'So You Think You Can Dance' eliminates Kourtni Lind, Matt Dorame

Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame became the seventh and eighth finalists eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance's fourth season during Thursday night's live results show on Fox.


"I could seriously stand up here and talk for hours and thank everybody who has made this so absolutely amazing for me," said Kourtni an 18-year-old jazz/contemporary dancer from Forest Lake, MN who currently resides in Sherman Oaks, CA, after her ouster was revealed.  "Honestly, I'm really thankful for the opportunity to go from here.  This is not even the top for me at all.  I'm so excited to see what happens now and to go out into the world."

Kourtni and Matt found themselves among the bottom three couples based on home viewer votes cast immediately following Wednesday night's performance episode, in which each couple performed two routines.  They were then ousted by the show's three judges after the six dancers each performed a solo routine.

"[My favorite moment has been] performing on this stage for everyone, and my family and friends are 100% behind me," said Matt, a 22-year-old contemporary dancer from Glendale, AZ , after his ouster was revealed.  "These are the best dancers in the world."

The couple first performed a hip-hop routine choreographed by Olisa Thompson and Cicely Bradley during Wednesday night's performance episode, and the judges were critical with their comments.


"If you went to a hip-hop competition?  No, definitely not good enough," had commented the week's guest judge, Napoleon D'Umo. 

"We've seen it slow, we've seen it fast and at the end of the day it has to be entertaining.  Even though it's slow, it still has to make us feel something.  I didn't," said So You Think You Can Dance judge Mary Murphy.  "I liked it, that's all I can say.  I hate being here just in the middle of the road, especially at this point in the competition... It's not the number, it's the real passion and trying to get us to feel something here.  It just didn't happen to me."

So You Think You Can Dance executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe then commented he was unsure if it was the choreography, the dancers or the style of dance -- but said regardless, there was "nothing to get hold of" in the routine.

"If you're supposed to be dancing together, you didn't all the time.  It didn't sit for me at all, it didn't grab me," he continued.  "It was a bit like hip-hop on sleeping pills."

For their second routine during Wednesday night's episode, Kourtni and Matt performed a mambo choreographed by Alex Da Silva.


"I'm hot and cold on this one," said Napoleon's wife and dance partner, Tabitha D'Umo.  "There were some hot moments and then there were a few cold."

"I think Matt, you've just got to get down and grimy a little bit.  It was so smiley," added Napoleon.

"Kourtni, you were hot out there!" yelled Mary.  "Smoking!  But were the two of you smoking together?  No, you weren't.  I did not believe the chemistry.  I'm sorry, not at all."

Nigel implored Kourtni to be "sharper" in her movements and Matt to be "stronger, butcher and more macho."

After Kourtni and Matt were revealed to be among the bottom three couples during Thursday night's results show, Tabitha was unsure as to what exactly caused it.


"I feel like they were a little off between the hip-hop -- that was a little bit stronger -- and then in the mambo, Kourtni shined," she said.  "Maybe it's a combination of the both.  Maybe both of them weren't strong enough.  I'm disappointed because Kourtni, you so impressed me when you were in Milwaukee [auditioning].  Your commitment in your solo, I loved you.  I'm just kind of sad America's not feeling the same way."

"I kind of felt the same way about Matt in Vegas," added Napoleon.  "I had high hopes for you, and technically you're an amazing dancer.  You're just not somehow reaching out to America, just not connecting with them enough.  I believe that's probably why you guys are in the bottom."

In addition to Kourtni and Matt, Courtney Galiano, a 19-year-old contemporary dancer from Commack, NY, and her partner Gev Manoukian, a 21-year-old hip hop/break dancer from Kazakhstan who currently resides in Centerville, UT; and Comfort Fedoke, a 20-year-old hip-hop dancer from Lagos, Nigeria who currently resides in Dallas, TX, and her partner Thayne Jasperson, a 27-year-old contemporary dancer from Springville, UT, were the other members of the bottom three vote getters based on home viewer votes.

Thursday night's results marked the third time in four weeks that Kourtni and Matt were among the bottom three based on home viewer votes, and each previous week they were able to escape thanks to the judges.  However that was not the case last night, as both were booted.

In addition to Courtney and Gev and Comfort and Thayne, So You Think You Can Dance's Top 12 fourth-season finalists are Kherington Payne and her partner Twitch Boss; Katee Shean and her partner Joshua Allen; Chelsie Hightower and her partner Mark Kanemura; and Jessica King and her partner Will Wingfield.


So You Think You Can Dance's next fourth-season performance episode will air Wednesday, July 9 at 8PM ET/PT on Fox, with each of the six remaining couples performing two choreographed routines.

Then on Thursday night at 9PM ET/PT, the three couples who received the lowest number of home viewer votes will be announced.  Each dancer in those three couples will then be given one last chance to impress the judges with his or her solo routine.

After all six dancers have performed, the judges will send one male and one female finalist home, revealing the Top 10.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio