Dance life

Tonight I went to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.  The Rockettes were spectacular, but the show itself was a bit of a disappointment for a teenager.  I was expecting the see an extravagant dance show with sparkly costumes, happy Christmas songs, and lots of kicking lines, but the show was too kid-oriented.  I’m a kid at heart and I enjoy smiley cheesy characters but this show was a little too young for me, it was geared at kids who believe in Santa. 

I was excited to get the see the famous Rockettes perform, and in the back of my mind I always felt that if I really committed myself to dancing I could have been a Rockette too, basically because Cameron dance is recognized of its kicking lines.  The opening number was exactly what I’d expected.  They were dressed as beautiful sexy reindeer.  They performed a sharp and very esthetically pleasing jazz routine, equipped with the infamous kicking line.  I was shocked at how simple the movements actually were.  Everything they did was simple yet well executed so the effect was amazing, I felt my eyes glazing over trying to look at everything at once.  The costumes were amazing and the props were incredible.  I would love to be in such a professional looking dance.  It was the only time I saw a group of girls in buns look truly beautiful.

When I focused on the dance I was captivated, but I the show itself made me feel a bit sad.  We had bought seats in the Club section of the Bell Centre, but our tickets were updated to the red section close to the stage because they hadn’t sold many tickets.  The audience was empty, and almost an entire section seemed empty.  I felt horrible for the performers because this must have seemed like a pathetic show for them. Poor Santa who came out during the reindeer dance was trying to pump up the crowd, but he seemed to realize there weren’t enough people to cheer loudly.

Between the dances there was a story. Two brothers, one who didn’t believe in Santa, needed a Christmas gift for their sister.  It was cute, but the best part about the whole acting portion of the show was the poor security guard sitting against the stage.  Every time Santa made it snow or used his magic to cause a shower of sparkles and confetti it showered down on the security guard who was covered in a layer of fake snow by the end of the scene.  There was also a group of six singers between dances who looked and sounded like the kids from glee.

The best dance the Rockettes performed was as tin soldiers.  The dance was almost entirely focused on visual effect and most of the routine seemed to just be controlled walking and kicking lines, but with 18 girls in long white pants it looked fantastic. Asides from their basic kicking line dances there were others, like tap and ballet on pointe, that made me realize my random fantasies of ever joining the Rockettes were over.  I realized that the dances weren’t simple, they made them look simple.  They had one routine about Christmas in New York City where the dancers were kicking outside the windows of a tour bus as it moved around the stage.  I was pretty amazed.  They also had a routine as rag dolls and they used blocks that spelled out Merry Christmas, even though I’d seen that bit in the commercial I’m still a sucker for spelling out words in dances, I think it’s really clever.  They had an interpretation of the Nutcracker with big (slightly creepy) animals. The dancers wore huge suits, the kind a mascot would wear, and one of the bear heads could even blink its eyes…it was a little weird.  They made up for it with their Santa dance.  In this one they were wearing Santa suits with stuffing, no sexy Mrs.Claus outfits, and they did an amazing group routine that was once again very sharp and precise.

The show ended with their rendition of the nativity scene, which looked great, but in my opinion wasn’t the best way to end a dance spectacular filled with glitz and glamour.  When everyone came out to bow I was shocked, the whole show was less than an hour and a half.  I was sad to see it end, but I couldn’t help but think that next Friday’s much less expensive 10$ ticket to New Moon would leave me more satisfied. 

My neck is stiff, my back is hurting, my legs are sore, and my feet feel swollen.  That’s right; I just got back from the weekend dance convention, Coastal Dance Rage with some of the most popular former dancers and choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance. 

Our first class was with Nico, Canada’s first SYTYCD winner, and he taught us contemporary jazz.  In all honesty I remember liking him and enjoying his dance, but I can’t remember much about his class because it was at eight in the morning and we’ve learned almost ten dances since then.  I loved Nico, and voted for him all the time last season, but he never had the same friendly and lovable personality some of the other dancers/choreographers had so he’s easy to forget sometimes. 

