready for the finals when a new round was introduced.<br /><br /><br /><br />5. And finally, MORE TIME IN CHOREOGRAPHY in the audition rounds! What are you thinking? This is where the real tension and conflict occurs.<br /><br /><br />Sincerely,<br />LB<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here we go. 200 dancers fighting for 20 spots. Judges are Jean Marc, Tré, Luther and Blake. Judges give a bit of trite advice. Jean Marc says, “Go big or go home.” I say, “Get a new cliché or get out.” Luther says, "If normally you dance inside, dance outside." I say, “Huh?”<br /><br />There will be several rounds; hip-hop, disco, ballroom, group choreography, contemporary, solo. Format is that you need 3 yes votes to go to the next round. Two yeses will get you to a “dance for your life” last chance dance.<br /><br />We start with a clip of Luther choreographing a hip-hop routine. It looks too intricate for a lot of the contestants, particularly the arm moves. Cut to dancers milling about backstage, telling us how nervous they are as they are about to perform for the judges. They are broken up to groups of 5 or 6 and brought before the judges, where they will perform the routine and be told one of 3 things: go home, dance for your life, or on to the next round.<br /><br />In his Montreal audition Olympic figure skater Emanuel Sandhu did a weird drag queen bit that turned the judges off, but they sent him through based on a dry-land triple axle. This time the judges rave and send him through to the next round.<br /><br />Next is Allie Bertram, a cute, confident tiny young thing we met in the Halifax audition. Through to the next round.<br /><br />Tiger Son, the south Asian immigrant who showed up at the Montreal auditions with a chip on his shoulder against everybody who hasn’t suffered as much as he has, is back. And the judges send him packing because he wasn’t able to do anything but the hip-hop. He gets some camera face time – a voted off the island-style “at least I’m leaving with my integrity intact” moment – that degenerates into an exercise in self-pity. When are reality TV contestants going to learn that really, really, really wanting something is not a competitive advantage when the other guy really, really, really wants it, too. If self pity was a drink, Tiger Son would be on the bottle.<br /><br />Ballroom dancer Francis Lafrenière (Halifax audition) makes it through and leaves us wondering about his partner Claudia. Another ballroomer, Danny Arbour, makes it through as well.<br /><br />We get a montage of dancers we haven’t met making it through or not, ending with one we do know. Natalli Reznik, from the Toronto audition, does a hammy hip-hop bit that gets a laugh and she's moving on.<br /><br />Next up is Jade 'Hollywood' Anderson, who knocks me out with an African song behind him and a tribal-ish dance that takes my breath away. Blake isn’t convinced (versatility issues?) and says it was great, but will people pick up the phone for him? Jade looks up at the studio audience and asks, “Would you?” The crowd cheers. Jade, you are my hero. He goes through.<br /><br />Ferdinand Tocol (the cheerful B-boy we met in Calgary) gets the hook. I thought his moves were good – he just doesn’t look like a dancer. They should have kept you, Ferdinand.<br /><br />Arassay Reyes, who did a fast Latin routine in her Vancouver audition, does something totally different – a jazzy contemporary piece. She nails it and I realize her choreographer/father may be a stage parent, but he knows dance.<br /><br />That’s the end of the first day. Leah tells us that 56 hopefuls were eliminated.<br /><br />Day 2<br /><br />Tré leads the dancers in a disco routine. First up is a group of 8 that includes one dancer we met at the Halifax audition, Joshua McLean, who wore a shiny gold blazer that drew criticism. Tonight he’s in a pale yellow dress shirt with a black tie. For the bus ride home.<br /><br />Clip of 6 people reacting to being sent packing. Next to last is a tearful, broken-hearted woman. Last is a guy who feigns uncontolled crying and then laughs out loud. Cool dude.<br /><br />Jeremy Tran-Hu (Montreal) “had trouble with the choreography, but two votes gets him a last chance.<br /><br />Cut to an entire group that does the routine with such confidence that the judges get into it (Donna Summer doing Last Dance) and send the entire group through.<br /><br />Montage of groups doing the routine. Nothing I haven’t seen way too much of for any more this lifetime. Thank you, punk.<br /><br />Katelyn Fitzgerald, Shane Simpson, Graeme Goodall, Jesse Catiblog, Tatiana Parker, and Romina D’Ugo, make it through to the next round.<br /><br />Cut to Leah talking with Montrealer Thien-Linh Truong. The day before she fell off a step and sprained her ankle. She does the disco routine with the ankle taped and does it well enough to make it through, but with the warning from Jean Marc, “you have to step it up.” Cut to Leah being taken to hospital. Later a doctor examines her and tells her if she continues she could permanently damage herself.<br /><br />Mira Schwartzberg makes it through. The judges bid a truly fond farewell to Eileen ‘Dove’ Flomata, who auditioned in three cities before the judges gave her a pity pass. The mercy hand job ends here. "You got to keep going," she says after being cut. "One day, they'll say yes."<br /><br />Sandhu is up again and again the judges are divided on him. Blake thought he looked like a waiter breaking into a dance after locking the door. They send him to dance for his life.<br /><br />Jeremiah Hughes, who made it to the finals on the US show, Tre gives him shit for “remixing choreography” and he is told he will have to dance for his life. With quick takes of 7 dancers we have seen before being sent to Dance for Your Life segment, the Disco Dancing segment is over and the Dance for Your Life portion of the round begins.<br /><br />Dario Milard earns a standing ovation and a pass to the next round. B-boys Miles Faber and Jeremy Tran-Huu make it through, as does Emmanuel Sandhu. Have I mentioned Sandhu has an oddly vampiric cast to his features? And it’s weird watching him circle, like he’s looking for the boards to tell him where to start his next move. You never stop being aware that you are watching a figure skater.<br /><br />Jeremiah , Kevin Howe, Mike Catay, Jared, and James Jones, make it. Leah says, “It’s been a long chain of yeses, but will it continue?” We immediately pity the next performer, Derek Rice. Bye Derek. Bye Valerie. Bye Dean.<br /><br />Justin Jackson’s crazy fast feet tap him into the next round. Cut to Thien-Linh being led off in a wheelchair.