SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE -- NIGEL LYTHGOE, MARY MURPHY AND SOME THOUGHTS

So You Think You Can Dance auditions can be fun, but the real deal is getting past them -- and finally moving on to Las Vegas and watching the selected dancers improve and take their shot at moving on to the Top 20 dancers.

Judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy, along with host Cat Deeley, have opined that the competition should be stiff this year -- that there will be many dancers simply loaded with talent. And the trio has gone so far as to predict that this might even be the best season ever of SYTYCD.

Lythgoe has used social network Twitter to keep in touch with fans -- writing both about his personal life and his thoughts about SYTYCD. After taking a needed break from Twitter, earlier this month he wrote: "It's been a wonderful break. My son, Kris got married to the beautiful Annalise in Italy and we finally sold SYTYCD to the BBC in the UK."

As for the talent in Boston, he posted, "Boston this Wednesday. Just doing the 1 hour show doesn't really give us enough time to show the extensive talent in this wonderful city."

And Lythgoe posted several messages about Dizzy Feet Foundation. First, he wrote, "The Dizzy Feet Foundation donated $20,000 for 2 scholarships to the Alvin Ailey school yesterday. I am proud to be part of this organization." And then he enthused, "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." And finally, "The show will not be televised. Tickets will be onsale Info nearer the date on dizzyfeetfoundation.org All proceeds will fund scholarships."

But perhaps the Lythgoe's most exciting Tweet of all was regarding entertainer and former American Idol judge Paula Abdul. He revealed, "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 ?"

Of course, there were many SYTYCD fans who hoped that Abdul would gain a permanent seat at the So You Think You Can Dance judges table, but with the recent addition of Adam Shankman as a third judge, there does not appear to be a spot for Abdul.

But, still, SYTYCD and Abdul fans will take what we can get -- and would enjoy seeing her take the largest role on the show possible. So it remains to be seen, but perhaps Paula will at least do a bit of choreography or perhaps sit in as a guest judge on occasion. However it all works out, SYTYCD and Paula do seem a perfect pairing -- so we'll keep our fingers crossed!

SIMON COWELL SAYS NO -- HE HAS NO PLANS FOR A DANCE COMPETITION SHOW

So many rumors flying .... And it turns out that Simon Cowell is not planning on a new dance competition program as was being rumored.

"There's absolutely no truth to this," Cowell's rep said, according to RadarOnline. "Simon hasn't spoken to Ian Burton in 20 years and they aren't in talks to go into business."

Of course, you never know what will happen -- and perhaps this will give him the idea that a dance show might be a welcome addition to his already long list of projects.

NIGEL LYTHGOE'S FINGERS WALK ON THE KEYS TO TWITTER

So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe has been actively keeping in touch with fans via Twitter.

On Sept 18th, Lythgoe wrote: "I needed to take some time out but I'm now back with renewed energy. I promise to TWEET the TWEET, the whole TWEET and nothing but the TWEET"

Then:

"It's been a wonderful break. My son, Kris got married to the beautiful Annalise in Italy and we finally sold SYTYCD to the BBC in the UK."

On Sept 22, he wrote: "I saw Stephen Fry at dinner in Cecconi's last night. If you enjoy intelligent humor and great warmth check out his Tweets @ stephenfry"

Then: "Boston this Wednesday. Just doing the 1 hour show doesn't really give us enough time to show the extensive talent in this wonderful city."

Followed by: "I forgot to say that I had dinner with Idol judge, Kara and her husband Mike after the Emmy's. What a lovely lady, what a lovely couple!"

And: "Just had a training session with ex-Brit Gladiator Rhino. I think my old body is held together by rubber bands, string and glue. No muscles!"

And finally: "I tried to tell him running up hills wasn't good for heart attack victims like me but I found I couldn't talk during or for an hour after!!?"

Lythgoe must have gotten tired -- because thus far there have been no Tweets today!

AMERICAN IDOL'S SIMON COWELL MIGHT BE PLANNING TO GIVE 'SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE' SOME COMPETITION!

Rumor has it that American Idol Simon Cowell is busily planning a dance competition show!

Cowell is reportedly chatting with his British friend, Ian Burton, about starting the dance contest show. Burton has record label experience and has also managed dancers.

"It's his own SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) show," a source told The Insider. "He is always trying to do his own thing to compete with the Idol team. Now he is trying to steal the SYTYCD thunder.”

Of course, American Idol is not the only thing currently on Cowell's plate. He produces America's Got Talent, and judges both The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent.

Doesn't Simon ever run out of time?

THIRD JUDGE FOR SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE IS ....

After weeks of thinking that former American Idol judge Paula Abdul might slide over into a judging chair at So You Think You Can Dance, it was announced that the third judge for Season 6 will be ... Adam Shankman.

Director, producer and choreographer Adam Shankman will join longtime judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe at the judges' podium. He'll be there throughout the season, opining on dancers, choreography and specific performances.

Shankman, has actually been around SYTYCD for quite some time. He has been a guest judge and choreographer on the show since 2007. And he has been widely acclaimed for his work on films "17 Again" and "Hairspray." He also was choreographer on films such as "Boogie Nights," hit tv show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- and numerous music videos.

BRITISH VERSION OF SYTYCD WITH NIGEL LYTHGOE

US's So You Think You Can Dance executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe is returning to British shores to find the nation's hottest dancing talent on BBC One, it has been announced.

After five seasons with the popular dance competition show US, Lythgoe will sit on the judges panel that will select finalists to compete for the title of Britain's Favourite Dancer this January. Auditions of performers representing all dancing disciplines will be held in October.

Finalists will travel to London where they will compete for a dancing spot in the weekly shows at BBC Television Centre.

Similar to the U.S. version of SYTYCD, each week contestants will perform different dance styles -- as hip hop, jazz, Broadway, lyrical and contemporary. While judges will offer their analysis of the performances, viewers will vote for their favorite dancer at the end of each live show.

In discussing his own experience, Lythgoe, said, "I began my career as a dancer on the BBC in the Sixties. Now, I'm back as a judge of dancers. I believe I've made a full circle back to television's home of dance here at the BBC. I couldn't have imagined that dance would become a global phenomenon that would ultimately be responsible for this, my very special homecoming. It's good to be home."

Nigel will be joined by award-winning choreographer Arlene Phillips on the judging panel. She was a regular panellist for six seasons of Strictly Come Dancing. She said, "I've always supported dance talent and look forward to seeing the most promising developing before our eyes each week."

So You Think You Can Dance was created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, and originally produced by 19 Entertainment Ltd and Dick Clark Productions, inc.

So You Think You Can Dance in the UK will be a co-production between BBC in-house entertainment and 19 Productions.

NIGEL LYTHGOE WANTS TO SEE PAULA GUEST JUDGING ON SYTYCD

Idol creator Simon Fuller, associated with both American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, “started sniffing around and asked, ‘Are you interested?’ explained Paula Abdul's replacement on Idol, comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. "I said, ‘Yes, of course. I love that show and I’d love to do it,’”

So You Think You Can Dance executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is happy enough with the outcome because he hopes to have Abdul make appearances as a guest judge on his dance competition show. And he told EW, "I'd prefer Paula. "I think it is a great idea to put her on."

And now that DeGeneres is taking Abdul's seat on the American Idol judging panel, Abdul is free to make other plans for her career.

Some fans have expressed that Abdul on SYTYCD makes a lot of sense because of her dancing and choreography background -- but that they cannot understand why Idol would choose a judge from outside the music industry.

"I would really love to see Paula on So You Think You Can Dance," opined Melissa Parker from Los Angeles. "But I really don't know whether I will like American Idol with Ellen as a judge. She's fine on her talk show, but I think that is her strength."

Lythgoe thinks that DeGeneres will do well on Idol. “What it does is give the public, who are the people who decide in the end who is crowned the victor, a voice on the judges panel," Lythgoe told EW. "And they have never had that before."

In an interview with People, DeGeneres explained that it was her guest judging on an episode of So You Think You Can Dance that drew the attention of Idol judges to her.

DeGeneres said that on American Idol, she intends to be a compassionate judge, but that she will also be honest in assessing the contestant's performances. “I think it’s going to be hard, but as my career has grown," she told People. "I’ve learned how to be tougher and learned how to say no. I think I can do it and I think I can do it in a respectful way.”

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUDITION SEEMED A LITTLE LIKE A REUNION WITH RYAN

So You Think You Can Dance fans will remember last season's popular finalist, Evan Kasprzak -- and his brother who nearly made it into the finals, Ryan.

Well, Ryan was back to try out for the upcoming SYTYCD season, and he performed a tap routine that completely wowed all three judges -- Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Adam Shankman!

Following his own audition, Ryan clicked his feet in a tapping battle with Bianca Revels -- who did a pretty decent job of keeping up. And Ryan's friend, Phillip Attmore, arrived and tapped well enough to garner a ticket to Vegas.

Together with some other talented dancers who earned their way to the next round, these three tappers will likely show that the era of tap is not over. In fact, Lythgoe opined that this might actually be the year of the tappers!

EVAN KASPRZAK'S BROTHER, RYAN, RETURNED FOR SYTYCD 6TH SEASON AUDITIONS

Season 5 finalist Evan Kasprzak has a brother, Ryan, who auditioned for the show's upcoming sixth season, according to So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley.

And while Deeley would not reveal any secrets, she did say that Ryan Kasprzak "did very, very well."

Evan Kasprzak, by the way, was a fan favorite who made it all the way into the SYTYCD finals.

"His (Ryan's) audition just blew everybody away," said Deeley. "So when you have that moment where they have to dance for their lives, he did the audition again, and it literally makes the hairs on your arm stand on end and you get chills. He was amazing during Vegas Week, but you're going to have to watch to find out [if he makes it]."

Last season Evan and Ryan, close-knit brothers, both made it all the way to the point where SYTYCD was selecting the Top 20 -- but since the pair have similar dance styles, the judges only wanted to move one of the brothers on in the competition and chose Evan. But they also hailed Ryan's dancing and told him that they hoped that he would attend try-outs for this next season of the show.

"I think Ryan is definitely a stronger dancer than his brother Evan," said Mia Michaels of last season's competition. "We all fell in love with both of them. We had a hard time deciding actually which one to put in the Top 20 this year."

"I think it's this everyman touch," Nigel said in describing the appeal of the brothers. "[Ryan] is such a lovely lad. He is loved. I think he's one of those kids that every mom would like him for a son, every sister would like him for a brother because she could probably beat him up."

"Ryan and his brother -- people fall in love with them; because they are real people," explained Michaels of the Kasprzak brothers' popularity."

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE PROVIDED SPECTACULAR REVIEW OF FIRST FIVE SEASONS

Last night’s review of the best dances of five seasons of So You Think You Can Dance was a glorious moment in several weeks of primarily tv show re-runs.

After a recounting of performances of the first five seasons, the highlight of the evening came when Executive Producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe selected his favorite all-time dance.

Lythgoe’s choice was likely no surprise to SYTYCD fans who during the past season watched Lythgoe and the show’s other judges marvel over a contemporary routine performed by Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi to Kate Bush’s, “This Woman’s Work.”

Choreographer of the dance Tyce Diorio explained on the evening that the dance was originally performed, “I just felt compelled to talk about breast cancer and a friend who was faced with it.”

The dancers exhibited every emotion of battling the disease – and on that evening the performance had brought both judges and the audience to tears.

The evening of So You Think You Can Dance’s top performances not only was an enjoyable journey through five seasons of incredible dances, including several Emmy-nominated routines – but it served as a gentle reminder to watch the coming new season of SYTYCD which begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AIRS A SPECIAL TONIGHT

So You Think You Can Dance fans who can hardly wait for the next season to begin -- are in for a special treat tonight! The dance competition show will air a special featuring the 15 Best Routines Ever!

Watch to see which routines made it onto the show -- and which dancers are there!

The 15 Best Routines Ever airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. on FOX. The season premiere is Wednesday, September 9 at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 central).

FORMER SYTYCD CHOREOGRAPHER DA SILVA IS EXPECTED TO NEXT APPEAR IN COURT ON SEPT 30

A former SYTYCD choreographer Alex Da Silva, 41, who last Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted four women, is scheduled to next appear in Van Nuys Superior Court on Sept. 30, according to dailybreeze.com.

"An arrest warrant filed Aug. 17 charges Da Silva with eight felonies: four counts of forcible rape and two counts each of assault with intent to commit rape and sexual penetration by a foreign object. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison, according to the District Attorney's Office," reported dailybreeze.

The alleged assaults occurred between August 2002 and March 2009 and involved four women, dancers or aspiring dancers, who met Da Silva through his dance instruction classes, said Deputy District Attorney Rosa Alarcon.

"Da Silva's attorney, Harland Braun, has maintained that his client's interaction with the women 'was consensual,'" reports dailybreeze which also reports that a request to have his client's bail, set at $6.2 million, lowered was denied without prejudice.