Blake is unforgettable on the other hand.  His dance, and the song we danced to, keep replaying in my mind.  He has an in your face attitude, and he can come off a bit strong sometimes, but if your keep trying, you’ll get it.  Blake walked into the room, got on stage and started teaching.  Even though it was fast, and hard to keep up with, in the end his dance was our favorite.  As soon as the song came on, I took the night by Chelley, we all just got it.  

Bobby Newberry, our next choreographer, has a very similar style, only his choreography was a lot more intricate.  After struggling for a while most of us managed to get the gist of it, and it ended up being a really fun class as soon as we stopped thinking bout the details and just had fun.

Shannon, Blake’s sister, was our contemporary teacher, and she likes to throw her head around a lot.  The entire ballroom seemed to be in pain the day after her intense head rolling choreography, but asides from the pain it was a really great piece.  I loved doing it, even though I knew I looked like an idiot it just felt nice to throw myself around and be emotional because it’s something I don’t do a lot.  

Twitch, runner up in season four’s SYTYCD was the best teacher of the weekend, and I’m so happy to see that his personality is just as personable and genuine as it appeared on TV.  He went really slowly with us, and broke each movement down, so we could get his hip hop routine even if (like me) we weren’t very gangster. 

Benji on the other hand…the winner of season two’s American SYTYCD, was my least favorite teacher.  He had great personality on the show, and even though I didn’t like him and was upset he won, I respect his dancing and I knew he won because of his great personality. He has a great personality, and every time he wasn’t teaching he was funny, and nice, and charming, but as soon as he started teaching he was harsh and aggressive and too fast, especially since the style he was teaching was completely unfamiliar to all of us.

Francisco, an amazing ballet dancer, taught us ballet the second day.  I feel a little bad for him because people don’t want to be doing ballet in a convention, but he’s an unbelievable dancer and I’ll never forget his tour jete. 

Asides from the celebrity teachers we had a few famous assistants in a few of our class, including Cody and Taylor, two of the dancers from this season’s Canadian version of SYTYCD who’d been eliminated.  There was also Melanie M who’d been eliminated just last week from the show assisting too, but she never assisted any of our classes. 

Even though I’m in a lot of pain the weekend was unbelievably fun and it’s worth the stiff neck.   

So the Black Eyed Peas song ‘I Got a Feelin’ may not be the best, and at times it’s pretty annoying, but I have to admit that it’s generating a bunch of cool videos.

The first one I heard about through the Gazette. A french school, Comm-UQAM or something, put together a video to the Black Eyed Peas song.  It took a lot of preparation, but the cool thing about it is that everything came together perfectly and they shot it in one take.  The camera man walks through the school taping people lip sync to the song and act out the lyrics.  Everything is perfectly on time and really cool, so check it out!

The next video is known as ‘The Famous Oprah Video.’  This one has the Black Eyed Peas on stage performing their song to a huge audience in Chicago.  This video also took a lot of preperation because as the band sang the audience danced along perfectly in sync with each other and the song.  It starts off with one girl dancing alone at the front of the audience while everyone else stood still, gradually as the song goes on more people start to join her until the entire audience is participating.  The best part of this video is when all the audience members ducked down creating a really cool domino effect.  I was blown away, like Oprah, and I’m sure you will be too:

So even though the song may be annoying and always stuck in your head (especially after you watch these videos…haha is it stuck in yours?)  the videos are great and well put together!

I’m really excited about this season’s top twenty, but this season of SYTYCD I’m not going to write about each dance from each show…I have a life, instead I’ll only blog about the dances worthy of their own blogs.  So stay tuned and see what my favorites are, in the mean time here is some extra info I found on each dancer, enjoy!

