I was watching So You Think You Can Dance a couple of weeks ago, and I heard a song come on that I had never heard before.  That’s not all that unusual.  It happens from time to time.  If I like it, I usually scribble it down on a piece of paper and then go look for it later.  And that’s exactly what I did this time.  It had an interesting title.. Jar of Hearts.  And some interesting lyrics…

And who do you think you are
Running around leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You’re gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don’t come back for me
Who do you think you are

So the next day I bought the song on iTunes, and listened to it a few times.  It’s nice.  Different from what’s normally on the radio.  I really didn’t give it much thought again… until recently.

I noticed an article somewhere on the net about the singer, Christina Perri.  And that’s when it got really interesting.  Apparently she’s a 23 year old working in LA at a cafe, waiting for her big break…  an unsigned artist, presumably struggling to make ends meet… and one of her friends gave her demo tape to a SYTYCD choreographer (Stacey Tookey, from SYTYCD Canada!)  Stacey created a wonderful routine with the song, and it aired on the show…

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who went to iTunes to download Jar of Hearts, because suddenly the unknown artist has sold over 100,000 copies of that song almost overnight!   A few weeks ago she was working in a coffee shop.  Now she’s making television appearances, answering 100 emails a day, and finishing her EP.  She’s also supposed to be performing the song on SYTYCD  (I’m behind in my viewing again, so I don’t know if this has happened yet or not).  Not too shabby.  Not too shabby at all.

I like reading stories like that one…

(There is no video, as of yet, for the song.  This YouTube link is an audio-only performance.)

I can hear the groans from here.  I can feel the eyes rolling.  Oops.. just lost another loyal reader… it’s ok, try as you may… you’ll be back!  You know who you are…

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to the blog about SYTYCD.  First they were on their break for a few months.  Then when they did start back up, I’d been downloading them, but not watching them as quickly as I have in the past.  Other things just took priority, and that’s probably not a bad thing.  I have things that need to get done.  Can’t sit in front of the TV on my days off.  Life doesn’t stop.

I finally got caught up this morning, so it’s time to write my thoughts while they’re still fresh in my mind.  This season is quite a bit different than previous seasons.  Instead of a Top 20, they had been advertising a Top 10 (eventually “surprising” us with 11, rather than 10) and having this season’s dancers dance along side non-competing “All Stars”, who returned from past seasons.  I’m still sorting how out I feel about the new format.  Yes, the All Stars are amazing, and it’s nice to see them back.  And yes, it probably makes the 11 new ones even more interesting to watch.  And let’s be honest… most seasons, no one ever remembers the first few people who get cut anyway. They start with 20, and get rid of 2 each week.  Guaranteed later on when there’s a group number that requires all 20, you’re usually asking yourself who some of those people are because you’ve been concentrating on the remaining 10 or so anyway.  So this changes that a little.

This week we had 3 girls in the bottom three… that takes some getting used to.  I’m used to seeing 1 guy and 1 girl go home, but since there are only 11 of them, they can’t do that.  In previous seasons, I’m generally more impressed with the girls than I am the guys… this season might be different.  The guys appear to be stronger contenders than the girls… but it’s still early.  There is a girl who reminds me very much of someone who I think may still read here… it’s almost a little freaky for my poor little brain to see her on the screen, but I’ll work through it. I’m secretly crossing my fingers that the girl in SYTYCD goes all the way.

Sorry to see Alexie go home.  Poor girl auditioned for 4 seasons before she finally made it onto the show, and then she was the first one cut!  Something tells me, though, that she’ll be just fine.

Waiting for the next episode!

This one’s for you, Jan…

Sat down recently and watched 2 weeks worth of SYTYCD, UK (or “uck”, as I like to call it)…  I’m still having a hard time getting into this particular show, but I’ve committed this much time to it.. I might as well ride it out and see where it goes.  I’m still convinced that it’s more of a SYTYCD – Lite than anything else.  Something that they stuck in to fill a time slot, and just see what happens.  Hell, there’s only 1 hour between when the competition show ends, to when the results show starts!  How many people can possibly vote in that short of a time?  I’m leaning toward this being the one and only season of the UK edition.  But we’ll see…

As for this week, I nailed the two getting the boot… Drew and Yanet..   When I saw Drew’s solo, featuring a telephone and dancing to Blondie’s Call Me…  well, that sealed his fate!  You just can’t do that…   Yanet I was less certain about, but went with my instincts.  So You Think You Can Dance… still waiting for my phone call to be a guest judge!

And what was up with that song Mika performed?  I’m hoping that Leona Lewis is better next week, although kinda disappointed that she’s not performing I Got You.

And Jan, if you made it this far… I eagerly await your enlightened comment 

I don’t bother to count last week’s show because it was the audition show.  The real season started this week, because this is the first week that the contestants danced for votes.

