Archive for the ‘Public figures’ Category
Hillary Clinton, Rob Portman Latest Pols In Support of Same-Sex Marriage
In the last week, two prominent politicians have come out in favor of same-sex marriage — one, of course, being far more prominent than the other.
The latter person is former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady, Hillary R. Clinton, who today endorsed same-sex marriage with a video put out by the Human Rights Campaign, while the former is Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Portman said his main reason for changing his stance from firm opposition to firm support is his son — who has told him he’s gay, and wants full rights to marry any partner he may take in the future.
This article from PennLive points out how difficult it’s been for Portman, the only Republican Senator in open support of gay marriage, since he’s made his stance public last week. And despite such well-known Republicans as former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Sec. of State Colin Powell also being in support of same-sex marriage, it’s far more easy for a Democrat like Mrs. Clinton or sitting President Obama to admit that he or she supports same-sex marriage than it is for any active Republican officeholder.
Why is this?
PennLive points out that Portman said:
Portman said his previous views on marriage were rooted in his Methodist faith. However, he wrote, “Ultimately, for me, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.”
Yet most Republican leaders apparently met this with either stony silence or, as PennLive’s article put it, “a shrug,” while Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner actually told ABC’s This Week that he’d oppose gay marriage even if his own son was gay.
It’s hard to see this particular comment as anything except a slam against Senator Portman.
Fortunately, it’s not as difficult for a well-known Democrat to let it be known she is in favor of marriage equality.
Mrs. Clinton said that her work at the State Department, including the signing of measures meant to protect long-term same-sex couples, made her reconsider her beliefs (best paraphrase from her video for the HRC, which is available via PennLive). That’s why she, too, has now come out in full support of same-sex marriage.
And, thus far, the Democratic (or democratic-leaning) talking heads on both MSNBC and CNN seem in full support of Mrs. Clinton’s stance, which is not a surprise. The titular head of the party is the President, who is also in support of same-sex marriage (though perhaps less wholeheartedly than Mrs. Clinton).
So, on the one hand we have the Republican Party, which doesn’t seem to want to budge except for a few brave individuals like Senator Portman and several retired Republicans like Cheney and Powell. And on the other, we have the Democratic Party, which has an openly lesbian sitting Senator (Wisconsin’s own Tammy Baldwin), and has embraced advocacy of same-sex marriage as a human rights issue.
Which, to my mind, it is.
Look. This is an issue that everyone should get behind, but it may be impossible for some older Americans to fully understand. Nevertheless, if two people want to marry, and both are consenting adults, the state should allow them to marry. Not stand in their way.
And as far as the religious objections go, we have separation of church and state in our Constitution for a reason — which is why individual churches may still say no to same-sex marriage without penalty.
But it’s also why our country, as a whole, should say yes.
On a personal note, I’m very pleased that Senator Portman has been willing to publicly admit that his stance has changed. This makes me believe there’s at least some hope for the Republican Party to stop making marriage equality a partisan issue — despite well-known obstructionists such as Speaker Boehner.
Pianist Van Cliburn Dies at 78
Very few classical musicians ever become known worldwide. Van Cliburn was one of those few.
Cliburn, who died at age 78 of bone cancer earlier today, was the first American ever to win the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow (then part of the Soviet Union) in 1958 at the age of 23. He was a Cold War hero ever after, as well as being a symbol of how powerfully music can communicate when, seemingly, nothing else can.
Here’s a link to the Associated Press article about Cliburn, written by Angela K. Brown (courtesy of Yahoo.com). It gives further information about Cliburn’s life, career, touring and popularity, and is an excellent overview of what Cliburn was all about.
But to musicians, Cliburn was about much more than mere symbolism. He played in an extravagant, romantic way that nevertheless effectively communicated any style of music he cared to play. He believed that people should be able to tell if music made sense whether or not they were trained classical musicians, because music was and is intended to move others — and it’s been that way ever since we lived in caves and played prehistoric instruments.
Cliburn played so well that nearly all of his “signature pieces” were recorded. Amazon.com has a list of his recordings, including a compilation of all of his known albums. Mostly, he played well-known pieces from the Romantic period — composers like Brahms, Beethoven, Schumann, and Lizst — but he also enjoyed Debussy, Ravel, and some 20th century composers.
The Washington Post obituary for Cliburn reveals more information about why Cliburn rarely played in public after 1974. Apparently fame was quite difficult for him to bear, as was the constant touring of his chosen profession. Cliburn needed time to rest and recharge his batteries.
After that, Cliburn’s talent was still apparent, but his playing wasn’t as sharp or clean. He sometimes forgot passages, which proves how human he could be (all pianists must memorize their pieces, and when you’re memorizing three or four pieces of at least twenty minutes in duration for a concert, even the most brilliant person with the best memory can make mistakes). He was still a great pianist, but no longer in his prime — yet he continued to play, and give the audience excellent musical experiences, which was a testimony to his professionalism.
See, even a musician past his or her prime can still thrill an audience. We tend to forget that, as a society, because we celebrate youth, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. But Cliburn was able to prove that a musician of great gifts can still give something back in his performances, even into what most would consider to be an advanced age.
Cliburn’s recordings should help everyone remember just how much talent a young man from Texas had, once upon a time. And how he did his best to convert upon that talent, even if not all music critics believed that he’d fully lived up to his potential.
Cliburn leaves behind many friends and a long-time male companion, as well as many people who adored his music and couldn’t get enough of it, to honor his memory. Thanks to the magic of sound recording, we’ll be able to remember Cliburn and his major musical talent for decades to come.
Really, all any artist can ask for, upon his or her death, is that people remember him and what he did. That’s the standard of success, when it comes right down to it . . . and Cliburn met that.
May his eternity be ever-bright.
Four Words I Thought I’d Never Write: Pope Benedict Steps Down
This morning, after I saw the headlines that Pope Benedict XVI plans to step down as of February 28, 2013, I knew I had to write this blog.
Now, why is this such a headline-making event? It’s simple: Most Popes die in office.
In fact, Pope Benedict is the first Pope since 1415 to voluntarily step down, according to Sky News. And the reason is simple: he is a frail man now at age 85, and he says a younger and stronger man is needed.
According to the article from Reuters (found via Yahoo.com):
In a statement, the pope said in order to govern “…both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.
Pope Benedict had the unenviable job of following John Paul II as Pope, and for the most part did a good job. While not perfect (he angered many Muslims with some ill-advised comments), he visited Auschwitz, prayed with Jews and Muslims, and was active in trying to root out pedophile priests (and those who covered for them) in the Catholic Church, paying close attention to Ireland and the United States in particular.
Whenever a major religious leader steps down or passes on, it’s a solemn occasion. But it’s less solemn when someone actually realizes his time has passed and steps down rather than dies in office.
Good for Pope Benedict for realizing that he’s older now and not up to the task of the heavy workload of a modern-day Pope.
My hope for him is that he’ll enjoy the remainder of his life as a retired Pope, odd as that sounds, and that he’ll continue to work to remove pedophiles from the priesthood even in retirement as best he’s able.
Suzy Favor Hamilton Outed as Vegas Call Girl
This afternoon (December 20, 2012 to be exact), news broke that Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton — one of the biggest female sports stars to ever come out of Wisconsin — has admitted to working as a high-priced call girl for a shady Las Vegas outfit called Haley Heston’s Private Collection.
Here’s a link to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s story and a relevant quote:
Suzy Favor Hamilton, a three-time Olympian who capitalized on her wholesome image as an elite runner, mother and wife to land lucrative endorsement deals and motivational speaking engagements, has admitted to leading a double life for the last year as a high-priced call girl.
In a stunning confessional via her Twitter account, following a story published on thesmokinggun.com, Favor Hamilton wrote that she was drawn to escorting “in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life.”
