SYTYCD 3: Vegas Round, First Cut

There seemed to be one theme present throughout the Las Vegas round of So You Think You Can Dance: if you don't move on to the next round, your life is over. Wednesday's body count was pretty high.

The judges kept hammering that point home, repeatedly telling contestants, "This is your life!" If that wasn't bad enough, dancers who earned two out of four possible votes from the judges were brought back to "Dance For Your Life" in another solo routine, which determined if they would continue.

And it seemed that every eliminated contestant cried like this was the last opportunity that they'd ever have to dance -- as if their careers were over if they didn't beat incredible statistical odds and win So You Think You Can Dance. There's just something creepy and sad about seeing teenagers think their dreams are dead just because of one audition.

Ah, who am I kidding? Overdramatizing everything that happens in your life is what being a teenager's all about.

The first round of competition was a pretty straightforward Hip-Hop round, followed by a partnered Ballroom round. The third round was a Contemporary routine choreographed by Mia Michaels, and I have to agree with Shane Sparks, who said, "I don't know who's doing it good." I think it's safe to say that contemporary dancing is not my specialty.

The contemporary round brought an end to the Lindy Hop couple that I liked, and nearly spelled the end for Twitch, my favorite dancer in the competition. But Twitch saved himself with a funny solo to the best song James Brown ever wrote: "Get Up Offa That Thing." The performance had Mary Murphy in stitches, and her insane laughter had me in stitches.

Finally, the 63 contestants left at the end of day two were split in to 15 small groups, each of which had until the next morning to choreograph a routine to a randomly chosen song. It didn't seem particularly fair, because if you were the lone ballroom (or ballet) dancer in a group of hip-hoppers, you weren't dancing, so much as trying not to look like a total doofus.

For good or ill, Olivia -- the girl who cries all...the...time -- moved on to the final round. The last fifty contestants will have to perform one more solo tomorrow night before the field is narrowed to twenty finalists: ten men and ten women.

So, who are your favorites thus far? Have any stars emerged yet?