Hip-Hop and Dancehall specialist
Tamara-Lee Thompson became the fourth dancer in
the Top 20 to leave
So You Think You Can Dance South Africa on Tuesday night (23 September) after failing to save herself when asked to dance for her life.
Her eviction followed the disqualification of
Blaze Blasbalg from the show after a severe illness laid him low and prevented him from dancing.
Their departures means that for the first time in the competition a new partnership will emerge as
Bathembu and
Marise team up this week (Bathembu previously partnered Tamara and Marise partnered Blaze).
Tamara’s eviction was not the unanimous choice of the judges, as Head Judge
Harold van Buuren acknowledged. He informed Tamara that her inability to shine in genres outside her own had impacted on her performance during the contest.
“This competition is about performance and when you had to dance for your life on tonight’s show we saw your energy decrease,” Van Buuren told Tamara.
It had been hoped that Johannesburg-hip hop specialist Blaze – whose parents had steered him towards a career in mechanical engineering over dance – would be able to attend Saturday night’s live show and dance the Samba with partner Marize, but Blaze’s unexpected illness saw him automatically being disqualified from the competition instead.
Each week the couples draw their dance style from a hat and this week the dances they will be performing are as follows:
Kim and Ash – Contemporary Fast
Lee and Taekwondo – Cha Cha
Marise and Bathembu – Township Jive
Megan and Darren – Pantsula
Elizma and Kathlego – Waltz
Louisa and Thabiso – Krump
Tania and Nqaba – Broadway