So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 Week 3 First Reactions

Hello everyone! James here with some first reactions to Top 16 week for So You Think You Can Dance!

On the Eliminations
I wasn’t surprised to see Ashley/Chris and Miranda/Robert in the bottom, but Caitlynn/Mitchell was a small surprise as I thought they had enough fans to keep them out of the bottom 3 this week. I thought that maybe Sasha/Alexander would also end up in the bottom and Meghan thought Jess/Clarice, but we’re both happy those couples didn’t end up in the bottom as we like Sasha and Jess. The decision to eliminate Robert didn’t come as a surprise. It’s honestly the decision that was put off in week one and it was time for him to go. Robert’s a fun guy, but he wasn’t growing in the competition and his solo work wasn’t stacking up well against everyone else. The choice to remove Miranda was a small shock, as the twittersphere is making clear. I never envisioned her actually winning the competition, butI was seeing some growth from her and her solos are quite beautiful so it was regretful to see her go this early. Both Meghan and I agree that they should have sent Ashley home instead of her since her partnering with Chris hasn’t been going well and she’s likely the drag in that partnership. The idea of a Chris/Miranda partnership was also rather enticing.

On the Performances
There were a couple amazing performances on Wednesday. Melanie/Marko continue to demonstrate how they’re leagues above the rest of the dancers and it’s difficult to imagine either of them not making it to the Top 4. Their hip-hop told a great story, was sharp and in-sync and the flip Melanie performed around Marko’s  neck was spectacular! In addition to that, Meghan really enjoyed the second group routine by Dee Caspary. The piece ended up being a good showcase for Jess’ talent as he partnered very well with Melanie. I honestly think he’s the true dark horse of the competition. He has a fanbase, but no one expects him to win, possibly even to make the top 4. Keep an eye on Jess in the coming weeks, especially when he gets some different partners and some better routines. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people.

Tyce DiOrio’s broadway routines are proving to be the kiss of death now, looks like people are over his choreography. As listeners of our podcast already know, I was never much of a fan. I was also disappointed with the Ryan/Ricky performance. We’ll get into it in more depth on the upcoming podcast, but for now Meghan and I want to make the point that both Ryan and Ricky should have been emotionally drained after that performance and at least one of the judges on the panel should have been in tears. That Ryan/Ricky were talking and smiling and the judges were coherent in their compliments demonstrates that it was not as memorable as they pretended it was. It’s really feeling like Nigel is going to lengths to justify his decision last week.

Finally, I just need to say that the guest ballroom dancers Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian are freaking ridiculous. Those lifts!

The Podcast
As with last week, we plan to get a podcast recorded and uploaded tomorrow, probably late Friday evening. Make sure you either check in with us before heading off to bed or after waking up on Saturday to catch our latest show. The performances and elimination show have given us plenty to discuss.

Thanks for checking in!