SYTYCD - First Elimination Round
Oh Brandon. Brandon, Brandon, Brandon. We barely knew you. Seriously, you were put into a pretty impossible position and we were sad to see you cut from So You Think You Can Dance before you really had a chance to show us what you could do. Eliminations from the top 20 started tonight, but it wasn't a matter of voting from the audience -- the judges chose which guy and which girl was sent packing.
At the end, we had no idea which two women would have to dance for their lives, but alas, we were pretty sure you would be on the chopping block. You and Pauline were an absolutely adorable couple. You had some of the best chemistry, and we enjoyed watching your waltz, but in a year where everyone else knocks it out of the ballpark every time... well... sorry. We look forward to seeing you next year, if the rules get bent enough that we can do that.
More after the poll. And the jump.
At the end, we had no idea which two women would have to dance for their lives, but alas, we were pretty sure you would be on the chopping block. You and Pauline were an absolutely adorable couple. You had some of the best chemistry, and we enjoyed watching your waltz, but in a year where everyone else knocks it out of the ballpark every time... well... sorry. We look forward to seeing you next year, if the rules get bent enough that we can do that.
More after the poll. And the jump.
And Ariana... you are such a cutie pie! We heart you! It's just that you're young. And someone had to go. And you were way outside your comfort zone. We mean, look at that adorable dancer in that photo up there. Can you imagine her as a hip-hopping android? Yeah.... No. She did her best, but popping and locking just aren't her deal. And again, just like Brandon, Ariana is young and in a competition with people who have years of classes and physical maturity on their side. We'll miss you, Ariana, but we couldn't argue with the judge's decision.We did wonder if the voting would have gone another way if it was up to the audience. You're such a cute little farm girl with a sweet smile. That goes a long way with us viewers.
The theme of the night seemed to be how dangerous it is to be a dancer. With Billy Bell dropping out a day and a half ago due to ill health, and Noelle (pictured above in a photo shoot done prior to the drama) had to sit out tonight's competition due to an injury. Surprisingly enough, it's not a back injury. (Yikes, is that a yoga pose? It looks humanly impossible.) They showed her in the audience with a huge brace on her leg and said she would be getting an MRI ASAP. (Is this another jab at the national healthcare mess? She has to wait to get an MRI? When she's on a show in LA? Ahem. We digress.) So her partner -- our man Russell -- performed with his choreographer.
We loooooved his performance. We were on the edge of our seats, clapping and drooling and cheering. Sure, it was a little like a guy trying to do a flirty foxtrot with his mother, but we were charmed. (Shut up. We don't want to know what that says about us.)
Sadly, the judges were not quite as charmed. They thought he used his charisma to fudge through some of the more technically difficult steps. Whatever. He won our hearts.... again. So we were pretty surprised to see him put up at the end of the show as one of the two weaker men. Does his magic only work through the TV screen? Whatever. It was nice to be able to see him dance again, even if he was.... well... it looked like he was throwing a bit of a tantrum. It's okay, Russell. You'll always be number one in our hearts.