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Casey didn't have a chance, did he? Especially after that speech.
Tonight's Big Brother was not a big surprise in really any way. Julie Chen announced that the cliques would be dissolved and that a surprise power would be bestowed on someone by the viewing public, but even that wasn't super unexpected.
The HOH competition wasn't over by the end of the episode, so what is unexpected is what will happen next.
What did you think about the episode?
Host Cat Deeley is looking a little Dynasty in a glittery green, shoulder-pad-clad dress on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance. The show begins with a surreal routine to "Send in the Clowns" choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. Hope you aren't scared of clowns!!
Results come quickly: Jeanine is safe and competing in the finale. Melissa and Kayla have to perform solos and wait it out.
Tonight's bonus is that we get to see the Emmy-nominated dances from last season, the first of which is a Tyce routine by Jessica and Will that is low-key, powerful and gorgeous. And it's nice to see both of them again.
Then more results, this time the guys: Brandon is through to the finale, and the other two look genuinely happy for him.
After that news, it's time for another reprisal, Mia Michaels' Emmy-winning routine to "Mercy" and danced by Katee and Twitch. This is the one where they dance around a door -- it's awesome. I've been listening to the Duffy album lately, and every time that song comes on, I think of that performance.
Then Joshua and Chelsie reprise Dmitry Chaplin's dance from last season. I miss them, too. Is it just me, or are these reprisals making anyone else miss the 2008 season.
Speaking of reprisals, after that, Melissa has to do her solo from last night over again even though it doesn't make a difference in the results. I still don't really understand why they make them do that. Then Ade repeats his.
The guest dancers of the evening are the Jabbawockeez, who won the first season of America's Next Dance Crew. They are so good that I want the performance to keep on going.
Chelsie is back again, this time with Mark, for their dance to "Bleeding Love" by Napoleon and Tabitha.
Kayla and Evan dance their solos again, too, followed by a performance by Sean Paul.
Then, finally, the rest of the results: Kayla is in the finale, and Melissa is out, and on the guy's side, Evan is in the finale, and Ade is out. I think the second result is somewhat surprising, but I am not that shocked by Melissa's ouster. Everyone in the Top 6 is pretty good, though, and as Nigel pointed out, once you make it to the Top 20, good things happen.
So that leaves a Top 4, in case you have lost track, of Jeanine, Brandon, Kayla and Evan. What do you think about that?
Marylander Ju'Not Joyner, who was in the Top 20 on the most recent season of American Idol, allged in a live chat today that the show is totally fixed and rigged. He goes on to say that he was targeted because he questioned legal documents before signing them.
Here's a key (and amusingly framed) quote from a blog entry about the chat:
"It's a fixed thing if I ever saw one," he boldly declared--much to the shock of many naive chatters, who responded with capslocked interjections and frowny-faced emoticons.
He also said:
"They pay for our lawyers to negotiate against their lawyer (which is BS)," he said. "They make us COLLECTIVELY choose the lawyer, then they act like it's in our best interest. Craziest stuff I've ever seen. I have a son to feed. I HAD to ask questions and know what I was signing. Plus I write my own songs and I needed to know details...Some folks were like, 'Just shut up and sign on the dotted line.' I know better than that...I wasn't complaining...I was asking basic legal questions. There's a huge difference between the two."
Read more here. What do you think about the controversy? Sour grapes? Legit? Some combination thereof?
Tonight on So You Think You Can Dance, the Top 6 perform -- and it's even more pressure than usual because those who make tomorrow's cut get to the finale.
They draw names for new partners and two random dance styles, so things are pretty mixed up tonight.
Interestingly, Nigel Lythgoe says that he thinks the public has been voting on the routines rather than the dancers because no one has been really standing out that much this season. That's a good point, I think.
For the first dance of the night, the men work with Sonya Tayeh on a group dance that she describes as "Willy Wonka-ish." It's pretty wacky, with the boys in purple-and-black checkered pants and neon accents on their hands. The moves are very hard-hitting and intense, though Brandon seems to be the only one who maintains that intensity throughout the entire routine. Lil C says he is living vicariously through Sonya because he has wanted to work with Ade and Brandon in the same routine. He loved them and commends Evan for "not getting swallowed by the dominant excellence of Brandon and Ade." He adds that Evan stayed "very visible" through the whole routine. Mary Murphy shrieks that she just loved it -- she points out particularly how amazing their syncronized kicks and standing backflips were. Nigel says Evan stood out to him tonight because we've never seen him do that sort of moves before. Also, he loved it.
Jeanine and Ade are working together for the first time, and they are so excited. Their dance is a samba with Louis van Amstel. (Hooray -- I love Louis, and his choreography.) Jeanine calls the routine "suggestive but still classy." It is hot, and definitely suggestive, but I feel like they do a decent job of it. I can't help but think, though, how amazingly well Janette would have done in this routine. I tried not to think about that in fairness to Jeanine, but ... I thought about it anyway. Mary says the first 15 seconds was incredible, but it started to fall apart once it got into the actual samba. She gives some technical examples and says that it was "really novice" to her. Lil C says Jeanine looks amazing. He says he was excited about the idea of this partnership but that it really fell short for him. He adds that Ade was "frolicking." Nigel says Jeanine did everything with confidence and looked great, but Ade had to work on changing up his style.
Kayla comes out for her solo on a stage covered with feathers from Jeanine's outfit from the previous performance. She is strong and does a lot with her short time, but her goofy little moves during the "So You Think You Can Dance-Dance-Dance" part are weirdly unendearing.
Melissa and Evan are partnered, and then Fox 45 randomly runs an ad in the middle of the intro segment. I catch that they are doing Broadway with with Tyce DiOrio, and then a few seconds of commercial cut in again. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH. They are portraying an about-to-be-married couple. Tyce says Evan is "the dream for this style." They are quite adorable, dancing to "Get Me to the Church on Time" from My Fair Lady. The concept is that Evan is a groom who has overslept, so he is in a tux shirt and boxers, and Melissa is wearing what looks like a bridal-gown-themed negligee. The dance is very busy, which makes sense based on the song, and full of big moves, and the pair of them dance it well. Lil C says he again had really high expectations and expected Evan to take the helm and he didn't really think that he did that. He liked the dance and the performance and thought they were "really good" but could have been excellent. Mary says it should be "Get Me to the Finale on Time." Ha? She really enjoyed it and though especially that Melissa really came to life. Nigel tells Melissa she has been an inspiration for Season 6 because they've seen a lot of ballerinas, but he doesn't think they can adapt like she has. He tells Evan this wasn't a technically demanding routine, but it was demanding of their personalities, and he thinks Evan did bring enough this week.
Ade dances his solo, and he is all over that stage.
Kayla and Brandon are dancing together for the first time. I'm hoping they just rock since they are SO strong. They are working with Stacey Tookey on a contemporary routine about a mistress of a married man. It is a really challenging performance, and they really have that strength to pull it off. It's amazing, and I immediately rewind to watch it again. Also of note: Brandon's insane jump in the middle of the performance. Lil C says it was beyond intense and beyond amazing. He says this is the first time Kayla has been equally matched by her partner. Mary says Brandon is and has always been on the hot tamale train. She loved it and thought Kayla was exquisite and perfection on the dance floor. Nigel credits Stacey (who is well known on So You Think You Can Dance: Canada) for such an amazing routine. He says if anything, he would have liked to see them dance together sooner so they could have had a tad more time to work on their chemistry, but technically it was unstoppable.
Melissa hits the stage for her solo, which is a slinky number to Nina Simone.
Jeanine and Ade work with Tabitha and Napoleon on a hip-hop routine about "friends who are getting evicted from their apartment" to the song "Move." They dance with boxes, and it's complex at points, but they really sell the anger part of the dance, especially Jeanine. One strange thing: Toward the end, they are dancing with their feet in boxes, and when they jump out of the boxes, it looks like one of them is stuck on Ade's foot, but the camera cuts to Jeanine, so if he had a major issue, they didn't show it. Lil C says if moving were that fun, he would relocate every day. He says they danced it way better than he expected -- that Ade sunk into the dance and immersed himself in it and pulled Jeanine down into the depths of the dirt with him. "It was buc." Mary says first, it was really bothering her that she forgot to tell Jeanine that she thought she was amazing in the samba. Back to this dance, Mary says she thinks these two "won't be getting your eviction notice after that dance." (Is it just me, or is the audio wonky tonight? The volume on the judges' voices is really inconsistent. It's driving me crazy.) Nigel says they took the notes from the last routine and that they could have ended up applauding the routine, but tonight they are applauding the performers. Nigel says especially he wasn't expecting that level of performance in this dance from Jeanine.
Brandon pulls out all the stops -- and the little tiny dancing shorts and the Carmina Burana -- for his solo. He is amazing and looks like a statue (when he's finished) and gets a standing ovation from the judges. Nigel even says, "He's just given us one of the best solos we've ever seen on this show."
Melissa and Evan have a quickstep with Louis van Amstel. It is a dreaded dance because, Melissa says, it is so fast and people don't recognize how difficult it is. Well, this is definitely fast, but I think people will recognize how challening the choreography was -- it is just nonstop, speedy and full of energy. Evan, as usual, sells the heck out of it with his face, and I think he's passed some of that on the Melissa because she seems to be acting more than is typical for her. It looks like the end lift was tough for Evan but he pulled it off. Lil C commends him from dancing "bigger than you've ever danced on the show." For the tough love portion, he points out than in episode two's jive, Nigel told him to work on his retractions, and he didn't take that note. Mary loves Louis' routine and thinks the beginning was great, but they fell apart as it continued. It didn't live up to her expectations overall. Nigel says he didn't love the lindy hop part of the performance, but he liked it otherwise, but he didn't think it was one of the strongest performances of the night. He says he doesn't know what's going to happen.
Jeanine does a sexy solo, but it kind of pales in comparison to the last one, by Brandon (as do all the others).
Evan crams an insane amout of content into his solo (and no hat-dropping this week), including jumps and turns and turning jumps and more. I'm tired just watching.
Brandon and Kayla have the last partner dance of the night, disco with Doriana Sanchez. Kayla interviews that they expected a regular disco, but it's more like a circus. She is right -- it's relentless and tiring to even watch. Spin! Turn! Lift! Shake! Lift! Spin! Turn! Shake! Flip! Shake! Ack! They are amazing, but it just looks exhausting. Kayla can't even breathe after they are done. Lil C says ... well something unintelligible. Eventually, he says there was no darkness in the routine, and Brandon and Kayla look relieved because they have no idea what he is talking about. Finally, he says they are making each other better and they looked awesome. Mary: "Holy smokies!" She says tonight was a home run for them. [Hot tamale screeching insanity.] Nigel says they need to get sensible about that and that they hyped the audience with music and a high-energy routine, so he has to critique is professionally. Then he runs around like a maniac and shakes his butt like a madman. He sums up that it was absolutely incredible.
Lastly, the final three women also work with Sonya, on a piece about superheroes. It has the same kind of cartoonish aspect of the men's dance, lots of power and energy, lots of fun. Lil C says they have to have synchronicity but also shine and they were good but held back a little to be courteous to the other performers. He says he wanted to see some "buc-ness." He wanted more than amazing. Mary says amazing is amazing and that's what they were. She says they are the epitome of strong, versatile, flexible dancers. She says Kayla stood out just a bit because she has some moves that were a little harder. She adds that next year, they have to go to Comic-Con. Nigel: "Is it a bird, is it a plane, it's an arabesque!" He thinks it was fantastic.
Speaking of fantastic, I think Kayla and Brandon were 100 percent the strongest of the night and deserve to be in the finale. The other two positions are a little up for grabs for me.
What say you?
At this point in the season, I pretty much always dislike everyone on Big Brother, and this season is no different.
Last week, I had started to think that Jessie wasn't as insufferable as last season. But then he won HOH again and proved me wrong nearly immediately.
I liked Lydia at first, but she's kind of a nutcase, and inexplicably attaching herself to Jessie. I wanted to like Michelle, but she is really kind of boring -- and not doing much to break out of the "brain" shell that has been forced upon her.
Natalie and Russell are mean bullies, Jordan is sweet but so dim, Chima is just all-around weird, and Kevin has been pretty quiet. Casey seems OK, but he's probably going home tomorrow. Jeff is also OK, but he doesn't seem to be playing the game at all.
Oh, and Ronnie is just a nincompoop. But at least he is playing.
I assume it will get more interesting once a couple of more people go home, and I sincerely hope they get rid of the cliques soon because I think it's added some unfortunate divisions to the house.
We'll see.
What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?
Guest poster John-John Williams IV recaps last night's Hell's Kitchen. Take it away, John-John ....
Last time we saw Chef Gordon Ramsay and contestant Joseph, the pair were heading toward a fist-fight.
“I’m not no [female dog]! I’m not no [female dog]!” Joseph kept shouting in the face of Ramsay, the head of Hell’s Kitchen.
Ramsay’s security quickly came out to make sure the hot-headed contestant wasn’t able to land any punches against the potty-mouthed celebrity. The two exchanged pleasantries. And Ramsay kicked Joseph off the show.
I’m not sure that it was scripted. And it wasn’t the resolution that many fans had expected or hoped for. But it was what it was, and Ramsay wasn’t done eliminating folks.
The men’s team still had Tony and Andy up on the chopping block. Kevin said Tony’s inability to keep up with the fish station and Andy’s inability to catch up quickly targeted them for elimination.
Meanwhile, Lovely and Tennille were making their case to remain on the show. Lovely gave some song and dance about the fact that she was inexperienced but dedicated. (Blah, blah, blah.) Tennille said she’s a phenomenal chef and she needs the opportunity to show it. Andy said he needed another opportunity. Tony said he loves to cook, and loves to make things taste good.
Ramsay kicked off Tony, and the women were spared. Robert was reassigned to the men’s team to balance out the numbers.
The contestants, who were still shocked by the exchange between Ramsay and Joseph, quickly went to bed. They weren’t able to get much sleep. They were awoken by a fire alarm, but it was only a drill. The contestants soon learned that their next assignment was to feed a slew of firefighters an Italian meal of chicken Alfredo, meatballs and garlic bread.
Lovely was horrible during the meal service -- as usual. She couldn’t even make garlic bread! Ariel quickly stepped in and helped. Andy also struggled with the bread. He slowed down the men’s team in part because he used two of the five ovens available.
The women appeared to be in the lead, but an undercooked meatball was sent back to the kitchen. Even so, in the end, the women pulled out the victory.
For their reward, the women got to travel by helicopter to a spa for a day of pampering. The men had to clean the firefighter’s trucks and equipment as well as the kitchen from the previous meal service.
The punishment was compounded by an injury to Dave, who hurt his wrist while cleaning the truck. In addition, Kevin twisted both his ankles while walking up the stairs. Both men went to the hospital for medical attention. Dave had a torn ligament and a slight fracture. Kevin had a severe sprain.
During the evening’s dinner service Dave surprisingly volunteered to work as a server. Ramsay told Lovely that she was going to be a server.
Tennille continued her streak of bad cooking when she incorrectly prepared scallops. Meanwhile out in the dining room, Lovely was taking her sweet time getting orders from customers to the kitchen. Ramsay kept on yelling that it took her more than 40 minutes to bring an order back to the kitchen. (Unacceptable!)
The men appeared to be in the lead. But Robert forgot to cook some salmon, which resulted in the women’s team finishing first.
Ramsay announced that the men’s team won, which resulted in Ramsay tasking Ariel, who was deemed the best on the team, with choosing two teammates for elimination. Ariel chose Lovely and Tennille.
Ramsay told both Lovely and Tennille that neither of them was going to win the competition. He then told them that they were both safe this week because of Joseph’s unexpected elimination. Ramsay later vowed that the next challenge would likely result in Tennille and Lovely running for the door.
I just watched a preview copy of Fox's More to Love, which features plus-size women vying for the love of a plus-size bachelor and premieres tonight.
The show is very ... fraught. All dating shows have a degree of desperation to them, right? Every woman and man on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette has discussed at one point or another their difficulties on the dating scene, but on More to Love, all the women -- and the bachelor, Luke Conley -- have a single issue at the forefront that they believe to be the source of their dating difficulties: their weight.
There are several women who are very comfortable with their size. But there's also a woman who's never been on a date before, a woman who quit her job to be on the show, a woman who says she feels this is her last chance to find love with someone who will give her a chance.
Like I said ... it's fraught.
Keep an eye out for Danielle, who is either a 25-year-old receptionist from Baltimore (if you believe the show's captions) or a 25-year-old theater company technical director from L.A. (if you believe the show's press release), and check out what she does to get Luke's attention.
I don't want to give too much away, but you will not believe what the show's answer is to The Bachelor's giving and receiving of roses.
OK, I will tell you, but stop reading here if you don't want to know before the show.
After meeting all of the women, Luke gives each a diamond ring (!!!), which he says signifies his promise that he will get to know them inside and out, since he already thinks they are all gorgeous.
But then how will the eliminations take place, if the women already have the rings, you ask? Well, he takes all 20 of the rings back and then only gives out 15 at the end of the show. Harsh!
I'm curious what you all will think of the show, so come back and talk about it afterward. One thing I noticed was that there was a lot of talk about food, which seemed pretty gratuitous and unnecessary.
(Photo by Sarah Kehoe/Fox)
HGTV’s fourth season of Design Star premiered July 19, and of the 11 designers featured, only one was from the East Coast.
Tashica Morgan, a 29-year-old from Bowie, Md., entered the show on a whim, after the prodding of her husband, she said. Morgan had been designing her whole life, but said she thought the idea of her on Design Star was "far-fetched." However, Morgan has made it through two challenges of the show (despite some setbacks with a torn duvet and duct-taping curtains to a ceiling), and will be in the upcoming "white wall" challenge, airing Aug. 2 at 10 p.m.
In Design Star, designers compete to have a TV show on HGTV. In the first challenge of the show, Morgan, and another designer, NataLee Callahan, chose to renovate the master bedroom in Hollywood style. Morgan and Callahan’s designs fell flat, but Morgan made it through the cut. In the second episode, the designers split into teams, and were assigned to design kitchens. Morgan’s team was led by Amy Sklar, whose TV show was "cancelled," after her team lost the kitchen challenge.
Features department intern Kayla Cross caught up with Morgan today in a phone interview to discuss her design career and ambitions, outside of the show.
When did you first start designing and why?
I actually don’t know when specifically. It’s been something that I’ve always done pretty much since I was a kid, but I didn’t know that that’s what it was being called. It was actually designing. So I think it was something that was kind of innate from the beginning. And as I got older, it became more of an understanding and I started mastering it. So back in under grad ... I started playing around with it in my home. And then friends and family members they saw it, and they’d just say "Hey, what do you think I should do here?" So I want to say my early college years is when I became pretty design-focused, but I’ve always had a natural interest for it, so that’s why I’ve always done it. ...
How do you think your experiences growing up affected you and your design style?
I’ve grown up in a lot of different places. I’ve grown up in the West, I’ve grown up in Fairfax County. ... So kind of seeing a wide spectrum of different living styles and communities and just influences of how home and community living is. It gave me a wide spectrum and kind of a broad outlook on how you can live in any type of environment and make it a chameleon setting for you. Because this is the D.C. Metropolitan area, I would say we definitely have some really eclectic and a variety of styles. It’s not one specific style, like as if you were going to Texas you know you’re in Texas because the designs are some traditional characters that attribute to that Western Texan style. But in D.C., you just never know what you are going to get. It’s really a matter of the lifestyle of that person.
Who or what influences your design the most?
My influence comes from what more than who, and is going to be fashion. I get a lot of my cues from what’s going on in the fashion world, especially colors. Usually colors dictate your design, believe it or not. It’s just a matter of whatever the market is pushing. And usually fashion sets the tone for colors which obviously influences other worlds. When it comes to design, sometimes depending on the sofa, if yellow is the color, you’ll get a yellow sofa. Then you start to change your design as far as what would go well, as far as the style, with the yellow sofa. So maybe a little bit more modern, more contemporary.
What made you want to pursue a career in design?
I got to a place where it was like a make-or-break deal. I really was unhappy with what I was doing. I had been in the law arena for about seven years almost. I majored in pre-law undergrad. I worked for judge advocate general, which is JAG, at the Pentagon. I used to work for Air Force JAG. So I was always surrounded by law. Then I went to work for the circuit court, for a judge, and then I went to work for some attorneys at a private firm. I just kept bouncing around in the legal world thinking that I would find my niche. I finally came to a place where I just hated it, and I mean that. Every day I would dread getting up, all I wanted to do was look at home design magazines, play around with paint, go to a thrift store, get a piece of furniture, break it apart and try to build it. I just came to a place where I was like "You know what? I’m just going to do it. I’m young, I don’t have a family and children yet, so I’m in a position where I can take those type of risks." I just stepped out on faith and God led me from there.
What prompted you to apply for Design Star?
Actually, my husband prompted me. He is like my complete No. 1 supporter and fan. He’s the reason why I even have the confidence I do, because of his energy and his inspiration to push me and motivate me. We watched the show for the past three years. We were big fans of the show. And every year he would say, "You really should be on that show." My best friend was right beside him and said, "Every time I watch HGTV, Tashica, I see you on there. You have it. You have the design, you have the energy." One day my husband he just gave me the application, he’s like, "You’re going to do it." That’s the rest of the story.
What was your audition tape like?
Everything was last-minute because I was really hesitant and nervous. It felt kind of far-fetched. I’m like, "Yeah right? Me auditioning for Design Star?" So I finally got the application together, and it was like the week it was due. Deadline crunch time. And they wanted a portfolio and all this stuff. My husband was like, "You know we have to do this tape." ... I got all prim and proper: put on some makeup, did my hair. We just pulled out the little digital camera and it has a video feature, and we just started recording. It was all first take. We didn’t take a second or third, it was on the first take and I just ran through it. It was real amateur. ... It was all over the place and bloopers.
What was your initial reaction when you got the call and realized you were accepted?
It was the craziest thing. First of all, I forgot. I completely forgot I had auditioned because some time had transpired before they called. I originally submitted my audition and my portfolio back in October. ... I got a call Dec. 5. It was one of those calls where I looked at the phone and didn’t know the number, so I didn’t answer the call. So the next day, I checked my voice mail and it was like "Hi, Tashica, this is so and so from HGTV Design Star ..." and I was not even paying attention when I heard the voice mail. I was like, "Oh, it’s a telemarketer." And I was like, "Wait a second," so I replayed it, and I’m in my car and I pull over and I start screaming. I was in complete awe. I was like, "Yeah right, this is not happening to me!" And it really was, it really did happen.
Of the two episodes already aired, which room was your favorite?
My favorite has been the first one obviously. I say obviously because that was more of where I have free reign with working with a designer that was on the same page as me, and we really had the same style as far as doing something that had a story line. Because we’re in Hollywood, it was so cool, we were like, "We have do something Hollywood." And Hollywood is all about the glitz and the glamour, so that was our whole design. I just thought that was so awesome, to try and interpret that into the room.
How would you describe your style?
People ask me that all the time now that I’ve been on Design Star, and it’s so funny because no matter what, I can never nail it down. ... I’m kind of all over the place, just like my personality. ... But I always like to have a feminine touch to it. Because of my personal style, I always try to influence that. I love world influence, like Asian influence and Caribbean influence. It’s very eclectic. I like to define it as bohemian eclectic, with a little bit of feminine on it.
What is your favorite room to design, and why?
That’s been changing. I love designing studios. I like those spaces where there’s no walls. It’s where you have to define the zones and the living space, the office area, the dining area. I think those are the best and the fun rooms to design ... the sky is the limit or what goes where ... I love to design studio spaces because those are the rooms where you create it, you define what the room is.
What are your ambitions for your design career?
I have a lot of ambitions. Especially after doing [Design Star], I really am on fire, I feel like God is changing things for me, whatever my passions are. Right now, professionally, I would definitely like to own my one-stop-shop for design service, where you can come in and you can get any type of design assistance from construction and contracting to paint, to color specialists, to an upholsterer or seamstress. Whatever you need, you can come through me and I’ll have a team that will be able to provide it all. On a personal note, I would love to mentor those who are interested in doing something in the design world, especially young African-American women. I really have a special interest in them because I come from a background where I didn’t have any role models to look up to, and I definitely would’ve appreciated it if I did. I know that if I were to go and talk to someone, and that I have same like-mindedness with them, they’ll be more inclined to listen, open up and want to do something with it. So between my professional ambition with having my own firm, and having an impact on children in the community that are just interested in [design]or may not even know about it, because I didn’t know about it. It’s kind of something that was supposed to happen to me, but I feel if there was more exposure to those who don’t know about it then maybe they’ll find interest in it, and do something with it.
What’s the first thing you think about when designing a room?
The first thing I think about is the layout. Space planning is huge. It has pivotal impact, as far as the dynamics of how the space even works. Where you place the sofa can tank the whole mood of the living room. How you have your desk in the office can tank the dynamics of whether its an interactive office space or if it’s more of a library-type of study area. I really take pride in my space planning and the floor plan layout.
What do you love most about design?
I love the fact that it’s whatever I want to do. I work at Ethan Allen, and yes, I have a supervisor and I have someone that I report to, but at end of the day, you really are your own boss. It’s your business. No matter if you work for someone else, or you work for yourself. Whatever you do with it, it what’s going to be the outcome. ... I think that’s in a lot of place, but in design it’s so much easier to run with it. It’s whatever creative thing that you can do and if it’s possible, it can be done. No one can say no if you think you can prove them otherwise. I love that. I love being a designer for that.
Does your love for design expand past interior design into other areas?
I also play around with graphic design. I love doing invitations and doing fliers, and any type of paper media. I’ve been playing around with computers a lot, and I’m actually interested in taking some graphic-design courses. I love Photoshop. It’s my favorite program, it allows me to show elevation to my clients so they can see face on how their room is going to look. Playing around with that kind of got me into graphic design. My husband, he’s in IT, so we’re always competing and challenging each other. ... I think that’s my second love, because I can be in front of a computer all day as well and play with a design on the computer, and then go into a client’s house and show them everything I did on the computer for them.
Everybody talks about how your life influenced your design, but how has design changed or influenced your life?
I think design has made me a happy person. Simply put, I am a happy person because of design. ... You really are expressing yourself, and it’s a really healthy lifestyle when you can express yourself through your work. I think that every person should have that opportunity, whatever it is. I can testify that because I can express myself through my job, through my design, it’s such a healthy relief. It’s kind of like a therapeutic outlet.
Do you have any advice for amateur designers or homeowners who are looking to spruce up their homes?
I consider myself an amateur, so I think that’s really funny. I am so young in this. Professionally speaking, I want to say I’ve been doing this maybe five years. But at the same time, I have so much to learn. ... The one thing you could do is never waste time. Time is so precious when it comes to excelling in your craft. The next person is going to take your opportunity if you’re not working on your craft. If it’s taking classes, if it’s getting that sketchbook. ... I carry my sketchbook everywhere I go. I will never forget my first professor in my masters program. He said you need a sketchbook, and I was like "for what?" Now I get it because you really don’t want to let that idea go. That is probably my number one suggestion, taking classes, getting the proper technical instruction. Take risks when people ask for your advice.
What do you love to do when you’re not designing?
I love to dance and sing. In fact, I’m part of a dance company in D.C. called Joy of Motion. And I’m really big into hip hop dance. I used to coach cheerleading, so that’s another thing. I don’t know if it’s part of my creative spirit, but I love to dance. When I’m not dancing, I’m always singing. I actually was raised in a church and was part of gospel choir, I’d do solos. It’s very spiritual for me, and I’m a very spiritual person. Those are my pastimes, singing and dancing.
How do you think your spiritually is reflected, if at all, is reflected in your style?
It more reflects in my practice and how I deal with clients, more so than actual design. I really believe in being honest and genuine with people. I’m a big believer that you have to just treat people right, and not just do whatever to get by. That’s the one thing about being a designer that is a double-edged sword. Because you have complete reign, you can do things, twist things around and manipulate the situation because you’re the professional. Whatever you tell your clients, they trust you. They believe whatever you say. If you tell them this is going to work, or this is how much this costs, they’re going to believe you. I think my spirituality is more my person and how I practice and how I work with others.
Can you tell me more about your nickname Talko?
If you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s because I talk-o lot. Which is so corny, I hate saying that, but it’s true. I’ve always been a talkative person, since I was a little girl. ... I was never fearful of talking. Even when I was little, like a toddler, my grandparents always tell me how I would come in the room and say, "We need someone watching us, we’re in here by ourselves." When I got to high school, this guy he’d go, "hey talk-a-lot, hey talko," and it kind of stuck. My grandparents hated it ... I thought it was cool and funny. Before you knew it, my grandparents started calling me Talko, all my friends. Even my co-workers at one point, a lot of people didn’t know my real name until recently.
Sad news from American Idol.
Alexis Cohen, 25, who appeared in the audition rounds in two seasons of Idol, was struck by a car and killed, the Associated Press reports.
Her first appearance on Idol aired on Jan. 15, 2008, and in it the judges said they thought she would be a great cover band lead singer but did not opt to send her to the Hollywood rounds. In the hallway, she launched into an angry rant that was the talk of the episode.
In January of this year, she returned, dressing and acting demurely as a counterpoint to her previous appearance, but after being rejected, she flipped the bird at the judges.
Her original appearance on Idol gained her appearances on Live With Regis and Kelly, Extra and The View, as well as an interview with Howard Stern.
The Morning Call, the newspaper in her hometown of Allentown, Pa., has more.
(Photo of Alexis Cohen's Philadelphia audition by Michael Becker/Fox)
Big Brother has gone all high school on us this season, and the contestants sure are buying into it as we saw them turn on Ronnie en masse and leave him hiding in his room.
Not that he didn't deserve it after his disastrous plays this week, but it was kind of painful to watch Russell torment him whenever he left the HOH bedroom (which Ronnie only did when summoned to the diary room).
Anyway, Laura got voted out (the only interesting thing that happened being Natalie voting against Jordan just to stir things up), and then Jessie won HOH. Sigh.
As much as I dislike Jessie, there are already about five other people who are now annoying me more than him.
So Ronnie's out, right? He doesn't have a chance, as far as I can tell. Too bad, because while I would rather see him leave soon, I would rather have bully Russell out first, and that can't happen while the athletes are in power this week.
Saddest moment of the night, though, was watching Ronnie realize while hiding in his room that yes, he should have taken out Russell. Too late now!
It's a Very Special Episode of So You Think You Can Dance tonight -- the show's 100th, and it's supposed to be a pretty big party, with special performances and all kinds of fun stuff.
It starts out with a futuristic Broadway number by the Top 8 to "One" from A Chorus Line that gives me chills. The dancers start out working with mirrors, though they are quickly moved to the back of the stage. But for the rest of the routine, the mirrors make it look like the dancers have multiplied, which is a cool effect that magnifies the impact of the choreography. Way cool. Cat Deeley hits the stage and points out that Mia Michaels was the choreographer for the dance.
It's also, coincidentally, Nigel Lythgoe's birthday.
We get a montage of awesomeness from all the seasons thus far, reminding me why it's my favorite reality show.
The the results part of the program begins, with the women. Melissa is safe, and, shockingly, Kayla is in the bottom two. Janette is also in the bottom two, which means Jeanine is safe.
The 100th episode celebration continues with a reprise of the Hummingbird and the Flower routine from Wade Robson, featuring Hok and Jamie. So good. Sooooo good, and wonderful to see again.
Back to the results: Jason is in the bottom two, and Ade is safe. Brandon is in the bottom two (again, shockingly), and Evan is safe.
Another reprise: The Bench Routine from Travis and Heidi. Love!
After the solos, we get to see Ramalama, and this time Wade Robson is in it. I really hope that all of you are actually watching tonight instead of just reading this recap to see who is going home because it's so good seeing all these routines again, and there's not much for me to say except, "Oooh, that was good!"
Then it's the long-rumored and much-talked about performance by Katie Holmes, an homage to Judy Garland in which Katie is dancing and singing. She's doing this to promote the DizzyFeet Foundation, their new charity. She dances to a track of herself singing "Get Happy." I had this weird idea that it was going to be live, but I was wrong. But then after the break Nigel says that one of the best things about tonight was that Joey Luft, Judy Garland's son, was "here in the audience to witness that." Maybe he was there for the taping? I don't know, maybe I'm just confused.
Back to, oh yes, the results: Janette is out, and Kayla is safe. Man, the night after Mia Michaels told her she was her favorite dancer this season, too. But it would have been pretty nuts if Kayla had left, too. Nigel says that he really wanted Janette to win this season, and that this result has ruined the 100th episode celebration. Janette says the best part of her experience was that she realizes exactly how much she loves to dance. (Remember, she says, that she was studying finance and working at a bank.)
On the guys' side, it's Jason who is out, leaving Brandon safe. I like Jason, and I think he did an amazing job last night, but I think it would have been the wrong result for Brandon to leave out of these two. Jason says it's been a great ride and thanks everyone.
What say you?
Photo by Mathieu Young/FOX
Just got this in my email:
Ever found yourself wondering, "what would it be like if The Bachelorette was really all about winning the love of a guinea pig?" Well, (whether you have or haven't) Take180 has the answer! Since your column is all about reality TV, we thought you and your readers might get a kick out of our newest parody - "The Bachelorguinette".
Well, no, I haven't, and it turns out that the video is from a Disney spinoff company promoing the new guniea-pig movie G-Force, but weirdly enough, I found myself more able to pay attention to The Bachelorguinette than The Bachelorette.
If you really feel the need to see it for yourself, the video is here.
Or is that back?
Anyway, the Top Chef premiere, which will feature Jesse Sandlin from Baltimore and brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio from Frederick, is now Aug. 19 instead of the next week. It airs at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
Set your DVRs, VCRs, clocks, whatever.
Tonight on So You Think You Can Dance, the Top 8 dancers will perform -- and Ellen DeGeneres is at the judges's table.
As you might have heard, tomorrow is the 100th episode of SYTYCD, and there's going to be a big ole party. Lots of revisiting of favorite moments -- and favorite routines, and Emmy-winning routines -- and Katie Holmes will perform, which could maybe be a trainwreck or maybe awesome. If anyone has been thinking about testing the SYTYCD waters, tomorrow would be a great time to do so.
(Incidentally: Mary Murphy, please never say "off the chain" ever again.)
Choreographer (and former contestant) Travis Wall is back, working on a group dance with the Top 8. This should be good -- his first choreography experience on the show last week was great, and the group dances are typically amazing. It's an interesting and fun routine; he compares it to a rave at some point far in the future, and the dancers all have neon lights on their faces and hands. (The eye pieces are soooo Geordi La Forge.) Nigel Lythgoe tells them it makes him feel like a proud father, which is pretty sweet.
The first couple of the night (by the way, they are switching it up all the time now) is Evan and Janette, who are doing a jazz routine with Sonya Tayeh, that she is about "wanting people to shut up." I love these two, and I want to love the dance, but I don't really feel like they quite capture the "escalating frustration" that Sonya was going for. Their lifts were amazing, though. Nigel says he is finally getting more from Evan as requested and that Janette was absolutely wonderful. Ellen says it was complex and full-bodied and then she goes off about some wine. Mary says it was a lot of fun seeing them outside their category, but she thinks they could have been "a little bit more gutsier" (sigh) toward the end. Mia Michaels says she thinks Evan made a step in the right direction, that he usually is emotionally is about the same place. She adds that because he is so adorable, he is never going to be the rough, edgy, hard-hitting dancer that Sonya requires, but he was still good. Then Mia drops the bomb that Janette is her "favorite, favorite, favorite this season." Janette freaks out and starts pulling the "We're Not Worthy" move from Wayne's World.
Kayla has the first solo. I don't usually have a ton to say about the solos, but this one really jumped out at me as very strong and put-together.
