So You Think You Can Dance

I keep waving the flag for So You Think You Can Dance, and here I go again. The format for this season is much simpler than in past seasons—only one two-hour show a week without the cumbersomeness of the one-hour results show the next night, as American Idol has done and continues to do. All dancers perform and at the conclusion, we hear the result of the voting from the preceding week with three males and three females announced as the bottom three in the voting. The judges, with input from the choreographers, then tell us which four are saved and which two are dropped. If they’re not yet sure, the judges can ask one or more of the dancers to dance solos. This method is so much superior to what Idol does. And the judges for SYTYCD know so much more about what they’re judging than the odd bunch on Idol (and yes, Randy, I mean you). Nigel Lythgo, executive producer of both Dance and Idol, and Mary Murphy are the two regulars with a guest judge from theater or television to fill out the three. And all three invariably speak from their extensive knowledge of dance. If you haven’t yet tuned in to SYTYCD, you should give it a try. You’ll be blown away by the skill and beauty of the dancers, the beauty of the choreography and lighting and music. Check out this video to see what I mean.