'So You Think You Can Dance': Losing a dancer, gaining a judge?

I have some good news and bad news for you.  Want the good news first? Debbie Allen will now be able to return as a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance"!  The bad? Well, of course, it's because her protégé, Will Wingfield, was voted off the show tonight. 

It was a shocker (most of all to Mark Kanemura, who seemed ready to go home) to see both Will and Twitch Boss in the bottom two.  I wouldn't have expected Will to go home quite this early, but as a fan and a viewer, I'm glad that it was Will and not Twitch.  Will is a wonderful dancer who has a great career ahead of him, but very few times during the competition did I feel connected, even really entertained by him. I could admire his work but I didn't have a lot of fun with it.  And let's not forget, it's not the search for America's best dancer -- it's the search for America's favorite dancer, which is good news for Twitch.  I'm not sure why he seemed so despondent when it was revealed that he was in the bottom two, as he's been there before -- perhaps he figured he was a shoo-in to go home if Will was already there. 

And good old Comfort Fedoke.  She seemed ready to be in the bottom two and ready to go home --again.  Our hip-hop girl went out with a smile and a good attitude, which is the best way to do it.

-- Claire Zulkey

Comments

[kerouac9]

Well, Claire, you got what you wanted. We turned on the TV late and were stunned to find Will and Twitch in the bottom two. I have no idea how the crowd mustered the enthusiasm for the terrible LL Cool J performance.

[Carla]

SO DEPRESSING.

Granted, it was gonna be hard to see any of the guys go. They are all excellent dancers for different reasons. But Will? He's the BEST dancer of all of them, and I disagree completely with you. He really moved me when he danced and it was amazing to see him excel at anything they gave him. I'm glad to see Twitch stay only because he's worked so hard to be here, coming from last season. But Will should not be going home tonight. Mark or even Joshua should have left before him. I'd pay to see Will dance any time.

[El Ir]

WILL ,....
I can't believe you just leave so early on the competition,....Man
Let me tell you Baby you a great dancer no one come after you on this season Man even if America got it wrong I mean really wrong You are the best ..!
Guys Vote for who dissolve to win don't vote for saving someone
Love you WILL
Your dances will never leave my memories wish you the best !!

[oakmonster]

I was screaming my head off, my husband thought I was nuts. Not Will!

But you're right. Twitch does connect better.

And wow. Mark, brah. Whole lot of island love came his way last night, I'm sure.

[Baddancerscanwin]

I'm so glad this isn't ms lysaght's article...i would have been disappointed. sounds just like her though wow!!!! eeeeek for lysaght. single white female?

[arggie]

So good to see Will go. Won't be good to see Debbie Allen back. They both seemed like pompous bores to me.

[SafeTinspector]

Claire, you need to call Stephanie's friend and talk her down, too. :)

[Leslie]

Seriously? WIll was supposed to be Retribution for Danny not winning last year. How could this have happened? I dont know how to rebound. And I don't know how to say that you didn't have fun with his dancing. Sure, Twitch is charismatic and fun, and I definitely did not want to see him go home either. But WILL?

And since when do we look forward to the ever-pretentious Debbie Allen judging? Let Will be a contestant forever, I say, if it keeps her off the judges' panel.

When compared to Mark, there is no comparison between him and Will. At All. Any awesomeness we've seen from Mark this season has come from his having been partnered with Chelsie.

[wadahoot]

Funny how we all see things differently! I enjoy watching Will dance, but he seems SO stuck up and stuck on himself.

Mark is weird, in the best way! I couldn't agree less with you Leslie - Mark is awesome, Chelsie comes across to me as a robot. Mark has personality and an inner spark ... Will thinks he IS the spark!

Good thing it's to each her own, huh?! =)

[britesongs]

Mark was "ready to go home"? Hardly! Why would ANY of these dancers want to leave this opportunity behind willingly? I think he reasoned it was likely he would be in the bottom two this week since he was last week. It makes sense and certainly in no way proves the assumption that he was ready or had a desire to leave the show.

It is a shame that Will was eliminated, but hopefully everyone who is offended on his behalf due to his impressive technical abilities will throw in with Mark, who has proven himself more versatile and technically adept than both Twitch and Josh. Look at the group routines. Those are the best place to compare dancers because it is the only occasion during which they execute the same moves. His dancing speaks far more truthfully than the three people who claim to be "judging" it.