Damn

Miranda got the boot on SYTYCD. The second-to-last of the MMMs. I'm disappointed. She's really good. Must've been too many brunettes, breaking up the brunette vote (it happens in shows like this). But she was one of the best dancers, so her loss was a real bring-down. The gal who coasted through last weekend, Ryan, got a total gimmie -- as the only blonde, that gives her an edge, relative to the sea of brunettes this season. She didn't even get on the chopping block this go'round. Alas, poor Miranda. Hopefully the exposure on the show will reap rewards for her, dancewise.

SYTYCD

I'm sufficiently recovered from the aesthetic shellshock I suffered from Malick's "The Tree of Life" to be able to comment on last night's "So You Think You Can Dance?" -- which should be a tough elimination, since there were a lot of great performances:

Miranda and Robert

I liked this one, thought Miranda did a great job, and Robert actually blended well in the role, even though he was in an unfamiliar element.

Melanie and Marko

I wasn't fond of Melanie's costume this go'round, and "lyrical hip-hop" feels like an oxymoron, but she and Marko did their usual awesome best. They are both such great dancers and performers, they own everything they do, so I hope they have enough of a fan base to advance.

While my MMMs did their typical beastly best, performing very well, but I was surprised at how strong some of the other pairs were -- my sense is that they were really trying to bring it to compete with the MMMs.

Caitlynn and Mitchell

Mitchell is one of the strongest of the male dancers, so he's kind of overshadowed Caitlynn, in my estimation, but she owned that samba, banged out a great dance, with Mitchell doing his usual great work.

Clarice and Jess

Clarice is one of the prettiest of the dancers, if not one of the best, but this piece served her incredibly well (as did the fantastic costuming), and Jess owned this number. I think he outperformed all of the guys in this one -- he didn't outdance all the guys, but he definitely outperformed them, just ate up the stage.

Even Ryan and Ricky had a good routine. I don't think Ryan is one of the strongest dancers in the group, but she had a good routine, and is likely to not get axed.

I think this episode was all about the performances -- my sense is that the dancers who got the good fortune to get good dances/choreography will have the best chance of advancing.

The ones I didn't list are likely the ones in danger, because I didn't think their performances were quite at the level of the above ones, and, so, are likely threatened when it comes to voting. We'll see how it goes. I actually voted online a few times, since it's free, and I wanted some of my favorites to get a few votes.