So You Think You Can Dance Backstage Scoop: Why the "Stunned" Judges Sent Bianca Home

Adam Shankman and Mary Murphy outvoted Nigel Lythgoe to save the contemporary dancer with the blockbuster solo over the tapper

It was a tough night for the tappers on So You Think You Can Dance. Both Bianca Revels and Phillip Attmore were sent home, but we caught up with the judges backstage and learned it didn't have to be that way.

In fact, Bianca's fate wasn't sealed until the final minutes of tonight's episode, when two judges outvoted the third and sent home Bianca, saving Noelle Marsh to dance another day.

What made the difference? Here's what we learned...

Judge Nigel Lythgoe wanted to save Bianca, but it didn't go his way: "I didn't want to lose two tappers tonight, but we decided it was Phillip [going home for the guys] early on. I think we were unanimous on that tonight, and then we had to decide on the girl. Neither one of [the bottom two girls] impressed us tonight in their duets. For me, Noelle was always a really good dancer, but Bianca has grown, so my money goes on the one that's grown and that isn't just another contemporary dancer...but I was outvoted."

And what made the difference for fellow judges Adam Shankman and Mary Murphy? Adam told us, "I think Noelle's solo changed it, I think in our heads she was sort of on her way out and the solo changed it. I turned to them and said 'How could we possibly send her home after what we just saw?' I don't think it's unfair to say that we were stunned."

Mary tells us, "Going in, with Noelle, I was thinking of taking her off the show, but after her solo I just thought to myself, There's no way, there's no way. She went up and down on both knees [even though she was recently injured], and I was like, Holy smokes. I think that was a real message to us: 'Don't even remotely think of taking me out. If you think I'm not gonna be able to handle it, I can handle it.' It was very impressive to me."

And what made the difference for the boys? Mary broke it down for us saying, "I do believe Victor's solo was a lot stronger and that helped. I did not feel like Phillip had a particularly good night dancing the samba. It was very weak technically. The samba rolls were definitely not good at all. He's gonna need to have a much broader back, the bends need to be much bigger, with actual rolls happening. Technically, he didn't have it together, and I didn't believe the chemistry between the two of them. He had a very difficult time doing the lift, and his partner [Channing Cooke] could feel it. She was very nervous tonight, because she didn't know whether he was gonna come through or not, and so for me, he let his partner down."

But enough about the eliminations. Who impressed the judges tonight? B-Boy Legacy broke out of his genre box tonight with a marvelous Stacey Tookey-choreographed contemporary number opposite Kathryn. (Who else thought of Allison and Ivan's remarkable contemporary from season two?)

As big Legacy fans ourselves, we were delighted to hear that Legacy's performance was not forgotten after the show. Adam Shankman told us, "Legacy changed who he was [tonight]. That was a game changer for him. I'll tell you where the trouble will be for him is ballroom. If he got a slow waltz or a quickstep or something like that, I think it would be very challenging."

Nigel appreciated the sentimental side of Legacy's duet, saying, "We've always believed in him and anyone that was touched like he was touched when he worked with Mia [Michaels]—you have to believe they're going to work very hard. That's what I love about him." But Nigel's not completely full of confidence when it comes to Legacy. He told us later: "I thought that whole Legacy routine was more on the choreographer than the dancers." Boo.

So who does Nigel have confidence in? We asked him about possible season-six front-runners, and he told us: "I think we've got some really good couples. I think obviously Nathan and Mollee are a great, young couple. I think the girls will love Nathan when they get to vote. It'll be interesting. I think Ryan and Ellenore, the last couple tonight doing the tango, were good. And Jakob is a stunning, stunning dancer. There are a lot of good people."