Friday, April 10, 2009

dance/ filming/ southland

Apr. 7 Dance: Here's Part 2 to the So You Think You Can Dance Canada auditions. When I saw all these people stretching and dancing, I was very nervous and excited. Then I felt really intimidated. When I was in gr.7 and 9 and danced in front of 700 people at the school's talent show, it wasn't so nerve- racking. Back then I wasn't competing with anyone, I was just there to perform and have fun.

Well I haven't performed since 2000 when that last talent show was. Mainly I dance at home. When the Canadian show came out, the auditions were in Calgary, so I didn't go there. I had to come out when they were in Edmonton. I remember reading a LuLuLemon bag that said: "Do something that scares you once a day." Well I did it. I did tell my manager and my friend Ray at work that I was auditioning. I know if I told my sister, she would be like: "You can't make it." Well Patrick wished me luck.

Blake McGrath didn't really look that good today. Well, this was like the pre- auditions and the cameras weren't really on him so he didn't have to dress up. He was wearing a muscle shirt, jeans, black shoes, and a black touque. It really showed off his tattoos. He and the executive producer, this blond woman were like the two judges to pick who gets through.

One of the rules was to not wear any logos on your shirt. So I wore a black polo shirt, black dress pants and sneakers. I took off my glasses when dancing. Everything was kind of blurry. It's good to dance for Blake. I'm looking at him when I'm dancing, but I can't really see him so I can't get nervous. I felt I did kind of sloppy in the middle of the dance.

We were to dance to Rihanna's "Breakin' Dishes." I heard a girl say: "Go hard, or go home." I did see a beer commercial that said: "Go big, or go home." I felt I gave it my all. I showed my hip hop moves, tried to look cool, had fun, and after my bit was over, I felt breathlesss. It's important that I tried my best and tried something new.

Since I was outside, I didn't get to see a lot of the auditions. From what I did see, the dancers who did their bit, and got rejected, they weren't bad. I think the judges just didn't really like it as much as the others. So about 3 and a half hours of waiting, and dancing for 30 seconds, I got rejected. It's still a good experience, and now I have something to write about.

I remember a couple of years ago I wrote in an email: "I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance. I think I can get to Las Vegas, but I don't know about the Top 20." Well now I know I can't even get through the first round of pre- auditions. Well I'm still going to keep auditioning until I'm 30, which is the cut off age. I haven't been so happy and excited since last month when I finished my script and sent it out.

I always wanted to audition for the show, and I did. I'll throw in another small detail. During the break, Blake was dipping crackers in cheese. You're like: "Okay..." lol.

Apr. 10: Let's think here, what's the new thing I tried recently besides this? Well I ate at Good Buddy Express awhile ago. It's not bad, but Chinese food does taste all the same to me.

Filming: I also saw the host and Muchmusic VJ Leah Miller. The filming was interesting. We're all supposed to run and cheer when we run into the Winspear. Then the producer tells us to all walk back to where we are. Then there were some takes of Leah saying: "Welcome to..." and the dancers say: "So You Think You Can Dance!" Then there were takes of Leah saying: "Welcome to So You Think You Can Dance..." and the dancers say: "On CTV!"

Leah was wearing a white trenchcoat. In between takes a producer puts a big winter coat over her. It wasn't that cold, like 5 degrees. That's like autumn in September.

Economy: I read in the Journal that the economy isn't as bad as it was back in 1930s. We have unemployment insurance and the Canadian Pension Plan.

I'm predicting Blockbuster will close down. Besides the recession, there is the warm weather. People are going to go out instead of stay in and watch movies.

Job search: I uploaded my profile for City of Edmonton. I already uploaded my profile on Telus.

Mar. 9: I was watching America's Best Dance Crew during the commercial breaks of a new Criminal Minds last night and I thought: "I should really take some hip- hop lessons." I didn't because I didn't feel like I should learn how to dance by paying, when I could pick up all these dance moves from watching TV. I reflected back when I was in the talent show. The entire school has watched music videos of Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, so they know what's good dancing. Now these days, there are so many TV shows that showcase dancing, and now with Youtube, where I can watch videos of anyone dancing. There is this whole set of standards that have been raised than just music videos.

Auditioning for SYTYCDC, is way different than performing in front 700 people. I know that not all 700 people can dance, or even be able to perform in front of so many people. But to dance for Blake McGrath who did dance for Britney, Janet, and can do all types of dance, perform in front of thousands of people, and make lots of money doing it takes it to a whole another level.

Writing: I've been getting these newsletters from the Screenwriting Goldmine. This time it said something about looking for a screenwriter. I then emailed the guy. He emails me back with the story, and he asks for me to send one or two writing samples. So I sent Part 1 of The Fighter and Part 1 of Garret Chase.

Southland: I checked out the new show called Southland. It's from the producers of ER. It's a good thing now that ER is over after 15 years, the producers still have work. It stars Ben Mackenzie from The OC, and he plays a rookie cop. The show is really gritty and shot in a different film stock. It's good, I recommend you watch it.

It kind of reminds me of why I decided to not be a cop. I used to watch real cop shows like Cops and the Canadian version of the show called To Serve and Protect. It's so depressing and gets me angry. If watching that makes me feel like that, then I can only imagine that it will be 10 times worse when I'm actually there.

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