So You Think You Can Dance

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So You Think You Can Dance
Genre Interactive reality game show
Running time Varies
Creator(s) Simon Fuller
Nigel Lythgoe
Executive producer(s) Simon Fuller
Nigel Lythgoe
Allen Shapiro
Starring Lauren Sanchez (2005)
Cat Deeley (2006-present)
Country of origin USA
Original channel Fox
Original run July 20, 2005–Present
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance reality show and competition that broadcast on the Fox Network, on CTV in Canada and as of November 20, 2006 Network Ten in Australia. [1]

The series premiered on July 20, 2005 and has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big star. The show was created by Idol's Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions. A mixture of contestants is chosen for the show, ranging from unknown street dancers to winners of national championships. All contestants have to work their way through a rigorous audition process, and then over the course of the show they are assigned different dance styles and partners each week, to test their versatility.

It was the #1 rated show in summer 2006 for adults aged 18-49, and on July 24, 2006, while still in production of its second season, it was renewed for its third season.[2] In August 2006, it was also announced that there are now spinoff versions of the show in New Zealand, Turkey, Israel, and Norway, with several other countries in the works.

So You Think You Can Dance holds several auditions across the major cities of the US, looking for the top dancers in each city. All types of dance backgrounds are encouraged to audition. Salsa, ballroom, hip hop, street dancing, contemporary, jazz, ballet and many other types of dancers can be seen auditioning for a chance to win a new Hybrid SUV, $100,000 in cash and a dancing role in Celine Dion’s Las Vegas show.

Top dancers are then put through grueling rehearsals and auditions and slowly narrowed down to a top 20 list of 10 men and 10 women. These contestants are then paired up and must randomly pick a partnered dance. Oftentimes this is not a style that they are familiar with and the dancers must learn the style from scratch. Couples will then perform the routine(s) and America votes for their favourite couple. The bottom couples must then do a solo performance of their choice to win over the judges’ votes so that they do not get eliminated. This continues weekly with one male and one female eliminated weekly.

Contents

[edit] Format

Many dance styles have been featured on the show, including jazz, bellydancing, contemporary, pop, modern, American jive, swing, disco, hip hop, krumping, paso doble, quickstep, lyrical, Broadway, Viennese waltz, smooth waltz, Argentine tango, mambo, cha cha, Cuban rumba, and salsa.

There are three judges on each show, one of which is always producer Nigel Lythgoe. The other two judges are a rotation of professional dancers and choreographers. The judges that have appeared on the show are Dan Karaty, Mary Murphy, Shane Sparks, Brian Friedman, Ron Montez, Doriana Sanchez, Nu Stylz (Olisa Thompson & Cicely Bradley), Jean Marc Genereux and Mia Michaels.

The early rounds include multiple bad auditions, in the same vein as Idol, with a majority of dancers getting cut by the judges immediately. There are several intermediate rounds of cuts before the final rounds, which include an equal number of male and female competitors.

The format is somewhat similar to that of ABC's Dance Fever, a short-lived 2003 reality show.

[edit] Changes from the first season to the second season

[edit] Partnerships and styles

In the finals of the first season, the contestants were partnered up and given a dance style, both chosen by a random draw each week. From the rounds of final 14 to final 10, the top vote-getter among the bottom 6 (later bottom 4) dancers was allowed to choose which person they did not want to partner with.

For the first five weeks of the second season finals, the partnerships were permanent (unless one half of a couple was eliminated). As with the first season, dance styles were assigned randomly. Once the top 10 dancers were chosen, the previous couples were dissolved. New partnerships and dance styles are assigned randomly each week, as in the first season. Couples perform two dances together on each show, and each individual dancer also performs a solo.

[edit] Airtimes

In the second season, the show began airing two nights a week. Like American Idol, there was a live performance show and a results show.

[edit] Voting

In the first season, the judges chose three couples as the worst of the week, and those six dancers went into an individual dance-off voted on by the viewers. One male and one female contestant were then removed from the competition based on the audience vote.

For the second season, the voting was changed significantly. During the first five weeks of the finals, instead of voting for individuals, the viewers voted for their favorite couple(s) on performance night. On the results show, the three couples that received the least number of votes were revealed. The six dancers that made up those couples then became eligible for removal by a decision of the judges. One male and one female contestant were removed each week. Although the solo dance-off still occurred, this change significantly reduced its importance, as Lythgoe explicitly stated on the show that the judges' decisions are based on the "entire audition process", not just what occurs in a given week. The dance-off still had some influence on the judges, however, as Lythgoe at times castigated dancers for their poor solo performances, and on one occasion, stated that dancer Ivan Koumaev was kept on the show partly because of his exceptional solo.

After the first five weeks of the finals, the voting changed again to a different format. The public votes on individual dancers, and the male and female lowest vote-getters are eliminated each week. In this part of the competition, the judges do not have any direct control of the elimination process.

[edit] Season 1

The first season was hosted by Lauren Sánchez.

The winner of the final show aired on October 5, 2005 was Nick Lazzarini, who received over 37.6% of the vote. Lazzarini won $100,000 and the use of an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City for one year. Melody Lacayanga was named runner-up.

