Destination 'So You Think You Can Dance': What you didn't see

"Cat's looking very sexy tonight," announced Debbie Williams, stage manager extraordinaire, when the one and only Cat Deeley took the stage. "I have been in hair and makeup for an hour and a half," Cat pointed out, modest as ever.

The jocular vibe at the "So You Think You Can Dance" studio Thursday night came from two things. First off, if you ask me, the judges already knew who they were sending home when the show began. That certainty lifted some of the usual, elimination-night pressure.  Secondly, the new warm-up guy was struggling out there, and somebody had to entertain the audience between segments. "SYTYCD" titan Nigel Lythgoe gladly obliged. Here's the show you didn't see, which was tucked between the segments that aired.

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From her seat in the audience, former contestant Kourtni Lind looked tranquil and happy.  She wore a wacky outfit, even by Kourtni standards: pointy gingham boots, a gray vest, a peace symbol purse and black bandanna wrapped around her wrist.

Guest of honor

Will Wingfield's mentor, Debbie Allen, was also in attendance, and was regarded with more respect and admiration than anybody else in the studio.

Famous by association

The loudest scream of the night came when the warm-up guy announced that "the director from 'Hairspray'"  -- i.e. Adam Shankman -- was in attendance. Dude, he has probably been in the same room as Zac Efron! AAAAAH!

Where's the hook?

The poor warm-up guy was really bombing out there.  "Who's got this on TiVo at home?" he inquired.  Every hand in the room shot up. "That’s a lot of DVR right there," he surmised. Huh?

Talk about "Hairspray" …

It's a good thing nobody struck a match in the studio, because the lovely Ms. Deeley might have gone up up in flames! Her hairstylist was onstage, spraying her massive mane at every break.

Joshua Allen's happy dance

When Joshua found out that he was safe -- and that Comfort Fedoke and Thayne Jasperson were in the bottom three -- his first impulse was to embrace Comfort. Then, on his way down the stairs, Joshua couldn't resist performing a spastic victory dance. He knocked his hat off and almost fell down the stairs in the process. Gotta love him.

And just in case anybody's keeping score …

Not counting the Zefron-induced hysteria, the loudest applause of the evening came when quirky twosome Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura took the stage.

Represent!

Joshua's dad can't have all the fun! Mark's mom decided to show her parental pride tonight by toting a poster with a baby picture of Mark on it.

Useless gossip

Any "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fans in the house? Cheryl Hines came to the show tonight.  As far as I could tell, she wasn't promoting anything, but was just a fan of the show. 

BFF

Kournti Lind made sure to catch Courtney Galiano's eye from the audience and give her a heartfelt wave.  According to Kourtni, the two shared more than a name.  They also shared a special bond -– and a room –- during their time on the show. 

"No!"

When Twitchington was revealed to be in the bottom three, the cluster of young girls behind me was not OK.  Like, at all.  First, there was a collective gasp.  Then, a bloodcurdling shriek: "No!"

Nobody said we were mature

When three members of the endlessly prestigious Alvin Ailey dance troupe were introduced, an appropriate response would have been clapping. Or perhaps, awed silence. But hey, you bring three buff, shirtless men onto the stage at "So You Think You Can Dance," and the response is inevitable: "WOO!"   

Naughty Nigel

Nigel was especially Grinch-ish tonight. When a girl in the mosh pit shouted, "I love you, Gev," Nigel rained on her parade, hushing her and saying Gev would "go home" eventually. Then, adding insult to injury, Nigel yelled, "Gev's in love with Courtney anyways!"

Foot fetish

Debbie Williams couldn't help gushing about Cat Deeley's amazing stilettos tonight (and neither could my fellow Show Tracker, Claire Zulkey). "You so want my shoes, don’t you?" teased Cat. "It's such a shame you've not bigger feet!"

Will swoon for Will

Will Wingfield's appeal is not lost on the ladies of the mosh pit.  When Will jumped offstage at the end of his solo, the girls became hysterical, and not because they thought they were going to get squished.  "When he jumped down, she nearly passed out!" exclaimed a stunned Nigel Lythgoe, motioning toward one particularly lovesick Wingfield fan. 

Backstage banter

When the audience tried to coerce Nigel into crumping, Nigel replied that he was saving himself for a surprise. "Please keep saving it," Adam Shankman shot back. "Would Adam Shankman please not come to this studio and heckle," deadpanned Nigel.

Happy Birthday, dear Nigel …

During a break, Nigel revealed that his birthday was on Wednesday, and that to celebrate, Ryan Seacrest had taken him to a club. "They wouldn't let me in," admitted Nigel. "It's on 'TMZ' tonight! It's very embarrassing." Nigel joked that his next series will be called, "So You Think You Can Get In."

The kicker

The best backstage moment -- by far -- occurred at the very end of the show, after the cameras had stopped rolling.  After Comfort Fedoke and Thayne Jasperson's eliminations, Nigel teamed up with another member of the production to make a shocking announcement: The top 10 dancers aren’t the only ones going on tour this year ... four more dancers will be making the trek.  And two of them are Comfort and Thayne!

After hearing the news, Comfort jumped in the air and hugged anybody she landed on, and Thayne just stood there and cried, swept up in the emotion of it all. Congratulations guys!

-- Stephanie Lysaght

P.S.: If you still have a hankering to talk 'Dance,' come visit fellow Show Tracker Claire Zulkey and me  Thursday at 1 p.m., when we lead a chat right here on the Show Tracker blog.

