Ok, I know there is going to be some major love for this guy. He's looking like an Elliott kind of guy as each week passes. So, I'm making him a thread all his own.

Here's a story that gives you a good look into this guy:

http://www.usaswingnet.com/2002_POTY.htm

And, I (who am trying NOT to become "involved" with/over/about any of these contestants) have to admit I was impressed with Benji's comment when he was talking about the routine he did this week with Donnyelle. Hip Hop is suggestive in many of its moves, and is not, obviously, Benji's dance style. Like a trooper, he gave it his all, knowing he would have to. BUT, instead of whining about this not being his style, yada, yada, he simply said that he was not accustomed to being in these close physical (suggestive) positions with a girl and had not anticipated it "until I'm married." It wasn't a complaint at all, but an endearing look into his character.

NO ONE commented on that on the "other" boards, and I was waiting for major criticism to fly on it. No one on the show had anything to say about it either. Everyone is thinking that he is just some religious freak, of course, but no one was touching this particular issue.

Just my thoughts. I'm just an old fashioned fuddy duddy, I guess. I just think it really adds to someone who has a great talent and strong work ethic. We've already seen throughout the auditions that he is intelligent and well-spoken (something I can definitely say does not apply to several other contestants we heard from last night), as well as close to family (and competitive with his father who is considered "the King of Swing"...there may be issues there, but I haven't drawn a conclusion on that one). No doubt, there will be criticism of Benji due to his quirky exuberance and emotional displays in auditions. But, we know that this is often really only a look into a very sincere person's soul, don't we?

Reminds me of someone else I know, too! How about you? :wub:

Well, does it count if Benji is my second favorite and Musa is my favorite? Can I post in this thread?

Aww Benji's the marrying type. I'm getting all watery. :( Too bad I don't know him personally, he seems like one of the sweetest nicest contestants.

Absolutely NOT! :D :justkidding:

Just make sure you talk about Benji some, though.

You could also start a thread about Musa. I think we will eventually have threads for all of them.

I just wanted to say that DJbabblefish and I said the same thing at the beginning of the season...but, Benji makes my heart aflutter.

I think he makes me too happy for the summer (I don't allow myself to get involved with tv shows like this in the summer :D )
But, it's too late for me I think.

I am already attached!

Then I'll just leave... :angry:

:justkidding:

Go Benji and Musa!

Let's face it, wehn he and Heidi did their routine in the "dance for your life" segment it was all over! I could watch that over and over again. Now THAT is dancing. Musa is my second fav followed by some of the girls all bunched up.

I have always had a huge obsession with swing dancing...so, that is part of it.

But, that smile of his :wub:

Benji Schwimmer

Age: 22

Hometown:
Redlands, CA

Occupation:
West Coast Swing Specialist

He started a charitable non-profit organization, Dancers Everywhere Making a Noticeable Difference, for orphans in southern Mexico. He hopes to pursue a professional dance career



I just wanted to post this from the shows website...
He started a charity :wub:
I like this boy...


There's Benji and his cousin...obviously looks like an older picture. He's so cute <3

Ugh, I was trying SO HARD to not get involved with this show...but I just love Benji! I think he's super talented and seems like a really nice guy!

Please, someone take my phone away so I don't start voting!!!!!!!!

I love that picture.

:rotfl:

My husband made fun of my on wed night cause I was voting for Benji after I told him three weeks ago I was NOT going to start voting for people on this show :no:

Never say "Never." I have learned that the hard way.

My dad was like "You didn't vote for Stan that's why he's gone." But then when I tell him I'm voting for someone he says "Oh lord please help me." AUGH!

Oh well I was going to split votes for about 15 minutes with Stan and Benji.

Guess I'll actually call and vote for Benji and maybe Travis.
But go Benji!

Article on Benji with pictures on the side.

Benji Article

Just the fact that he went to Oaxaco to help people for YEARS of his life...not just a week or a month or something, shows what kind of person he is.

