So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)

infobox television
show_name = So You Think You Can Dance


rating = TV-PG
format = Interactive reality game show
runtime = Varies
creator = flagicon|UK Simon Fuller flagicon|UK Nigel Lythgoe
executive_producer = flagicon|UK Simon Fuller flagicon|UK Nigel Lythgoe flagicon|USA Allen Shapiro (2005 - 2006) flagicon|USA Barry Adelman
developer = flagicon|UK Simon Fuller
director = flagicon|USA Matthew Diamond
presenter = flagicon|USA Lauren Sánchez (2005) flagicon|UK Cat Deeley (2006 - present)
starring = flagicon|UK Nigel Lythgoe flagicon|USA Mary Murphy
country = USA
location = Various cities (auditions)
Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, NV (Vegas rounds)
CBS Television City
Los Angeles, CA (finals)
network = Fox
first_aired = July 20, 2005
last_aired = Present
num_seasons = 4 (As of August 7, 2008)
num_episodes = 82 (As of August 7, 2008)
picture_format = (480p) (SDTV)
(720p) (HDTV)
website = http://www.fox.com/dance
imdb_id = 0472023
tv_com_id = 35810

"So You Think You Can Dance" is an American dance reality show and competition that is broadcast on the Fox Network in the U.S. and Japan, on CTV and MuchMusic in Canada, on Living, in Italy on Fox life, in United Kingdom and Ireland, on Network Ten in Australia, on AXN in India, on MBC 4 in the Middle East, on TVN in Poland, on MNET Series in South Africa and on KTN in Kenya. [CTV.ca, [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20060511/SoYouThinkYouCanDance2-default/20060815/ So You Think You Can Dance] ]

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 are 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, over the course of the show, 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 in July 2007, while the fourth season is over, it was renewed for a fifth season. [ [http://www.movieweb.com/tv/news/22/13722.php Fox Renews "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Hell's Kitchen"] , Movieweb.com. (Accessed July 28, 2006)] The first season was hosted by Lauren Sánchez; the show is currently hosted by former British children's television personality, Cat Deeley. In August 2006, it was also announced that there are now spinoff versions of the show in New Zealand, Turkey, Israel, Canada, Germany, Greece, Poland, Malaysia, Norway, The Netherlands, South Africa and Australia, with several other countries in the works.

"So You Think You Can Dance" holds auditions in major cities across the U.S., 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 the grand prize—which, in the past, has included a new Hybrid SUV, $100,000 in cash, and a dancing role in Celine Dion's Las Vegas show—of US$250,000 and the title of "America's favorite dancer." In its four seasons, the winners have been Nick Lazzarini, Benji Schwimmer, Sabra Johnson and Joshua Allen.

how Format

Dancers audition for a ticket to Vegas. During season one, the 50 top dancers were assigned to groups, each of which spent time working with five different choreographers for a week, at the end of which the choreographers chose the top 16. Every season after the first has been of a format where the competitors at the Vegas callbacks dance choreography in front of the judges who pick the top 20 based on their performances.

After the first season, the format changed from dancers switching partners every week to one where the top 20 keep the same partner until the show has reached ten finalists. Between the top 20 and the top ten, viewers vote based on the couple, rather than the individual. Once the show has reached ten dancers, the dancers randomly pick their partner's name from a hat as well as their style(s) of dance. As well, during the top ten finals, each dancer does a solo, and the viewers have an opportunity to vote on competitors individually, rather than in pairs.

When the season finale comes around, everyone dances with everyone. Both guys dance with each other, both girls dance with each other, and both girls dance with both guys. In the results show of the season finale, the judges pick their favourite dance of the season and the dancers re-enact it; (obviously not a dance that that judge choreographed). There are special guest-star performers, and surprise appearances.

eason 1

The first season was hosted by Lauren Sanchez.

The final show aired on October 5, 2005. The winner 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.

eason 2

The show premiered on May 12, 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, Benji Schwimmer, was named "America's Favorite Dancer" on August 16, 2006 after 16 million votes were collected for the season finale. Travis Wall was named runner up.

Schwimmer almost did not make the show's top 20--he was officially first-runner-up dancer in case any of the male dancers ran into unforeseen difficulties prior to the start of filming. As it happened, for the second year in a row, Hokuto "Hok" Konishi was unable to get his visa cleared to work in the US in time for the first taping, and he was cut. Schwimmer came in and proceeded to routinely wow the judges and the audience on the way to victory.

