Happy 4th of July!

They Put Baby In a Corner

I can't believe that I had forgetten to remark on she similarity between Aleksandra's hair and the Dirty Dance scene were Baby and Johnny are performing at the Shelldrake. Some of the moves were very similar as well. And so, they put Baby in a corner. I didn't hate Aleksandra nearly as much as some people did. She didn't bother me, but I suppose there are better dancers in the competition.

I realize I comment on many television shows, but I feel as though I can comment on SYTYCN with somewhat more authority. The ony time my mom ever performed a tripple pirouette on pointe was when she was pregant with me. So, I was a-twirlin' before I even came out of the womb a la Billy Elliot, but clearly not that good of a dancer.

As soon as I was old enough I started dance lessons and much to my dad's delight began accompanying my mom to dance performances. We would sit in the rear orchestra in the middle with her friends and pass candy and binoculars back and forth. During the ENTIRE performance these woman would not stop talking! The critiquing did not end! "His leg isn't extended enough." "She fell out of her turn," and so on. Now, there were positive comments as well "what a beautiful arabesque," but I learned to be a little critic.

Sometimes people will ask me if was in a sorority in college and I respond, "no, I was in a dance group, which was way worse!" I auditioned my first semester freshman year, which was nerve wracking, but every semester after the auditions were fun! These girls were absolutely brutal. Girls were dismissed for chewing gum, having a "swimmers body," and of course, not being able to dance at all. The little critic came alive.

After college I worked at Boston Ballet and sat through numerous productions of the Nutcracker, or as I liked to call it, the Butcracker. Still a holiday favorite.

Now, when I sit on the couch with my mom, it's just like being back at the Fox Theater. The show, in her opinion, is all about "dumbed down dance." I partially agree. We both think Musa can move (and I'm proud of him as the oldest contestant at age 28 - when your knees start creaking).

But, the thing about dance, and what bugged me so much about the auditions, is that it's fun! For the overwieght people who've been dancing all their lives - good for you! It's much more offensive to listen to bad singers than to watch bad dancers. At least they try and have fun. Anyone and everyone can dance (including you bf).

Finally, I'm not worried about bad hair ben. Dude is only 18. I'm sure he'll be fine. And that Poison Dance - I swear I did the exact same choreograpy circa 1991 to Everybody Dance Now, That was before the creaking knees!

Dance Dance Revolution

Clearly I'm hung up on writing about this show. Until Big Brother starts that is. Anyhoo - Before I start picking the dances apart, let me again comment on the format of the show. Why don't the judges assign the dance styles? Or say, everyone can pick tonight between the quick step and the waltz, or hip hop and krump so that they're all compared fairly. They judges are much easier on technical dancers who convert to hip hop than they are to any other style of dancers coverting to another style. Also - keep the cameras still so we can see the dance as the audience does. Finally, back in the day when I used to take dance classes, there was no such thing as contemporary. It was called modern. Is this the same thing? And they're making some of that stuff up. Pop jazz? Whatever!

On to the main event. Brian Friedman is an ass. He's also an ass who was in my aparment senior year of college. He was wearing a green boa. I didn't understand his dislike for Jay-mz and Jessica. I thought they were fine, although I didn't understand why she was wearing a nightgown. I didn't particularly like the choreography, but I'm a big fan of the Frou Frou song via the Garden State sountrack.

My favorite choreography of the night was Heidi and Ryan's Cuban Rhumba. I would LOVED to have seen Donyelle do that dance. I think she would have been awesome. As it was, we were stuck with Heidi's bobblehead. I feel bad for Ryan because I think she sucks. And she talks to much.

My least favorite dance of the night was Travis and Martha. I thought the judges comments were waaaay off. This routine looked like it was straight out of a music video in a bad way. Martha was not dancing. She was prancing around the stage in high heels. Apparently one can not do hip hop in high heels. Travis was actually dancing. I don't buy that Martha was dancing "smooth". She just wasn't dancing.

We'll see who gets kicked off tonight. Probably Aleksandra, but I don't know about the boys. Maybe Ben?

Head over to Sabrina's blog from tvguide.com to check out here take here. Be sure to read the comments for the inside scoop on Ben and Ashlees' number.

So You Think You Can Be On Dance TV?

You know what So You Think You Can Dance reminded me of tonight? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Did Cat Deeley not look like Helen Hunt after she took over for Miss Ricky? I was completely surprised she didn't ride onto stage on a chariot. Also, Jessica resembles Sarah Jessica Parker. All we need is the Shannon Doherty look alike and a cool dude with a motorcycle (Jamyz?).

I think it's a shame Jason didn't last longer. It's hard to prove your dance-worthiness with a hip hop routine, especially when compared to the technically proficient and graceful Ryan. I could have seen Heidi go, but the two future strippers are gone and that's ok with me.

In other tv news, America does not have talent I'm interested in seeing. I will be voting for Kayar, Janelle, Howie and James for the next two weeks. You should do the same.

Last week I referenced my move. Why, you may ask, is this girl spending so much time watching tv when she has a whole apartment to pack? I've been asking myself the same question. And the answer is I DON'T KNOW. Have any tips to prevent packing procrastination? Send them my way.

And now back to Making the Band 3. Yes, that's how bad it is.

If You're Really Really Bored

I recommend moving and, as Britney Spears would say "re-doin." In an effort to purchase a slip cover for one sofa and one chair, three trips were made to Target this weekend. They seriously do not care about the quality of their products, but I refuse to go to Wal-Mart. In period of 24 hours, the bf and I decided to paint the entire house, bought paint, and painted the bedroom and half of the living room. Our color scheme consists of "Mocha Rose", "Skywriter Blue" and "Toated Wheat Yellow" and last but not least "Mardi Gras Green". The final selection is for the kitchen. Since I have very little to do with that room, he got carte blanche on the decision. Also, if anyone knows how to get a job creating these color names, please let me know and we will both be quitting our day jobs.

Not only is "re-doin'" a good cure for boredom, but also a very good workout. My biceps are now stronger thanks to the giant roller. Moving in general is a good workout, especially for those with a lot of books. Heavy boxes.

The most complicated thing about moving is ensuring that the transition of cable service will be seamless. Particulary because the mother of all summer television watching is fast approaching. Yes, the Chen-bot and her Big Brother. If you do not watch this show, I highly recommend it. Last year the bf was staunchly opposed, but three months later, he was clearing his schedule, clinging to the hope that Janelle would pull through. Sadly, that did not occur. Will she get another chance this summer? I really hope to see Kaysar and Marcellas. Two more days until the voting begins!

I Know I Can Dance

I know not that many people watch "So You Think You Can Dance", but I feel as though I must in order to support the dance community. I really enjoy watching it. Unfortunately, the bf is out of town, so I was left on my own to watch it (not that he would have watched it with me anyway). Instead of talking to myself, I have decided to share my opinions with my faithful readers (all five of them).

So, some general opinions about the show. I feel as though everyone on this year is probably qualified to be on the show as opposed to last year's mess that was "Big Poppa." Secondly, I feel as though matching up permanent partners and assigning dances will probably work slighlty better. But, why don't they devote one night to a dance style, similar to American Idol. It would be like Chris getting to sing a rock song on the same night that Bucky sings country for the entire competition. Or maybe Chris gets country week after week and Bucky gets stuck with Broadway. Not a fair comparison. So, if I was producing this show I would say, week 1 everybody does hip hop. Week 2 everybody does the cha cha slide. Also, not having the same judges from week to week does not provide for continuity. And, for my final criticism of the show, the voting system is wack.

Now, onto nitpick each and every contestent.

Donyelle and Benji - First of all, dude, I do not care whether or not you have had sex. Why's everybody and gotta be talking about not doin' it for the lord these days? Yeesh. But anyway, I thought this routine was great. Benji really surprised me with his hip hop ability and I thought Donyelle was good too. I would just worry about her in other genres though. I couldn't necessarily see her as graceful in a Viennese Waltz.

Ivan and Allison - The judges bascially ripped Ivan a new one, but I felt that was undeserved. He isn't responsible for the choreography, which left him little to do. She was good, but I felt as though she was making some really bizarre facial movements.

Jason and Aleksandra - I hated the choreography and the song for this number, but I thought Jason was awesome. His movements were strong and I could picture him doing great in any style. He also looked so happy to be dancing and that came across very clearly. I did not enjoy Aleksandra, but who looks good dancing in a nightgown?

Jaymz and Jessica - First, I have to give the dude props for creative spelling. This number was just ok to me. I think we probably saw the exact same choreography last year. They did fine. It was kitchy.

Stanislav and Erin - Sanislav was great, but, again, I have to wonder how his talent would lend itself to other genres. I'm not talking about this girl since I think she's a giant hoosier. She's going to end up working at the Bada Bing, so let's just ignore her for the rest of the season.

Dmitri and Joy - I wasn't overwhelmed by this performance, but I was impressed with Dimitri's ability to hip hop when he had never even so much as bunny hopped. Clearly he put a lot of work into his number. As for Joy, please see the above entry.

Ryan and Heidi - This girl seems like she would annoy the crap out of me. And, she's like an ugly version of Jessica Simpson. I thought Ryan was extremely graceful and had wonderful lines. I would like to see more of him in different styles.

Ben and Ashlee - This number actually spurred me to write this blog. First of all, it looked like it came right of the Center for Contemporary Arts (where I danced growing up) circa 1986. Although the dancers aren't responsibly for the choreography, but seriously, parts of it looked like it was made up by someone who was 10 in 1986. Very jeuvenile. And, onto the main rant. What in the world were they thinking putting that skinny little man in stretch pants. That did not help his cause. Oh no. I know most the men in the dance world are gay, but dude. Running around the stage in stretch pants is not good for anyone. Really not good.

Travis and Martha - I agree that this is the couple to beat. They're strong, entertaining, and also probably good in many styles. Two thumbs up.

Musa and Natalie - This number was cute. Not a lot of technical difficulty. I enjoy watching Musa dance. He's creative and he seems like he's got a great personality.

My predicition for eviction - Ben. So long stretch pants.

A Brilliant Idea

I've refered several times to watching the Lehrer Report with my father. This occured again two nights ago. One show I particularly like watching is Ambush Makeover. Celebrity stylists across the country (and damn do people in the south need help) find unsuspecting characters roving the streets unware of the big fashion crimes they are committing. The stylist gets them new clothes, new hair, new makeup (which they refer to as paint) and usually arrange some sort of event (like a surprise party, an anniversary date, or a job interview). 99% of the time this unsuspecting characters look ten times better!

So, here's my brilliant idea. Why not combine the Lehrer Report with Ambush Makeover. Learn about current events from people who don't look like they're straight out of 1982! Seriously, you'd think one could be a political pundit and be stylish, but from what I've observed, this is just not possible. Why would I want to be educated about what's going on in the world from someone who looked like they just woke up on the wrong side of the Iran Contra Affair? Reagan's dead! Put those bangs back! They've got dudes on the this show who make Andy Rooney's eyebrows look like child's play. I guarantee if they showed the commentators arguing while getting their eyebrows waxed, the ratings would go through the roof.

And, Ambush Makeover team, while you're at it, why not drop by the set of So You Think You Can Dance and fix Mia's modern dance femullet. Yeeesh!