The theme for tonight's show was inspiration, and unfortunately it was anything but. The bulk of the routines tonight were just so-so for me, with the exception of maybe two. This crop of dancers is talented, certainly, but I don't feel like many of them are really pushing and exceeding my expectations. They're doing fine, but that's it.

On top of that, we had the issue of an obviously skewed ratio of guys to girls, which was particularly noticeable during the show's opening. The new format has kept things fresh, but also has some serious flaws, namely that the girls are getting picked off one by one. I'd really hate to see an all-male cast too soon, especially since the Top 11 was already stacked with six guys. Unfortunately, the remaining three girls didn't totally bring it this week. Actually, few of the dancers did. I'd have to say this was probably the weakest performance show we've seen so far this season. But let's break it down, shall we?

AdeChicke & Lauren (Hip-Hop): Dancing a Dave Scott routine to "Hot-N-Fun" by NERD, the two started off as some square office nerds who quickly discovered their inner rhythm. I loved the concept and thought they danced it pretty well, but it wasn't as hard hitting I would have liked. The music did seem to drag the routine's momentum down a lot. Despite the routine's ho-hum pace, both AdeChicke and Lauren danced with a great amount of swagger and chemistry, which was nice to see. The judges praised AdeChicke for giving a better performance than in past weeks, and Adam even gave him a standing ovation. I thought it was a good routine, but not worth overwhelming praise.

Ashley & Ade (Contemporary): Poor Ashley. I thought for sure that pulling contemporary again just might be the kiss of death for her. The judges chastised her last week for only doing contemporary. Although we've only really seen her in her style, it's not her fault. The dancers pick partners/styles randomly. It's not like she's deliberately trying to stick to her style. I have to say so far, I don't mind. She excels at contemporary and tonight was no exception. The idea for the routine, set to "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine, was that Ashley couldn't stand up on her own without the support of Ade. New choreographer Dee Caspary mixed up Ashley's flailing ragdoll moments with some gorgeous freezes for her to show off her extension.Dee's choreography made great use of the stage and allowed Ade to partner Ashley without outshining her. Ashley had a great combination of fluidity and control, but what I loved most was that she completely let go and laid all her emotion on the stage. Wonderful to watch. Nigel briefly mentioned the whole contemporary thing again, but complimented her for giving into the movement.

Billy's solo was a cool infusion of his classic contemporary moves and hip-hop style. There was one point where he kicked his leg practically up to his nose, paused, and then did a layout that looked more like a backbend. Incredible.

Robert & Courtney (Jazz): These two were back together again, this time for a Sonya Tayeh routine to "XXXO" by M.I.A. The routine had Sonya's signature kookiness, with a good mixture of spastic unnatural movements and more traditional spins and leaps. My favorite moment had to be when Robert did an arabesque that he held seemingly forever. The judges gave him positive critiques, except for Adam, who warned him that his leaps were a bit weighty (they were). He doesn't seem to have as strong of a fan base as I thought he would, but I think he should be OK for next week.

Jose was up next with his solo, which included a few flares, a five-second headspin and a bit of floor work. It was his usual stuff, which for me has been consistently underwhelming. As I've noted before, Jose is by far my least favorite dancer, and I think tonight's solo proved exactly how weak his technique is (even in his own style) compared to the other eight dancers.

Melinda & Pasha (Salsa): Apparently Melinda is Columbian and thinks she's got the salsa side in her. She had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction when the tail of her sparkly dress got caught on her heel, but she covered it pretty well. She seemed to be having fun with the routine and although her footwook wasn't perfect, I thought it was fair. Pasha in an open shirt was nice to see again (God, I'll miss him when he's gone), but the whole routine was just so-so for me. The judges REALLY ripped her a new one. Both Mia and Adam told her they made a mistake by keeping her around. OUCH! Nigel commented on her lack of polish and musicality. If she lands in the bottom tomorrow, she's doomed.

Kent's solo had gorgeous flow and even a handful of gymnastics. He tore up the stage and did some incredible split jete spins. His legion of screaming fans is a bit annoying though. No doubt, he's a talented dancer and cute as a button, but I somehow think he'll survive with or without my votes.

Lauren & Neil (Broadway): Thank goodness Joey Dowling is back to do some B'way. In this sultry, jazzy routine, Neil was a young lad reading the newspaper and dreaming about glamorous movie star Lauren. Lauren looked gorgeous in her sparkly silver ensemble. The routine employed great use of the stage and incredible chemistry between the two of them. Lauren almost had a Janet Jackson Nipple-gate moment at the very end, but covered it very well (and probably saved Fox from a multi-million-dollar lawsuit). The judges gave her relatively positive reviews and Adam even compared her to "Singin' in the Rain" star Cyd Charisse. Mia did say she needed to work on being more feminine and sexy. I totally disagree.

