So You Think You Can Dance
So You Think You Can Dance is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has broadcast twelve seasons since. Adaptations of the show began airing in other countries in late 2005 and to date 25 localized adaptations have been produced, comprising nearly ninety individual seasons.
Format
Although each varies in the particulars of its format and presentation, all shows in the So You Think You Can Dance franchise share a premise of placing dancers—who come from a wide variety of dance backgrounds and are often, but not exclusively, amateur or semi-professional in experience—in a competition which requires them to adapt to multiple styles of dance. As the competition progresses, a combination of judge decisions and at-home-viewer votes determine which dancers will advance in the competition from week to week, until ultimately one dancer is voted champion of that particular season and receives a prize package that may consist of money, work or training opportunities, additional material prizes and typically the title of the respective country's "Favorite Dancer" (i.e. "America's Favorite Dancer").
So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. season 1)
So You Think You Can Dance is an American television dance competition that airs on the Fox network. The first season premiered on July 20, 2005 with Lauren Sánchez as host, Nigel Lythgoe as the main judge, and Mary Murphy, Dan Karaty, Mia Michaels and Brian Friedman as most frequent guest judges. Nick Lazzarini was crowned America's Favorite Dancer on October 5, 2005 with 37.7% of the votes.
Auditions
Locations
The main auditions for this season were held in following cities:
Format
Auditioners had one minute to impress the judges. A contestant deemed to be not good enough was sent straight home, otherwise, they were sent to a choreography round. After that, the judges decided the fifty dancers that got through to the Hollywood week.
Minimum age for contestants was 18; maximum was 30.
Hollywood week
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Dan Karaty, Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman, Alex Da Silva
Hollywood week was held in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. 25 females and 25 males were invited to participate in the callback auditions. This number was cut down to 8 females and 8 males, a total of 16 dancers that came through to the live shows. Hollywood week included the following rounds, cuts were made at the end:
So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. season 3)
So You Think You Can Dance is an American television reality program and dance competition airing on the Fox network. Season three premiered May 24, 2007.
Cat Deeley returned for her second consecutive season as host. Nigel Lythgoe returned as a permanent judge, joined this season by choreographer Mary Murphy. The remaining third—and during Vegas Week, fourth—judging spot is filled by a guest judge (see main article).
Auditions
Open auditions were held in the following locations:
Vegas week
As in the previous season, those making the cut moved on to an intensive week of dance training in Las Vegas, Nevada. This season, Vegas week included hip-hop choreography taught by Shane Sparks, samba choreography taught by Mary Murphy with assistance from season two finalist Dmitry Chaplin, and contemporary choreography taught by Mia Michaels. The contestants that survived the cuts following those rounds were divided into groups, asked to randomly select from a box a CD containing one of five possible music types, and choreograph a routine to the song on their chosen disk. The dancers remaining after the group choreography round were asked to perform one last solo, following which the group was whittled down to 34 contestants—17 male, 17 female. From this 34, the judges chose their top 20.
