Season 2, Episode 8: Buck

Today’s post marks a bit of a change in style. I’ve decided that I’m only going to write commentary on performances that were particularly noteworthy. At the end of the post, I’ll provide a list of the other performances, and I’ll try to find a link to a youtube video, too.

So guess who performs the first ever SYTYCD krump routine? Travis and his partner Martha. That’s right, Travis is the first person to show America (at least, that portion of America that watches SYTYCD) krump. The choreographer is, of course, Lil' C, also making his first appearance. And the third first? During the judges’ critique, Travis uses the word ‘buck,” marking the first of many times that word is uttered on SYTYCD. If I had to guess who first used the word “buck,” Travis wouldn’t even make the list.

Season 2, Episode 7: The Results are In … Eventually, And Cat is Surprisingly Mean

This is our first ever results show, and while it’s really rough around the edges, it’s making me nostalgic. I really miss the results shows – Season 9 just isn’t quite the same without them. It’s confusing and I don’t get to watch my weekly quota of dancing.

Season 2, Episode 6: A Slow Start

With Season 9 currently airing, it is easy to see just how different people look. Nigel looks much younger, but Mary looks almost the same (the big difference being the extent to which her face is able to move). Cat looks only slightly younger, which is manifestly unfair. She is also just as gorgeous now as she was then. If I didn’t love Cat, I would hate her.

The show starts with a lot of warm up, most of it unnecessary. Did we need to see recaps of the judges “favorite” auditions? No, we distinctly did not. And while it was fun seeing Nick Lazzarini spinning, leaping, and flipping around the stage (sometimes all three at once!), I was more than ready for the show to actually begin.

Shane Sparks and Alex da Silva

You know how it feels when you’re watching a really great movie, only to have something so unrealistic happen that it jolts you back into reality? I’m having something like that happen to me with SYTYCD.

The reason: since the show first started airing, both Alex da Silva and Shane Sparks have been arrested for committing sex offenses. Da Silva was arrested in 2009 and charged with 4 counts of rape. Last September (2011), he was convicted on one count of rape and one count of assault with attempt to commit rape. Sparks was also arrested in 2009, on the even more disturbing charge of child rape. You can read the sordid details of the accusation here and here.

Season 2, Episodes 4&5: Vegas Week and Meet the Top 20

With Vegas week, SYTYCD Season 2 is finally getting started. This time around, 116 dancers made it to Vegas. Since 20 of them will make the show, they each have a little less than a 1 in 5 chance of making it. Doesn’t sound too scary when I put it that way, does it?

                

I should mention that the prize for this season is a little different. Instead of winning $100,000 and a year in a gorgeous NYC apartment, the winner of Season 2 gets a contract to perform in Celine Dion’s show in Vegas, a new car, and $100.000. I’ve always wondered what on earth Nick Lazarini did with that apartment to get them to change the prize. I like Nick, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they just decided it wasn’t the most useful way to jump start a dance career. I also have to mention that I love the irony of this being a show about finding a star – and then the prize is to be a background dancer for a “real” star.

Like most Vegas shows, this episode is all about drama. Dancing is hard! Lots of people get very sweaty! People get hurt (but never as badly as the teasers suggest)! I would watch the show even if no one got injured. Honestly.