<br /><br />Day Two: Foxtrot<br /><br />Jean Marc and his wife/dancing partner choreograph the fox trot segment. Cut to the judges questioning Thien-Linh. She is told she risks damaging her partner’s chances. She says she won’t let anyone down. dancers being coupled up to perform for the judges. Cut to the partners being divided into partners. We get a longer than necessary introduction to the foxtrot.<br /><br />Joey Matt and Lisa Auguste go first. They are flawless. “It’s a double big big yes,” from Jean Marc. Next round.<br /><br />Justin Jackson and Chloe Schwartz. Justin is surprisingly sent home and Chloe to dance for her life. Kenny Avasa and Mira are through. Vasson Olivier and Caroline Torti are through. Vasson’s girlfriend, Kim Gervais, doesn’t. Her partner, Pierre Bouthier does (and is wracked with guilt for possibly letting down the beautiful Ms Gervais).<br /><br />Some guy named Sean is sent home, but partner Catelyn stays. Ashley Sweet and Taylor Miller reach their end. Jeremy Tran Huu is gone. Hollywood Anderson is gone (damn I loved his tribal dance) as is his partner, A.C. Linsa.<br /><br />James Jones and partner Michaela are eliminated, but bionic woman Thien-Linh and partner Ricky Cooperman live to dance another day. Jean Marc tells Ashley Ervin that her partner Danny Arbor, “saved your butt a couple of times,” but sends them both on with no stop at Dance for Your Life. Kevin Melreyea and Denitsa Iconomova are the best Blake has seen so far.<br /><br /><br />Vallerina Alley and Halifax ballroomer kill it. His girlfriend and partner Claudia Primeau makes it through despite being partner Nicholas Begin, a dancer 4 inches shorter than she. In fact, her whole group makes it through.<br /><br />Dance for Your Life round begins. We see one performance - Chloe Schultz. She makes it to the next round with a contemporary routine, but barely.<br /><br />Next up is a surprise Group Choreography challenge that is sprung on the 69 remaining dancers at the end of a long day – with a long day ahead tomorrow. The dancers are broken up into 10 groups and are told to choreograph an original piece to be performed for the judges first thing in the morning. The segment doesn’t last long enough to do anything but hint at a truckload of backstage conflict. In the end the routines, whether a success or a failure, are meaningless. Nobody gets eliminated and only three, all from the first group, dance for their lives.<br /><br />Day 3: Contemporary<br /><br />Blake McGrath chreographs. He tells them, "Half of you are cut after this." The dancers are not impressed by his instruction skills, complaining of no counts and inarticulate move explanations.<br /><br />The first group performs for the judges. Juliette is sent home with an invitation to try again next year. Other groups perform. Claudia goes. Thien (more guts than brains) Linh's injured ankle finally proves too much for even her. Julia Harnett, Tabitha Lupien, Jeremiah Hughes and Christian Oulette are all gone. Jean Marc, a Quebecois ballroom dancing Montrealer like Christian, was particularly upset on that last one. Christian’s partner, Denitsa Iconomova, stays.<br /><br />Joey Matt gets the first pass to the next round in ages. In quick cuts we watch 20 others get the good word.<br /><br />It is Dance for Your Life time for the round. Natalli goes first and, in Leah’s words, “Sets the stage on fire,” setting the bar high for those to follow. Quick cuts; Chris stays but not Graham, Michelle, or Oliver. The segment raps on a high note, with Jesse Catibog bringing the audience to its feet with an old school break dance.<br /><br />Day Four and last: Solos<br /><br />Emmanuel Sandhu appears before the judges. Did he do a solo? If he did, we didn’t see it. Luther tells him his transitions from the dry-land figure skating “tricks” to his dance moves is bumpy and asks him to work on it come back next year.<br /><br />Young Arassay Reyes gets a yes from the judges (again we don’t see the contestant dance) and becomes the 1st dancer in the Top 20. We get a great sequence of her screaming and shaking and laugh and wriggling like a puppy about to pee on the floor she’s so happy to see you; on stage, in the hallway, into the Green Room.<br /><br />Denitsa, perhaps undone by the loss of her longtime partner in the previous round, is deemed not confident enough for the Top 20.<br /><br />Blake tells Dario Milard, "You are the most creative dancer I have ever seen in my entire life." Tre tells him, “You made a tomboy cry.” Top 20 and #2. And I’m saying Top 5.<br /><br />Lisa Auguste has been confident, even cocky, since we met her in the very first episode. She has reason to be. She’s the 3rd dancer in the Top 20.<br /><br />Cody Banal is sent home, as are Mackenzie, Chloe, Yonni, Everett, Dwayne, Austin, Tara Jean, and Hanni.<br /><br />We get our next addition to the Top 20 when too cute for words, little Allie Bertram makes it through as the 4th member of the Top 20. She tells the others, “Luther thinks I’m dope.” He also thinks she’s, “The cutest little mouse.”<br /><br />Lara Smythe, Jesse Catibog, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Vincent Noiseux, Tamina Pollack-Paris, Joey Matt and Caroline Torti are Top 20 members 5 through 11.<br /><br />Kevin Mylrea gets some face time. Blake tells him that he is technically the king of the competition, but the last week he has not stepped it up. It’s a warning, not a farewell. He’s Top 20 member #12.<br /><br />Ashley Irvin gets some face and is asked to try again next year.<br /><br />We get a clip of the guy Leah called “Mr. Bossypants” for his behaviour during the Group Choreography competition, Izaak Smith. The clip shows him strolling through a forest. They don’t waste time doing clips of dancers who are about to leave. He is #13.<br /><br />Romina D’Ugo is #14, Breanne Wong #15, pop and lock master Miles Faber #16. Jared gets sent home, “for this year.” Ricky, Jennifer, Chris, Melanie, Shane, Cory and Tatiana go home.<br /><br />Nico Archambault makes the Top 20. Three spots left, 4 dancers. Natalli and Mira go together. They tell Mira she’s a diamond in the rough. Natalli is told she’s one the most passionate dancers, but she has “struggled mightily with the choreography.” Natalli gets the nod, Mira gets next year. Ballroomers, Danny Arbour and Francis Lafrenière, two very similar dancers, complete the Top 20.<br /><br />See you next week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-25564538392635306972008-10-06T13:57:00.000-07:002008-10-06T13:58:24.272-07:00HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA<a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_28.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 14</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_27.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 13</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_8330.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 12</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_21.