This is it. 38 dancers move on from the week of torment in Las Vegas to Hollywood. Here, their fates are decided. Do they become a blip on the pop culture radar and miss out on a chance at winning the title of “America’s Favorite Dancer?” Or will they be the next Sabra, Jeanine, etc.? Mia (with a buzz cut!), Tyce, Debbie, Mary, Adam and Nigel go through the dancers, one by one, letting them know if they’re going home or staying to compete.

The dancers are brought out, one by one, and told if they are moving on or going home. Those going on usually hear some terrible attempt to play on the suspense from one of the judges. The lines they read are just plain awful. Instead of clever misdirection the judges blatantly will tell a dancer that there’s no room for them, but there’s room for them anyway “Wooooo! Woooo!” So this episode definitely won’t win any Emmys for writing.

To paraphrase what is a really boring show, the surprises are as follows: an L.A. ballerino, called “Daveed?” or “Dahvid?” It doesn’t matter; he wasn’t pushed through to the top 20. These cuts are getting cut throat. His technique was fantastic but it is worth noting that exceptional ballet skills may not translate into an all-around fantastic performer. Amber Jackson, the graceful dancer that lacked emotion and performance by the judges’ standards, was cut. She was exquisite in motion, but did lack a bit of life in her performance. The final shocker of the episode was dancer-made. Paula turned down her spot in the Top 20 due to a conflict with a movie. Please, don’t cry for her, she’ll certainly do fine. Her passing leaves one more spot open which was filled by the other half of the married Ballroom couple, Ashleigh.

Other than those three missing fantastic dancers, the show was more of an affirmation of good choices by the judges that surprising cuts. This season is showcasing some young talent with Nick and Mollee, one of whom needs to grow and the other needs to dance with more maturity (aka, Mollee, sex it up!). Season 6 also sees the first tapper in the Top 20. Well, the first, and second AND third. This may be the year of the ‘tap’ according to Nigel but three tap specialists could make for a crappy first few weeks of the show.

Billy Bell made Adam weep in his last audition in Vegas. Obviously he’s going on to Vegas and will likely be in the top 10 if he can avoid a Russian Folk Dance disaster. It’s revealed that he’s on scholarship at Juilliard. With his talent we should’ve seen that coming. Juilliard is releasing him for a sabbatical for the show. Lucky us.

Russell the Krumper made it, going against some stiff odds that seemed to shift in his favor as time went on. He’s already shown that he can grow and learn new styles on the fly. If he can pull dance styles that suit his body and skill level at least for the first few weeks he’s going to create a wicked strong following. Vote, America, vote - because there’s no way he’ll survive if he pulls the ballet card.

To those of you keeping score at home, the Top 20 looks like this:

Top 20 finalists. Pictured top row L-R: Legacy Perez, Pauline Mata, Channing Cooke, Russell Ferguson, Jakob Karr, Ellenore Scott, Ashleigh Di Lello, Ryan Di Lello, Noelle Marsh and Nathan Trasoras. Bottom L-R: Victor Smalley, Bianca Revels, Karen Hauer, Peter Sabasino, Phillip Attmore, Mollee Gray, Billy Bell, Ariana Debose, Kevin Hunte and Kathryn McCormick.

Image © Fox Broadcasting Co.

Place your bets because it’s one week ’til show time!

Grade: B-

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Story by Kate Kostal

Starpulse contributing writer