PPS.: The couples are about to switch up, so leave your fantasy dance pairings in the comments section! I know I have mine...

(Photos courtesy Fox)

Comments

[Sue B]

GREAT NEWS! i hope Matt and Kourtni are the other two, which I assume is the case.

[Emro]

Great notes - thanks!
Kourtni and Matt would be the fair alternates. But I wouldn't be surprised if they took Marquis. He seems like he could sub in for other dancers well.

[Emro]

I think/hope it will be:
Courtney-Twitch
Chelsie-Will
Jessica-Mark
Katee-Gev
Kherington-Josh

[Ronnica]

I think that I'd like to see Mark and Courtney as well as Twitch and Chelsie. Maybe. I don't know. And I'd like to see Will with anyone new (maybe Kherington), to see if he has trouble connecting, which I think he does.

[Lauren]

Thanks so much for the awesome comments! Words can't describe how happy I am that Thayne is going to be on the Tour, I really hope the other two are Matt and Kourtni.

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Sue B, I hate to say it, but I doubt Kourtni and Matt are the other two dancers to make the tour. If that was the case, they probably would have announced it last night, since Kourtni was in the studio. My guess is that the popping guy is one of the other two.

[Dani]

@ Ronnica: If you want to see if Will can connect, he'll have to be with Katee or Chelsie--they're both the best at the dramatics, so if he can't do it with them, he probably ain't gonna get there.

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Wow, I have never heard anybody accuse Will Wingfield of failure to connect! (Or of anything else, for that matter.) Please elaborate, Ronnica and Dani!

[SafeTinspector]

Stephanie, I wish your Thursday chats were later in the day. Its tough for me to attend whilst working.

Do you think Will's getting lumped in the bottom three over and over is a back-lash against the seeming favoritism toward him the judges show? Mary broadcasted her bias before even seeing the largely unnecessary solos...

I understand they are breaking up the couples next week, right? Are they also going to pure voting to decide who is eliminated or will it still be a judges choice out of the bottom three?

[SYTYCD Fan]

I would love to see Mark dance with Katee (both of them are good at capturing the spirit/character of the dance), but I know that's not going to happen. So I would match the Top 10 based on their height.

Gev & Jessica - somebody has to go - it will be hard to pair Gev since most of the ladies are taller than him so might as well partner him with the judges whipping girl (sorry J).

Josh & Courtney - Courtney won't look like a midget if she were to pair up with Twitch or Mark.

Mark & Kherington - both are tall (and Mark will be with another perky blonde).

Twitch & Katee - likeable down-to-earth pair (and they teach at the same dance studio).

Will & Chelsie - a powerhouse couple (will make the judges happy to see their favorites shine).

[Carli]

I'd like to see Courtney with a great partner to maybe garner some extra votes...who has received the least amount of criticism...maybe Joshua or Will?

Chelsie and Gev

Kherrington and Mark

Katee and Twitch

Jessica and Joshua...I guess that leaves Courtney with Will.

[Blair Waldorf]

Ok, I think I just stopped crying because Thayne got kicked off. Not to say that I don't loooooove Twitch, but, do we think he really stands a chance of winning this thing? I think Gev should've gone home. So he's entertaining...but he CAN'T DANCE with any sort of TECHNIQUE! Anyways, dream couples:
Mark and Chelsie. The end.
Oh and Me and Justin Timberlake.

[SYTYCD Fan]

Josh/Chelsie
Will/Katee
Twitch/Courtney
Mark/Kherington
Jessica/Gev

[Stephanie Lysaght]

I'm sorry SafeTinspector - I'd be happy to do the chats later, but I have to rush over to the studio afterwards to watch the show! Hope you can sneak in for a second this week.

Interesting theory about Will... Does anybody else think that the judges' unwavering admiration for Will could be causing an audience backlash?

[zara]

As a long time fan and viewer of SYTYCD, I find that the best part of every Wednesday night is being able to enjoy as well as make my OWN assessments of each performance. However, every season, it becomes apparent from the first week that the judges have a collective bias in favor of a few particular dancers and it shows in their weekly commentary. I find it a little unnerving and disrespectful to every other dancer competing, and I am just a little insulted when opinions are coming from a forced perspective.

That's not to say that the judges opinions on Will aren't warranted, it is simply a matter of being fair and being consistent as well.

I haven't voted for Will once this season, and I have the feeling that the judges have made me just a little bitter about him, which sucks because he IS a great dancer.

On that note, my dream pairings for this week are:
Josh/Courtney
Will/Katee
Twitch/Chelsie
Mark/Kherington
Jessica/Gev

[teela]

COURTNEY AND GEV
im still FREAKIN sad that they're splitting these 2 up.
i cant believe they're never gonna dance together again :(:(:( its heart breaking I LOVED THOSE 2 TOGETHER!!! UGHHHH
although id like to see gev and chelsea
courtney and mark
kherington and will
jessica and joshua
twitch and katee

[Stephanie Lysaght]

I feel your pain, Teela. I can't believe Katee and Joshua's time as a couple is over.

[Stephanie Lysaght]

Yes, tonight is a big night!

Not only will the couples be broken apart, but also, the judges will hand over the reins to the fans. That means the judges will have no say in Thursday's elimination; it will be strictly based on votes!