Since last night's show was one of the strongest opening shows we've had in the history of "Dance," tonight's elimination was a hard one to swallow. There were some real standouts last night (most notably Alex and Robert), but pretty much everyone did a solid job.

Tonight's opening number was a jazz piece by new choreographer Tessandra Chavez to "Acappella" by Kelis. Everyone was decked out in white outfits with gold sequin accents. The routine had lots of sharp arm isolations and some hip-hop-like chest contractions juxtaposed against flowing lifts and spins. There was even a cool moment where the guys used one of the girls (Alexie or Ashley, I think) as a human jump rope and Alex soared over her in a split jete leap. Incredible routine. I hope Tessandra sticks around.

Cat looked a bit better tonight in a red plaid number with bow accents on her shoulder and hip. I found her a bit annoying tonight though, and more so than usual. She seemed to butt in awkwardly when she needn't. Nigel plugged National Dance Day (which is July 31st - mark your calendars!) and a routine by NappyTabs that the dancers will be learning. It's also available online for anyone to learn (I'll definitely be giving it a shot). Nigel dared Cat to give the routine a go next week. I hope it's not as disastrous as the last time she "danced" on this show!

Down to business. The first four contestants were Alex, Robert, Lauren, and Kent. Alex did the best routine of last night by far: a fabulous Sonya contemporary routine that blew everyone out of the water. He served it and according to Nigel, "set the standard for ‘So You Think You Can Dance.'" He looked nervous, but shouldn't have been. He was safe. Next up was our eye-candy for the season, Robert, who did a sexy, cool African number with Courtney. The judges gave him high praise and of course, he was safe. Lauren did a cool contemporary routine that was technically brilliant. Kent did a pretty weak cha-cha with Anya last night. He was trying WAY too hard to be masculine and pulled his face to dangerous levels. The judges gave him praise though and he's an audience favorite, I think. Ultimately, Kent got a pass for his disastrous cha-cha, and Lauren skated through too.

After the commercial break, we got a recap with our next four dancers. Up first was Melinda, who struggled through a jive with all-star Pasha. The judges said she would definitely be in trouble and unfortunately for her, she was. Next up: Mr. Billy Bell. Tyce gave him less-than-stellar Broadway choreography to "Footloose," but he handled it very well. He's got a strong following already, so naturally, he was safe. Ashley did a lovely contemporary routine with Neil last night, but the judges said she wasn't connecting with the audience emotionally. Alexie did a fun hip-hop routine with Twitch that she did pretty well with technically, but the judges critiqued her for being "too cute" (which she is). Usually people vote for cute, but apparently not this time - Ashley ended up being safe and Alexie landed in the bottom this week.

The last group of dancers to get results were Jose, AdeChike, and Christina. Of the three, Jose definitely deserved to land in the bottom, but somehow he skated through. WHAT?! He's a mediocre b-boy at best and his routine was one of the weakest last night. AdeChike did a sultry jazz piece with Kathryn last night that was better the second time I watched it. Kathryn was sexier than he was, but he still fared all right and danced it brilliantly. Christina did a weird Sonya jazz piece with all-star Mark that I didn't really get. The judges gave her overwhelming praise, but I wasn't wowed. She was just OK for me. Christina ended up in the bottom, which I expected. The routine she did was weird and reasonably well danced, but not stellar (despite the judges' comments).

Tonight's guest dancers were from "Come Fly Away," a jukebox musical of Frank Sinatra's music choreographed by Twyla Tharp. The choreography was dynamic, but I was less-than-impressed by the dancers. The woman seemed stiff and sloppy with every move. It felt like she wasn't sure about what move came next. The guy's footwork was equally lax, and he was chewing gum during the whole routine, which was totally distracting.

For her solo, Melinda did a fast & funky tap number to "I Got a Feelin'" by James Brown. The whole thing was filled with great rhythms and wicked fast footwork. I also think it was a smart move to dance to music - I love a cappella tap, but that failed miserably for the three hoofers last season.

Alexie's solo, set to "I've Been Loving You Too Long" by Otis Redding, was very subdued and involved very little dancing at all. She did a great arabesque where she seemed to balance forever, but that was about it. The rest of the time she just moved slowly around stage and crawled on the floor. Such a let down from one of my early favorites.

I liked Christina's solo even less. It's always tough to judge ballroom dancers doing solos because so much of that style is in the partnering. She had good energy, but not tons of steps. I think she repeated the same basic footwork and spin sequence twice for her entire solo. The weakest solo of the three girls for me.

Tonight's musical guest was Usher, who performed his current song "OMG." I've been on the fence about this song for a while, but I have to admit the beat is catchy and definitely easy to dance to. Of the musical guest on this show, Usher can actually dance and he definitely showed off that talent tonight with some help some sexy female back up dancers. He had lots of fun Michael Jackson-inspired moves up his sleeve. Usually he's a good singer too, but tonight he sounded like he had a frog in his throat or something ... it was weird.

After the performance, Cat came onstage for some reason, Usher plugged his album and then introduced the new Justin Bieber music video he's featured in. The video did have some cool dancing, but I wasn't totally sure how it was related to this show. After the opening moments of a sexy 20something woman groping tiny tot Bieber (*shudder*), I put the TV on mute and focused my attention back to this blog entry. Sorry, Justin. Not a fan.

Then it was finally results time. I was sad to see that all three of the contestants were girls. Do people realize this means we're not going to get to see the male all-stars as much if the girls go? No more Neil. No more Pasha. I beg you, America: can we send home a guy next week (preferably Jose)? Pretty please?!

Elimination time. Nigel said Melinda's style of tap was cool to watch (it is), praised Christina for her performance, but not her steps, and scolded Alexie for not doing enough (or anything, for that matter) in her solo. Ultimately, the judges sent Alexie home. I was SO surprised. Her solo tonight was definitely too contained, but she her performance last night was stronger than the other two girls by far. Poor thing. She spent forever trying to get on this show and got beat out on the first round by weaker dancers like Jose and Christina.