Ashley's solo was pretty uninspiring tonight. She spent the first five or so seconds just standing there and groping herself, while the rest felt very competition-y, filled with fuoettes and a few half-hearted leaps. It was strange. I think that this most likely means that despite her incredible technical ability, Ashley is really relying on the choreographers to show her what to do. Good dancers do not always make good choreographers, and this was a prime example of that. She could be in trouble tomorrow.

Billy & Kathryn (Contemporary): It was a season 6 reunion for these two this week, both of them dancing in their style. I had some seriously high expectations for this and it came pretty close. The routine was about a couple that has just broken up and struggling to let go. OK, so the concept was a bit stale, but the dancing wasn't. Billy did a nice job partnering Kathryn and the pair had some lovely side-by-side arabesques that were to die for. The best moment was when Kathryn stood on Billy's quads, pushed off and let him fall to the ground and flail in rebellion. Just exquisite to watch. The judges' critiques were just lukewarm. All three of them said Billy's technique was there, but his performance wasn't. Lame. He's got a lot of fans though, so I suspect he'll be safe for another week.

Robert's solo showed off his great amount of control more than anything else. Some nice spins, a cool cartwheel/handstand move in the middle, but not a particularly memorable routine. I think he's better than the routine though.

Jose & Anya (Samba): I couldn't stop laughing at the thought of this routine. I seriously expected a full-on trainwreck. The first few moments were surprisingly good, especially when Anya leapt off the table on stage and Jose caught her with ease. But it was a long, steep downhill ride from there. Choreographer Dmitry really let Jose off the hook. The bulk of the routine consisted of Anya tearing up the stage and shakin' it all over the place, while Jose stood there and held her hand. His footwork also felt heavy and clumsy to me. And yet the judges lapped it up AGAIN. This is SO frustrating to me. Week after week they've taken it SO easy on him, saying he's got some sort of sparkle and charm about him. They barely even mentioned his dancing in their critiques. Note to the judges: this is a DANCE show. Yes, performance is important, but guess what. So is the dancing. Ugh!

Melinda's solo was among the weakest this week. I definitely have to agree with Nigel and say she has little, if any, musicality. There was one move in there that I loved, a combination of Susie-Qs and toe jabs, but other than that, it felt awkward. If she's in the bottom tomorrow (which I suspect she will be), she'll probably go home.

Kent & Allison (Jazz): These two did a sharp, sexy jazz routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. Mandy said the she also wanted to focus on the dancers' lines and extension, which she managed to work into the routine pretty smoothly. Loved the music, loved the choreography, liked the dancing, hated the costumes (what was up with Kent's suspenders in the front?). I thought Kent's performance this week was an improvement. The judges were quite harsh with him this week, which upset me a bit at first. Of all his routines, I thought this was his best of the three, and NOW they choose to get picky? But as the judges gave him their critique, which was largely that he played too much to the studio audience and not enough to his partner, the usual cutesy "cool!" Kent melted away. He finally seemed like a human being and not just some adorable caricature. He should have no trouble getting through to next week (he's probably got the most fans of anyone right now), but I hope he takes the judges comments seriously (he seemed to) and improves more next week.

AdeChicke did his solo again to this bizarre mix of classical violins and computer blips. I was so distracted by the music (and the fact that he was shirtless - hello!) that I barely noticed his dancing. Not exactly what you want when you're dancing for your life.

The last solo of the night was Lauren and she was gorgeous. The routine was very reminiscent of her initial audition with lots of slow sensuality and incredible extension. Alex & Twitch (Hip-Hop): Yep, that's right. Two guys dancing together. I had my doubts, but this was by far the best routine of the night. The number was between a psychiatrist (Twitch) and his patient (Alex) as they went crazy. To my surprise Alex kept up flawlessly with Twitch, especially in the middle with some fast footwork and tricky popping, and at times even overpowered him, I think. NappyTabs did a great job playing on the ballet thing and threw in some humorous moments with arabesques and pirouettes. This routine was LIGHTYEARS ahead of everything else tonight and my favorite routine of the season. There was a huge standing ovation and a deafening roar from the crowd and the judges. Nigel said NappyTabs better get nominated for an Emmy and Adam was almost too verklempt for words. Brilliant. An explosive way to close a largely lackluster show. I can go to bed happy tonight.

Predictions for the Bottom 3: Unless something miraculous happens, I'm pretty sure Melinda will land in the bottom (yet again) and will inevitably go home. Neither the judges nor the audience seem to be taking to her at all. Personally, I think Jose did worse tonight, but Melinda's been sliding since the first week and for some inexplicable reason, the judges (and America) seem to love Jose in spite of the fact that he can't dance. The last spot is probably a toss-up between the other two girls. Although I think AdeChicke could be in trouble too. He did fine in the opening hip-hop number, but it was largely forgettable.