SYTYCD 5 - NYC and Denver Auditions

So the new season is underway, with the first round of auditions being held in New York. I'm pleased to see that our lovely host, Cat Deeley (love her interaction with the contestants!), is back to guide us through the season, as well as head judge Nigel Lythgoe and regular judge Mary "WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Murphy. Joining them in New York are husband and wife choreography team Tabitha and Napoleon.

Gabi Rojas suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, but that hasn't stopped her from developing exquisite control over her body and her ability to move. Her lines are expressive and immaculate. She moves in a different way from what you expect, but it is beautiful, and her choreography for her audition was creative, to say the least. I enjoyed her. No surprise that she got straight through.

These Mutation guys are interesting. LOL. Joint-tortionism, huh? The things these guys get their bodies to do are sick. LOL. I want to see more. But I don't. I am very torn. Watching them makes me cringe and turn away, but then peek through again.

Peter Sabasino is a tap dancer who obviously knows what he is doing in the tap realm, but I wonder how he would move in other styles. With tapping, he is engaging and entertaining. He made me smile. He says he dances in a number of other styles, so we'll see. He got straight through to Vegas, no choreography this time. I guess we'll have to wait.

I love that Nigel doesn't pull his punches. The way he ACTUALLY gave a REAL critique on the dancing of the girl with the spinal problems. He told her ways she can improve her dancing and didn't belittle her in any way for attempting something she likely would not have any chance. He really is so very different from the usual sarcastic British judge on these shows, and I love that.

Maksim Kapitanikanov is a fantastic ballroom dancer. He has excellent rhythm and beautiful lines. It is really difficult not to watch Faina, because she is fabulous, but he somehow still managed to draw my eye. I'd love to see some good male ballroom dancers through this year.

Naboya Nakahama amused me to no end. Not sure how he'll do in a serious style, but he is hilarious. I could watch him all day if he kept doing what he was doing here. He isn't the best popper/locker I've ever seen, but he brought so much fun to it that I loved everything about it. I'd love to see more from him. And we'll get to in choreography!

Lauren from season 3 is teaching the choreography this year. Sad to see the the Mutants leave before even trying, but I'm sure they knew what they were doing. But Maksim got through, and Naboya got through, so I'm happy about both of those.

The second day brought Arielle Taylor, who made it through to Vegas in a previous season. She is a contemporary dancer who is very aware of how her body looks with each movement she makes. She has thought it all through very well. I loved her.

Igor and Nina came in with some Cha Cha and set the stage on fire. He has excellent partnering skills, and she is impossible not to watch. The low spins (pot stirs?) were insane. I'm dizzy after watching that.

Kellen Stancil made excellent use of an umbrella prop to show off his lines and spins. I'm really impressed with him, because to work with a prop so seamlessly takes a ton of talent. He is truly a beautiful, moving dancer. And the story behind using it really touched me. I'm rooting for him.

Chimezie Nwosu was a sight to see. The way he moved to his chosen music, a percussive piece full of traffic sounds, was perfection. He even made use of some of the lighting features on the stage. I loved watching him very much. He made me think so much of Twitch from last season, and that is a very good thing. He got through to choreography.

Igor is through but not Nina, and Chimezie is through as well. Yay on both counts!

Then the auditions moved to Denver, where Sonya Tayeh joined the judges.

Kayla Rodomski is very young, but obviously well trained. I enjoyed watching her move, but I'm not sure she would hold my attention for a long stretch of time. The judges were all about her though, and she is definitely going to be through.

Oh no...no they didn't...Mitch and Micha dancing ballroom together. How do they decide who leads? LOL. And surprisingly, one of them is straight. Neither of them dances in a masculine enough way to make me happy though, even if it is a samba which is more flamboyant. I'm just not feeling this. Ouch! The fall during the lift sealed the deal for me. Though they have made it through to choreography, but no further.

On the second day in Denver we saw the Jedi Cat/Lion. Oy.

Elias Holloway and his kid brother aren't bad! Cute kids. And they know what they're doing with the pop locking. I hope he gets through, though I'm sure he'll have to go through choreography. Adorable. Hopefully he can do more than just this one style. Wonder if we'll see the younger brother in a couple of years.

Brandon Bryant and Natalie Reid are both back! Woo hoo. I was a big fan of both of them. last year and hoped they would make it on.

Natalie is up first, and she shows us exactly why she almost got through before. The way she goes all out and stops her mid motion always has captivated me. I truly hope she gets into the Top 20 this year.

