SYTYCD Season 5 ep22

Any finally its here. The last performance show of the season. A season that probably wasn't as impressive as the previous 4 and didn't have that many personalities to get behind. Anyways, final 4 - Jeanine, Brandon, Evan and Kayla.

The show kicked off at the new venue - the Kodak theater. And it looked kind of awkward to see them all there, but still, the stage looked really good.

It all kicked of with a Wade Robson routine, which was somewhat not as good as his other routines that we are used to seeing. The jock/cheerleaders theme wasn't anything special. Here it is again for those that missed it



Once again the producers kept the same chronology for the show - group number, solo, couple number, etc.

With the group number out of the way we get to the solos. Brandon was at his usual standards and Evan did what he does every time. Kayla, when she does her solos, for some reason they lack passion or intensity and though they are technically good, they don't grab you at all. And we get to Jeanine. The girl has the best musicality of all them and here solos just make you watch. For me she had the best one of the night and if i had to pick someone to win this thing it would be her. Here is what she did last night:



So couples. Everyone danced with everyone and the finale was underwhelming. no hip-hop routine, a lot of jazz and broadway as well as ballroom. Only two of the routines were good enough for me - Jeanine and Kayla's contemporary piece by Mia Michaels and the Paso Doble by Brandon and Jeanine. The rest I could have done without. Didn't entice me at all to make it interesting to watch and would most likely not hit the rewind button to watch it again.
Here are the 2 good rouines which were worth for the final.



so, ladies and gentlemen. what did you think of this seasons finale? was it what you expected? are you waiting in anticipation for Season 6 to kick of in about a month? Which of this final 4 do you want to see crowned America's favourite dancer?
Just saw a new article at ew.com for some of the 15 great SYTYCD routines that they have had on the show, so be sure to check it out

SYTYCD Season 5 ep20

Again its this time of the week where we review last nights episode of So You Think You Can Dance. The last performance show before the finale next week.

It all started with the guys doing a group number by Sonja. And it was a pretty good one. In my opinion much better than what the girls did at the end of the show. But that maybe is a drawback as the girls' number was after all the couples numbers and the solos, so they must have been pretty tired of doing 4 routines that night. In any case just like before for those that missed what the guys did, look no further:



After that it all kicked off a Brandon and Kayla number. which was really good and was one of the two couples' routines that I liked last night. Well danced and choreographed.



Before moving on though I want to talk a little about the draw of the hat thing. Obviously not something chosen at random and we kind of new that Evan and Melissa are getting each other. Also the choice of dance? Obviously they wanted those 2 out. A Tyce broadway piece that had Evan doing all the same stuff and than a quickstep - which they call the kiss of death for a reason. Those 2 are definitely going home tomorrow.

And we get to the second best number of the night. Ade and Jeanine NapTab hiphop routine. very nicely done and again - Jeanine kicked ass. Their first number wasn't all that great - mainly because of Ade. so I hope people vote for them because of this one



All the other couple dances were all a bit blah. The disco routine that Brandon and Kayla did felt very disjointed, especially the part in the middle where they were twirling each other on the floor. Poor. not sure it is this way becase of how they danced it or because of the choreography..but still it didn't feel like a coherent routine.

Finally - the Solos. From the girls Kayla probably had the best one. Jeannine was again doing something very musically and cheaky but wasn't as good as last weeks'.

from the guys - Brandon was so far above the rest that it wasn't even fair for him to dance it. Evan did his usual shtick and Ade did the same. Judges gave Brandon a standing ovation and called it the best solo ever performed on the show. Here it is again for those that missed it:




that is all for today. hope the finally is good and the right people leave tonight, and we don't get a repeat of last week. So VOTE people.

Thats it. Feel free to share your thoughs about last night. Who you want to see next week and who do you think will win this thing. The way I see it, if its going to be a girl it will be Jeanine. if it from the guys - Brandon hands down

SYTYCD ep 99

So, another week, another show. This was the 99th episode of our favourite program since it began 5 years ago. This time they had Ellen Degeneres on the judging panel and she was really funny. And thats good because the first part of the show wasn't very entertaining. The routines were falling appart and none of the 4 couple made a good impression and stood out.

The show began with a Travis Wall goup routine. Not a bad one but I don't think it was anything special. Cool idea with the lights though. Wonder what Wade Robson would have done with it? Your 2 cents? Here it is again:



Anywayz...lets forget that there were those first 4 routines of which only Evan and Janette had something going for them as did Jason and Kayla. Unfortunatelly for the former, the rumba is not a vote getter dance so I am afraid this would be tutto finito for Evan. The other 3 guys simply had routines which were more memorable - as they like to say on the show.

Brandon and Jeannine were a couple this time and after the mess of dance that was the waltz they did a very good routine as a second dance which I think will save them. Also that Brandon is the guy that probably has the most people voting for, and Jeannine being really one of the favourites - and my favourite for that matter. For those that missed their routine or want to see it again, here it is:


Then we ,pve to Ade and Melissa. Boy was the first dance a mess. that Cha Cha had so many things wrong with it its not funny. Melissa has no sexy whatsoever and if she manages to stay on the show, she should never try latin dances again! seriously! Ade was nothing special either. very stiff. Having said that, their second dance was much much better and had everyone in tears. Nigel even predited an Emmy nod for it next year. This dance may be the reason why Melissa gets saved because her solo again was something which I really didn't like. I don't see her winning the season, as the other 3 girls are much much better than her. As for the Tyce routine that had everyone all mushy and stuff, here it is one more time:



And we move to the final couple - Jason and Kayla. First routine - not bad. Their second routine choreographed by Shayne Sparks, was a good dance but I wonder if it was done by guys that can actually do hip hop. Jason and Kayla's movement wasn't as sharp as it could have been, but still the dance came out alright.

Finally - the solos. Melissa - not good. Janette - some kind of slow lating dance? didn't really get it. it was a mix between contemporary and latin. Kayla's was good, but I liked most Jeannine's. He choice of music help a lot as I really like that song. As for the guys - average from Jason, Ade did his acrobatics again - so i guess it was good, Brandon though did a much better solo than him so he takes the night for best solo, and we get to Evan. This just wasn't his night - dropped his hat during the solo and really didn't connect for me. So I am 99.99999% sure he is gone come tomorrow.

Oh, and yes here is Jeannines solo - as I said I like her most from the girls :)


So dear readers, were you like me disappointed from the first part of the show? Are you excited by tomorrow's dances that will take place - Wade Robson dancing himself? Who do you think will bite the bullet tomorrow?

SYTYCD Season 5 ep17

OK, so another results show, two more dancers are gone. For those that didn't see the show last night and still want to watch it (DVR, torrents etc) don't read onwards.

So the show started with a Wade Robson routine which was a good one.



Also they announced that the show got 4 Emmy nominations this year. Chelsea Hightower was in two of those so I am happy. She is one of the best they have had a such a personality - really good. So i hope any of the 2 she is in of the nominated wins.
BTW what a bummer - NO nomination for Cat in the reality host category?!? i mean...come one...there is no one better at this gig than her! but lets not get carried away with the Emmy snubs as there are others that I am pissed about.

So in the bottom two there were Randi and Mellisa, for the girls - as predicted, and Kupono and Ade for the guys. For some reason they decided to do their solos from the previous night - maybe they should have done something extra special since it would be their last dance on the show.
Nevermind....Kupono was voted off from the guys and Randi from the girls. Completely expected. Also for next week, unless Melissa picks something really in her style and doesn't have to do a solo I don't see her progressing. Especially if she picks hip-hop..

So what do you think? Who would be gone next week? Are you psyched about next week shows? Ellen Degeneres will be part of judging panel and on the result show we will see some of the best routines from the previous seasons like the Bench and Ramalama

As before I go. Here are the nominated routine with Chelsea from last year. Enjoy

SYTYCD Season 5 ep16

So. another week goes by and we inevitably come to another So You Think You Can Dance episode. And this time - it was a good one (with 1 exception).
Before I go one, again, Cat looked great - please give her the Emmy already!

It all started with a group girls number - Bollywood. And did great. Not that I can judge whether it was technically great but it looked good on TV For those that missed it last night. here it is one more time



After that opening number, we moved to the new couples and of course everyone had to do their Solos.
First couple out were Evan and Kayla. Not a bad dance - by far not the best. For some reason every time Evan dances he always puts that Broadway face, which is really off putting from the dance. Kayla was good and those lifts that they did were really looked good an effortless.
Score: B

Next couple - Janette and Ade. strong couple and a strong dance. though for a Hip-Hop/RnB dance it lacked a little sharpness but understandable for dancer that are trained in this style
Score: A-

Couple number 3 was - Jason and Jeannine. And this was the best number of the night! The number was choreographed by Travis Wall, who was finalist on Season 2, and is probably the best all around contemporary dancer that has been on the show all seasons.
Score: A+




Couple number 4 was - Kupono and Randi. And what a mess that was. The beginning of the routine started bad and from then on it all fell apart. No chemistry or anything. Those two are a definite bottom 3 tonight.
Score: D

Last but not least - Brandon and Melissa. number was solid and it didn't suck as usual when Tyce Diorio choreographs. Don't know whats up with that guy's work but his numbers are always lacking something. Brandon was solid and Melissa's ballet training came handing with the lifts and jumps.
Score B++

Before going into the final number - the guys group number - lets do a quick scan of the Solos that were performed tonight. Brandon was probably the most solid one from the guys, followed closely by Evan. Jason and Ade so so. Kupono as usual showed very little (great music though for him). As for the gearls - Jeannine, for me was the strongest one. Melissa again, with her style, was very poor. Janette did what she could in her style which is not very creative when it comes to solos - needing a partner every time you dance it. Randy was ok for me and Kayla started good but towards the end it lost something from its energy and she just started doing jumps.


