On last night’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance, contemporary dancer Lauren Gottlieb was eliminated. She narrowly missed being part of the finale as Sabra Johnson and Lacey Schwimmer moved on. Lauren had quite the journey on the show over the last year. On last season, she assisted Tyce DiOrio when he choreographed numbers for the contestants. This year, she made it all the way to final six and gained lots of fans along the way. She landed in the bottom more often than she would have liked but says it was a great learning experience. Lauren took time today to talk to BuddyTV about her experience on the show.
Below, you will find the mp3 as well as the full transcript of the interview.
Hey guys, it’s Gina from BuddyTV and I am here with Lauren. Lauren thanks so much for taking time with us today.
Thank you.
Well tell me a little bit about your dance training and your background leading up to the competition.
I went to a really great studio in Arizona and they basically put us in every different kind of style of dance. That was the deal and the only thing…all the ballroom and Latin stuff was completely foreign to me. Yeah, it covered every type of style I think.
Now, do I have it right that you assisted on last year’s show?
Yeah, I helped Tyce . Kind of at the right place at the right time. He needed an extra hand… so I got the opportunity to come on the set and actually be a behind the scenes assistant, helping out with choreographing the dance. It was a totally different experience from this year.
You were on the bottom so many times this season and I really never got it. What do you think that was about?
I think I have a So You Think You Can Dance record. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be in the record books for having the most times in the bottom. I don’t know what it was. I look back on it and it was kind of a blessing in disguise because it made everything a lot harder and I had to fight for it a lot more. It was definitely emotionally draining always being on the bottom, but it was something…it was cool, it was an experience.
Was it strange to do that elimination last week without the studio audience? It was so quiet.
I would have to say it was my least favorite part of the whole season. It was such an awful feeling because you forget that you want to look out into the crowd and people are cheering you on and saying good job. I almost couldn’t talk, I was kind of speechless because I was just looking to the right and I see all my friends, all my close friends and it made the experience a little more personal then being able to look out and thank people for sticking by me for so long. Sitting there watching my good bye package, it was like seven of us in the room, it felt really weird.
Do you have any thoughts on the final four dancers?
I know they kicked themselves this week, They had to so many routines and so much, but they are loving it right now. They love this opportunity to be in the finale, so there going for it.
Was there a competitive nature among the dancers or was everybody really like one big happy family?
Honestly for the most part it was one big happy family. Its hard to be competitive when everyone dances a different style. You know when we were doing Wade [Robson]’s solos, that is probably the only example I could give where we were doing the same thing were it could be something a little more competitive, but with the story behind it and what we were dancing for no one felt that. Besides that you had to go out there and do your absolute best and that’s all you could do. I didn’t feel a competitiveness.
In your eyes is there a particular piece that you performed that you’re most proud of this season?
There is just so many. I really loved Danny and I’s Mia Michaels routine. It was just something…it was just really powerful to me. It is something that I wish I could do again.
What are your goals for the future? What are you looking to do now?
That’s the thing. I’m excited for the future after the tour and see where my life takes me. Hopefully its something with acting and dancing, but I’m not really sure. I just kinda need to let it go and see what happens. There is nothing lined up nothing that I see, so I’m just going to wait and see what happens.
I just wanted to ask you before I let you go if there is anything you want to say to your fans because you were denied that opportunity last night?
I actually want to say sorry that I didn’t get that opportunity. They actually didn’t air a lot of what I did say. At the beginning it was just really hard it was really personal, it was a total weird feeling not having anyone out there. I started warming up and I think there wasn’t enough time in the show so they cut what I had said. I just want to say thanks to everyone so much for sticking by me. Thanks for watching me and thanks for believing in me and for voting for me and being there. Hopefully I can meet everyone on tour!
Lauren, thanks so much for your time.
Thank you!
Have a great day!
You too! Bye!
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
