Hok Konishi and Anya Garnis were sent packing during last night's live results show of So You Think You Can Dance's third season, becoming the fifth male and female finalists to be eliminated from the Fox reality competition series.

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Konishi, a 22-year-old B-boy dancer from Los Angeles, CA, and Garnis,  a 25-year-old Latin ballroom dancer from New York, NY, may have been eliminated after "over five-and-a-half million" home viewer votes were cast following Wednesday night's performance episode, however they' weren't partners during the competition.  Konishi had been paired with Jaimie Goodwin, a 19-year-old contemporary dancer from Virginia Beach, VA, while Garnis had been paired with Danny Tidwell, a 23-year-old contemporary/Jazz dancer from New York, NY.

Konishi and Goodwin performed a Broadway routine during Wednesday night's 90-minute So You Think You Can Dance 3 performance episode, and all three judges -- executive producer Nigel Lythgoe; Mary Murphy; and guest judge, choreographer Wade Robson -- thought Konishi had lost some steam over the last two weeks.  Robson thought Konishi didn't "connect" with the character he was portraying during the performance, a sentiment Murphy agreed with.

"You weren't making any connection with me," she said before praising Goodwin for being "elegant" and a "class act."  Lythgoe also gushed about Goodwin before turning his attention to Konishi.  "I wanted so much more from Hok," explained Lythgoe.  "For me it was a little much ado about nothing from Hok."

"I've always been really intrigued by you," added Robson to Konishi.  "This is disappointing for all of us to have to say these things for this piece.  But last week and this week, there was something where you seemed a bit nervous."  Konishi replied, "I really tired not to be nervous and just tried to focus." 

Konishi found himself in the bottom three based on viewer votes along with Tidwell and Neil Haskell, a 20-year-old contemporary jazz dancer from Clarence Center, NY.  Lythgoe told all three that the judges were "unanimous" in their decision on who to send home.

"Hok, you have without question been in my favorite routine of the season, Wade's humming bird and the flower was I think quite unique.  You are a unique dancer as we continually say," explained Lythgoe.  "And I think B-boying has been really represented very well this season with [Dominic Sandoval] and with [Sara Von Gillern] as a B-girl.  And both Dominic and Sara for us have shown how diverse they can be as well as being unique.  I'm sorry to say we think this is the end of your journey tonight in the show.  We don't believe that you've displayed as much as we would've liked, although we continue to say you are unique.  This is about a diversity of dancing."

"I sort of knew it was coming so it wasn't that much of a surprise," said Hok after his elimination was revealed.  "But I understand that this isn't the end like Nigel said -- it's really just the beginning -- and I have a long way to go."

Garnis and Tidwell performed a foxtrot routine during Wednesday night's performance episode, and both received positive reviews from the judges, with Lythgoe calling it the "best" foxtrot he'd ever seen on the So You Think You Can Dance stage.  When they were revealed to be in the bottom three during last night's broadcast -- the third time in a row they found themselves in that position -- Murphy made it sound like the couple had nothing to worry about.

"I have to agree with Nigel, I do think it was one of the best foxtrots we have seen on this stage," said Murphy.  "These guys even though they have -- for whatever reason, I don't even understand why -- keep falling down into the bottom when they are two of our most talented and exciting dancers we have seen ever on this stage.  And if I have anything to say about it, they're not going down on my watch tonight!"

Garnis found herself in the bottom three based on viewer votes along with Goodwin as well as Lauren Gottlieb, an 18-year-old contemporary/jazz dancer who currently lives in Sherman Oaks, CA and is Haskell's partner.  Once the three couples who received the lowest number of viewer votes were revealed, all six had one last chance to impress the judges with a solo performance of his or her choosing, which apparently saved Gottlieb from getting the ax.

"We are not unanimous," said Lythgoe, who then revealed Goodwin was safe before turning his attention to Garnis and Gottlieb.  "This is where we were not unanimous.  We don't feel as though you've ever really reached your potential [Gottlieb]... You've never really reached it.  [Garnis], you've always had trouble with the solos because you're not doing partner work.  We've always said this is about a soloist at the end of the day.  I think you really tried tonight to give it a lot of energy and everything else.  However, tonight for the first time two of us believe [Gottlieb] achieved what we hoped she would do."

"This whole experience has been truly amazing," said Garnis during a video montage of her So You Think You Can Dance journey.  "This was like the epitome of my whole dance experience.  I truly enjoyed every second of it."

So You Think You Can Dance 3's Top 10 finalists -- who will participate in the show's 50-city tour once the season's broadcast run concludes -- are: the new duo of Tidwell and Goodwin; Gottlieb and Haskell; Sabra Johnson, a 19-year-old contemporary dancer from Roy, UT, and her partner Dominic Sandoval, a 21-year-old B-boy/hip-hop dancer from Roseville, CA; Lacey Schwimmer, an 18-year-old swing and international Latin dancer from Redlands, CA, and her partner Kameron Bink, a 20-year-old contemporary/hip-hop dancer from Coral Springs, FL; as well as Sara Von Gillern, a 23-year-old hip-hop/B-girl dancer from Ft. Collins, CO, and her partner Pasha Kovalev, a 27-year-old Latin ballroom dancer from Fort Lee, NJ.

Next Wednesday, July 25 at 8PM ET, the Top 10 finalists will all be performing new routines during the 90 minute broadcast.  Then on Thursday, July 26 at 9PM ET, one male and one female finalist will be eliminated from the competition during the live one-hour results show, which will reveal the Top 8.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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