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.

eason 3

Open auditions for Season 3 began early October 2006, held in New Jersey, Baltimore, San Diego, and Salt Lake City. Like the previous season, those that made the cuts moved on to Las Vegas. The taped auditions premiered on the Fox Network in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2007, and the subsequent shows were taped and broadcast live for a 12-week season. Cat Deeley returned as host, and Nigel Lythgoe returned as permanent judge. Joining Lythgoe permanently at the judging table was Mary Murphy; her promotion was reported by TV Guide on March 8, 2007. The prize for the winner was increased to $250,000 cash. On the performance finale show (August 16, 2007), it was announced that the series had been picked up for a 4th season. Sabra Johnson was named "America's Favorite Dancer," while Danny Tidwell was named as the runner-up.

eason 4

Auditions for Season 4 began in Texas on January 17 and took place in six locations through March 2008. The show kicked off its two hour season premiere on May 22, 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.buddytv.com/articles/so-you-think-you-can-dance/fox-announces-summer-schedule-16636.aspx |title=FOX Announces Summer Schedule, 'SYTYCD' to Premiere in May |accessdate=2008-02-14] Cat Deeley returned as host and Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy as permanent judges. The prize for the winner is again $250,000 cash, the title of "America's Favorite Dancer" and offered a role in Step Up 3D. Katee Shean was given a surprise award of $50,000 for being the top female dancer. Joshua Allen was the winner while Stephen "Twitch" Boss was the runner-up. [ [http://pophangover.com/soyouthinkyoucandance/?p=24 Pophangover: "Joshua Allen Wins So You Think You Can Dance Season 4"] ]

Contestant Statistics

*Most Collective Bottom Appearances (Female): Comfort Fedoke, Lauren Gottlieb (5)
*Most Collective Bottom Appearances (Male): Ryan Rankine, Dmitry Chaplin, Neil Haskell, Danny Tidwell, Thayne Jasperson (4)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 1 (Female): Melody Lacayanga, Snow Urbin (3)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 1 (Male): Jamile McGee (3)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 2 (Female): Natalie Fotopoulos (3)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 2 (Male): Dmitry Chaplin, Ryan Rankine (4)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 3 (Female): Lauren Gottlieb (5)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 3 (Male): Neil Haskell, Danny Tidwell (4)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 4 (Female): Comfort Fedoke (5)
*Most Bottom Appearances Season 4 (Male): Thayne Jasperson (4)
*Fewest Bottom Appearances (Individual Female): Kamilah Barrett, Donyelle Jones, Lacey Schwimmer, Katee Shean (0)
*Fewest Bottom Appearances (Individual Male): Blake McGrath, Benji Schwimmer, Joshua Allen (0)
*Fewest Bottom Appearances (Couple, Weeks 1-5): Donyelle Jones & Benji Schwimmer, Lacey Schwimmer & Kameron Bink, Katee Shean & Joshua Allen, Chelsie Hightower & Mark Kanemura (0)
*Most Routines Danced Together: Katee Shean + Joshua Allen & Benji + Donyelle (10)

Broadcast of US version

*The show airs in Canada on CTV and MuchMusic. The MuchMusic re-runs advises the viewer that voting is unavailable in Canada whenever host Cat Deeley announces the phone numbers. The show was also translated in French and broadcast on TVA.
*The Australian television network Network Ten started screening the US series (season 4) on July 16, 2008 after screening Season 3 in 2007.
*In Japan, seasons 2 and 3 of the American version of So You Think You Can Dance have aired as "American Dance Idol". [ [http://www.foxjapan.com/tv/bangumi/dance_Idol/index.html Fox Japan web site for "American Dance Idol"] ]
*The third season of the American show will air in the United Kingdom on Living TV.
*The show airs in the Middle East on MBC4 .
* In Norway, all seasons of the American version on TVNorge.
* In South Korea, the second season of the American version aired titled, "You Can Dance".
* In Thailand, all season is broadcasting starting on True Visions's True Series.
* In The Netherlands, the first season is broadcasting on RTL 5.
* In Italy, the third season finished screening on November 15, 2007 on Fox Life.
* The show airs in Poland on Fox Life. There is also the show called "You Can Dance - Po Prostu Tańcz" in Poland broadcasted on TVN - the host of the show is Kinga Rusin.
* The show airs in Bulgaria on TV2
* The show will air in Hong Kong on TVB Pearl in few months.
* The show airs in South Africa on MNET Series and also airs on the rest of the continent of Africa down to Zimbabwe for all countries that have access to the DStv MultiChoice bouquet.
* Season 1 was shown in New Zealand, on TV3 however no later American seasons were shown, although the Australian season was shown in early 2008.
* In Singapore on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.

Ratings

Ratings for "So You Think You Can Dance" in Season 1 made it the #1 summer show for the summer of 2005. However, when NBC's "America's Got Talent" premiered in the summer of 2006, it took key demographics away, and "America's Got Talent" became the #1 summer show in the summer of 2007. In the summer of 2008, "Talent" held on to the title and broadened its lead, while FOX started competing with CBS's Million Dollar Password on Thursdays and even drama reruns on CBS on Wednesdays. However, "So You Think You Can Dance" still remains one of the most watched reality television shows in the United States.

ee also

*"Dancing with the Stars"
*"Pants-Off Dance-Off"
*"Soul Train"
*"American Bandstand"
*"America's Best Dance Crew"

References

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/dance/ "So You Think You Can Dance" Official Website]
*imdb title|id=0472023|title=So You Think You Can Dance
*Tv.com show|id=35810|title=So You Think You Can Dance