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[moku613]

This is the full story from Lacey (Benji's sister):

Hey everyone-

lacey here. i have some news for you which if you read the boards im sure you've heard. that benji was in the hospital for 2 days due to strep throat and dehydration.....thankfully, hes going to be ok and he will try to stick it out for this week.

-BUT- its kind of sad how scared he is with votes. he shared with me that hes afraid he might be getting sent home this week. so please lets show him his myspace fans are backing him. every vote counts. and he will be very greatful to each and every single one of you guys.

thank you-
god bless-
big.love
lacey
b.schiwmmers sister

Don't think it needs to be in spoiler tags. No real spoilers

[SummerSun]

I think Ivan is entertaining. However, he is SO FAR from being the best dancer on the show this season. People can debate the talents of Benji vs. Travis on and on. They are both superb and it is a matter of preference. But IMO, the show loses ALL credibility if they push through Ivan as the winner. I think that would make the show a joke. Most improved dancer? Maybe. But the winner of the show? I can't imagine that Nigel would want that, especially when he has voiced so many times how important this show is for highlighting dance and putting dance in the spotlight by showing how good it can be, etc. He may want to set up some drama and keep the ratings up for the show by keeping Ivan around a long time, but there is no way he wants Ivan to represent the best dancer they could find. Really.

[Diddlee]

Wow, they are running these guys into the ground. I'm wondering if a month off between the show and the tour will even be enough for them to recover.

I watched Reality Chat after seeing Junebug's recap. They apparently showed a different version here. There was no talk of who Allison and/or Ryan thought would win, and there was no talk of Allison enjoying/respecting Ivan's dancing. Wonder why they insist on editing and showing different versions.

Highlights from what I saw: Ryan said that he and Natalie became close in Vegas and that it was good to finally get to work with her. He also praise Dorianna for their Disco. Other than that, he wasn't allowed to talk much as the hosts kept focusing on Allison. Poor Guy.

The hosts asked Allison about her chemistry with Ivan and she confirmed that she had a boyfriend and that she had met Mrs. Ivan. She said Mrs. Ivan was nice. Allison said that Ivan is basically her best friend and they can talk to each other about anything. She said that she and Ivan hung out a lot in Vegas and during the show they were together every minute of the day even outside of rehearsal. She then went on to say how Natalie is like her sister and no matter who would be voted off, it was going to be sad. She said Ivan bawled (her word, not mine) after the show and was really sad and Natalie was really emotional.

Allison and Ryan also discussed how they rehearse all of the time. Allison said that they shove the couches to the side in their apartments and rehearse. She also said that all of the dancers gather in one apartment at night and do their routines for each other asking for pointers on how to make it better. She said that although they are competing, they also want to dance the best they can. Sounded like they all have a lot of respect for each other and help each other out when they are dancing in styles other than their specialty. All in all, it was a warm, fuzzy interview.

[bluvelvet]

I completely agree with this comment. I was also very impressed with Donyelle's audition, so I have been waiting--maybe holding-out-- to see her dance that way again as a soloist. I haven't really been as impressed with Donyelle throughout the course of the competition as I was with her solo. In fact, Donyelle has appeared to lose a bit of energy from my observation. She looks a bit tired and now appears to be a bit sloppy in overall execution. I'm still waiting though.

I hope this isn't a double post.

In regards to Donyelle, I liked her prior to seeing her audition performance. I did not really watch the audition episodes. I think I saw 2 episodes and I wasn't really paying much attention, I remember the guy with the fur coat. I did not see Donyelle at all during the audition process. As for Benji I saw his DoD with Heidi and the "you made it" episode. As such my preference for him also has nothing to do with his pre-top 20 exposure. I liked Donyelle since the first top 20 show. I viewed her audition tape probably for the first time during Week 4. I was firmly in her camp then and still am.


In regards to her performing like she did in her audition tapes, she has yet to have a dance that would allow her to do that. She has done Hip hop, cha-cha, pop jazz, waltz, broadway, lindy hop, samba, hip hop, quickstep. Essentially she needs to do a contemporary routine or a jazz routine (not music video pop jazz). That's not her fault. I think she can probably do a strong contemporary routine, but she needs to pick that style of dance.

