‘So You Think You Can Dance’ To Bring Back ‘All Stars’

Producer Nigel Lythgoe took a moment today to explain all the changes he’s been revealing on his Twitter feed since last week, and it seems to us that season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance is going to be barely recognizable.

Nigel already told us there won’t be a top 20. Instead, the judges will pick 10 contestants — 5 men and 5 women — to compete for America’s votes. The top 10 will be paired up with a pool of So You Think You Can Dance “all stars,” each representing a different genre of dance that they’re known for. (Nigel refused to name who will be part of the pool but I bet we can guess at least a few — Joshua? Katie? Benji?) Every week, only one person will be voted off, and the remaining dancers will pick photos of the pool dancers out of hat, instead of a style of dance. Whichever all star they get will determine what style they’ll be dancing that week. The pool will also change from week to week as men and women get voted off — so that partners remain opposite sex.

The way they’ll be voted off will also be different. Instead of the top five being voted out by America, our votes will place dances in the bottom three, allowing the judges to eliminate the final dancer, until the finale.

What’s more, for the first time ever, dancers will stand before the judges alone. The new crop of dancers also won’t pair up until the finale — which Nigel revealed will have only two or three contestants, depending on scheduling. “That depends if I can do something very, very special — which I can’t talk about now,” and place it in a certain spot on the FOX schedule, he said. Very mysterious, Nigel.

Sneaky Nigel also promised to reveal the all stars one by one on his Twitter feed over the next few weeks.

Lastly, there’s some good new for fans of Mary Murphy and Mia Michaels: Nigel said both will be back as both choreographers and judges. WOOOOOO!