Posts Tagged ‘Nigel Lythgoe’

So You Think You Can Dance producer, Nigel Lythgoe, always good for a juicy soundbite, tells the New York Post’s Popwrap that he’s done trying to woo Paula Abdul onto SYTYCD:

PW: Will you continue to try and woo Paula Abdul onto the show?
Nigel: No. I spent an entire season wooing her and if she was ever going to do it, she would have. The timing was perfect for her and I was rather shocked she didn’t pick up and join us at any point. I mean, Katie Holmes was there, Jennifer Lopez was there. I know we don’t have “Idol” money and so does Paula, but at the end of the day I do plenty of things for no money because I want to support dance. And as an dancer/performer/choreographer, I would have thought she’d like to support us.

And, as a former executive producer of American Idol, he’s got some advice for current producer Ken Warwick: Keep Ryan Seacrest, lose the 4th judge, hire Elton John to replace Simon and…replace the rest of the judges panel!

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s some extra news…just for you…

Don’t forget…Kris Allen will be announcing the People’s Choice awards nominees tomorrow (Tues Nov. 10) at 9 am PST. He’ll be Cat Deeley (SYTYCD), Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”), Jeff Probst (“Survivor”), and Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”) in LA. You can follow the fun on Twitter. via zap2it.

The Jennifer Hudson holiday special, Jennifer Hudson: I’ll Be Home For Christmas is set to air on Monday, December 14 on ABC, and will feature Michael Buble (They’re set to duet on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”) Jennifer will share her childhood memories of Chicago. It’ll be bittersweet for Jennifer, whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered last year. Keep the tissues handy. via futoncritic, just jared,

Daughtry has added dates to the band’s current Dark Horse tour. Beginning in January, Chris and the band will join Nickleback for dates   in Europe. via Americanidol.com

Cherry Hill Publishing has signed a muliti-year deal with Season 6 Idol winner, Jordin Sparks to serve as the worldwide administrator for her publishing interests on her entire catalog. via billboard.biz.

The 11/25 episode of Glee, titled “Hairography” will feature Katee Shean, Kherington Payne and Comfort Fedoke from So You Think You Can Dance Season 4. Hooray! via Dance Spirit.

There will be a big gala on November 29 in Los Angeles to benefit Nigel Lythgoe’s Dizzyfeet Foundation. It will feature an all-star cast including the cast of Dancing with the Stars, the So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 cast, Mary Murphy, Dmitry, Quest, the leads from Step Up 1, 2 and 3 and the Micheal Jackson dancers. Tix are available from Ticketmaster.com. via Adam Shankman.

Adam Lambert and Katy Perry at the   Michael Jackson, “This is It” premier in Los Angeles, where Adam’s video for “Time For Miracles” is set to premiere before the movie.

I’ve added more photos of Adam, Katy Perry, David Cook, Nigel Lythgoe, and Paula Abdul

Watch this space for more photos.

Photos after the JUMP…

Read the rest of this entry »

Nigel Lythgoe talks with Zap2it.com about tonight’s “Meet the Top 20″ show, and how he’d like to meld personality and technical skill for Season 6. He felt Season 4 had the personality, and Season 5 the technical skill.

Out of the crop of Season 5, Phillip Chbeeb is the dancer Nigel would like to see come back to choreograph.

The SYTCD 6 “Meet The Top 20″ premiers tonight at 8 pm. (Yes, the Yankees won last night!), the Top 20 performance episode/judges elimination airs Tuesday night at 8 pm.

Nigel tweeted, “All you Paula Abdul fans please check out next Monday’s show.” Hm…

Video After the Jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

David Cook fans who attended a taping Thursday night in Los Angeles, for the Carrie Underwood holiday special, set to air on FOX December 7, brought back a few fun spoilers:

• David Cook performed “Lie” from his self titled album. Apparently, it’s Carrie’s favorite song on the album.
• David and Carrie dueted on the Van Halen song, “Why Can’t This Be Love”.   The performance included a “wicked” guitar solo from David.
• David and Carrie did a really “awkward and dorky” skit before their duet.   David thanked Carrie for “letting him come to pimp his album,”   Carrie said, her producers made her invite him. LULZ!
• Songs were performed twice.
• Carrie hand-selected her guests, including, Kristin Chenoweth, Christina Applegate, Sons Of Sylvia (The Clark Brothers), Dolly Parton and Brad Paisley
• Neil Patrick Harris is the voice of Ace (Carrie’s dog) in the Ace sketch
• -Sons of Sylvia sang “Blue Christmas”
• Carrie sang   a collection of 50’s songs with Kristen Chenoweth and Christina Applegate
• Carrie performed “Cowboy Casanova”, “Mama’s Song” and “Songs Like This”

Read the rest of this entry »

We finally have some deets on the Carrie Underwood holiday special Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman are producing for Fox television.

