Sunday, August 12, 2012

So You Think You Can Dance-Seasons 1-5 Best Routines

So You Think You Can Dance is an American televised dance competition show that airs on Fox in the United States and is the flagship series of the international So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) television franchise. It is one of my favorite TV shows. This year it is its 9th season in the US. In case you do not watch the show, here is a short history for your information. br />
The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions. The first season was hosted by current American news personality, Lauren Sánchez; since the second season it has been hosted by former British children's television personality and one-time game show emcee, Cat Deeley. The show features a tiered format wherein dancers from a variety of styles enter open auditions held in a number of major U.S. cities to showcase their unique style and talents and, if allowed to move forward, then are put through additional rounds of auditions to test their ability to adapt to different styles. At the end of this process, a small number of dancers are chosen as finalists. These dancers move on to the competition's main phase, where they perform solo, duet, and group dance numbers in a variety of styles. They compete for the votes of the broadcast viewing audience which, combined with the input of a panel of judges, determines which dancers advance to the next stage from week to week. The number of finalists has varied as determined by a season's format, but has typically been 20 contestants.

The show features a broad variety of American and international dance styles ranging across a broad spectrum of classical, contemporary, ballroom, hip-hop, street, club, jazz, and musical theatre styles, amongst others, with many sub-genres within these categories represented. Competitors attempt to master these styles—which are generally, but not always, assigned by a luck-of-the-draw system—in an attempt to survive successive weeks of elimination and win a cash prize (typically $250,000) and often other awards, as well as the title of "America's Favorite Dancer". In eight seasons, the winners have been Nick Lazzarini, Benjamin Schwimmer, Sabra Johnson, Joshua Allen, Jeanine Mason, Russell Ferguson, Lauren Froderman, and Melanie Moore. The show has won seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography and a total of nine Emmys altogether.