Brandon gets paired up with Jeanine for the waltz with Hunter Johnson. It's soft and graceful and lovely, and to my eye, they totally pull it off. Nigel says it was a very difficult routine, partially because the music was so slow. He didn't think they had the control to pull it off at that speed. (People boo.) Ellen disagrees with Nigel and thinks they were fantastic. Mary says it was the slowest waltz they have ever had on the show and that any ballroom pro would have had a tough time with that tempo, and "You guys did it respectable." Mia says she expected their "space, length and breath" to be amazing, but she wasn't taken away. So maybe there is an upside to having an untutored eye.
Jason is up for his solo.
Ade and Melissa are reunited for the cha-cha with Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPlatin. I'm kind of underwhelmed by the performance, but I'm not sure why. This dance demands amazing hip action, and I'm not sure they exactly got it. There are a couple of interesting maneuvers, and Melissa looks amazing and not inappropriate despite wearing about one-eighth of a dress. Nigel thinks it was a great routine. He warns Melissa to keep her legs from turning out, which limits her hip action. And Ade, he says, was good. Ellen says they nailed it. Mary says the execution of the material was good, but because the dance was a little slowed down, their technique was a lot more visible. She says Ade was too high and not down into the floor and that Melissa had her feet turned in too far or too out at times. "It's just a little teeny bit below what I expected." Mia tells Ade she thinks it was his worst performance this season and that he didn't get "down and dirty" at all. And she says Melissa did a good job breaking down her ballerina training and creating the hip action that she needed.
Janette does a solo that is much more of a solo than usual.
Jason and Kayla are paired up for Broadway with Tyce DiOrio. And this is the performance of the night so far, I think. It's energetic and engaging and entertaining -- they're dancing hard but not making it look hard. Love it, will definitely be rewatching. Nigel says that style will go on and on, and says Jason's toes were exactly perfect and that Kayla's lines, as usual, are amazing. He liked what Tyce's routine did for both of them. "This is one of the best routines I've seen this evening to show off your personal talents," he closes. Ellen says she doesn't know what to say and then makes a silly "nailers" joke. Mary: "It just seemed to flow effortless." (Mary seems to have Paula Abdul syndrome when it comes to adjectives and adverbs.) She pulls out a whistle and says Kayla is on the hot tamale train. Mia: "I seem like the only sane one up here, and that's scary." She liked it, but she wants Jason to work on the lines of his upper body. She asks if Kayla sings or acts. She says, "Sometimes." "You should," Mia says. "You would take Broadway by storm. ... Tony after Tony after Tony after Tony. ... You're like the epitome of a girl, you're such a girl, and it's just so awesome to see how brilliant a girl can be, so thank you for that."
Ade does his solo. It's busy, but I feel like he is always grinning like crazy even when it's not warranted by what he's dancing like. Just me?
Janette and Evan then have a rumba with Tony and Melanie. Oh, Evan. This is not his strong suit, but he is ready to give it a go. They dance to Kris Allen's version of "Heartless," amusingly enough. So it seems like it could be a trainwreck, but Evan does OK. (Tough to pull off a black lace shirt, though, for anyone.) He does bobble a couple of times that I notice, though. Janette seems spot on, but she should be. Nigel says he loved the choreography but says it is an exceptionally hard style to get votes with because it is so smooth. He says Janette has it down pat and that Evan didn't show any passion in his face. "You've got heavy eyelids, which sometimes makes you look kind of drowsy. ... If you don't perform with your face, you lack chemistry." Ellen says she doesn't know what she's talking about, but she loves Evan's face and eyes and that he doesn't look like everyone else in this town. She also thinks Janette was just amazing. Mary says Evan did a really good job with some tough choreography and was right there for Janette the whole time. She tells Janette that Tony and Melanie just added to her flavor. Mia agrees with Ellen and says that not everyone has to be the sexpot ... "What you bring to the stage Evan, there's not a lot of people who can do that. We celebrate you and we love you. ... I was like, ooh, I don't know if I want to see him be sexy, but you know what, you did it. ... But you did it with a Zoolander face." Hee!
Then it's time for Melissa's solo, which, frankly, is kind of boring.
Brandon and Jeanine (pictured above) do pop-jazz with Laurieann Gibson, whom I don't think we've met before. She wins me over when she says that there is no story, there is only their dancing. The American Idol theme continues, as they are dancing to Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield." They just kind of exude the aggression and the passion that Laurieann seemed to be going for -- they're very strong and on point to me. Nigel says that is all he is asking of their Top 8: "You just showed us exactly what we want. .... It's finally begun this evening for me. Everybody's saying how wonderful it is tonight. This is the flattest evening I've ever experienced on So You Think You Can Dance up until now. Everyone's got to realize how tough it is to be a dancer." He credits Jeanine for staying with Brandon and both of them for stepping up to the choreography. Ellen is happy that Nigel is that happy. Mary says it was strong and powerful and they just hit it all the time. [Hot tamale train routine.] Mia says they danced in a place that was "more than dance" and that they "went inside" of it.
Evan has to follow that with his solo. He drops his hat, which is unfortunate, but he handles it and shows off his personality, as per usual.
Jeanine's solo is next, and it seems a little unfocused tonight.
Melissa and Ade do a contemporary piece with Tyce that is about a woman with breast cancer. No pressure to perform this emotional dance well, right? And they do, it seems, though the end kind of comes out of nowhere. Maybe that is the point, though. The jumps are amazing and moving. Nigel says it showed him why he loves dance so much ... "because it can express so much emotion without words." Once they all start talking about it, I get teary, too. Nigel says it was one of the most memorable dances on the show and that they were the best couple for this dance. Ellen says she feels privleged that she got to see that. "It was just the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Mary says this takes her to a scary place, but that they danced it beautifully and that they won't forget it. She thanks Tyce for shedding light on the subject. Mia, also crying, says this was an important piece of work and that she wishes she could have had the strength that they had in this piece for her father when he was ill.
Brandon does his energetic solo to one of my most favorite feel-good songs ever, Robert Randolph and the Family Band's "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That." Love it.
Jason and Kayla have the last dance of the night -- a zombie-themed hip-hop routine with Shane Sparks. (Waitwaitwait ... they are following the touching, emotional cancer dance with the zombie dance??? Oh. My. Wow. I don't quite know what to say about that.) Anyway ... it's good and fun and entertaining, though maybe a little off-putting when it ends with the zombie (Jason) kind of breaking and killing Kayla. Nigel likes that it was Michael Jackson-inspired and thinks Shane brought something out of them. He said he has been a little disappointed with the hip-hop this season, but that this was great and knocked it out of the park. Ellen says if they keep dancing like that, they will have their own talk show someday. Mary thinks her little puppy dog "got bit by the rabies." She screams. Mia says this is her favorite Shane routine and that she loved the final image of him strangling her. "It was disturbingly hot."
I agree with Nigel that this night started out in a pretty lackluster fashion, but the Top 8 finished strong. Who'd you like and dislike? I think Jason and Kayla probably had the best night overall; I liked both of their performances a lot. Evan and Janette didn't really have a shining moment, but I think they are popular enough to probably be OK. Those last three dances tonight were something else. I wish all eight had been as fabulous.
What did you think about the night?
(Photo by Kelsey McNeal/FOX)
Randal Pinkett, who won The Apprentice in 2005 -- and generally came across as one of the most stable contestants that show has ever seen -- is apparently on the short-list as a possible lieutenant governor candidate in New Jersey.
N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine has to announce a running mate soon, and the Associated Press is reporting that Pinkett is interested, but an offer hasn't yet been made.
Interesting. Usually reality TV contestants crop up in the news again for DUI arrests or deciding to go on other reality TV shows. It's nice to see someone using their fame in a positive way, but at the same time, it's a little odd to consider having a lieutenant governor who is otherwise best known for being on a television show. Stranger things have happened, though.
(AP Photo/Mike Derer)
Guest blogger John-John Williams IV returns with his thoughts on last night's premiere of the new season of Hell's Kitchen on Fox. Take it away, John-John!
I’ve watched Hell’s Kitchen for the past three or four seasons—give or take – and I have never witnessed the type of antics I saw on last night’s season premiere. You would think that you’ve seen it all when a reality television show hits season six. But last night’s show included all types of firsts in the series.
Die-hard fans please correct me if I’m wrong, but has a contestant ever challenged Chef Gordon Ramsay to a fist-fight in the parking lot? Has Ramsay ever thrown someone off the show during the season premiere in the middle of dinner service? What about offering the winner of this season to be the head chef of a restaurant in Canada? And how about bringing back a contestant from a past season to compete in another one?
Trust me, this two-hour season premiere definitely piqued my interest. I will eagerly be watching the rest of the season.
First off, I don’t think that this year’s 16 contestants are all that impressive. They make stupid mistakes in the kitchen. (How many times was a piece of halibut, a scallop, shrimp, or chicken severely undercooked throughout the two disastrous dinner services?) The hopefuls have major attitude. And they are not afraid -- or respectful enough — not to get into near fights with others. (This includes Ramsay and his staff.)
Things started off normally enough. The contestants arrived at Hell’s Kitchen. They were greeted with a series of video messages from former contestants Bonnie from season 3, Aaron from season 4, and Colleen from last season. The three alumni tell the newcomers: make sure they turn on the heat before cooking; taste their food before they serve it; and don’t cry in the kitchen. It soon becomes apparent that each one of these rules will be broken repeatedly throughout the course of the season.
Anyhoo, the contestants are immediately asked to flex their culinary muscles when they are challenged to cook their signature dish. Each contestant has 45 minutes to wow Ramsay.
Some contestants -- Tek, Tennille, Tony, and Van — get Ramsay’s approval. While others — Suzanne, Melinda, Lovely, and Louie — irk Ramsay more than anything. Ramsay spits out Louie’s biscuits and gravy.
This season, Ramsay immediately splits up the contestants by gender and forms two teams. He turns the signature dish activity into a challenge, and the men’s team wins. As a reward they are to eat dinner at Ramsay's London West Hollywood restaurant. The women have to clean the entire dirty-pot-and-dish-filled kitchen as punishment. After the women finish cleaning the kitchen they spend the rest of the night studying recipes and the menu for dinner service in Hell’s Kitchen. The guys continue their celebrating by drinking champagne and swimming in the hot tub.
All the partying really doesn’t affect the guys the next day because everyone is horrible during the dinner service.
The women repeatedly mess up on appetizers. The men – specifically Louie-- have problems cooking meat. Melinda gets yelled at by Ramsay after he discovers that she has thrown away perfectly good pasta. Lovely leaves the kitchen because she feels sick and is absent for about 45 minutes while she consumes several bottles of water. (Oh brother!!!) Meanwhile, Amanda freezes salmon by accident, which enrages Ramsay. Louie further irks Ramsay by ruining like a gazillion lamb chops. Ramsay has enough of Louie and kicks him off the show! (There’s one of the firsts I was talking about.) Louie mouths off at the confessional camera. (Blah, blah, blah.) Meanwhile, a disgusted Ramsay closes down the kitchen early.
He then asks Robert – a contestant from last season who left the show early for medical reasons -- to join the show. Robert gladly accepts.
Ramsay then goes off on the contestants. He announces that the women are the losing team. As a result they must chose two members of their team for eviction. They chose Melinda and Amanda, who insists that Lovely should really be the one up on the chopping block. It doesn’t matter in the end. Ramsay sends Melinda home packing. (She really needed to go. She always looked confused. And she didn’t do anything correct as far as I could see.) Ramsay then assigns Robert to the women’s team. The women rejoice because they think that Robert will be their savior.
Sure, Robert gives the women some tips. But those tips don’t help when the women’s team loses the next day’s shrimp cleaning challenge. As punishment, the women have to clean a legion of shrimp for the night’s dinner service. The men’s team goes to lunch with Ramsay, and later enjoys a yacht ride. During the lunch, Joseph starts mouthing off at Ramsay again. He informs everyone that he doesn’t really care about eating lunch with Ramsay. He wants to compete in the kitchen. (During the signature dish challenge, Joseph had demanded that Ramsay gives him a fork. He also lips off to Ramsay a little bit.)
Fast-forward to the night’s dinner service. Both teams are disastrous — again!
Van and Tennille are chosen to make scampi tableside during the dinner service.
