Fall TV Blog

After beating out thousands of dancers for a spot in the top 20, and then surviving cut after cut, there is one more milestone standing in the way of the final 12 contestants — landing in the So You Think You Can Dance top 10. The couples were dancing for their lives Wednesday, not once but twice, hoping to remind the judges why they had made it this far in the first place because, as Nigel explained, once the judges’ minds are made up, it’s going to take a super solo to change them.

“It isn’t so much were [the solos] good or were they bad,” he explained after last week’s elimination show, “because we believe they were all good … otherwise they wouldn’t be there. [But] we base it now on who do we want to keep?”

Well, the night belonged to keepers Brandon and Janette, who kicked things off with an Argentine tango. They shined and sizzled with this number, leaving Nigel in silence before he led a standing ovation. “That was as close to perfection as I’ve seen on this stage ever,” he said. Later, they danced a cartoon-like jazz number set to “Ruby Blue” by Roisin Murphy that shocked Nigel once again: “There isn’t anything that we can’t throw at you that you don’t do brilliantly!” (more…)

After weeks of rehearsals, it’s becoming clear: Katie Holmes has to know she can dance. “She’s really blossoming into a gorgeous triple-threat star,” says choreographer Mia Michaels of the actress’s moves for the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance. “So, I’m excited. I saw clips of it and it’s brilliant!”

When Holmes, 30, channels Judy Garland on July 23, it’ll be for a good cause. The actress’s song-and-dance number on Fox’s hit show will aid a nonprofit she helped found, The Dizzy Feet Foundation, which provides scholarships and other assistance to young dancers.

As fans of the show, Holmes and her daughter Suri often attended dress rehearsals, so she seemed like the perfect choice to help start the organization, says Nigel Lythgoe, another co-founder and executive producer of So You Think You Can Dance, who was hooked up with Holmes through the show’s other choreographer, Tyce Diorio.

“I called Tyce up and I said, ‘How would Katie feel about doing something on the show that would bring notoriety to a foundation?’” Lythgoe tells PEOPLE. “And he spoke to her, we then got together and Tyce, I and Katie met and discussed the whole thing, and I realized that she was so passionate about the project and I invited her to be a founding member of the whole foundation!”

As well as Holmes, director Adam Shankman and Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba are founding members. The celebrity steering committee includes Paula Abdul, Jennifer Lopez and Miley Cyrus, who will give out 10 scholarships around the country. Says Lythgoe: “We’ve got lots of very high ambitions.” – Jed Dreben

The routines are getting longer and better as So You Think You Can Dance draws closer to the top 10, and a spot on the summer tour. Because it’s anybody’s game with this group, one missed step can make the difference for a top couple like Randi and Evan, who may be close to the bottom three after a not so groovy Broadway routine Austin Powers would approve of.

Mia Michaels was back on the judges’ panel, after her harsh comments in Vegas directed towards Brandon. And host Cat Deeley wasn’t letting her off the hook, asking right away if her opinions had changed. “Without naming names, my opinions have changed for the better,” Michaels said.

The awkward moment over, Brandon and Janette performed an unforgettable cha cha by Sean-Marc Genereux and his wife France set to the Pussycat Dolls “Hush Hush; Hush Hush.” Finally in their own styles, it was a disco-fabulous, tight and technical routine that had them looking like pros. Nigel praised it as the “best damn cha cha I have ever seen on this show.” (more…)

It’s official! Katie Holmes will perform on So You Think You Can Dance in celebration of the FOX show’s 100th episode, airing July 23, in a song and dance tribute to Judy Garland.

While buzz about her appearance began when photos of Holmes clad in dance gear at the CBS studios in L.A. hit the web last month, it wasn’t her first visit to the show. “She absolutely adores dancing as does her daughter,” according to executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who said Holmes and her daughter Suri, 3, have been visiting the show’s dress rehearsals for a couple of years now.

Recently, Holmes has been rehearsing herself, sometimes until 11:30 p.m. — with breaks to be with Suri, Lythgoe says — on a New York street scene designed for the number, which was lit by famed cinematographer Dion Beebe, with direction and choreography by her friend, Tyce Diorio.

Inspired by Garland’s song “Get Happy” from the 1950s musical Summer Stock, Holmes will wear “the jacket, the little hat,” Lythgoe says. “It’s just an iconic look. And Katie Holmes has got the legs. Wow!” (more…)

If all goes to plan, Katie Holmes will strut her stuff on So You Think You Can Dance this season, the show’s producer Nigel Lythgoe confirms to PEOPLE.

“It’s about a charity [but] I do not have the status,” Lythgoe said after Thursday night’s elimination show, adding that producers are still waiting for a green light from official channels, including the IRS, before making any further announcements. “It’s just not legal to talk about it at the moment,” he explained.

But Lythgoe, who is rumored to be directing Holmes in choreography by Tyce Diorio, did spill another juicy tidbit.

“Katie is a small part of what is going on,” he said. “It’s more than Katie.”

Lythgoe said he won’t say more about Holmes, who is rumored to be dancing in a tribute to Judy Garland’s “Get Happy” from Summer Stock, because of past experiences working on American Idol’s fundraisers, “Idol Gives Back.”

“I know just from doing ‘Idol Gives Back,’ that the minute you mention anything, people want to be there to help,” he said. “And people start doing things and you go, ‘No, no, no, we’re not equipped to do that, please, please.’ I promise you … the minute I can, I’ll be the first one to tell the world about it!”

