So You Think You Can Dance 4’s Jessica King Out of the Competition

Jessica King has had a tough summer. First she was caught on-camera misspelling Vegas as “V-E-A-G-S.” Then she was continually ripped by the judges (most notably Mia Michaels) for not being in character, making her partner, Will Wingfield, carry her, and generally not being up to the same standard as the other dancers in the competition. Now Jessica has suffered another brutal blow – an injury that has taken her out of So You Think You Can Dance.

Judge and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is keeping quiet about exactly what’s going on with Jessica. He’s only reported that she’s been injured and will take about five weeks to heal. As for the exact nature of the injury – whether it was sustained on set, or even what part of Jessica’s body she injured – Nigel has said nothing. In fact, he’s not allowed to say anything because of U.S. laws that prohibit him from discussing another person’s medical situation. (Think of it as dancer/judge confidentiality.)

Fortunately, Jessica’s injury isn’t so severe that she’s hospitalized. Nigel reported that she’ll appear on Wednesday’s performance episode and elaborate on the injury herself. And if the injury will reportedly only take a few weeks to heal, Jessica might be able to join the rest of the top ten dancers on tour. No one has said whether this will happen, but that might be cleared up on Wednesday as well.

Obviously the competition can’t go on with just nine dancers, as all dances are performed by partners. So who will be the fifth girl in the top ten? That would be Comfort Fedoke, who was just eliminated last week. I’m sure Comfort is very happy to have a second chance, and I hope she can use it to prove herself to the judges and the audience.

Jessica is a contemporary dancer and Comfort a hip-hopper, which means the top five girls just got a little more diverse. Comfort joins Katee, Kherington, and Courtney, all contemporary dancers, and Chelsie, who’s a ballroom dancer. Comfort’s first partner, Chris, was eliminated two weeks ago, and her second partner, Thayne, was cut along with her. Since the move to the top ten eliminates all established pairings, Comfort won’t be paired with Will, Jessica’s partner.

I have to wonder how much longer Jessica would have lasted without having to take herself out of the competition. She was on thin ice and had just landed in the bottom three. We’ve now reached a point in the competition where partners are being split up, and Jessica would no longer be able to depend on Will to keep her around. But we’ll never know what might have happened.

I hope Jessica is doing all right and that she heals well. I’m sure it’s frustrating to be a dancer unable to dance, especially when you’re in the middle of such an exciting competition. I hope once she heals, she can return to dancing. Maybe we’ll see her in a future season, even if it’s just in a performance on a results show.

I believe this is the first time a dancer on So You Think You Can Dance has voluntarily left after the audition rounds. Last season, Jessi Peralta experienced health problems and missed a performance show, but she wasn’t asked to leave and was instead eliminated by the judges the next night. I have a feeling that most, if not all, of the dancers in the top 20 would refuse to bow out voluntarily if not for a career-threatening injury or unless a healthcare professional ordered him or her to. You have to really love dance to want to stay in this competition, and it’s clear that Jessica is no different. I wish her lots of luck.

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Jenn Brasler is an Associate Editor of Reality News Online and a writer/proofreader/book enthusiast/secret spy from Falls Church, Virginia. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. Jenn thinks Comfort will be the first cast aside out of the top ten, which will save the judges some trouble of having to cut someone they actually want there.

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