Tony messes up repeatedly. First he shows that he can’t cut grapefruit. He also screws up by cooking scallops ahead of time. He’s on his way out! Robert screws up risotto, and Ramsay yells at him.
Van starts arguing with Ramsay’s head waiter, Jean-Philippe. The two get into a shoving match when Jean-Philippe attempts to chastise Van for running in the restaurant. Ramsay steps in and mediates.
Meanwhile, Tennille struggles on scampi appetizers and brings her team to a halt. Sabrina tries to serve raw chicken, which angers Ramsay. Tony moves on to messing up halibut. Kevin takes over for him, and incorrectly cooks the fish as well. In the women’s kitchen, Lovely messes up cooking sea bass.
Ramsay has enough. He tells everyone to stop cooking and start serving shrimp cocktail since this is a cold dish that they cannot incorrectly cook. After the shrimp cocktail is served, Ramsay shuts down the kitchen early — again!
Ramsay informs the contestants that neither team has won the challenge, so both teams need to nominate two contestants for eviction.
The women chose Lovely and Tennille. A fight almost breaks out between Van and Jim, after Jim suggests that Van be put up for eviction because of his scuffle with Jean-Philippe. Van gets really irate with Jim and basically challenges him to a fight. (What a hot head!) But this is nothing compared to what happens during the eviction.
We never find out who is evicted this episode because Joseph begins mouthing off at Ramsay — again! This time, Joseph refuses to name the reason why Tony and ??? have been nominated for eviction. He gives some stupid explanation about his teammates being men, so they don’t need to explain why they were nominated. Oh yeah, Ramsay calls Joseph “stupid” repeatedly, which gets Joseph to start cursing at Ramsay. He then starts lashing out at the other contestants who are trying to calm him down.
The episode ends with Joseph ripping off his chef’s coat, and charging Ramsay, challenging him to a fist-fight in the parking lot. (Whoa!) The audience is left wondering which contestant or contestants will be kicked off the show; and whether or not Ramsay and Joseph throw down.
I can’t wait for next week’s episode!
After inadvertently ignoring two hours of Bachelorette drama, I found myself paying attention to Dating in the Dark immediately thereafter. (I don't know why.)
The premise of the show sounds like something you'd hear in a parody of a reality-show pitch meeting: So we take these people, and it's a dating show, but the only time they get to interact is in total darkness, so they don't know what the other people look like! Genius, right?
No, not really.
But it was vaguely compelling. There's a house, there are three men, there are three women, there's a room separating the men's and women's parts of the house that is totally dark but covered with infrared cameras. Everyone meets and interacts, and later they are told who their most compatible match is based on the opinion of some unseen expert.
On last night's show, all the couples were drawn to said match and decided to pursue that person exclusively. It was weird and goofy, but all three of the couples seemed to get along and find common ground (and, in two of the three cases, make out).
Then the big reveal: Each couples goes into the dark room and each person is illuminated for 10 to 15 seconds. Based on that glimpse alone, the couples had to decide whether to meet outside the house.
Meet. Not get married. Not be shackled together for 14 hours. Not move in together.
So, it's a no-brainer, right? They were getting along, and maybe the people didn't look exactly like what their other half had pictured, but who cares? Why not go to coffee or dinner and get more than 10 seconds to look at the person and figure out whether the chemistry is really there?
For two of the couples, yes. For the other, the poor dude stood on the veranda waiting and watched as the woman walked out downstairs and down the driveway with her suitcases. Brutal!
But this show can't last. I think one episode is kind of interesting in a "huh, weird" kind of way, but after that, there's not that much intrigue.
I watched the penultimate episode of this season of The Bachelorette last night, and it was like I was incapable of paying attention.
And it's not as if this season was free of drama: a foot fetishist, a country singer just trying to get famous who maybe did or maybe didn't already have a girfriend, a guy who left and then come back to tell Gillian about the other dude's maybe girlfriend.
And yet ... I didn't care. I couldn't. It's not like I don't watch a lot of other trash. (*cough Big Brother cough*) But I can't get engaged (um, so to speak) enough to care.
Have you been watching? What did you think of last night's show?
Oh, Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie.
I know you think you are being sinister and a mastermind and playing both sides, but everyone is seeing through you, and you're not going to last long after this.
All right, I'm done with the first-person address. But I could not believe that he thought he had everyone snowed and convinced that Michelle was the one who cast the rogue vote for Chima. Does anyone believe him?
And I have very little faith that his little plan to backdoor Russell is going to work.
What say you?
The So You Think You Can Dance tour dates have been announced, and it's coming to Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena on Oct. 15. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday.
You going to go? I definitely want to.
We'll be hitting the single digits in terms of competitors on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance, which is chock full of info.
First, there's a wacky but intriguing group dance choroegraphed by Wade and Amanda Robson, which means these kids had to learn four routines this week -- the big group dance, the Top 5 men/women dance, the pair dance and the solo. That is a lot to ask of them, don't you think. (Edit: Wait, I forgot about tonight's solos, so make that five. Wait, no, they seem to be repeating last night's solos.)
Host Cat Deeley reports some fun Emmy news: SYTYCD choreographers got four Emmy nominations this morning: Mia Michaels for the doorway dance to "Mercy," Tabitha and Napoleon's "Bleeding Love" dance, Tyce DiOrio's dance to "Silence" and Dmitry Chaplin's tango to "A Los Amigos." How exciting it must be for Dmitry! The makeup department was also nominated.
Results time: The Top 5 women are on the stage. Janette is safe. Randi is in the bottom two. Jeanine is safe. Melissa is in the bottom two, and Kayla is safe. Then, the guys. Jason is safe (and he screams). Evan is also safe. Kupono is in the bottom two. Brandon is safe, leaving Ade in the bottom two.
After the break, it's solo time. Meh. These don't make any difference, you know, since the results are 100 percent based on last night's voting.
The Black Eyed Peas come out to perform, and Cat calls them good friends of the show because they opened their music catalog to the show in its first season. Go, BEP!
Then, at long last, the real results: Randi is cut, but she doesn't look that surprised. On the guys' side, Kupono is out, too.
Those are some fair cuts, I think. How about you?
Dear Big Brother announcer,
It's "ath-lete," not "ath-uh-lete."
OK, now that we're done with that, I'll get on to the first eviction of the season.
It's a little disturbing that it took about four days for the people in the house this year to go completely bananas. Lydia, who I pretty much liked before this, got in a screaming fight with Braden over ... what? Then she screamed at Jordan because she cried when Braden went on the block but not when Lydia went on the block. It also didn't take long for the athletes to become cocky bullies and anger the rest of the house.
But the big moment of the night came during Chima's plea to stay in the house. A lot of it got bleeped, but here's my attempts to record it: "It amazes me how short some of the memory spans are in here because my opponent here called both of my very good friends [bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep] and [bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep]. [From the live audience: "ohhhh."] Yes, he did. And so a vote for Braden is a vote for a bigot. Anyone who aligns themselves with a racist and a misogynist, you deserve to go home."
Wow.
Julie was stunned and said that's the most memorable live speech they've ever heard.
The votes: Russell voted for Braden, Natalie voted for Braden, Jeff voted Chima, Jordan voted for Chima, Kevin voted for Braden, Lauren voted for Chima, Lydia voted for Braden, Michelle voted for Chima, Casey voted "to evict Chima's melodramatic behind," and Ronnie voted for Braden (with an aside about how he's "going to hell"). This made it a tie, leaving it to Jessie, who evicted Braden.
Oh, Ronnie.
Then Julie interviewed Braden, who said there was a lot to talk about. He said that he thought Ronnie, Michelle or Casey who sold him out. Julie told him it was Ronnie, and isn't surprised, calling him sinister and into the game and "a great liar."
Ronnie was the winner of the HOH competition, so he, Michelle and Chima are safe this week, too.
What did you think about the results? Pretty nutty.
The big question on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance is, how will the Top 10 be partnered up tonight and how will they deal with these new partnerships?
The first performance tonight is not from a new set of two or even a solo (we'll be seeing the solos tonight, too), but a Bollywood routine by the Top 5 women by Nakul Dev Mahajan. It is fast, joyful, complicated, intricate, and did I mention fast? Nigel Lythgoe credits Nakul for an amazing dance and then tells the women that they were all amazing and had "everything ... personality, spatial awareness. ... You are lacking nothing." Mary Murphy pulls a lame-o line: "Bolly-WOW!" Debbie Allen says they all articulated every part of the dance really well. "I think this is inarguably the best Top 5 group of ladies we've ever had."
Finally, we get to learn one of the new partnerships. It's Kayla and Evan. They are a little concerned because she is the tallest female and he's the shortest male. They will be doing the Viennese waltz with Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin. Melanie makes them trade shoes to even out their heights. Ow! They manage to work out the height differential in the dance, though, at least mostly. There was one lift where Evan looks kind of miniature, but for the rest, it's not as noticeable. They sell the relationship, too, with their facial expressions toward each other, and one of the lifts actually made me gasp out loud. I'd say not too shabby for brand-new partners. Oh, as it turns out, Kayla is in flats and Evan has heely shoes. Nigel says he didn't see as much Viennese waltz as regular waltz, but that is of course not Kayla or Evan's problem. But he thinks it was danced beautifully. Mary says Evan lacked power in some of his turns -- she says he is good, but he needs to take it to another level since it's the Top 10. She credits him on his lifts, though, and for his class and elegance. She says Kayla is taking it to that other level and is growing every week. Debbie says it is a wonderful, unexpected surprise: "Darling, you handled your big woman, baby! ... I don't care what kind of waltz it was, you were in 3/4 and you were in time." She tells Evan that they nicknamed him Gene Kelly during Vegas week, and he looks stunned and thrilled. Can you blame him?
Then it's Brandon with a solo. I never know what to say about the solos -- they are so short, I am just figuring out what I think, and it's over. Anyway, he crams a lot into that solo!
The next new couple is Ade and Janette. They take on hip-hop with Tabitha and Napoleon. Oh, by the way, Ade is the tallest guy and Janette is the shortest girl, so they have the opposite problem as Kayla and Evan. The story of this dance is that Ade is the funk-master, and he has to hypnotize Janette (with his comb) and make her funky, too, which they say is pretty much what is happening in real life, too. It's a cute idea and a cute dance, but something seems off about the performance, like they aren't quite in sync, and in a dance with that many sharp moves, it is kind of opposite. Nigel thanks "NappyTabs" for the fun dance and says that Ade has funk. Mary: "We've gotta get serious and just cut the crap: That was funkeeeeeee!" She also disagrees with me and call is "well-synchronized." Debbie says they wore her out and she wanted to join them on stage. She also tells Ade to keep his comb away from her daughter.
Then it's Randi's solo. Cat keeps trying to talk to her afterward, but she's just trying to breathe. After the break, Kupono solos, and he dances a lot more than the last time he did a solo.
Jeanine and Jason are both super-excited to be partnered together because they think they are complementary. Their choreographer is Travis Wall from Season 2, and they'll be doing a contemporary routine. It's about best friends, and the guy wants to give the girl his heart (represented by a heart on a chain, natch), but the girl doesn't think they are ready, so she fights him ... at first. This looks hard -- lots of jumps and lifts and emotion, but they pull it off. At the end it's a little too "get a room" for my tastes at the end, but they still do a really good job. So much that the judges give them a standing ovation (oh, and the audience, too). Nigel says sometimes this show shows "talent that goes nowhere" (yikes), so he is thrilled to see such amazing work from Travis, work that was only made better by Jeanine and Jason. He says they both became stars tonight, and they look moved. Mary is speechless. (Hooray!) She says it was great, and then she cries talking about how glad she is to see Travis' growth. She tells Jason that he went to a whole new level tonight and Jeanine that she hasn't missed a step. Oh, then the obligatory "hot tamale train." She does a silent scream. Debbie says this experience tonight means this show is more than a competition, but a conversation about the art of dance.
Melissa is next with her solo. It's kind of ... lacking in content besides turns. Then it's Evan's turn. His solo is definitely not lacking in content -- and it's full of personality. Kayla, too, has a lot of emotion as well as technical moves going on.