I’ve gotta say, I’m having a much harder time getting into this version of the show, compared to the US or Canadian ones.  It’s not that it’s horrible, because it’s not.  But the quality doesn’t seem to be there.  It’s not really the dancers.. it’s something else… almost hard to pinpoint..  Because it’s a much more condensed series than what I’m used to, it almost feels like they’re rushing.. just to throw something out there and judge whether it’s worth having a Season 2.

Even the way that they do the competition and results shows is rushed.  In the North American versions the competition show airs one night, followed by 2 hours of voting, and then the results show airs the following night for 30-60 mins, depending on their mood.  Not in the UK.  They run the show for about 90 mins live, then turn it over to the voters for 2 hours… THEN they come back THE SAME NIGHT and have a 30 minute results show.  It’s weird.  I’m lucky because I’m watching downloaded episodes, but if you were watching it in the UK you’d watch for 2 hours, and then need to find something to do and then turn the television back on for 30 mins to find out who got booted.  That’s bloody awful, to borrow from the British judges.

One other interesting thing… they don’t seem to have commercials.  Sure, it’s downloaded, and the commercials are usually cut out from TV shows that are downloaded… but at no point does Cat (the host) say “Well, be back after the break”.  They just keep going until they’re done.

And don’t get me started on those phone numbers that they put up on the screen…   that takes some getting used to.  I’ll have to have someone explain European phone numbers to me someday!

As far as the music is concerned, I’m a little surprised.  I was really expecting to hear more music that I was unfamiliar with.  I can remember years ago when a friend would come back from Europe, and bring back CDs of club music. It was always way ahead of anything we had here.  And if I get a copy of Top 40 UK, it’s usually full of songs that I don’t recognize.  That doesn’t seem to be the case so far.  I don’t think that I’ve heard anything (except the guest performer) that I didn’t immediately recognize… which is good because they don’t put the name of the song and artist on the screen at the start of the performance.  How many times have I started to watch a routine on the other shows, and then scramble for a pen and something to write on because I’ve heard a new song (or new to me) that I wanted for my iPod?  You’d think that it was a rare occasion.  You’d be wrong 

So who actually got the boot on Saturday?  It’s still too early for me to honestly remember their names, so I have to refer to my reference material. But I did correctly call who was going to be in the bottom pair of couples.  I must be getting good at judging this show!  Chris, the Colin Farrell look-alike…  it was kind of a shame..  I didn’t think that he deserved to go home this week.  For the girls, it was Anabel.  Same thing.  I wish that she’d made it through to next week.

Ah well… it’s a competition, and somebody has to go home.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we were able to download the first episode of the first season of So You Think You Can Dance, UK!  The show has been on the air in the US for 6 seasons, but has never been tried in the UK… which is odd, since the executive producer is English (not to mention, the host). 

The UK version doesn’t look much different from the US one.  Same host (Cat, *thumbs up!*), same executive producer/judge, same intro, format, etc… The most noticeable change is that it is a MUCH shorter season than runs in the US or Canada.  They only had a single show for the auditions, and announced the Top 14 (another departure… 14 as opposed to 20) at the end of the first show.  Typically we don’t see the Top 20 announced until after a week or two of audition shows. 

And because there are only 14 dancers going to the live show, I don’t see it running for more than 5 or 6 weeks.  It’s going to be a quick season (or series, as I believe they called it there).  I imagine that it’s a bit of a trial thing for them.  I don’t know why it would have taken so long to have made the leap across the pond, but obviously not everything that works here, will work over there.. and vice versa.

It was interesting to watch.  There were times when I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about… the different accents and terms for things that made no sense to me whatsoever.  But the performances were still top-notch!  One thing about those who made it through to the Top 14… they seem much more mature than the many of the people on the US or Canadian shows.  There didn’t seem to be the bubbly 18-19 year olds among the mix.

The last two points of interest from the first show…  Hugo, the Brazilian god…  The women will go on and on about his physique…  I’ll just say that he would have been an easy frontrunner had he been allowed to compete.  I don’t understand why they even showcased him at all, knowing that his work visa was not transferable.  Even for me, it was a bit of a disappointment when they told him that he could not continue.  Send him home, and do a So You Think You Can Dance, Brazil!

And lastly… the rather large woman who plunged off the front of the stage during her audition… I’m sorry… but I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes, and had to watch it again… I know that’s not nice, and I’m sorry.  Thankfully she wasn’t hurt, and had a great sense of humour as she was carted off in the ambulance (precautionary, I assume). 

Now that’s entertainment!

Had you asked me 5 years ago whether I’d ever imagine myself sitting in an arena, watching a group of dancers for 2 hours, I’d say that was crazy talk.  I can’t dance.  I don’t think that I’ll ever dance (although I did inquire about lessons once as a Christmas gift).  It’s just not me.

