So You Think You Can Dance 4: Round of Twenty Eliminations

by Chandra on June 13th, 2008

Well, the first round of eliminations came and went last night on So You Think You Can Dance, and it was a fairly predictable event in terms of which couples received the fewest votes from viewers and ended up in the Bottom Three.

BOTTOM COUPLE #1
Rayven Armijo & Jamie Bayard

Rayven Armijo/So You Think You Can Dance Jamie Bayard/So You Think You Can Dance

I completely agree this couple was one of the most disappointing pairs during the Round of Twenty. Although I initially believed their performance was subpar primarily because of ineffective choreography by hip-hop specialists Napoleon and Tabitha D’Umo, watching the routine several more times made me realize that Rayven and Jamie justs didn’t bring it, probably because they don’t really have it when it comes to this style of dance.

BOTTOM COUPLE #2
Kourtni Lind & Matt Dorame

Kourtni Lind/So You Think You Can Dance Matt Dorame/So You Think You Can Dance

I said it in my earlier overview — while I really, really wanted to love Mandy Moore’s jazz routine, Kourtni and Matt’s dancing left me feeling unsatisfied, I think because they didn’t connect properly with the music and the story the dance was supposed to tell. The people who called in to vote seemed to feel the same way.

BOTTOM COUPLE #3
Jessica King & William Wingfield

Jessica King/So You Think You Can Dance William Wingfield/So You Think You Can Dance

This was a severe shocker to the judges because they thought Jessica and William’s performance was one of the best of the first round of competition. I thought so, too, but I understand why voters didn’t support the couple.

First, Jessica was mighty shaky on her feet at several points, and when the judges called those mistakes out, it probably confused audience members who wondered how she and her partner could still get such praise when other dancers didn’t make the same very obvious mistake but were received less enthusiastically by the judges.

Second, the show needs to stop pointing out that William is Debbie Allen’s protégé. Yes, that’s a wonderful thing and a huge accomplishment. But the more it’s mentioned, the more it looks like William is getting undue, possibly unfair, attention from the judges.

After each of the dancers in the Bottom Three danced for their lives, all but Matt Dorame performing solos that seemed on the weak side to me, the judges made the correct decision by saying goodbye to the weakest pair, Rayven Armijo and Jamie Bayard. Check out all six solo performances below and choose for yourself, if you haven’t already.

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