Randi and Kupono are another new couple. They are doing paso doble with Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin, who says they didn't hold back in the choreography at all. They do not look that comfortable during the performance, and Kupono doesn't seem to be showing the power and aggression that this style demands. Also, he drops Randi at the end. Nigel says it was good choreography from Tony and Melanie, but he doesn't think the dancing was as good as the choreography. He adds that Kupono didn't have enough strength, and he lost him about halfway through. He also wasn't sure about Randi's wig, and he thinks there was a lack of passion, but they did a good job on the death spiral. Mary says it was hard for everyone tonight and that they didn't rise to the challenge. Debbie thinks it was maybe that the trust wasn't there yet because they are new.
Ade's solo has a lot of tricks, and he's clearly having a lot of fun, but it's a little disconnected from the music ("Unchained Melody"). After the break, it's Jeanine's solo. (Isn't this the same music as the Argentine tango from the other week?) I didn't find it that memorable. Jason dances to Muddy Waters, and that alone makes him a bit more memorable.
The last new couple is Brandon and Melissa. Their first challenge is a Broadway routine with Tyce DiOrio, something from Hair. They work it out, but Brandon is so powerful, I find it tough to not watch him. I think Melissa was OK, too, but I didn't notice her as much. Nigel liked the routine, especially how it used their strengths. Mary thinks it was unbelievable and groovy. Debbie says they evoked "the real harmony" and that they were both powerful and technical and brilliant.
Janette is the final soloist. She's the last partner dancer, and her solo has that weird quality of being a little odd since she doesn't have anyone to dance with. So it ends up being a show of hip action. Course, she's pretty good at that.
The last performance of the night is an African dance with Jeffrey Page by the Top 5 guys. This looks tough, and on a number of levels. One of the most difficult things about it seems to be that it's all rhythm-based and not counts, and that it will look wrong if they start to rely on technique when they get lost, since it's supposed to be more raw. Rehearsal stops for a while so Jeffrey can talk them through it, and it seems to help because they pull it off well, but it just looks so unbelievably challenging. Nigel says he loves African dance, and that Jeffrey might be the meanest choreographers ever since that was so hard. Nigel talks to Evan: "You look like a dancing milkshake tonight. ... But nobody stood out like a sore thumb." Mary adored it and the energy and says Evan held his own even though he was clearly outside his comfort zone. Debbie says it's so important to have African dance on this show since it is the mother of hip-hop and jazz and so many other styles. She loved it. "You think you can dance, and then you get a challenge like this. ... You can't just get up and do this."
So what did you think about the performances tonight? I could see Randi and Kupono and maybe Melissa being in trouble.
There were surely some memorable moments this evening, though. Both those group numbers were show-stopping, as were several of the partner dances.
I am really not loving Big Brother so far this season. The high-school clique theme? Lame! And it's making the contestants act out in stereotypical ways. (Maybe that was the point, but it's annoying!)
And the idea of bringing back a former cast member is interesting, but why did it have to be Jessie? He's so annoying, so full of himself and just plain old difficult to look at.
How predictable it was the the guy labeled the jock sort of made friends with the offbeat artist and gave her hope and then twisted the knife and nominated her? It's like some late-'90s high school comedy that landed in bizarro-land.
I hope Lydia wins the power of veto. I don't like many of these folks yet, but she's OK by me, and I'd hate to see her leave so soon.
What are you hoping to see happen tonight?
(Photo of star-crossed whatevers Jessie and Lydia courtesy of CBS)
I've been hearing chatter for weeks now about how a guy named Ty from Baltimore was one of the eight people picked to live in the Real World D.C. house (at 2000 S St. N.W.), work together, have their lives taped, etc. I admit, I'm intrigued; I used to live up the street from the house. The awesome Beth of the love, elizabethany blog, who's following the Real Worlders around D.C. with a camera (and hanging out with them) so we don't have to, tells us:
"Ty's last name is Ruff. Attended Trinity College in Conn. after playing high school football at Gilman in Baltimore, MD."
(Added note: Fine folks at Vevmo say you can get the dish there, too. Here's the Real World forum. And @RealWorldDCNewz on Twitter says it got the sccop first -- nice work EVERYONE.)
Tyrell (at left, in front of D.C.'s "Secret" Safeway) graduated from The Gilman School, where he also ran track, in 2006 2005.
Some Web sleuthing on our part turned up a 2006 Washington Times article about Michael Steele quoting Ty:
"Mr. Simmons 'definitely represents the younger generation. ... He's a pioneer, and hip-hop has become one thing that defines black youths in this country,' said Tyrell Ruff, a 19-year old Baltimore native. ...
" 'Russell Simmons ... would definitely get some votes for Mr. Steele. If you look at black kids in the city, many of them would probably be wearing something he made,' said Mr. Ruff, a sophomore at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn."
I remember that Leah Gillingwater of The Real World Paris was a University of Maryland, College Park alumna (class of 2002). At least Leah got to go to Paris. Ty only gets to head 45 minutes south. What a raw deal, right?
Love, elizabethany isn't the only site keeping tabs on the group. Get more info on the current cast on Twitter. And Washingtonian magazine has a Real World map.
Anyone know Ty? Anyone digging his blue plaid shorts?
Photo of Ty Ruff courtesy of love, elizabethany.
Oh, Big Brother. How I love/loathe thee. It's such summer trash, and yet, I can't turn away.
I'm not sure how I feel about this summer's theme, high school, which has the cast broken up into cliques (popular, athletic, brainy and offbeat). I am sure that I am not glad that insufferable Jesse from last season is back this year.
What did you think of the theme and the contestants thus far? Anybody watching the live feeds?
Hmm, I might have been hard on Tabitha and Napoleon last night, but their group dance that opens tonight's So You Think You Can Dance -- to White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" -- is great.
After announcing that it is Nigel's 60th birthday, host Cat Deeley asks Nigel about the rumors of a Michael Jackson tribute special. Unfortunately, the music permissions didn't come through, so it's a no. (Though I can't help but think that they are going public with that to try to make someone change their mind!)
Then Cat points out that after this week, the judges don't have a say; viewer votes will determine who goes home.
Then the results begin. The first two couples to hit the stage are Annapolis' Caitlin Kinney and her partner Jason and Brandon and Janette. I can't help but think that this means that Caitlin and Jason are in danger because Brandon and Janette had that show-stopper at the end of last night's show. And .... that's a yes. Caitlin and Jason are in the bottom three, and Brandon and Janette are in the Top 10.
The next two couples called to the stage are Randi and Evan and Jeanine and Phillip. Randi and Evan are safe; Phillip and Jeanine have to get ready for their solos.
Last up are Melissa and Ade and Kayla and Kupono. Kayla and Kupono are safe -- and totally shocked. So that leaves Melissa and Ade joining the others in the bottom three couples.
While the bottom three couples get a change to ready for their solos, we get a preview of the fall season of SYTYCD.
Then, solo time. Caitlin goes cutesy but still showing of a lot of technique, and hopefully some personality too. Speaking of technique, Jason shows some off, too. Last week, they said that Jeanine's solo was the strongest, and she still is pretty strong. Phillip seems much less manic and more controlled than last week's solo. Melissa goes all sporty ballerina on us. Ade's solo is to a song called "Windowdipper" that samples Windows noises (which really freaks me out for a minute). Tyce told him to bring it, and bring it he did.
Mary doesn't want to go try to figure out who is going home.
Kelly Rowland performs, but I fast-forward through most of it. Sorry, Kelly, that's not why I'm here.
I'm here for the results, and here they are.
Nigel says everyone is a good dancer, but they need a Top 10 who are stars. They call Caitlin forward and tell her she is cut. Awww, she cries even before her highlight reel. For the guys, they call Phillip forward and tell him he is unique in what he does, but they've been somewhat disappointed with him in the other styles. He is out, but, Nigel says, "I have secured with the producers that you -- and Caitlin -- will be on the tour." Well, that is some consolation for our local dancer, at least.
What do you think of the results? I didn't envy the judges their duty tonight.
This week on So You Think You Can Dance, the couples take on two dances per week for the first time. Well, two competition dances, since they always have to learn a group dance and they prep a solo, too.
The big question around here, though, is whether Annapolis dancer and Baltimore School for the Arts grad Caitlin Kinney will make the Top 10. Here's hoping!
The first couple is Melissa and Ade, doing disco with Doriana Sanchez. OK, first of all, those are some crazy sparkle-pants Ade's got on. Second, this is fast, and has so many spins that it's a wonder they stay on their feet. Um, well, they do until the very end, when their final move gives way somehow and Melissa stumbles. (Does Ade drop? Is her footing off? It's hard to tell.) But it's fun and energetic, for sure. Nigel Lythgoe says it was exciting and had some "tremendous stuff" in it. In the replay, it looks like both of their feet slipped, causing the fall, by the way. Mary Murphy, reference Doriana's line about praying to the disco gods: "Can I get an amen?" She adds that it was well-executed and that they were both "letting it go." Tyce DiOrio: "That was friggin' great! I mean, I want to say, I adore you, and no one would think that a ballet dancer could do that, so that's growth." He says that Ade embodied it well.
Kayla and Kupono take on a Mia Michaels contemporary routine that is about addiction. In a more revealing and emotional introductory segment than usual, Kupono discusses that he had a close friend who was almost destroyed by a drug addiction that had repercussions in his family, too, and that he almost doesn't want to portray the character of the addiction. "I just sucks having to be in it for that minute-thirty or just those two counts." Then he cries. It's pretty powerful, though there is a part toward the end where he is supposed to be guiding the addicted Kayla through some moves, and it seems like he just isn't exactly where he is supposed to be, which makes it look a little funky. Still, though, a nice piece. Nigel says it's a powerful piece for anyone who has dealt with addiction. He said that Kayla was superb as the addict and that Kupono was powerful in his role as well. Mary says Kupono stayed in character with intensity through the whole performance and that Kayla was flawless. "You guys are staying on the train; don't worry about it." Tyce says with Mia, you add a level to yourself and become an actor. He adds that Kupono could use a little more power in his body, but his acting was great. Kayla he just calls "a beast."
As a side note, can I just say, as someone with hardly any pigment, how refreshing it is to see that the stylists or whoever on this show let the pale girls be pale without feeling the need to fake-tan (or worse, real tan) them into orange oblivion? (*cough* Dancing With the Stars *cough)
Caitlin and Jason are doing and American-style foxtrot with a jazzy twist with Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin. Caitlin says she's excited to look elegant and pretty and have a sparkly costume (as opposed to last week's nutty pop-jazz routine with the spiky alien costume. Caitlin predicts that they aren't going to do just well or good; "We're going to do great." Overall, they do. The whole thing has a fun feel to it, and they do a couple of insane lifts and spins. Said sparkly costume seems to cause a couple of issues, though. During one of the lifts, Caitlin's skirt is totally over Jason's face, which seems dangerous. And in their last move, there is a weird little bobble that might be from the costume getting caught on something. They're gorgeous, though. Nigel: "Caitlin, you made everything look very simple and very easy when it wasn't." He compares her to Grace Kelly. He also says that Jason's footwork was amazing. "Caitlin, this is your style: smooth, cool, elegant. You should have a glass of champagne in your hand." Mary says she thought it was tremendous and that it suited them. "You, young lady, your kicks are so beautiful and elegant. The way you went across the stage was like you were floating. Let's hear it for her!" Tyce says they look like stars tonight and captured the essence of the dance. He gives them one note, that they could have glided more.
Jeanine and Phillip are working with Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko on a Russian folk dance. Jeanine: "I don't think I know anyone in the world who is extensively trained in Russian folk dancing." Except maybe the choreographers they just met! Anyway, it's very traditional and difficult-looking. If they are faking it till they make it, Jeanine is definitely doing a better job since she has so much more dance background, but together, they survive. Nigel says it's difficult: "We ask you to try anything and everything on this program, but I'm not sure we should have thrown that. This has nothing to do with your dancing, it just feels like we didn't ask you to do enough. This felt a little too folky. Anything like this, you need an awful lot of vodka to go with it." He does say, though, that Phillip's legwork on the turns was fab and that Jeanine looked beautiful. Mary says Jeanine made it believable and that Phillip's flips were interesting. Tyce says he agrees to a degree, but he wants to know how they executed what they were given: "Jeanine, you are fabulous. Phillip, I thought this would be horrible for you, but you socked me."
