For me, the ending was perfect. To watch the show end and not have anything to say about it afterwards is a good thing. That means there was nothing to nitpick, nothing to comment on – just letting the finale be as it is.

It’s been a tough road for Chuck. The first season got interrupted by the Writers’ Strike. At the end of every season, there were questions as to whether the show would come back for another season. Then of course it gets picked up for a 13-episode run, only to get the back 9 episodes picked up as well to make it a full season. It truly is amazing that the show got to be on the air for 5 seasons, and that the writers could do a proper finale like they did. Because as with any show, getting cancelled after the fact is frustrating to all. So an announced final season is really a gift.

I’ve loved Chuck from the beginning. For one, I am a total nerd myself so having a nerd as the titular hero was just pure awesome. But as a TV fan, I really appreciated the efforts made by the writers to create a TV show that was different than most other shows. A show that mixes action, comedy, romance with great flow is no easy feat. Not to mention the show had a lot of heart, which definitely translated to the fans.

Chuck will forever be among my favourite shows (that’s 2 Josh Schwartz shows, along with The O.C.) I love so many things about the show, but my favourite memory is actually outside of the show – going to the WB lot and our tour guide taking us to the set of Chuck (albeit not telling us ahead of time). I freaked out seeing a Buy More sign and the entire time I was in a state of utter shock and awe at standing right on the set, which was the apartment building/courtyard. Actually, before even seeing the set, I saw the Nerd Herd car and I was already happy about that. Unfortunately, I didn’t see Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, or any of the other cast members. But I will remember thinking just how cool it was to have been able to stand on the set of one of my favourite TV shows. Also, I did buy a Nerd Herd shirt at the WB shop, so I’m a total Nerd Herd For Life!

So with that I say goodbye to my favourite nerd spy (Had to be specific. Can’t betray Sydney Bristow and Nikita, after all). Thanks for 5 seasons of drama, fun, and well…awesomeness!

For many, the news of SYTYCD’s results show being cut is seen as being a step in the right direction for reality competition TV. We’ve all complained at one point or another how other reality shows like ‘American Idol’ and ‘Dancing With the Stars’ have unnecessarily long and drawn-out results shows. ‘American Idol‘ especially, is the biggest culprit of tediously long results shows, when the results of who gets sent home can/is announced in the last 5 minutes of the show. The rest of the hour is all filler with a painful group performance by the contestants, shameless promotion of a Ford vehicle, a guest performance, and the aforementioned drawn out results with countless repeatings of “Dim the lights!” and “We’ll find out…after the break!” This is not to say that ‘Dancing With the Stars‘ is any better, as instead of shameless promotion, they feature increasingly lame “comedic” filler segments, along with the usual guest performances. Both shows could use, at the very least, a cut in the results show length from one hour to a half-hour. Actually, I remember when Idol used to have half-hour results shows and at some point, they decided to increase it to one hour.

Personally, I never had a problem with SYTYCD results shows. They had a formula that worked and it didn’t feel like the results were being dragged on. Show starts with a group performance, cue opening title sequence, we find out the bottom 3 couples, special performance from the dance world, contestants dance for their lives, judges deliberate while musical guest performance takes place, find out who gets sent home – all that in one hour, doesn’t seem so bad. Now with the news that the results show is cancelled, there’s going to be some big changes to accommodate the situation. Sure, results shows aren’t particularly necessary seeing as how shows like ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’, ‘The Sing-Off’ and ‘The Voice’ have all made due with being on once a week. Let’s also not forget that SYTYCD in its first season didn’t have a results show, and because season 6 aired during the fall, the first 3 weeks of competition also didn’t feature a results show, with the judges determining the bottom 3 and who got sent home in the same episode. If SYTYCD adopts a similar format to ABDC, which is sort of what they did for the first few weeks of season 6, then it’s not so bad.

Like I said, I never really had a problem with the SYTYCD results shows. The thing I probably hate most about no results show for SYTYCD is that we probably won’t get the group routine. The group routine was my favourite part of the results shows, and a lot of them have become so memorable. Can you imagine if they never started doing results shows in season 2? We might not have gotten “Ramalama” or “Calle Ocho” in season 5 or “El Fuego” in season 8 – those were damn good group routines. Granted, season 8 started incorporating some more group routines during the performance shows, in lieu of another couple routine, but it’s just not the same. The results show group performance was sort of free of a dance style restriction. Sure, sometimes they did fall under certain styles, but you look at “Calle Ocho” which was a hip-hop/ballroom fusion and “Ramalama” was certainly like nothing else we’d seen on the show and to this day, is arguably the best group routine the show’s ever done.

Yes, the news that the results show is being cancelled comes with lots of pros and cons. My biggest gripe with this news, which not a lot of people are really considering, is that SYTYCD is a SUMMER show. As it is, there aren’t a lot of options as to what to watch during the summer. I don’t see why FOX feels the need to cancel an hour of programming in the form of the SYTYCD results show, when they probably don’t have anything else to air. If they do have something else, it’s probably another reality show of some form. So why cut SYTYCD to one night? If this was the regular TV season, it make sense to cut an hour or a half-hour of a results show, so they have room for other shows, that way long hiatuses aren’t necessary. Yes, I get that Idol has the highest number of viewers of any show. But how fair is it to, say fans of ‘Fringe’ which in its first season was put on hiatus for 2 months because of Idol? No freshman series should ever have that long of a hiatus, seeing as how many are still trying to get viewers (or in the case of Fringe, 4 seasons later, still looking for viewers in order to stay on the air). And yet, ‘Glee’ had to endure a 4-month hiatus in its first season as well, even though it was a hit and already had viewers.

At the end of the day, none of this really makes sense to me. Results shows may not be completely necessary, but we’re talking the summer TV season, in which case, I will gladly take an extra hour of SYTYCD over a re-run or some other stupid reality show the network tries to get me to watch.

Now I really started getting interested in where things were being filmed, especially in the Toronto area. Things really went to another level once I found out last year that Nikita was being filmed (mostly) in Toronto. I went into uber-fan mode: “OMG! They are filming in Toronto! I have to go there more often than I do! I could meet Maggie Q or Shane West!” I just thought it was the coolest thing EVER (kind of still is).

I went back to L.A. last December and decided to be my pop culture geek self and went on a tour of the Warner Brothers lot. Best $45 I spent. Being able to see the sets of these shows I love, it was a little unreal. I got to see Central Perk. I stood on the set of Chuck. It was so cool seeing the stages and even just the “regular town” sets.

There is a point in prefacing my blog with these stories, as I so often do. In the past year of watching television, it occurred to me that while it was cool finding out/knowing where some things were filmed, it took me out of watching the show. My suspension of disbelief was temporarily lifted when I knew exactly where something was filmed.

I remember when Nikita filmed for a day in my hometown of Cambridge. They posted in the local newspaper that the bridge in the downtown area was going to be shut down for the day for filming, and when I read it, I freaked knowing that I literally could go see Maggie Q. I made my attempts at trying to find and meet her, but luck was not on my side that day. When the episode (1×18, “Into the Dark”) aired, I got excited watching it but quickly realized I shouldn’t have been. The scenes that were filmed in Cambridge were meant to be a substitute for London, England, so as soon as they said they were in London, I’m like thinking “They’re in Cambridge!” Took me right out of it. Not to mention, as the scenes played out, I’d go “That’s City Hall! There’s the bridge! And the church near the bridge, etc.”

Back in October, after a concert, my friend and I had to go pick up her brother and drive him back with us. As we pulled onto the street where he lived, we saw all these crew trucks and I’m thinking “Are they filming something here? What are they filming? Is it Nikita?!” Short answer: Yes, it was ‘Nikita’ and apparently they’ve been there all week according to my friend’s brother (he didn’t even have the decency to tell us ahead of time.) I managed to catch a glimpse of Maggie Q when we passed by but couldn’t actually meet her. Again, the episode (2×08, “London Calling”) airs, and I’m like “Hey! I know where they filmed that!”, followed by “Damn it! I’m not supposed to know!” Didn’t help matters that in one of the scenes you can still see an Ontario license plate on one of the cars, when they’re supposedly in London (and there I go being one of those annoying people noticing goofs).

Most recently, I saw promo pictures for the upcoming episode (2×11, “Pale Fire”) and soon realized that they had come back to Cambridge to film part of the episode. Unfortunately, I was away on vacation at the time, or else you bet I would’ve known about it and went to find a way to meet Shane West and Devon Sawa. This is how bad it’s getting: I can tell from a picture where they’re filming, and the background was blurry because the focus of the pic was Shane and Devon.

Obviously my interest in knowing where ‘Nikita’ is being filmed is starting to hinder my TV watching experience. And it’s not just ‘Nikita’ that this happens. I’ve watched episodes of ‘Covert Affairs’ and ‘Suits’ where some shots, I’m like “That’s [insert street/place] in Toronto!” because I know those shows are shot in Toronto. Watching the second episode of ‘Hart of Dixie’, they introduced the Rammer Jammer, the local bar/hangout. The Rammer Jammer is also known as Merlotte’s from ‘True Blood’. How do I know that (besides from watching True Blood)? The tour guide pointed it out when I went on the WB Studio tour. From that point on, I’ve been watching ‘Hart of Dixie’ calling the Rammer Jammer, Merlotte’s, and wondering where on the WB lot they’re filming.

But the funny thing is I watch ‘Chuck’ and I don’t even think about the fact that I stood on the set. Same thing with watching ‘Friends’ re-runs – I don’t think about the fact that I saw Central Perk and sat on the couch.

Which leads me to wonder, at what point does knowing a shooting location affect how you watch TV? Is it different knowing that something is a set that was built specifically for that TV show, as opposed to something that’s a part of the world? Because clearly my issues of disbelief arise seeing the streets of Toronto + Cambridge being used as the streets of New York, Washington, London, etc. Also, how do people in LA and NY deal with this? Although I guess, when something is meant to be LA and it is shot in LA, it shouldn’t be such a problem.