The 44-year-old Favor Hamilton, a Stevens Point native and former University of Wisconsin track star, admitted to working as “Kelly Lundy” with Haley Heston’s Private Collection, one of Las Vegas’ premier escort services, in the thesmokinggun.com story.
“I do not expect people to understand,” she wrote on her Twitter account. “But the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression.
“I have been seeking the help of a psychologist for the past few weeks and will continue to do so after I have put things together.”
What troubles me here is not just that Favor Hamilton is a married woman with a seven-year-old child, though that’s bad enough.
Nope. What bugs me is that Favor Hamilton is quoted as admitting that her husband “tried to get (her) to stop” and that he “wasn’t supportive of (her) need to do this at all.”
Which, mind you, is the way most husbands are likely to behave when it comes to thinking about their spouse being a paid escort who gave away the “full girlfriend experience” and was rated quite highly by The Erotic Review, which is called by the Smoking Gun article that the Journal-Sentinel references as “the Zagat guide of the escort business.”
So it seems that Suzy Favor Hamilton has more than a few problems here — she’s been working as an escort when she’s not destitute (her husband is employed, she owns a realty firm and they live in a $600,000 home), she’s been fighting depression for the past year or more and if her marriage isn’t in trouble because of all this, she must have the most supportive husband in the history of the universe.
While I have never understood the need for men or women to go outside their marriages, I do know that not everyone is meant to be monogamous. So for those people who have admitted open marriages and the like, I made up my mind a long time ago not to judge them even though I freely admit that I don’t get it.
So the sex part of the equation isn’t what is so very troublesome, even though I don’t really understand what would drive a high-powered woman like Favor Hamilton to go outside her marriage and have a number of risky sexual encounters for money.
It’s the lack of trust issue that bothers me more.
Favor Hamilton is someone who’s had a squeaky clean image. She’s had endorsement deals with Disney, various running firms, has been a model in more ways than one and has been someone female runners have looked up to for the past twenty years or more in Wisconsin and much of the Midwest.
So apparently, in order for her to somehow feel better about herself, she had to throw this all away and construct an alter ego of “Kelly” the escort. Who was willing to do just about anything if the price was right because she still had the body and panache and knew how to speak the high-powered language of well-heeled men in order to better separate them from their money.
Why this intelligent, beautiful woman couldn’t find herself in some other way, I just don’t know. Why would she would risk her career for this, much less her marriage? Why would she ever entertain such a thing, considering that it’s well-known that women who become prostitutes (the not-so-nice name for “call girls”) rarely retain custody of their children?
And what about the IRS audit that has to be on the horizon? Because it would be ridiculous to assume that she’s declared all of the money she’s made as a $600-per-hour escort on her tax forms.
All of this happened because Favor Hamilton apparently enjoys risky sex in extremely expensive hotel rooms with men she doesn’t really know.
This seems so off-the-wall, so uncharacteristic, and so utterly absurd that I feel like I’ve fallen into a parallel universe.
Yet it’s the truth.
Suzy Favor Hamilton, runner and Olympian, mother and realty owner, is also a call girl.
What a terribly sad thing to have happen . . . and she did it to herself.
Tragedy in KC: Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher Kills GF, then Suicides
Today, something awful happened in Kansas City.
If you haven’t heard already, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, Jovan Belcher, has died. Worse yet, he killed himself in full view of his coach, Romeo Crennel, and his general manager, Scott Pioli, at the team’s practice facility — this after killing his girlfriend in their home.
Belcher leaves behind a three-month-old daughter.
Yahoo Sports explains all the particulars in this article. Here’s a relevant quote:
Police told the Kansas City Star that Belcher, 25, and Perkins got into an argument at approximately 7:00 a.m. Saturday at a residence in nearby Independence, Mo. Belcher shot Perkins multiple times. She was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead there. The couple had a 3-month-old daughter, who is currently safe in the care of a relative.
Members of the Chiefs’ staff tried to stop Belcher from committing any other acts of violence before the player turned a gun on himself. The team’s practice facility was evacuated and put on police lockdown.
This is nearly an unimaginably tragic event. Yet the NFL, in its infinite whatever, has decided that the Chiefs should play their game against the Carolina Panthers as scheduled at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
I don’t agree.
Neither does Yahoo Sports columnist Michael Silver, who says:
I’m appalled that the team and league are sticking to the script, and I question the logic behind the decision. Pardon my skepticism, and that of one Chiefs player who predicted this in the wake of the tragedy: “It’s all about money,” he said.
In this particular situation, it shouldn’t be. If the NFL wanted to do the right thing for the players, coaches and team employees reeling from this horrible occurrence — not to mention the loved ones of Belcher and, most of all, Kasandra Perkins, the woman he is believed to have murdered — the league should have postponed the game until Monday or canceled it.
Silver goes on to state that:
The abrupt loss of a teammate and friend is a tough thing to confront. The fact that Belcher apparently took lives carries even darker overtones. That Belcher’s death happened at the workplace is another level of horror. That his death happened in front of Pioli and Crennel makes the notion of playing on Sunday even more dubious. Asking the organization to soldier on through Sunday’s game – a decision made in large part by Crennel and team captains – is absurd and unreasonable in my opinion. They need grief counseling — which the NFL, to its credit, is providing — and they should get at least 24 hours to collect themselves and assess their respective emotional states.
A head coach typically addresses the team on Saturday night and presides over meetings, then speaks to the players again on Sunday morning before they take the field. In addition, the head coach oversees many other aspects of the football operation during the weekend of a home game. Should Crennel be expected to handle these matters in a business-as-usual fashion? The answer, to me, seems obvious.
During my editorial internship stint today for the Web site Bleacher Report, I came across this article by Brian Kinel. He points out that the Chiefs and the NFL should try to help the orphaned three-month-old baby:
Here’s a chance for sports to redeem itself for fans like me that struggle with this issue.
Take care of that baby.
She should have a whole lot of Chiefs’ “uncles” who will love her, help take care of her and do the best they can to help her have a good life.
Put some money aside from the bountiful gate for the Panthers game tomorrow for the baby.
If this game absolutely must be played, Kinel’s suggestion should be taken to heart by the powers that be in the NFL. Because it’s plain, flat wrong to put those Chiefs players and coaches into a situation like this when nothing good can come of it — except, perhaps, to give that little baby some financial assistance at a time she needs it most.
My quick take — recognizing, of course, that I am not a medical expert — is that Belcher was probably sleep-deprived. His girlfriend, too, was probably sleep-deprived. So the argument they had over her late arrival from a previous evening’s concert may have had a great deal to do with the frustration of being new parents.
Belcher, too, could’ve been more upset than usual as the Chiefs have won only one game all season long. That puts a great deal of pressure on everyone in the organization, but most especially on the players and coaches.
In this case, the argument between a 25-year-old man and his 22-year-old girlfriend escalated into a murder-suicide. That’s tragic. Two lives have been lost, cut down too soon due to pressures we may never fully understand.
That said, if I were Romeo Crennel and I’d just seen one of my best linebackers kill himself in front of my eyes, I think I’d have asked for a postponement of the game. And if the NFL refused, I believe the Chiefs should have just forfeited the game rather than go out and play with heavy hearts and risk serious injury because they can’t possibly be focused on a mere game at such a terrible time in all of their lives.
I understand the NFL’s “play or else” mentality. One of the best games I’ve ever seen was Brett Favre’s complete dismantling of the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football on December 23, 2003, one night after his father’s sudden death due to a heart attack or stroke. (See this link from Sports Illustrated for further details.)
But that was one man’s tragedy — bad, but not anywhere near as bad as what happened today in Kansas City.
The NFL should do the right thing and either postpone the game tomorrow between the Chiefs and Panthers, or cancel it altogether. And they definitely should do something for that poor, orphaned baby girl.
And although I know it’s trite, my heart definitely goes out to the people affected by this tragedy — the coaches, players and fans of the Chiefs. The family members of Belcher’s girlfriend. Belcher’s own family members. And anyone affiliated with Belcher in any professional or personal capacity.
Boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho, 50, to Be Taken Off Life Support
Folks, this is one of the more disturbing sports stories to hit the wire in the past several months.
Boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho — a man who was one of the best boxers in his time, or any time — was sitting in a car with a friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno, a few days ago in his native Puerto Rico. Thugs shot at the car, perhaps not even knowing Camacho was inside; they killed Moreno instantly and wounded Camacho severely. The motivation behind this shooting appears to have been drugs, as nine small bags of cocaine were found on Moreno’s body, with a tenth bag found inside the car.
Doctors now say that Camacho is brain-dead.
Camacho’s mother, Maria Matias, has decided to take Camacho off life support, saying in this article from The Sporting News that:
“I lost my son three days ago. He’s alive only because of a machine,” Matias said. “My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him,” she added.
(Camacho’s) three other sons were expected to arrive from the U.S. mainland around midnight Friday. “Until they arrive, we will not disconnect the machine,” Matias said.
However, the one son of Camacho’s who is already there, Hector “Machito” Camacho, Jr., does not wish his father to be taken off life support. And other family and friends continue to wrestle with Camacho’s mother’s decision, even though she’s the one who has the final say — and assuredly, she’s made up her mind.
Here’s a bit more from the TSN article, which explains Camacho’s significance to the world of boxing:
He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending the former champ’s final comeback attempt. Camacho had a career record of 79-6-3.
I remember watching Camacho fight. There was an ease and fluidity to his movement, yes, but a deliberate intelligence and cunning, too. He was often underestimated due to his “Macho” nickname; fighters would learn, to their everlasting chagrin, that Camacho did his homework long before he ever stepped foot in the ring.
Or to put it another way, Camacho did not depend on bravado to win in the ring; instead, he used his mind as well as his fists to forge an impressive legacy.
Camacho’s later life was marred by a 2007 conviction for burglary (he served two weeks in jail plus probation) and his ex-wife (the New York Times, in this article, says Camacho had only one) swore out two complaints of domestic abuse before finally divorcing him. He also abused both drugs and alcohol, though there is no evidence that Camacho was on any sort of drugs at the time of the shooting.
Camacho’s sisters have said that they are willing to fly him to New York in order for him to be buried where he spent much of his adolescence — Harlem. But it’s unclear at this time as to what the final disposition of Camacho’s body will be, as no firm decision has been made regarding organ donation or anything else according to the latest articles from TSN, Yahoo Sports, and other sources.
One thing’s for certain: Camacho was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or he’d not be brain-dead right now.
What a terrible end to an otherwise remarkable life.
******
UPDATE: Camacho was taken off life support this morning, had a heart attack, and died.
A funeral is pending in New York, and a wake may be scheduled in Puerto Rico later according to this article from the Chicago Tribune. He is survived by his mother, father, four siblings (three sisters and a brother), four children — Hector, Jr., Taylor, Christian, and Justin, and two grandchildren.
US Rep. Scott DesJarlais: One of the Most Hypocritical Reps in America
One of the political stories that’s been flying under the radar in Wisconsin this week is the bad behavior and utter stupidity of Republican United States Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee. DesJarlais, a medical doctor, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, has done the following things:
- Carried on at least two sexual trysts with patients
- Had at least three sexual encounters with co-workers
- Slept with at least one pharmaceutical representative
But what’s making the news more than DesJarlais horrendously bad judgment is this: he’s a pro-life legislator. But he encouraged his ex-wife to have not one but two abortions — one of which appears to have been medically necessary, while the other probably wasn’t — and didn’t tell his constituents a thing.
