Live at So You Think You Can Dance: Top Four Rise in a Not-So-Surprising Elimination

Who made the cut and what did the judges have to say about the last competitors standing?

By Aimee Curran Aug 05, 2011 3:30 AMTags
SYTYCD, So You Think You Can DanceAdam Rose/FOX

It's hard to believe we're only one week away from the So You Think You Can Dance finale! After nearly three months of amazing performances and heartbreaking eliminations, the top four have been chosen.

So who made the cut, what did the judges have to say about the last competitors standing and how did the eliminated dancers handle the news?

The top three girls started the show performing one last solo, followed by the guys. While it seemed kind of obvious which of the girls would be packing their bags, the guys managed to keep everybody wondering who will be competing in next week's finale.

Of course it wasn't a wham, bam elimination. It was an hourlong show packed with performances, including a sweet and moving routine from season-seven winner Lauren Froderman and runner-up Kent Boyd.

It was no surprise that Melanie Moore and Marko Germar were sent sailing through to next week, but their embrace of relief and excitement at commercial break showed they had their doubts that voters might have changed their minds about them.

After an electric and slightly homoerotic number from the Bad Boys of Dance, Sasha Mallory and Caitlynn Lawson came onstage to find out who was still in the competition

Although Caitlynn had phenomenal performances on Wednesday night, it was a little too late in the competition for her to win over voters. Sadly told she would not be moving on, keeping Sasha in the competition.

As Sasha joined Melanie and Marko, Caitlynn took her elimination like a pro. No tears were shed at commercial. Instead, she shared a long hug with host, Cat Deeley and waved to the audience while Nigel took a minute to talk with her parents.

When we caught up with Caitlynn after the show, she was teary-eyed, but proud of her accomplishments.

"It was hard, but I'm so happy to have made it this far," she said. "It's been the most amazing experience of my life, so it's a happy and sad feeling that I have. I'm excited to watch all my friends, and I still get to dance in the show next week so I'm superexcited."

While waiting hear results of the final guy moving on, we had to sit through a predictably bland and unmemorable performance from former American Idol contestant Pia Toscano. Finally Ricky Jaime and Tadd Gadduang joined Cat onstage. After a big buildup and a drawn-out silence, Ricky was sent out of the spotlight leaving Tadd to round out the top four.

Ricky told us through a few tears backstage that it wasn't his elimination making him cry.

"I'm a little bummed, but also excited because I'm going on tour," he said. "I guess the biggest thing for me right now is I won't be in the same rehearsal hall as Melanie and Tadd and Marko and all them. I just love them so much. That's the only reason I'm crying. It's not because I'm going home, I just want to be a part of that."

When we caught up with the judges after the show, they were happy with who America chose to compete in the finale.

"It was really such close race this entire season," Mary Murphy said. "I think we saw some front-runners with Melanie and Marko early on, after that I didn't really knew! You could have gone back and forth all the way through the season about who would stay.  I'm pleasantly surprised that these ended up being the top four. I did think Sasha and Melanie probably were going to edge in there. I literally thought it was up for grabs with Ricky and Tadd."

Even with a strong top four and season favorites in the mix, Nigel doesn't think anyone can predict who will win it all.

"I don't think it's a done deal on who wins," he said. "I think it's a done deal that one of them will win. I've tried to instill this in them that you are not a loser. You just don't win this. They are just too good to be losers. You can't call all these people losers. They are absolutely brilliant!"

Are you happy with the results? Who are you voting for? Who do you think has edge over the other contestants to win it all? Let us know in the comments!

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