Nigel Lythgoe announces changes to the rules of 'So You Think You Can Dance'

While most fans of "American Idol" are grumbling about being bored this year, its former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is busy revamping his Fox reality competition, "So You Think You Can Dance."

When SYTYCD returns on May 27 for its seventh season, the competition will feel very different, according to several announcements Lythgoe has made on Twitter over the last 24 hours. First of all, the dancers will switch partners every single week, so no more falling in love with dream dancing duos like Joshua and Katee, whose "Hometown Glory" performance you can enjoy again in the video above.

In addition, there will be no top 20 and only one dancer will go home every week.

Interesting, right? For the contestants, these changes are only making it tougher to become America's Favorite Dancer. (Like it wasn't hard enough!) Getting used to a new partner every week is very challenging, but on the other hand, an extra person gets to stay another week. So maybe that balances it out.

We asked Lythgoe for an interview so he could explain the rule changes and what he's hoping to get out of them. But he turned us down because he's doing a conference call with the press on Monday.

In the meantime, we will keep our eyes on @DizzyFeet's page. The last open-call auditions for the upcoming season are being held in Los Angeles today.

What do you think? Does this make you excited about the new season?

-- Maria Elena Fernandez (Follow me on Twitter @writerchica)

Video: YouTube

Comments

[Fabrisse]

Yes! The whole "had to lose one boy and one girl" every week thing was wrong. There were seasons where one sex was stronger than the other and yet we lost strong dancers early because they were trying to maintain gender balance. It also means that two men or two women dancing together won't just be for the finales anymore. Will they have a trio every week with an odd number? It would keep the choreography fresher.

[cshargeit]

it was the comment that lacey made that comes to mind ,"you will have to endure 10 more weeks of individual eliminations".... and she was right.. this season's am idol is a slug-out between siobhan and bowersox. the rest is filler and ford commercials.

[oakley]

Katee + Joshua. *sigh* Those were such AWESOME days. Season 6 was great too.

Last season was such a snooze fest. I had some hope with that hot hubby/wife team but it just wasn't enough. Also, how is that going to work if one dancer is eliminated each week? Who's the leftover person going to dance with for the week?

[CaptainSora]

Ah, Katee and Joshua. Still the pinnacle of SYTYCD. Miss you terribly.

[KJ]

I would also like to see them award the grand prize to one male and one female at the end of the season. Really, how can you compare the two in terms of style and ability? Mr. Lythgoe, what do you think?

[WestPoint9103]

I like the idea that switching partners every single week. It wasn't fair to someone who happened to tie up with a weaker or better dancer ended up with totally different result... i.e. last season, whoever got Jakob Karr (the best ever) was a lucky girl.

[cabbie]

I think the key difference is making this more like dancing with the stars- only one member of each couple each week is a contestant, so there'll be no more sharing of the stage in that way- only one person will be judged per couple. It will be interesting to see whether this is better or worse, but for sure it will be delightful to see the "all-stars" once again!