Reports of a secret SYTYCD performance started when the Holmes was photographed recently at the studios in Los Angeles, clad in dance gear. – Jed Dreben

Limelight

With all the talented contestants dancing their way through difficult routines on So You Think You Can Dance, no one is really safe. Each week, six dancers — even favorites — enter the bottom three and two must go. That means top-rated dancers are dancing for their lives, placing a lot of importance on the individual routines. But oddly enough, something is definitely lacking in the solo department, which was the case for Asuka and Jonathan on Thursday’s elimination show.

After another routine that landed Asuka back in the bottom three, she was given one more chance to solo her way back into the competition. But Nigel, who spoke to PEOPLE after the show, admitted the solo was “terrible” enough to unanimously cut the Latin ballroom dancer.

Her partner, Vitolio, was saved by weak solos from Jason and Jonathan, but was also warned that come next week, he may not be so lucky.

As for Jonathan, was it his repetitive solo, choreographer Dave Scott’s routine or a hip-hop curse that sent him home? (more…)

If the last season of So You Think You Can Dance was all about hip-hop, this one has the vibe of yesteryear, and who better to express that than Evan and Randi, who on Wednesday danced an inspired Mia Michaels love story about none other than “the booty.” Randi’s booty to be exact. The racy spanking piece brought out the sexy Parisian in her and more of the debonair throwback in him. Nigel said it was “something that will be remembered,” if only as the “butt” routine.

And “what a difference Ade makes,” Nigel joked after Ade and his partner Melissa shined in a sultry Tony Meredith rumba set to Destiny’s Child’s “Emotion.” New couple Kayla and Kupono (whose partners Max and Ashley were cut last week) also started things out right for themselves, hitting a Jean-Marc Généreux Viennese waltz magically set to “Sweat Dreams for You” by Jewel.

Janette, whose expertise is salsa, and Brandon, a contemporary dancer, took on a Dave Scott hip-hop routine, and thanks to Brandon’s locking and popping, the judges unanimously praised the performance. (more…)

After Katie Holmes was spotted in dance gear at the CBS studios where FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance is taped, rumors began to swirl that the actress would be making an appearance on the show. Show reps have not commented and executive producer Nygel Lythgoe’s rep only confirmed he met with Holmes, but said, “he meets with people all the time.”

At Thursday’s elimination show, producers continued to play it coy on whether Holmes, 30, would perform a Broadway number on the show — and Lythgoe, who’s rumored to be directing the piece, further fueled the gossip fire skipping press interviews after Thursday’s show, leaving judge Mary Murphy to do any potential bean spilling — or not.

“If it is true, I’m going to be one of the happiest campers around, let me tell ya!” Murphy teased backstage. “I just wish I knew!”

While rumors of Holmes paying homage to Judy Garland by singing “Get Happy” from Summer Stock circulate on the Web, Murphy, who said she sometimes doesn’t know what guest musical act is going to appear, wasn’t giving anything away when asked if the buzz was true. “Well, that’s exactly what it is right now,” she said. “It’s just rumor and it is just buzz.”

Meanwhile, publicists for the show were visibly policing talent, making sure that no one slipped, and in one case, ending a TV interview with notoriously outspoken choreographer Mia Michaels. – Jed Dreben

David Livingston/Getty; PA Photos/Landov

No matter whom a dancer is partnered with, or how good they’ve danced before, ending up in the bottom three is just one “hip-not” routine away on this season of So You Think You Can Dance. On Thursday’s results show, a complete switcheroo took place when two of the previous week’s downers went up while three consistently top couples ended up dancing for their lives.

In the end, it was a tough call for the judges — and a nail-biter for the fans — with top twosomes like Ashley and Kupono, Max and Kayla and Jason and Caitlin ending up in the bottom, leaving everyone guessing as to who would be safe and who would be cut.

This time around was “not unanimous,” a stoic Nigel pointed out, adding, it “just goes to show the quality of work that we are going to have to lose.” In the end, 22-year-old contemporary dancer Ashley Valerio, who gave a “no substance” solo, and Russian-born ballroom dancer Max Kapitannikov, 26, who’s pretty much gone two-for-two with his partner Kayla, picked the shorter straw this week, and as musical guest, Kristinia DeBarge fittingly sang onstage, it was time for them to say “Goodbye.” (more…)

Last week viewers got a first taste of the talent on this season of So You Think You Can Dance when the dancers took the stage in what guest judge Lil C has described as “a very solid beginning to what’s going to be a rollercoaster of a season.” Many shined — like Phillip and Jeanine, Kayla and Max and breakout couple Evan and Randi — while the less fortunate performers made up a bottom three that was easy pickings for the judges on elimination night.

Now in the second week of performances, So You Think You Can Dance was primed Wednesday for comebacks, starting with Asuka and Vitolio, who barely missed last week’s cuts after a soggy Broadway routine and so-so solos that left the judges perplexed. This time, they pulled a waltz by Luis Van Amstel that helped them find that missing ingredient in their chemistry. Appropriately set to Enya’s “Dreams Are More Precious,” Asuka rediscovered her ballroom charm and Vitolio, once an orphan living on the streets of Haiti, brought judge Mary Murphy to tears with his “painfully beautiful” performance. Nigel Lythgoe put it this way: “Anybody that wasn’t touched by the beauty of that routine was heartless.” (more…)