Vegas week

As in the previous season, those making the cut moved on to an intensive week of dance training in Las Vegas, Nevada. This season, Vegas week included hip-hop choreography taught by Shane Sparks, samba choreography taught by Mary Murphy with assistance from season two finalist Dmitry Chaplin, and contemporary choreography taught by Mia Michaels. The contestants that survived the cuts following those rounds were divided into groups, asked to randomly select from a box a CD containing one of five possible music types, and choreograph a routine to the song on their chosen disk. The dancers remaining after the group choreography round were asked to perform one last solo, following which the group was whittled down to 34 contestants—17 male, 17 female. From this 34, the judges chose their top 20.

Format

As in season 2, the finals began with 20 contestants, ten male and ten female. After partners are assigned, couples pick a dance style out of a hat, are rehearsed by a choreographer, and perform their routine, which is taped two days prior to airing. Following the airing of the performances, home viewers vote for their favorite couple. The bottom three couples (six dancers overall) are then liable for elimination by the judges on the live, or broadcast on tape delay in the western United States, results show. All six dancers perform a solo, after which the judges eliminate one male and one female contestant. If the eliminated dancers are not from the same couple, their respective partners form a new pair for the following week's performances. Once the field of dancers is narrowed down to the top 10, permanent partnerships dissolve and contestants draw their new partners from a hat each week. The judges no longer have any say in the elimination process; viewers call in to vote for their favorite individual dancer, and the male and female with the lowest number of votes are eliminated each week.

Recurring theme

Mary Murphy's loud, high pitched scream, reserved for performances she liked best, made a reappearance this season, along with the added element of the "hot tamale train", which can make the viewers have the ability to keep dancers safe from elimination. On the first performance show, Murphy enjoyed Anya Garnis and Danny Tidwell's jive performance so much, she made a metaphor of a "hot tamale train" having "just pulled up and let Anya off the train, special delivery."^[3][4] Two weeks later, she gave Sabra Johnson and Dominic Sandoval "two tickets on the hot tamale train" for their outstanding rumba performance.^[5] The phrase was regularly referred to by Murphy throughout the rest of the season, sometimes with an added distinction of being in "first class" for truly extraordinary routines. On the week before the final performance show, she brought the metaphor to a close by noting that the "hot tamale train was entering finale station."^[6]

Controversy

The sixth week of competition marked controversy surrounding Emmy-nominated choreographers Wade Robson and Mia Michaels.^[7]

The controversy regarding Wade Robson was due to the anti-war solo routine he created for the top 10 contestants. His choreography was meant to be a dance promoting peace, but was considered by some viewers as a political statement against the Iraq War. The dancers wore T-shirts on which they painted words of their own choosing, such as "compassion", "understanding", "unity", and "peace."^[8] The following night, Nigel Lythgoe addressed the controversy by stating that the choreography was not in any way meant to be against the troops fighting in the war. He did not wish anyone to be offended by a routine that had words such as "peace" and "compassion" in it. To make light of the moment, Lythgoe joked that he was more upset to have seen the same routine ten times.^[9]

The controversy surrounding Mia Michaels was regarding a jacket she wore during the performance show. The garment was a United States Marine Corps Blue Dress jacket with red piping, which only enlisted Marines are able to wear. In addition, a Marine Corps rank insignia was sewn upside-down and in the wrong location on the sleeve. Michaels addressed this by apologizing and stating that a friend of hers had given her the jacket, and that she wore it as a fashion statement, noting that she had no idea of its tradition or that it would offend anyone.

Top 20 Contestants

Elimination chart

The song played for the females' elimination was Ryan Cabrera's "I Will Remember You". The song played for the males' elimination was Audio Adrenaline's "Goodbye".

Contestants are in reverse chronological order of elimination.

¹ Because Jessi Peralta was unable to participate in the performance show, she had to perform a solo despite not technically being in the bottom three couples.

² Because Fox aired NFL coverage during the regular Thursday time slot, the results broadcast was pre-recorded and moved to the following Monday. In order to keep the results from leaking before the airing, the audience and nonessential crew were asked to leave the studio, which was locked down, before eliminations were announced.

Performances

Results shows

Live tour

As in season 2, the top 10 contestants embarked on a live tour of the United States. Due to the success of the previous tour, this season's engagement was extended to 10 weeks and visited 50 cities. Tickets went on sale 11 August.^[10] On the season finale, Hokuto Konishi, Shauna Noland, Anya Garnis, and Jesús Solorio were named as alternate performers in the event of injury to any of the top 10. Noland, Garnis, and Jaimie Goodwin had been replacing Lacey Schwimmer in some of her tour routines because of an injury to her meniscus.

2008 Emmy Awards

U.S. Nielsen ratings