He is the kind of person I want to vote for every week :P

and he's pretty cute :)
:thud:

benji.. :wub:

WOW! I love this kind of article, thanks for sharing. It just puts so much more heart into the competition to know the people a little better. Can you image his work ethic? He and Heidi have all that experience in winning. They both know what it takes to succeed...that will help both their partners. It makes me wonder if pairing him with Donyelle wasn't a brilliant ploy because he is a teacher, a great dance partner, and used to winning. She has little experience with winning so no matter what, she is going to gain a lot of confidence in herself. She is a great dancer and doesn't even know it. They are the ones to beat, I think, not Travis and Martha.

Thanks for the link. It's great to get a little background info about him. He seems like a great guy! He's definitely my favorite dancer on the show.

:bunny: :bunny: :bunny:

I'll give a props to Benji on his thread! He is my preferred dark horse, should he continue to perform as he did this week...

Definitely getting something similar to the Elliott vibe- though not entirely comparable, for I feel Elliott's natural talent relative to his art of choice is much stronger relative to Benji's...

HOWEVER, I've already got him pegged as my "ONE TO WATCH" in the coming weeks, and I am completely looking forward to his next performance!

Well he is one of my favs atm... but he is definitely NOT the Elliott of SYTYCD.
He is most definitely not the underdog in this competition.

His history is impressive though and he seems like such a sweet stand-up kinda guy.
Just sort of a bit too drama-ish at times for me though.

You know, Amunet, that brings me to something I've been thinking of about Elliott. When I first started watching AI, which was only when my daughter begged me week after week to puhleeese watch this guy from my own hometown, I didn't once think of him as an "underdog." I guess I'm naive to the extent that I figured if the viewers voted and with a voice like that, what was the problem? I realized that tastes may differ, but there was certainly NO DOUBT that he had the best voice. I actually thought Katherine was the second best voice in this thing at that point (and her voice is lovely, but ....no point in going on about that anymore, you know what I mean).

Anyway, it wasn't until I continued to watch and became much more involved in Elliott as a person and singer that I realized something wasn't right. Basically, I never saw him or thought of him as an underdog. He was only that in the Holly wood sense that I came to see very clearly around top four week.

Now, regarding Benji, I was comparing to Elliott only in the sense of character and family ties, etc. He's not the most stunning to look at and he is quirky. I think many saw the same things in Elliott. We didn't know Elliott as well during the show as we do now, but we already know a lot about Benji. I do think there are a lot of similarities. Obviously you can't compare a dancer with a singer. A natural dancer would never make SYTYCD unless he or she had training and/or many hours of very hard work. The talent is not the same at all, but that wasn't what I was comparing.

Virtually every dancer on this show is already working in dance or a related profession. So, you really can't use the word "underdog" in the same way as it was with AI. I actually DO think that Benji is an underdog. I think he will get far and that he is esteemed in the eyes of the judges and producer. BUT, I do NOT think he is a TCO because of his religion and his looks. He already has these strikes against him. He happens to be the best WC swing dancing male in the country, yes, but that is obviously not ALL he wants since he is trying to win this show. In that sense, he is an underdog, too.

Anyway, I can understand that Benji would not appeal to some (or maybe even a lot) viewers. That's fine. I am still determined NOT to become emotionally involved. I think that one reason I will NOT is because none of these dancers will lose much if they don't win. They have promising careers right now and their lives will not be changed forever by their experience on this show. Now THAT's a big difference between the dance show and Elliott, as well as what I'm hoping will keep me detached from it beyond pure entertainment.

We shall see.

these stupid shows..
ruining our lives.
making us break our promises to our husbands (fiances)

oh alypants.. what would we be without eachother?

probably sane :D

I can't wait for Wed...I want to see what he gets this week! :wub:

ok, so I am SO EXCITED to get to see benji dance again tonight!

HORRAY!!!

Thank you for reminding me. I'm sure my mom would have said something, but just in case she was going to. I couldn't stand missing Musa and Benji.

I WANT IT TO BE TIME NOW!!!

Moving this up to the top with the other SYTYCD threads, ready for tonight's show. Hoping we can keep new threads limited so that I can keep track of only a few! :rolleyes:

Enjoy the show!

I LOVE YOU BENJI!!!

Benji and Donyelle were the best of the night! Woohoo! Go Benji!

And I LOVED what Niegel said about Danielle!
How her weight is perfect and she is beautiful just the way she is.
See, how can anyone not like nigel!

I LOVE BENJI EVEN MORE NOW!
I want him to be my dance partner!
I don't know how to dance though, so that wouldn't really work out so great but, he could teach me. I've loved swing FOREVER! So, yes.

His awesomeness makes me want to take a swing class.

I've also been wanting to take a hip hop class for a few years. Maybe I will do that soon!

Did you see his arms? Hubba hubba... :thud:

Oh my gosh I was getting jealous. I was like I want to be where Donyelle is. (At the end when they were talking to the judges and he kept holding her tightly to him.) :wub:

On a side not, we need a fainting icon. Not a thud icon but a fainting one.

BENJI ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!!! And I voted tonight! (for Musa too... sorry I had to cause I love him too)

:wub:

Oh ,yes, he is spectacular, truly showing how versatile he is. I think he will be able to do anything they throw at him. And, he is so personable. I loved the way he was joking around. I know this will irritate some people, because he doesn't seem to ever stop it, but he shows some real class.

Donnyelle is very good, but she did, again, slip out of sync a little at the end. Maybe she just needs to work on stamina and breath control.

A poster above said that Nigel commented that Donnyelle's weight was "perfect?" Well, no, he did not say that. He said that she showed confidence on the stage, was sexy and a real presence on the stage and that she is a great example and inspiration to other girls who are affected in their dancing by their weight. I do not think Donny's weight is perfect, because it just isn't. At some point, she will display the weakness that the extra weight causes. So far, I've only seen tiny glimpses of it in her loss of rhythm towards the end of the routine.

On the other hand, if she continues in the competition, she will probably lose some weight. Last year all of the contestants that made it far lost a lot of weight.

I also voted tonight for 25 minutes. No busy signals at all. I did vote for two other couples, though (Travis/Martha and Ryan/Heidi). Voted longer for Benji though. I think Benji just may have a chance at this and it does appear that he is extremely well-liked by the judges.

There was one girl last year whom I can't remember, but I remember that a judge said something about her carrying extra weight and by the nearing end of the competition she had dropped a lot of weight. I don't think it was Melody, but I can't remember who it was.

So yeah I think Donyelle will lose weight throughout the competition.

But I have to say I love their partnership.

Benji is so into helping her relax and it's great. I'm so jealous. :yes:

Well, Benji has nothing to lose, so let's hope he will go far, but NOT lose anything. I bet there isn't an ounce of fat on him.

I noticed something else about him, tonight, too. While he was still humorous, he did not come off as goofy as much as before. He also seemed to be controlling his facial expressions so as not to look goofy. I don't mean that in any way as a knock to Benji...don't know how to explain it, though. I think anyone who has been watching him throughout the auditions knows what I mean. I think he is very aware of what he needs to do to win this thing, from every angle. He is truly a professional, not just in dancing, but in image making, PR, choreography, people building, etc. I think his ability to bring the best out in people has a lot to do with his religious faith, also. He just has a joy for life and a confidence in himself that isn't egotistical but based on being comfortable with who he is before God.

Anyway, BERKANA, you need to clarify your siggy, honey. If you're not careful, we're gonna think that "boy" you fell in love with is BENJI. It doesn't specify WHO you love, now does it?

:blink:

I love everyone! Cough.

Meep. Can't bring myself to do it. *Dies*

Musa and Benji are safe!!!! :cheerleader: