A totally different side to you. – Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer
LOS ANGELES — Roy native Hailee Payne made the "So You Think You Can Dance" top 10 Monday night; fellow Utah dancer Alexia Meyer was cut from the competition.
The night started off with a group Marie Antoinette-esque, funky Victorian piece from both the street and stage dancers before the duets started and the show's top 10 was slowly revealed.
Roy dancer Hailee Payne danced a creepy contemporary number where she starred as street dancer Virgil Gadson's "crazy, obsessed girlfriend." In an interview, Payne admitted that she had a "little crush" on Gadson.
The judges loved it.
"I loved the end of it, where you linked your feet around him … as he's backing away," executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told Payne after the performance. "You've shown a totally different side to you."
Pop icon Paula Abdul called Payne a "bright light."
Orem native Alexia Meyer was given a challenge with a fish-inspired burlesque routine with street dancer Arianna Crowder.
In an interview shown before the dance, Meyer laughed with Crowder, commenting that she was representing Utah.
During rehearsals for the burlesque, "sexy fish" jazz number, however, Meyer had a difficult time finding her rhythm.
"I'm kind of stressing about this character and how to really portray this fish," she said.
Lythgoe said he thought the dance had an "interesting style," but that their performance "missed the mark." He did say, however, that Meyer coped better with the piece than her partner.
Later in the show, the Utah dancers came together with "Team Stage" and former contestant Robert Roldan to perform a piece about "those ten seconds" after tragedy strikes.
"The piece is based on the moment you hear really tragic news," said choreographer Sonya Tayeh.
It was well received by the judges.
Since last week's voting left Meyer in the bottom six of the competition, the Twitter vote at the end of Monday's show determined Meyer's fate. She was cut from the competition.
Payne found out earlier in the show that she wasn't in the bottom six and had made the top 10.
After the show, she went up to the stage with the rest of the dancers to give Meyer a hug.
Tune in to Fox Monday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m. to watch Payne compete for a spot in the top 8.