So You Think You Can Dance's judging panel sent Daniela Avanzini home, which determined The Next Generation's Top 9 finalists, during Monday night's performance show on Fox.
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Daniela, an 11-year-old ballroom dancer from Atlanta, GA, fell into the bottom two based on home viewer votes from last week's show and was eliminated from the competition after SYTYCD judges Nigel Lythgoe, Maddie Ziegler, Paula Abdul and guest judge tWitch deliberated.
The judges had to determine whether Daniela or her fellow bottom-two dancer Sheaden Gabriel, a 12-year-old hip-hop dancer from Murrieta, CA, should be ousted. They ultimately decided to save Sheaden, whose All-Star partner is Marko Germar.
"I always wanted to do So You Think You Can Dance. When I heard it was coming out for kids, I go, 'Mom, you've got to put me on this show!' This experience has been very life changing. I've learned so much as a dancer and I will always cherish and treasure these moments," Daniela said following her elimination.
"I made no mistake when I picked Daniela," said the young dancer's All-Star partner Jonathan Platero. "She's a firecracker, she's a star, and she's going to continue being a star after this."
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Monday night's broadcast featured each Top 10 dancer performing with his or her All-Star partner and then dancing a duet with another contestant. Only the duets were critiqued by the judges.
Daniela and Sheaden performed two routines together: The cha cha and a Broadway number. They received very positive feedback from the judges overall.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski