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'So You Think You Can Dance' results: Miranda and Robert ain't got that swing
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After Wednesday's (June 29) love-in of a competition night, it was a little jarring to face the fact that two dancers -- one girl and one guy -- would be eliminated on Thursday's show. But such is the tough love world of competition reality TV. The week's bottom three wasn't all that surprising: Ashley and Chris, who drew a short straw with the Sonya Tayeh (who is usually fab) choreographed zombie routine, Caitlynn and Mitchell, whose samba was almost a little too bootylicious and Miranda and Robert -- whose streetwalker-meets-music lover Broadway bit didn't really do much for either of them.
We won't keep you in suspense: Miranda and Robert ended up going home despite Nigel Lythgoe's Wednesday statement that Miranda was the most-improved dancer in the pack and all of the judges' flat out adulation of Miranda. We were kind of surprised to see Ashley make it through, but so far this season all eliminated dancers have been cut as couples. Either Miranda wasn't strong enough to buck the trend or Ashley, who we thought might be packing up her bags, has a really effective guardian angel.
"It's tough, said Nigel to Zap2it in a post-show interview. "I'm afraid I loved Miranda. I thought she was fabulous, but two people have got to go each week."
When asked about how much the solos factor into the judges' decision, Lythgoe said, "I think Ashley's solo was the weakest one tonight, that the steps were hackneyed. But we loved her jail routine [from last week] and that's what we voted on and remembered the routines she's done across the seasons so far."
And, Lythgoe, who had warned Robert about his strong personality earlier in the season, thinks that probably played a role in his repeated trips to the bottom three.
"I think personalities are very dangerous," he said. "You can always overstep your mark. His personality outweighed his danceability."
We didn't get a chance to ask Lythgoe why he mistakenly told Chris he liked his woodpecker routine last week (that was danced by Robert and Miranda), but we'll chalk it up to heat-of-the-moment confusion and give him a pass -- this time.
Next week, stay tuned for the top 14 and guest judge Carmen Electra.
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That was just BS!!
Miranda's was the best solo tonight, and Robert had a far better performance - both in technique and in energy and emotion - than Rick.
Ashley and Ricky should have been the ones cut!!
This is the first season I do watch this show, and it will be probably the last one, as you can see the whole thing is just ridiculous.Nigels sends home who he doesn't like and keeps who he likes no matter what, so what is the point? Publicity? Yeah, with what viewers if you keep at this rate.
I wondered about Nigel's woodpecker comment. I think you're right. He also commented about Mitchell's not making a connection with the public but he was only in the bottom earlier because of an injury.
BTW, the two guest performances were stunning tonight.
Nigel made a gross error in recognizing Chris as the male dancer in the woodpecker routine rather than Robert who performed it beautifully. I hope the elimination was not largely based on that mistake. Robert and Chris should have reacted at time of the comment by Nigel. He sounded very Abdulish in his assessment.
As well choreographed as the show is and as dedicated and articulate as the judges typically respond, it was almost shocking to here Nigel announce the elimination of Robert over Chris identifying the fabulous woodpecker routine as a Chris routine rather than Robert's. They are both terrific dancers and it was clearly Nigel's responsibility to get it right. In defense of Nigel, he did appear to have had a large cup of forgetful juice in advance of his comments.
I find it funny that Ricky was (allegedly) saved on the strength of his dance for your life solo, but when Miranda blows the other girls out of the water with her solo we get, "it's not all about the solo, we consider everything...blah blah blah.."
It seems like the solos have absolutely nothing to do with who stays and who goes. It's far more likely that the judges and producers are concerned with overall casting, and their minds are made up no matter what these kids do in their final 30 seconds.
I HATE that they are eliminating couples each time. It's smacks of laziness. Of course, creating new pairs is challenging - they may not "match" physically, etc. But I bet any one of those dancers would rather face obstacles with a new partner than be cut all together.
just watch the performances. ignore the judges. they have agendas and will just make u crazy.
This season is just exceptionally good, which means every week someone we like is going to go home. Too bad there isn't a way we can enjoy watching these wonderful dancers without it being a battleground for who is best. They are all great!
Nigel isn't the only one confused. Two mentions of 'Ricky' in the comments... when he wasn't even in the bottom three!
@Jim, since I'm one of the ones who mentioned Ricky - I am not confused. Ricky was in the bottom last week. He just killed it in his solo, prompting Nigel to say that it was the deciding factor in saving him. This week Miranda basically does the same thing and Nigel says the solo alone cannot save you. It all smacks of hooey - the judges and producers are going to do what they're going to do and heaven only knows their criteria, but clearly the dancing isn't the only thing driving the decisions.
Renee has great advice and I think I'm going to take it from now on. DVR the show, watch and enjoy the dances, forward through the judges.