And the news is awesome. David Cook will be one of her special guests!   Hooray! Brad Paisley and the fabulous Dolly Parton will also be joining Carrie on her first-ever TV special.

via Futon Critic:

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) — FOX has locked down its December plans, which include a new special from “American Idol” alum Carrie Underwood as well as the fall finales of “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Glee.”

“Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special” (working title) is set to premiere on Monday, December 7 at 8:00/7:00c with a rebroadcast also set for Tuesday, December 22 at 8:00/7:00c. The two-hour event will feature appearances by Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley and David Cook with additional performers to be announced.

Glee will wrap its initial 13-episode run on Wednesday, December 9 at 9:00/8:00c and the So You Think You Can Dance two-part season finale is scheduled for Tuesday, December 15 (8:00-9:00 PM ET) and Wednesday, December 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET).

Carrie and Cook–together! Yay.

Update: Even more deets from the Hollywood Reporter:

Read the rest of this entry »

Nigel Lythgoe @dizzyfeet tweeted a couple of fun factoids today. Paula Abdul says yes:

I saw Paula @ the “Power of Women” event yesterday. I asked her to come on SYTYCD again and she said she would. I hope she means it ?

If she’s got no other gigs, she’ll do it.

Nigel and his new Dizzy Feet Foundation, created to provide underprivileged kids with dance training, are planning a big fundraiser in LA:

The Dizzy Feet Foundation donated $20,000 for 2 scholarships to the Alvin Ailey school yesterday. I am proud to be part of this orginization

We are producing a big show at the Kodak Theater on the 28th Nov. For the Dizzy Feet Foundation. Incredible stars have agreed to participate.

The show will not be televised. Tickets will be onsale Info nearer the date on dizzyfeetfoundation.org All proceeds will fund scholarships.

This is a bit of old news, but still interesting. Nigel dissed the Season 5 Top 20 in a press conference a couple of weeks ago.

Last season I wasn’t too happy with their charisma. I would like to bring personality with talent: I’ll be trying to instill that. You can never guarantee what the dancers are going to do, you can never guarantee that they’re not going to get stage fright. It depends on them.

With the addition of Adam Shankman as the third permanent judge to the panel, will there still be weekly guest judges? Nigel has said on more than one occasion that 4 judges is too many. The answer seems to be, “occasionally”.

It’s difficult to put them in as judges because I want them choreographing. And I still want Paula Abdul to pop in, and Jennifer Lopez has said how much she loves the program. We tried it with Ellen [DeGeneres], it was very successful. I just don’t want four judges every week. When available, when possible, they will judge. We sometimes have six and seven judges, but normally in a place where I can edit and keep everything tight. The only reason I don’t like that many is that it goes on and it waffles.

And lastly, a little publicized fact: The final will have a Top 6 instead of a Top 4 due to time constraints:

Because of scheduling issues, the season finale episode will feature the Top 6, instead of the usual Top 4. This was to avoid starting with a “Top 18″. By my estimations, this would put the finale on December 16, 2009.

I had my own concerns about the final bleeding into Christmas week. Looks like Nigel did too.

There will also be a special show to introduce the Top 20. Read more about it HERE.

Dancer, choreographer and filmaker, Adam Shankman, becomes the new permanent judge on So You Think You Can Dance, to sit alongside judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.

So does this mean the end of guest judges? Or will there now be a 4 judge panel? Nigel criticized American Idol for adding a 4th judge, saying he thinks it’s one judge too many…

If they’re adding another permanent judge, Adam is perfect for the job. He’s both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Thumbs up from me.

From the press release:

Acclaimed producer, director and choreographer Adam Shankman has joined SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE as a third judge. Shankman, who has been a guest judge and choreographer on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE since 2007, will sit alongside Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe and draw upon his expertise to critique the dancers throughout the competition.

The all-new fall season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE airs Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesdays (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Shankman, who serves as a guest judge on this season’s audition episodes, will join the judges’ panel beginning with the Top 20 performance show Tuesday, Oct. 27 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

More from the Press Release after the Jump

Read the rest of this entry »

Nigel Lythgoe has followed through with his idea for a So You Think You Can Dance “Meet The Top 20″ special!

The One hour special will air on Monday, October 26 at 8/7c pm, the night before the the Top 20 begin their weekly performances, and will serve to introduce viewers to the SYTYCD Season 6 Top 20.

I think this idea of Nigel’s is great. I wish Idol would do something similar. Of course, the producers will highlight the dancers they’d like to advance. But, at least we will get a look at everybody before the competition begins.

In other SYTYCD news: They Season 5 kids were at the final Idols concert in New Hampshire Tuesday night. They’re already in town rehearsing for the opening show of their nationwide tour on Saturday, September 20.

I’ve got my ticket, and will be tweeting from the concert, so watch for that…