‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Only going to get harder from here

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It’s not going to get any easier from here on out, folks. If you thought Wednesday night’s elimination was difficult, just know that sooner rather than later one of your favorites is most likely to be cut from ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ The good news, if there is any, is that this season must be strong if there are so many dancers whom I can’t imagine not being in the competition.

Perhaps to temper the bad news, the show offered some wonderful performances, starting with the Tyce Diorio Broadway routine that kicked off the episode. Sure, it was a little hard to believe the crew as a tough ‘West Side Story’-style gang when Billy Joel’s ‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’ was playing, but the top 10 really seemed to have a fun time with it (especially Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello, who enjoyed a major kiss in the middle of the dance). All in all it was leathery, campy, Adam Lambert-style fun.

I also loved the performance by the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. I’d never seen b-boys move with such restraint, elegance and precision, and the instrumental version of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ was an interesting and good song choice for their dance too.

Finally, I didn’t expect too much from Snoop Dogg’s performance for some reason, but I liked ‘I Wanna Rock,’ probably because he seemed quite comfortable to let the Quest Crew take center stage and bust moves while he busted rhymes. Each time he said ‘So you think you can dance?’ it sounded like a challenge, and not like he was just reciting the name of the show he was on.

But yes, Noelle Marsh, Ryan, Kathryn McCormick and Nathan Trasoras made up the bottom four, and at this point in the competition, the judges can’t do anything to save the dancers: It’s simply elimination by voting. I didn’t want anyone to be eliminated, but I especially hoped Kathryn would escape the cut: She’s my dark female horse in the competition (Ellenore Scott is my nondark female horse, if that makes sense). Thankfully for me, but unfortunately for Noelle, her time was up on the show.

It was harder to pick who I thought should go home of the guys. I really like Ryan on the show (for the eye candy), because he is versatile, because he seems like a nice guy. But I’m also a sucker for a redemption story, and on Tuesday night Nathan showed a new mature side to himself, both as a dancer and in his relationship with the judges and audience. He even said Wednesday night that he appreciates the judges’ feedback because ‘I need a kick in the butt.’ Sadly, the night he started competing more like a man than a boy was the night he got the least amount of votes.

-- Claire Zulkey