Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, Season 2 Episode 6

This week's theme was Broadway, and the skill was Versatility. Abby Lee Miller wanted to see the dancers trying out a lot of different styles of dance, ideally all in the same routine. This week was very difficult for all of the participants, but the end results were pretty amazing.

For the initial challenge, Broadway star and show judge Rachelle Rak took to the stage in a leotard, and can I say? She was amazing. Rak has been performing on Broadway for over 25 years, and she is still fabulous.

Rachelle led the remaining dancers in a fast-paced Broadway routine. McKaylee won the challenge, which earned her the right to the first solo performance of the season.

McKaylee's confidence had been severely shaken by Abby's criticisms of her last week. Add to that the fact that she had difficulty connecting to the hardships and sadness experienced by the character in her dance, and she really had a tough time learning her solo routine. As great as a solo can be - no one to share the glory - it also requires the dancer to carry the entire routine themselves. Tough gig!

Meanwhile, the other kids split off into groups to work on their routines. The moms expressed a lot of frustration at McKaylee's mom Shari for constantly talking to and about her daughter. They were particularly outraged by Shari's frequent use of McKaylee's name. Is it just me, or is this a crazy thing to get mad about? The kids are the entire reasons the moms are there. Makes sense they would dominate the conversation. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

Right before the kids went out on stage, there was another dust-up involving Gianna's mom Cindy. Gianna was being upstaged by her dance partner Ally, and to combat the problem, Cindy decided to trim the hanging fringe skirt on Gianna's costume to make her leggier. Dirty tactics to be sure. Ally's mom Tiffany noticed what was going on, and insisted on trimming Ally's costume to match. Check and mate.

First on stage were Kalani and Travis in a Phantom of the Opera-inspired piece called "Monster of the Night." They never quite gelled as a couple, and their dance moves - which involved a lot of high-fives basically - never quite connected. Then a tense moment near the end of the routine when Travis lost his footing and they nearly both fell off the front of the stage.

Next up was JoJo, Trinity, and Tyler in a Newsies-style routine with hip hop flavor called "Extra, Extra." Although Tyler was originally cast front and center, his weak performance during rehearsals motivated their choreographer to place Trinity in the lead instead. Ouch, and double ouch when the judges figured out what had happened. Trinity received high praise from all three judges, but their criticism of Tyler's performance was scathing.

Third to perform were Gianna and Ally in their sassy, salsa-infused number called "Eight," inspired by the show Nine. Both girls turned out an amazing performance (in heels, even!) and earned the coveted finger wave from Richy. (Twice!)

(Incidentally, if you liked the music in this number, check out the cult hit single "We No Speak Americano," which it was clearly referencing. I wish the show wasn't saddled with copyright restrictions which required it to use original studio music rather than actual songs. Oh well.)

McKaylee's solo was the last performance of the night. There was a lot of pressure and suspense as she launched into her Le Mis-style solo performance called "I Danced a Dream." But holy cow, did that girl deliver. I was blown away by the caliber of her performance, and the moms - who had been hoping that McKaylee's mom would be leaving this week - were sorely disappointed. McKaylee earned high praise from all the judges, as well as Richy's finger wave.

The judges did things a little differently this week. First, each judge picked a favorite dancer who would be in the top three. Abby chose Trinity, Richy chose Ally, and Rachelle chose McKaylee. Next they cut out the middle-tier dancers, leaving us with the three at the bottom: JoJo, Tyler, and Travis.

Abby lashed into JoJo, but then sent her off-stage to stay for another week, It came down to Travis and Tyler, both of whom, frankly, had not done well this week.

When the judges announced that Tyler would be sent home, Travis spoke up to say that he would be quitting, too. The judges were rightfully outraged about this decision. Although the boys' mom Sheryl was like, "It's a twin thing! They have that bond!" the judges heaped their wrath upon Travis, asking if he would give up a million-dollar opportunity just because his brother hadn't performed to his full potential.

Harsh as they were, their criticism had real merit. You can't go through your entire life in sync with your twin, at some point the boys will have to go their separate ways.

Amazingly, they gave Travis another chance. He changed his mind and decided to stay.

Stay tuned for next week, when the theme is "Fairy Tales"!

Image copyright Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition/Lifetime