Simple Man Entertainment

Most of you already know that I’m a sucker for anything related to dance. I’m a fan of the arts – especially music and dance. When a show combines the two, you usually get some form of magic that is incredible to watch (unless of course you have to watch David Hasselhoff on Dancing with the Stars).

One new show that just premiered this past week is “Live to Dance,” headed up by Paula Abdul. Since it was related to dance, I decided to give it a watch and see if it was any good. Along with well known Abdul (you’ve seen her on American Idol trying to keep Simon in line and never succeeding) two other judges are a part of the show. Travis Payne is another dance expert that sits as a judge, and he definitely has the credentials to judge dancers with his history of being a professional dancer and choreographer to none other than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The last judge is Kimberly Wyatt, singer and dancer with the well known Pussycat Dolls.

This show is all about dancers who truly “live to dance.” Dancers are encouraged to show off their talents in the “dome” and there is no age limit or particular type of dance required. From tango, to tap, to hip hop, or ballet, anything goes in this competition. Auditions were held already in New York City and in Los Angeles and judges sent many home and kept a few around to compete for chance to be in the semi finals and later the finals. Up for grabs is the title of “Live to Dance” champion as well as $500,000, which isn’t a shabby prize at all.

So, the question is, was I impressed? Actually, I was impressed and it surprised even me. I was expecting the show to be a lame version of American Idol (as you can tell, I’m not a fan), but I was pleasantly surprised. What really caught my attention was the huge diversity of dancers that showed up to audition. From 5 to 90+, there were dancers of every age. Almost every style you can think of was represented as well.

Of course, some of the dancing was laughable. Then, there were dancers that were stunning. Several of them caught my attention. Probably one of the most inspirational was a hearing impaired teen who really brought the house down with her b-girl style talent. While she didn’t make the cut, she definitely grabbed the hearts of everyone in that audience.

Another group that caught my attention was a family of five kids, with the smallest of the five introducing herself as “B-Girl Precious Moments.” Their dancing was incredible, “Precious Moments” was adorable, and their story was heartwarming. This family lived in their car for some time and when they did get a house, they actually converted the entire house into a dance studio/community center to teach dance to kids in the community. This family definitely lives to dance!

A popper performed one act that was truly magical. His moves were fresh and crisp. However, what really grabbed me is that his moves were telling the story of the music. I believe he created a new style of dance – Lyrical Popping (no doubt someone will steal my term in the next few months…so remember, you saw it here first).

These are only a few of the incredible dancers that were seen on this show. Some routines made you laugh, others made you hold your breath, and some almost brought tears to your eyes with their beauty. When dancers can touch your heart, something special is happening, which makes me wonder why so many people have a problem with dancing (but that’s a topic for another blog).

I’m looking forward to seeing what else “Live to Dance” has to offer in the future. In any event, it should give me a dose of dance until “So You Think You Can Dance” comes back this summer.

Yep they have finally cut a dancer, well actually two dancers from the shows competing Top 6 dancers last night. The reason that they cut two dancers last night was that no dancers were cut the week before due to injuries sustained by Billy and Jose. However, the Season 7 finale of So You Think You Can Dance is two weeks from now, so the double cut this week was entirely necessary in order to conform to that timetable.

Interestingly enough the to dancers who sustained injuries last week Billy and Jose wound up in the bottom 3 this week along with Lauren, who was hurt on this weeks Wednesday night show. I was actually quite surprised to see Lauren in the bottom 3 because not only has she never been there; she is just that good too. I personally hope that Laurens injury is the last one for this season of So You Think You Can Dance.

I really thought that all of the dancers had a good week this week with very good performances although none of the routines I thought was really all that standout when compared to other routines like Addiction, Mad, or A Women’s Work. I also felt that the results shows Mia Michaels choreographed opening routine was just okay I liked the music more than the performance, but who doesn’t like Sting.

The guest performances were very entertaining what with the dancers from the new movie Step Up 3D performing routines to a three-song medley from the films soundtrack. The Dancers were awesome and the music most certainly suited the performance. Recording artist Allison Iraheta performed her new single “Don’t Waste the Pretty” featuring Orianthi. Christian TV also performed and almost put me to sleep.

