Young Star

29 Dance Fever

May 13, 2011 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The difference between a dance competition on television and a singing competition, like American Idol, is that dance really lends itself well to the medium of television. It’s about what you see and what you hear, unlike AI, where, if you want, you can just leave the TV on and still surf the net.

Based on the most recent season of AI versus, say, a show like So You Think You Can Dance, it seems that dance show audiences have a discerning taste based on the quality of its winners. The past winners of AI are still questionable, at this point. Kris Allen who?

Dance is also something you won’t be able to do unless you’re trained. You are left sitting on your chair wondering if you could have ever been able to pull that off. But if you are Pinoy, chances are, you sing better than they do (or you think you do).

We at YS have been pretty awestruck lately given the exceptional seasons of dance competition shows playing on cable this summer. Here, a step-by-step of what’s out there:

So You Think You Can Dance

The Shimmy: The original format is 20 dancers, paired together to dance a randomly chosen genre and every week, two contestants are voted off. New format is 11 dancers dancing with All Stars (previous contestants of the show) on randomly chosen genres. One dancer is voted off every week.

En Pointe: The contestants are all professionals who are tasked, sometime, to dance outside their training. The judging panel is exact and they are very technical, making you understand why you loved or hated a performance. And Cat Deeley is the hottest host on reality television. Also, Season 8 is starting in the US summer and several Pinoys were seen on audition week.

America’s Best Dance Crew

The Shimmy: Focusing more on the hip-hop genre, each episode has a dance crew dealing with a random challenge (like location and a particular song) that they have to dance through. One crew is eliminated per week.

En Pointe: With past winners that include JabbaWockeeZ, Quest Crew, and Poereotics, there is no doubt the show searches for the best of the best in hip-hop dance groups. Judges JC Chasez, Lil Mama, and Omarion know what they are looking for.

Got To Dance

The Shimmy: Dancers, group or duo or solo, perform before three judges who are tasked to look for the next best dance sensation. Each judge gets to award a gold star (yes) or a red star (no) and two gold stars is enough to bring them to the next stage of the competition. The audience can cajole the judges to change a red star to a gold star.

En Pointe: Having different styles of dancing and combinations gives the show a lot of versatility and keeps the show dynamic. The judges are Coyote Ugly’s Adam Garcia (who is a professionally trained dancer), Kimberly Wyatt (of the Pussycat Dolls), and Ashley Banjo (leader of Diversity, an English street dance group). After two seasons, they released an American version, Live to Dance.

Live To Dance

The Shimmy: It’s exactly like Got to Dance, but it’s done in the US. And it’s got Paula Abdul.

En Pointe: Again, the judges are credible — Paula at the top of her game as it seems dancing is more her genre and passion than singing ever was. Kimberly Wyatt crosses the Atlantic to judge and then there is Travis Payne, who is Michael Jackson’s long-time choreographer. Reports say it won’t come back for a second season due to poor ratings but at least Paula might still shake her booty to Simon Cowell’s X-Factor US.

30 Separating the gods from the men

Kenneth Branagh is better known for acting out Shakespeare’s Hamlet than directing films out of Marvel Universe, but with his latest Hollywood effort, Thor, he proves that what he can’t proclaim in soliloquy, he can more than make up for in calling the shots for Marvel and Paramount’s multimillion-dollar blockbuster. Chris Hemsworth is a relative unknown, but he plays the titular god of thunder with admirable ease. The epic takes surprisingly funny turns (due in large part to a refreshing Kat Dennings) while the rest of the sequences are wrought by equally solid efforts from a cast that includes Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman. Hemsworth alternated between a man on Earth and a god in Asgard, but the sight of Thor wielding that hammer with those big guns should be enough reason to keep you in your seats. Men over boys, for sure, but gods over men, any day

31 A Dukan for a Duchess

Another thing worth celebrating about Kate Middleton, aside from that fairy tale of a wedding of hers, is that we can take comfort in knowing that this is a girl who keeps workin’ on her fitness — bringing the Duchess of Cambridge to a mortal level.

It’s speculated that to get her figure wedding-ready, Kate took a cue from the French by getting into the Dukan Diet, a high-protein, low-carb regimen that involves four phases — attack, cruise, consolidation, and stabilization. Coupled with tons of water and exercise, it supposedly guarantees that after the last phase, you can eat whatever you want and still maintain your weight. Here’s to you, Kate, for keeping the good ‘ol tradition of doing what it takes to fit into one’s wedding dress — especially if it’s McQueen.

32 The call of LOL

The lonely island: Reviving comedy — and Michael Bolton.

We’re building up a sweat from all the LMAOs we’re letting out online. Who cares about Saturday Night Live when we can get Saturday Night Whenever We Want through so many venues for viral funniness? From mock-rap acts like Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island to parodied Olsen twins (Very Mary Kate) to even the humor site 50 Cent recently launched, the World Wide Web’s a stage upon which comedy has gotten pretty creative — or savvy, really.

33 Hot Wings

Everyone seemed to be digging their teeth into them this summer — the “it” eat of the season.

34 Checkout counter

Feel the last bursts of summer heat in macramé tops, sheer maxi skirts, and ethnic prints — maybe even opposing the incoming barrage of typhoons in vibrant hues of orange, red, and yellow. Not everyone’s cut out for la vie boheme, but it doesn’t mean you can’t look like it.