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Season 8
Sytycd8cast
Season Run May 26, 2011 – August 11, 2011
Judges Nigel Lythgoe
Mary Murphy
Host(s) Cat Deeley
Winner(s):
Melanie Moore
Origin Marietta, Georgia
Genre(s) Contemporary
Runner-up(s)
Sasha Mallory
African Jazz
Chronology
Previous Season Season 7
Next Season Season 9

Season 8 of So You Think You Can Dance premiered on May 26, 2011. Melanie Moore was crowned America's Favorite Dancer, with Sasha Mallory as Runner-Up.

Production[]

The Top 20 returned this season in contrast to the previous season's Top 11. Mary Murphy also returned as a main judge to replace Mia Michaels, who was absent during Season 7 due to contract issues and surgery. Adam Shankman was unavailable to return as a main judge due to him directing Rock of Ages. In his place were guest judges Lil' C, Tyce Diorio, Jason Gilkison, Toni Redpath, and Robin Antin. This season was also the first time viewers were given the chance to vote online.

Auditions[]

Air Date Venue City Audition Date Guest judge
May 26, 2011 Paramount Theatre Oakland, California October 13, 2010 Tyce Diorio, Toni Redpath
May 26, 2011 Fox Theatre Atlanta, Georgia February 19, 2011 Lil' C
June 1, 2011 N/A Brooklyn, New York November 15, 2010 Jason Gilkison
June 1, 2011 Capitol Theater Salt Lake City, Utah February 2, 2011 Robin Antin
June 2, 2011 Orpheum Theatre Los Angeles, California March 12, 2011 Tyce Diorio

Vegas Week[]

The Vegas callbacks were held at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. 31 dancers remained after judges made cuts following each round of choreography. The judges were Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Adam Shankman (who was replaced by Jason Gilkison on Day 2 because of scheduling conflicts), Debbie Allen, Robin Antin, and Tyce Diorio.

Task/style Music Choreographer(s)
Individual solo Dancer's choice Dancer
Hip-Hop "Look at Me Now"
Chris Brown feat.
Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo
Broadway "I Gotcha"
from Fosse
Tyce Diorio
Jive "Blue Suede Shoes"
from Viva Elvis
Elvis Presley
Jason Gilkison
Group routines Chosen at random by the dancers from a selection on songs Dancers
Contemporary "Yellow"
Vitamin String Quartet
Travis Wall
Individual solo (last chance) Dancer's choice Dancer

Finals[]

Top 20[]

Female Contestants[]

Finalist Age Home Town Dance style Placement
Melanie Moore 19 Marietta, Georgia Contemporary Winner
Sasha Mallory 23 Bakersfield, California Jazz/Modern/African Runner-Up
Caitlynn Lawson 18 Moses Lake, Washington Contemporary Jazz Top 6
Jordan Casanova 19 Chino Hills, California Jazz/Commercial Top 8
Clarice Ordaz 19 Whittier, California Jazz Top 10
Ryan Ramirez 19 Morgan Hill, California Contemporary Top 12
Ashley Rich 22 Antioch, California Contemporary Ballet Top 14
Miranda Maleski 19 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Contemporary Top 16
Iveta Lukosiute 30 Klaipėda, Lithuania Ballroom Top 20
Missy Morelli 20 Arvada, Colorado Jazz Top 20

Male Contestants[]

Finalist Age Home Town Dance Style Placement
Marko Germar 22 Dededo, Guam Contemporary Jazz 3rd Place
Tadd Gadduang 25 West Valley City, Utah Breakdance 4th Place
Ricky Jaime 19 Miami, Florida Contemporary Top 6
Jess LeProtto 18 Little Falls, New Jersey Broadway Top 8
Mitchell Kelly 20 Atlanta, Georgia Contemporary Top 10
Alexander Fost 21 Alhambra, California Ballet Top 12
Chris Koehl 21 Garland, Texas Hip-Hop Top 14
Robert Taylor, Jr. 31 Brooklyn, New York Hip-hop Top 16
Wadi Jones 24 Ossining, New York Breakdance Top 20
Nick Young 19 Franklin, Wisconsin Tap Top 20
Season 8 Top 20


All-Stars[]

Season 8 featured a combination of the Top 20 format and the All-Star format from Season 7. During weeks 6, 7, 8, and 9, different All-Stars from past seasons came and partnered up with a contestant for that week.

Season 8 All-Stars


All-Stars Dance Pool[]

The All-Stars Dance Pool features some of the best and most popular dancers that have been featured on previous seasons.

All-Stars, Contestant Partners, and Results
Dancer/Season
Dance Styles
Partner
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Melody Lacayanga (1)
Contemporary/Jazz
Mitchell
Allison Holker (2)
Contemporary
Ricky Marko
Ivan Koumaev (2)
Hip-Hop
Caitlynn
Anya Garnis (3)
Ballroom/Latin
Ricky
Jaimie Goodwin (3)
Contemporary
Ricky
Lauren Gottlieb (3)
Contemporary/Jazz/Hip-Hop
Jess
Neil Haskell (3)
Contemporary/Jazz
Melanie
Pasha Kovalev (3)
Ballroom/Latin
Caitlynn Melanie Sasha Caitlynn
Chelsie Hightower (4)
Ballroom/Latin
Marko
Comfort Fedoke (4)
Hip-Hop
Tadd
Joshua Allen (4)
Hip-Hop
Tadd
Mark Kanemura (4)
Jazz
Sasha
tWitch (4)
Hip-Hop
Sasha Melanie
Ade Obayomi (5)
Contemporary
Jordan
Brandon Bryant (5)
Contemporary
Jordan
Janette Manrara (5)
Ballroom/Latin
Marko
Ellenore Scott (6)
Contemporary/Jazz
Tadd
Kathryn McCormick (6)
Contemporary
Jess
Kent Boyd (7)
Contemporary/Jazz
Sasha
Lauren Froderman (7)
Contemporary/Jazz
Tadd Marko
Robert Roldan (7)
Contemporary/Jazz
Clarice Melanie
Color Code
This dancer was eliminated this week.
This dancer was in the Bottom 4 this week.
This dancer was Safe.
All-Star did not perform this week.
4th Place
3rd Place
Runner-Up
Winner

Elimination Chart[]

Contestants are listed in reverse chronological order of elimination.

  • The song for the eliminated female contestant was "Waiting Outside the Lines" by Greyson Chance.
  • The song for the eliminated female contestant was "Shine" by Sharif Iman.
Legend
Female Male Bottom 3 couples Bottom 4 contestants Injury
Week: 6/16 6/23 6/30 7/7 7/14 7/21 7/28 8/4 8/11
Contestant Result
Melanie Moore WINNER
Sasha Mallory Btm 3 Runner-Up
Marko Germar 3rd Place
Tadd Gadduang Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 4 4th Place
Ricky Jaime Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 4 Elim
Caitlynn Lawson Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 4
Jess LeProtto Btm 3 Elim
Jordan Casanova Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 4
Mitchell Kelly Injury Btm 3 Btm 3 Elim
Clarice Ordaz Btm 3
Alexander Fost Elim
Ryan Ramirez Btm 3 Btm 3
Chris Koehl Btm 3 Elim
Ashley Rich Btm 3
Robert Taylor Jr. Btm 3 Elim
Miranda Maleski Btm 3
Nick Young Elim

[1]

Iveta Lukosiute
Wadi Jones
Missy Morelli

^1 There was no elimination during the first week, so the judges had to eliminate four dancers during the second week.

Performance Shows[]

Main article: Season 8/Performances


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