Lesson from all this? Maybe I should be less obsessive about ‘Nikita’ and just in general, watch less TV….That’s most likely not going to happen.

FAVOURITE ALBUMS

• Adele – 21: This was Adele’s year, you can’t argue with that. I had already liked her from her debut album, but her sophomore effort made me a bonafide fan. Not to mention, hearing her perform live is absolutely INCREDIBLE.
• Kelly Clarkson – Stronger: Right, because Kelly Clarkson comes out with a new album and I wasn’t going to put it among my favourites? HA! I don’t know what to really say about Kelly Clarkson. She has always been one of my favourite artists, and with each album she releases, there’s a quality about them that makes you connect to it. ‘Stronger’ is no exception; I’ll be listening to it well into 2012.
• Matt Nathanson – Modern Love: Funny thing about Matt Nathanson, I didn’t really listen to his music before. I mean I had his music on my hard drive but I didn’t listen to it all that often to consider myself a fan. Then I went to see him in concert before his new album got released and now I listen to him all the time. And I saw him in concert a 2nd time, and hopefully a 3rd time in 2012 when he opens up for Kelly Clarkson’s tour. ‘Modern Love’ is just a really good album, with great songs and lots of memories.
• Lady Antebellum – Own the Night: Last year, I talked about how I loved Lady Antebellum’s song “Need You Now.” This year, my appreciation for them went up another level with their latest album. I’ve never been a big country music fan, but I really love ‘Own the Night.’ It’s an album that definitely has that crossover appeal, but not so much where it’s like Taylor Swift (not that there’s anything wrong with Swift.)
• The Script – Science and Faith: Technically, this album got released in late 2010 but that was only in Europe. Us North Americans didn’t get the album  until early 2011, so it makes the cut. They pretty much took what was great about their first album and did it again, with bigger hooks.
• James Morrison – The Awakening: A three-year wait for this follow-up of ‘Songs for You, Truths for Me’ seemed like AGES, but totally worth it. James Morrison just does not disappoint.

FAVOURITE MOVIES

Admittedly, I didn’t see that many movies this year, especially in theatres, and so I’ve been catching up as they’ve gotten released on DVD (or I watched it on the plane during my vacation). I’m sure this list would’ve been more extensive had I seen more movie, but this will do.

• Crazy Stupid Love: Cast alone – Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone – I’m pretty sure we were guaranteed a good movie experience. Also, let’s not forget the line that hooked us all – “It’s like you’re photoshopped!” What could’ve easily been a cliche-filled chick flick, ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ was everything a romantic comedy should be -  a comedy about love with a lot of heart.
• Like Crazy: Saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival, and absolutely loved it. It’s a heartbreaking story about 2 people who are trying to keep a long-distance relationship alive, and all these obstacles that come with their situation. You might’ve seen something like this portrayed in other movies, but not in the same way that it was done here. Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin made you believe every moment, every struggle. It felt so real, you forgot you were watching a movie.
• Midnight in Paris: A Woody Allen movie that seemed to appeal to a much wider audience. I myself can’t even pinpoint exactly why I liked the movie so much. It could’ve been the whole modern look at the 1920s and the culture of the 1920s, mixed along with the fact that it was set in Paris, which has its own magical quality to it.
• Martha Marcy May Marlene: After hearing such great things about it from Sundance, when I found out they were playing it at TIFF, I knew I had to go see it. I remember after seeing the movie, not knowing exactly how I felt about, which I think is what makes it such a good movie. It’s a different kind of movie. It’s sort of a psychological thriller but not. It kept you on edge. Also, Elizabeth Olsen is a wonder playing the title character(s). She’s definitely got a bright future ahead of her.
• The Adjustment Bureau: A smart sci-fi type of thriller. From beginning to end, the movie hooks you. Although I must admit from time to time, I did compare the movie to a mix of ‘Fringe’ and ‘Monsters, Inc. ‘ (the Bureau is like the Fringe Observers, and get around town using doors like the monsters from Monsters, Inc.).
• X-Men First Class: With the exception of January Jones, the rest of the cast was great. Going back to the beginning of the X-Men storyline was a breath of fresh air in the series.
• Super 8: J.J. Abrams. Steven Spielberg. Alien invasion type movie. Do you really need more? Yes? Well, how about the fact that the movie is carried by a group of kids and it works? Kids acting that well at that age just make the rest of us look bad. Oh well, still a really good movie.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: This list wouldn’t be complete without Harry Potter. It’s the end of an era! And there’s nothing else to say about it.

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS

• Nikita: The show was good when it started and slowly found its footing getting to its winter finale in 2010. When 2011 came, the show came back kicking ass. I was already a fan, but I became an obsessive nerd about the show, always on the lookout for where they were filming in hopes of meeting Maggie Q and Shane West. I hope that despite its Friday timeslot, the show continues to thrive and be picked up for another season because I can’t imagine a Nikita-less TV world.
• Once Upon A Time: They got me hooked at the mention of fairy-tales. Fairy-tale characters cursed to live their lives as normal people, with no recollection of their other life? Genius. Obviously, the trick is balancing the fairy-tale world with the real world, and so far it’s working.
• Revenge: I figured I would like this show when I first heard about it/saw previews, I didn’t realize how much I would love it. ABC bringing back the primetime soap? Good call. Emily Van Camp is wonderful in her role as Emily Thorne, out to get payback for her father. Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson is flat out perfect. Twists, turns, backstabbings, cliffhangers – the show’s got it all.
• Happy Endings: So many shows have come and gone, trying to do the whole comedy about a group of friends, which inevitably lead to being compared to ‘Friends,’ yet somehow ‘Happy Endings’ stood out. The hook of the show was that 2 within the group were getting married but then Dave gets left at the altar by Alex, and the friends trying to deal with having to pick sides. But the show’s grown so much from that. They still bring up the Dave-Alex relationship here and there, but the show is now really about this group of friends. Also, they have endless amounts of pop culture references which is really all I need to stay tuned!
• Hart of Dixie: Regardless of the fact of whether you believe Rachel Bilson as a doctor or not, this show is so full of charm. With a cast that includes Rachel, Scott Porter, Wilson Bethel, Jaime King, and Cress Williams, the chemistry is endless. Once you start watching, you can’t help but like it.
• How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Fringe, Community, So You Think You Can Dance, Modern Family, The Vampire Diaries: Because I still really love these shows, and there’s nothing else to say about it.

I don’t claim to be an expert or know much about the dance world. There are a lot of others out there who follow the competition circuits, so they know a lot more about all this other amazing talent. I don’t follow it, so I can’t comment on it. Likewise, I don’t have much of an opinion when it comes to the world of ballet, because I don’t know much about it. What I know is from what I see, and what I see is what’s embedded in popular culture. That’s just me.

My fascination with dance started – and has at this point, probably been well-documented within this blog – when I was a kid watching Paris By Night (I promise not to go too much into my fandom with PBN). I’m not entirely sure what it was but I was just really interested in dance. I was just a kid, so I wanted to learn some of the dance moves I saw or make my own, that type of thing. One of the big turning points, the time where my interest in dance was heightened and brought up to another level was definitely with the pop movement that came in the late 90s. I was 10-ish, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and the like were all coming on the scene and apart of this movement. With this, I found myself, especially with Britney, actively trying to learn the choreography in the music videos. Being a Britney fan, I watched everything I could of her performances and concerts on TV (wayyyy before going to concerts was a regular thing for me), and from those I got to know who her dancers were. Now comes the second of the big turning points, which was when I saw Tania Ante on Paris By Night, and I remember saying “Hey! That’s one of Britney’s dancers!” From then on, obviously I’ve paid a special attention to the dancers that come on to PBN. I can’t recall ALL of the dancers who have come and gone through PBN, but I make a very solid effort to keep track.

Despite years of Dance Crew during high school, I would never consider myself a dancer or particularly good at dancing, regardless of my efforts. I’ve always been more of an enthusiast, I think. But at the same time, a part of me always wonders what if as a kid I had asked to take dance classes? I mean I obviously loved learning choreography that I see on my TV, and to this day, every once in a while I’ll still find myself attempting to learn  some choreo that I see. But if I had taken classes, would I have an even greater appreciation and passion for it? Would I be dancing with these dancers I admire, instead of just being a spectator?

These questions really just lead to my thoughts and wonderment of dancing as a career, as a way of life. You watch dancers put themselves through so much, so they can support themselves and make a living doing what they love. It’s not unlike what anybody else wants – make a living with their dream job – but dance comes with such a huge physical risk and dancers put themselves through a lot to be able to do what they love.

This now leads to the whole purpose of this posting – the “It’s About Time” campaign. The Dancers’ Alliance, an organization with a purpose of bringing solidarity within the dance community, is currently working with AFTRA (the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) on the campaign, which works towards creating a fair union contract (including rules for proper compensation/benefits, safety, etc.) for dancers in music videos.

Music videos have been around for 30 years. Before, it was a promotional tool to supplement the release of a single by a music artist. Nowadays, on top of being another aspect to a single release, it is an extra source of revenue for artists/labels because of the technological age that we are in. MTV barely ever plays music videos because all the videos are on YouTube/Vevo with money being made.

It’s sort of unbelievable to think that after 30 years, it is only now that work is being done to give dancers what they deserve in terms of benefits and earnings on music videos. 30 years, which included numerous iconic music videos that became that way in part due to the work of dancers. You can’t argue and say that dancers aren’t important. Those great music videos from Madonna, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson in the older days, and these days from Britney Spears, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, would not be the same without the inclusion of dancers.

Dancers are an integral part to the music video making process. They deserve to be paid fairly and treated with respect under safe working conditions. It’s give and take. They offer up their talent and professionalism, the least producers (or whoever is involved in making the video) can do is give the dancers fair treatment.

The Dancers’ Alliance have been releasing a series of videos featuring a multitude of dancers and choreographers in hopes to rally support for the campaign. Two amazing dancers (who also happen to be PBN dance alums), Randi Kemper and Bryan Tanaka have already done videos in support of the campaign.

To watch the other videos in the campaign, check out: www.youtube.com/dancersalliance

For more information:

• Dancers’ Alliance Website (www.dancersalliance.org)
• DA Twitter (@DancersAlliance)
• AFTRA Website (www.aftra.com)
• AFTRA Twitter (@aftra)

30 Years. IT’S ABOUT TIME.

Yes, the show fell a little flat and ended up being kind of disappointing. I mean with such a strong Final 4, you couldn’t help but wish they had gotten more to work with. Obviously yes, we can chalk it up to fatigue, because with 4 dances a piece plus a solo, they were definitely going to be tired. However, that’s always been the case with the finales: all the contestants dance with each other and then in this year’s case, they dance a routine with an all-star (the 4th number was a group routine in previous years). But for some reason, it feels like this year’s group got it the hardest as far as all the things they have to do for these finale shows. Maybe that’s just me, but it seems that way.

At the same time though, the dancer’s fatigue is one part, but the other part is what they’re given to dance. I don’t just mean the choreography, but the dance style and choreographer as well. Yes, it applies for the whole season, the whole luck of the draw, but it’s particularly important for the finale. From the way I see it, having watched every season of SYTYCD, there are things that should not be in the finale.

1. Don’t bring in a dance style that has not already been featured this season. Sure, we’ve seen disco and stepping before on the show, but not this season. I honestly thought we were gonna make it through this entire season without a disco routine, and I was perfectly fine with that because there haven’t been that many great disco routines in the run of the show. And only on the very rare occasion has a new style actually worked in the finale (to be precise, that’d be Season 4, Joshua & Twitch’s trepak, but if I remember correctly, they ended up incredibly dehydrated after that).
2. Use choreographers who have a solid rep with the show. This is sort of an extension of the first point. But also no offense to the choreographers. I would think that it would make more sense for the dancers to be working with choreographers, who they’ve already worked with on the show; there’s a better connection there. I say this with love, but as surprised as I was to see Mark Ballas choreographing for SYTYCD last night, I was disappointed by what he brought. He was asked to choreograph a cha-cha, but I have to ask where all the fun was? If they didn’t say anything, I don’t think I would’ve known it was a cha cha. On the other hand though, Tessandra Chavez, who only choreographed her 2nd routine for the show last night (and first of the season) did an incredible job. So I guess it’s hit and miss as well, but still. And I also know a lot of the other choreographers (NappyTabs, Travis Wall, Melanie LePatin & Tony Meredith) are busy doing other projects which made them unavailable for the finale, so it’s not their fault either.
3. This sounds really stupid but, boots are not acceptable dance footwear. Season 4, Courtney & Joshua’s Jive, she wore boots, it didn’t work. Season 5, Kayla & Evan’s Jive, she wore cowboy boots, which was good for the song that was used but still no. Yesterday, Tadd & Marko’s Gumboot Stepping routine, which called for gumboots, but still, it’s just wrong.

I think overall, we just needed a lot more excitement in the routines, and that also stems from the music being used.

Now, as far as choosing a winner, it’s a little hard. If we look at who got the most variety in styles, Marko should take it – he got Disco, Broadway, Contemporary, Stepping. Melanie, Sasha & Tadd all got at least 2 routines that were firmly in their wheelhouse (or in Tadd’s case, pretty damn close). But if a girl should win (and probably will) it has to be Melanie, bias aside.

Anyways, still looking forward to the finale tonight, despite a lackluster performance show.

After the phenomenal season 7, we were left to wonder how SYTYCD would top itself this season. For starters, they (slightly) changed the stage again and went back to a Top 20 instead of a Top 11, with the All-Stars introduced at Top 10. Mary Murphy came back as a permanent judge and every week had at least one guest judge. Not all the guest judges did well, but the ones who did were either expected to or a very nice surprise. The key to being a good judge is giving the dancers/contestants criticisms, things that they can work on. I suppose being a former contestant himself, now being a choreographer on the show, and coming full circle to be a judge, Travis Wall showed to be one of the best guest judges of the season. But if we’re talking about people outside of the show, Neil Patrick Harris and Christina Applegate were terrific – both funny (of course) but also critical.

Now, one of the first of many surprises this season was that at the end of the first results show, a decision was made to not eliminate anyone and give all the contestants a second chance to make an impression on the audience. That’s not to say none of them sparked. As a matter of fact, it was a pretty great group of dancers so you can understand the reasoning behind the judges’ decision. That first week of competition gave us a great Travis Wall routine danced by Melanie & Marko, who from that point on I dubbed the best SYTYCD pairing since Katee & Joshua from S4 (but more on them later).

The second week of competition gave some memorable performances from Sasha & Alexander

…as well as Jordan & Tadd

As the weeks went on, we saw the show bring on new choreographers to bring something fresh to the table. We saw an unprecedented number of pairs being eliminated, up until Top 12 results.

Now, as previously mentioned, the All-Stars were brought in once we got into Top 10. But in a change from last year, each week we got a different group of SYTYCD alums, probably because a lot of them have other commitments. But I’m not complaining! I love seeing the older dancers back, especially those we hadn’t seen for a while (like Ivan from S2!) And as it always does, things got kicked up a notch going into Top 10, plus the presence of the All-Stars meant things had to be damn good. Take Sasha & Twitch’s Christopher Scott hip hop

…or Caitlynn & Pasha’s Argentine tango

…or Jess & Kathryn’s Stacey Tookey contemporary piece

Everything was just great!

Results for the Top 10 come in and surprise! Turns out the judges still get a say as to who’s going home, as opposed to previous years where once we got into Top 10, it was completely based on viewer votes. At first, I was just as confused as everybody and maybe a little mad when it continued for the Top 8 results. But then I realized it was kind of a good thing.  From the way I saw it, the judges getting a little bit more of a say at that particular point, prevented the possibility of a shocking elimination like when Allison Holker and Janette Manrara got eliminated at Top 8 week in their respective seasons (that’d be S2 & S5).

Now onto the Final 4 dancers – Melanie Moore, Sasha Mallory, Marko Germar, and Tadd Gadduang. By no means was it a couple shocker that these 4 ended up as the final 4, but each and everyone of them more than deserved to make it to this point. I said previously that Melanie & Marko were the best pairing since Katee & Joshua, but to add to that, this has got to be one of the best finale group since season 4 (I almost wrote ‘best final 4 since S4′ but to be fair S6 had a top 6 and S7 was a top 3).

Melanie’s one of those dancers who embody everything about the dance. She has the technical skill, but she gives performances as well. The judges noted it in her Broadway routine with Tadd last week, and it’s completely true. There’s been talk about how Melanie may not have been challenged as much as the others, but you look at what she’s done outside of her genre, and she is nothing short of amazing. Without a doubt, Melanie is up there with Allison Holker as one of the best female dancers ever on the show. And you know I say that as a huge Allison fan.

Not to be outdone, Sasha is a powerhouse herself. I will admit that sometimes I don’t see what the judges see when they rave about Sasha’s dancing. But in certain routines, you do see the power and passion she puts in her movements, and it’s a great thing to see.

Tadd is unbelievable. The judges always make mention of it, but you can’t ignore it. Here’s Tadd, who is a b-boy, and you see him do these ballroom and contemporary/jazz numbers with such incredible ease, you can’t believe it. And it’s not like this started happening somewhere in the middle of the season. That second week of competition, when he got that Viennese Waltz, you watch him and see he’s got the frame and the lines; it’s ridiculous.

Last but not least, there’s Marko. I have to say this first: I have always been biased with Marko because like Katee, Paula van Oppen, and Alexie Agdeppa before him (not to mention his fellow competitor this season Alexander), he was (and hopefully continues to be after this) a Paris By Night dancer. I can’t help it. As I’ve said so many times in my blog, I’m Vietnamese, I watch PBN religiously, and I have always loved the dancers that come on, whether they were only in 1 show or have been with the show for years. So when any of them venture out to do stuff like this (or tours and other stuff), I give my full support to them. Anyways, Marko, like Melanie, has pretty much done no wrong this season. There may have been a couple things here and there with the ballroom stuff, but overall, he has been a fantastic dancer.

I want to say that come Thursday, I don’t really care who wins (which I kind of don’t because they’re all great) but honestly, for me it’s between Melanie and Marko. They’ve been my favourites from the beginning, they’ve never been in the bottom, one of them has to win.

Now for a little mini-rant (because it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t rant about something): for whoever it was at Entertainment Weekly who wrote this “The final four vie for the title, which will be awarded tomorrow. But is winning the show’s worst season to date really a victory?”, as well as anyone who agrees with that sentiment – what are you talking about?! The dancers themselves have been great this season, sure there haven’t been as many memorable routines as season 4 or last season, but worst season to date? Really? Did you seriously forget that mess of season 6, which aired in the fall of 2009? You want the worst season? That’d be it.

End of story: MELANIE or MARKO FTW!!!

And just because I feel like it, my favourite group routine of the season, which I really hope they do on tour

I’m very well aware that the radio stations I choose to listen to are the popular ones, so they will be playing a lot of Top 40 stuff. At the same time, is it too much to ask for a variety of songs? I find it kind of sad that I have to listen to a radio station from Buffalo (if I can pick up the signal) to get an actually good variety of music. When I can actually pick up the signal for this station (Star 102.5), I get to hear, for example, Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, Matt Nathanson. And it’s not just the songs that they’re famous for (“Bubbly,” “Love Song,” “Come on Get Higher” respectively) but their newer songs (“Brighter Than the Sun, ” “Uncharted,” “Faster”)! Of the more popular stations in this area, if I had to choose, I would listen to CHUM 104.5 and Magic 106.1 more often than 91.5 The Beat, Z103.5, and Virgin 99.9 because they give me a slightly better variety of music. Sure they’ll play the Top 40 stuff, but they also play older songs, which I appreciate.

