SYTYCD S10: Top 14 Perform, 2 Eliminated

Here we are again, one step closer to the top 10, Ameriker! The group performance is pretty cool, seems sort of Cirque de Soleil-esque, yeah? Curtis not in the opening number and can't perform this week. I immediately thought - who's Curtis? That's no good for him. Oh yeah, he's the young tapper kid.

Aaaaand joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel is Anna Kendrick! I kinda love her, hope she has good comments.

BOTTOM:
Jasmine (?!), Alan, Alexis, Curtis, Makenzie, Nico

No guys doing solos though all in danger. Immediate save to Makenzie, virtually sealing Alexis' fate unless Jasmine royally screws up.

Jenna & Tucker - Luther Brown hip hop. He's hitting the moves just fine but there's something a bit awkward about it nonetheless. She's kind of rocking it, though. More believable. Nigel says not convincing enough for him.

Alexis & Nico - Sonya Tayeh contemporary. I hope they don't get super praised for this, because it's really only okay to me. Her fake running looks super weird and over forced. Mary really praises them, hope it doesn't mean Alexis is safe, ugh.

Hayley (& Curtis) - Miriam & Leonardo Argentine tango. Standing in for Curtis is Leonardo himself. Very traditional tango. Really don't think Curtis would've been able to do that justice at all, quite frankly. Pretty much amazing. Loved that cool lift combo at the end.

Makenzie & Paul - Sonya Tayeh jazz. Not sure about these leather get ups. Honestly the outfits were kind of distracting for me. It was a decent routine but I didn't love it as much as I could have, I think? Very sharp. Judges all very complimentary.

Jasmine & Aaron - Justin Giles contemporary, aka the apple routine. Man, she is gorgeous, why was she in the bottom? That was pretty beautiful to me. Judges are pretty complimentary as well. Honestly one of the better dances of the evening so far for me.

Amy & Fik-Shun - Chris Scott hip hop. A super cute routine, nice to see Fik-Shun doing his thing. These two are a great pairing, though Nigel does have a point that they kind of do the same sort of characters every week. As a side note, Fik-Shun is the only one who can get my boyfriend interested in this show, so not sure what that means. Apparently there was some fall in there? I didn't even notice.

Malece & Alan - Jonathan Platero salsa. Wow, that death drop at the beginning is crazy. Can I be honest, though? There's something about Malece that rubs me the wrong way a little. I think maybe she's a little bit cocky and hides it behind the pixie-ness. She's not really moving her hips enough in this for me. The lifts are the only impressive thing, really.

Mini group routine #1 - Spencer Liff broadway. Pretty fun routine, fun to see Spencer standing in for Curtis, Nigel comments that he shows the dancers where they can go, which is definitely true.

Mini group routine #2 - Bonnie Story contemporary. Oh jeez, a PSA dance. Sorry, but this bothers me sometimes. The shadow background is super cool.

ELIMINATED:
Alexis & Curtis  - This is not a surprise at all, but it was certainly time for them to go.

Who will be in the bottom three next week? I think Jenna and Tucker are in trouble. Perhaps Malece and Alan. America doesn't seem to like Alan very much. Maybe Makenzie and Nico as well.

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SYTYCD S10: Top 16 Perform, 2 Eliminated

Well, it's been a couple weeks! I almost forgot this was on tonight. But, things got off to a good start with the group routine, which seemed to feature a whole lot of Jasmine, am I right?

And, joining Nigel and Mary this week is... Carly Rae Jepsen? Okay then. Her comments, fyi, are not that great. Kind of generic.

In danger tonight: Mariah, Alan, Makenzie, BluPrint, Jenna, Curtis
Immediate save: Jenna

Solos:
Mackenzie - Pretty good, seemed to be timed well to the music with a beginning, middle, end.
Alan - Really not enough dancing for me, just seems overly dramatic and weird.
Curtis - This tap dancing is much better than his audition, actually.
Mariah - Worried about her, Krumping just doesn't look as good as the contemporary.
BluPrint - His animation is so sick, I wish he could bring it to the other styles! Ugh, jeez!

