- Ashley Galvan is Eliminated from SYTYCD Season 7 - Photo from fox.com/dance
The seventh season of "So You Think You Can Dance" (SYTYCD) continued on Thursday, July 15, 2010, with the Top 7 Elimination Episode. Results of the audience's vote will put two dancers in the bottom, to join contemporary dancer Ashley Galvan, who suffered an injury in rehearsals on Monday and was not able to perform.
Opening Group Number
The episode begins with a group number featuring the Top 6 competitors and some of the All-Stars. They perform a Broadway routine to "Charleston (from Billion Dollar Baby)" from Jerome Robbins Broadway. Host Cat Deeley tells the audience that the piece was choreographed by Tyce DiOrio.
Top 7 Dancer Results
The first two dancers are brought out on stage: contemporary dancers Kent Boyd and Lauren Froderman. Lauren received praise from the judges last night for her Tahitian dance and her jazz piece with Billy; however, her routines may have come across as just average compared to the spectrum of other performances in the episode. Kent, meanwhile, had memorable performances with Neil in a baseball-inspired Broadway piece and with AdeChike in contemporary. Both dancers are safe this week.
The next two dancers are brought out on stage: contemporary dancers AdeChike Torbert and Billy Bell. Both were given some criticism and some praise last night. AdeChike was applauded for his pushing through in salsa, and had a great contemporary piece with Kent. Billy was also praised for surviving the jive, and the judges were happy with his jazz routine with Lauren. While both struggled a little through their ballroom pieces, Billy's jive was a less polished than Chike's salsa.
AdeChike is safe, and Billy will be in the bottom with Ashley.
The final two dancers are brought out on stage: street dancer Jose Ruiz and contemporary dancer Robert Roldan. Robert was praised for his work in Travis's emotional contemporary piece last night, but had mixed reviews on his disco. It probably didn't help that his disco partner was injured two days before the performance, and All-Star Kathryn was brought in to replace her. Jose had fairly harsh criticism on his Broadway routine, which was merited, and was praised for his b-boy venture with Dominic. While that routine was enjoyable, the praise may have been a little over the top to compensate for the Broadway.
Robert is safe, and Jose will be in the bottom for the first time this season.
Guest Performances: Young Ballroom Dancers and Alvin Ailey Dancers
The first guest performance features a pair of dancers from Mary Murphy's Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego. Fernando Martin-Gullans and Lauren Vayser are coached by Olga Ginsburg and Igor Ustamowicz, and they perform (what looks to be) a jive to "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley. Lauren is 10 years old, and Fernando is 11.
The second guest performance is from Jamar Roberts and Rachael McLaren, two dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. They perform a modern piece to "Gravity's Angel" by Laurie Anderson.
All-Star Performance Revisit: Twitch and Comfort
So far this season, Mark and Courtney revisited their roles in "The Garden", and Pasha and Anya performed their first audition piece together. This week, All-Star hip hop dancers Stephen "tWitch" Boss and Comfort Fedoke perform their hip hop routine from Season 4 to "Forever" by Chris Brown.
Bottom Two Solos
Since Ashley is not able to dance, there are two solos. Billy performs his contemporary solo to "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King. Jose perform his b-boy solo to "Chicken Bone Circuit" by RJD2. The judges are then asked to go off stage and deliberate.
Guest Performance: Christina Perri
Two weeks ago, Christina Perri was working as a waitress and writing songs. Then, Stacey Tookey used her song "Jar of Hearts" on a contemporary piece for Billy and Kathryn. Since then, viewers of SYTYCD have downloaded her song so many times that it is climbing the charts. In appreciation, Christina performs the song on stage, playing the piano. She is backed by contemporary All-Stars Neil Haskell and Allison Holker. It isn't mentioned on the show who choreographed for them.
Top 7 Elimination Results
With Billy, Jose, and Ashley on stage, Nigel first talks to Jose. He says that Jose's personality was not coming through last night, in either piece. However, he showed a renewed sense of fighting for his place in the competition tonight, and the judges are proud of him. Next, Nigel explains to Billy that he has begun showing a different style and sense of energy in his routines, which is good for the competition. In contrast, tonight's solo seemed to go to Billy's "default" tricks and safety zone. If Billy wants to remain in the competition, he needs to cultivate what he is learning and develop as a dancer.
Finally, Nigel turns to Ashley. He explains to the audience that Ashley's doctors are recommending 3-5 weeks rest for her rib injury. Therefore, they need to let Ashley go home this week. This year's tour will include dancers from Season 6, Season 7, and All-Stars; as Nigel puts it, if Ashley is "lucky enough to be chosen for the tour", she will need to make sure her injury is fully healed.
The remaining five guys and one girl, including Billy and Jose, will return to perform next week.
Terry Finch - Terry Finch is a dance teacher and choreographer in Central PA with an extensive training and teaching background in many forms of ...
