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Originally aired on Thursday, July 13, 2006 Episode Rating: **** (4 stars out of 5) Episode Overview: Two of the final twelve So You Think You Can Dance contestants will be eliminated after six separate solo routines. Episode Highlights:

• Travis lets loose with a ballet-centric routine.
• Natalie's writhes all over the stage in her sexiest performance yet.
• Musa wows the crowd with a ridiculous freestyle dance.

Recap: The final twelve dancers on So You Think You Can Dance begin the program with a nice little Disco routine, highlighted by some impressive hand-standing by Musa. Short and sweet. Cat Deeley enters, dolled up in a short dress. It's amazing how Cat can come out with so many different looks from episode to episode, yet always remain her same mildly attractive self. Silly English people. Judges tonight are again Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy (who may or may not be boozing it up; her mystery drink is suspiciously brown) and the perpetually smarmy Brian Friedman. Cat informs us that Donyelle was unable to perform in the opening number because of a foot injury.

After a recap of the previous night's performances, we are given the plan for the rest of the season. Beginning next week with the final ten dancers, couples will be chosen at random for every episode. A two-hour So You Think You Can Dance episode next Wednesday will have two performances each by the couples, as well as one solo routine from each dancer. Afterwards, America will vote not for couples, but for individuals. The male and female with the respective lowest vote total will then be eliminated. The judges will no longer have any power. Cat brings up the couples two at a time to relay the voting results. The three lowest vote-getting couples will all have to perform a solo dance, with the judges eliminating one guy and one girl. Ashlee and Dmitry, Travis and Martha, and Natalie and Musa were America's least favorite couples. It's hard to argue with these selections at this juncture on So You Think You Can Dance; all the couples are pretty darn good. Personally, I would have put up Heidi and Ryan instead of Musa and Natalie, but that's just nit-picky. On to the solo routines. Ashlee Nino As expected, Ashlee goes to her bread and butter of Hip/Hop. The performance is fine, could have been better, but Ashlee is good at what she does. However, she is turning into a one-trick pony. After the dance, she rambles on about "popping" and how she is the only "popper" left on So You Think You Can Dance. Mostly, I'd like her to stop talking. Eventually, she does.
Dmitry Chaplin With an open leather-jacket that prominently shows off his bare chest, Dmitry comes out to an Elvis song. Sorry, but that was kind of bad. He tried to make it dynamic, tried to bring some energy but I don't buy it. Dmitry even pulled out a couple of very uncomfortable-looking splits. He needs to go home tonight.

Martha Nichols Martha shows off her ridiculous hops, performing a weird Contemporary routine. I enjoyed it, she performed it well, but the degree of difficulty seemed somewhat low. However, with Ashlee probably on her way out, I think Martha should be safe.


Travis Wall Dancing to that Damien Rice song from "Closer", Travis does this really cool ballet-centric routine that showcases his athletic ability. Really good. Afterwards, he gives a shout-out to his mom in the stands, it being her first time there in person, saying "She's the reason why I do that". He holds back tears successfully, but you can tell he's welling up. Man, dancing is emotional. Natalie Fotopoulos Um, yeah. More please. She begins the dance by writhing down the stairs, and writhes some more on the dance floor. She does this really cool spinning, up and down squat thing that is really cool, and adds a lot of super athletic moves. Awesome. Damn, she is sexy.


Musa Cooper Seriously, they need to film an hour-long special of Musa just doing solo routines. This dance is a freestyle Hip/Hop set to "Disco Inferno" and it is, easily, the most entertaining performance of the show so far. He does a lot of tumbling, covering preposterous amounts of ground, showing off his pantheon-level athletic ability. He could be a professional athlete, I'm convinced. The judges go backstage to deliberate and Cat brings out our special guests for the evening, The Pussycat Dolls, to unveil their brand new single "Buttons". The song is kind of cool, Indian-influenced, but the singing isn't very good. The lead singer makes up for it, her being a mountain of hot, and the rest of the girls aren't that bad, either. The judges come back on stage, having come to a unanimous agreement on the next So You Think You Can Dance eliminations. The girls are first. Nigel tells Natalie that she is spectacular, but that he would like to see her get away from her "sex kitten" routine and just dance. Don't listen to him Natalie! Keep on keepin' on. Ashlee is eliminated, to little surprise. Guys next. Nigel tells Travis that he is quite proud of him and that he's safe. Next, he brings out Dmitry and rips into him, saying that both his couples and solo routines were severely lacking. We know, eliminate him already. But now Musa comes up, and the tragedy occurs. After admitting that his solo dance was nothing less than awe-inspiring, Nigel grudgingly admits that Musa lacks the technical proficiency to continue on the show, and he is eliminated. This is so stupid. Dmitry sucked and Musa was great. Why even have a solo routine? Another solid program, even if Musa was screwed. Next week should be fun, with two straight hours of dancing. With all the remaining dancers (except Dmitry) being extremely good, the eliminations will be very, very tough. -Oscar Dahl

Source: BuddyTV.com