Randi and Evan are given the task of doing a Napoleon and Tabitha hip-hop routine in which they are a young couple in love and have just discovered that Randi is pregnant. No disrespect meant to Randi's husband, but these two are a cute couple and have great chemistry, so they really sell the joy that is an inherent part of the routine. I don't adore N&T's style, so it's hard for me to judge sometimes whether the actual dancing was good, but they were at least very in the moment for the whole performance. Nigel says it was good because they didn't make them "be urban," they just let them be themselves. He says that he says it every week, but they are one of his favorite couples. Huh. That's interesting because I mostly recall him saying that he was a little bit disappointed, but I'm glad to hear they are a favorite. They're so cute, I just want to carry them around in my pocket! Anyway, Mary says she was expecting a trainwreck, but they did a great job. Tyce says it was such good storytelling by Tabitha and Napoleon, but "Evan, I think you need to find more."
Janette and Brandon take on the Argentine tango with Leonardo Barrionuevo and Miriam Larici. Brandon interviews that the dance "exudes sex" but later he and Janette are searching for their chemistry since they are just buddies. Their technique is pretty amazing -- intense lifts and footwork and speed, but I don't see a lot of connection between them even so. I'm still impressed, though, because this routine was tough. Nigel is silent at first, then gives them a standing O. The other judges stand, too, speechless. Nigel finally says, "For a ballroom routine on this show, I think that was as close as we've seen to perfection on this stage ever." Mary does her hot tamale train routine. "That was reallly outstanding, the flicks, the lifts." [SCREEEECH!] Tyce says they had so much attention to detail. He goes on a rant about orange juice, but the gist is: "Unreal. Unreal. Unreal."
Then, it's round two! Cat informs us that next week, the dancers will change partners.
Melissa and Ade have a waltz with Ron Montez for their final dance. He says it's freer than a traditional waltz, so they break hold more. OK, this is good, just so pretty. They are such a good combination -- and to me, their obvious chemistry shows what Janette and Brandon didn't have in the last dance. It was lovely and had fabulous lifts. Nigel says Ron played to their strengths (backhanded compliment, no?) and that it was beautifully danced. Mary agrees that it was beautifully danced, but that his waltz footwork was lacking in power. She calls Melissa mesmerizing and says she is peaking at the right time. She says she doesn't want to see their partnership break up, and Nigel asks if he gets a break from her next week. "Pipe down, you English muffin!" Oh, she's probably been sitting on that line for three weeks, but it still made me giggle. Tyce says when they dance to "Natural Woman," you have to rise to the challenge of the music. He seems to imply that they didn't, but then says it was great.
Kayla and Kupono are doing a Joey Dowling Broadway number. It's weird because Joey has so much energy and pizzaz during the rehearsal that I was expecting a more in-your-face kind of number. Not that this is subtle -- I don't know. It's very cute, and they seem to dance it well, but I wasn't jumping all over the place about it. Nigel says this is his period of time and everything was dangerous -- "there was no feeling of true emotion for that style of music." He says they didn't have the toughness even though they danced it well. Mary says maybe they didn't latch onto the style, but she still thinks they did a good job even though she can see where Nigel is coming from. Tyce says they needed to get down into the floor and make it part of their world and use the space more.
Caitlin and Jason are not excited to break up. Caitlin says she will miss Jason's hugs and ability to calm her down, while Jason will miss Caitlin's quirkiness and silly jokes. They are working with Mandy Moore on a lyrical routine. And the performance? I don't know, it just makes me happy -- they are clearly so excited to be dancing their own style, and it seems like Mandy challenged them because of that, and it worked for them. Also, I like that it's a routine that just is without having to have a two-minute description of the backstory. Don't get me wrong -- some of the story dances are among my favorites -- but it's especially refreshing after last week's crazy alien dance. Nigel says they obviously worked very hard, but he doesn't honestly always see chemistry between them, but technically it was good. Mary says she does see chemistry, but she didn't see magic between them even though she did love the choreography. "Caitlin, you are again another outstanding woman in this competition. You just week after week come up with really amazing lines." Tyce says she gave them great partnering and that they had the lines and were in sync, but he thinks they played it a little safe, but their work is appreciated.
Phillip and Jeanine have a jive with Tony Meredith and Melanie Laplatin. Oh, Phillip. This is a tough routine, but I think Phillip is just out of his depth, and Jeanine just dances circles around him. Nigel praises the choreography and says the dancers have to bring it to life, and that Phillip did the best he has in his own style. That is taking into account that he slipped and he was nervous, but he is still coming to life. He says Jeanine is for sure one of their Top 10 dancers. Mary guarantees that Jeanine will be back. She says she was surprised by Phillip and how he handled the speedy footwork and adds that Jeanine was on fire. I'm starting to think that maybe I didn't even watch Phillip because I was watching Jeanine the whole time. Tyce: "I say call 1-888-FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!"
Randi and Evan are sad to be splitting up. Their final dance is a samba with Pasha and Anya. (Pasha! Anya! Yay!) They are not sure how they are going to handle all the shimmying and booty-shaking, but they give it their all. They are dressed in animal-print costumes, which I am going to assume was someone's attempt to help them own their characters a little more, but I'm not buying it. Here's the thing. I love these two, but I think they were not that comfortable with the idea of the dance still and despite their great technique, that still came through a bit. Nigel isn't sure what to say. He says Evan is not a hot samba king, though he did everything he was supposed to, and that even though Randi is hot, together, "it wasn't as hot as I would like it." Mary says, "It might not have been hot, but there was a slow sizzle going on." She loved the choreography and their partnering, but Evan needed to push and "get gritty with it." Tyce says Evan needed to be a detective and see what the previous contestants have done to kill the samba (in a good way). Mary feels like she was interrupted and adds that Randi was a hot tamale.
Brandon and Janette have a Wade Robson jazz routine for their last dance together. They will be cartoonish thieves. Wade takes some guff for doing a lot of "weird x" or "strange y" routines, but I really do love this one. It doesn't hurt that I already like the song (Roisin Murphy's "Ruby Blue"), but Brandon and Janette sell this performance, goofy characters and all. Nigel says that tonight they have shown that "there isn't anything we can throw at you that you don't do brilliantly."He says that Janette shocks him because next to her little picture, it says "salsa," and she has stayed with Brandon and kept up with everything they have done. He says they deserve the most votes of the night. Mary agrees, "BEST FOR LAST!" Tyce: "You guys just have that thing. ... You're not a victim. You're in charge. ... I'm so proud and privleged to watch you."
All right, who's going to make the Top 10? Or perhaps a better question is: Who isn't?
Bravo just announced the cast of the next season of Top Chef, and how about that -- it includes several Marylanders.
One is Jesse Sandlin, the chef at Abacrombie, who Elizabeth Large had already speculated might be in the cast.
There's also brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, both from Frederick. Bryan is the chef and owner of Volt on Market Street in Frederick. Michael lives in L.A. now and is the Chef de Cuisine at Bazaar by Jose Andres.
I'll get some more details as soon as I can, but in the meantime, here's the full cast list for Top Chef: Las Vegas, which premieres on Aug. 26:
* Ash Fulk, 29 – Hometown: Pleasant Hill, Calif.; Resides in New York City
* Ashley Merriman, 32 – Center Sandwich, N.H.; Resides in Seattle, Wash.
* Bryan Voltaggio, 33 – Hometown: Frederick, Md.; Resides in Urbana, Md.
* Eli Kirshtein, 25 – Hometown/Resides in: Atlanta, Ga.
* Eve Aronoff, 40 – Hometown/Resides in: Ann Arbor, Mich.
* Hector Santiago, 41 – Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Resides in Atlanta, Ga.
* Jennifer Carroll, 33 – Hometown/Resides in: Philadelphia, Pa.
* Jennifer Zavala, 31 – Hometown: Cromwell, Conn.; Resides in Philadelphia, Pa.
* Jesse Sandlin, 30 – Hometown/Resides in: Baltimore, Md.
* Kevin Gillespie, 26 – Hometown/Resides in: Atlanta, Ga.
* Laurine Wickett, 38 – Hometown: Rochester, N.Y.; Resides in San Francisco, Calif.
* Mattin Noblia, 29 – Hometown: Biarritz, France; Resides in San Francisco, Calif.
* Michael Isabella, 34 – Hometown: Little Ferry, N.J.; Resides in Washington, D.C.
* Michael Voltaggio, 30 – Hometown: Frederick, Md.; Resides in Los Angeles, Calif.
* Preeti Mistry, 33 – Hometown/Resides in: San Francisco, Calif.
* Robin Leventhal, 43 – Hometown: Sun Valley, Idaho; Resides in Seattle, Wash.
* Ron Duprat, 40 – Hometown: Mare Rouge, Haiti; Resides in Hollywood, Fla. and Naples, Fla.
Mary Carole McCauley got a chance to catch up with Annapolis dancer Caitlin Kinney yesterday. The 21-year-old is in the Top 12 on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, which airs on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Here's Mary:
After portraying an alien attempting to impregnate her human prey, Caitlin Kinney fully expected to be in danger of elimination last week on Fox’s hit reality show So You Think You Can Dance.
Before Thursday night’s results show was broadcast, the lithe, 21-year-old from Annapolis rehearsed the "dance for your life" solo required of competitors who receive the fewest viewer votes.
"Honestly, I didn’t think there was any way Jason and I weren’t going to be in the bottom three," she says, referring to her partner, Jason Glover. "We’ve been hanging on by our teeth. When I found out we were safe, I was just flabbergasted."
Kinney, who studied at Baltimore School for the Arts and trained as a classical ballerina, wrapped up an intense day of practicing by chatting about the ups and downs of the competition thus far, and her future plans.
Q: None of the dance styles you’ve assigned so far play to your strengths. Has that been hard?
A: It has been frustrating. I’d love to have a chance to dance something more lyrical. Of course, we don’t choose what dance styles we’ve been given, or what we wear. I’ll be honest, I was a little jealous when Melissa [Sandvig] got to dance a pas de deux in toe shoes last week. At the same time, the harder you work, the greater your rewards. I’d rather get a style that plays to our strengths later in the competition.
Q: What would you like to do professionally after the show ends?
A: That’s a darn good question. Most of my training is in ballet, but I don’t have a traditional body for classical ballet. I’m not stick thin, and I have a very muscular build. I’m happy now with the way my body is, but boy, it takes a long time for any woman to be able to say that. I’m not quite sure yet in what style as a dancer I fit best. That’s why I auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance. Never again will I have the opportunity to learn all these different styles compressed into one summer.
Q: When I talked to your sister Megan last week, she said you guys used to talk about running a joint studio/health clinic.
A: Yeah, when we were kids. Megan and I were going to run a studio where people could study dancing and acting, and Erin [their eldest sister], who is now studying neuropathic medicine, would run a health clinic next door. I honestly think that’s one of my long-term goals, but it’s down the road. I don’t want to open a studio before I have knowledge to impart.
Q: Was it hard for you when Megan didn’t make the cut? [Megan Kinney, 19, auditioned separately for the reality dance competition and made it to the final round in Las Vegas before being tossed out.]
A: We both knew that whether we got cut on the first round or later on, one of us would get sent home, and the other would go on. We had a long talk about it before we went out to Las Vegas. Megs is so unbelievably talented, I really thought she would be the one to advance. When she was cut, we both high-tailed it out of the room so we could avoid the cameras. Her leaving was the worst part of the competition for me.
Q: How is your hip feeling these days? [After a potentially career-ending injury, Kinney’s right hip was surgically rebuilt two years ago.]
A: It’s really wonderful. I’ve been so blessed, because I ended up having even more flexibility than I had before my injury. But, getting injured was really tough. When I was told I might not dance again, I just stayed in bed for two weeks and read books. One of the favorite things my mother ever said to me is: "The true definition of faith is to sit in the unknown and be OK with it." I thought about that a lot. And, when I did come back to dance, I had a new sense of gratefulness.
Photo by Kelsey McNeal/FOX
The kids have moved in, and filming has started on The Real World: D.C., and, not surprisingly since they are situated right in Dupont Circle, it's feeling a little crowded around there.
The Anti-Real World D.C. blog is chronicling the experience of living just feet away from the production. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun. (The lights are on all the time. The security staff is reportedly jerky and pushing the limits, yelling at people who are walking by on public property. Tour buses are already starting to drive by.)
For others in the area, the blog also keeps track of which bars and other establishments are not letting the cast and crew in, and which are.
Living that close to a reality-show production (especially one that is trying to keep everything so off the record) can't be fun, but reading about it will probably be far more entertaining than the actual show.
Update: Here's what happened when a local news reporter tried to interview an onlooker about the show. (That's a RW cameraman who keeps bodily getting in the way. Classy!):
My favorite part of the So You Think You Can Dance results show is almost always the group dance.
Tonight's number -- a Broadway routine to "Brand New Day" from The Wiz choreographed by Tyce DiOrio -- is no exception. So good, so fun, and amazing costumes. (I am, however, as usual, distracted by some of the manic camerawork that makes it tough to actually see the dancers' movements.)
Host Cat Deeley gets right to the results: Karla and Vitolio and Evan and Randi are called to the stage. The quick step still might be the kiss-of-death dance, as it turns out the Karla and Vitolio are in the bottom three couples.
After the break, three more judges are on the stage. Janette and Brandon find out they are safe. Kayla and Kupono are in the bottom three couples, and Melissa and Ade are safe. Mia Michaels says she is shocked about Kayla and Kupono because she thinks they were the best performance of the night. Kayla actually cries because she's so overcome.
That leaves two couples: Caitlin and Jason and Jeanine and Phillip. (Members of Caitlin's family, including her mom and her aunt, are there dressed similarly to her crazy costume from last night, with a sign that says "Aliens for Caitlin.") Caitlin and Jason are safe (and shocked), and Phillip and Jeanine are in the bottom three.
The evening's professional dance performance is an amazing ballet by dancers Desmond Richardson and Patricia Hachey from Complexions Contemporary Ballet.
Then, solos: Karla looks remarkably comfortable and strong on stage tonight. Vitolio dances to "Here Comes Goodbye," which seems like a bad choice of song. His solo is a little disjointed and off the cuff. Kayla gives an energetic and emotional but more controlled performance than her last time in the bottom three, when she was accused (unfairly, I think) of cramming too much into the solo. Kupono exudes a lot of emotion in his solo, joy and hope and just wanting to be there, I think. Jeanine finally gets to dance her style on this stage, and she is so good. Last is Phillip, who gets to show off what he does best, his crazily unique popping and locking and limb-wrenching.
Kelly Clarkson comes out to sing "I Do Not Hook Up" while the judges deliberate. She sounds great, and she looks better than when she was on Idol last season, but she still needs her stylist to work a little bit harder on her behalf.
The judges are back with the results, women first. Nigel tells Jeanine that she had the strongest solo of the evening and is safe. He tells Kayla that she is a favorite of the judges and the choreographers, but they found her solo to be very "static" and not dancing from the heart. They say that Karla is a very good dancer, but she hasn't quite shown the star quality they saw in her at first, so she is out. So Oxon Hill, Md., dancer Karla Garcia is going home. She says she will remember all her friends and dancing her contemporary routine.
They are unanimous with the guys, too. They tell Phillip he is unique and superb, but they thought he overworked his solo. Still, they are keeping him. Nigel says Vitolio has great presence and presents himself well, but he doesn't deliver. Kupono is told that his solo was weak and didn't show much passion, but they hope to see more from him in the future. So Vitolio is out as well.
Guess the quick step really is the kiss of death! Yikes.
If you'd like some insight on what it was really like on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here, check out Kevin Eck's interview with Torrie Wilson, who finished second, over at Ring Posts.
Especially interesting, I thought, was Torrie's take on Spencer Pratt:
At first I thought for sure Spencer was doing his rant for the cameras, but the longer I was around him the more I thought, maybe because he’s been on a reality show for so long that he’s started to let it blend into his real character. I don’t really know him personally so it was hard for me to differentiate, but it seemed like much of what they were doing – all of them – was very close to their true personalities.
But there's a lot more to read there, so go on, click above and read the whole thing!
Photo: Getty Images
On tonight's So You Think You Can Dance, Mia Michaels is one of the guest judges. As you might recall, she was really hard on dancer Brandon, and host Cat Deeley refers to this when she asks whether her opinion on anyone had changed.
Mia says, that, without naming names, it has changed for the better. So she regrets being so horrible to Brandon? Nigel asks if she is talking about a "small, male dancer," and she says yes.
Speaking of Brandon, Janette and Brandon are first, and they relive their highs and lows, which means that they recap the past three weeks in their own words. They are doing the cha-cha with Jean-Marc Genereax. The dance is very fast and sexy and fun, and they kill it. Janette is obviously in her element, but Brandon stays right with her. Nigel Lythgoe calls it "the best damn cha-cha I have ever seen on this show ever!" He praises Brandon's articulation of his feet in particular. "I can't even begin to describe how good this was," he goes on. Mary Murphy calls Janette amazing, pointing out that salsa technique and cha-cha technique are very different, and she did a great job. And, of course, "two first-class tickets on the hot tamale train [SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH]!" Mia acknowledges that she has probably scared Brandon, but says that she is the hardest on her best students and that that's where it's coming from. She makes Brandon cry. "You are going to love me and hate me on this journey. ... You are ... you're amazing. Janette, you've been on fire since day one, and today is no exception."
Kayla and Kupono work with Sonya Tayeh on a dark, vampire-themed, somewhat violent performance. Calling all Twilight nuts! It is, like many Sonya pieces, kind of esoteric and strange, but they look amazing and strong on the dance floor. Nigel says he enjoyed his trip to the dark side and that Kupono was a new man this week. He points out that there was a lot of technique blended into a very modern routine. Mary: "This song was all about the death, wasn't it, but these two were alive and kicking!" Oh, Mary. Mia says they are gorgeous together, that the costuming and makeup are brilliant and that this is Sonya's best piece ever on the show. She adds that Kayla commits to every movement and that Kupono has applied every note they have given him and has gotten better and better each week.
Randi and Evan are doing Broadway with Joey Dowling, and in the performance they have to fight. In rehearsal, it looks really complicated, but they seem to have figured it out since then because during the performance, they are very in sync and they are really selling the story with their faces, too. Nigel tell us it's an homage to Bob Fossey and that it was terrific. He tells them their wrists need to be a little more flexible in this particular case. He says that Randi carried it off, but, as per usual, he expected a little bit more flair from Evan. Mary says that Evan and Randi mostly got the character well, though it could have been a little brighter. Still, though, she was entertained. Mia says they needed to take the work to the next level because of their slight height. Mia says Randi was a little "heavy," though she is careful in her use of the word to make sure that it's about Randi's movement, not her size. She says they did a good job but she wants more.
Caitlin and Jason are next. (By the way, in case you missed it, Mary McCauley interviewed Caitlin's family today about her time on the show.) They are doing pop-jazz with Brian Friedman, and it's pretty weird: Caitlin is a space alien who has destroyed earth and is searching the planet for the last man alive so she can procreate. Hmmm ... OK. The whole dance is very strange and out-there, and Caitlin is wearing an outfit that might even rival the crash-test dummies from a couple of weeks ago. No matter what, it's definitely interesting, but there was so much going on, it's hard for me to judge. Nigel says that Brian is from another planet and that it was very weird, but that to make it work, they had to commit themselves 100 percent and that they did that. Nigel says that if she is trying to get impregnated, she might be a little too covered up: "It's like the dancing condom or something." "Safety first, Nigel, safety first," Cat says. Mary says it didn't play to their strengths, but they dug in and had a lot of fun doing it. "It just didn't sit right with me," she says. But she still loves the two of them and hopes they won't be in trouble. Mia says she thinks Brian just wanted to have some fun and that they danced it really well.
Phillip and Jeanine are doing hip-hop with Napoleon and Tabitha, and their story is about how they are locked together into this partnership on the show. And in a totally not-subtle move, they are connected together with a chain. This seems kind of gimmicky and actually a little dangerous to me. I mean, I don't mind props altogether, but there seems to be a lack of grace in the idea of, "Oh, I know, let's do a dance about people who are locked together in a partnership, and let's ... lock them together!" Just not that novel, you know what I mean? That said, they dance it well, though Jeanine does seem to trip on the chain toward the end. (Not that we can tell because the camera work is so tight at that point. That annoys me sometimes -- gets too fancy and you can't actually see what the dancers are doing!) Nigel says if they keep dancing like that, they should be chained together for life. He credits Jeanine for making it look like every style is her style, when actually she hasn't done her own style yet. Mary thought it was creative and fabulous and that they handled the props well and that Jeanine was crazy-good. Mia says she is a big fan of Napoleon and Tabitha and that the concept was there, but she found herself getting caught up in the "chainography" -- which was a little sloppy and uncontrolled. Basically, she found it distracting.
Melissa and Ade are doing a pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet with choreographer Throdal Christensen. Melissa (the ballerina, luckily) says it has been her dream to dance Juliet, so she gets to live her dream on national television. That's pretty cool. The dance is lovely and wonderful, and I love seeing ballet on this show. Melissa is a total natural, and Ade holds his own. I worry, though, that because it's a quieter style of dance than some of the others that people won't be as pressed to call in for them. But I hope they do. Nigel says it's amazing that they are doing classical ballet on this show and that it was beautifully danced. He says Ade's feet could be a little better, but his carriage was amazing. Mary says she just loved it and found the chemistry flawless and believable. She says they put her in a dreamlike state she didn't want to wake from. Mia says she's excited to be celebrating classical ballet on the show and excited that it was danced as well as it was danced. She also says, "I also love that it's a black and white Romeo and Juliet. ... You can't fake classical ballet; it exposes everything." And they did it!
Last tonight are Karla and Vitolio with the quickstep.
Before that, they announce the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a new group that will avoid scholarships to underprivileged youth, starting with 10 students. The committee includes Katie Holmes, Debbie Allen, Carrie Ann Inaba and others. Nigel mentions that July 23 will be the 100th episode and will feature a Judy Garland tribute dance by Katie Holmes choreographed by Tyce DiOrio.
So then it's actually time for new couple Karla and Vitolio and their quickstep with the Genereauxs. They are supposed to be in a museum, and Vitolio is a statue. It's a crowd-pleaser, with lots of speed and lifts and energy, very cute. Not to mention, it has a very impressive costume change -- at first Karla is wearing a poufy black-and-white polka-dot dress, but once she and Vitolio start the quick part of the quickstep, they do ... well, I'm not sure exactly what, and suddenly the dress turns almost inside-out, and she's wearing a sparkly pink and orange gown. Nigel: "There were so many good things about that." He loved the choreography and the costume change and the footwork and most of the lines. Mary: "Well so much for the kiss-of-death dance!" She says Vitolio did a magnificent job, as did Karla. Mia says that Jean-Marc is a genius (she's all about praising the choreographers tonight) and that she isn't taking away from their performance when she says that. She is amazed by how they did. Vitolio says he hoped they turned the kiss of death into the kiss of joy. Mia says, "You made out with it!"
What did you think about tonight? I feel like people stepped it up a notch (um, as it were). I'm afraid for some of the more surreal performances, but I can't name one huge misstep.
(Photo courtesy of Fox)
Remember back a few months, when the Style Network's Clean House came to Baltimore and picked things up for James Buechler and Jennifer "Jiffy" Boehles? (See more pictures of the taping here.)
And then James and Jiffy weren't totally thrilled about how their house looked afterward in the places not covered by the cameras?
And then the show was scheduled to air May 27, but was pulled?
Just heard that the episode is now supposed to air at 8 tonight. And that Clean House: Messiest Home in the Country special airs at 9.
(Baltimore Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri/Feb. 7, 2009)
It's true: Jilted Bachelor "winner" Melissa Rycroft is engaged, and no, not to that toad Jason Mesnick, who humilated her on national television.
But hey, Melissa went on to great success on Dancing With the Stars, and now she's engaged for real this time. So who's laughing now?
You can read more here.
