'So You Think You Can Dance': Top 10 list

Like on "American Idol," the top 10 contestants on "So You Think You Can Dance" are guaranteed a spot on the image-raising and revenue-collecting postseason tour.  The eliminations are only getting tougher, so in predicting who would go home last night, it was helpful to remember this major perk.  Who seemed like they'd be an indispensable part of the tour?  Who wouldn't be missed?

The elimination of Anya Garnis was the least surprising of the girls. The ballroom/Latin dancer had a major disadvantage as a performer used to hoofing it with a partner.  Every Thursday she poured her heart out on stage in some absolutely amazing outfits, but as judge Nigel Lythgoe pointed out, in the end the show is about solo performers (although this raises the question of whether ballroom/Latin dancers should get more leeway if they automatically face such a large obstacle).  In an earlier episode, choreographer Mia Michaels noted that Anya was "the lady of the competition," which was an accurate and complimentary description.  Unfortunately, it didn't help the Russian.  The show's audience clearly gravitates toward a youthful, energetic and slightly wacky persona (as embodied by Lacey Schwimmer), and Anya wasn't a big enough ham for the show. 

This would seem to spell bad news for her partner, Danny Tidwell, who also seems more aloof than his competitors.  And compared with Hok Konishi and Neil Haskell, Tidwell didn't quite leave it all out on the floor Thursday night.  So imagine the audience's shock and rage when Hok, a clear favorite, was eliminated.  Now here was someone who seemed like a natural for the tour: a skilled, flashy dancer with tons of energy and an iconoclastic look.  But his elimination wasn't undeserved -- he struggled with many of the genres presented to him.  So while his spirit will be missed, his elimination was not unfair.  Next week the dancers will face the challenge of being split up from their partners, in addition to learning the new dances.

On an added note, it was a treat to watch the tap dancing of Jason Samuels Smith.  Other performances in genres generally overlooked by the competition (How about clogging? Or line dancing? Or stepping?) might be more entertaining and relevant than giving the audience the chance to guess whether the musical performers are lip-syncing or not.

-- Claire Zulkey