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.

That being said, this results show is not going to win any prizes. The producers are clearly trying to work out what, exactly, to do with all this extra time. They start with a group number, which is awesome in theory. I do get sick of seeing duets all the time. Dancing is much more than two people telling a love story – which is about three quarters of the routines on SYTYCD. However, this number (choreographed by Brian Freedman) is just terrible. *Sigh.*

Will the show get any better from here out? Nope, not really. There is a very, very, very, very long recap of the previous night, and then telling the dancers who is safe and who is in the bottom drags on torturously. Eventually, we do find out that our bottom three couples are Erin and Stanislav, Ivan and Allison, and Jaymz and Jessica. I admit that I’m a little startled to see Allison in the bottom, even though I know it was Ivan who put her there. I’m used to seeing Allison as one of the best dancers to come out of SYTYCD, and here she is in the bottom during the first week of what so far has been a fairly mediocre season. It just goes to show how fickle the process of voting for couples can be.

The solos themselves aren’t particularly memorable. Allison is fantastic, everyone else is pretty bland. Eirn in particular seems to struggle. She’s falling off her pirouettes, and while she’s clearly trying to dance sexily, her movements just come off as awkward. Ivan’s solo is the worst, though. He wastes a good chunk of time in the beginning just walking. They both deserve to be sent home, in my opinion, but while Erin does get the ax, it is Stanislav who is sent home.

Before the dancers are sent home, though, we are of course treated to a musical performance that has absolutely nothing to do with dancing. I’m trying to be good about re-watching everything, but I have to admit I fast-forwarded my tape here. No amount of dedication is going to make me watch the musical guests again.

Before revealing the results, they show recaps of all six of the solos. Because the audience can’t remember what happened five minutes before. Seriously, even a goldfish could remember something for that long.

Usually, I think Cat is pretty sweet with the dancers who are on the bottom. She encourages them to feel proud of themselves and seems genuinely apologetic about having to jerk their emotions around on a string. During this first results show, however, her questions range from awkward to evil. After each dancer has finished their solo, she asks them inane questions, like: “Do you want to stay in the competition?” and “Do you think you have done enough?” What does she think they’re going to say? “No, I don’t want to stay, and I’m sure my solo sucked anyhow”? Sheesh. Then after Erin is told she’s going home, Cat asks her why she thinks she was voted into the bottom, which is just plain mean. I don’t know how much control Cat gets over what she says, so I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and blame the producers. It’s much easier to blame Nigel than Cat.

Where Are They Now?

Stanislav Savich:

I couldn’t find much information about Stanislav. He’s still a competitive ballroom dancer, and he also seems to be teaching ballroom dance.

Erin Ellis:

Erin went to the University of Tennessee, where she joined the Dance Team and won two National Championships. Accordingto her bio on the UT website, she majored in “Exercise Science,” loves eating fried chicken, and graduated “suma [sic] cum laude” (it’s spelled summa, not suma, which I find wonderfully ironic). Her career plan is to become a physical therapist. In the meantime, she is a teacher at DC Dance Factory.