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 11</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_14.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 10</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_13.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 9</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_08.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 8</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 7</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/all-ten-parade-out-on-stage-singing-i.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 4</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_23.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 3</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_17.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 2</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria_15.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - Episode 1</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-maria.html">How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - Prologue</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-77984887356848680802008-10-06T13:55:00.000-07:002008-10-06T13:56:28.160-07:00CANADIAN IDOL 6<a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-6-episode-1.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 001</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-open-with-lloyd-robertson-doing-as.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 002</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-6-episode-3.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 003</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-6-episode-4.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 004</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-start-with-mookie-morrison.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 005</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-6-episode-6.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 006</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-episode-7.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 007</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/06/canadian-idol-6-episode-7.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 008</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-9.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 009</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-episode.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 012</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-013.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 013</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-14-episode-14.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 014</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-episode-010.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 015</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-16.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 016</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-17.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 017</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-epidsode-17.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 018</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-19.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 019</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-idol-6-episode-020.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 020</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-021.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 021</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-023.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 022</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-episode-24.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 023</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-24.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 024</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-26.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 025</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-26_19.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 026</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-episode-27.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 027</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/08/canadian-idol-6-episode-28.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 028</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/09/canadian-idol-6-episode-29.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 029</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/09/canadian-idol-6-episode-30.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 030</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/09/canadian-idol-6-episode-31.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 031</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/09/canadian-idol-6-episode-32.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 032</a><br /><a href="http://canadiantvrecaps.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-post.html">Canadian Idol 6 - Prologue</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-91338780046396260632008-10-03T13:15:00.000-07:002008-10-06T14:09:32.772-07:00So You Think You Can Dance Canada: Top 200<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6pWmQAZVx6I/SOaAPnqNgfI/AAAAAAAAGdw/tUg7bolrHtk/s1600-h/So+You+Think+You+Canada+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253027021206684146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6pWmQAZVx6I/SOaAPnqNgfI/AAAAAAAAGdw/tUg7bolrHtk/s400/So+You+Think+You+Canada+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>An open letter to the producers.<br /><br />Love that you have done this. Scream Queen Mary was right – who knew Canada had so many great dancers? You did, and thank you for bringing them into my living room. With that said, however, there are some things I think could be done differently and better.<br /><br />1. Too many dancers, not enough conflict. The defense to this criticism will be, “We wanted to show as many as we could.” With thousands of auditioners there is no way every try-out could be shown, so “show as many as we could” isn’t a reason, it’s an excuse. Next time, pick fewer dancers to go to air and follow them more closely.<br /><br />2. There are dancers in the first 3 episodes that I was looking forward to seeing as the top 200 were whittled down to the Top 20, and they were left on the cutting room floor for far too long. never to be seen again. Don’t get me emotional invested in someone and then not show them again until they get named to the Top 20 almost a month later.<br /><br />3. Name banners. Ever watch Canadian Idol? They always show us the name of the performer – even the ones who are horrible and about to be eliminated. Not in the montages, sure, but why miss a chance to help us identify contestants by name? It helps at the water cooler the next morning.<br /><br />4. Clarify the rounds. In the top 200 episode we couldn’t tell what someone was being sent on to. Several times it seemed we were ready for the finals when a new round was introduced.<br /><br /></div><div align="left"><br />5. And finally, MORE TIME IN CHOREOGRAPHY in the audition rounds! What are you thinking? This is where the real tension and conflict occurs.</div><div><br /></div><div align="right">Sincerely,<br />LB</div><div align="left">Here we go. 200 dancers fighting for 20 spots. Judges are Jean Marc, Tré, Luther and Blake. Judges give a bit of trite advice. Jean Marc says, “Go big or go home.” I say, “Get a new cliché or get out.” Luther says, "If normally you dance inside, dance outside." I say, “Huh?”<br /><br />There will be several rounds; hip-hop, disco, ballroom, group choreography, contemporary, solo. Format is that you need 3 yes votes to go to the next round. Two yeses will get you to a “dance for your life” last chance dance.<br /><br />We start with a clip of Luther choreographing a hip-hop routine. It looks too intricate for a lot of the contestants, particularly the arm moves. Cut to dancers milling about backstage, telling us how nervous they are as they are about to perform for the judges. They are broken up to groups of 5 or 6 and brought before the judges, where they will perform the routine and be told one of 3 things: go home, dance for your life, or on to the next round.<br /><br />In his Montreal audition Olympic figure skater Emanuel Sandhu did a weird drag queen bit that turned the judges off, but they sent him through based on a dry-land triple axle. This time the judges rave and send him through to the next round.<br /><br />Next is Allie Bertram, a cute, confident tiny young thing we met in the Halifax audition. Through to the next round.<br /><br />Tiger Son, the south Asian immigrant who showed up at the Montreal auditions with a chip on his shoulder against everybody who hasn’t suffered as much as he has, is back. And the judges send him packing because he wasn’t able to do anything but the hip-hop. He gets some camera face time – a voted off the island-style “at least I’m leaving with my integrity intact” moment – that degenerates into an exercise in self-pity. When are reality TV contestants going to learn that really, really, really wanting something is not a competitive advantage when the other guy really, really, really wants it, too. If self pity was a drink, Tiger Son would be on the bottle.<br /><br />Ballroom dancer Francis Lafrenière (Halifax audition) makes it through and leaves us wondering about his partner Claudia. Another ballroomer, Danny Arbour, makes it through as well.<br /><br />We get a montage of dancers we haven’t met making it through or not, ending with one we do know. Natalli Reznik, from the Toronto audition, does a hammy hip-hop bit that gets a laugh and she's moving on.<br /><br />Next up is Jade 'Hollywood' Anderson, who knocks me out with an African song behind him and a tribal-ish dance that takes my breath away. Blake isn’t convinced (versatility issues?) and says it was great, but will people pick up the phone for him? Jade looks up at the studio audience and asks, “Would you?” The crowd cheers. Jade, you are my hero. He goes through.<br /><br />Ferdinand Tocol (the cheerful B-boy we met in Calgary) gets the hook. I thought his moves were good – he just doesn’t look like a dancer. They should have kept you, Ferdinand.<br /><br />Arassay Reyes, who did a fast Latin routine in her Vancouver audition, does something totally different – a jazzy contemporary piece. She nails it and I realize her choreographer/father may be a stage parent, but he knows dance.<br /><br />That’s the end of the first day. Leah tells us that 56 hopefuls were eliminated.<br /><br />Day 2<br /><br />Tré leads the dancers in a disco routine. First up is a group of 8 that includes one dancer we met at the Halifax audition, Joshua McLean, who wore a shiny gold blazer that drew criticism. Tonight he’s in a pale yellow dress shirt with a black tie. For the bus ride home.<br /><br />Clip of 6 people reacting to being sent packing. Next to last is a tearful, broken-hearted woman. Last is a guy who feigns uncontolled crying and then laughs out loud. Cool dude.<br /><br />Jeremy Tran-Hu (Montreal) “had trouble with the choreography, but two votes gets him a last chance.<br /><br />Cut to an entire group that does the routine with such confidence that the judges get into it (Donna Summer doing Last Dance) and send the entire group through.<br /><br />Montage of groups doing the routine. Nothing I haven’t seen way too much of for any more this lifetime. Thank you, punk.<br /><br />Katelyn Fitzgerald, Shane Simpson, Graeme Goodall, Jesse Catiblog, Tatiana Parker, and Romina D’Ugo, make it through to the next round.<br /><br />Cut to Leah talking with Montrealer Thien-Linh Truong. The day before she fell off a step and sprained her ankle. She does the disco routine with the ankle taped and does it well enough to make it through, but with the warning from Jean Marc, “you have to step it up.” Cut to Leah being taken to hospital. Later a doctor examines her and tells her if she continues she could permanently damage herself.<br /><br />Mira Schwartzberg makes it through. The judges bid a truly fond farewell to Eileen ‘Dove’ Flomata, who auditioned in three cities before the judges gave her a pity pass. The mercy hand job ends here. "You got to keep going," she says after being cut. "One day, they'll say yes."<br /><br />Sandhu is up again and again the judges are divided on him. Blake thought he looked like a waiter breaking into a dance after locking the door. They send him to dance for his life.<br /><br />Jeremiah Hughes, who made it to the finals on the US show, Tre gives him shit for “remixing choreography” and he is told he will have to dance for his life. With quick takes of 7 dancers we have seen before being sent to Dance for Your Life segment, the Disco Dancing segment is over and the Dance for Your Life portion of the round begins.<br /><br />Dario Milard earns a standing ovation and a pass to the next round. B-boys Miles Faber and Jeremy Tran-Huu make it through, as does Emmanuel Sandhu. Have I mentioned Sandhu has an oddly vampiric cast to his features? And it’s weird watching him circle, like he’s looking for the boards to tell him where to start his next move. You never stop being aware that you are watching a figure skater.<br /><br />Jeremiah , Kevin Howe, Mike Catay, Jared, and James Jones, make it. Leah says, “It’s been a long chain of yeses, but will it continue?” We immediately pity the next performer, Derek Rice. Bye Derek. Bye Valerie. Bye Dean.<br /><br />Justin Jackson’s crazy fast feet tap him into the next round. Cut to Thien-Linh being led off in a wheelchair.<br /><br />Day Two: Foxtrot<br /><br />Jean Marc and his wife/dancing partner choreograph the fox trot segment. Cut to the judges questioning Thien-Linh. She is told she risks damaging her partner’s chances. She says she won’t let anyone down. dancers being coupled up to perform for the judges. Cut to the partners being divided into partners. We get a longer than necessary introduction to the foxtrot.<br /><br />Joey Matt and Lisa Auguste go first. They are flawless. “It’s a double big big yes,” from Jean Marc. Next round.<br /><br />Justin Jackson and Chloe Schwartz. Justin is surprisingly sent home and Chloe to dance for her life. Kenny Avasa and Mira are through. Vasson Olivier and Caroline Torti are through. Vasson’s girlfriend, Kim Gervais, doesn’t. Her partner, Pierre Bouthier does (and is wracked with guilt for possibly letting down the beautiful Ms Gervais).<br /><br />Some guy named Sean is sent home, but partner Catelyn stays. Ashley Sweet and Taylor Miller reach their end. Jeremy Tran Huu is gone. Hollywood Anderson is gone (damn I loved his tribal dance) as is his partner, A.C. Linsa.<br /><br />James Jones and partner Michaela are eliminated, but bionic woman Thien-Linh and partner Ricky Cooperman live to dance another day. Jean Marc tells Ashley Ervin that her partner Danny Arbor, “saved your butt a couple of times,” but sends them both on with no stop at Dance for Your Life. Kevin Melreyea and Denitsa Iconomova are the best Blake has seen so far.<br /><br /><br />Vallerina Alley and Halifax ballroomer kill it. His girlfriend and partner Claudia Primeau makes it through despite being partner Nicholas Begin, a dancer 4 inches shorter than she. In fact, her whole group makes it through.<br /><br />Dance for Your Life round begins. We see one performance - Chloe Schultz. She makes it to the next round with a contemporary routine, but barely.<br /><br />Next up is a surprise Group Choreography challenge that is sprung on the 69 remaining dancers at the end of a long day – with a long day ahead tomorrow. The dancers are broken up into 10 groups and are told to choreograph an original piece to be performed for the judges first thing in the morning. The segment doesn’t last long enough to do anything but hint at a truckload of backstage conflict. In the end the routines, whether a success or a failure, are meaningless. Nobody gets eliminated and only three, all from the first group, dance for their lives.<br /><br />Day 3: Contemporary<br /><br />Blake McGrath chreographs. He tells them, "Half of you are cut after this." The dancers are not impressed by his instruction skills, complaining of no counts and inarticulate move explanations.<br /><br />The first group performs for the judges. Juliette is sent home with an invitation to try again next year. Other groups perform. Claudia goes. Thien (more guts than brains) Linh's injured ankle finally proves too much for even her. Julia Harnett, Tabitha Lupien, Jeremiah Hughes and Christian Oulette are all gone. Jean Marc, a Quebecois ballroom dancing Montrealer like Christian, was particularly upset on that last one. Christian’s partner, Denitsa Iconomova, stays.<br /><br />Joey Matt gets the first pass to the next round in ages. In quick cuts we watch 20 others get the good word.<br /><br />It is Dance for Your Life time for the round. Natalli goes first and, in Leah’s words, “Sets the stage on fire,” setting the bar high for those to follow. Quick cuts; Chris stays but not Graham, Michelle, or Oliver. The segment raps on a high note, with Jesse Catibog bringing the audience to its feet with an old school break dance.<br /><br />Day Four and last: Solos<br /><br />Emmanuel Sandhu appears before the judges. Did he do a solo? If he did, we didn’t see it. Luther tells him his transitions from the dry-land figure skating “tricks” to his dance moves is bumpy and asks him to work on it come back next year.<br /><br />Young Arassay Reyes gets a yes from the judges (again we don’t see the contestant dance) and becomes the 1st dancer in the Top 20. We get a great sequence of her screaming and shaking and laugh and wriggling like a puppy about to pee on the floor she’s so happy to see you; on stage, in the hallway, into the Green Room.<br /><br />Denitsa, perhaps undone by the loss of her longtime partner in the previous round, is deemed not confident enough for the Top 20.<br /><br />Blake tells Dario Milard, "You are the most creative dancer I have ever seen in my entire life." Tre tells him, “You made a tomboy cry.” Top 20 and #2. And I’m saying Top 5.<br /><br />Lisa Auguste has been confident, even cocky, since we met her in the very first episode. She has reason to be. She’s the 3rd dancer in the Top 20.<br /><br />Cody Banal is sent home, as are Mackenzie, Chloe, Yonni, Everett, Dwayne, Austin, Tara Jean, and Hanni.<br /><br />We get our next addition to the Top 20 when too cute for words, little Allie Bertram makes it through as the 4th member of the Top 20. She tells the others, “Luther thinks I’m dope.” He also thinks she’s, “The cutest little mouse.”<br /><br />Lara Smythe, Jesse Catibog, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Vincent Noiseux, Tamina Pollack-Paris, Joey Matt and Caroline Torti are Top 20 members 5 through 11.<br /><br />Kevin Mylrea gets some face time. Blake tells him that he is technically the king of the competition, but the last week he has not stepped it up. It’s a warning, not a farewell. He’s Top 20 member #12.<br /><br />Ashley Irvin gets some face and is asked to try again next year.<br /><br />We get a clip of the guy Leah called “Mr. Bossypants” for his behaviour during the Group Choreography competition, Izaak Smith. The clip shows him strolling through a forest. They don’t waste time doing clips of dancers who are about to leave. He is #13.<br /><br />Romina D’Ugo is #14, Breanne Wong #15, pop and lock master Miles Faber #16. Jared gets sent home, “for this year.” Ricky, Jennifer, Chris, Melanie, Shane, Cory and Tatiana go home.<br /><br />Nico Archambault makes the Top 20. Three spots left, 4 dancers. Natalli and Mira go together. They tell Mira she’s a diamond in the rough. Natalli is told she’s one the most passionate dancers, but she has “struggled mightily with the choreography.” Natalli gets the nod, Mira gets next year. Ballroomers, Danny Arbour and Francis Lafrenière, two very similar dancers, complete the Top 20.<br /><br />See you next week. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-4476475857636753422008-09-11T06:38:00.000-07:002008-09-11T06:43:18.164-07:00Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 32Final results show. The opening number of this 2 hour stall-fest reunites the top ten. They do 8 bars of a song I (and Google) don’t recognize. They sing, “Nothing can stop this thing that we’ve got;” the eight confirmed losers singing that nothing can stop them just as loudly as do the final two. The tune morphs into a medley, with each singer getting 12 bars of face time. Sebastian over-emoting again (you’re only mesmerizing when you’re cool, Sabby); Earl, in shirt, tie, and shades and carrying a skate board, dipping his shoulders to <em>Feelin’ Alright</em>; Mookie in the crowd proclaiming <em>Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag</em>, Theo doing Elton John’s <em>Still Standing</em>; Amberly, Adam, Mitch, Mark, Drew and Katherine: the class of season 6 was a good one.<br /><br />We’re going to keep track of how many performances are included in this show and how many montages. That’s 11 Performances – one group and 10 individual.<br /><br />Hedley, a band featuring some guy from season 2 who sounds like the singer from Maroon 5 when the material is in the right key, does <em>You’re Going to Miss Me When I’m Gone</em>. The visual alternates between the performance and a montage of rejections from the early audition episodes. That’s 12 Performances, 1 Montage. Good to get a clip of Gary Smeddon, the first person sent packing on air this season. Hey Gary – come back to us next season, okay? Jake was full of shit. <br /><br />Hedley does the single off their new album. It’s another turgid power ballad that might work as a Canadian Tire commercial.<br /><br />Satellite hook-up to Port Hood, NS. Ben talks to the crowd of Mitch supporters, Mitch stands beside Ben. His earpiece isn’t working, so Ben fills him in on the homely anecdote his uncle is relating. Mitch is wearing a white belt. Herb Tarlick is not a good look for you (or anyone), Mitch.<br /><br />R&B diva and Canadian Idol behind-the-scenes interviewer Jully Black gets her montage next. It is followed by Jully performing for the only time in season 6. She’s a better singer than color commentator, but she has a high likeability factor. Maybe she could replace Ben if he decides to spread his wings (lol).<br /><br />And we’re up to Performances 14, Montages 2.<br /><br />Theo and Ben hook-up to Lethbridge. Theo’s earpiece doesn’t work any better than Mitch’s, so Ben relays the homely anecdote from Mitch’s Grade 5 teacher.<br /><br />A montage of this season’s mentors transitions to the final mentor, R&B singer and John Legend, doing <em>Ready to Go Right Now</em>. Performance 15, Montages 3.<br /><br />Mariah Carey does an interminable song with a one-note bass line, 3 chords and no chorus (or maybe it was all chorus). It was like watching River Dance stoned. It went on so long I wondered if I was caught in one of those nasty time loops.<br /><br />Ben and Farley touring Malawi as part of their support for the Schools-in-Africa program. Performances 15, Montages 4<br /><br />Canadian Idol 5 winner Brian Melo and his band do Back to Me, the single off their new album. Nice bit of calculated dissonance in the guitar work. I liked it.<br /><br />An interesting bit on Canadian Idol as a small town Canada phenomenon. Clearly the producers are not unaware of where the show’s primary audience lives. And yes, the homage fromage is a montage.<br /><br />The Top 10 return for a final performance, <em>I’m Going Home</em>.<br /><br />Finally the stars of the show return for their final performances. They reprise their two best songs, <em>Weak in the Knees</em> from Theo and <em>I Love This Town</em> from Mitch, then do a duet on Blue Rodeo’s <em>It Hasn’t Hit Me Yet.</em> The results are announced. To know one’s surprise, Theo is the new Canadian Idol.<br /><br />Long life, Theo. Forget everything you learned on Canadian Idol about being a pop star and you’ll have a great career.<br /><br />Final tally, Performances 20, Montages 5.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-91702463737723234542008-09-10T08:53:00.000-07:002008-09-10T09:18:08.063-07:00Canadian Idol 6 – Episode 31A Trojan worm attack crashed my system as I was recapping Monday night’s Final 2 episode. A friendly warning to fellow web-surfers: YouPorn is a phishing site, not a YouTube affiliate.<br /><br />The penultimate episode of Canadian Idol 6 offered convincing proof that the culture wars were won by REO Speed Wagon in 1978. All that you thought was worthwhile over the past thirty years – punk, rap, new country, thrash, hip-hop, world beat, whatever – is as dust in the wind compared to the awesome might of the 70's power ballad. The episode also confirmed what critics of Canadian Idol have been saying for some time – the show is not about talent; it is about the rural versus urban divide that has replaced the effete concerns of Quebec separatists to become this generation’s primary threat to Canadian unity.<br /><br />I suspect the producers are aware that they are exploiting a fault-line in Canadian culture; but I also suspect they haven’t accurately defined it in their own minds yet. Host Ben Mulroney started the show by announcing it was “a battle of East versus West.” Well, yeah: since Mookie, the last urban singer left in the competition, was eliminated two weeks ago, the competition can now be (mis)characterized as East (Port Hood, NS, for Mitch) versus West (Coaldale, AB, for Theo). But that’s only because the unified front rural/small-town cultures generate has already defeated the fragmented, diverse populations of our urban centers.<br /><br />But enough with the dime store (dollar store?) cultural deconstructionism: based on the final performances of the final two, who’s going to win?<br /><br />Mitch started with <em>Paris</em>, a Faith Hill song by Gordie Sampson, the pride of Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Mitch does alright, but so what? His voice is thin and his pitch uncertain; always has been, always will be.<br /><br />Theo counters with Jann Arden’s <em>Good Mother</em> – just him at the piano. That CI is about regions makes it an unfair venue for performers like Theo. He’s an exceptional artist who has soiled himself trying to be what he thinks the judges think a pop star should be. At least on this song he has to stay at the piano. God forbid he should do his imitation of a rock star (wander aimlessly around the stage, occasionally lunge toward the audience or camera, try to look tough but end up looking gay).<br /><br />The next songs by both contestants are songs written for them and will be their first single should they win. Both are execrable power ballads that will have trouble mustering more than a couple weeks airplay – and that airplay will just be because stations figure they have to play them, not because viewers will turn to the radio just to hear their Idol.<br /><br />The final two songs are judges’ choice, and the choices are revealing. Mitch does Bread’s <em>If</em> and Theo does Foreigner’s <em>I Wanna Know What Love Is</em>. Both songs are older than the audience.<br /><br />Looking forward to the 2-hour finale on Wednesday night – Theo should win hands down, no questions, badda-bing badda-boom, game over, sayonara, somebody wake up the fat lady. But those Maritimers have a flinty edge to them. Albertans used to, but they’ve gone soft now on political power and oil money. We could get a real shock.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-61381898303111947542008-09-02T17:34:00.000-07:002008-09-04T08:14:27.055-07:00Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 30It’s the top 3 results show, featuring Bryan Adams doing 2 songs, home town concerts by the finalists and more commercials per minute of airtime than anything this side of the last 15 minutes of SNL. Mulroney quickly polls the judges on meaningless crap. Sass says if she can do anything for any of the top 3 guys, they should call her. Cougar alert.<br /><br />Since the show is mostly filler, I figure I can put in some of my own. Want to mention that I approve of the gender-blind casting Canadian Idol has used this year. Don’t know if CI is the first iteration of the Idol franchises to try it out; does anybody reading this know?<br /><br />Bryan does <em>18 Till I Die</em>. I’m not a fan of forever-young sentiments. Hold on to 16 as long as you can my ass. Grow the fuck up and lend a hand - we’re bailing as fast as we can. That’s a sentiment I’d like to crank it up and wail to.<br /><br />I’m sick of the CBC promulgating the myth that Canadians are polite. The rudest people I have ever met have all been Canadians, with the exception of a group of teenage boys on the south side Chicago that didn’t like the color of my skin.<br /><br />Bryan does <em>She’s Got a Way</em>, the single off his new albums. Now don’t get me wrong here – I think Bryan has written enough classic barroom rockers to merit every honour and dollar he has – but, truth be told, I run for the door when his ballad gets cued up. Sometimes the door is too far and I take a window out of sheer self-preservation. Doesn’t matter what they call the ballad – and god knows he’s released it under a bunch of different names – but damn, it’s the same tune every time.<br /><br />Okay, the hometown visits. Wish Earl was still around. I think he would have crushed it in front of Lloydminster. In any event, we get Drew in Collingwood; 15,000 population, all but 200 of whom turned out for the street concert. Theo hits Calgary, Coaldale and Lethbridge, Alberta. Seems kind of unfair that he got to do 2 hometown concerts and one big-city media stop. Mitch just gets one concert, like Drew did, but his crowd stretched to the horizon. Looked like most of Nova Scotia showed up. It looked like Yasgur’s Farm.<br /><br />And the results: Drew, the performer who has shown the most consistent improvement over the course of the competition, is out.<br /><br />Next week: chipmunk Mitch and piano man Theo go head to head in a battle of Alberta vs the Maritimes. This stopped being about talent a long time ago.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-17838659231834307272008-09-01T18:08:00.000-07:002008-09-01T18:12:07.120-07:00Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 29Final 3 with Bryan Adams doing the mentoring and providing the songs. In the pre-performance patter Sass works happily (if not hard) at not saying she and Bryan once knew each other in the biblical sense of the word while on tour. I wonder if, cougar that she is, she’s trying to make some young fella jealous. Anybody heard from Sebastian lately?<br /><br />Drew does <em>Cut Like a Knife</em> in a great arrangement – all Randy Bachmann power chords. More like <em>Cuts Like an Axe</em>. Knocked me out. Check it out on The Canadian Idol website when they get it up, if you missed it. If they released this version as a single it would play for years. Zack thought he should have dirtied up the vocals to better match the music, but he’s wrong. Drew is like that singer in Journey. Steve somebody. Journey was a joke of a band, to me – but their singer sounded like Sam Cooke doing metal and it worked for him.<br /><br />Theo does <em>Heaven</em> from behind the piano; slower than the original, kind of Jackson Brownish. Theo’s voice is in its usual fine form and he hits the right emotional notes as well. Sass says, “Enormously powerful.” Farley thought the arrangement was incredible, Jake said, “You just blow it up with your voice.” Zack calls it, “One of the best performances ever on this show.”<br /><br />Mitch simply doesn’t have skills to top top either of the first two performances. He does <em>In the Heat of the Night</em> and shows us angry Mitch. While he doesn’t look nearly as stupid as Theo does when Theo tries to look tough, I couldn't help wishing one of the judges would tell him he should stick to using his inside voice. Instead, they just told him he looked uncomfortable.<br /><br />Maybe it’s the editing, but we didn’t see Adams give anything that might be mistaken for a musical critique – particularly disappointing in light of the master’s class Anne Murray gave last week.<br /><br />Round 2.<br /><br />Drew has changed from his rock star black leather to an intern investment broker’s dress shirt and tie, collar unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up; vest on, but no jacket. He stands at the mic, no guitar, and does <em>I’m Ready</em>. Zack said he looked and sounded like he was doing Bryan Adams in Bryan Adams: The Musical. Zack was right.<br /><br />Theo does <em>When You’re Gone</em> and is doing well until he walks out from behind the electric keyboard and starts what Zack calls, “Aimlessly walking around the stage.” It’ll be nice to see Theo on a tour of his own, when he can just focus on being a singer and leave being a pop star to the tweens.<br /><br />And then there’s Mitch. He does <em>When You Love Someone</em>. Afterward Sass tells him he has “redeemed himself” with the performance. It may bring him some comfort, but I think he knows tonight was the closest he’s going to get.<br /><br />Final 2: Drew and Theo? We’ll see tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-55090282767095662332008-08-26T17:10:00.000-07:002008-08-26T17:14:32.686-07:00Canadian Idol 6 – Episode 28It’s results night for the final 4; Earl, Mitch, Drew and Theo. Anne Murray and American Idol 6 winner Jordin Sparks are along to provide the filler.<br /><br />Anne does <em>Daydream Believer</em> followed by <em>Can I Have This Dance</em>. Age has ravaged her pitch-perfect voice. The husky lower register is recognizable, but when she sweeps up to that once crystal clear top end the bell-like resonance is gone. Her voice trembles, making her sound decades older than her 63 years.<br /><br />Afterword she tells Mulroney that she really wanted to give the contestants, “useful tips.” That she did. It was kind of spooky the way she isolated each performer’s weak spot and made them better singers with a sentence of direction and no more. I hope she gives singing lessons regularly. A national treasure.<br /><br />Ms Sparks does her current pop hit <em>One Step at a Time</em>. Nice bubblegum. Amberly would do a great job on it.<br /><br />It’s time for the results. No bottom three to build suspense; Mulroney calls them all out, acts like he’s going start toying and – boom! – out it comes. Earl, who Mulroney calls, Everybody’s best friend,” goes home.<br /><br />Good ride, Earl. I remember the first time I heard you. “We end with Earl Stevenson, a gangly, soft spoken 23 year old from Lloydminster, Alberta. He’s been working at Bob’s Backhoe for two months but hasn’t gotten his first pay cheque yet, so he doesn’t know what he’s making. He was a serious snowboarder (has the video to prove it) but hurt his knee. He does a version of Heard It Through the Grapevine that knocks me and the judges on our collectives asses. Beautiful voice, great rhythm.”<br /><br />It should have been Earl and Theo in the final two. Well it won’t be Earl and it may not even be Theo. Tonight Zack told him he needs to “skip the pop crap,” and focus on his own style. Odd words coming from someone who’s constantly reminding contestants that Canadian Idol is a competition for pop singers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-38339451954337356042008-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:002008-08-25T18:44:21.331-07:00Canadian Idol - Episode 27Top 4, with Anne Murray as guest mentor and her songbook as the source for round one material. Tonight is the first time the contestants will sing two solo numbers. Round 2 is contestant’s choice.<br /><br />Mitch is first. In his session with Anne, she tells him to work on his breathing. Think of each breath as a thought, she says. “When you finish the thought, take the next breath.” It is the type of constructive, specific criticism I think the judges should always be striving for; too bad the judges don’t feel that way. Remember Shaun Francisco’s audition way back in the first episodes? Jake Goldman said he didn’t find him interesting and Shaun begged him to give him something specific. Goldman couldn’t come up with anything and lamely hissed, “When I see it I know it,” in a pissy kind of way that made it clear he wanted Shaun to shut up.<br /><br />Mitch does Lightfoot’s <em>Cotton Jinny</em>. It is a pleasant performance of a nice song, improved by Anne’s advice which he does follow, and Mitch strums his guitar correctly throughout. Not dynamic enough for this late in the competition.<br /><br />Earl picks a song that, yes, Anne recorded, but c’mon – <em>Killing Me Softly</em> will always be a Roberta Flack number. That said, though, it’s not a bad choice for Earl. And he really works on the eye contact, as Anne recommended – Sass even comments on it. He did look a little tighter than usual, though – possibly because he’s having to pay attention to performance issues as the competition narrows. Zack says he looked like he was, “Out meandering in the backyard.”<br /><br />Anne tells Drew she notices he is bending his notes a lot, following the guitar playing. She tells him, “Simplify the guitar and focus on the vocals.” He takes her at her word and delivers his best vocal of the competition by far. His song is <em>Hey Daddy</em>, from Anne’s children’s album, <em>Hippo in the Bathtub</em>. Amazing that Anne spotted exactly the right item in her short time with him. The difference is subtle, but it makes him sound confident, compelling. Oh, and he’s lost that thin, sad beard and looks great with a Miami Vice scruff.<br /><br />Anne’s advice for Theo is, “Fewer licks. I know you can do them. But make them tasty; make them count.” Again, she has gotten right to the heart of the performer’s weakness. 4 for 4. Theo does <em>You Don’t Know Me</em>, his first country tune of the competition, and plants a flag. Knocks me out. Zack thought it was flavourless but Jake got the 50s crooner thing Theo was going for, as did Farley.<br /><br />Round 2, singer’s choice.<br /><br />Mitch picks Eliot Smith’s <em>Between the Bars</em>. Not bad, but not compelling, either.<br /><br />Earl does <em>The Joker</em>. Sass, perhaps inspired by Anne’s example, actually offers some constructive criticism of his singing technique (sliding up at the end of phrases). His finish is so precisely arranged it’s clear I’m not the only to have told him to pay attention to his endings.<br /><br />Drew leaves the judges unimpressed by a bluesy <em>Gravity</em>. Ever notice these guys love blues in the auditions but not once they get to the final 10?<br /><br />Theo finishes off with Gavin DeGraw’s <em>Chariot</em>. His goofy take on rock and roll as performance art betrays him again and he climbs on top of his piano singing a tune I could imagine Barry Manilow doing. Somebody help this guy, eh? He embarrasses himself every time he tries to be a showman. C’mon Theo – this is yours to lose. Hate to say it, but when you don't give me a lump in my throat I'm offended in a way that doesn't happen with the others. Guess I have a double standard- there's the standard you've set and then there's everybody else.<br /><br />I say Mitch goes home. Talk at ‘cha tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660123461248770710.post-23702115833664072982008-08-19T17:40:00.000-07:002008-08-19T17:45:49.519-07:00Canadian Idol 6 - Episode 26The results are in for the Top 5. Once again Toronto shows it is too cool for Canadian Idol and leaves a hometown boy dangling in the wind. That’s right – the guy who the judges have been calling rockstar since before they cut the pack down to the top 24, Mookie Morris, namesake of Montreal Expos great Mookie Wilson, is history (just like the Expos). <br /><br />Last night Mookie did Come Together and looked his usual cool dude doing it; Beatle boots, some great Mick Jagger slip-slidy foot work, marching band jacket. He didn’t go the Abbey Road route and he didn’t cop from Aerosmith. His arrangement (if indeed it was his – the kid’s 18 fer gawd’s sake) was unique and that alone should have gotten him some consideration.<br /><br />Best thing about the results was when Mulroney, having identified Mookie and Drew as the bottom two, asked judge Jake Gold what Mookie should do if he lost. Jake said Mookie should call him in the morning.<br /><br />But you can’t beat the hometown vibe. So who will win of the top 4? Will the next Canadian Idol be Lethbridge, Lloydminister, Port Hood or Collingwood?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0