'So You Think You Can Dance' wraps ninth-season auditions and reveals Top 20
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 06/28/2012
So You Think You Can Dance revealed the identities of its Top 20 ninth-season finalists during Wednesday night's broadcast of the Fox reality dancing competition.
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Thousands of hopefuls auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance's ninth season by attending open casting calls from which 181 contestants were invited to attend the "Las Vegas Round."
The Top 20 -- 10 males and 10 females -- were selected by regular So You Think You Can Dance judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy, as well as choreographers/guest judges Debbie Allen, Tyce Diorio, Christopher "Lil' C" Toler, and Adam Shankman.
So You Think You Can Dance's first two-hour ninth-season live performance episode will air on Wednesday, July 11 at 8PM ET/PT.
The Top 20 will be paired into 10 couples and learn a choreographed dance routine representing their assigned genre, which could range from a variety of dance styles -- including hip-hop, Broadway, contemporary, and ballroom, among others. Home viewers will be able to vote for their favorite couples immediately following the broadcast.
Then, the following week on Wednesday, July 18 at 8PM ET/PT, the 10 couples will perform again in a different assigned genre, and home viewer votes from the previous week will be revealed at the end of the show. The three couples who received the lowest number of home viewer votes will be announced, and then the six individual dancers -- consisting of three guys and three girls -- may be given one last chance to impress the judges with his or her solo "dance for your life" routine.
After the solo performances, the judges will then determine one male and one female finalist to send home from the competition, revealing the Top 18. If couples are split up due to the elimination decisions, the dancers who remain will form new couples.