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On Friday we watched the top six dancers on So You Think You Can Dance shake and move like never before!
With the girls’ sexy hip hop routine and the boys’ funky wild animal dance, jaws were left dropping from Aussie to here! Unfortunately on Saturday we said goodbye to the bubbly Henry and the gorgeous Vanessa – who both have close New Zealand connections (damn those Aussies not letting us vote)!
We had an exclusive chat with the hilarious pair, talking about everything from Pasifika, to Mariah Carey, right through to dancing seductively in a bikini in front of your nana...  Name: Graeme IsaakoAge: 19 Hometown: Eastern Beaches, Sydney Dancestyle: Lyrical/ Jazz So, you’ve got kiwi roots? Yes I do! I’m part Kiwi, part Sa (Samoan). Why did you decide to enter the comp? I entered because it’s just a part of who I am. Even though singing is my number one passion, I do love to dance. And this competition just seemed like a perfect fit for me – and an amazing platform for me to launch my career in this industry. What was your fav bit of the whole experience? Meeting and gaining such amazing life long friends that I will keep in touch with forever. Me, Anthony, Demi and Kate were all just so tight! Friends forever – BFF’s! Do you have any regrets? Only that I forgot to chop off feet of the other contestants – haha! Just joking. It was all totally worth everything that I put in and got out. Was there any dance that you just absolutely hated? Bollywood!!! I was like ‘what the heck am I doing?!’ I felt like a puss in pink! But Kate and I worked with the best that we could do!  What are your next plans? We hear you’re interested in singing...Yea, I really want to pursue my singing career. It’s always been my first love, dancing always came second. I actually came and sang at Pacifika last year – it was fricking huge! So many opportunities have just come my way recently and I have a great management team to help me out, so I’m really just gunna go for it! What kind of singing do you do? It’s a bit of R & B, soul and pop. I love Ne-Yo, Adeeze and I’m really in to Pretty Ricky – that kinda stuff! Who do you admire and why? My mum! We had some hard times financially and stuff, but she has work her guts out to get me where I am today – sometimes working three jobs at a time. I just love her. And I’d also say my Heavenly Father.
Do you have any tips for our readers who love to dance? I’m going to be straight up and say that if you want to be a dancer you need to make sure that you look the part – that means looking after your body, your physical health and the way that you present yourself, and NOT rocking up in your jandals and socks to an audition! Market yourself to be presentable, and remember that it’s all about experience. The more you do something the more comfortable you become.  Name: Vanessa Sew HoyAge: 23 Hometown: Sydney Dance style: Contemporary We hear you have New Zealand roots as well! Yes! My parents are 6th generation Kiwi’s, from Dunedin. I’ve still got lots of family that live in Dunedin. I was there just last October. I’ve probably been to more places in New Zealand then in over here in Australia. How are you feeling right now? I’m good! I’m so happy and grateful that I’ve been given this opportunity, and the experience was just amazing. Why did you decide to enter the comp? I didn’t want to enter initially because I didn’t think I had the right kind of personality - I’m quite quiet and some of my friends were like, ‘you’ll have to get a louder if you’re going on that show’! But in the end I got so much encouragement, that I thought maybe I should audition. I love dancing and I had just got back into it (between 2005-2006 Vanessa had gave up dancing to become a spiritual minister), so I took that huge step didn’t have any expectations.  How did you feel your last performances went?It was so much fun, I really enjoyed Broadway. I’ve never done that style before, it’s very jazzy. When we were practising everyone kept referring to all these Broadway movies that I’d never seen before! I had to jump on YouTube and check them out, which really helped me to get in to character. Then the Hip Hop trio with the girls… Well that was just so not me! I had to try and do sexy Hip Hop in a bikini, and my grandma had come all the way from New Zealand to watch me! I was like oh my gosh, my grandma has to watch me doing this! But it was ok in the end. What was your fav bit of the whole experience? Seeing how many really people believed in me, and realising that my passion is with dancing. And I really enjoyed learning all those new styles. What are you thinking of doing next? I would love to get in to a contemporary dance company, and just continue to learn new dance styles. You always seem really confident on stage – do you have tips for nzgirls? Really? I seemed confident?! This show was a really big test for me in my confidence. It’s still something that I’m trying to find within me! But, whenever I’d get harsh criticism I just had to remember that it was OK because it was an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a dancer. I think it’s important to not let stuff get to you if you want to grow.
Remember, there are still four amazing dancers left in the compeition pitting it out against one another! Keep your eyes peeled on So You Think You Can Dance, this Friday at 7.30pm! Click here for more information.
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