In regards to Lacey's story above...doesn't sound good for the Benjelle reunion dance if 1/2 of the team is out for 2 days. *bummer* . Benji as much as I love you, has nothing to worry about.

[fallaway]

Re Benji's "almost hug": this is a common Latin practice. Especially with a small lady or a man with large hands, if he actually puts his full hand on her back, it looks grabby or like he's manhandling her. So the hand is stylized. Don't know if that's where he picked it up.

This occurs in Ballroom dances too; in closed fram the man's fingers must be together, and even then his hand not completely flat against the lady's back.

Not only does it look grabby, it feels that way too to me. Instead of feeling like a connection point, it comes across as "holding". Yeccccch.

Show topic? For the most part, I like the S2 format changes (audience determines the bottom couples, judges pick the individuals until later rounds). Changes I'd like to see:

- If any couples get broken up due to eliminations, all couples should be shuffled. I think they anticipated more movement among the pairings than actually occurred, so we had "seasoned couples vs Dmitry and a New!Worst!Lady" week after week, not good.

- Seeing the same solo routines 3 times in 2 days was dumb, but they fixed that.

- Go easier on the dancers, physically. The injuries are way out of norm for dancers of that age for a couple of months. They're dancing all-out while trying to move different, usually with a partner who can't help them out. That's a big strain on the body, and two routines plus a group number week after week, and sprinkle some solos in there... yikes. I love all the dancing, but these kids are risking their bodies. That's only only their health and well-being, it's their career, for my entertainment. Not a good trade-off. I like the two partner dances per week, because so much depends on the style and choreography. Having two balances it out a bit. But I love the group numbers and the solos are necessary to see them do their own thing... hmm. OK, here's what I propose:

- Competition day: 1 partner routine, 1 precision dance in larger "teams" (say, 4). That way, viewers can see and compare:
-- partnering
-- 2 styles of dance
-- side-by-side comparison of the same steps
-- variety in choreography (partnered vs group, very different use of the floor)

- Judgment day: solos, maybe only 2 per gender instead of 3. I get a little sick of seeing the same people. Also? No solos that don't mean anything, please. If Ameriker has already decided, give it a rest.

Other changes I'd like to see:

- Stop the drraaaaaagging out of results, recapping the previous day and the previous recap. It doesn't affect me too much, because I now fast-forward on through. But there's got to be a way to have Compelling!Drama! without treating Ameriker like it has a terminal short-term memory problem.

- Tweedle Sesame and Tweedle Olestra, gone. There have to be hip-hop choreographers who can string a sentence together. Those 2 together don't equal a single brain.

- Ballroom Rumba. It won't bite (both meaning of the word).

- Bolero, too.

- Amen to demonstrations of dance styles. I'm not a figure skater but I know an Axel from a Lutz from a Toe Loop, and that's because Olympic coverage actually, you know, covers it.

- If the dance demos don't use up all the time currently spent on old tired material (recaps, auditions already aired multiple times, intro of jidges waving every.single.episode), could we have at least a little bio/background of each dancer? It seems there was more of this last year. At least there were dedicated segments. I'm glad they don't all have to recite their signs anymore, but it's gone too far the other way. They were all asked why they dance and a bit about their families, and it was great. This season it seems they only talk about the dancing, and everyone's just stressed. Sad if that's all they're able to do.

- Because it can't be said enough: the dancers move, the camera shouldn't. It is getting better... a bit. Actually, in Ivanison's last Tango (should have been in Paris... heh), there was a nifty move where her leg swung around and he rotated also, nice big leg swoop. The camera cut just as they were going into it, cutting it, so the swoop wasn't so effective. In the good-bye segment for Allison, they showed the whole move, without a cut. So. Much. Better! Thank you, editors! Now can we have that the first time?? I'm happy to serve as a consultant...

But hooray for the tour! So how do I get to dance with everybody? Sign me up!

Edited because weird things happened, and then I thought of more to say. Someone shut me up already!

