Remote Viewing

Say hello to the Top 20: So You Think You Can Dance presents its strangestfinalists yet

Hi, y'all. Don't know if you realized, but there's another season of So You Think You Can Dance going on this summer, and there's so much to catch you up on!

The overly-emotional, injury-filled auditions are already over and all the weirdos have been effectively strained from the herd. Wednesday night, the final 20 dancers were announced on the old Hollywood SYTYCD stage amidst the screeching of an adolescent crowd and the revelation of new updates for this season.

Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe, AKA Creepster McPedophile, announced to the audience that this season would only include a single two-hour show each week for performances and results, so we're at least spared from two weeknights of judge Mary Murphy's ear-shattering alien language and the unnecessary advertising filler that formerly occupied the results shows.

Lythgoe also revealed that there would be two winners for the season: America's top girl and America's top guy. They're apparently tired of always letting the girls win every year.

We are happy to report that host Cat Deeley is looking tanner and more disheveled than ever. Hopefully, this is due to the shame she feels over the confusing decision she and FOX made in having her host the shockingly stupid "game" show, The Choice. Luckily, her accent and her sparkly, funny dresses are still in full effect.

Speaking of sparkly and funny, the first episode of the season's special guest judge was none other than Zooey "I'm so quirky my eyelashes give birth to butterflies" Deschanel. Clearly, she's here to promote the next season of New Girl — as if you could forget that it exists — and not because she has any formal dance training.

And so on to the announcements of the Top 20. One by one, the 35 dancers who made it through Vegas were called out on stage to have their dreams either affirmed or violently shattered. And we get to watch it on camera! Oh, the magic of reality television...

First up, Alexa Anderson was called up on stage to stare at the judges with her deer-in-the-headlights type terror. She's literally the most beautiful woman they've ever had on this show, so, like, shut UP if they don't let her on this show. Of course, she makes it. And so begins her rise to the title.

George Lawrence II was next. And despite his bow tie, short shorts and pencil moustache, Debbie Allen tells him he's on the show. Same goes for lanky, fresh-faced dance giant, Will Thomas.

Yellow-haired Amber Jackson, who has made it to the SYTYCD finals twice now, finally gets to be on screen this season, which is the right choice. With her inclusion, the first four finalists perform a jumpy, writhing meth dance to Jessie J's acoustic version of Rihanna's "We Found Love." It's weird and uncomfortable and gratuitous.

And seeing their spastic, sharp movements re-ignites all the snark in my black, empty soul. We're back, y'all.

Next up, weepy-faced Latin dancer Nick Bloxsom-Carter just would not stop crying in front of the judges. They kept staring at him and he just wouldn't stop. They finally had to shut him up by telling him he made it on the show. And then, of course, he just kept right on crying. Ugh.

The blonde Utah ballroom dancers, Lindsay Arnold and Whitney Carson, went to face the judges together. Like a total monster, Mary Murphy told them they were only letting one ballroom dancer on the show and then welcomed them both to be a part of the Top 20. So the Barbie Ballroom Twins are, of course, going to be an awful annoying trope this season.

For their routine, Nick, Lindsay and Whitney do a three-way ballroom routine to a Jennifer Lopez song that does not really fit their style of dance. In case you're wondering, Ballroom Threeway is not as sexy as it sounds. (Good title for a band, but not a dance routine.) Regardless, Mary tells them afterward that "the train pulled in to the Sizzle Station," whatever that is. Zooey admits she does not know what is going on. Everyone cheers.

After the break, ballet dancers Eliana Girard, Daniel Baker and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp all made it on to the show, which means we'll get to watch their taut, sinewy bodies struggle fiercely with the upcoming hip hop routines. For their futuristic "Fury" ballet number, the three dancers were dressed in cupcake wrapper foil and forced to dance en pointe. For the record: Ballet Threeway is much sexier than Ballroom Threeway.

Jazz dancers Audrey Case and Tiffany Maher both made it into the Top 20, despite looking like every crunchy-haired boring girl from my junior high. Belly dancer Janelle Issis also made it on to the show but got sick before the taping, so she left the two tiny, bendy brown-hairs to dance it out in an athletic Sonya Tayeh routine. Of course, everyone loves it because Sonya did it.

Matthew Kazmierczak, the Mini-Gosling dreamboy dancer, was an obvious choice for the Top 20. And Dareian Kujawa, the powerhouse with the "bad feet," joins him after some ribbing from Nigel. Sad-faced Janaya French became the second-to-last lady dancer, and — as if in a sunless dream — "silent movie" dancer Amelia Lowe snagged the final spot for the ladies.

In their Stacey Tookey choreographed piece, the four dancers lunged across the stage in a nonsensical orgy of kicks and lifts. Amelia's refreshingly pale flesh is like a magical beast that you never get to see on screen, and that's going to make her stand out all season long. She's clearly the standout from this group, if you don't count the real Ryan Gosling.

The last group to dance — after an hour and forty minutes, mind you — is comprised of the final three male dancers: martial arts dancer Cole Horibe, stepper Brandon Mitchell and street dancer Cyrus Spencer. Cyrus is far and away the hugest leap of faith by the judges this season (even more than that silly belly dancer!), so it will be fun watching him develop.

The final dance is definitely the most embarrassing and obnoxious routine of the night. Technically, the dancing was awesome and perfectly demonstrated their talents. But then Nigel put on a baseball hat and plugged the All-Star Game being on FOX. And I remembered again what television is all about and barfed a little in my mouth.

So there you have it. My picks for the season are: Alexa and Chehon. I think all the wild cards are going to throw some much-needed curve balls into the mix this season. And that's actually more than enough to keep me watching (and making fun of it) all season long.

Join me, won't you?

Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom stage

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

bars live music concerts comedy

Loading...