So You Think You Can Dance: Last Tango in Vegas

Episode Guide

Let the head-scratching begin.

After dancing for their lives, the first pair among the 20 finalists to be let go on this season of So You Think You Can Dance was the "dancing David and Goliath" tango team of Ashlee and Ricky.

According to Entertainment Weekly, it was clear that after the previous night's performances, the writing was on the wall for Ashlee Langas, whose solo to Barbra Streisand's "Cry Me a River" was big on miming and short on actual technique (not to mention what some consider an essential undergarment).

Ricky's departure did come as a shock. Especially when Nigel Lythgoe teased us all by telling Ricky moments earlier that he had the potential to be one of the best dancers of the year.

So instead of cutting B-boy Dominic Sandoval, whose limited "tricks" will be more apparent with every solo he gets, or Cedric Gardner, who has yet to prove he can delve into a style other than hip-hop, they cut an extremely versatile dancer like Ricky Palomino.

It makes me think the judges are allowing themselves a bit of favoritism. Does having hip-hoppers and breakers draw younger viewers than say, boys who do pirouettes and grands jetés? If I see Cedric do a decent quickstep or lyrical dance, then I'll reconsider.

The only good thing about Faina Savich's being one of the bottom three was that we got a reminder of how phenomenal she is at what she does.

From the second she started to work her own Latin moves, she was nothing short of spectacular. Now she needs to catch a break with a style that maximizes her talents. Mary Murphy must have fought to keep such a technically gifted ballroom dancer in her arsenal.

Mixed feelings about the show's extras:

Wade Robson's monochromatic opening number was an exciting start to the program, but the girls were indistinguishable in their black wigs.

The performance by Lloyd of "Get It Shawty" could have been, er, shawter, but he gets points for actually singing instead of lip-synching (Britney Spears, take notice).

You could tell, since he was out of breath from all his dance moves. Maybe the performance also seemed overlong because we knew this was the moment when the judges were deciding who was getting the ax.

The biggest disappointment, however, was seeing last year's So You Think You Can Dance champion, Benji Schwimmer, perform a sloppy routine that pandered to the audience.

He's much better than the cheesy pops and locks and patriotic BVDs that he displayed last night. Let's hope he cleans up his wayward sideburns and ditches the goofy red gloves before he comes back again.