AMY Gardner (21) is a Contemporary dancer from Calgary, AB. Amy, who is also formally trained in jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, street jazz and musical theatre, has traveled around the world performing, including Spain, Australia and parts of Africa. Amy has also participated in a variety of competitions throughout North America.

• ANTHONY Grafton (24) is a Ballroom dancer from Calgary, AB. Anthony has participated in competitions around the world, including in England and throughout the United States. Formally trained only in ballroom, Anthony is looking forward to trying out new styles of dance on the show.

• AUSTIN Di lulio (19) is a Contemporary dancer from Mississauga, ON. Dancing from a young age, Austin appeared in the feature film Hairspray and has also worked with choreographers Marty Kudelka, Adam Shankman and Tyce Diorio.

• CODY Bonnell (19) is a Hip-Hop dancer from Unionville, ON who is also trained in ballet, jazz and tap. Cody’s former dance teachers, friends and especially his family have been his biggest support and unlike any other experience in his life, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA has been life changing.

• CORYNNE Barron (18) is a Classical Contemporary dancer from Edmonton, AB. At the age of 15, Corynne trained at both the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Edmonton School of Ballet before leaving Canada for England to further continue her studies with Kate Simmons Dance Ltd. Corynne is trained in contemporary, ballet and jazz.

• DANIEL Dory (23) is a Hip-Hop/House dancer from Montreal, QC. Born in Haiti, Daniel is also trained in contemporary, and has performed in cities across North America, including New York and Los Angeles. Daniel also had the opportunity to perform as part of the opening act for Celine Dion’s 2009 concert in Montreal.

• DANNY Lawn (21) is a Contemporary dancer from Brockville, ON who is also trained in hip-hop, jazz, ballet and acro. An adventure-seeker, Danny spends his time off the dance floor cliff jumping and has also performed with pop stars Katy Perry and Kreesha Turner.

• EMANUEL Sandhu (28) is a Contemporary and Ballet dancer from Vancouver, BC. Emanuel, who is also a Canadian national champion figure skater, trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, as well as with notable choreographers including Menaka Thakkar and Roberto Campanella.

• EVERETT Smith (25) is a Tap dancer from Glen Morris, ON. As the first-ever tap dancer to make it into the Top 20, Everett has taken his tap shoes around the globe and competed at the World Tap Championships in Berlin, Germany. Everett also performed in the feature film Hairspray and is trained in various styles of dance including jazz, ballet and hip-hop.

• JAYME RAE Dailey (21) is a Contemporary dancer from Montreal, QC. Also trained in hip-hop, house, classical ballet, jazz and jazz funk, Jayme Rae auditioned with her twin sister who’s a big source of support in her life.

• JENNA LYNN Higgins (18) is a Jazz and Lyrical dancer from Toronto, ON who cites her mom and dance teacher as her biggest supporter. Also trained in ballet, Jenna Lynn is looking forward to perfecting new dance styles.

• KIM Gingras (23) is a Hip-Hop dancer from Montreal, QC. A member of the Montreal-based Blueprint Dance Company, Kim believes her professionalism, passion and performance are the three key elements that helped her get into the Season 2 Top 20.

• MELANIE Buttarazzi (22) is a Latin Ballroom dancer from Woodbridge, ON who is currently enrolled in York University’s Dance program. A musician as well, Melanie learned to play guitar at the age of eight and is also trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip-hop and flamenco.

• MELANIE Mah (19) is a Contemporary dancer from Richmond Hill, ON. Melanie performed across North America in a variety of dance competitions and is also trained in ballet, jazz/lyrical, hip-hop and tap.

• NATALIE Lyons (23) is a Hip-Hop/Krump dancer from Halifax, NS. Natalie has had the opportunity to perform live with artists including Nelly Furtado, Keshia Chante, Timbaland and Flo Rida. When not on the dance floor, Natalie spends her time cooking, hiking and playing volleyball.

