RYAN ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!

Thanks Ryan! You are soooo fuzzin lucky!!! I lover you!!



OMG! The tour was ah-mazing! Money well spent! I even got pictures. My seats weren't spectacular, but they weren't bad either. I actually got to switch with the woman in a row ahead of me, but then this tall big-headed guy sat infront of me. He didn't come until the 2nd or 3rd routine. Ummmm, you don't come in late for SYTYCD! A big "No, No". Luckily, there was an empty seat next to me so I could lean over. My camera has a long zoom so that's why it appears that I'm so close to the stage. I don't have any pics from the first half of the show b/c I was afraid they wouldn't let me bring my camera in, but at the intermission I went and got it which turned out to be a reeeaaaally good thing. And Chicago's favorite dancers judging by the response are Travis (1), Benji & Ivan. I think Ivan may have had a lil bit over Benji, but it's a toss-up. But enough with the particulars. On with the show!

So this isn't a total play-by-play, but rather the things that stuck out to me, which will explain how it may be all over the place .

First off, Donyelle wasn't in these group dances: Ramalama, Disco, Bye Bye Blackbird, and the Encore Group "You Can't Stop the Beat" at the end. I was totally disappointed to see Jessica (wtf?) in Ramalama and Disco, and not Donyelle L. Maybe she wasn't totally 100%, but better than in St. Louis. She was in Technologic and Chicago though..



I loved Donny's intro to Heidi/Benji Mambo. She has great delivery and even though it is, it doesn't sound too rehearsed or scripted.



But Travis and Allison, on the other hand, and even Benji a little too, their intros/history lessons don't sound as natural.


Natalie is also a natural. She's a ham, but fun. She should seriously consider acting if her knees ever give out (due to dance injuries, get your mind out of the gutter people!).


There weren't too many Benjelle moments. I didn't/couldn't see any behind-the-screen action pre-Too Much Booty. At the end he lifted her up by the waist. The Argentine tango intro was cute of course! Donny wasn't humping Benji's leg like someone said in another city, but she was up on him and he didn't seem to jump as quickly out of Donny's clutches like in Phoenix.

For the VFW intro, Benji said "no comment" about his and Donny's relationship and he announced her as "my partner: Donyelle!" I took some photos and the final embrace makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside..






"You Can't Stop the Beat" went off without anybody getting hurt. They were so cute in all their dances.




Other standouts:

-Treidi Bench routine: You've seen it, you know it's amazing, even more so live.


-Ivan's solo: He danced to Justin Timberlake's "My Love". It borrowed some of the moves from his Wade Robeson solo, but it was hot! I love that song though. JT you need to hire this boy when Futuresex/Lovesounds goes on tour! Pronto!



-Dmitry & Natalie's Samba: I didn't really pay attention to it when they did it on the show, but this time I did and it was very entertaining…and en fuego!


-Treidi Paso Doble: I've always loved this one, and this time is no exception. It's especially intense live with the music and lighting.

-"SexyBack": I liked this version. They all vamped it up. This time Travis brought it, unlike on tv when Donny stole the number, but she was still on her game tonight with the diva persona. Fierce! And Benji's Zoolander impression at the end was too much LOL. He had it dead-on.

-Travelle Georgia: How lovely…The word that comes to mind is "floetry". It almost got me misty-eyed.

-Travalie contemporary: A gorgeous piece, and those to get so much height on their leaps. It would have been nice to have seen them dance together on the show.

-And Benji's solo: That Boy moves so fast and he danced out into the audience on a platform in the orchestra pit. Kinda like *NSYNC on the "No Strings Attached" tour.

Oh and did I mention I got to meet them? Yeah…I DID!

Afer waiting 1.5-1.75 hours for them by the back door by the buses, Travis came out first then Allison & Ivan, then not in this order (b/c I don't remember) Martha & Donny, Natalie, Dmitry, Ryan, Jaymz and finally Benji.




