Blog | summer

Yay for 4th of July, and YAY for having South of Nowhere back on TeenNick! We're airing it all week long, starting at 10pm et.

We hope you have an AWESOME 4th of July today. Go out, have fun, see the fireworks... then come home and watch some late-night South of Nowhere. If you can't make it to a pool party, live vicariously through these South of Nowhere pics!

p.s. If you're wondering: These pool party pictures are from the episode Rules of Engagement, which airs Thursday night at 11:30pm et on TeenNick.

This week on Dance Academy, we saw secret kisses, football players, ballet fever, and a major injury. (If you missed any episodes, catch up here.) Spoilers below.

On episode 18, Betty Bunheads, Abigail and Sammy are secretly making out, but Abigail is doing her best to make sure it stays a secret. She gets annoyed at him for using the word "us." (That seems like a sign that she's afraid of commitment, doesn't it?)

Petra is Miss Raine's new favorite, but when an opportunity arises to dance back in Germany, she's tempted to leave the academy... despite her crush on Sammy. Meanwhile, Kat tries her best to help her little ballerina friend, Scout, impress Miss Raine at auditions.

On episode 19, Fairest & Best, some athletes arrive at the National Academy of Dance to work on their agility and balance, but they clash with the male dancers over which sport is more challenging. I was really hoping this would involve some kind of dance battle, but no. The football players had to perform a dance all the way through, and the ballet guys had to try to score a goal on the field.

I wasn't that into the guys' competition storyline, but I like the way the relationship between Abigail and Sammy is developing. Abigail tried to tell him that kisses don't mean anything, because "It's just lips on other lips," but ultimately she seemed to realize that Sammy's lips are special. Aww.

Episode 20, Ballet Fever, showed Tara obsessing over dance to the point that Sammy and Kat felt it was time to stage an intervention. At their urging, she took an afternoon off, and bonded with Christian, which included lots of kissing. I love these two together, though I secretly wish he'd give her a new nickname and stop calling her "training bra."

Meanwhile, Kat struggled to convince the board to keep hip-hop in the curriculum, and realized that maybe her mom isn't ALWAYS the enemy.

In episode 21, FOMO: Fear of Missing Out, Tara copes with an injury by organizing a formal dance for the school, and realizes that being injured is a nice, relaxing break compared to working her butt off in dance classes every day. Abigail and Sammy grow even closer while working on a dance together and try to figure out if they're ready to have sex.

Once again, Miss Raine pressures Tara to make dance her one and only priority in life, crushing my dreams of a long, happy relationship between Tara and Christian. Or did the fact that Tara seems to blame Christian for her injury ruin things? Or did Christian's jealousy of Ethan ruin things? I guess there were a few contributing factors, but still. I'm over here sighing dramatically, and wondering if things could ever work out between Tara and Christian in the future. I hope so.

(Want to rewatch the latest episodes? Here you go.)

Have you been watching Dance Academy this week? If you missed any of the new episodes, catch up online. We're also re-airing all four of the newest episodes Friday on TeenNick, starting at 5pm et. (If you haven't seen this week's eps, go watch them before you read any further... spoilers below!)

I love that they danced parts of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the woods in tonight's episode. It felt like the perfect start to summer.

Other thoughts on this week, starting with "Turning Points"...
*Yay! Tara's finally dancing "en pointe"!
*I appreciate that the show is portraying Abigail's anorexia in such a real way. I'm glad she didn't get better right away, and that it's something she's still going to be struggling with.
*It really bugs me that Miss Raine keeps telling Tara to stop hanging out with Kat. I think Tara is smart enough to keep her priorities straight, no matter who her friends are, but I guess we'll see.

"My Life En Pointe"
*I like the new girl, Petra, and I love that this episode included a cute dog (Yay, dogs!), but her habit of photographing other people's PDA is a little strange, isn't it?
* I think Kat's "punishment" looks like fun. I would love to volunteer at a community center on Saturday afternoons and dance with little kids.
* Eeee! Tara and Christian!! But she's dating Ethan! (I like her better with Christian, but that's probably just because he's my Dance Academy crush.)

"Free Falling"
*I loved Tara's voiceover at the beginning of this episode:
"As dancers, we learn to be in control of our bodies, down to the last millimeter, because if even one finger is out of alignment, it all falls apart. So you practice your movements until they're perfect. You learn to control gravity, to control pain, and refuse to let yourself get away with anything. But there's one thing that doesn't follow the rules... that you wish you could control, but can't -- your heart."
*Tara claims she doesn't have feelings for Christian. Is she lying to him? To herself? I want her to have feelings for him. If I had a Tara doll and a Christian doll, I would totally push them together and make them kiss right now.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
*I'd love to go on a camping trip and take dance lessons in a clearing in the woods. Somebody, hook me up!
*When everyone had detention together, and they all had to clean the dance studio, I felt like I was watching a dance version of the Breakfast Club. I wish they'd been stuck there even longer.
*And again, I'm asking myself (and you) -- what is the deal with Tara and Christian? They're so cute as dance partners, I want them to be loooove partners, too.

What did you think of this week's episodes?

If you've been watching our promos, you know TeenNick is Psyched for Summer, and as of today, it's officially here. Happy summer, everyone!

May your summer be full of swimming, and dolphins, and underwater kisses (if you're into that).

For more H2O pictures, check out the TeenNick facebook page.

My plan for summer 2012 is to do lots of swimming (so what if I don't have a fin?) and watch lots of Degrassi. What do you have planned?

How many times have YOU watched the new Degrassi Showdown trailer?

My thoughts so far:

* You know those quick shots at the beginning and the end? Is it just me, or does everyone seem even hotter than usual?
* Drew and Katie's future looks pretty rough.
* I'm dying to know why Tristan wants to sit with those guys at lunch.
* "Plays are my thing." Oh, really, new girl?
* Who is Bianca saying "Let me go!" to? (I hope she's ok.)

The Degrassi summer event starts Monday, July 16th at 10pm. It'll be here before you know it.

What are you most excited about in this promo? Are you ready for a showdown-filled summer?

Watch the first scene from tomorrow's new Degrassi right here!

We know what Summer wants for Clare, but what do YOU think Clare should do to get her life together?

Iyaz's "Solo" video (click to watch!) on Obsess This this weekend made me want to bust out a sundress and go drink lemonade. Plus with next Monday being Memorial Day, I keep hearing the word "summer" get casually thrown around.

It's happening! Summer is actually going to happen this year! I dared not believe it! But now...so stoked.

So come on and tell the world: What's going on the first version of your Summer 2010 playlist?