Yes, this is all preference and people’s definition of what is considered good music varies; this is strictly my opinion, my thoughts. Fact of the matter is, these stations that play a better variety of music, both old and new music, gets me thinking about the songs I grew up with, because these stations plays those songs.

I’m 23 now, and if I look back on the past 10-15 years of music, and compare it to now, I would much prefer listening to the older songs. If you really think about it, the early 2000s were great years for music. We can laugh about the whole boy band thing that started in the 90s and continued on, but you can’t tell me that an album like NSYNC’s “Celebrity” doesn’t hold up today. You listen to some of the singles off that album (“Gone”, “Girlfriend”) and you can still hear it on the radio today. If we want to talk R&B, I would gladly listen to Usher’s “My Way” and “You Make Me Wanna” over his newer stuff. I would pick Aaliyah over anything these days. Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy” over “Run The World (Girls).”

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve never been particularly fond of the dance music genre, but I look at the songs from back then (making it seem like it was THAT long ago, but it kind of wasn’t) and they seem to have a timeless quality to it as opposed to a lot of songs these days. These songs come on the radio and I still enjoy it as I did 10 years ago. I could just be cynical, but I can’t imagine the popular songs of today, holding up well, and still be good 10 years from now. With a lot of artists these days trying to make dance music, it feels almost dated. It’s a little hard to explain. All I know is that, now more than ever, I love and appreciate the artists who write music with meaning and heart, and they really try to make good music and not just follow what’s popular. Don’t get me wrong, I get that every artist wants to grow and experiment with new sounds at some point. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with sticking with what you know, what you do best, and showing what you’ve learned through your songwriting.

Music, like everything else, goes through cycles. So maybe right now, we’re in a little bit of a lull. And while a sizable group of popular artists are trying to make a dance record/album/song or trying to make everything a big spectacle, others are falling through the cracks of people’s consciousness, despite releasing albums with great music/songwriting/intentions. And honestly, this really just goes back to my longstanding wish that more artists get the recognition they deserve. Plus hopes that I can turn on the radio and not hear the same 10 songs or so, ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME.

Rant over? For now…

Now one year later, Christina’s released her first album, lovestrong, and has just embarked on her first headlining tour after previously opening up for singer James Blunt.

Seeing success stories like Christina’s has increased my belief in the music industry. Upon reading about Christina’s Street Team and how they were looking for volunteers at all her tour stops, I decided to jump at the opportunity to help promote Christina and her music. Personally, I think there’s nothing like discovering new music and introducing new music to others, so helping out was a no brainer. In particular, I’m helping to promote the show in Toronto (Aug. 4, Opera House – Tickets still available on Ticketmaster!) but be sure to also check out her website: www.christinaperri.com for a complete list of tour dates.

Anyways, moving on to the actual nominees.

BEST COMEDY

• The Big Bang Theory
• Glee
• Modern Family
• The Office
• Parks and Recreation
• 30 Rock

Simply put, I am so happy that TBBT got nominated – well deserved. Also happy, even though I haven’t watched it yet, for Parks. As always though, I do wish Community and How I Met Your Mother had been nominated. As much as I love The Office, the past season was kinda meh and I heard 30 Rock wasn’t all that great this season either, so yeah.

BEST DRAMA

• Boardwalk Empire
• Dexter
• Friday Night Lights
• Game of Thrones
• The Good Wife
• Mad Men

As I’ve said before, I don’t tend to watch a lot of drama shows. I tried watching Mad Men, wasn’t for me. Never got around to watching Boardwalk or FNL or Good Wife. I’m slowly catching up on Dexter, but I’m not quite on S5 yet, so I can’t judge it either. Thrones, however, I have watched and I very much enjoyed it. It was a little slow in parts of the first half but by the end, I was definitely hooked. Wish Fringe would’ve been nominated though….(and there I go again)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Steve Carell, The Office
• Louis C.K, Louie
• Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
• Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Happy surprise! Johnny Galecki being nominated alongside Jim Parsons! Also got 2 other newbies (as in different from last year), Louis C.K and Matt LeBlanc in shows I haven’t watched. It’s a nice little variety with old and new, but without a doubt, Joel McHale should’ve been included.

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
• Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Timothy Olyphant, Justified

Can’t say much here, but I swear by the time the actual awards come around I will have finished getting through all the seasons of Dexter and Justified. Wish Peter Krause was nominated for Parenthood though.

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Laura Linney, The Big C
• Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
• Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
• Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation

Surprised and not surprised that Lea Michele wasn’t nominated. Two people who really should’ve been nominated though? Courtney Cox for Cougar Town (again, HOW has she never been nominated for an Emmy? 10 years of Friends and nothing?!) and Kaley Cuoco for The Big Bang Theory.

