So You Think You Can Dance - Air Date June 15

It's time for the first eliminations of the main event. Nerves are frazzled, legs are wobbly, and fingernails are chewed to the rhythmic bones.
First we get treated to a nice production number featuring all twenty dancers dressed in white. It was a little jumbled at times but entertaining never the less. That's was nice, now let's get to the votes.
I have to give a shout out to host Cat Deeley's dress. I was digging the giraffe print. It's one of my favourite animals, and seeing its fake hide draped across Deeley's pasty British body... I kid! I love that pattern, and the dress was great. Now let's get to the votes.
Oh, talking to the judges! Yes, most of the dancers did very well the previous night, but what about the votes? There's a whole hour of show, I realize that, but if we're going to get a full helping of solos we need to get a move on here!
At this point Cat and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe whipped out flaming torches and proceded to wow the audience with the comedy juggling act they've been working on for the past two years! It seemed like Nigel was going to drop one down his pants, but no! This didn't happen! I'm just getting paid by the word here and need to pad this out a little. Okay, I'm not getting paid, but trying to pad this out? That's true.
Now we finally get to the reveal of the votes. Cat calls the dancers out two couples at a time, says a little about each one, then reveals if they're safe or if they have to dance their solos.
The first couple to get the bad news are Stanislav and Erin. Not necessarily one of my picks to be at the bottom, but not a big surprise either. While Stanislav was great in their paso doble, Erin really held them back. Okay, I'm good with this.
Next to have their dreams potentially shattered are Ivan and Allison. Considering how sorely Ivan sucked in their salsa, this made perfect sense. Allison didn't deserve to be in this position and it would be nice to see her get a better partner. That of course will be up to the judges.
Soon we get to the last two couples (and honestly, everyone who came after Ivan and Allison and before the last two should not have been nervous at all because this is television and they have to save some suspense for last), the two who performed disco the previous night. Ben and Ashlee against Jhaimyzs and Jessica. Oh no contest! Ben and Ashlee were horrible!
Here's a prime example of why I dislike audience voting and why I'm glad they only determine the bottom three couples and not who goes home. There's no way Ben and Ashlee should have avoided the bottom three, but somehow they did. As Nigel pointed out, right now it's as much a personality contest as it is about dancing and that's not right. So Jaammees and Jessica have to dance their solos. Hmmmm. I wonder if the public didn't vote because they're as annoyed with how Jaeiymzes spells his name as I am. Alright now, that I can live with.
With that drama finally over, we get to the solos. The dancers each get to use this opportunity to impress the judges one more time with a grand total of... what the hell? The show is an hour long, and they get all of 25? 30 seconds each? With six dancers, that's no more than three minutes total of individual dancing. Out of an hour. Forty odd minutes if you don't count commercials. I shouldn't have been suprised, as it was like this last season as well but frankly I could have done without the filler so we could get longer dances. I like Nelly Furtado and all (though frankly I preferred her earlier work), but let me see what I'm here to see! Dancing!
And what about the solos? Here in order of personal preference for each group...

Erin - Quite a nice dance. Thoroughly enjoyable but not quite as much as the other two women.
Jessica - Beautifully done for someone who should never have had to be dancing in this episode in the first place. I love watching ballet and I loved watching her.
Allison - The female dancer of the night, and it turns out to be all improv. If she gets cut now this will be the crime of the series.

Ivan - Maybe I'm biased because I really didn't like his previous performance, maybe it's because he looks 12, but he just doesn't do it for me. Not a bad dance, but not great either.
Stanislav - Just as the solo dancers have issues with the partnerships, the ballroom dancers always seem a little lost in the solos. That said, he seemed pretty okay. I'd love to see him learn some new styles.
Ghayemmmz - Wow! Damn it, give them more time to perform! Not only the male dancer of the night, but the dancer of the night period. If he gets sent packing I am going to come down there and dance in front of the judges myself! If that doesn't cause them pain, I don't know what will.

The judges are sent to the back to deliberate while we are treated to time taken away from the competitors. It's a nice enough song, Nelly, but not my favourite of yours. At least it's some Canadian content even if it's filler and/or a ratings grab.
Coming back from commericals, we get to find out finally who is out of there. But first a recap of their solos. Are our short-term memories really that bad?
The first woman cut from the show is Erin. Not really a shocker. She was the weak link in the paso doble, and her solo didn't quite measure up to the others (though just barely). This would have been a much tougher decision than the guys.
The first man cut from the show is Iv... WHAT?!?! Stanislav?!? The judges really think Ivan can learn more as the season progresses and did better through the audition??! Look at all these question marks and exclamation points, judges!!! This is someone who doesn't understand what you are basing your judgment on here!!!
Holy crap, that threw me. I would have loved to have seen Stanislav team with Allison next week. Damn it, Ivan, you'd better use this chance and do great next week.