Now, to close the show, we saw the African dance group number by the guys. Which again was a really good one, and something we haven't seen before on the show. Again for those that missed it last need, go no further but take a look below if you missed it.



So what do you think of last night's episode? If you ask me Kupono and Melissa are goners. Kupono consistently underperformes his solos and apart from last week and the Wade Robson's first week Crash Test dummies routine, has been really poor. Melissa - no solo whatsoever, few strong performances when it comes to the couples, but still not someone who many people that vote will go behind. If its not here than its the end of the road for Randi. Don't see Jeannine or Janette going anywhere and Kayla is a judge favourite.
So, who would be your two dancers that you think will bite the bullet? And how good is it to see old alumni choreographing on the show? Now if we only could have a segment where they danced on the results show......

Iphone firmware upgrade

So yesterday was an interesting day for me in regards to my phone. I have an iphone - 1G bought it like 2 years ago. Not being in the US actually has prevented me from getting the new 3GS but who cares for a better camera faster OS and stuff...Anywayz...I was stuck on the 1.1.3 firmware - had the the unfortunate experience of a previous upgrade where I forgot to back up all the contacts and lost them, so was a little reluctant to go through that process despite the advantage of the new firmware version of the phone.
For those that are not technically savy, the firmware is the software on the phone that gives you all the hoopla that you use everyday - and on the iPhone thats everythings.
So I had to go through this because my phone started to freeze every so often in the last couple of weeks. However yesterday it started freezing every 30sec so it made it impossible to use the phone as I have to reboot it everytime in order to do anything on it.
So backed up all my contacts - didn't look hard enough on how to back up the text messages, notes and other saves from the different applications - so just wiped those from the phone.

In any case here is a quick how to for anyone that is stuck with older than the 3.0 firmware for the iphone. Hope this helps

Step 1: Download redsn0w. At the moment the latest version of this is 0.7.2. that is a zero in redsn0w. To download just use google as often download links get removed.
Step 2: download two bootloader versions - bl-39 and bl-46
bl-39
bl-46
Step 3: you need to download the latest firmware
Step 4: You need to have iTune 8.2 and to use it to update your firmware on the phone through iTunes. To sellect the file that you want to use for the restore, press shift and than click on upgrade or restore.
Step 5: open redsn0w and through Browse point the program to where the firmware file that you used to upgrade previously on the phone is stored. VERY IMPORTANT - it needs to be the same file. the software modifies the exact version of the firmware in order to hack your phone and unlock it for future use
Step 6: follow the instructions that you get from the program. it does everything you need to complete the process
Step 7: Enjoy your upgrade iPhone

tv over the weekend.

So...Lets review some of the stuff that was the previous day on tv.

First up - the BET 09 Awards. To start of it was less than 60min of actual tv - minus the commercials. And for the awards that were supposed to show most respect for Michael Jackson, if you ask me they did a pretty bad job with the tribute. The show started with a number of guys - most of which I haven't heard/seen before - and they just didn't do justice to the Jackson 5's classic ABC. Later in the show Ciara did Heal the World!?! Again - if you have Beyonce on the show why not have her do that instead of Ciara. No offence but there is no comparison between the two. And to top it all off, Jamie Fox also doing a MJ cover - the guy is a decent actor, and he may have a good one or two RNB songs, but he can't hold a candle to MJ. Again - if you have NeYo why not have him do it....poor. The awards were nothing special, and can't say i will remember a single thing from those awards.... oh yeah...and Lil Wayne won an award - again.

Second, we go to Dogg after Dark. The new show by Snoop Dogg. Again, complete let down. Starting with something like an interview with Paris Hilton. then doing something really strange with the Speidy couple in an elevator. Afterwards moving to interviews with guys like Kurupt. Show finished with a semi interview with Pharrell and they closed the show with Drop it like its hot. The whole show was really tacky, no chemistry whatsoever, and the live performances sucked - big time. No idea why Snoop still tries to do those kind of shows, but he should stop. Right away!. not recommending this to anyone to watch

Third, new show on the Lifetime network I think? Its called Drop Dead Diva. The first episode didn't really grab me at all, so I was doing power watching. You know fast forwarding through the whole ep to see if there is going to be something that will grab my attention. Unfortunately there wasn't anything. Show lacked suspence or anything remotely interesting to make me want to tune in for the next episode.

And forth and last for now - In Plain Sight. For those of you that are not familiar with the show, which is currently in its second season, 11th ep - its about couple of US Marshalls, and their everyday job of looking after people that are put in the witness protection program. The show regularly has its ups and downs. This week was a down. Not a very entertaining ep. The story line was about a mexican/latin crime cartel, killing of the wife of one of the cartel lieutenants , and than he rats on the boss to save himself from going to prison. And of course to avenge his wife. Acting wasn't very involving and again forced me to power watch this ep. I hope next week it will be better.

So thats all for now TV fans. Will report tomorrow on the new stuff from today. Hope its better than the previous day. Have you seen anything good over the weekend? Did you think any of those 4 shows was any good, or are you with me on this? Smell you later....