‘Dance’ judging format differs from ‘Idol’

Singing and dancing are as natural a combination as peanut butter and jelly, so it’s not surprising that “So You Think You Can Dance” has taken a page from singing sister show "American Idol" and carved out a niche for itself on the summer TV schedule.

Both singing and dancing are activities most people believe they can do very well, but one night in any karaoke bar or at any wedding reception in the country is enough to prove otherwise.

In addition to crushing the dreams of thousands of delusional auditioners, each show provides a chance at fame for the winner. In “So You Think You Can Dance,” however, that fame tends to be temporary.

Unlike the “American Idol” winners who go straight from bantering with Ryan Seacrest to a spot on the radio, or the “Dancing With The Stars” champions who can use their fame to scoop up some B-list roles, dancers spend their time in relative obscurity. Few of those who weekly speed-dial in support of their favorites will ever buy a ticket to see the winner onstage. "So You Think You Can Dance" also can’t count on viewers seeing past champions on TV or hearing them on the radio to enhance the brand name.

Never fear. The show was created by the same folks who bring “Idol” to the airwaves every January, so they have a strong background in successful reality show management.

A large part of that management comes in the selection of the judges, each of whom has to entertain and inspire viewers to watch each week. The show has been successful by taking the established formula from the “Reality Shows For Dummies” handbook, adding a couple of wrinkles, and made the program a cure for the traditional TV wasteland that is summer.

The Brit and the bombshell
Two of the three "Dance" judges are the same each week, and both fit one of the established archetypes that every reality show seems to have.

It’s a little-known requirement under U.S. immigration laws that one judge on every program has to have a foreign accent. Nigel Lythgoe serves as the show’s requisite British judge. He’s this show’s answer to Simon Cowell, but usually far less grumpy and without Simon’s propensity for wacky similes. He doesn’t have a long list of notable cutdowns like his “Idol” rival, and a poor performance tends to be greeted with something like “that simply wasn’t good enough” rather than a comparison to a late-night drunken Holiday Inn performance in Tampa, or similar Simon example.

Lythgoe also one of the show’s creators, so he’s everybody’s boss. That may be one reason that his words carry a lot of weight. Or it could just be the accent.

Joining Lythgoe every week is Mary Murphy, who combines the wacky demeanor of Paula Abdul with the manic commentary of “Dancing With the Stars” judge Bruno Tonioli to provide an experience unlike any other found in the genre. She yells, she goes off on tangents, and her feedback leaves contestants scratching their heads in confusion at least twice an episode.

But underneath the persona, Murphy knows what she’s talking about. A former competitive dancer and trainer, she’s in her first season as a full-time judge after switching between that role and a spot as a choreographer on the first two seasons. If she doesn’t like a performer, she’ll calmly explain what went wrong and then yell at the audience for booing her. As a graduate of the Randy Jackson “keeping it real” school of criticism, she’s all about the brutal honesty when contestants fail to step it up.

But she shrieks and shouts when she gets excited about something, and she likes pretty much everything. Providers of headache medicine and closed-captioning are the big winners now that she’s a permanent member of the staff.

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