There are 50 dancers left, and they're going to perform a solo that won't get critiqued by the judges, but they will be winnowed to twenty.
Last up is Faina Savich, who dances a samba, in a little black dress, to some Black Eyed Peas' samba mix. Wait, "last up"? No, don't show us the dances, guys. No one watching is interested in dancing, are they? Let's get straight to the sitting and waiting and standing nervously in front of judges. Anyway, she's really good. Do you get bonus points for looking like a Bond girl? She collapses immediately after leaving the stage. Some paramedics? I guess? Lackadaisically make their way over to Faina. They're not moving very fast, considering she appears to be dying. It appears they're familiar with drama-queening. The official diagnosis is "dehydration."
Nigel asks people back up onstage, including Kaelyn Gray and Olivia Usey (who apparently is only just "Olivia" now). Nigel shuffles through a bunch of papers on the table, like he can't remember what it is they want this group to do. And then, oh yeah! This group is ending its run here. Everyone is grateful for the opportunity, and philosophical about being cut, with one exception: Olivia Usey.
Olivia blathers on that she would have rather been cut in the first round than having to work and be exhausted and bruised and be around people she doesn't like. What a poor sport. Look at it this way, Olivia: getting cut now is way better, by your logic, than making it to, say, the final two, and then losing.
So now we're left with seventeen boys, and seventeen girls, from which will come the top twenty. The contestants are all seated, and they'll be called one by one to a holding room, where they'll collect their thoughts, before being called out onstage.
Kevin Hunt is up first. Mia breaks the bad news that he's not continuing on, after telling him that the judges want to see him continue to grow. We see two more dancers, who don't even get names, let go.
"Seeing dancers go home builds tension in the holding room," says Cat, even though everyone there knows that all the remaining contestants are relieved when someone comes back and hasn't made it. Nice try, Cat.
Danny Tidwell is the adopted brother of last season's runner-up, and he has a reputation in the dance world of "brilliance," Mia tells him, but he's not living up to it. Shane calls his vibe "whack." In an interview, Danny says dance is like therapy.
Danny saunters out onstage. "How are you?" asks Nigel. "Everything," says Danny, whatever that means. Nigel warns him that his ego has to go out the door, which Danny agrees to, and Nigel says he's in the top twenty.
Shane says he thinks they're going to regret having him on the show, and Mia seems to agree. "He walked away like he was God's gift to the world," complains Shane. But backstage, Danny is excited enough -- or so full of himself -- that he does a bunch of jumping splits for the benefit of the rest of them. He's the first one through.
The judges loved Ashlee Langus's looks and personality. Ashlee interviews that she always has a plan. Onstage, Mia warns her not to approach everything with the same kind of energy, and then announces she'll be in the Top 20. Backstage, Cat hugs Ashlee like she's Ashlee's mom.
D'Trix is on the stage. Shane calls him dope, but he has to do more than hip-hop. "I need you to represent for all the street break-dancers who do hip-hop because you are in our top 20." Backstage, D'Trix's selection elicits pandemonium.
Hoping to join the party, Cat tells us, is Cedric Gardner, who had some difficulties in Vegas. "It was the most trying time in my life when it comes to dance," he says. Well, wouldn't it be? He had to dance for his life, and Mia loves him, even though Nigel says the dude can't do any routines, just his solo. Nigel worries that Cedric's going to screw up any girls he's paired with. Then Cedric is brought onstage. The judges lecture him a little bit about how they can only push him so far, and then Mary screams that he's in the top 20. She actually screams. For those of you who have watched the other season as well: do your ears ever stop bleeding?
The couple of dancers are put through without us finding out who they are, and then Janet Bombard gets an extended introduction, reminding us that she's missing one arm. She talks about her best friend, who was with her every day after the accident, and how much dancing means to her. Onstage, Nigel tells her that he rarely cries, but she got him crying, and we flashback to a teary-eyed speech about how she wants people to like her for her, and seizing the moment and whatever else, and Nigel's heart grows three sizes and he wipes a tear. Well, make that two sizes, but she's not going through. I hope Olivia is at home, watching the gracious acceptance displayed by Janet and the rest of the dancers cut, wherein they seem to realize that no one owes them a fuckin' thing. Backstage, a dancer who we'll find out is Kristen Stein, starts to bawl, because she and Janet are really close, and they hug.
Ricky Palomino is waiting to be summoned onstage. He pretends that he wishes Cat were there because she's such a babe and that would distract him from the tension. He interviews about how amazing everything has been, working with Shane and Mary ("I never felt so sexy," he tells us). Once he's brought onstage, Nigel tells him, "I find you a little strange." Nigel adds that while Ricky's dancing is superb, viewers won't just be voting on dancing skills alone. Mia gushes about him for a while before they tell him he's in the top twenty. For a moment, he clenches up like he's going to turn into the Hulk, then he thanks them and walks off the stage. Back in the holding pen, Cat hugs him, not once, but twice!
