dance

(S04E12) I'm filling in for Jason as he had some technical difficulties last night. So let's get right to it. Tabitha and Napoleon were helping out Mary and Nigel at the judges table. And thank goodness for that. I've been waiting to see someone else's hip-hop choreography. Theirs is very hit or miss for me.

We got to see fourteen routines tonight on So You Think You Can Dance as the seven couples appeared twice. I love when they move to this part of the competition. You get to see right away who has the determination, strength, and technical know-how to stay alive on this show.

And it was a night of crazy hair...

A few days ago I put together some of my favorite routines from So You Think You Can Dance. I have to thank you readers for reminding me how many other great routines the show has had. They are even some I forgot about entirely. But I enjoyed watching them all over again.

After the jump are the reader picks and the videos. Don't forget to check out Jason's review of tonight's show and tell us what you thought of the performances.

So You Think You Can Dance airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET and on Thursdays at 9 p.m.

On Tuesday I headed over to the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, CA for a taping of America's Best Dance Crew. I sat back in the V.I.P. room while the taping was going on. The show, which tapes at Stage 23, has a gigantic set this season (probably due to the first season's enormous and unexpected success). The taping is so boring though. While I was watching, they spent about twenty minutes taping the first thirty seconds where Mario Lopez starts things off. Each time they tweaked something he said, he got a little more annoyed. The audience never seemed to get tired of doing their job, applauding like maniacs.

But before anything started I got to interview judge Shane Sparks. Find out more about what Sparks had to say about his involvement with America's Best Dance Crew, his absence on this season's So You Think You Can Dance, Wade Robson, and the JabbaWockeeZ after the jump.

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(S04E09) Mia cried. Mary kept relatively quiet (Thank God!). Nigel lectured. Cat wore a green dress. And we eliminated another two dancers last night on So You Think You Can Dance. Off we go!

Opening Performance
"Elevator" by Flo Rida featuring Timbaland (choreographer: Shane Sparks)

What a great hip-hop performance! And I'm so glad that Shane Sparks is lending his expertise to the show again. I was worried he'd be totally wrapped up in America's Best Dance Crew this summer. The girls part on the floor was great but a few of them messed up the arm movements. The best part of the piece was Comfort with the three guys. It was near perfect. My eyes never left Comfort. I wasn't impressed with her krumping on Wednesday but this opener proved to me why she's there.

(S04E06) The first night of performances and we've got a lot to consider. Nigel and Mary were joined by hip-hop choreographer Dan Karaty at the judges table and they led us through ten couples. We saw everything from smooth waltz to Broadway. And only one thing is for certain: it's going to be a tough competition. As Dan said in the beginning of the show, there are no front runners.

But after the ten couples strutted their stuff, the pack of ten had some leaders. Find out what happened last night on So You Think You Can Dance after the jump.

(S04E05) How happy am I that Jason covered the last night of auditions on Wednesday! I'm going to agree with him about the two tappers. The second girl, Liz, was fabulous. With tap, the excitement happens below the knees so performers have to be conscious of what's going on with their upper bodies.

Okay, I have a word problem for you. What do you get when you take hundreds of dancers then make them do four different styles, deprive them of sleep, critique them on national TV, and make them play some sick version of Mother May I to see if they get to the next round?

The Vegas episode of So You Think You Can Dance, of course!

(S04E03) Last night we joined Cat, Nigel, Mary, and Tyce in Charleston, South Carolina for more auditions. I, for one, am getting sick of the two-hour audition shows already. We talked about this last week and I have to point it out again: maybe if they showed more dancing, these audition shows would be better.

Cat assured us at the beginning of the program that Charleston would not disappoint as SYTYCD went there in season two. Who did they find in South Carolina? Natalie, Dimitri, finalist Heidi and none other than Travis Woll, season two's runner-up. In the second hour, Mary and Nigel headed to D.C. where they were joined by Dan.

Find out what happened in both cities after the jump.

So you think you can dance on "America's Best Dance Crew?" American Idol judge Randy Jackson and MTV certainly hope so. Or at least that you'll watch other dance crews try to earn that title. Variety tells us that Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew, or RJPABDC for short, comes to us in the first quarter of next year, the same time FOX drops American Idol. No word on whether Jackson will appear on the show.

The show originated at NBC, but when they considered it might actually bring in viewers, they passed it up to develop Law & Order: Central High: "In the public education system, the students are represented by two separate, yet equally important, groups: the hall monitors who catch rules violators and the principals who discipline the offenders. These are their stories."

Below I've placed a Muppet sketch from the Ed Sullivan Show, though don't expect to see any familiar faces like Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie or Gonzo.

The bit is actually quite simple: a slinky-like Muppet dances a little jig while his smaller friend tries to join in. What I love about this bit is that it demonstrates how talented the Muppet puppeteers are. The choreography and movements of the two puppets is very subtle, and no movement is superfluous. Watch how the little Muppet examines the "feet" of the bigger Muppet. It's no more than a slight twist of the puppet's "head," but it conveys volumes.

CBS has plans for two new reality/game shows, one about real people who make announcements via huge dance numbers, and a new improv/sketch comedy game show (hosted by Craig Ferguson) of which no significant details have been released just yet. Both shows have been greenlit by the network.

Life as a Song, is a reality program in which people can make big announcements or ask questions (I predict we'll see a few marriage proposals) through an elaborate song and dance number. The series comes from the producers behind Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

(S02E17) Remember when I said I couldn't review this show anymore? Well, I have the CW again, so it's all good. Hopefully it won't be removed from my cable again.

My love for this show may have just increased ten fold. This episode was not only well-written and well-acted as usual, but it actually contained a reference to Night of the Lepus, probably the best movie ever made about gigantic killer bunnies. I'm not sure I believe Chris' real father actually had an irrational fear of rabbits, but it provided a nice B story about how willing Julius is to be there for his kids, even if it means passing out at a magic show.

(S01E01) Are you the only person on earth who isn't sick of the song "Don't Cha?" Well, you're in luck. You can hear it over and over again on the newest reality show from the CW.

Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll is the perfect show to audition for if you are too slutty for American Idol, too untalented for America's Next Top Model and too stupid for The Apprentice.

You may remember the host of the show, Mark McGrath as the lead singer of the band Sugar Ray. Personally, I have a hard time respecting someone who quits being one of the handsomest lead singers around to become a poor man's Chris Harrison.

Also, on hand, is the founder of the Dolls herself, Robin Antin. For you Blow Out fans, Robin is Jonathan Antin's more masculine sister. In the opening, Robin says the Pussycat Dolls are "always evolving." Sadly, that statement does not apply to Robin herself.

If you are among those who do, indeed, think they can dance, than your big chance is here. Fox's So You Think You Can Dance is casting for its third season with a nationwide audition tour. If it's anything like American Idol auditions, you can expect to stand in crushing lines for hours and hours, be sized up based on your appearance before you even get a chance to dance and spend the rest of the day crying like a colicy baby. Not my cup of tea, but hey, you said you could dance, and someone's gotta compete on the show.

Auditions begin this March in New York and then move to Chicago, LA and Atlanta. They're theoretically looking for all kinds of dancers, but you know the poor Irish Step Champion is never gonna make it past the hip-hop class so take that into consideration before you whip out any specialized moves outside the worlds of ballroom or street dance, and by "street," I mean "music video." More information on the casting tour is available at Fox's So You Think You Can Dance website. Break a leg, kids.

If any of you sexy, sexy readers of this blog plan to go out partying tonight, I hope you have fun and also stay safe. I recommend covering your entire body in bubble wrap and foam insulation.

Now then, if you find yourself at a party and somebody slaps a record on the turntable (because in my mind, all New Year's Eve parties take place in 1972) and everyone starts dancing, don't be scared. Maybe you don't have the best moves in the world, but there are plenty of dances perfect for folks like you and me, and I've provided you with two instructional videos below. The first is Soupy Sales doing "The Mouse" on Hullabaloo, and the second is "The Curly Shuffle," courtesy of the Three Stooges and the Jump 'N The Saddle Band. I hope you find these useful.

NOTE: The Soupy video has a weird audio glitch at the end, so don't crank your speakers up too loud.

J-Lo is the new Debbie Allen. Just like Allen before her, J-Lo is ushering young dance hopefuls into the television limelight. Unlike Debbie Allen, who played Ms. Grant on Fame, J-Lo will not be giving the following speech on MTV's Dancelife: "You want fame? Well, fame costs, and right here, is where you start paying - in sweat."

Lopez, who started out as a fly girl on In Livin' Color and wound up a one-woman corporation, is the producer of MTV's latest reality series - Dancelife, premiering on January 15th. The series follows the story of six dancers looking to make it big in the rough and tumble world of professional dance. You can read the stars' bios online, and an extended preview video has cropped up on YouTube. The series looks like it falls on the Laguna Beach-end of the reality show spectrum - more soap opera than competition. At least, the show's stars have more talent than your average Laguna Beach high schooler or Twentyfourseven party promoter. Now, if only I could "remember, remember, remember their names."