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I will keep this So You Think You Can Dance elimination episode recap brief because, quite frankly, the shocking news of Michael Jackson's death today has made everything else--including my favorite summer show that I'm usually so excited to view every week--seem very uninteresting. I would rather watch the continuing coverage of the King Of Pop's passing than pretty much anything else on television right now.

That being said, Michael Jackson WAS one of the greatest dancers of all time, and there's no doubt that he influenced everyone in the SYTYCD top 16, even the ballroom and salsa specialists. In fact, tonight main judge Nigel Lythgoe delivered a lovely eulogy-type speech remembering Michael (along with Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon, two other icons who died this week), revealing that Jackson's "Black & White" video was an inspiration for So You Think You Can Dance itself. Skip to the 4:06 mark below to watch:

It was very classy and gentlemanly of Nigel to speak about today's tragedy (before airing a snippet of MJ's classic "Thriller" video), as it was the right thing to do instead of just jumping straight to the results. Hostess Cat Deeley also said that SYTYCD's sister show, American Idol, will rerun its Michael Jackson Night top 13 episode next week as an additional tribute--another announcement that set the tone for the evening.

So of course, this was probably THE saddest results episode in the series' history, not because of who got eliminated--none of the three bottom couples tonight were real surprises--but because the proceedings were entirely overshadowed by today's depressing news. But eventually, Cat and the judges got down to the task at hand.

The bottom three couples were, unshockingly, Jonathan & Karla (Jonathan really struggled with their smooth hip-hop routine last night); Vitolio & Asuka (Vitolio is great in my opinion, and I loved this duo's rock 'n' roll jazz dance yesterday, but Asuka has somehow never been able to connect with the audience); and Jason & Caitlin (their performance was strong overall last night, but Jason made a few errors that the judges were quick to point out).

So after all six dancers soloed for survival, the judges decided to eliminate Asuka and Jonathan, as I pretty much expected. I wasn't hugely disappointed to see either contestant go--and even if I had been, the Jackson news would have put such disappointment into perspective. But the growing bond between Asuka and Vitolio was nice to see, so I felt a little sorry for him; I'm sure losing his partner was rough, especially on such an intensely emotional night.

However, I am looking forward to seeing how the newly coupled-off Vitolio and Karla will mesh next week. And on that note...I shall return to watching MJ tribute footage.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, a true legend of dance.

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