Lawson dances her way into top six

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake's Caitlynn Lawson escaped elimination on the FOX TV show "So You Think You Can Dance?" Thursday.

Lawson, who is now one of the show's top six dancers, was voted one of the bottom four dancers Thursday.

On Wednesday, Lawson first performed a hip-hop routine with partner Ivan Kouamev, an all-star from the show's second season, choreographed by Marty Kudelka.

Judge Mary Murphy had mixed views on the routine.

"You were really good," she told Lawson. "Was it brilliant for me? No. But man, you really hung in there with Ivan. You gave a really great performance. You're drop-dead gorgeous and I felt like you did a really good job tonight."

Judge Nigel Lythgoe began by suggesting Lawson learn from Kouamev's "cool swag."

He said sometimes Lawson takes on the persona of a "competition girl" more than the character she's supposed to be portraying.

"You didn't in this," he said. "You stayed in character and I thought you played the part really well."

Guest judge, and pop performer, Lady Gaga seemed to like the performance, but offered some criticism.

"It's a hard thing to do, sort of this lyrical hip-hop, and sometimes it can feel a little bit dated," she said. "But you really brought it to life and I felt like you did a wonderful job."

She told Lawson she relied on her center too much and should move through her movements completely.

Guest judge, and choreographer/director, Rob Marshall, was impressed by the performance.

"You're infectious when you dance," he told Lawson. "You have a beautiful smile and it's stunning to watch you."

He suggested Lawson could take a note from Gaga's playbook and lose herself more in her dancing.

"That's what I would work on, but you were stunning up there," he said.

Next, Lawson performed a foxtrot with fellow contestant Tadd Gadduang, choreographed by Jonathan Robert.

Marshall described the dance as "sparkling from beginning to end."

"You sparkle and you always do," he said to Lawson.

Murphy found the performance uneven.

"Will it go down as the most memorable number of tonight for me? No, I'm sorry, it's not going to," she said. "But it was beautiful, it was elegant. ... It's just a little bit mixed for me, but I just enjoy the two of you. You could stand on your head and I would still love the two of you to death."

"I don't want to go into the technical details, because I was just in heaven watching it," said Lythgoe. "I wanted to get up there and dance with you."

The dance was "just amazing," said Gaga. But she suggested Lawson forget about past successes while she dances and continue to prove herself, comparing her dancing to her own success in the music business.

"After I sell a bunch of records I take all the platinum ones off the walls and I pretend like I haven't sold a damn one and I've got to go and do it all again," she said.

The remaining six dancers perform again next Wednesday at 8 p.m. on FOX. Viewers can vote online at www.fox.com/dance or call or text numbers displayed during the performance show.

Lawson is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/D8Caitlynn.