andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Bollywood debut was so awkward I could barely watch, but I couldn’t look away either.

There has never been any mistaking Harper for a cool guy; an Obama-type personality. Harper belongs on TLC, not MTV, and that isn’t news. But his appearance on India’s version of So You Think You Can Dance reaffirmed that there really isn’t much personality under his tough conservative skin.

In early October, Harper performed on stage with famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Harper’s rendition of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends was actually…not too bad. It was the first time that many had seen Harper peek his head out of a Conservative shell that he’d been hiding in since he became Prime Minister. I started to cut him some slack.

READ MORE »

So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley will be presenting an award at Sunday’s 61st annual Emmy Awards, but many say she should be among American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest, Survivor host Jeff Probst, and Heidi Klum of Project Runway as a nominee for best reality show host.

At the G-Star Raw fashion show, Deeley told E! News two people had already told her she deserved a nomination in the 20 minutes since she’d arrived at the show.

“I’m a little bit nervous about it though,” said the Brit about presenting. “I’ve done it back in England, and I’ve hosted award shows back in England, but I’ve never actually done it before here. But I’m excited, you know? It’s a really exciting thing to do. I’m having a whole plethora of dresses coming in. I know I’ve got Matthew Williamson and [Burberry's] Christopher Bailey sending me over things so far, but I’m sure there’ll be more.”

READ MORE »

President of ABC Entertainment Stephen McPherson said he would absolutely love to have Paula Abdul as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, reports Perez Hilton.

“We would love to have her on Dancing whether it’s as a contestant, or a participant, judge, etc.,” McPherson said of the former American Idol judge. “I was a little stunned by the decision,” he said about her recent departure from the Fox reality show where she worked for eight seasons. “I think she’s a huge talent. There’s a sensitivity and emotion in her that balances out Idol and we’d love to get a piece of that.”

READ MORE »

Katie Holmes’ performance on So You Think You Can Dance has not received much praise, according to E! Online. The actress performed an homage to Judy Garland choreographed by Tyce Diorio Thursday night on the reality show.

“I am f***ing INSULTED, Katie Holmes how dare you!,” Shanna Moakler wrote on Twitter. “I didn’t just grow up on musicals, I lived and breathed them, Oklahoma, Easter Parade, Family Band, don’t touch my legends! You’re not worthy.”

READ MORE »

As E! online so eloquently puts it, “For So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe, there is no dancing around the issue.”

After defending his allegedly homophobic remarks via Twitter on Friday, Lythgoe has officially issued an apology at the urging of gay rights group GLAAD.

“I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made both during the taping of theSo You Think You Can Dance audition and on my personal status update,” said Lythgoe. “I am not homophobic and it was extremely upsetting for me to be classed as such.”

READ MORE »

Alex DeSilva might not be applauded at the So You Think You Can Dance performaces anymore. According to E! online, the 41-year-old choreographer and performer for the show was arrested on Saturday for four counts of sexual assault that took place between May 2003 and March 2009.  

According to the LAPD, all of the victims were his students at the time. Los Angeles’ premiere salsa personality allegedly lured them to his homes in North Hollywood and Van Nuys, and raped them.  

READ MORE »

Kherington Payne, a top 10 finalist on this season’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” has landed a major role in the upcoming remake of the ’80s classic “Fame.”

The 18-year-old contemporary dancer will play Alice, a character originally slated to be a ballerina but now recast as an aspiring contemporary dancer from New York.

Payne, from Orange County, auditioned and won the part after being approached by a talent agency while on tour with the cast of “SYTYCD.”

“Fame” follows an ensemble of characters who are all trying to succeed in the entertainment industry.

The original 1980 movie won two Academy Awards, for best original score and best song (”Fame”).

The remake will be directed by Kevin Tancharoen, who has worked on videos for Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson and also directed Britney Spears’ Onyx Hotel tour.

Besides Payne, the cast includes Thomas Dekker (”The Sarah Connor Chronicles”), Kay Panabaker (”Summerland”) and Naturi Naughton (formerly of pop group 3LW).

The film will begin shooting in December, for a September 2009 release.

Joshua Allen was crowned America’s favourite dancer last night.

The 19-year-old street dancer from Texas won the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance last night, beating out fellow street dancer Stephen “Twitch” Boss, contemporary dancer Katee Shean, and jazz dancer Courtney Galiano.

“I just want to say that, never let anybody tell you you can’t do anything, because no matter what you do, you can always go forward,” said Allen, who had to do chores at his local dance school in exchange for lessons. “The sky’s the limit!”

As the winner of SYTYCD, Allen gets $250,000 in prize money, plus a part in the upcoming movie Step Up 3D, produced by Hairspray director and SYTYCD guest judge Adam Shankman.

Before he makes his debut onto the big screen, Allen will be hitting more stages across North America for the SYTYCD tour.

Ten other dancers made the cut–Twitch, Katee, Courtney, Mark Kanemura, Chelsie Hightower, Will Wingfield, Comfort Fedoke, Gev Manoukian, Kherington Payne, and Jessica King, who dropped out due to an injury after making it into the top 10.

Canadian fans can catch Allen and the rest of the top 10 in Toronto in October. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster.

Two of the final four “So You Think You Can Dance” contestants collapsed on Saturday during rehearsals and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Mary Murphy, one of the show’s judges, told People magazine that the contestants “went in [Saturday] and so there was no more rehearsals, and today [Sunday] all the rehearsals were called off. The kids are completely dehydrated – two of them. I’m sure they’re doing a lot of blood work to see if there’s anything else.”

Though the names of the contestants who collapsed haven’t been released, the final four are Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss, Joshua Allen, Katee Shean, and Courtney Galiano.

The two healthier contestants were not allowed to continue rehearsing, to be fair to the others.

Murphy explained that the ill contestants had been pushing themselves too hard in preparation for the final. “They want it so bad,” she said, “so, they keep pushing themselves and pushing themselves and not letting anybody know that, ‘Hey, I’m running on empty,’ and then it catches up on them and then they collapse.”

This isn’t the first time injury has struck the set of the reality competition this year. Top 10 finalist Jessica had to leave the competition due to cracks ribs.

Fans of “High School Musical” need to get ready for their newest love: MTV’s new movie musical “The American Mall.”

To help introduce their audience slowly, before mind-boggling obsession will inevitably set in, MTV will launch the official web site today, www.vmtv.com.

The virtual Mall site allows fans to get to know the cast, including “The O.C” star Autumn Reeser, “Degrassi: The Next Generation” cast member Nina Dobrev, and dreamy “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant Neil Haskell. The site includes virtual tours of the set, video diaries, and exclusive photos and footage.

Fans can then blog about the movie, and attend events, like the virtual karaoke party on August 22.

The movie, airing Monday, August 11, “is the story of Ally, a hardworking young woman whose mother has owned a music shop that’s been the soul of the mall ever since it opened when Ally was a kid. Ally’s singer/songwriter dreams seem to come closer to fruition when she meets Joey, a musician who’s moonlighting as a janitor at the mall in order to support his own rock star ambitions. While Joey understands her songs (and heart) like no one else, Ally’s happiness and the fate of the music store are threatened when the mall owner’s spoiled daughter Madison – who will stop at nothing to get what she wants – becomes involved.”

The soundtrack will be available in stores the day after it airs.