So You Think You Can Dance - Top 6

It's down to the Top 6 on So You Think You Can Dance.  At this point, although my favorites are Eliana and Cole, I would be happy with any of the dancers winning.  All of them bring something different to the competition, and it's great to see so much variety instead of the usual contemporary dancers.  There is no voting tonight because the eliminations are solely based on last week's votes (the judges can't save anyone anymore), and next week is the performance finale where people will vote for the winners. 

Each of the top 6 danced three dances - one with an all-star, one with each other, and a solo.  The group routine was choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, and it was her usual mix of weird and energetic.  Eliana had a couple of standout moments, which were great.  Overall a good number. 

I normally don't pay that close attention to the mini-solos as the dancers get introduced, but this time the boys decided to dance each other's styles.  I was confused as to why Chehon did a martial-arts-like move like Cole in the beginning, but then it became clear at the end when Cole did Cyrus's signature robot moves.  Once we rewinded, it was obvious Cyrus was doing ballet poses in the middle - I can understand why he didn't even try to do Chehon's ballet moves. 

Favorite routines

1) Cyrus and Comfort's dubstep from Christopher Scott.  This number was crazy.  There were a lot of intricate movements with the feet, the body, and the hands.  I actually think Cyrus falls a bit behind Comfort at times, but Comfort is such a beast that it would be hard to keep up with her. 

2) Cole and Eliana's contemporary from Mia Michaels.  Mia Michaels said she was inspired by the way rams fight.  I really like this piece - it was emotional, physical, and intense, but not in a fake or pushy way.  Cole and Eliana danced it very well and even more important, acted it really well.

3) Eliana and Twitch's hip hop from Christopher Scott.  This piece was so fun and sexy.  Eliana really matched Twitch step by step, and their chemistry was off the charts.  I love how much fun they were having, and it really translated to the audience. 

Least favorite routines

1) Witney and Chehon's cha-cha from Jean-Marc Genereux.  Witney was in her elements, but Chehon looked lost again.  He wasn't any better than when he tried the samba early in the season. 

2) Chehon and Kathryn's contemporary from Tyce Diorio.  This piece is exactly why I'm not a big fan of Tyce.  He tries to do the serious, weighty stuff, but the overall effect is fake and manipulative.  Chehon and Kathryn danced it well, but the piece came out to be boring and annoying.

Solos - from my favorite to least favorite

Boys

1) Chehon
2) Cole
3) Cyrus

The boys really brought it tonight with the solos.  All of them did a fantastic job.  Chehon's solo was different than what he has done before - very masculine and dark.  Cole's wolf-themed solo was intense and I love the music.  Cyrus is just amazing as usual, and I'm impressed that he constantly shows up with new moves.  How cute were their moms?  I almost cried when Chehon's mom talked about how proud she was of him just for being himself.

Girls

1) Eliana
2) Witney
3) Tiffany

The girls' solos were not as exciting as the boys' pieces.  Eliana's lines were amazing in her solo, and it was fun to see her do more contemporary than straight ballet like she did last week.  Witney's paso-doble-themed solo was fine, but I thought it was rather weird without a partner.  Tiffany's solo was just a garden variety contemporary solo - nothing particularly special.

Eliminations

There was no bottom twos this week, just eliminations.  I wasn't surprised when Witney and Cole were eliminated.  Witney has been in the bottom quite a few times, and Chehon has surpassed Cole in momentum.  I'm sad Cole left, but it would only be two more weeks before we will see him again in the finale.