This post has been edited by fallaway: Jul 31, 2006 @ 9:39 am.

[summercrazed]

Benji is sick? Everyone on the show is hurt in some way. It would definitely suck if Benji and Natalie were paired together. That would just spell disaster.

[Mmm... Free Goo]

As for the format, at this point I think i'd prefer a partner dance and a solo instead of 2 partnering routines, while 2 partnering routines and a solo are way too much for the dancers. This is a competition with only one winner, so it seems wierd that some people like Benji and Donyelle have only done solos once because they haven't been in the bottom group. I loved Benji's solo, but I think it's fair to see what he could do with it again, especially with how solos from other dancers used to partners (like Heidi and Dmitry) got boring because they ran out of ideas after having to solo several times.

I'm dissapointed that Benji is repeating two routines. I wanted a contemporary, damnit!! Although at least this gives a chance for them to get some Wade Robson choreography.

That sucks for Benji. I kind of hope that he was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, which are kind of useless days for the dancers, in that the shows are taped and all they have to do is rehearse group numbers, as opposed to having to learn the new routines.

[sosweetly]

I wholeheartedly agree the show would benefit from pro demonstrations of the styles - I think it would engender a lot of love for the heretofore despised Quickstep, which, when done well and at full speed, (two things that have never happened concurrently in either season of sytycd) is so impressive as to make you want to buy a ball gown, find a tuxedoed hunk for a partner and sign up for lessons. Or buy a tux and find someone with their own fancy ball gown, depending on how you roll. It also wouldn't hurt to see a beautifully executed smooth waltz, samba, Argentine Tango, etc. And we need to see them show with a mounted camera, not the roller coaster action Steadicam of doom they've been using to show most of the routines to date.

I, too, hope Benji and the other dancers are recuperating/holding up on the rigorous schedule the competition asks. At this late stage. losing someone due to injury or illness would be triply heartbreaking, as I've grown attached to all the contestants, even Tracy Flick (Heidi) in some way and am eager to see how it plays out.

As for the tour, I'm psyched, and definitely going to either Detroit or NYC, if anyone, especially in the Detroit area wants to join a TWoP posse and make an evening of it, feel free to shoot me an email through the board system and I will happily organize/co-organize.

[souja]

Hi. Found this place triyng to get my SYTYCD fix and have decided to make it my home for this and AI. You guys make this place comfy and stimulating.

Now onward...

Here's an interesting tidbit from Buddy:

... Buddy Schwimmer said he believes his son can win it all.

He said he was scheduled to be a choreographer for the program but told Lythgoe that his son was trying out and he worried that there could be a conflict of interest.

Lythgoe said that there shouldn't be a problem and noted that the show is drawing thousands of tryouts, Schwimmer said.

"I told him, 'You don't know my son.' "

Sure enough, Benji made the cut, and the elder Schwimmer had to back away from the choreography commitment.

Even more so than all his son's dance moves, Buddy Schwimmer said he is proud of his son for something else.

"He's out there having a good time," Schwimmer said. "He makes the people have a good time, and that's the important thing. They all enjoy him as a person."

Full article: http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/...29.3d10f06.html

Now I also visit the Fox boards from time to time (wearing my thigh-high water treaders of course) and evey now and I again stumble onto something interesting. I thought I'd share what is quickly becoming my favorite thread there.

It's from a supposed "executive television producer" (former?) and starts out innocently enough as a Benji-fanboi thread with a slant. But he goes on with several lengthy follow-ups about the behind-the-scenes aspect of the television industry and how Nigel struck gold with the Benji phenomenon (he claims no Benji this season, no tour). A surpringly good read for those forums:

http://forums.fox.com/n/mb/message.asp?web...d&msg=18764

Here's a random snippet:

There are 3 stages to television series, which work themselves out over a season (or seasons, if you are lucky).

Stage 1 - you are new. The audience tunes in to see what you are going to do. This is called "sampling."

Stage 2 - assuming that the audience likes what you are doing they now tune in to watch you do it.

Stage 3 - the audience knows what you are going to do, they have seen it many times, and they are now bored and go elsewhere.

The trick is to keep them from getting to "stage 3." If you can do that, that's where the money is!

Without Benji, the chances are that "stage 3" would be setting in right about now. The audience, and ratings, would be dropping, reach a certain level, and stay there as the hard-core fans of the show would be the only ones watching.

Is this bad? Not necessarily. If the ratings were comparable to last season's the show would probably be re-newed. Summer viewing is never as high as the fall or first quarter (January-March). Any show that does fairly well in the summertime will be re-newed.

There is more, of course, but it would take a full one-year course in television to cover everything. Then we would be ready to move on to "Intermediate Television."

"Advanced Television" is like quantum physics.

[loseresque]

This is probably going to sound like sour grapes (and it is!), but (if the Wade/hip-hop spoiler is true) I am so disappointed that Wade is only choreographing for Benjelle this week. I get that the two of them are the big draw on the show and it is coincidental that they got him, but I really wanted to see Ivan do a Wade routine. Ivan is my least favorite and nothing would make me happier than to have Travis outlast him but I think Ivan could knock it out of the park. It would be a lot of fun to watch.

I hope Benji is okay, but quite honestly, the guy has nothing to worry about. He will make it in the final 4 regardless of how he does. I'm a little disappointed that he never got contemporary.

[Pixigal]

souja - I read that thread - expecting just another my dancer is better than your dancer thread but it turned into a fascinating read. There is a bit of give and take with a poster who supports another dancer but other than that, it appears to be a fascinating, behind the scenes look at what goes on and what makes a television series successful. I also highly recommend it.

[junebug1987]

The hosts asked Allison about her chemistry with Ivan and she confirmed that she had a boyfriend and that she had met Mrs. Ivan. She said Mrs. Ivan was nice. Allison said that Ivan is basically her best friend and they can talk to each other about anything. She said that she and Ivan hung out a lot in Vegas and during the show they were together every minute of the day even outside of rehearsal. She then went on to say how Natalie is like her sister and no matter who would be voted off, it was going to be sad. She said Ivan bawled (her word, not mine) after the show and was really sad and Natalie was really emotional.

Allison and Ryan also discussed how they rehearse all of the time. Allison said that they shove the couches to the side in their apartments and rehearse. She also said that all of the dancers gather in one apartment at night and do their routines for each other asking for pointers on how to make it better. She said that although they are competing, they also want to dance the best they can. Sounded like they all have a lot of respect for each other and help each other out when they are dancing in styles other than their specialty. All in all, it was a warm, fuzzy interview.

None of this was in the interview I saw. Are you talking about some interview on the show Reality Chat on TVGuide? Because if there is one on that show with Allison and Ryan I haven't seen it. What I was talking about was a reality chat segment on the Fox Reality website called, IIRC, Reality Remix (or Reality Remixed) from a couple days ago. There was only one host that interviewed Allison and Ryan--former MTV VJ, Kennedy.

Now I want to see the interview you watched. It sounds like they go much more in depth with their answers.

[oakgal]

SPOILER CORRECTION: From Benji's own mouth...his partner is Donyelle and he is dancing to hip-hop and Broadway not contemporary as some speculated. He did go on to say that the Broadway was more jazzy.

Grrrrrr!!!!! ]No contemporary!?? Damn it. Broadway is turning into the new Hip Hop. Enough with the Broadway. I want Donyelle to dance a contemporary or modern or lyrical piece. This is what I want more than anything else in this show. If there is only 1 contemporary piece and Ivan gets it........well, flames, flames at the side of my head. So annoying! So disappointing. This is what I get for reading spoilers. Crap.

[skyeblue444]

What is Benji sick with? Some kind of flu? Or an injury?

[slysangel]

Do we believe the post at the top of the page (766) regarding Benji's illness? Lacey didn't even spell her last name right! I find it kind of crazy that she can spell 'dehydration' and not her own last name. Nothing against you moku. It just seems really odd to me.

Edit: Because, while Lacey can spell it, I cannot. :p

This post has been edited by slysangel: Jul 31, 2006 @ 12:24 pm.