So You Think You Can Dance eliminated Nico Greetham, an 18-year-old contemporary dancer from Woodbridge, VA, which determined the tenth season's Top 8 contestants during last Tuesday night's live show on Fox. 
 
Nico, along with Makenzie Dustman, an 18-year-old contemporary dancer from Temecula, CA, were eliminated by So You Think You Can Dance judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy as well as guest judge Debbie Allen after they found themselves in last week's bottom-four dancers based on home viewer votes cast for the Top 10 finalists.

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During a recent conference call with reporters, Nico talked to Reality TV World about his So You Think You Can Dance experience. 

Reality TV World: Were you surprised to get eliminated via a unanimous vote?  You had managed to avoid the bottom six until basically the last several weeks, so any idea what happened there?  It almost seemed like America trailed off in their votes for you over time.

Nico Greetham:  It was ironic kind of because I feel like the last few weeks that I -- every time I landed in the bottom, I felt as if those were my best weeks on the entire show.  So, that was okay.  Being in the bottom three is definitely terrifying the first few times.

But [Tucker Knox]'s dance was so heartwarming.  It had everyone in tears, everyone backstage, the whole audience, all the judges. Tucker's a phenomenal dancer, and if it was between his dance and my hip-hop dance, it was definitely going to go to him because it was just so much more relatable.

And my dance was so much fun and I'm honored to dance with Comfort, but as far as if that's what it came down to, it was definitely going to go to Tucker, but that's okay.  It's the nature of the show.  Two people have to go every week and I'm just so grateful that I've made Top 10 and I can go on tour with my family.

Reality TV World: Do you have any insight as to why you kept landing in the bottom since you thought you delivered your best performances in those weeks?

Nico Greetham: As far as being in the bottom the last three weeks, I don't know.  I can't speak for that.  I don't know why -- I guess, everyone on the show... every single dancer had the potential to win. 

And so, I feel that everyone was so amazing and everyone had a connection with everyone, and I guess America wasn't feeling me the past few weeks.  I don't know.  I don't know but it is what it is.  It's the nature of the show.  Everyone's got to go at some point.  So, I don't know.

Reality TV World: Tucker suffered an infection last week, but he also performed a very emotional contemporary routine with Robert Roldan at the end of last night's show.  Not to diminish at all what Tucker had been through or the quality of that performance, but I guess is there a part of you that feels like you got sent home instead of him because the thought of eliminating Tucker after sharing that sympathetic story would almost seem a little cruel -- like it would just be the wrong time to let Tucker go?

Nico Greetham: Every week, two people have to go home.  If it was down to Tucker's beautiful dance that was so, so heart-wrenching but also heartwarming to see that they could portray that story through dance, I think it was just really relatable to so many people out there watching and it had everyone in tears and it was so beautifully danced and the technique that Tucker and Robert showed was just perfect. 

Like Nigel said, all the stars aligned and that dance was just meant to be, and not that it isn't there, but I think that it was perfect for Tucker especially with his backstory with the whole car crash and how he survived and how he's back and better than ever. 

And I think it all worked out for Tucker, and God's watching out for Tucker, and I know God's definitely watching out for me as well.  But it was definitely Tucker's time to shine and he definitely did.

Reality TV World: Why did you originally audition for So You Think You Can Dance and how many times did you try out before making it into the Top 20?

Nico Greetham: So, I was watching TV when I was eight-years-old, and I don't know, the show came on and I hadn't even been a dancer then, but I told my mom, I said, "Mom, I'm going to be on this show. It's going to happen."  Not I wish, not I hope, but I told everybody, I told all my friends, I told all my family that I was going to be on that show and that just had been my dream since I was eight-years-old. 

So, ever since I was eight, I had worked my butt off having that goal in the back of my head.  I worked everything towards that, and I was just so fortunate enough to turn 18 two weeks before my audition, and I feel like it was meant to be and it all worked out and it's just been a dream come true ever since my audition. 

Below are some additional highlights from Nico's call with reporters.

It seems like the dancers form a tight bond every season but you guys were particularly close with one another this time around.  Could talk about your relationship with the other dancers on the show?

Nico Greetham:  I was going to say every choreographer that we ever worked with as far as group dances went, they would always comment on how unique our group was basically because of our connection and our bond and what we had all gone through together, and I think that's such a beautiful thing. 

I think that there was no tension.  I feel like they mentioned that every season there'd always be maybe one or two who thought they were a little above everyone, but I think our group, we were all just so kind-hearted and we were all so supportive of everyone.  I think that's so rare, and that's definitely what we're all going to miss the most, is not being together all the time, literally 24/7.

What are your plans now that you're off the show?  What are your plans for the future after the tour?

Nico Greetham:  As far as me, I live in Virginia and definitely it's always been my dream -- I feel like California is my home, so I've always wanted to move to LA right after school.  I actually applied to colleges in California.  So, we'll see how that all plays out, but after the tour, I definitely -- I've always wanted to act since I was little. 

So, I think dancing and acting are my main priority goal for now, especially being on the show.  It was like killing two birds with one stone.  I got to dance while being on TV on the camera.  So, it was just two dreams coming true in one, but I think acting and dancing and maybe modeling on the side, I don't know.

You made it to the all-stars portion of the competition.  Tell us a little bit about what that was like, getting to dance with Comfort.

Nico Greetham: I think the professionalism that they brought this past week, it definitely made us want to work harder and it pushed us and it pushed us to our limits and further.  I think working with them definitely inspired us and it made us realize that once you're where we are, we have more places to go. 

They've done so much.  They're all so successful and great people as well as dancers.  So, I knew Comfort before the show and she's just such a fun person and such an amazing performer and great dancer.

Last night, how frustrating was it to be eliminated without having had the chance to "dance for your life" with a solo?

Nico Greetham:  So, I guess Makenzie and [Jenna Johnson] and I, we had been in the bottom at least three times, but I personally, I never did my solo.  Every single time I was in the bottom, there was always a reason as to why I didn't whether or not it's because I got saved or because they didn't want to see our solos and they were going to base it off what we did that night -- which is what they did last night and a different [night]. 

So, not that it was frustrating, it was just, I just wished that I got to do a solo on that stage for America.  I wish I could remind America what my style was before I got to go, but hopefully on tour, I'll be able to do a solo and go from there.  I don't know.  It just bothered me that Nigel said that he'd seen our solos too many times, because he'd never seen my solo, but it's okay.  It's just how it was.

Hip-hop is obviously very different from contemporary.  Do you think you would have made it through another week if you hadn't had to do hip-hop as your last routine or do you think it was a good opportunity because you did so well at capturing the character and were commended by the judges for it?

Nico Greetham: As far as hip-hop goes, I had hip-hop the first week and it was a pretty rough week for my partner, [Alexis Juliano] and I that week.  But I was excited to do hip-hop this week to redeem myself and to show the judges that I can actually do some form of hip-hop, and I was lucky enough to have Comfort.  She really inspired me and she really wrenched that character out of me. 

I did a whole bunch of research on lizards, (laughs) and I literally would YouTube videos of lizards and I would stand in the mirror and make lizard faces.  And so, I was lucky enough to have a routine that I got to totally show America that I'm capable of doing hip-hop, but it would have been cool to have a beautiful contemporary piece choreographed by [Travis Wall].

And if that's what I was competing with that night, it was going to go to Tucker.  Tucker did a phenomenal job and it was beautiful, but I thought to myself, "If this is going to be my last dance, I just wanted to make it the best I could."  So, I went on that stage and I gave it my all and I'm proud of myself and I'm glad that's what I left with.

To read Makenzie's interview, click here.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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