Tonight's show continued to be exceptionally blah, starting with the opening routine. Choreographer Jamal Gains had the contestants dance to "O Fortuna." Really, new guy? Really?! That song is epic, but WAY overused. Plus his choreography was totally lacking. The most exciting part was the flashing light show, which was straight out of a rock show. Robert and Alex got featured spots up front, but Gains didn't use their talent at all. So disappointing.

Cat looked stunning in her sparkly black frock, and quickly reminded us the show was live. Thanks Cat. I had no idea... When she chatted with the judges, Nigel revealed that there's going to be some additional changes to the show's format. I guess we'll dub this the "experimental season." Probably in re: a ton of online bitching (and the fact that Ashley's gotten contemporary every week), Nigel announced that the contestants would be drawing names/styles randomly next week, but would NOT be allowed to have the same partners more than once. Sounds appropriate, but if my math is right (and it might not be; math was never my best subject), we're going to run out of possible matches pretty quick. Nigel also announced that next week, the contestants would dance twice, further straining the number of possible partnerships. I wonder if that means we'll still have to endure their frantic, often lame 30-second solos.

And if those changes weren't enough, Nigel also said that in two weeks, the contestants would start dancing with each other. Everybody got it? No? OK, good. Because clearly the producers' intent this season is to confuse the hell out of us. Kudos for trying something new, "Dance," but for the love of my sanity -- stop it! At this point, the best we can do is roll our eyes, try to keep up and hope to God that Nigel & Co. learn for next season.

The first four to get their results: Alex, Ashley, AdeChicke, and Kent. If anyone should be safe tonight, it's Alex. He did an incredible job with a humorous and hard-hitting NappyTabs hip-hop routine with all-star Twitch. Like last night, the audience ROARED for him and, of course, he was safe. Ashley got yet another contemporary routine that she did a gorgeous job with. I actually liked the routine and her mix of control and emotional release. Aaaaaaand, she's safe! I'm glad she got another shot. AdeChicke opened the show with all-star Lauren and a Dave Scott hip-hop routine. It's hard to rival Alex's number, but he did a decent job with the choreography. Cat talked to Kent next, who I actually thought was the most improved this week, but the judges slammed him. He looked quite nervous for the results. The first person in the Bottom 3 was...neither of them. Both guys were safe.

The next three to get their results were Lauren, Robert, and Billy. I really enjoyed Lauren's B'way routine with Neil, despite the near-wardrobe malfunction (and Nigel's uber-creepy comments about it). So did America, she's safe. Then it was Robert and Billy's turns. It always seems to come down to these two, doesn't it? During the recap, I realized I had actually forgotten about both these routines, particularly Robert's jazz piece with Courtney. It's not that it wasn't good -- he performed very well, as usual, and got solid reviews from the judges -- it just didn't really stick with me, and that's important at this stage in the show. I did like Billy's contemporary piece with Kathryn and thought their lines complemented each other perfectly. But the judges' reactions were only lukewarm. After a commercial break, Cat revealed that BOTH Billy and Robert were in the bottom this week. WOW. Did not see that one coming at all.

Last two: Melinda and Jose. Anyone who has kept up with this blog knows I'm not a fan of Jose at all, but even I have to admit that Melinda's not my favorite these days either. She's been sliding for weeks now and the judges were very harsh with her last night, even saying not sending her home last week was a mistake. The judges, once again, fawned over Jose. I thought his salsa was mostly sloppy (with the exception of the very, very beginning) and that Anya ate him alive on that stage. She's definitely improved leaps and bounds since S3. But to no one's surprise, Jose got a pass and Melinda landed in the bottom for the third time in a row. She's doomed.

As if the laundry list of changes earlier wasn't enough, producers added another new feature (perhaps to help the show fill its hour-long time slot): looking back at some of the all-stars' best moments. At first, I expected to see old footage of the all-stars as filler, but to my surprise, we actually got to see S4's Mark & Courtney perform live. They did "The Garden," a jazz piece by Sonya. I don't remember this routine at all (this was back in the days when I wasn't exactly a fan of Sonya's work). It definitely had that sick, twisted feel she's good at and the all-star pair tackled it marvelously. I have to say, as a fan of Sonya's work now, most of it seems to blur together. She's got a definite style, but I'd really like to see her try some new things. Surprise me, Sonya. Pretty please?

Tonight's special guests were from the cast of Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis." The routine had a military theme and was totally high energy. Choreographed by NappyTabs and Mandy Moore, the number started off with some high-energy, totally synchronized stepping. After that two girls in bouncy red, white and blue dresses flew out of nowhere and were passed through the air from guy to guy. There were a couple gasp-worthy moments as the girls soared through the air (mostly because I was worried they might fall), but the guys were there to partner them perfectly every step of the way. The last chunk of the dance included some ridiculous flips and tricks that no one should be able to do. Awesome routine! The highlight of the night by far.

The solos tonight were fine, but irrelevant. Melinda was almost a sure lock to be sent home. Still, Billy did a slow, fluid solo with lots of great extension, lines, and backbends. Robert looked quite serious at the beginning of his routine, but brought some quirky robotic movements along with his usual gorgeous extension. For the first time, Melinda danced a cappella. She still seemed to struggle with her musicality and some of her rhythms felt off (kind of a big deal for a tapper). Her heart didn't seem in it either, though I can't say I blame her.

Ne-Yo was the musical guest. Although he started his performance of "Beautiful Monster" strong, singing AND doing some Michael Jackson inspired moves at the same time. But that came to a screeching halt when he got to the first chorus. He didn't even try to hide the fact that we were listening to a pre-recorded tape. I know singing and dancing simultaneously is very difficult (lots of breath support and stamina required!) and that lots of artists use backing tapes when performing live, but if you can't do it, fake it. And if you can't fake it, don't do it at all.

The end of the show was terribly anti-climatic. We all knew Melinda was gone. Melinda knew Melinda was gone. And she was. Nigel quickly dismissed Billy and Robert and just talked to Melinda. He made an oh-so-subtle jab at her musicality, saying she danced to the beat of her own drum. Ouch. He did compliment her for trying the a capella thing though.

I think sending Melinda home was definitely the right call, but damn. We're down to TWO girls already. I might has well kiss shirtless Pasha, Neil, and Mark good-bye. Don't get me wrong, this season's guys are great, but watching the ladies get picked off one by one is downright sad. I wonder how this will affect the dancers in a couple weeks when they have to start dancing with each other too -- lots of guy-on-guy action to come. If it's anything like Alex & Twitch routine last night though, I'll be cool with it, but that's gonna be a tough standard to meet. Hope you know what you're doing, Mr. Lythgoe.