So You Think You Can Dance
News (Page 4)

They're two of the most popular reality shows on TV. With that in mind, The New York Daily News took it upon itself to compared the judges on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

To wit:

THE TWITS: Paula Abdul vs. Mary Murphy

Similarities: The goofy brunettes both devote a lot of their critiques to the contestants' appearance. Murphy's signature comment is to label a dancer sexy enough to ride on her "hot tamale train," which is about as nonsensical and confusing as most of what Abdul says. They're both loopy, loud and the least likely to be taken seriously.

Differences: While Abdul hardly ever has a bad thing to say, Murphy doesn't hold back when she thinks a contestant stinks. However, Murphy is a ballroom-dancing champion, so she actually knows what she's talking about. Abdul sang "Opposites Attract" next to a cartoon of MC Skat Kat.

Paula Abdul does her hair prior to doing her crazy business on American Idol.

Read the rest of the comparisons now.

While the reality TV world is still buzzing over Stephanie Izard being named the first-ever female winner on Top Chef, a couple other shows did air last night. Here's a recap of each...

So You Think You Can Dance: Cat Deeley strutted on stage and announced that America was now in control of the future of the eventual winner and that the winner would be receiving $250,000.00 in prize money for their dancing abilities... -- Reality TV Magazine

Farmer Wants a Wife: On tonight's episode, the girls put on a talent show for the local townsfolk, and Ashley puts Matt on the spot yet again... -- BuddyTV

The Top 20 of So You Think You Can Dance's season four have been chosen. Our thanks to Kristin from E! Online for this glimpse at some of the dancers...

• According to finalist Marquis Cunningham: "They have forewarned us that there are going to be several new genres in the hat that they haven't shown the past three seasons."

• The top 20's first group dance will be choreographed by legend-in-the-making Wade Robson. Many of the contestants have admitted that Robson is choreographer with whom they'd most like to work.

• Jamie Bayard (pictured) is a scion of the Schwimmer dance dynasty. He's not biologically related, but he was the dance partner of Lacey Schwimmer for four years; they won two U.S. Swing Dance championships together.

• Chelsie Hightower went to high school with season-two star Allison Holker; Katee Shean grew up in the same town as season-one finalists Nick Lazzarini and Melody Lacayanga; and Matt Dorame and Thayne Jasperson study at the same studio.

So You Think You Can Dance fans: Here's a look at your Top 20 Dancers for Season 4. Click on the image for a larger view:

Pictured top row L-R: Stephen "Twitch" Boss, William Wingfield, Jessica King, Kourtni Lind, Joshua Allen, Jamie Bayard and Courtney Galiano.

Second row L-R: Kherington Payne, Rayven Armijo, Chelsea Traille, Chris Jarosz, Katee Shean, Thayne Jasperson, Comfort Fedoke, Susie Garcia, Marquis Cunningham, Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura.

Bottom row L-R: Matt Dorame and Gev Manoukian.

Who is your favorite?

Here's a recap of a pair of reality shows from last night. In one, contestants think they can dance; in the other, contestants think they can milk a cow out of love...

So You Think You Can Dance: The first profile of the evening was of roommates, Katee Shean and Natalie Reid, who planned to audition and, hopefully, both make the trip to Vegas together.  Katee was first up and had a flawless audition which got her the ticket to Vegas she wanted from judges Nigel, Mary and Mia Michaels... -- Reality TV Magazine

Farmer Wants a Wife: Last night, Matt played a drinking game with the girls that quickly turned crass, and the contestants battled each other in a bake-off... -- BuddyTV

We understand the minds of many readers are still blown after last night's Lost season finale. Therefore, let us make it easy for you to catch up on the latest in reality TV...

So You Think You Can Dance: Our first hour of auditions takes place in Charleston, SC where Dmitry, Natalie, Heidi and Travis were all found. Along for the ride is Tyce DiOrio who'll be judging along with the ever-present Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe... -- Zap2It

Last Comic Standing: We're in Los Angeles, screening hundreds of hopefuls to find the funny. Angela Kinsey and Oscar Nunez from The Office are on hand to scout out the best comics, and Fearne Cotton keeps us updated on how it's going outside... -- Reality TV Magazine

What's Matt Neustadt been up? We're so glad you asked. Here's a recap of his exciting reality show, along with a summer classic on FOX...

Farmer Wants a Wife: The episode starts off with the girls talking about the crazy stalker antics of Brooke and Lisa.  They think it's hilarious that Matt might think of them as immature psychos after the incident in the previous episode... -- BuddyTV

So You Think You Can Dance: First up, and with a lengthy intro video showing her with her family, was Chelsie Hightower who danced flawlessly with her partner, wowed the judges, and was immediately given a golden ticket to Vegas... -- Reality TV Magazine

A pair of season premieres aired last night. Two solid, summer reality TV shows kicked off their summer seasons, so let's summarize them now...

So You Think You Can Dance: We got things started in sunny Los Angeles as the dancer-wannabes faced judges, Nigel, Mary and Mia Michaels to get the dance party started. Cat explained that each dancer gets a minute on stage to impress the judges and that one of three things will happen... -- Reality TV Magazine

Last Comic Standing:  The Big Apple is our starting point this season, and straight away we meet new co-host/semi-scripted interstitial performer Fearne Cotton. She's British and blonde and perky. If you like that sort of thing... -- Zap2It

With the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance set to premiere tonight, here are highlights from a chat host Cat Deely recently had with TV Guide:

How the show has evolved:

It's not necessarily trends of dance I've noticed, but definitely the dancers are becoming more aware that this isn't just a dance competition. It's to find America's favorite dancer, so it's not necessarily about who's the best technical dancer or who has the most training. It's actually about the person that America connects with the most and it doesn't matter how brilliant your dancing is.

New styles of dance that might be featured:
It is everything that you know and love, but back bigger and better. Because the bar has kind of been raised, now we want triple back somersaults with extras and a run up the wall because we just get blasé about it. There will definitely be another amazing Mia Michaels routine that's going to give you chills. Wade Robson is also going to do something very special for us. Obviously, what we want to do is keep it fresh, too. We aim to surprise and delight, but all of the normal styles will be there too.

The potential cross-over of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance:
Because of the success of it wouldn't surprise me if something else did happen. I don't know exactly in what form it will be or how it will happen, but there is obviously a synergy between both shows because of the production teams that work on them both. It was such a huge success it wouldn't surprise me if there was.

With So You Think You Can Dance returning this Thursday night, past champion Lacey Schwimmer was recently asked about her favorite performance on the show.

Here's her reply:

I'd have to say the very first routine I ever did. The contemporary routine where my legs split like POP! The other reason why I would say that is because it was the first number. It's the first thing I remember being on that show.

And you know, I would perform it any day, any time, whatever. I miss it a lot. It's one of my favorites. It's beautiful.

Here's the dance in question: