It was a high-stakes competition this week on So You Think You Can Dance as the top 10 dancers joining the SYTYCD tour were determined, and the partners danced together for the last time before the all-stars join the competition next week.
It was the most emotional night of eliminations yet on this week’s SYTYCD with lots of tears shed by both the eliminated and saved contestants. As the bottom four, Amy Yackima, Malece Miller, Tucker Knox, and Alan Bersten, took the stage at the end of the night to face elimination, all but Tucker were already fighting back tears. Though all four performed very strongly in their solos, Malece and Alan were unable to overcome the tough reviews for their earlier jazz routine and were eliminated from the competition, therefore just missing out on the top 10 and the tour.
However, Nigel did say that he would do everything in his power to make sure both eliminated contestants were included in the tour as alternates or swing performers.
The bottom six dancers were revealed at the beginning of the show: Jenna Johnson, Alan Bernsen, Malece Miller, Nico Greetham, Amy Yackima, and Tucker Knox. The judges immediately put Nico and Jenna through to the top 10, which resulted in lots of happy tears from Jenna. The remaining four dancers each took to the stafe to dance for their lives, with each one performing an excellent solo, giving it all they had.
For the second week in a row, host Cat Deeley had to start the show off with some bad news about one of the contestants. This week, contemporary dancer Tucker Knox was unable to rehearse due to an infection in his knee, so he wasn’t able to dance with partner Jenna. He was still able to dance for his life, after it was revealed he was in the bottom six this week, and there seemed to be no evidence of injury.
Judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy were joined by choreographer/director/producer Kenny Ortega, of High School Musical and Dirty Dancing fame. Ortega has appeared as a SYTYCD guest judge before, and he really knows what he’s talking about. He may not be as much of a familiar face as Anna Kendrick or Carly Rae Jepsen, but it’s a nice change of pace to hear from a professional with several decades of experience and knowledge under his belt.
Duet Performances
Hayley Erbert and Nico Greetham
New partners Hayley and Nico kicked off the competition with a bang, with a Sean Cheesman broadway number. In this routine, Nico has gone to a gypsy fortune teller (Hayley), but the gypsy is trying to kiss him and steal his soul. The routine was insane, with a lot of passion, and a lot of acting on top of the dancing. There were some incredible stunts that the two contestants completely nailed. The judges were blown away, giving them a standing “o” and showering both dancers with praise.
Malece Miller and Alan Bersten
Malece and Alan were dancing for their place in the top ten with a Mandy Moore jazz routine inspired by classic Hollywood musicals. Neither dancer was super familiar with classic musicals, and perhaps that was why they were not very successful with this dance. The routine seemed awkward and forced, and totally lacking in chemistry. Additionally, as excellent a dancer as Alan is, you can always tell he is a ballroom dancer. He always has that ballroom carriage, no matter what style he’s dancing.
Jenna Johnson and (not) Tucker Knox
Since her partner Tucker was unable to dance, Jenna was joined by all-star Alex Wong for a Jean Marc Genereux “pirate pasodoble.” In this routine, Alex was a pirate with everything but the love of a good woman. Jenna was his treasure: a gypsy woman spurning his advances. It was a very passionate routine, with a lot of intensity and power from both Jenna and Alex. And as a bonus, it looks like Alex has been hitting the gym in the off-season!
Makenzie Dustman and Paul Karmiryan
In this Mandy Moore contemporary routine, Makenzie and Paul are two unlikely lovers: Paul is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and Makenzie has fallen for his bad boy charm. Their dance takes place in their special place, the only neutral territory where they can be in love and safe and be themselves with each other.
Makenzie and Paul are a beautiful couple, and it just makes every dance they do that much more beautiful. The routine earned a standing ovation from the judges, who complimented Makenzie on her breathing, Paul on his passion for dance, and both dancers for their effortless chemistry.
Amy Yackima and DuShaunt “Fik-shun” Stegall
In this last week dancing as partners, Amy and Fikshun got to pay tribute to their time together on the show, with a Jean Marc Genereux Viennese waltz. It was a wonderful way for these two great partners to say farewell to one another. Amy is an incredible dancer, but hasn’t really had the chance to show off her more dramatic and graceful side until tonight. Fik-shun, for an untrained dancer, has grown by leaps and bounds over the course of the competition, and even earned praise from Nigel for his magnificent carriage.
Jasmine Harper and Aaron Turner
Aaron and Jasmine finished up the duets with a NappyTabs hip-hop routine. In this routine, Aaron was a stagecoach robber who has sauntered into a bar and spotted a hottie (Jasmine) in the corner. Jasmine is a gold-digger, and is only after Aaron’s money. While every other week has been all about Jasmine’s legs, this routine was all about her hips. Nigel said he hadn’t seemed hips like hers since Elvis, and he didn’t even think it was possible to move one’s pelvis the way she moved hers.
Group routines
Top 12
The top 12 (minus Tucker) opened the show with a fast-paced Bollywood group routine from Nakul Dev Mahajan. Bollywood is a notoriously difficult style, and most dancers struggle with the fast-paced, intricate motions. This group seemed to be up to the challenge, though they were no doubt a little winded going into their pairs routines.
Top 6 Guys
Five of the top six guys (sans Tucker) performed a mini-group NappyTabs hip-hop routine. The routine was to represented men’s struggle to pull their own weight in a relationship, and this struggle was represented with a rope. The guys were playing tug of war with an unseen force for the entire routine. It was a strong and masculine routine, and one that provided each guy with his own opportunity to shine. Cat likened the routine to Magic Mike, and Mary said it was so nice of Napoleon and and Tabitha to choreograph a routine just for her and Cat.
Top 6 Girls
The top six girls took on a Stacey Tookey contemporary routine about starlets seeking the fountain of youth. The dance was meant to represent society’s obsession with staying young and beautiful, and what better song to accompany this dance than Lana Del Ray’s “Young and Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby. This is an incredible group of girls, with Stacey Tookey calling them her “dream team”, and Mary calling them the strongest top six girls they’ve ever had in ten seasons. They were all strong, beautiful, and graceful, and stunning to watch all together.
Tune in next week when the top ten contestants are joined by all-stars from the past nine seasons. Confirmed all-stars for season 10 include: Stephen “Twitch” Boss, Witney Carson, Lauren Froderman, Neil Haskell, Allison Holker, Mark Kanemura, Kathryn McCormick, Robert Roldan, Alex Wong, and Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval.