So You Think You Can Dance eliminated Jordan Betscher and Thiago Pacheco and determined Season 17's Top 8 dancers during the performance show Wednesday night on Fox.
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Jordan, a 24-year-old jazz dancer from Cincinnati, OH, and Thiago, an 18-year-old contemporary dancer from Miami, FL, were sent home by So You Think You Can Dance judges Stephen "tWitch" Boss, Leah Remini and JoJo Siwa after the pair had fallen into the bottom-four dancers based on an in-studio audience vote.
The other two dancers who landed in the bottom four were Carter Williams, a 20-year-old Latin/ballroom dancer from Sandy, UT, and Thiago's partner for the night, Alexis Warr, a 22-year-old Latin/ballroom dancer from Orem, UT.
At the end of the Top 10 performance show, tWitch revealed the judges had decided to save Carter and Alexis and advance them in the competition.
"We have [made a choice]," tWitch announced when revealing the judges' verdict.
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"This is [hard]. I do no like doing this at all. But let me say this, is that no matter what happens here, all of y'all are still a part of the So You Think You Can Dance legacy. You still made your mark on this stage."
TWitch drove home the point how making a connection when dancing is "so important."
"You can be the most phenomenal dancer, but if you don't find that spark to connect with the audience and have them engage and invest in your journey, it's going to be really tough, and this goes beyond just the competition," the judge explained.
TWitch reminded the four dancers how it's the audience voting for them and that's why connecting matters.
"So, with that being said, the dancers that are leaving us tonight are Jordan and Thiago," tWitch concluded.
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Thiago said in his final words how he was "so happy" to be a part of the competition and to have met many new friends.
"I just hope that they can keep putting their hearts out on the stage, and I know that I did my best and I know that Jordan here did her best too," Thiago said.
Jordan apparently learned her routine in only three hours because she wasn't feeling well and had a temperature.
"Coming back from having a moment where you didn't know if you were going to be able to dance tonight, I had the best partner and we came out here and killed the stage," Jordan said. "I'm very happy that I'm leaving on that note."
Wednesday night's So You Think You Can Dance performance show featured five brand new pairings performing dances as part of a "travel the globe" theme.
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Jordan, who had also been in jeopardy of going home last week, and Beau Harmon, a 23-year-old specialty dancer from Kennesaw, GA, danced a Viennese waltz choreographed by Dancing with the Stars pros Sasha Farber and Emma Slater.
JoJo said the dance was executed "beautifully," and tWitch said Jordan had finally found a way to stand out. Beau had also stepped up and rose to the challenge, according to tWitch.
"Jordan, you did what a champion does, and you bring it when it matters," Leah noted.
Thiago and Alexis performed a Broadway number.
TWitch said Alexis had taken to a number of different styles in the competition and he loved watching the routine; however, he said there was something he wasn't connecting to and maybe the couple's storytelling ability was the problem.
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Leah pointed out how the judges wanted Thiago to be more "out" and he didn't have anything to prove. She asked him to believe in himself a little bit more and not be so protected when onstage.
JoJo disagreed, saying the dancers were clean, precise and did "exactly what they were supposed to do." She also said she appreciated Thiago's feminine moments in the dance.
Carter and Anna took the stage with a salsa dance.
Carter was told he brought the energy and had connected with the judges and the audience, but tWitch asked Carter to "dial into the movement as well as the attitude."
The Top 8 finalists who will dance again next week on So You Think You Can Dance are Beau; Carter; Alexis; Anna Miller, an 18-year-old contemporary dancer from San Ramon, CA; Ralyn Johnson, an 18-year-old contemporary dancer from Walker, LA; Essence Wilmington, a 20-year-old hip-hop dancer from Davenport, IA; Keaton Kermode, a 20-year-old contemporary dancer from Fairland, IN; and Waverly Fredericks, a 21-year-old contemporary dancer from New York, NY.
So You Think You Can Dance is hosted by Cat Deeley.
Leah stepped in as a judge beginning with the Top 12 performances this season after actor and former Glee star Matthew Morrison was fired from the show due to an incident involving one of the female contestants.