It's Brooklyn's Turn To Go Home on 'SYTYCD'

Last week, the first two dancers were eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance, and the competition will continue to get tougher every week as the contestants work towards the Top 4. Per my prediction from last week, SYTYCD hopeful Brooklyn Fullmer was in the bottom three, but she was ultimately saved from elimination. After her second ballroom performance of the season, and her second assignment in her own genre, I still fail to see how she made it through the first elimination. I'm calling it: Week 3 will see Brooklyn eliminated on So You Think You Can Dance.

This week, Brooklyn was paired with contemporary dancer Casey Askew for an Argentine Tango, a dance that's synonymous with sensuality and connection. For the choreography, it's all about the legs and footwork, so when flexibility and leg extension aren't up to par, the dance falls flat. Once again, Brooklyn's not-quite-straight legs and splits that come up short of 180 degrees made this performance fall flat — at least on her side of the dance. Moments that should pop instead appear as nothing special, and steps that should be appealing to the eye don't have the same effect when a dancer's legs can't extend fully.

It didn't help matters that Casey danced this routine like a natural ballroom dancer. His legs and posture tricked me into thinking he was performing his own genre, which drew my attention away from Brooklyn and allowed Casey to outshine her during the performance. Instead of a sultry connection that seemed to go hand in hand with smooth, effortless looking choreography, the steps looked awkward at times. In the end, the choreography fell short of its potential.

Argentine Tangos often have a way of drawing you into the story the steps are telling, especially when there is a connection between the dancers. It's an unfamiliar dance style to most people, but the romance and intensity of the tango make it very memorable when performed well.

I was extremely surprised to hear that the judges had only positive things to say about the performance. I agree that both green dancers brought a surprising amount of sophistication to the routine. Still, for a first week pairing, they did well with the connection and the characters they played — something many contestants struggle with, especially in a tricky style like this one.

If Brooklyn isn't eliminated, there's an upside: Giving her a third week to perform will hopefully allow us to see her dance in a style that she's not trained in, and if she shows versatility as a dancer, it could save her.

Still, her future on the show is a little shaky considering that she hasn't nailed it on two dances that require skills based in her dance background. And the voters seemed to agree — after all, it landed her in the bottom three. And this week is only going to get tougher.

Brooklyn's fellow Top 20 dancers performed out of their comfort zones, and some delivered extremely memorable performances. That's not exactly a recipe for Brooklyn's success. She'll just have to hope the judges love her enough to pull out a save.

Images: Fox (2)