Brandon is dancing to the same music as last year, I think, and I am just as entranced as before. I think he is even better than he was before. The strength in his legs is phenomenal. I want to see him on the show so bad it is killing me. I was devastated last year when Gev got on instead of him, even though I was nuts about Gev. He is awe inspiring. Please, let him on this year.

Elias didn't make it through after choreography, but hopefully he'll follow their advice and will get some training in other areas. I liked him.

So, more again next week when the auditions head to Miami and Memphis.

So You Think You Can Blog?

I know, I know. Its been a long time since I last blogged. A very long time.

I've been caught up with school and work and writing some novels and grieving for one of my cats and welcoming a new kitten into my home. Life has been crazy.

So, what has been going on in the world that I used to at least (semi?) regularly update? Well, David Cook has put out a fantastic album, U2 has released an album and are preparing to launch a huge sold-out tour, Blue October have released a new album, Depeche Mode have released a new album, and I believe Linkin Park is getting ready to release a new album.

It seems Britney Spears has somewhat gotten her life back on track.

JD Fortune is no longer the lead singer of INXS, possibly at least partially due to his own loose lips.

Marty Casey left Lovehammers to front LA Guns, and it seems he is now doing both simultaneously.

Project Runway is no longer part of Bravo, but has moved to Lifetime. And Bravo has replaced it with The Fashion Show. Not nearly as much of a guilty pleasure, I can assure you.

American Idol's 8th season has come and gone...and a lackluster season it was, in my opinion. There was certainly no David Cook or Michael Johns to capture my attention. Congratulations to Kris Allen. I'm just glad that Adam Glambert did not win. He makes my ears bleed.

So now what? What has brought me out of my lengthy blog silence? What could possibly be noteworthy enough to force me to set aside everything else in my life to type away to an unknown audience, regardless of the annoying A key on my keyboard, which my sweet little kitten has so lovingly pulled off so many times it won't go back on?

A new season of my biggest obsession, So You Think You Can Dance, of course!

So, tune in, sit back, and get ready for some amazing, some lackluster, and some insanely bad dancing. I'll be giving my own thoughts and comments, and if I can find videos of the noteworthy auditions and performances, I'll post them here as well.

David Cook: A New Album!

All right people, the day you have been waiting for arrived yesterday! David's new album was released.

So...do you have it yet? What do you think of it?

If you don't have it yet, head on over to Amazon.com to purchase it.

And if you want to take a look at the lyrics to the songs, you can read them here.

What are you waiting for? GO!!!

Rock Star: Led Zeppelin????

Huh? Really????? Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh wait...before I get too far ahead of myself here...it isn't a sure thing. In fact, at this point, it is just speculation. It seems that the boys of Zep want to tour again. Well...most of the boys of Zep that it. Robert Plant isn't completely sold on the idea, so the others are talking about finding a new singer and touring any way.

Producer Dave suggested that Rock Star could be a great way for them to find that lead singer. And I am in 100% agreement!

How awesome would it be to have Led Zeppelin touring again? And how amazing would it be to have Rock Star back on our TV's???

So...is there anything you can do about it? Well...yeah! Make your voice heard!!!

There is an article complete with a poll about bringing various reality shows back to the air found at TV Week. Place your vote for Rock Star. Also, scroll down to the bottom of the article and leave a comment detailing why you think it would be a good idea!

Then head over to the Rock Star: Led Zeppelin thread at RockBandLounge.com and talk with other fans about your ideas for how to make this happen.

And while your at RockBandLounge.com, jump on into The Big Letter Writing Campaign thread to find more ways to make your voice heard.

Rock Star: Led Zeppelin could be a huge hit. Brooke Burke, our lovely host, is riding high right now on Dancing With the Stars, and will likely be cruising to a victory shortly. We could once again be exposed to great new talent, like Ryan Star, Marty Casey, JD Fortune, Zayra Alvarez, Storm Large, Suzie McNeil, and so many others! If this is something that you want to see, do something about it!

EDIT: Led Zeppelin fans...what do you think? Leave a comment on this blog, or head over to the official Led Zeppelin forum to chime in on it.

Denim

Denton Photos: September Flowers

I took my camera with me on a walk in my neighborhood today. One of the primary things to catch my eye through the lens? Roses. Many of the roses on the bushes were dying, but I did manage to capture a few that were absolutely gorgeous, among some other buds.