All of this came out due to the lengthy transcript of DesJarlais’s 2001 divorce trial; the transcript had been requested by the Times Free Press prior to the election, but as it hadn’t been completely typed up, it didn’t get released until two days after all the votes had been counted.
But DesJarlais didn’t pay a price at the ballot box, possibly due to the fact that much of this wasn’t public knowledge. As the Washington Post account puts it:
DesJarlais . . . (won) reelection with just slightly less of the vote than he took in his first campaign in 2010. He defeated state Sen. Eric Stewart (D) 56 percent to 44 percent.
However, DesJarlais’ medical license should be in jeopardy due to these recent revelations, as DesJarlais most definitely violated most of his professional ethics — not to mention whatever is left of his good, common sense.
Some of what DesJarlais admitted to during his divorce trial is so repugnant that it’s hard to even fathom it. As the Times Free Press article points out:
The transcript reveals new details about DesJarlais’ interactions with a 24-year-old-patient, who claimed she became pregnant with DesJarlais’ child during a brief fling in 2000 that ended with the doctor pressing her to have an abortion.
DesJarlais, who is now 48 years old, admitted in court to urging the woman over the phone to get an abortion, but said the whole conversation was a scheme orchestrated by him and his wife — with whom he had reconciled — to get the 24-year-old to admit she was not really pregnant.
So, did you catch all of that? DesJarlais, who was married at the time, slept with a much-younger woman and apparently got her pregnant. Then he pressured her to get an abortion.
Mind you, the last part isn’t even the worst part, though it is extremely hypocritical due to DesJarlais’ strong pro-life stance.
Nope.
The absolutely worst part of this extremely repugnant episode is that DesJarlais got his own wife to help him pressure this poor young woman.
(Why DesJarlais’ then-wife did that, I’ll never know.)
All of this adds up to one thing — this man, Scott DesJarlais, should not be a United States Representative. Not in Tennessee.
Not anywhere.
DesJarlais has a terrible attitude, as he seems to believe that he’s above it all. And that he’ll get away with it all, too . . . all of this because he was voted back into the US House of Reps.
For the moment, it appears that DesJarlais will get away with it. (As in, keep his current job; I would hope that the Tennessee Board of Health will finally strip DesJarlais of his medical license.)
However, it may not be all gravy for DesJarlais in the next election cycle as the Times Free Press article states:
But according to Republican state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, the congressman’s political life could be endangered in 2014. Asked before Thursday’s disclosures how many Republican senators he expects might challenge DesJarlais in the 4th District primary, Ramsey quipped, “How many live in it?”
While this may hold some promise for 2014 and beyond, that does nothing for the poor people of DesJarlais’ district right now. Instead, they’re stuck with one of the most hypocritical members in the House.
Aand considering how many hypocritical people sit in that chamber right now, that’s really saying something.
Musing about Three Former SYTYCD Champions
I thought tonight, especially as I’m under the weather (see previous blog post), I’d look up a few former “So You Think You Can Dance” champions and see what’s going on with them.
First, I looked up season seven winner Lauren Froderman. She’s been extremely active in the dance world with convention appearances (she dances and teaches), is a student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and was an All-Star dancer during season eight of SYTYCD.
If you put Lauren Froderman’s name into any search engine, you’ll find all sorts of notes about her, from YouTube videos to convention appearances. One thing’s for certain — she’s energetic, she loves to dance, and she is a great ambassador for the sport.
As for season two winner Benji Schwimmer, I’ve seen him pop up from time to time on television, mostly due to guest appearances on “Dancing with the Stars” (with his sister and DWTS pro, Lacey). But he, too, has remained active; one of his most high-profile performances was in Washington, D.C., in 2011 with the United States Air Force Band, along with season three winner Sabra Johnson and season one finalist Jamile McGee. And like Ms. Froderman, it’s very easy to see Mr. Schwimmer in action; just put his name into any search engine, and all sorts of videos of his dancing will show up.**
Season three winner Sabra Johnson is a bit harder for a non-dancer like myself to find out information about, but she also appears to have remained active in the sport and continues to dance and teach.
