SYTYCD S8 – top 16 perform

Tadd challenged me on twitter to guess which article of clothing he is wearing for this show is from his shopping during their recent day-off.  So I am really all eyes on tonight’s performances, not that I would need any encouragement because we all know that So You Think You Can Dance is simply the best dance show ever! =)

http://twitter.com/#!/D8Tadd/status/84532812128075776

So there are four judges in the panel to critique the top 16.  Mary and Nigel are of course permanent fixtures in the judges table but for this week, Kristin Chenoweth and Lil C brought additional perspective for the show.

Aside from the duets, the dancers are also performing group numbers.  They were divided into two groups.  The partners were separated from each other giving them an opportunity to dance with other people.

The first group consist of Ryan, Sasha, Clarice, Miranda, Tadd, Mitchell, Marko and Chris.  They performed a Tyce DiOrio broadway number (Ray Charles, Hit the Road Jack).  The second group of couse is Jordan, Ashley, Melanie, Caitlynn, Ricky, Jess, Alexander and Robert.  They had contemporary by Dee Caspery (The Civil Wars – Poison and Wine).  Both routines were amazing!

Prior to each duet, the dancers are asked about their first performances ever.

1. Sasha, as a child was a tomboy and rarely hangs with girls.  She loves playing sports with the guys.  In her first ever performance, she was a frog in thumbelina, sporting a green leotard.  Alexander sports the same hairdo as his younger self.  His first ever performance was when he was 6, during his birthday party, performing tribute to the lion with his cousins as back up dancers.  They had contemporary by Dee Caspary (Cary Brothers – Belong).  Sasha just has a lot of grace, lightness and fluidity to her movement (This was apparent even in their hiphop routine last week).  And as always, I barely noticed Alexander because of Sasha’s dominating presence.
2. Caitlynn was also a tomboy when she was a little kid – playing outside with the dirt but in her pretty little dress, which her mom asks her to wear.  She performed the duck dance in her blue sequined blouse and yellow short jumpsuit in her first ever performance.  Mitchell was an animated “model” in front of the camera.  He was a late bloomer in dance, performing his first dance on stage when he was 16.  They had samba by Jean Marc Genereaux (Alicia Keys and Beyonce – Put it in a Love Song).  I don’t know what happened with Caitlynn and Mitchell’s performance.  They were certainly moving their hips right and powering with their feet but the routine still did not feel right.  It seemed like they were both lost on stage even if they were doing all the steps right.  Or maybe I just didn’t like the music because it wasn’t traditional samba music.  The judges surely liked it, so maybe it really was the music.

Pilipinas Got Talent Season 2 Grand Winner

The 14 contestants performed with various celebrities to showcase their talents/acts once again.  Most of the contestants, especially the singers performed way better tonight than the performance night.

The show initially revealed the top 3 contenders:

• Freestylers

• Happy Feet

• Marcelito Pomoy

But the grand winner for season 2 is none other than Marcelito Pomoy!

Finding our true selves…

Ken Wilber talks about finding the true self.  He is an American author who formulated the Integral Theory, which combines transpersonal theory with his own insights and thoeries.  I am still trying to grasp the essence of his messages and am far from finding the ‘true self’ that he is referring to but I do agree that the finite things we identify with as being our ‘self’ are not really who we truly are.

Pilipinas Got Talent Season 2 Grand Finals

It started out with a Pinoy-inspired number with Billy Crawford and Nikki Gil.

1. Freestylers.  We call it “buwis-buhay” performance in Filipino (death-defying).  They did stunt after stunt after stunt.  Each stunt defying the laws of gravity.  The dance parts though were not that strong.  They weren’t as synchronized as they should be.  Also, the stunts weren’t quite original but kudos to them for being able to do it.
2. DJP Trio.  These kids are amazing.  The blending of their voices is truly remarkable.  I think there was a problem with the audio though – the background music was a tad too loud compared with their voices.
3. Happy feet.  These siblings are simply cute.  They didn’t have formal training at all in tap dance but that’s the talent they showcased.  They weren’t able to do the technical aspects of tap dance but they gave a wonderful performance nonetheless.
4. John Michael Narag.  This is a singer with a big voice.  He sings dramatically and with so much passion, sometimes, with too much even that his right eye seems to be popping out.
5. Baguio Boom Boom Boom.  This is a group of 4 boys doing hip hop.  They were solid the previous rounds but tonight everything was off – not synchronized, steps not memorized, costume is distracting.
6. Rico the Magician.  The only magician in the top 14. Amazing performance but the 2 tricks, although, really thought provoking and awesome, were a little too few.
7. Madrigal Siblings.  The nationalistic trio.  Their blending is better than the DJP trio.
8. Marcelito Pomoy.  He does a female singing voice so well singing ‘The Prayer” with both the tenor and soprano voices!  Araneta Coliseum gave him a standing ovation for his outstanding performance.
9. Filogram.  This group of dancers had a solid performance but their routine lacked appeal to the general audience. The routine was simple-looking and did not encourage shrieks of appreciation from the audience.
10. Buildex Pagales.  He supposedly is the Bruno Mars of the Philippines. He sang ‘The Lazy Song.’  There were a lot of sharps/flats during his singing but he relies so much on his charm so he’ll probably still get a lot of votes.
11. Neil and Beth.  The only ballroom dancers in the competition.  They weren’t amazing technically but their performance was utterly entertaining.  The costume change was really unexpected but not necessarily original.  One of the better performances of the night.
12. Jem Cubil.  Another crooner relying on his cute face.  Not a very good choice of song.
13. Skeights.  The band lead singer looked and sounded quite nervous.  The band didn’t sound that tight too.
14. Angel.  She hoola-hooped with fire but somehow the performance was a little lackluster.  She seemed in a hurry to get from one trick to another.  Also, her routine did not have very smooth transitions.

My top 3 performances: Marcelito, Neil-Beth and Rico the magician.

iOS Magic

I wish iOS5 will let me do all these cool stuff as well: