News

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

This past Saturday, crowds gathered nationwide, from Washington D.C. to Chicago, to Los Angeles, to help celebrities from So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars celebrate the first National Dance Day. The event was the brainchild of Sytycd's judge and executive producer Nigel Lithgoe who thought the day would help promote healthy living through dance.

We went to the festivities at the Music Center plaza in downtown Los Angeles. It was pretty inspiring and lots of fun. The main event had all the attendees on their feet to get down to a number choreographed by Sytycd's Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo (aka Nappytabs). Leading up to the event Lithgoe had been encouraging everyone to learn the steps for the flashmob dance from the online video demo (and people had been sbmitting videotapes of themselves doing the routine).

On hand Saturday were...

 

"So You Think You Can Dance" may have lost another dancer, but Ashley Galvan isn't letting that slow her down.

In an interview backstage Thursday night (July 15), the bubbly dancer reveals how she got her fractured rib and her decision to stop competing.

She also expresses some sadness, but confidence that Lauren Froderman is alone representing the ladies.

Like her fellow eliminee Melinda Sullivan, Galvan hopes that the exposure she gets from "Sytycd" will open some acting doors for her. This isn't much of a surprise since Galvan is a pretty good performer and is adorable.

What's funny is that she's specifically is hoping to land a sitcom on Disney Channel.

Um, wait. Isn't Galvan's boyfriend Jared Murillo the ex of Ashley Tisdale, who starred in her own Disney Channel sitcom "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"? What's next? Does Galvan want to star in a Disney Channel musical...

Melinda Sullivan has insisted that she has "no regrets" about her time on So You Think You Can Dance. The 22-year-old was eliminated from the reality show on Thursday night after falling into the bottom three with fellow dancers Billy Bell and Robert Roldan. "I gave the competition my all mentally, physically and emotionally," she told Digital Spy "I was really proud of myself for how focused I stayed! I came into this show with a pretty (more)...

 

Melinda Sullivan got the farthest than any tap dancer on "So You Think You Can Dance" before her elimination Thursday night (July 1).

It's a bittersweet distinction, however, considering judges Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman told her they wished they had eliminated her the week before and kept Cristina Santana instead. Ouch.

Then again, Sullivan had been in the Bottom 3 for three weeks in a row, so she's not too surprised about the results. In fact, in the interview immediately following the show, she sounds downright positive.

She discusses how she hopes this experience will open new doors for her, such as acting, which we're not at all surprised about considering her stint as playful twin Zoe on "As the World Turns."

She got on the phone Friday to talk more in depth about "Sytycd," her dance background, mentor Harold Cromer and which all-star she would have loved to have been...

Melinda Sullivan has admitted that she was "out of [her] comfort zone" when performing a salsa routine on this week's So You Think You Can Dance. The 22-year-old told Digital Spy that she was not surprised at the negative feedback she received from judges about her performance as she was not familiar with the genre. "Any sort of ballroom I haven't trained in at all," she explained. "Like I said in the video package, I am of Colombian descent and we always dance around at family gatherings but that's (more)...

Filed under: Celebrity Interviews

It didn't come as much of a surprise to viewers that tap dancer Melinda Sullivan, who'd been in the Bottom Three for three weeks running, was the contestant sent home Thursday night on 'So You Think You Can Dance.'

Especially when judges Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman admitted they wished they'd voted to send her home instead of Cristina Santana, who was cut from the competition the week before.

Melinda took the elimination and the judges' often harsh criticism with extraordinary good grace. She tells TV Squad she's just happy for the chance to showcase her passion for tapping and has no regrets. And, surprisingly, no hard feelings towards the judges.

After your third week in the Bottom Three, did you think you were going home?

Once they told me I was in the Bottom Three, I was excited because I knew I was...

It wasn't a good sign last week when Nigel Lythgoe told Melinda Sullivan he voted to oust her but was overruled. Nor was it very promising last night, when Adam Shankman and Mia Michaels basically admitted that, yeah, their bad for keeping her over Cristina Santana.

Her fate all but sealed heading in, the judges inevitably sent Melinda home Thursday.

Following the previous evening's top nine performances, Robert Roldan (not surprising) and Billy Bell (somewhat surprising) landed in the bottom three along with Melinda.

Melinda Sullivan couldn't tap her way out of this one.

You knew Billy would be spared, so it came down to Melinda and Robert, who Mia said needs show some more personality. Billy? He just needs to evolve, grow a little bit.

Before the bottom three danced for their lives, we learned that Alex Wong, Ashley Galvan, AdeChike Torbert, Kent Boyd, Lauren Froderman and Jose Ruiz were all safe.

The elimination of "So You Think You Can Dance" this week is rather expected because after three weeks in a row being in the bottom three, Melinda Sullivan is the one going home. The 22-year-old from Thousand Oaks, California is the only tap dancer in this year's group.

Melinda was in the bottom three along with Billy Bell and Robert Roldan. It is the first time for the former to be put in the dangerous position and is the second time for the latter. The three of them had to dance for their lives in a bid to convince the judges that they should be through to the next round. Both Billy and Robert did contemporary pieces while Melinda chose to go without music for her tap performance.

The judges did not go in too much trouble announcing who went home that night with head judge Nigel Lythgoe saying the vote was unanimous.

Melinda Sullivan has become the third finalist to be eliminated from the seventh season of So You Think You Can Dance. The dancer was sent home during tonight's live results show after receiving the fewest number of votes alongside Billy Bell and Robert Roldan. The contestants performed solo again for judges Nigel Lythgoe, Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman, who unanimously agreed to eliminate Sullivan. The dancers continuing on in the competition are Kent Boyd, Jose Ruiz, (more)...

Melinda Sullivan got eliminated from "So You Think You Can Dance" 7 in round 3. Tonight's result show kicked with a dance routine from the top 9 dancers left in the competition. Then Cat Deeley introduced the judges,and got right down to business to reveal four contestants that were safe this week to lead into the first break. After the first break, Cat revealed some more dancers that were safe this week to lead into the 2nd break. After the 2nd break, Cat revealed that Billy Bell and Robert Doldan ended up in the bottom three this week. Next,Cat revealed that Melinda Sullivan was in the bottom three again this week. Then they showed a special video segment that showed footage of when 2 of the 12 all-stars first appeared on the show in their respective seasons. Then the two all-stars did a special dance routine to lead into the 3rd break.

alex 9 @ Yahoo! Video Alex Wong is a dancing wonder! Last night he totally nailed his hip-hop routine with tWitch, even though he’s never danced like that before in his life!

All of the So You Think You Can Dance top 9 dancers set the stage on fire last night, June 30, in another exciting show, but it was Alex Wong who truly brought the house down! Who knew this graceful ballet dancer could get down and dirty in some hard-hitting hip-hop?

Not only was Alex out of his element, but he was also paired up for the first same-sex dance of the season with all-star tWitch. Choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon’s concept featured the two men in a psychotherapy session, starring Alex as the patient and tWitch as his shrink. Given that the routine still allowed Alex to show off his ballet expertise with a couple of twirls and other moves,...

The remaining nine finalists gave it their all on So You Think You Can Dance last night in what was the best episode of the season to date. The new crew has finally arrived.

After a scattered first few weeks, with the show seemingly experimenting with its new format so much that some of the dancing was lost in the shuffle, this was vintage Sytycd.

Let's get right down to it, because the Top 9 certainly didn't waste any time, with Adechike and Lauren the first to dance, to a hip-hop routine that let them really let loose.

Part fun and flirty and part sexy and serious, the judges appeared to love it almost as much as we did, kicking off Wednesday's top nine performances in terrific fashion.

Next was a contemporary routine Ashley performed with Ade. At first we were sure he would outshine her, but without a doubt, Ashley brought her A-game this week.

At this point on So You Think You Can Dance, I should be saying something along the lines of "the finalists are finally hitting their stride" -- and indeed they are. Compared to previous weeks, I can remember more than one performance this week (although I probably remember some for the wrong reasons -- hello, Miss Froderman).

But I've got a completely different thought: will this week be the week when tapper Melinda Sullivan finally heads home? She was saved from elimination last week after Nigel Lythgoe was overruled by his fellow judges -- but at the expense of Cristina Santana, and the fate of this season's female finalists. With only three girls left, it'd make some sense to keep all the girls for one more week and send home one of the guys.

Courtesy of Fox

What the heck? Cristina Santana is a fabulous salsa dancer –- and Melinda Sullivan just leaves me cold!

Cristina Santana started off as my least favorite dancer on So You Think You Can Dance this that she was sent home this week – especially when Melinda Sullivan so should have been sent packing in her place!

Sure, I admired the 22-year-old tap dancer’s enthusiastic June 24 solo performance, as well as her lovely “Mother Earth” dance with all-star Ade Obayomi on Wednesday night, but I just couldn’t seem to connect with her. Like judge Nigel Lythgoe has been saying every week, she’s just too cold!

I was also shocked to see Robert Roldanmake make a bottom three appearance. I was bored with his solo! That said, I also would have been super bummed if he’d have gotten kicked off. Adechike Torbert, on the other hand,...

The second So You Think You Can Dance results show of the season started off with a bang, as the contestants danced a powerful group number, and ended with one as well.

As America's votes for the bottom three contestants, were unveiled, the first surprise came in the form of Robert Roldan's name being announced. We did not predict that.

The other two dancers landing in the bottom three were Melinda Sullivan and Cristina Santana, both of whom found themselves in a similar position to the previous week.

After the Top 10 performances, we thought Billy, Kent and Alex might be at risk, simply because they all seemed out of their element a bit, but fan support carried them all.

In the end, it was Cristina who was sent packing.

Did Cristina Santana get a raw deal?

Personally, while Cristina may not be among the most talented finalists, we thought her strong,...

The female contestants of "So You Think You Can Dance" this season proved to be less popular than the boys. After the elimination of Alexie Agdeppa last week, two more found themselves in the bottom three. Melinda Sullivan and Cristina Santana were in danger along with Robert Roldan.

These three danced for their lives as the last effort to impress the judges and stay in competition. Melinda danced the tap to Q-Tip's "Heels", Cristina did the salsa to "Quimbara" while Robert composed a contemporary piece with "Everywhere I Go". After some consideration, the judges put Roberto back in the Top 9 and weighed in between Melinda and Cristina.

Head judge Nigel Lythgoe announced that the votes were not unanimous. Adam Shankman and Mia Michaels wanted to keep Melinda while Nigel did not because he thought she can't connect with viewers well. But due to voice majority, Cristina, the only ballroom dancer this season,...

First Mary Murphy rode off in her hot tamale train. Now So You Think You Can Dance is out of salsa. What remains for fans of delicious flavor? Plenty, Nigel Lythgoe assured us backstage after tonight's bland results show... This season's only salsa dancer, Cristina Santana, was sent home after opening last night's show with what Nigel called a "fabulous" paso doble. Her performance wasn't spicy enough for fans—or Nigel's fellow judges, who overruled him in tonight's final vote. Judges Adam Shankman and Mia Michaels voted to let tapper Melinda Sullivan keep dancing, but Nigel has reservations. "I do think she's almost a little too pretty and a little too...

Cristina Santana has become the second finalist to be eliminated from the seventh season of So You Think You Can Dance. The dancer was sent home from the Fox competition during tonight's live results episode after falling into the bottom three alongside Robert Roldan and Melinda Sullivan. The trio had received the lowest number of votes from the public following their performances on Wednesday night's show, and the judges opted to send Santana (more)...

Cristina Santana got eliminated from 'So You Think You Can Dance' 7 tonight in round 2. Tonight's live elimination show kicked off with the contestants performing a dance routine to the song entitled, "Royal T," choreographed by Sonja. Next, Cat Deeley introduced the judges. Then they got right down to business and revealed that Cristina Santana ended up in the bottom three this week to lead into the first break. After the first break, they revealed that Melinda Sullivan was in the bottom three this week to lead into the 2nd break. After the 2nd break, they revealed that Robert Roldan hit the bottom three as well this week to lead into the 3rd break. After the 3rd break, a former first round contestant and his dance crew performed a special,cool routine.

Following the surprise elimination of Alexie Agdeppa last week, the remaining four girls and six guys on So You Think You Dance were on notice - nothing can be taken for granted.

This week, the show continued to switch up its format (which makes it a little hard to get into the groove, to be honest), with the top 10 pulling their All-Star partners out of a hat.

With the All-Star choice came the selected style of dance. Another big change was that this time, the partners were in on the critiquing along with the crop of Sytycd hopefuls.

It's unclear if the All-Stars are, or should be part of the critique, or whether they should get lost and leave the contestant as the focus. Feels like they're making it up as they go.

That said, there was terrific dancing as always.

The Top 10: Tonight, only nine will remain.

Last week, the "So You Think You Can Dance" Top 11 had their first competitive performances on the "Sytycd" stage and Zap2it was curious as to how the dancers prepped for their big debut.

"I'm usually not that bad with junk food but before a show I'm just like: Chips. Candy. Everything," says Billy Bell, who admitted to consuming Doritos, Famous Amos cookies and Starburst candies before going on. "I don't know why. I just like binge eat, I guess. It's horrible."

Meanwhile, Melinda Sullivan shared that as a group the Top 11 had a fondness for bursting into song together pre-performance, post-performance or any old time.

Tap dancer Sullivan landed in the Bottom Three her first time out, so she might want to look into something else to help get her ready -- and her unwind -- tonight (Wednesday, June 23) when she's rumored to be tackling a contemporary number choreographed by Stacey Tookey.

You might've noticed that one of my bottom three off So You Think You Can Dance last week wasn't on the actual bottom three. Tapper Melinda Sullivan was there, although I thought she did quite well. On the contrary, Adechike Torbert -- he who looked really limp opposite a sizzling Kathryn McCormick -- wasn't near the bottom three, although I thought he should've been there.

I'm oddly glad I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

Someone had to go — and Alexie definitely deserved to be the first eliminated contestant from So You Think You Can Dance this season!

There were group hugs, silly dancing and lots of tears on So You Think You Can Dance’s first elimination show of the season June 17 when jazz dancer Alexie Agdeppa got the boot — but honestly, she deserved to go!

Despite the critiques the 26-year-old jazz dancer received from the judges, I was unimpressed by her hip-hop performance with Twitch. That said, it was sad to see her go, especially after finding out how many times she had tried out for the show (Four in total), and she Was truly adorable, but as judge Mia Michaels said, “cute” can only get you so far!

Although Alexie’s elimination wasn’t all that surprising, watching Cristina Santana having to dance for her life Was a shock. She became a...

Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers won their 16th NBA title, setting off celebrations throughout the City of Angels. It was a bittersweet night for a former Laker Girl, however.

Alexie Agdeppa as she became the first So You Think You Can Dance contestant eliminated by the voters this season, after the 26-year-old cutie's spunk couldn't save her.

The three judges, who unanimously chose to send her home, didn't foresee a long run for the effervescent former cheerleader, even though we were a bit surprised at the decision.

After the Top 11 performances, we thought Melinda Sullivan and Adechike Torbert stood the worst chances of advancing, with Cristina Santana potentially at risk as well.

Melinda and Cristina joined Alexie in the bottom three.

It was one and done for Alexie Agdeppa and Twitch Boss.

The top 11 opened the show dressed in white and gold attire, with the guys outshining the girls...

Alexie Agdeppa got eliminated from 'So You Think You Can Dance' season 7 tonight. Tonight's live result show started off with a dance routine from the contestants. Then Cat Deeley introduced the judges and explained the rules. Next, she got down to business,and revealed the first four contestants that were safe this week to lead into the first break. After the first break, Cat revealed that Melinda Sullivan & Alexie Agdeppa were in the bottom three this week, and Billy Bell & Ashley Galvin were safe this week to lead into the 2nd break. After the 2nd break, Cat revealed that Jose Ruiz & Adechike Torbert were safe this week,and Cristina Santana landed in the bottom three this week to lead into the 3rd break. After the 3rd break, two dancers performed a special dance routine. After that, Melinda and Alexie performed their solos for their life to lead into the 4th break.

Alexie Agdeppa has become the first contestant to be voted off So You Think You Can Dance season seven. The dancer was sent home on tonight's live results episode after falling into the bottom three alongside Melinda Sullivan and Cristina Santana. Each of the contestants - who received the lowest number of public votes - had performed for the judges again with Nigel Lythgoe, Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman ultimately deciding to eliminate Agdeppa. The dancers remaining (more)...

After a truncated audition period and last Thursday's weird exhibition episode, So You Think You Can Dance got underway last night, its pairs competing for the first time.

Camera and audio issues aside, it was as good or better than we remember from previous years. The new format with the newcomers and All-Stars is intriguing as well.

Here's a breakdown of the Top 11 performances last night ...

Billy Bell & Lauren Gottlieb: Their Broadway bit by Tyce Diorio was alright, but the steps didn't really follow the beat; Billy stood out, but their chemistry was lacking.

That fact was noted by Nigel, as well. Adam even said Billy needs to focus on the intangibles, since the steps come so naturally. Mia was proud of him in the new genre.

Cristina Santana & Mark Kanemura: Sonya wanted a sexy, sensual jazz routine, and thanks in part to her all-star partner, Cristina...

In this "So You Think You Can Dance" edition of Z-Wind, we dig deeper into two of the contestants' TV backgrounds.

Before tap dancer Melinda Sullivan landed in the Top 11, she was on daytime TV over on CBS' "As the World Turns."

Sullivan, along with Nicholas Galbraith, played fraternal twins Zoe and Zac Finn who were up to a lot of mischief and therefore, a lot of fun, even if they are a bit creepy.

In this clip, the twins meet gay couple Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) and have a proposal.

Less soapy is this next clip featuring Alexie Agdeppa who starred as Grace, one of "The Huggabub Club" members approximately 15 years ago.

We get an early look at her dance moves but also get to hear her sing.

Were Melinda and Alexie stars in the making?

Follow Zap2it and Zap2itHanh on...

Really, So You Think You Can Dance? We're big fans and all, for many seasons now, and you look even more amazing in HD (we just upgraded after all these years).

But there was no competition last night, nor did we even get to see what the Top 11 or the All-Stars are really all about - if you missed it, you officially missed nada.

This was like a preseason game after the first three weeks of the regular season. What's the point? Why not jump right into the competition and elimination rounds?

We appreciated the truncated audition rounds, but Thursday was pure filler, no way around it, with random routines and the dancing groups arbitrarily grouped at that.

There were plenty of memorable moves, to be sure, but it was hard to even know who to watch sometimes. If this were the post-show tour, it would've worked more.

All Stars...

One of So You Think You Can Dance's big changes for this season, a top 10 instead of a top 20, was changed for the sake of drama, as the judges added an additional spot. The finalists are Alexie Agdeppa, Billy Bell, Kent Boyd, Lauren Froderman, Ashley Galvan, Robert Roldan, Jose Ruiz, Cristina Santana, Melinda Sullivan, Adéchiké Torbert, and Alex Wong. Tonight, a "meet the top 10" (er, 11) episode airs, and the live performances...

The winnowing of the dancing herd is complete: After thousands of auditions featuring some of the best dancers ever to try out, the judges of So You Think You Can Dance announced tonight that Season Seven will have 11 finalists instead of 10. The Top 11 finalists are Alexie Agdeppa, Billy Bell, Kent Boyd, Lauren Froderman, Ashley Galvan, Robert Roldan, Jose Ruiz, Cristina Santana, Melinda Sullivan, Adéchiké Torbert and Alex Wong. The group will perform Thursday, June 10 (9:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox. The special will showcase the finalists and the All-Stars dancing together in their own styles and genres, as well as in eye-popping group numbers choreographed by Wade Robson, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Tabitha and...

Just five episodes into the season and the auditions/callbacks portion is already complete. Last night we learned which 10 (11?) dancers will be making it to the So You Think You Can Dance finals, and the accelerated format pushed the drama and tension to new heights.

Compounding the stress for contestants and viewers is the simple fact that this season, there are also fewer spots. The finalists will be paired with all-stars, which will up the quality of the performances, but leave a bunch of worthy, first-timer hopefuls out in the cold.

But the cream rises to the top, as they say, and last night was no exception as the finalists - as predicted by our So You Think You Can Dance spoilers - were revealed.

On the second day of Las Vegas callbacks, "only" 58 dancers remained. The Broadway portion of the rigorous day shellacked a bunch of pretenders out of the running.

As previously hinted, there are 11 instead of 10 dancers who qualify to the semi-final round of "So You Think You Can Dance" this season. Head judge Nigel Lythgoe previously told Zap2It that only one between Alex Wong and Billy Bell would make it but it turns out that both are qualified to dance in front of live audience.

However, the final showdown was not between Alex and Billy but it was Billy against Robert Roldan in the last spot. Joining them are fellow contemporary dancers Ade Chike Torbert and Kent Boyd, in addition to Alex and Jose "Full Deck" Ruiz.

The girls are more variable in terms of their dancing genre. They are salsa dancer Cristina Santana, tap dancer Melinda Sullivan, jazz dancer Alexie Agdeppa, contemporary dancer Lauren Froderman and lyrical dancer Ashley Galvan.

In other words there are six men and five women in the Top 11. In a change of format,...

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hey BFFs, check out this video montage of the Top 11’s first group photo shoot!

The So You Think You Can Dance finalists have Finally been announced and we are Thrilled with the judges’ choices. HollywoodLife.com met the ‘Top 11′ last week — and even got to sit in on their first group photo shoot and get to know them one-on-one! So without further adieu, let us introduce you to your season seven top 11 finalists…

1. Adechike Torbert

2. Alex Wong

3. Alexie Agdeppa

4. Ashley Galvan

5. Billy Bell

6. Cristina Santana

7. Jose Ruiz

8. Kent Boyd

9. Lauren Froderman

10. Melinda Sullivan

11. Robert Roldan

Kirstin Benson, reporting by Karen Detangel...