[edit] Contestants (elimination date)

FEMALES MALES DATE ELIMINATED
Sandra Colton Jonathan "Jonnis" Tannis (August 24)
Michelle Brooke Craig DeRosa (August 31)
Snejana "Snow" Urbin Allan Frias (September 7)
Destini Rogers Ryan Conferido (September 14)
Melissa Vella Artem Chigvinsev (September 21)
Kamilah Barrett Blake McGrath (September 28)
Ashlé Dawson Jamile McGee (October 5)
Melody Lacayanga (Runner-Up) Nick Lazzarini (WINNER) (October 5)


[edit] Dance Styles

WEEK ONE :: TOP 16 DANCERS

Pair Style
Nick Lazzarini & Kamilah Barrett Hip Hop
Jonnis Tannis & Michelle Brooke Mambo
Artem Chigvinsev & Sandra Colton Lyrical
Jamile McGee & Ashlé Dawson Jive
Allan Frias & Snow Urbin Hip Hop
Ryan Conferido & Melissa Vella Mambo
Blake McGrath & Destini Rogers Lyrical
Craig DeRosa & Melody Lacayanga Jive

Bottom Three: Tannis/Brooke, Chigvinsev/Colton, Frias/Urbin


WEEK TWO :: TOP 14 DANCERS

Pair Style
Jamile McGee & Snow Urbin Quickstep
Blake McGrath & Destini Rogers Lyrical Jazz
Craig DeRosa & Melody Lacayanga Hip Hop
Nick Lazzarini & Michelle Brooke Quickstep
Artem Chigvinsev & Ashlé Dawson Lyrical Jazz
Allan Frias & Kamilah Barrett Hip Hop
Ryan Conferido & Melissa Vella Salsa

Bottom Three: McGee/Urbin, Lazzarini/Brooke, DeRosa/Lacayanga


WEEK THREE :: TOP 12 DANCERS

Pair Style
Blake McGrath & Ashlé Dawson Rock & Roll
Artem Chigvinsev & Melissa Vella Paso Doble
Allan Frias & Melody Lacayanga Lyrical
Ryan Conferido & Snow Urbin Hip Hop
Jamile McGee & Destini Rogers Viennese Waltz
Nick Lazzarini & Kamilah Barrett Disco

Bottom Two: Frias/Lacayanga, Conferido/Urbin


WEEK FOUR :: TOP 10 DANCERS

Pair Style, Round 1 Style, Round 2
Artem Chigvinsev & Melissa Vella Pop Quickstep
Nick Lazzarini & Kamilah Barrett Tango Pop
Ryan Conferido & Melody Lacayanga Lyrical Foxtrot
Jamile McGee & Destini Rogers Quickstep Hip Hop
Blake McGrath & Ashlé Dawson Samba Lyrical

Bottom Two: Conferido/Lacayanga, McGee/Rogers


WEEK FIVE :: TOP 8 DANCERS

Pair Style, Round 1 Style, Round 2
Nick Lazzarini & Kamilah Barrett Mambo Contemporary
Blake McGrath & Melody Lacayanga Lyrical Disco
Artem Chigvinsev & Ashlé Dawson Foxtrot Cha Cha
Jamile McGee & Melissa Vella Hip Hop Paso Doble

Bottom Two: Chigvinsev/Dawson, McGee/Vella


WEEK SIX :: TOP 6 DANCERS

Pair Style, Round 1 Style, Round 2
Jamile McGee & Kamilah Barrett Hip Hop American Jive
Blake McGrath & Ashlé Dawson Smooth Waltz Argentine Tango
Nick Lazzarini & Melody Lacayanga Broadway Disco
  • No Bottom Two since all dancers were vulnerable to elimination; McGrath & Barrett were eliminated*


WEEK SEVEN :: TOP 4 DANCERS

All dancers were to dance with each other.

Pair Style
Nick Lazzarini & Melody Lacayanga Paso Doble
Jamile McGee & Ashlé Dawson Salsa
Nick Lazzarini & Jamile McGee Hip Hop
Ashlé Dawson & Melody Lacayanga Contemporary
Jamile McGee & Melody Lacayanga Jazz
Nick Lazzarini & Ashlé Dawson Hip Hop
  • No Bottom Two since all dancers were being voted on to win*

[edit] Season 2

Main article: So You Think You Can Dance (Season 2)

The show premiered on May 25, 2006, leading audiences through the audition process. Cat Deeley became the new host. The top 20 finalists were revealed on June 8, and the winner, "America's Favorite Dancer," was announced on August 16, 2006, Benji Schwimmer, after 16 million votes were collected for the season finale.

There were several changes to the show's format in the second season (see above). New styles of dance were introduced, and the prize for the second season was increased from $100,000 to also include a new car and a one-year contract to perform in Céline Dion's show in Las Vegas.

[edit] International

The Australian television network Network Ten will begin screening the US series (season 2) from November 20, 2006.

Recently the show's rights were sold to foreign broadcaster Mega Channel in Greece. It will air the its own version of the show, with auditions being held in the New York City New York USA, Melbourne Australia, Munich Germany, and Cyprus. The auditions in the countries outside of Greece are aimed at Greeks living abroad, and could expand if there is a demand in places not currently on the list for auditions. It airs commercials for tryouts on its satellite channel Mega Cosmos. The grand prize of the show will be 100,000 euro, as well as a scholarship to a dance school in London, England.[3]

The show was also sold to Danish tv station Kanal 5 under the title "Kan du danse?", and the first season is hosted by Thomas Mygind and freelance dancer Anne Katrine Skole with choreographers Toniah Pedersen, Kenneth Kreutzmann, and Niclas Bendixen on the judging panel. [4]

In Germany there is a version of So You Think You Can Dance, called You Can Dance, since 10th November 2006 on air.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ CTV.ca, So You Think You Can Dance
  2. ^ Fox Renews So You Think You Can Dance and Hell's Kitchen, Movieweb.com. (Accessed July 28, 2006)
  3. ^ Greek broadcasters site for "So You Think You Can Dance
  4. ^ Danish broadcasters site for "Kan du danse"
  5. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

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