Yet last night, there I was at Harbour Station, watching the So You Think You Can Dance Canada top 10 tour.  And not only watching, but enjoying it. 

I blame my ex for getting me hooked on the American version of the show back in Season 2.  Since then, I’ve seen most (if not all) episodes of 6 seasons of the American one, and both seasons of the Canadian version.  There’s even a season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia that’s being downloaded for me to watch. 

So what’s the appeal?  Maybe it’s the music.  Maybe it’s the outfits.  Maybe it’s the choreography.  Maybe it’s everything.  I’m not really sure, but for the most part, I find it quite entertaining.

When they announced that the tour would be coming to Saint John, I was definitely interested in picking up some tickets.  And I’ve gotta say… I was not disappointed.  Right from the opening performance it was quite a show.  They performed many of the favourite routines from the season, as well as a couple of original group numbers specifically for the tour. 

I bumped into my ex and 7 year old daughter there.  My daughter was absolutely loving it.  I don’t remember the last time that I’ve seen her so excited about anything.   She will definitely remember that show for a long time.  Which is good, seeing as this was the only NB performance, and I suspect that it will be a few years before they come back to Saint John. 

Great show!

So you thought that I forgot about the American version that’s been airing for the last month or two?  Nah… Because of the overlap with the Canadian one, and the fact that CTV isn’t carrying it for some reason, I decided not to follow the show until I could get caught up with recorded episodes.  This is the first chance that I’ve had to write about anything recent.

Season 6 has a whole new look and feel to it.  A brand new stage with an amazing backdrop display.  A new intro.  New scenes when it cuts to and from commercials.  The addition of Adam Shankman as a permanent guest was actually a great move.  He’s quite entertaining.  I do wish that they still had a 4th chair and rotated guest judges through, because I miss some of the ones that appeared on past seasons.  I’ve noticed quite a few new choreographers this season.  It looks as though they are making a deliberate effort to shake things up and give the show a fresh makeover.  I don’t know if the ratings were starting to slip or not.  Actually, with this season they’ve made the move from a “summer replacement” into the world of fall prime-time.  That’s probably the most noticeable change of all.

So having said all of that.. has anything really changed?  No, not really.  It’s the same ole thing.  New faces.  Same old styles.  I’m no expert on any of this stuff, and watch it purely from the entertainment perspective, but after 5 seasons, I think that I’ve pretty much seen all there is that they have to offer.  Does that mean that I’m getting bored?  No, not really.  Television programs are a rehash of the same old thing, regardless of what genre they are.  Something “new” doesn’t stay new for very long.

Last night when I sat down to watch, they were announcing the Top 10.  I have to say… so far this season, I have yet to be truly “wowed” by any routine.  Sure, there have been some good ones.  Maybe even some better than good ones.. but nothing that made me really stand up and take notice.  When the bottom 3 girls were announced, I wasn’t at all surprised to see Karen in there (along with Mollee, and Ellenore).  She may have made Adam’s (and many others) eyes pop out, but she just wasn’t connecting with viewers.  At least not the ones picking up the phone to vote.  I think that it was her third time in the bottom 3, and her “dance for your life” solo just didn’t have much going for it.  I hated to see her go, but I think that it was inevitable.  The big question going into next week is whether Mollee can suddenly mature enough emotionally (or at least give the illusion of doing so) to attract some voters.  She dances well, but she has “High School Musical” written all over her, and looks like a fish out of water sometimes, in comparison to the other women.

On the guys’ side we had Victor, Nathan, and Ryan in the bottom 3.  Say what you will about Ryan… I’m jealous.  I knew that it wasn’t his night to go home.  I really had my money on Nathan, who blew the judges away in his audition, yet just doesn’t seem to take anything seriously.  I thought that Victor’s solo was far superior to Nathan’s, and was disappointed to see Victor get the boot.  I like how judge (and executive producer) Nigel Lythgoe put Nathan on notice, by telling him that if he had his way, that it would be Nathan (not Victor) going home, but that he was outnumbered by the other two judges.  We’ll see if that little dose of reality is enough to snap some sense into Nathan.

On the Canadian side, I see TV ads announcing tryouts for dancers across Canada.  This SYTYCD machine just seems to have no end in sight.

Was it any surprise that Tara-Jean won the title as Canada’s Favourite Dancer on Sunday night’s finale of So You Think You Can Dance Canada? Nah… I don’t think so.  I think that I would have been shocked had she not won the competition.  And I don’t think that I’m alone.  The general feeling of most people that I talked with prior to Sunday night’s broadcast was that she had this thing locked up.  And good for her.  I think that she deserved it.

Now to wait for the cross-Canada tour to come here in December.