We open tonight with a group dance to "It Was All In Your Mind" by Wade Robson, choreographed by Shane Sparks. There are women in black tutus, some others who appear to be hip-hop ninjas, and male dancers with their ripped-up shirts knotted where there breasts would be, if they had them, and then Sabra seems to be the North Wind, blowing the dancers into awkward (and sexy!) positions.

As always, Cat looks fantastic. I love it when she strides out onstage as the dancers scurry off. She's like two feet taller than everyone else. She's wearing a canary yellow dress. Despite what she says, we don't really find out who people voted for; more like we're going to find out who people didn't vote for.

The first three couples are brought right out: Neil and Lauren, Pasha and Jessi, and Hok and Jaimie.

Neil and Lauren did Dave Scott's hip-hop routine, and Neil was pretty fly for a white guy. They opened the show last night, and got high marks from the judges. And they are safe. They hug, not looking like they were super-worried, and leave the stage.

Pasha and Jessi did the African bird jazz thing by Tyce Diorio, and again, all the judges loved it, particularly the way Pasha has displayed more than just ballroom talent. Nigel thinks they're top-ten material. "America disagrees," Cat informs them; they're in the bottom three. The crowd boos. Mary is shocked, because these two are jelling ["but not, apparently, gellin' like Magellan" -- Sars], and have done everything that's been asked of them. They'll be doing solos later.

Jaimie and Hok did a samba by Jean-Marc Genereux, which wasn't traditional enough for Nigel (although he thought the performance was terrific), and Mary didn't like it either. Mia did, and talked about drinking "love juice." They're safe this week as well. It's going to be a while before we see Hok in the bottom three, I think.

Three more couples are brought out onstage. Lacey and Kameron "brought danger" to the stage to do Tyce Diorio's Broadway routine. They were really good, if a little cloying (that's me talking. The judges loved them). Tonight, they're safe, and the two couples left onstage hug each other.

Anya and Danny did ballroom dancing for the second week in a row (this week it was the Viennese Waltz). There's no WAY these two are in the bottom three. They looked great, they danced great, and the judges lavished praise on them. The only problem was their routine induced the dreaded Mary scream. You guys, that's her thing that she does! Sure enough, the two of them are safe.

Sabra and Dominic were in the bottom three last week. This week, they did a contemporary routine to that beyond-annoying "I'll Stand By You" song by the Pretenders. They danced really well to it, with special praise earned by b-boy Dominic. They're safe, prompting Dominic to fall on the floor and Sabra to jump on him. Then she hugs Cat and almost gets swallowed up.

The last three couples are onstage; two of the couples will be in the bottom three.

Jésus and Sara did a paso doble to, of all things, Queen's "We Will Rock You." The dancers were praised by the judges, even as the song choice (not their fault) was questioned. B-girl Sara got particular praise (and a little "special" attention from Nigel, if you get what I mean). But since there's only one couple left to go in the bottom three, Cat's gotta draw out the drama and not say how they did just yet.

Shauna and Jimmy did a hip-hop routine that included a step routine in the middle. Nigel liked it, and called it fun. Again, though, Car's not ready to reveal how they did just yet.

Faina and Cedric did Hunter Johnson's foxtrot. Cedric came in for some criticism, while Faina got high marks. Remember this at the end of the show. Faina did well, Cedric did not. I can't stress this enough.

So: Sara and Jésus are safe. Which means the other two couples are in the bottom three. Mia's shocked that Pasha and Jessi are in the bottom three. Same for Mary, who is going to "pray" that they won't be going home.. Nigel agrees, surprise. He understands why Jimmy and Shauna are, even though he thought they were great. Instead of elaborating, he just points out there's always going to be a bottom three. He harps again on how Cedric is a problem for partnering. He wasn't knocked out by Cedric's hip-hop, and didn't like his foxtrot. "I'm not sure this competition is right for you," he says, because while Cedric is a good dancer, he has a hard time doing other people's choreography. Cat gives the four at-risk dancers on the stage a little pep talk. "You can do it!" she chirps, advising them to "bring it" for their solo routines, and then, before going to break, threatens the audience with a performance by Daddy Yankee.