And now on to the partner dancessssssss!

Alexis & Nico - Tony & Melanie jive. How are these two still never in the bottom? I don't get it! Anyway. First lift is a little jank. Nico seems way more comfortable than Alexis. She seems super nervous about the lifts. A half-disaster, to me. Judges being a little nice in my opinion. Apparently her foot is slightly injured so maybe that's why.

Jenna & Tucker - Travis Wall contemporary. I'm getting distracted by those ceiling strap things, I'm hardly watching the dancing. They made it a little bit awkward. I get the intention, but seems like they needed more practice. Apparently they only had today to work with the straps. Mary nearly in tears.

Mariah & BluPrint - Brian Friedman jazz. True to the pre-package, a very fast routine. Felt like it ended a bit early for some reason. They actually did a pretty good job, very high energy. Decent review but makes me think they may both be heading home tonight based on how Nigel and Mary gave their comments.

Malece & Alan - Dave Scott hip hop. Malece is kind of killing this. You wouldn't necessarily expect it based on her look, but she has some swag. Alan? Ehhhh. He's not hitting it hard enough, too smooth. They also look hilarious with their height difference.

Hayley & Curtis - Dee Caspary contemporary. I love pretty much everything on the ladder. It creates amazing silhouettes. The floor dancing was okay but I just wanted them to get back on the ladder. Honestly I think she is kind of a dark horse, she could end up going near to the end.

Amy & Fik-Shun. Tyce Diorio jazz. Thank god it's not Ballroom. Very cool music choice, really helped to sell the routine. Though they danced the hell out of it too. That was pretty awesome, they are definitely a power couple. Can we just have Tyce do jazz choreography from now on? Seriously.

Makenzie & Paul. Dave Scott hip hop. Decent routine, though seemed more jazz to me than hip hop to be honest. Judges are on their feet? Okay then. I mean it was good but not amazing, to me. I don't think Makenzie will be going home based on that, though.

Jasmine & Aaron. Tony & Melanie quickstep. Oh man, the dreaded quickstep! But in the pimp slot! That was actually a pretty decent quickstep. It was a lot more fun than I remember it being in the past, perhaps because of peppy music.

AND, THE ELIMINATED DANCERS ARE: 
BluPrint & Mariah

Not a surprise, though I am sad Mariah didn't get farther. She pretty much knew from the beginning, she was crying the whole night.

So, who should be in the bottom next week?
Alexis, Alan, Curtis, Nico, and I have no idea for the other two girls?! Hopefully not Hayley. Maybe Jenna again.

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Competition Show Tragedy: The American Baking Competition

Did any of you watch this CBS show? The American Baking Competition? It was, admittedly, super hokey. For some unknown reason, Jeff Foxworthy was the host, I had no idea who either of the guest judges were, and they were baking in a giant tent thing somewhere in Georgia. And, on top of it all, they called what they were making "bakes." Never have I heard that term used before. I get the point of it, to make it a general term for everything they were baking, but it still seemed super weird.

The contestants with host Jeff Foxworthy.

Here's the thing though, the prize was pretty awesome. Not only was there money at stake, but also a cookbook deal. A cookbook deal is pretty great. But, much like King of the Nerds earlier this year, when it came time to pick the winner, the judges delivered an epic fail. I literally shouted "WHAT! THIS IS BULLSH--!" and turned off the TV the moment they announced (spoiler alert) Brian as the winner. Brian, who had failed "bake" after failed "bake" throughout the competition, and only just started to do well right toward the end. He finally won the coveted star baker award right before the finale, even though he thought he should win it pretty much every week before that.

I get that he started to do well at the end. And maybe they were looking for some kind of comeback story, but honestly I think Darlene should've won. I would've even been happy with Francine, because at least her cookbook would've been interesting and full of peanut butter. Darlene consistently did well throughout the competition. The only time, really, that she started to struggle, was right there at the very, very end, when the stress started to get to her. I just don't understand giving the big win to the person who was the most variable throughout the competition. They're supposed to be picking America's best amateur baker here, not the person who had the best last couple of recipes.

I'm not sure this show will get another season, or that it particularly deserves it, but I will say the one thing I did enjoy was the various things they had to bake. But this could be entirely because I just love baking in general (duh) and was interested in recipes I'd never seen before.

So, did any of you watch it? What did you think? Am I out of line being outraged or do you agree?

And the winner is...

Thank you to all who entered my giveaway for the most recent Supernatural tie-in novel, Carved in Flesh! A winner was chosen at random from all of the entries using random.org, and that winner is....

Cristobal Garcia Martinez!

Congratulations Cristobal!

Please shoot me an email at freshfromjen(at)gmail.com to claim your prize!

Thanks again to all who entered, and check back for future giveaways!

SYTYCD S10: Top 18 Perform, 2 Eliminated

Quite beautiful opening number. The volcano thing in the middle of the stage was pretty cool, with the dancers just leaping into nowhere. No wonder I loved it - Christopher Scott and Sonya Tayeh choreographed it! But! One dancer is missing - Jade. He tore his meniscus and has to have surgery, therefore has to withdraw from the competition. This seems to happen every year! I kind of wish they'd bring back Carlos for his spot, though. Poor Carlos.

The other news - after last week's super weird eliminations at the top of the show, there was fan outcry, so now they're waiting until the end of the show to do the eliminations. As it should be!

We also have two extra guest judges - Erin Andrews (who?) and... Paula Abdul! Hey! She knows dancing, this should be interesting!

In the bottom this week:
Jasmine Mason (What?)
Alexis
Jenna
Curtis
BluPrint (you're lucky, dude)
Jade

The guys are lucky because Jade is withdrawing, so neither of them have to dance, but all three girls have to do solos rather than the saving one automatically thing from last week. So many changes on this show! Have to keep up! To be honest, I thought Alexis had the most dynamic solo, but she's the most likely to get cut. We'll find out at the end of the show!

And now on to the couples...

Amy & Fik-Shun. Jean Marc Genereaux Paso Doble. Egads. Now they're at the top of the show rather than near the end. And with a paso! Very Matrix-y vibe. I was half expecting a train wreck, but Amy's so good she elevates Fik-Shun in it. These two really are probably going to go all the way if they keep this up and don't start feeling some backlash.

Jasmine H. & Aaron. Spencer Liff Broadway. This one requires a lot of acting from them; Jasmine seems to be bringing it more. She's pretty on fire. Normally I'm not a huge fan of Broadway pieces, but generally liked this one, though Aaron kind of disappeared to me.

Mackenzie & Paul. Lindsay Nelko contemporary. Their emotional connection seems much stronger than it used to be. Kind of a generic contemporary piece for me, though. Paula actually has some interesting comments tonight, she seems to have much more to say about dancing than singing. Also, can I just say? Paul is hot. Okay. There, I said it.

Jasmine M. & Alan. Sean Cheesman jazz. Pretty fun routine. You know, I think maybe jazz routines tend to be my favorite even though I always think it's going to be contemporary routines? I just like the choppy movement and quirk of the jazz stuff. Gotta say, though, I just don't care about Alan. Judges all say they should've let themselves go more, which I can see.

Jenna & Tucker. Keone & Mariel Madrid hip hop. That outfit on Jenna is HEINOUS. No thank you. I'm not sure what style this is supposed to be? Doesn't seem like hip hop much to me, more like jazz. Not sure this is enough to get many votes, though. Nigel says one of his favorite routines so far? Okaaaaay.

Malece (& Marko). Sonya Tayeh contemporary. Honestly I think Marko is really elevating Malece in this. She seems much more mature. Judges are on their feet and Sonya is dancing in the aisle. Wow. Nigel says pretty much what I just wrote, ha! If only she wouldn't do her little giggle.

Hayley & Curtis. Jean Marc Genereaux Samba. My eyes were drawn to her the entire time, had to remind myself to pay attention to Curtis. There was something a little held back about this routine, though, they aren't getting down into it enough. Not very memorable. Judges give Curtis a lot of flack.

Alexis & Nico. Spencer Liff jazz. Probably their best performance of the whole competition, but I have a feeling it's going to be her swan song, because he really does outdance her in it despite her being pretty good. Judges say it's a shock she's in the bottom but I don't know about that. Poor Nico needs some acne meds. Aw.

Mariah & BluPrint. Luther Brown hip hop. Oh really, a hip hop and the pimp slot? They're really in sync which is tough in such a fast routine. Pretty impressive. BluPrint still has trouble connecting facially, not sure he's every going to be able to really do that how they want. BluPrint looks so crestfallen by the personality comments.

And, finally, the RESULTS:

Jasmine Mason is out! What!!! Oh man, I don't really agree with this decision. Sigh.

Who's in danger next week? Unless they get sympathy votes, Curtis and BluPrint are probably in the bottom again. Not sure who else will join them, perhaps Tucker? The girls were all pretty dang good tonight, so I don't know, might end up being Jenna and Alexis in the bottom again with another girl in there, though I don't know who?!

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Book Review: Supernatural: Carved in Flesh by Tim Waggoner

As promised, here is my book review of the latest Supernatural tie-in novel, sent to me graciously by Titan Books. I previously reviewed Rite of Passage and interviewed the author of Fresh Meat, Alice Henderson. But enough about that, let's get to why you're here.. the review!

Supernatural: Carved in Flesh 
by Tim Waggoner

Synopsis: Reported sightings of a hellish hound and the discovery of newly dead desiccated corpses bring Sam and Dean Winchester to Brennan, Ohio. But when they catch the monster canine it turns out to be “Frankenmutt”, a reanimated patchwork of pieces from separate dogs. Soon the brothers are on a trail that leads from mad scientists and biotechnology to a centuries-old alchemists, walking corpses, and an ancient and malevolent power. Set during season 7 between the episodes "Time After Time" and "The Slice Girls."

Review:

This book is set during season seven, which means there's talk of the Leviathan and Bobby being dead, and generally all manner of things I didn't much like about season seven. But I suppose that's not the book's fault, it just happens to be the timeline it had to be set during. At least that stuff doesn't overtake the plot, but sometimes it feels like a bit of an afterthought. Oh right, there's these Leviathan, better mention them now before I forget!

First, the positive: This book does a good job at keeping Sam and Dean at the forefront of the story while also mixing in information and detail about the villains, without going too overboard. Perhaps the most compelling part of the entire book, for me, was a flashback story that was told throughout the book in bits and pieces. It relates back to what's going on in the main story well, though maybe a little too on the nose. This may just be because I'm a fan of the adventures of young Sam and Dean, but I enjoyed those flashbacks.

But, the negative: Honestly, I kind of wished the whole story took place in the flashbacks. It took me incredibly long to finish this book, because I just could not get into it, instead basically having to force myself to do it. This is partially because I'm not a huge fan of these tie-in novels, I'm sure, but also? I kind of felt like I've read better bits of fanfiction online. The dialogue didn't ring 100% true for Sam and Dean to me; there were a lot of paragraphs of dialogue exposition, which drives me nuts. That's not to say this isn't an interesting story that would fit on the show itself, because it would, but it was just lacking something ultimately compelling for me. There's this whole thing about Sam slowly getting sick through the book, but it gets resolved super easily in the end. In fact, that may be my problem with most of these novels (at least those that I've read) - everything gets resolved really quickly in comparison to the length of stuff leading up to the conclusion.

All of that being said, if you like yourself some gruesome, you didn't mind season seven, and you're interested in Frankenstein, you might like this book. Also, if you like tie-in novels in general, you'll probably enjoy this more than me.

TO WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK - Enter the giveaway!

SYTYCD S10: Top 20 Perform, 2 Eliminated

The show opens with a group number that's fun, kind of reminds me of something though I'm not sure quite what. Like a circus Nutcracker or something? Tyce Diorio choreographed that, which just makes me think he's always better at group choreography than pairs.

Joining Nigel and Mary for the first episode of eliminations is returning judge Christina Applegate.

Bottom Three Girls: Mariah, Mackenzie, Brittany
Bottom Three Guys: Alan, Jade, Carlos

Right off the bat! Whoa! And no tap girl and Colombian boy in the bottom?! Nuts! The judges get to choose two dancers to immediately go to safety. And they are...

Alan and Mackenzie. The other four have to dance for their lives immediately. And if they're cut, they still have to dance later?! Oh man, I hope Mariah doesn't go! I love her! Ack! She has to start immediately!

Solos:

Mariah - She really doesn't look like a Krumper from the outside. Hope that was enough.
Carlos - Great song choice. Does a great job with musicality. Wish he had more time, really.
Brittany - A lot of arm twirls. Hard to make ballroom look good in a solo. Since there's another ballroom girl, she's probably in trouble.
Jade - Pretty cool solo. Fluid. Also connected well with the music.

Eliminated: Nigel comments he's somewhat disappointed in the solos, but admits their decision isn't entirely based on the solos, but also from Vegas, what the choreographers have said, rehearsals, and how they'll grow. Carlos & Brittany are out.

Honestly I'm not surprised by this decision, but it's odd to have them perform later still. Weird decision. Hope it doesn't mess up their partners, eesh!

Now, on to the routines...

Hayley & Curtis - Ray Leeper jazz. Whoa, those boots! Okay routine, kind of lacking a wow factor for me, though. Like, blah? I dunno. Just me? Judges seem to lurve it, though I do have to agree that I think Hayley could go far. Christina gives constructive criticism, which is why she's a good judge.

Jasmine H. & Aaron - NapTab lyrical hip hop. Her outfit is really not the most flattering, I'm never a fan of those high-waisted pants. They had good emotion for the most part, the routine didn't make me too crazy, though. I'm hard to please anymore! Judges all effusive about it.

Malece & Jade - Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood. Oh boy. Bollywood can either be great or terrible. Not the sharpest in their hand movements, but the routine is a lot of fun and moves really quickly, lots of energy. They're an odd couple, aren't they? He just seems way more mature than her.

Alexis & Nico - Stacey Tookey contemporary. Sequel to previous routine from past season about soldier going to war. I'm kind of not sure about Alexis based on this, hard not to compare her to Katherine who was in the original routine, because nowhere near her. Judges are pretty positive.

Brittany & BluPrint - Spencer Liff Broadway. Oh boy, first routine with an eliminated dancer! Interestingly, Brittany shines in this while BluPrint looks fairly uncomfortable to me. Just something very step by step about his moves.

Jasmine M. & Alan - Miriam & Leonardo tango. Honestly, not that surprised that Alan ended up in the bottom, there's something about him that doesn't quite connect. This tango is super sexy, though. Maybe one of my favorite tangos they've done on the show?? Wow, though that last lift was awkward even though Nigel thinks it was impressive. I mean, yes, super difficult, but still a littllllle bit weird.

Mackenzie & Paul - Sean Cheesman jazz. I think Paul has crazy tween fans, there are so many screams for him. Love the music in this. Not entirely sure what the story was supposed to be, but they seemed to dance it pretty well.

Mariah & Carlos - Stacey Tookey contemporary. Second dance with eliminated dancer. I'm kind of sad for Carlos, I think I like him more than I realized. Aww. Shame, because they would probably both be safe with this routine this week. Aw poor Mariah is crying. Now she's going to be with BluPrint, which doesn't seem like a good idea.

Amy & Fik-Shun - NapTab hip hop. Wait a minute, they get the next to last slot after getting the pimp slot last week? I call favoring! Cute routine, though not as good as last week. Lots of big praise from the judges. I mean, yes, they're good, but sheesh are they trying so hard to make these two happen!

Jenna & Tucker - Dmitry Chaplin cha cha. More sexy routines! Sheesh. She certainly looks in her element. He's good but not quite as believable, which Mary actually comments on too! Nigel says not enough cha cha for him, basically dissing on Dmitry's choreography. Oh Nigel.

So, what do you think? Are you disappointed in who was sent home? I'm surprised Alexis and Nico weren't in the bottom, they probably got a lot of sympathy votes after getting harsher criticism last week. Not sure they would've made it through if they had been in the bottom. Any early predictions for top dancers?

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