More about these champions is available at this link . . . that should give you some idea as to what these dancers have been up to lately.
———–
Now to the personal observations. I enjoyed watching season two of SYTYCD mostly because Benji Schwimmer’s story was extremely compelling; here’s this guy who came back from a two-year Mormon mission, nearly didn’t make the show, then wins the whole, frickin’ thing because of his excellent ballroom dancing skills and his obvious joy whenever he danced. Astonishing. (And his sweet friendship with fellow contestant Donyelle Jones certainly didn’t hurt, either.)
Season three was interesting to me mostly because I enjoyed watching Lacey Schwimmer and Danny Tidwell (both finalists; Danny T. came in second), but I also enjoyed Sabra Johnson’s dancing and personal story. Sabra didn’t start dancing until age sixteen; she took to it like a house on fire, and her joy and expressive movement was contagious.
As for season eight, I really liked Alex Wong, but he got injured. Lauren Froderman was the last female contestant standing, and she outlasted all of the men to win; she’s enthusiastic, bubbly, and mastered all the dance styles she was assigned.
Of course, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I wrote a blog about how I disliked the way the judges framed her win. (One of my most popular blogs I’ve ever written for a strange reason; most of the commentators, especially the recent ones, think I was way too harsh when it came to Lauren Froderman.) It’s important to note that I never disliked her or her dancing. (How could I? I’m astonished by what all of these dancers can do, as dance is decidedly not my talent.) But I definitely disliked the judges.
Mostly, I follow dance because it’s a creative art, it’s a good way for extremely athletic, talented sorts to express themselves, and as a musician, I enjoy seeing what visual artists like dancers can do to bring out the music. I think all three of these winners are creative, talented, and worked very hard for their respective wins.
It’s good to know that they’ve all continued in the sport — granted, it’s been longer since Benji Schwimmer won (six years), or Sabra Johnson won (five years), than Lauren Froderman (two years). But to see all the different references to the conventions Lauren F. has danced/taught at, or all of the videos available on YouTube that feature her, it’s obvious that she deeply enjoys dance and is very, very good at it; she appears to have the energy of any three other dancers, and seems like the type of person who is likely to succeed at anything she tries.
It’s far easier for me to empathize with someone like Benji Schwimmer, who had some ups and downs before he finally hit it big, or Sabra Johnson, due to her late start and compelling personal story, than it is with Lauren Froderman — I’ll readily admit that. But every dancer has to audition; that means every dancer must face rejection no matter how good he or she is or how well he or she knows the choreography.
And that part I can empathize with Lauren F. about, because as a musician, I’ve been there. (Many times.) While musicians don’t have to worry about choreography, we do have to worry about interpretation, how well we sight-read new music, and how quickly we can pick up parts, so there’s at least some cognates there to how quickly any given dancer can pick up the choreography for any given piece.
See, that’s what every SYTYCD winner or finalist has shown he or she can do — these people have the ability to pick up choreography fast, then learn the pieces so well that it seems like they’ve been dancing them all their lives. That’s a rare and special talent, one that very few people have, and it should be embraced.
That’s why it’s good to know that all three of these former champions have continued on with their dancing. They’re doing what they can to give others some of the infectious joy they have when they dance by teaching, choreographing other dance routines, or performing. And that’s great.
In other words — they know they’re talented. They’re using their talents accordingly. And they’re still in demand.
To quote Lawrence Welk: “Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!” (Though of course it sounded like “wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful.”)
**And yes, before anyone asks, I know that Benji Schwimmer came out as gay earlier this year. (So what? This impacts his dancing how, again? But I do feel for him and his struggles as a gay man who was raised as a Mormon. He’s since left that faith.)
Barb Caffrey's Blog 