• NICOLAS Bégin (24) is a B-Boy/Hip-Hop dancer from Quebec City, QC who has specialized in hip-hop and break dancing for almost 16 years. Nicolas has performed with the Quebec-based B-Boy crew Q.C. Roc as well as at an array of events including the 400th Anniversary of Québec City in 2008 and the 2006 JUNO AWARDS.

• TARA-JEAN Popowich (20) is a Contemporary dancer from Lethbridge, AB. Given the opportunity, Tara-Jean would most like to work with choreographers Mia Michaels or choreographer and fellow Albertan, Stacey Tookey and cites her mom as her greatest source of inspiration.

• TATIANA Parker (21) is a Hip-Hop dancer from Toronto, ON. Tatiana, who has performed as part of the Massari World Tour, is greatly supported by her family and friends – especially her brother Noah.

• TAYLOR James (22) is a Contemporary dancer from Vancouver, BC who is also trained in jazz and hip-hop. Taylor has traveled all over Canada and the U.S. as an instructor and performer and spends his spare time taking photographs.

• VINCENT Desjardins (20) is a Ballroom dancer from Trois-Rivieres, QC. Vincent originally began dancing because of his sister, and has been performing in Ballroom competitions in major cities around the world ever since. Vincent has performed in New York, Toronto and Blackpool, England.

SYTYCD Canada started a few weeks ago, and never have I felt so involved in a television show before.  The Montreal auditions we especially exciting because I felt like I new a lot of the dancers in some way or another.  I knew dancers like Sante, Melissa Charlot, and Jamye Rae and Jenny Dailey because they dance at my friend’s dance school.  I know Justin Jackson from dance competitions, but although he had a lot of camera time last season he barely got any exposure this time around despite the fact that he got all the way to the top 46.  I know Cody from a dance convention, and several others from various other conventions and competitions. 

I knew the twins tried out, and I even knew who came back first, but I didn’t know that they would have such a big impact on the show, especially on Jean Marc who seems to be their biggest fan. I was in awe when I saw their audition on TV.  I’d seen their duo, originally performed to a different song, in competition, but seeing them on TV felt surreal.  I felt like I knew celebrities – I was back stage with them, feet away and then weeks later they were on TV making Jean Marc cry over the same dance that almost brought tears to my eyes when I saw it.  Here’s the clip that blows my mind:

Montreal had the best auditions, and I’m so happy Jayme Rae is in the top twenty!

I know I’m not the biggest Dancing with the Stars fan, but I always think it’s fun when they release the list of contestants. 

Here’s the complete cast for Dancing Season Nine:

Mya, singer
Melissa Joan Hart, actress
Michael Irvin, former Dallas Cowboy
Ashley Hamilton, actor, comedian, singer-songwriter
Aaron Carter, singer
Kathy Ireland, former supermodel-turned-businesswoman
Debi Mazar, actress
Natalie Coughlin, U.S. Olympic swimmer
Louie Vito, snowboarder
Chuck Liddell, ultimate fighting champ
Donny Osmond, singer
Tom DeLay, former Republican congressman
Macy Gray, singer
Joanna Krupa, model and actress
Mark Dacascos, Iron Chef personality
Kelly Osbourne, reality star

I’m sure Mya will do great, since she’s a trained dancer.  I’m happy Melissa Joan Hart is on the show because I love her and I’ve missed her.  Aaron Carter joining the cast is just kind of sad, he seems like just a has been and I can’t imagine him winning.  Donny Osmond is going to be the cutest, most adorable contestant, he’s so funny in a corny cheesy way.  Macy Gray, hmm, I have no clue how she’ll do.  I think the most random/funniest contestant is Kelly Osbourne though.  Apparently she has been asked to do the show since it started, but declined cause she says she cant dance at all…that being said I don’t think she’ll do very well, but I’m surprised they wanted her on the show so much.   The show starts September 21^st, if I’m not too busy with school and the two overlapping seasons of SYTYCD (America and Canada) then maybe I’ll tune in to see who’s doing well…if not I’ll see all the eliminated contestants on Ellen.  

The 100^th episode of SYTYCD was a big deal for the show, obviously!  They has confetti and a cake and they even had Katie Homles on ‘singing’ and ‘dancing’, but no matter how exciting they tried to make the show the sad fake remained…it was an elimination show, so it was bound to end up sad.

The show opened with a great piece using mirrors. It was one of the many group dances that don’t get enough recognition because they’re on the elimination show (so the judges don’t comment). 

Half of the dancers were sent to the bottom this episode.  The two girls in the bottom were Janette and Kayla and the two boys were Jason and Brandon.  I wasn’t happy to see Kayla and Brandon in the bottom, because I see those two going all the way to the finale, but I know lots of people who disagree with me, including the friends I was watching the show with.  

Kayla has been my favorite for a while and I was only just starting to warm up to Janette, so in my opinion Janette had to leave.  When she did I didn’t feel the relief I thought I’d feel.  Nigel said that he wanted Janette to win the show this season, which is a huge thing to say to a contestant, and Mia probably agreed considering she told Janette the night before that she was her favorite dancer.  I never knew the judges felt that way and I was sad she left after hearing that.  Who do the judges like now? 

Then there was there was the boy’s elimination were Jason left.  I never really liked Jason, I never got attached to his character and I never really got into his dancing, that’s why I didn’t care for him to stay. 
Brandon on the other hand is someone I really like on the show, not for his personality, but for his dancing.  I enjoy watching him and I think that’s what the show is all about.  Between the two I definitely think Jason needed to go home, but once again there were many people upset about it.  My friend even cried when Jason was crying while saying his goodbyes.  I guess people think that
Brandon’s character isn’t likable…I disagree.

The big problem I had with the eliminations was Evan.  I think it’s time for Evan to leave, and clearly by the votes (and the reaction in the room when I told everyone how much I hated him) not many agree with me.  His dancing isn’t up to standard at this point in the competition, and he just seems out of place when compared to the others left on the show.  We’re so close to the final four, and I don’t think Evan deserves to be there.  My friends think he’s cute and quirky, but I’m getting tired of hearing negative things about him from the judges.  Hopefully he’ll leave next week, but who knows, maybe he’ll survive another week just to piss me off.

Back to the show…there was a big deal about Katie Holmes coming to the show to perform.  What she did was okay, but it wasn’t anything spectacular.  Her voice sounded good, but she wasn’t singing on stage at the show, and she wasn’t dancing to much either.  She did a lot of slow walks and a fan kick and then the number was over.  Oh well, it was all for a good cause right?!

The show was amazing though, because for once we got to see the emmy award winning dances all in one show.  The dancers all looked older and more sophisticated, but each dance was just as good as I remember them, maybe even better.  The Hummingbird and the Flower was better than I remembered for instance, I had seen it so long ago I could hardly remember it.  The Bench routine with Travis and Heidi was beautiful as always, and I never realized how little Heidi actually had to do in that dance.  Ramalama was stunning as always, only this time Wade Robson (the choreographer) was in it replacing on of the missing dancers, so the camera focused mainly on him. 

This blog is getting a little long, so I’d just like to say hello to all my friends from
London Ontario and I miss you!

On SYTYCD’s 99^th episode they had a very special guest judge, my favorite comedian, Ellen Degeneres.  It’s obvious Ellen likes dancing, she dances every episode of her talk show, but it’s also clear that she doesn’t really have anything critical to say.  Ellen was nice to all the dancers and kept us laughing by saying cheesy and random jokes throughout the show.  Although it was fun to have her on the show, she seemed a bit out of place. 

The first dance of the night was a group dance, which don’t usually happen on the Wednesday night shows.  It was a great dance, a fantastic dance actually, by Travis.  The costumes were great and I loved the futuristic  party idea, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes of Kayla who was front and center the whole time.