Solo dancers. First up, Jessi, dancing to "Hurts So Bad" by Kina. She's wearing some kind of church bake sale raffle blanket that billows around her as she sexes up the stage. I'm not the biggest Jessi fan, but she's danced well in her partner routines -- and even I can tell she's stinking it up here. Afterwards, Cat absolutely towers above her as she asks Jessi what it would mean to her to get through to the next stage. Jessi stammers out that it would be everything. Good conversation there.

Next up, Pasha. "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band. He's looks pretty good to me -- especially to a guy like me who barely mastered the junior-high sway-step dance that you do to everything when you're a teenager -- a little more jazzy/Broadwayish than I was expecting.

"Everything" by Lifehouse is Shauna's music, as she launches into a contemporary routine in which she gives everything she's got. Still, it's effing LIFEHOUSE. She should go home on principle. She tells Cat, "I left my heart right there!"

Jimmy's dancing to "Veins" by Charlotte Martin. It's a good contemporary routine, a lot like Shauna's, only with a lot more arm-windmilling. Cat asks him why he deserves to stay, and he babbles about his heart being in it.

After the break, Faina's dancing to "Do You Love Me" by the Contours. She's got a knee-length skirt on that she twirls really nicely, but I have to say that she's shown herself to be capable of a lot more than this. Cat asks her what goes through her mind before she goes out onstage to dance for her life. Apparently, she thinks, "Okay, I'm going to dance right now." Interesting. I love you, Faina, but I have to admit I was starting to worry that you were in trouble here.

Cedric's dancing to Imogen Heap. Really? And his solo routine is incredible, all boneless arms and legs. Cat asks him if he's confident he'll be safe again tonight. "I'm at peace either way," he says. Good answer.

Cat asks the judges to go backstage to make their decision. "Don't envy you," she says. Well, yeah, but Cat loves everybody. Daddy Yankee comes out on stage to yell at us about how he likes the way you do it. They should call this song "Bathroom Break." Be back in a sec.

The women are brought back onstage, lined up according to height, with Cat on the end, so it kind of looks like they're getting really strong cell phone reception on the stage. Nigel says the judges were unanimous in their decision. Jessi steps forward, and Nigel says they didn't like her solo tonight. Nigel doesn't like her? Ouch. Shauna steps forward, and the audience cheers (it didn't for Jessi). Nigel says she really did dance for her life tonight, so she can go and sit down and rest up for next week. She's safe. Faina steps forward. Nigel says he knows how difficult it is for ballroom dancers to do solo routines. "It didn't really happen for you tonight," says Nigel. Her foxtrot was really good, so was she let down by her partner? Was she let down by her partner last week? They don't know (even though Nigel won't shut up about how difficult Cedric is for a partner). But they can only judge her against the other two dancers tonight. Which means she was better than Jessi? Oops, Nope. She's toast. CRIMINAL. Faina tells Cat that the experience was the greatest thing she's ever had in her life, and then we look back at a montage of the ridiculously sexy Faina's journey.

Now, the men. The judges weren't unanimous this time. Pasha steps forward, and Nigel tells him his solo was not good enough, and he'll have to do a lot better if he's to remain in this competition. Yes, Pasha's safe. We're down to Jimmy and Cedric. First time through, I thought Cedric was so done. Nigel drones on about the debate the judges had (last week too) about whether they support a dancer's uniqueness or potential. He says "uniqueness" about a million times. Cedric represents the uniqueness while Jimmy's the talent. Nigel says that he's been in the middle, and this week, he's supporting Cedric one last time, and warns Cedric against screwing up again. I have to admit, upon my second viewing, I found myself swayed by Cedric's beyond-unbelievable solo routine. Damn you, Nigel Lythgoe! All your talk of "uniqueness" is starting to make sense!

But you cut Faina. You're dead to me. All of you.