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

• Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law
• Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
• Mirielle Enos, The Killing
• Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order:SVU
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men

Hargitay’s nominated again? Really? Okay, not saying anything else because if I keep on typing in this category, I’m gonna go into a big rant asking why Anna Torv was snubbed (WHY???!!!)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

• Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Chris Colfer, Glee
• Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
• Ed O’Neill, Modern Family
• Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Holy Modern Family domination! That’s just crazy, but so deserved. And Ed O’Neill is included this year too, which is too perfect. Supporting Actor is such a tough category, so I knew lots of actors would get shafted. But how did Neil Patrick Harris, who’s been the main actor from HIMYM to get nominated previous years, including for some not so great seasons, get left out this year for a fantastic season? It just doesn’t make sense. Also Jason Segel got some great material to work with this season as well. Other snubs: Danny Pudi for Community, Nick Offerman for Parks and Recreation

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA

• Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
• Josh Charles, The Good Wife
• Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
• Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
• Walter Goggins, Justified
• John Slattery, Mad Men

For the time being, seeing as though it’s the only show of the bunch I’ve seen, I’m throwing my support to Dinklage for his role in Thrones. Annndd let’s just not mention John Noble’s snub….

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

• Julie Bowen, Modern Family
• Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
• Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
• Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

As much as I love Jane Lynch and Glee, it’s totally going to one of the Modern Family ladies. It would’ve been a lot better however, if Busy Phillips was nominated for Cougar Town or Alison Brie for Community, but that’s just me.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

• Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
• Michelle Forbes, The Killing
• Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
• Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
• Margo Martindale, Justified
• Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

I’m pretty sure these were all expected nominations, so good for them!

BEST REALITY-SHOW COMPETITION

• The Amazing Race
• American Idol
• Dancing With the Stars
• Project Runway
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Top Chef

Oh. My. God. Did SYTYCD really get nominated for the first time??!!! YESSSS!!!!! Don’t get me wrong, I love TAR, I’m on good terms with DWTS, I wasn’t so fond of Idol, and I don’t watch Runway or Top Chef, BUT SYTYCD completely deserved this nomination after a great season 7. Hell, they deserve to win!

BEST REALITY SHOW HOST

• Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
• Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance
• Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
• Jeff Probst, Survivor
• Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

I CAN STOP COMPLAINING!!! CAT DEELEY IS FINALLY FRICKIN’ NOMINATED!!!!!! One thing I love from this set of nominations? Tom Bergeron tweeting this gem: “I’m honored to be nominated for the Jeff Probst Award. I hope Cat Deeley kicks his ass!!” Couldn’t agree with him more.

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY

• Mark Ballas, DWTS – Jive: “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”/Viennese Waltz: “Hedwig’s Theme”/Slow Waltz: “My Love”
• Mia Michaels, SYTYCD – “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”/”This Bitter Earth”/”When We Dance”
• Stacey Tookey, SYTYCD – “Mad World”/”Sundrenched World”/”Heaven Is A Place on Earth”
• Travis Wall, SYTYCD – “Collide”/”How It Ends”/”Fix You”
• Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo, SYTYCD – “Scars”/”Fallin’”/”Outta Your Mind”
• Mandy Moore, SYTYCD – “Oh Yeah”/”Boogie Shoes”/”I Surrender”

So happy for Mark’s and Travis’ nominations! And I totally called it – NappyTabs nominated for “Outta Your Mind!” Hip hop usually doesn’t win, but I so hope they do this year because those 3 routines were simply outstanding, not to mention, the other great routines they did last season. I would’ve thought that Derek Hough might’ve been nominated for the routines he did with Jennifer Grey in Season 11 but I guess not (it could’ve easily just been my love for Derek making that assumption ahaha)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC & LYRICS

• Family Guy, “Christmastime is Killing Us”
• Robert Klein: Unfair & Unbalanced, “An American Prayer – Hymn II?”
• SNL, “I Just Had Sex”
• SNL, “Justin Timberlake Monologue”
• SNL, “Jack Sparrow”
• SNL, “3 Way (The Golden Rule)”

Let’s see, how can Andy Samberg or Justin Timberlake lose? Beyond my obvious bias, I think Justin’s monologue is gonna take it.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

• Idris Elba, The Big C
• Nathan Lane, Modern Family
• Zach Galifianakis, SNL
• Justin Timberlake, SNL
• Matt Damon, 30 Rock
• Will Arnett, 30 Rock

Because I would really ever vote against Justin.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

• Kristin Chenoweth, Glee
• Dot-Marie Jones, Glee
• Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee
• Cloris Leachman, Raising Hope
• Tina Fey, SNL
• Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock

I knew Paltrow was gonna get nominated! There was no way all that hoopla surrounding her singing and whatnot was going unnoticed. She’s totally gonna win, sorry Tina Fey.

For a complete list of all the nominees, check out Emmys.com