Anya and Pasha, the ballroom dancers from New York. Anya's up first. Shane says she has the "facility" for this show, and she is one of the top twenty. "America, here I come!" she says backstage. America, be forewarned that her boobs will arrive about five minutes before she does.
Now it's Pasha's turn. Mary says they had some questions about him. Mia says he's one-dimensional, and what he's shown in Vegas was not good. And then Mary screeches that doggone it, he's something else, and he's in the top twenty. You're one-dimensional, and you weren't good in Vegas. Therefore: congratulations!
Faina Savich is up , and a little stressed because two other ballroom dancers just got put through. Mary psychs her out a little by talking about this, and then: "I'm sad to say…you're in our top twenty!" That doesn't sound very nice -- aren't the psych-outs usually something like, "I'm sad to say…you're going to have to put up with us for a little while longer!" You know, so in the end it's actually a nice thing to say?
Halfway through the episode now. Normally, I hate extra long episodes, but it would be nice to see a little more dancing. This is a whole lot of boring backstage footage of people being apprehensive. On the plus side, there's a lot less Mary hollering than a regular episode.
Going into the last commercial break, Cat wondered aloud if Lauren Gottlieb's past was going to come back to haunt her. No, she wasn't a hooker; she helped out with choreography last year. According to Nigel, after she comes out to face the judges, the show can't afford to be seen to be showing anyone favoritism. Which they won't. He sounds really regretful, and Shane helps him sell it. Lauren thinks she's going home, but she's not. If anything, says Nigel, they're going to be extra-hard on her. She tries to scurry off, and Nigel has to bust out a Cowell-esque "other door."
Sara Vaughn is a B-girl whom we haven't seen before. Mary tells her that she's great in her own genre, and it's been the toughest year for women (because there's so many good ones -- as if any reality show ever will ever say, "Yeah, this is one of the weakest fields we've ever seen."). But they believe in her! And she's through!
Kameron? Who are you? You're in. Chuy? You're in. Heather Shaw? Who is this person? Mia says she's amazing, fabulous, et cetera. She really stood out on group night, not that we saw her. Mia breaks the bad news that they already have so much of what they need, but this isn't a fakeout. She's actually going home. She's really sweet backstage, saying she's excited for everyone, and "the best thing is around the corner." Does anyone know what that means?
"This is face of nervous," says Jessi Peralta. She interviews that she has an office job where she sits at her desk, typing, and "I literally sit in front of my computer and go blind." Literally? That's unfortunate. She's brought out onstage, where the judges fake her out before telling her she's made it. Jessi's a big drama queen, and she starts to cry, and backstage she allows everyone to think that her tears mean she didn't make it. So she has everyone's attention and reveals she did make it.
A bunch more people get cut, leading into Caitlin Cucchiara; despite being good enough to go straight through to Vegas, and starting off strong, nerves seemed to get the better of her. When she comes out onstage, Nigel tells her they sent her straight through to Vegas, so she's got amazing potential, and he believes she'll be in the top ten one year. But not this year.
We're down to Twitch and Hok for the last guy spot. Really? They're not both going to be on? Crappy. Hok says he's numb. Twitch says it's going to be sad either way, because the two of them have gotten to know each other. The two of them head out onstage. "Done the math, huh?" says Nigel, who adds that the two of them bring so much to the show, but they're not very good at doing the dances they're asked to learn. Twitch is going, Hok is staying. They hug a couple of times. My wife suggests I do my hair like Hok's, which means I have to take her crack pipe away. Again! Twitch leaves, and Hok gets emotional and stutters a little bit about hard this is, because he's gotten to know Twitch, and the judges are all, "Cheer up! You made it!" Backstage, he hugs Twitch some more.
Lacey Schwimmer, the sister of last year's winner, and Kristen Stein are the last two girls left. They interview that they want it, that sort of thing (Lacey wins points from me by acknowledging that everyone here wants to be on the show as bad as everyone else does), then walk out holding hands. Mary says they're both fabulous dancers, and this is the toughest decision of the day. Kristen looks like she already thinks it's not going to be her. And it's not. Mary tells Lacey she made it, and she Macaulay Culkins her hands to her face and says, "Shut the front door!" which is a new expression to me. After Kristen and Lacey hug and Kristen walks off the stage, the judges warn Lacey that she really just scraped in. Lacey seems like she realizes this, and is quite grateful to have made it. Like this show didn't want all the storylines inherent in having a former winner's sibling compete.
Anya, Cedric, Ashlee, Danny, Faina, Dominic, Jamie, Hok, Jessi, Jesus, Lacey, Jimmy, Lauren, Kameron, Sabra, Neil, Sara, Pasha, Shauna, and Ricky. These are the people in your neighbourhood. week, you get to start kicking them out.