He reminds me of the young Harry Belafonte, but maybe even sexier.

He is yummy. And Harry Belafonte, yes. That's who he puts me in mind of. I would love to see him getting all Fosse with it. I also would like to know how and why he came to know about the happy face butt, not that this has anything to do with his dancing.

He did say that he roomed with Ryan during the Fosse tour, so he more than likely saw him sans clothes at some point.

TC: Good to know, re: pronunciation. What I loved most about that episode was how fanboyed out Tom & Gail were. I was thinking to myself that TC:M must have gained them some cred to get guests like this lot.

SYTYCD: Agree that the tapper was very cute. Love that smile. Lots of charisma. And I loved the nod he gave to dance history. That's the type of personality I like on this show because it's about dance.

I'm happy to see Ryan. He was the one I wanted on from last season, so I'm not having the Evan negative effect at the moment. I genuinely think he has more talent than his brother. But we shall see, I guess! They won't cast three tappers, though, for sure. Three contemporary dancers, no problem, but they'll feel like they've got to go all genre if it ends up being tappers.

Has anyone else noticed that all of the female dancers are attractive? I have not seen an unattractive female selected. You can't tell me that there aren't some busted up women who are good dancers out there (and I think that girls with long blond hair are more likely to get cast)

Once again, Max Silvestri at Eater SF cracks me up: [link]

Among other gems:

Mike is so excited that they enjoyed his taste of Crete that he makes fun of women in his mind to celebrate.

Mike is so excited that they enjoyed his taste of Crete that he makes fun of women in his mind to celebrate.

Oh god, it's so true.

My husband was curious why Padma didn't do the Quickfire. And I said, "Because Tom wanted to hang with Boulud?"

I did love how thrilled they all were to be at that table with Robouchon and the others.

I did love how thrilled they all were to be at that table with Robouchon and the others.

I loved when Tom said he was nervous about just eating with them.

Nick Digilio on WGN radio had a fun recap/discussion on last week's Top Chef last weekend. He's a big Jennifer fan, calls her "a total badass." His second favorite is Kevin. And Misogyny Mike is "Mike the d-bag."

About Ryan K., I think that this:

I genuinely think he has more talent than his brother.

is undoubtedly true. Like his cute roommate, if he's been in the touring company of Fosse, that means he probably has a pretty broad dance vocabulary. But this was also true in the case of Lacey Schwimmer and her appearance on the show was just another opportunity to re-fight the Benji wars. This was also true for Danny and his appearance was just another chance for Travis fans to be bitter all over again at the triumph of commercialism over artistry. I'd just rather see someone new and without baggage. And there's no way that Ryan K. could win this show. If he makes it on, I'm not even sure he'd make top 10, primarily because of this:

(and I think that girls with long blond hair are more likely to get cast)

He is lacking in the cuteness factor as it is defined for this show and this audience. That's a big part of the reason his brother made it on last season rather than him. SYTYCD, much like AI, is selling a very tween friendly package and if you don't fit that, you don't get on. Or if you do get on, you don't get far. I call it the S1 Jonnis lesson. Jonnis in S1 was a great dancer, quirky looks and an interesting way of moving. he was beautiful, but not in a TV friendly, HS Musical way. And he was gone before you could blink. It's like Dance 10, Looks 3 to the power of a million on this show. Also, if Nigel wants to do you, you are definitely getting on the show. (See Salsa girl from last night who was a just OK salsa dancer with a slamming body who somehow got put straight through to Vegas on the promise that she can also do ball-ette)

Has anyone else noticed that all of the female dancers are attractive? I have not seen an unattractive female selected.

I was kind of saying this around the whole Susan Boyle hoopla, and I still believe it: To become a famous entertainer (and even more on a show like this than in real life), you have to have some combination of talent, looks, charisma, and luck. I'm going to say you need three of the four.