The first one I came in contact with was Ryan. Oh, and before I forget, I was right behind the barricade, leaning on it, front and center. Now here's where the title of this post stems: Since he's in front of me (and probably b/c I have nothing better to say) I say "Hey Ryan! My name is Ryan too!" LAME, yes I know, but whatevs LOL. He then says his mom named him 'Ryan' so that it would be easy for him to spell as a little one. I was named after a character on a now defunct soap opera ("Ryan's Hope"). Go fig. So I asked Ryan if we could take a photo ('Ryan & Ryan') and we did. Despite what we saw on the television, Ryan does have a personality and he's not creepy .



Natalie and Ivan are a hoot! Ivan had us screaming for the guys. He was like "If you love Travis (and then Benji) scream!" Then Travis did the same for Ivan. Nat and Ivan were hamming it up a bit. Some girl had dropped her program or something and Ivan picked it up for her and when he came back up he was like "Hey!" Apparently, the girl grabbed his butt. LOL. Him and Natalie were joking about it and acting out the scenario.



Martha is funny too. She came out all bundled in sweats and a hat and scarf, "comfy", and someone had said they loved her sweatpants. And she was like "Thanks, I had to be fashionable" (or something like that). Then she was like "You should have seen me back there. I was sitting back there in my panties and looked down and was like 'where are my pants?'" Oh Marf Marf. LOL. Silliness.



I think Jaymz was around so as not to be rude, b/c I could really care less about him, I took his picture



I also got a shot of Allison signing an autograph, but I didn't talk to her.



Next up…Donyelle (said in the Benji voice when he picked her out of the hat )! I have a [hetero]girl crush on her. She's just awesome, what can I say. Anyways, she's so petite and she's gorgeous in person, and although I hated her new hair style at first, I kinda like it now. There was some screaming going on, but I don't remember who it was for, but she was like "Don't you just love that? [She screams.] Especially in the mall." Then she said her and BENJI do that in the mall when they see each other ( a little squeeliciousness for Benjellers). I asked her could she sign my ticket and also could we take a picture. She said yes and I asked the losers around me to take a photo of us, but no one stepped up. (I would've done it, but I was afraid I'd cut our heads off!) So she was like "I'll do it" and it turned out fine, aside from my fathead (not a flattering camera angle for me :p.) She's a pro. I thanked her and told her she was awesome (how unoriginal of me). She was gracious, said thanks, and went to the next person.



Me being in the front row (and I was NOT moving till I met all my peeps, so get over it bitches), I had to do some Matrix-like, Heidi-backbends to take photos for others and to move out of the way. I never realized I was so flexible…


And then there was Benji. Benji is as sweet as pie. I asked him for his autograph too (I got Donny and Martha's too) and then I asked him for a photo and he was like "Sure." Like I said, my batteries were on the brink of death and by camera kept cutting off. I was gonna cry if I didn't get this photo. Seriously. Boo-hoo cry. Well maybe not, snotty boo-hoo crying, but there'd be some tears. He was like "Oh no. Dying batteries." So being the sweetheart that he is, he waited for me to get the thing to come on long enough to get the picture. I thanked him graciously and told him he was awesome and he was said "No problem," and "awww thanks and thanks so much for coming to the show." Someone asked him where Heidi was and he said one of the Roadies got sick so she went with him to the hospital. Isn't she sweet?



I wanted to get a photo with or of Dmitry, but my camera wasn't having it. Luckily I caught him when he first came out. He's so cute in person. I like his dimples .



Yes, I was "Miss Unoriginal" tonight (how many times can one say "awesome"and "like"? I sound like a valley girl), but I was starstruck and sleepy (I only slept for 4 hours the night before because I was searching for cupcakes @ 1am (don't ask) and had to get up at 6am to drive to work when I usually take the train). Meeting them gave me a second wind though , enough to make it home which I didn't reach until 2:20am!

So I had a fantabulous time by my lonesome which is all good. All of the dancers are genuinely gracious and good people (alliteration). Fame hasn't gone to their heads…yet, but hopefully it won't. What a hell of a "Bon Voyage"!


Hasta luego,
Ryan







Here are some other pics that I liked from Ryan's photobucket!







Go here for the complete album :)
http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n135/Sunshine1601/SYTYCD%20Tour%20Chicago%209-22-06/?start=all


-Taylor :P