SYTYCD Says Goodbye to Two More

SPOILER ALERT!

After a Wednesday performance show of fantastic displays of talent, it was difficult to predict who would find themselves in the bottom three during Thursday's elimination show. My earlier predictions were far from confident, and certainly proved themselves to be pretty far from accurate as well.

Let's start with the big overly accessorized elephant in the room, though, shall we? At first glance, I thought that I liked Cat Deeley's style last night - a cute and trendy pocket dress, her hair let down again after a bob style the previous night. I've read that she selects all of her own wardrobe and hair styling, and she seemed to have done well in her choices. Then that crazy braid found its way over her shoulder to make its television debut, and it continued to stubbornly show back up after every few commercial breaks. Waiting for a glimpse of her shoes, I was glad to see they weren't over the top. However as the episode went on what I thought was a slightly gaudy necklace turned out to in fact be a decoration stuck directly to her skin above her dress' neckline. I've heard a rule that women should remove two accessories before leaving the house each day to ensure they're not over-accessorizing. Perhaps Cat should have kept on the earrings and ring she took off and removed the fuzzy pink hair tie and neck bling instead.

Ah, well. On to the show. As mentioned previously, there weren't three couples deserving of bottom status based solely on Wednesday night's performances. In fact, Ashley and Chris were the only sure bet based on those performances alone. They were in the first grouping of dancers to learn their fate, and not surprisingly did end up in danger of elimination. My other prediction, Ryan and Ricky, were safe, as were Melanie and Marko, which was no surprise to anyone. The replay of Melanie and Marko's routine from Wednesday night also provided an opportunity to replay the 'kiss fest' that happened at the judges' table afterwards. Many times judging tables on this show as well as others try to be funny but miss the mark, however this whole impromptu bit was genuinely funny.

The next three couples included Sasha and Alex, and watching clips of their routine reminded viewers just how great it was. I was glad to see producers lightheartedly acknowledge Lil' C's tendency towards inaccessible vocabulary with a definition of "mellifluous" on the screen over the replay of his comments. Miranda and Robert became the second bottom three couple, and were at an immediate disadvantage having been on the bottom before. They did so well on Wednesday night in the dance itself, but just don't connect to viewers enough to pull in the votes. Their personalities are goofy, not flirty and cute like some of the other contestants more popular with fans of the show.

The last dancers to land in the bottom were Caitlynn and Mitchell, who likewise performed very well in the previous episode. Viewers saw the "Dance for Your Life" solos after a unique guest dance by Axis Dance Company, featuring dancers both with and without disabilities. Ashley kicked off the solos with a pretty lackluster performance; in her first appearance in the bottom three, she didn't seem to know that she was dancing for her life, and at times was literally just strolling across the stage. It lacked the energy and 'last ditch effort' you would expect from someone in danger of leaving the show.

The other girls didn't do much better. Miranda had some creative interpretations of the music, and showed off her great athleticism, but did seem to stumble slightly at one point. Caitlynn was likewise not at her best, and it was clear she knew it when her performance ended.

The boys' solos were significantly more engaging. Chris offered a strong display of his talent, emotion and audience connection in one of the best dance for your life solos of the season thus far. Robert, always energetic and full of personality, reminded the judges of his charismatic moves and continued his theme of Michael Jackson shout-outs during his solos. Mitchell, who has been on the bottom once before due to an injury, gave a fantastic contemporary performance and it would have been truly shocking if he'd been eliminated.

In the end, viewers had to say goodbye to Miranda and Robert. It was surely disappointing for them to go home after such an amazing performance the previous night, but they both gave classy exit speeches. Although Robert was the weakest of the bottom three boys, Ashley definitely got a pass last night at Miranda's expense. Miranda has been a consistent performer, and takes on characters better than any other dancer on the stage, fully transforming into each as she adapts to the different styles. Ashley has had a few strong routines, but her performance with Chris was un-inspiring and her solo left a lot to be desired. The judges must have faith that she can step up her game, and that potential along with a spunkier personality that seems to draw viewers in a bit more, appears to have given her the slight leg up at least in this round. Miranda and Robert were at the bottom of the pack right from the start, but grew on at least one viewer throughout the past several weeks. They had a good run.