Anyway, I guess I should just get down to business and tell you who the two dancers were that were cut and they were surprise surprise Jose and Billy. Well actually this really didn’t come as any big surprise to me, because Jose has been the number one target in the shooting gallery from the judged although they like him and Billy has been in the bottom 3 for a couple of weeks now. Kudos go out to the judges for keeping Lauren.

Well I guess that about does it for this weeks SYTYCD review, but we will be back again next week with results for the show too. Next week the judges no longer decide who stays or who goes that will be up to the fans, so we will get to see if the mob gets it right or totally screws up and I will let you know which is which. We hope you all have an awesome weekend and we will see you again right here at Simple Man Entertainment.

That is right for the second straight week this contest sent home a dancer who was injured and could not compete. I personally think that this sucks, because none of the dancers in the bottom three had to earn their spots for next week. As you all remember last week Alex Wong had to leave, because of a lacerated Achilles tendon and this week Ashley Galvan had to leave too. However, in Ashley’s case we have no idea what her medical reason was for leaving only that the reason was medical.

Now that Ashley is gone there is only one girl left in the competition and five guys, which is really interesting. Fortunately for Lauren she is an off the chain dancer with serious skills and a great stage presence. Of the five boys that are left I think the only one she cannot beat right now is Kent, who is an awesome dancer, crowd Fav, and adored by the judges. Billy, Robert, Jose, and Adechike are the ones that I think have something to worry about. I also think that if Ashley had not left that Jose would have went home this week.

However, giving credit where credit is due I have to say that all of the dancers who competed this past week had great performances. The only dancer who garnered any criticism was Jose for his Broadway number choreographed by Joey Dowling, and performed with Courtney. The judges were unanimous in their critique that Jose’s lack of training was very evident in the routine and that it did not allow his personality to show though as well. I have to tell you though that is B-Boy routine with Dominic was wild though I loved it.

I have to tell you though that my absolute favorite routine of the week was a routine danced by Robert and Allison, and was choreographed by Travis Walls. The routine was about Travis and his mother and the struggle they are dealing with regarding his mother’s health. The music for this routine was “Fix You” by Coldplay one of my favorite bands and was an appropriate song for the dance. The judges were so awe-struck by the power of this routine that it got standing O from them and Mia Michaels had her cry.

On the night of the results show, the audience and the TV viewers got a great treat. An artist by the name of Christina Perri performed her new hit song “Jar of Hearts”, and the song is very new too. This virtually unknown artist was waitressing in a local L.A. diner just a few weeks ago, when she met choreographer Stacy Tookey and introduced her to her song. To say the least after Stacy used her song in one of the routines she choreographed the song went viral overnight and now Christina Perri is a household name.

I am sorry this post is late, but I do hope you enjoy this post and the new show, which will be airing tomorrow night. I also highly recommend that you take a minute to check out the song “Jar of Hearts” I think you will really like it. Let us just hope that tragedy does not strike again this week and that the one who is cut actually earns it. I would really be interested in your feedback about both the show and the new song because I may write about it at Simple Man Music. Thanks for visiting Simple Man Entertainment and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Yes that is right this week tragedy did indeed strike the Fox hit show So You Think You Can Dance. During the rehearsal process leading up to the competition phase, which airs on Wednesday night, Alex Wong suffered a Lacerated Achilles Tendon. Alex was rehearsing his Bollywood routine with co-competitor Adechike when the injury occurred. The injury that Alex sustained will no doubt change the entire dynamic of the competition.

Fortunately, there are some great dancers on the show and I am sure that the Season 7 So You Think You Can Dance show will continue to be an awesome dance competition despite the loss of Alex Wong. There are many excellent dancers to watch and root for like Kent, Lauren, Ashley, and Jose. Robert, Billy, and Adechike are also very good, but something tells me that none of these three will be there at the end. Luckily for the seven remaining dancers Alex’s injury saved them all until next week.

It is my prediction that this competition is now Kents to lose. Kent is not only a very talented dancer and performer, but has amazing appeal to the fans of the So You Think You Can Dance. It appears that Alex and Kent had gotten to be very close friends during their time together on the show, and Kent even remarked that losing his best friend was painful to him. In an interview after the show, Alex also mentioned the fact that he and Kent were very tight friends. They both also said that they would miss the other.

As far as the remaining seven dancers go, I think that barring any serious faux pa is that Kent will win the competition. That is not to say that Kent has no competition when there are dancers like Billy, who is definitely the most gifted dancer on the show now. I also think that both Ashley and Lauren are seriously in the hunt for the title as well. I do not think that Jose even with his likability can win, because he lacks skill. Robert who is as good as Billy cannot connect with the fans, and Adechike is lucky, but inferior.

My last prediction for this weeks post is that should Adechike wind up in the bottom three, he will without a doubt from the competition. I know that in the past, I have voiced my opinion that Adechike should be cut, and I really believe that he should even though his performances last week were not bad. I will also say that this young man is a talented dancer, but I do not think that he is the caliber of dancer that any of the other six remaining dancers are.

That is it for this week’s recap of So You Think You Can Dance. We will be back again next week with our coverage of week 5 of the show. As for Alex Wong, I hope he gets better very soon and comes back for season 8. Nigel and the show have seen fit to extend Alex this courtesy and he most certainly deserves it. From us here at Simple Man Entertainment have a great weekend and we will see you soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I would really like to know the answer to that question. There is no doubt in my mind that these nine dancers are anything other than phenomenal. Lets face it if they were not they would not be in L.A. on that stage. However, every week we see awesome routines form the contestants and the all stars, but we are really left with no idea of most of these dancers personalities, which makes these excellently choreographed routines feel a little fake.

Fortunately, I am not able to say this about all of the dancers this week, because a couple of them really stepped up their game last night, and I even got kind of a pleasant surprise too. Unfortunately, I am able to say this about most of the dancers, some of which are definitely crowd favorites, For the record though I am not the only one watching this program or judging these dancers who feels the same way. Last night the judges continuously re-iterated and confirmed my statement.

Some of those who took this particular criticism from the judges are Billy Bell, Kent Boyd, and Melinda Sullivan, Lets face it Billy and Kent are most certainly crowd favorites. Billy Bell is almost certainly the most genius dancer ever on the show, and Kent according to Adam is the most hirable dancer ever to compete on So You Think You can Dance, yet they continually hide themselves instead of letting go and getting totally into the routine. As for Melinda she just cannot seem to connect and will probably be going home this week.

On the positive side of this week’s criticism, I have to give kudos to Adechike. This young, talented dancer had really struggled the first two weeks showing a total lack of personality and I believe dance quality, really stepped up to the plate and delivered last night. The first two weeks it was my opinion that he should have been the one to go home and that the fans really screwed up. However, I now I hope they let him move on to week four in the competition because he really showed great improvement this week.

The two dancers that really impressed me last night were Ashley Galvan and Alex Wong. Ashley paired up with all star Ade, and performed a contemporary piece that was not only beautiful, and completely believable, but her best yet. As far as Alex Wong goes I think last night he set the standard and stole the show with is Hip Hop routine with all star Twitch. That is right his partner was not only a guy, but arguable the best in his genre and Alex not only kept up with him, but he totally dominated the performance.

I am going to stop right here for now, because I have pressing personal business to attend to, but Simple Man Entertainment will be back tomorrow to tell you all about tonight’s results show. I hope you all enjoy this post and the videos, especially the Hip Hop routine it is off the chain. I hope you all have a terrific Thursday evening and I will be back next week for another round of So You Think You Can Dance.

The dancer has been cut and week 2 of the So You Think You Can Dance competition is officially in the bag. I have to say that I had a good time watching last nights show, because there were some very cool guest performances along with some great dance solos by the bottom three contestants. For the record though I have to say that I was once again dissatisfied with the all-important decision of which dancer goes home this week. Anyway, let us get down to business here and talk about the show.

Like every results show for So You Think You Can Dance it started with a group routine performed by the dancers in the competition. The group routine was choreographed by one of my favorite choreographers Sonja, who specializes in contemporary, jazz, and anything with a cool weird vibe. The music was a song called Royal-T performed by Crookers ft Roisin Murphy. The routine was very physical with many great tricks in it and I totally enjoyed it.

Last nights show featured two guest performances for the viewers and I have to say that I really thought that both performances were excellent. The first guest performance was by Remote Control featuring my favorite locker Brian Gaynor from Kennesaw, GA. I mentioned Brian in an earlier post that talked about getting to the Top 11 for this season. Brian Gaynor is a young man who suffers from Scoliosis, which is a neuromuscular disease with no cure. What an awesome performance by the Remote Control crew last night.

Guest performer number two was an up and coming singer songwriter named Debi Nova, who hails form Costa Rica, which is a country in Central America. Last night she performed a single off her new album called “Drummer Boy”. This tune has a great dance vibe and is a mix of pop, Latin, and Caribbean styles I think you should check it out along with some of her other music. Debbie performed “Drummer Boy” and featured six of the So You Think You Can Dance all-star dancers.

Now for the news you have all been waiting for. Last nights bottom three dancers were Cristina and Melinda again along with male dancer Robert. All three of these dancers had awesome performances on Wednesday night and their solos last night were no exception either. Unfortunately at the end of last nights show Cristina Santana was the one going home, while Melinda and Robert lived to dance again next week. I really think that the fans again got it all wrong, because for some reason Adechike managed to survive another week.

That’s about all we have for you this week for So You Think You Can Dance, but like always we will be back again next week for the competition and results show. We wish you and yours a wonderful and safe weekend my friends, from all of us here at Simple Man Entertainment, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Welcome back to Simple Man Entertainment. If you watched So You Think You Can Dance last night, you know what an incredible show it was. From hip-hop to Bollywood, we saw it all and here’s a closer look at how the show went.

Last week the guys were incredible. In fact, I even started to think that the guys could take this competition away. The results show proved that theory possible, with all girls in the bottom three. Apparently, that was enough to scare the girls because last night, the girls stepped up the competition!

Cristina kicked off the show with a hot Paso Doble routine danced with All Star Pasha. Every move was hot and Nigel had it right when he said it had “power, passion, fire, and control.” Ashley danced a beautiful Jazz routine with All Star Mark. Although the judges didn’t think the routine was really a jazz piece, it still was well danced and beautiful. Melinda showed that she could step it up as well. Dancing a contemporary piece with All Star Ade, she stunned the judges with her fantastic lines. The last of the girls, Lauren, blew it away with a hip hop routine danced with All Star Dominic. A piece dealing with domestic violence against women, this performance was extraordinary and perhaps my favorite for the night. Every routine by the girls was memorable for me.

On the other hand, the guys were a bit disappointing this week. Adechike’s contemporary routine was a bit better than last week’s performance, but Mia reminded him that dance isn’t just an art form, “dance is a heart form.” Alex Wong disappointed a bit on his Broadway routine, and Billy Bell’s krump routine didn’t go quite as planned. Sorry Lil C, there was no Billy B Buck here. Even Robert’s Argentine Tango left something to be desired, although his footwork did look good. Jose’s Bollywood routine definitely showed his “bright light,” but his technique was definitely lacking.

Dancing last was Kent Boyd, along with All Star Courtney. They were dancing a Jazz piece, and out of all the guys, I felt Kent had the best performance for the night. The piece was memorable, steamy, and beautiful. Although the judges want more maturity from Kent and Nigel even commented that he didn’t think Kent had as much fun with this routine, I disagreed. For the guys, I thought this was the best routine of the night. Sorry judges, I think your expert opinions went wrong here.

Now the votes are up to America, and tonight we’ll see who ends up in the bottom three. However, I don’t think we’ll see all girls in the bottom this week. Make sure you catch the results show tonight, and if you don’t, we’ll be back tomorrow to let you know what happened on So You Think You Can Dance.