There is no question that Lauren and Neil were my favorite dancers when I did my So You Think You Can Dance marathon before the live show at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Both dancers stood out to me for the amazing personalities that they had and their strong dancing as well. I mean let’s face facts. How could Murtz Jaffer not be a Lauren Gottlieb fan? I was very excited that they would be doing their interview together and we discussed everything from Lauren kissing Dominic, to Neil’s “Time” performance with Lacey to me inviting them to my party in Los Angeles. This was undoubtedly my favorite interview. Must-read alert!
Murtz Jaffer: So you guys were both my favorites during the competition and I am not one of those people who tells everybody that they are my favorite. And I think that the reason that the reason that I liked both of you is how much personality you infused in each of the dances. How did you guys manage to do that when you were working with a choreographer. Did you say, ‘oh I want to do this’ or ‘I want to look at the camera’ here or was it all natural?
Lauren Gottlieb: Um, I think natural.
Neil Haskell: I’d say most of it just… like when you are learning choreography, you have to learn how to put yourself into it and since this wasn’t like you’re dancing behind an artist thing where everybody has to be the same, and it is just being choreographed on us, we were able to put our own vibe into it, so we were able to really make it our own for the most part right?
LG: And that was cool being with him, because I think we both have that.
MJ: Exactly.
LG: Like you said, we both put our personalities in and I think it’s just something that I think we are both good and we’ve done in the past.
MJ: The big question that I had for you that I want to make sure I get in before they give me the ‘switch’ signal is the dance with Dominic where you kissed him…
LG: Oh god, haven’t heard about this one in a while!
NH: Grr!
MJ: I wanted to know if that was a Lauren idea, was that a chorographer decision?
LG: Definitely choreographer. Like the day we went in. I left the room right away and called my boyfriend to see if he was okay.
MJ: You just answered my last question!
LG: Right?! But yeah, he’s in the entertainment business and stuff so he gets it and it’s completely professional and we know how we feel
NH: I’ll show you professional!
LG: Unprofessional! He was actually in the audience and stuff.
MJ: Are you serious?
LG: It was a little weird but yeah, we had to do it.
MJ: Do you think that the choreographer did that knowing that Lauren would (because of your great personality) be willing to entertain the idea. If it was somebody else doing that dance, would the choreographer have made the same decision? Was it Lauren-specific? Or was it just that ‘this dance needs this at the end?’
LG: Possibly. I think I ended up being the girl that kisses everyone which is so not me.
MJ: And they kept saying that you’re the hot one, you’re the hot one.
LG: And I was like whyyyy? Yeah, I got that but that’s cool because I’d rather be hot than slutty. (Laughs).
MJ: (Laughs).
LG: Because the next week, I had a dance with Danny and they were like ‘okay, you just have to grab his face and kiss him. I am like ‘I just kissed someone last week on national television like why do I have to?’ But you have to do it.
MJ: Because it’s always up to the choreographer?
LG: Yeah.
MJ: I wanted to ask you about the Mia Michaels “Time” performance. How awesome was that? Did you know that it was going to get the reaction that it did? You must have known!
NH: Yeah, like when we walked into the room for rehearsal and like Mia was trying to explain the dance to us, she couldn’t really explain it to us because she kept crying. So she had to like write it down and she had to be like ‘this is what this dance is about’ and she wrote it down while she was crying. So I was like ‘gotta get it right! So much pressure!’
LG: I wish I would have gotten one like that because it had such special meaning.
NH: Yeah, it was intense.
MJ: Was there a lot more pressure? Like ‘if I mess this up, then not only is everybody going to be upset but Mia’s going to be a wreck.’
NH: Yeah, it was one of those where I knew I just had to like… I didn’t want her to choose us to do this dance and use this idea for but then for us to like mess it up and then she can never use this idea again.
MJ: Exactly, yeah.
NH: So I needed to make it as good as I could for her.
LG: It’s cool, because on the tour we come out and like the cast sets down the roses and we walk away and everytime I come and look at his face before the dance is starting… he just takes it like really seriously. You could tell.
MJ: Like the game-face on.
LG: Seriously. It’s just really like you can tell that he feels it. It’s cool having that moment.
MJ: I wanted to ask you both what your favorite performance was during the show. I liked your “Sweet Dreams” with Sabra (to Neil). And Transformers, come on… it doesn’t get any better than the Transformers (to Lauren).
NH: Transformers.
LG: It changes everytime someone asks. I kind of say the dance that comes into my head at that moment. Because it’s cool that way. Right now, it would still be The Angel & Devil. Because now on tour too, we’re so much more used to it and more comfortable with it and you kind of add in a little bit more than what we gave on the show, so it’s fun.
MJ: And for you? Mia Michaels right?
NH: No, I’d probably say my salsa the very first week. Because it wasn’t one of my best, but I still had a great time on that stage.
LG: Did you see how much we were using it the whole time?
NH: I was on that stage!
LG: He was definitely on it! Did you see him?
NH: And the lights were there.
LG: And there were people in the audience. He was just there.
NH: They watched!
LG: They watched!
(Neil & Lauren laugh).
MJ: And you already answered. You have a boyfriend?
LG: Mmm hmm.
MJ: And you? Single? Looking?
NH: No, I have a girlfriend.
MJ: I can already hear the hearts of Canada sinking.
LG: Aww!
MJ: I never watched the show during the season and so they said that you guys were coming to Toronto like for this whole thing and now they are doing this whole So You Think You Can Dance Canada thing.
LG: Yeah, it actually came up the other day right? That’s so cool.
MJ: So they gave me this whole set of DVD’s. It was almost your entire season.
LG: Oh my god! Did you watch it?
MJ: Definitely. Because it was so quick, they dubbed as many as they could, but I have literally been up for like 15 hours watching episodes.
LG: How’d you get them?
MJ: I am connected.
LG: Well, can we make our connection?
MJ: Definitely.
LG: How cool!
MJ: You’re from Buffalo right?
NH: Yeah.
MJ: And you’re in LA?
LG: Mmm hmm.
MJ: I am throwing the biggest party for reality people in LA in December.
LG: I will be there.
NH: Wait, what’s this party?
LG: Come into town.
NH: Yeah, I might come into town.
MJ: Yeah, because my specialty is reality TV. So it’s like American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother…
LG: How fun! I want to come!
MJ: The thing is though about these parties is that they are…
LG: Insane? Really?
MJ: Totally dude. Because there is a reason, even you guys, there’s a reason everybody was cast on their shows. They are special kind of people. So when you get them all in a room together…
LG: It’s nonsense?!
MJ: It’s just hilarious.
LG: Awesome, I’ll be there.
MJ: Cool, I’ll get you the details.
Here are the remaining dates for the So You Think You Can Dance tour:
Nov 18 Glendale, AZ – Jobing.com Arena
Nov 19 San Diego, CA – San Diego Sports Arena
Nov 21 Los Angeles, CA – Nokia Theatre
Nov 23 Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
Nov 24 Sacramento, CA – Arco Arena
Nov 25 San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion at San Jose
Nov 27 Portland, OR – Rose Garden
Nov 28 Everett, WA – Everett Events Center
Nov 30 Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
– The third season of So You Think You Can Dance aired on CTV this past summer.
– The third season of So You Think You Can Dance aired on FOX this past summer.
Sir Linksalot: So You Think You Can Dance
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