Pretty Baby is now Cobralush

The band formerly known as Pretty Baby is now known as Cobralush! Everything else is still the same. Zayra, Daniel, and Dave are all still hard at work, and the music is the same.

Check them out at Cobralush.com and at MySpace.

Olympics: Gymnastics Scoring

Let me first say that I fully understand that scoring in Olympic sports like gymnastics, diving, and figure skating is completely subjective. However, with that said...the scoring system that the FIG has set up for gymnastics is not working.

I like the idea of having a start value/difficulty value in addition to a score for the execution of the routines. Diving has a system similar to this one, and it seems to work fairly well from what I've seen. But in the world of gymnastics at the Beijing Olympic Games, something isn't working.

Why did they institute allowing judges to not only view instant replays of the routines, but to view them in slow motion? And do they really think this is going to solve any of the problems they have in scoring? Granted, I am not a gymnast, nor have I ever been. But why is it necessary for these judges to scrutinize every tiny detail of the routine after it is over, in order to determine how many tenths of a point they are going to deduct from the execution score? Why should they have phones at their station to call the head judge and discuss these deductions? None of this makes sense to me, and frankly it is creating needless delays and what seem to me to be unjust deductions.

And in addition to that, I've got another beef with the scoring of gymnastics at these Olympic games. It may sound like sour grapes, but it is something that just doesn't make sense to me. I get the feeling that too many of these judges are scoring with a bias as opposed to attempting to score fairly.

Again, I am not a gymnast...just a fan. But I am a fan that has been watching gymnastics my entire life. I know what a perfectly vertical handstand on the high bar or parallel bars looks like. I know how to spot a "balance check" on the balance beam. I can see with my own two eyes when someone FALLS OFF of their apparatus. And I can tell when a gymnast has delivered a virtually flawless performance, possibly with a small step or hop on the landing.

So judges, please explain to me, how does a routine on the balance beam with a high start value that is virtually free of visible errors wind up with a score that is virtually the same as a routine on the balance beam with a lower start value and multiple visible errors? How does that happen? Especially when you consider that it happens during the same event, with the same judges, just minutes away from each other.

Or can you explain how you give scores to a gymnast whose only real errors of the entire night are small steps on his landings instead of sticking them like he did a few nights previously wound up in the middle of the pack, with so many other gymnasts who had multiple major errors (such as falling off their apparatus) finished ahead of them? How do things like this happen?

I know I really shouldn't be complaining about this, since the U.S. men's team finished with a bronze medal, the women's team finished with the silver medal, and two of the women's gymnasts won the gold and silver in the All-Around. But frankly, something stinks here. If I was seeing the same kinds of errors from the American gymnasts that I am seeing from these other gymnasts, and then seeing the scores that they are receiving, it would be understandable. But those errors are just not there.

How can some of these deductions be justified? How is it possible to have more deductions taken from a virtually flawless routine than from one that is riddled with balance checks and connected elements that do not connect?

The FIG needs to seriously do some major work on their scoring system. The way it is now, the judges can seemingly arbitrarily take deductions at will, without justifying their scores. This needs to be fixed, and the sooner it happens, the better.

Olympics: Men's 100 Meter Butterfly

Michael Phelps is seriously blowing me away. Heck, he's blowing all of America away. No, more than that...he's blowing the world away. He rocks.

In what is the closest race he has won of the Beijing Olympic Games, Michael won his 7th gold medal in 2008, his 13th gold medal overall, and his 15th overall Olympic medal. Wow. With 7 in one Olympiad, he tied Mark Spitz for the most ever won in a single Olympiad, and he is still expected to win another one tonight in the 4 x 100 Medly Relay. He is just unreal.

This race he won by only .01 second. Seriously...one of the closest races I've ever seen in swimming. And everyone thought he had lost it by taking that last half stroke, but in actuality, that is what made sure that he won. He thought he had lost it. His Mom thought he had lost it. His coach thought he had lost it. The delegation from the silver medal winner's country thought he had lost it. Everyone thought he was going to take the silver, and his hopes to beat Mark Spitz's record instead of simply tying it would be dashed. But instead, he won it in one of the most exciting races you'll ever see.

And frankly, who cares that he didn't break the world record in this race? I don't think that is what anyone is going to remember after this is all said and done.

When I find a decent video of it, I'll post it here.

Date Night - Late!

Jason Castro has vlogged again. Check it out.