Wishing U a :) J.4.

Here's wishing you a very HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I hope everyone was able to enjoy family, friends and fireworks today, as this day is meant to be celebrated.

A bit of news digest:

• The Statue of Liberty crown opened for the first time since 9/11 today, and I think tickets are sold out through the end of the month.
  
• Steve McNair was found shot to death in Nashville, Tenn. this afternoon. Such a tragedy. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.
• Approximately 1.6 million people registered for a chance at winning one of 9,000 tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service next week. The tribute to the star will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
  

(photo via NYTimes.com)

Lady GaGa's Maxim shoot

So, I'm a huge Lady GaGa fan. I became a fan of "Just Dance" last summer, long before it got any radio play. I screamed when she performed on SYTYCD. And I went out and bought her CD the first day it was on sale. I even dressed up as her for Halloween, which was right about the time people started realizing who she was. Well, GaGa is in this month's issue of Maxim magazine and looks amazing! Check out a behind-the-scenes video:

One of my all time favorite SYTYCD dances

Thank you Mia Michaels! Katee and Joshua performing to Adele's "Hometown Glory". Enjoy!



I also found these videos with Joshua Allen, the winner of SYTYCD Season 4, and the other contestants. I miss last season's Top 6!

Lil C's dance dictionary

So funny!

SYTYCD Top 14 videos

Hopefully, they'll keep working:

SYTYCD Top 14

After watching both the Top 14 performance show and the elimination show on the same day, I will say that I thought the Top 14 dances were much better than the week before. The Top 16 were a little rough, and after this week's dances I'm feeling much better about our Top 12 for next week.

Karla and Vitolio were sent home (no surprise there, really). I was surprised Caitlin and Jason made it into the Top 12 without going to the bottom three. I was not a fan of the "alien" dance over Kayla and Kupono's contemporary. It was actually great to see Phillip and Jeanine in the bottom, only for the sake of finally seeing Jeanine in her element. Her solo was flawless—absolutely beautiful. And it made the usually put-together, legs for days Kayla look sloppy. I now have a new appreciation for Jeanine. I'm worried for Kayla, who has now been in the bottom twice and will probably not escape getting cut next time.

I thought it was incredibly convenient that the only ballet dancer in the show's history "picked" pas de deux, a classical ballet routine. That HAD to have been a set up—but if they are going to have a ballet routine on SYTYCD, I wouldn't want to watch anyone other then Melissa doing it. I was a slightly taken aback by the fact that hip-hopper Phillip and Jeanine got another hip-hop routine, their second of the short season choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. When I saw that, I definitely thought this week was rigged.

So I started thinking ... Janette (ballroom) and Brandon got the Cha Cha (HOTTT by the way), Randi and Evan (broadway) got musical theater, Caitlin and Jason (both contemporary) got pop jazz (close enough to contemporary), Kayla and Kupono (both contemporary) got contemporary. The only one out of sync with their style was the couple that got sent home: Karla and Vitolio who did a quickstep. It was their week to go, but it just doesn't seem fair. Maybe it's in the name of entertainment, but I'm not buying the "drawing out of a hat" concept this week.

As I look for videos of Desmond Richardson (yes, he was one of the guests last night—unbelievable!), my fav. partner dances, solos and the group dance, read more recaps. Visit EW.com: here and here, or E!Online's Watch with Kristin: here and here.

Did you see the Dizzy Feet Foundation announcement? Really cool!



(photo via E!Online)

Jermaine Jackson's Today Show interview

The Today Show aired an exclusive interview with Jermaine Jackson this morning. In it, he said his brother, Michael, went too soon, and that he wished it had been him who died last week.

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