The first partner dance was by Evan and Janette, who did a contemporary piece by Sonia.  Sonia’s stuff is always weird, but this piece seemed a little too tame, and in my opinion it was because Evan doesn’t have that creepiness you need to do Sonia’s stuff.

There next dance wasn’t much better.  It was way too slow and the judges spent more time talking about Evan’s cute but weird face than they did the dance. Evan’s solo was cute and good, but Janette’s solo was pretty bad. 

The next partnership to go was Brandon and Jeanine.  They started with a waltz that put me to sleep.  Even the judges said it was boring.  But then they did a really great pop jazz by Laurean Gibson (who is such a nice teacher, the video was very misleading).  Their dance was so strong, it was hard to tear my eyes off Brandon, but they were both really into it.  Brandon’s solo was fast and upbeat.  Jeanine’s solo was controlled and beautiful.  If I could do a solo as well as the dancers on this show, I would want my solo to look just like Jeanine’s…that’s how I wish I could dance.

Melissa and Ade were the next pair to perform. Their first dance was a horrible Cha Cha.  It was very stiff, weird, and awkward.  It was probably the worst dance of the show.  Their next dance stole the season.  Everyone was talking about it. It was on he View it was on Entertainment shows, probably on the news too…this dance brought everyone to tears.  I could probably write a whole blog just on this one dance.  Tyce choreographed a dance about a woman with breast cancer who needs someone there to support.  The dance is beautiful, and it’s hard not to be emotional when you see how much of themselves the dancers are putting into the dance and how much the judges and audience members are affected.  Melissa jumps across the stage into Ade’s arms and the trust and partner work is phenomenal.  When the camera zooms in on her face and you see the pain and sadness that’s when I lost it.  After the dance ends is when the tears really start coming down.  Nigel’s reaction, Tyce’s reaction, but most of all Mia’s reaction brought me to tears.  To say it was the best dance of the season isn’t even enough.  Ade’s solo was perfect as usual, and Melissa’s solo was different from her usual ballet, it looked like jazz on pointe shoes and I loved it. 

The last partnership to go was Jason and Kayla.  Their first dance was a broadway, which was nothing special.  Their next dance was really cool though. It was a Sahne Sparks hip hop routine about zombies.  It must have been hard to dance after Melissa and Ade’s emotional piece, but they managed to cheer everyone up and creep everyone out.  It was disturbing hot and it was a great way to end the show.  Kayla’s solo was slower and had a lot less kicks then usual, which I liked.  Jason’s solo was the same as usual with high jumps and great lines, but I couldn’t help but feel his movement was a bit feminine. 

So check out my next blog to see what happened on the 100^th episode, and f you haven’t seen it, here’s the video of Melissa and Ade.      

Michael Jackson has been all over the news and radio for a few days now since his death on Thursday.  It seems like everybody cared that the strange entertainer died of a heart attack, and everyone has their own opinions.  When he was alive and young he was one of the greatest entertainers ever known, up there with the Beatles and Elvis, but over the past decade or more we’ve watched him deteriorate (literally).  He’s been the subject of many jokes, from his nose, to his skin, to dangling babies over balconies, but we still all know the words to his songs and we still learn his dances in workshops.  He’s a strange guy, but who wouldn’t be if they were internationally famous by age five. 

When someone dies you look back at their life think of all the good they’ve done for the world.  For Michael the legacy he left behind is what he will be remembered for in the long run, not what he looked like.  He will always be remembered for his music and his dancing. 

Michael Jackson has the best selling single of all time, and with today’s pirating he’ll probably keep that record for a long time.  Thriller is a classic song, it changed the way we think of music and music videos and it keeps showing up in movies or on the radio long after it first came out.  How many people in the world know the thriller dance, or at least how many people would be able to recognize it if they saw it.  How many other artists are that recognizable? 

Michael Jackson made dancing cool! He single handedly changed the world of dance and made it what it is today.  His songs made people want to get up and dance, and he showed them the moves to use.  He brought together different style from cultures around the world.  He tried new things with every song and every dance and he made people want to be different too.  He showed people there is no limit and he opened the door for other singers and dancers to push the boundaries like he did. 

Never again will we see Michael Jackson’s moonwalk.  Never again will we hear his voice ring through at a live concert.  On the brink of his return he left, but he made everything he left behind that much more important to us.  How many more nose jokes to you think you’ll hear about Michael? – none.  How many times do you think you’ll hear his songs and watch his videos? – an innumerable amount. 

So who is Michael Jackson and why does the whole world care that he died? He’s an entertainer, a person who only really belonged on stage and no where else, who showed us that it’s talent and drive that change the world.  And change the world he did.  This is the Michael we should remember.

 Michael Jackson

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

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The audition episodes on SYTYCD are over! Wednesday’ show started off with Tyce as the guest judge. My team and I met Tyce at a convention where he taught us jazz before he became popular on SYTYCD, and we didn’t even like him then.  On the audition show my friends and I couldn’t stand him because he was so mean to all the contestants.  The show tries to find America’s best dancer, but it also encourages dancers to keep going and work hard.  Tyce was yelling at the contestants, telling them they were disgusting and horrible and I’m pretty sure his remarks discouraged hundreds of dancers.  He was way too harsh on dancers who were just trying to have fun. He should not be invited back to audition week. Lil C on the other hand, who was the judge who followed Tyce was a lot more respectful.  He told the dancers to keep dancing for themselves even though the show might not be right for them. Thanks Lil C that’s what you’re supposed to say!  Some of my favorites from Wednesday’s show were Pricilla (one of the first to go) Janette and Runolo (ballroom couple) Erik (the tap/hip hoper) Anna (who used lots of head) and Evan and Ryan (brothers).  Pricilla was so beautiful, and one of my favorites from this season, but the judges didn’t give her enough credit.  Janette and Runolo did that fantastic split kick that was featured in the commercials, they’re the type of couple who makes you wish you had a man to dance with. Erik was a tapper, but he added his own hiphop flavor into it, and he had such a funny personality.  Anna was great, and I was sure she would be sent straight to Vegas, but the judges didn’t like her head movements (which I thought added a lot or personality) and made her do choreography.  The reverse happened for Marico who did Memphis Duking which seemed like nothing special but he made it all the way to Vegas.  The last auditions to go were Evan and Ryan.  Evan did a really original broadway type routine, it had a cool 40’s theme and it was so refreshing to see a guy dance like that.  His brother was a tapper with a whoopi cushion, which sounded like a bad idea but it worked out really well and I really liked him.  I think Pricilla and Evan will do well in Vegas. 

The next day (Thursday) the guest judges were Adam and Mia, who are both amazing judges.  The show started off with a tap dancer who was good, but I didn’t think he was a ‘monster’ as Nigel said.  The next couple who auditions were brother and sister and they were strangely sexual with each other.  There dancing was horrible…they were falling everywhere and it was just painful (yet funny) to watch.  Then a 30 year old swing dancer auditioned and the next thing I know Adam (the guest judge) was on stage dancing with her.  He is such a nice and funny guy, and they were actually pretty good for complete improvisation.  The BEST part of the show was Nathan.  He’s 17 years old and so hot, and when he started dancing I was blown away.  I’ve never seen turns like that, my mouth was hanging open.  He is too young for the show, but he got a ticket to Vegas for season 6! That was such a nice thing to do and it was well deserved. I also loved Philippe and Amanda’s duet.  Philippe is the popper who battled on the finale of season four but didn’t go to Vegas because he was sick.  He went straight to Vegas before he even auditioned, but his duo with his friend Amanda was so beautiful.  They are such a cute couple and I just wanted them to kiss at the end it was so cute.  I hope Phil does well in Vegas, but I’m not sure he’ll do well in other styles.  I can’t wait for Vegas week, I’m so excited to see how everyone does.