So You Think You Can Dance is a dance reality show and competition aired on 8TV. Premiered on 5 April 2007, it is based on the original United States version of the same name. It has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big star.
The organizers of So You Think You Can Dance held one audition in Kuala Lumpur. The contestants that are picked go through callbacks and the Top 20 perform on a live show. This follows a weekly elimination hereafter. The Malaysian version of So You Think You Can Dance had completed its inaugural season with Muhammad Haslam Abdul Rahman Rubaee as the champion.
The show was hosted by Juliana Ibrahim and Jehan Miskin; the latter only joined the cast since episode 9.
Contents
Casts
Host
Juliana Ibrahim – actress in Realiti and Impian Illyana, appeared in SYTYCD since Episode 1
Jehan Miskin – actor and TV host, appeared in SYTYCD since Episode 9
Judges
Pat Ibrahim – choreographer of Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical
Ramli Ibrahim – dance choreographer and artistic director of Sutra Dance Theatre
Judimar Hernandez – Venezuela-born choreographer and The Actors Studio performer
Peter lum
Yannus Sufandi – Stage Performer for international artists and support acts such as ARIA'S Awards (Australian Music Awards), RUMBA 2002 Aust Tour, Fatman Scoop Promo Tour, Pharrell Promo Tour and Sugababes Music Videos, and many more, choreographer for TV commercials Samsung, 7UP, etc.Appeared in Callbacks, Boot Camp, Top 12, Top 8 and Top 6 Competitions Also as the Artistic Director/Choreographer of the Show
Jeff Thacker – executive producer of So You Think You Can Dance (America)Appeared in Auditions
Linda Jasmine – ex-choreographer for Akademi FantasiaAppeared in Week 1 of Competitions
Tiara Jacquelina – star of Puteri Gunung Ledang (the film and musical)Appeared in Weeks 2 and 3 of Competitions
Note: Juliana, Pat and Ramli Ibrahim are not related to each other.
Choreographers
The following is the list of choreographers whose involvement in the competition are as shown on TV, followed by their specialties.
Azwa – Malaysian Contemporary
Patricia Calzadilla – Salsa, Latin dances
Choo Teng Kuang – Contemporary
Farah Sulaiman – Jazz
Fasilito – Salsa
Luisa Lau – paso doble, jive, samba
Amy Len – Chinese contemporary
Loh Poh Choo – Contemporary
William Lor – Paso doble, jive
Umesh Shetty – Indian contemporary
Manuela Oliveira – Hip-hop, street jazz, dancehall, Also the Artistic Director
Peter Ong – Latin dances
Ichiro and Dawn Uchida – Funk
Michael Xavier Voon – Broadway
Yannus Sufandi – Hip-hop, Dancehall, Also the Artistic Director
Season 1
Auditions (aired 5 April 2007)
Auditions were held on 16 and 17 March the same year, with Pat, Judimar and guest Jeff Thacker to judge the participants' dancing skills. Participants who displayed a good degree of potential to them would be recalled to the Callbacks (if their skills are debatable) or qualify directly to the Boot Camp (if they greatly impressed the judges during the auditions).
Callbacks (aired 12 April 2007)
Out of 500 people taking part in the two days of preliminary auditions, only seven participants were directly headed to the Boot Camp while 80 others were given an extra test in the Callbacks. Pat Ibrahim and Judimar Hernandez returned as judges, this time alongside two other faces, Yannus Sufandi and Ramli Ibrahim. After going through versatility and pairing-up tests, only 40 of them qualified to the Boot Camp – 20 male and 20 female, inclusive of the seven who qualified directly from the auditions.
Boot Camp (aired 19 April 2007)
The Top 40 were tested on their versatility in various dances and cohesiveness in the competition. The first day of Boot Camp saw the Top 40 practising four different genres of dance under the guide of four choreographers: Hip-hop (Yannus Sufandi), Contemporary (Umesh Nair), Street Jazz (Manuela Oliveira), and Salsa (Patricia Calzadilla). After each of the four choreography sessions they needed to perform what they had learnt from it.
The second day witnessed the contestants doing solo performances, attempting to display "a different side" of theirs to impress the judges for entering the Top 20. At the nightfall of the second day, the judges announced the Top 20.
A notable scene in the aftermath of the results involved one of the rejected ones who broke down to tears, lamenting to have failed to fulfil the last wish of a best friend who he said as to "be dying" that night.
Competition (aired 3 May 2007 onwards)
Competitions are broadcast live from Ruums KL on Thursdays from 9.30pm (GMT+8). In each of these nights, contestants perform in pairs (each of one male and one female) in Round 1 to impress the judges as well as the audience in the club and at home.
The judges will select the four weakest performers (six in later episodes) to perform in solo within 30 seconds each in Round 2 to garner viewers' votes in order to remain in the competition. Unlike the American version, in which judges select the worst-performing pairs, in here the worst-performing individual contestants were selected.
Viewers are given about 20 minutes including the solo performances. After that, the show goes into a 15-minute break, in which a Quickie Dance Special is broadcast live from Sri Pentas and Ruums KL.
The one male and one female contestants with the lowest votes leave the competition.
The Grand Finale was scheduled to be held on 29 June, in Ruums KL.
A top 10 contestant from season 2 of the American version, Dmitry Chaplin made a special performance before the results were announced.
The contestants performed their first group performance before the announcement of Round 2 results, dancing Malaysian contemporary to the music of Mahaguru by KRU.
This show witnessed the contestants' second group performance throughout the competition, which was performed at the beginning of the show.
This week witnessed the addition of Jehan Miskin to complement Juliana as hosts of the show, the first themed night, Malaysiana, which dancers performed contemporary versions of Malaysian ethnic dances, and the judges' decision to have a Bottom 6 instead of a Bottom 4, citing the need to reflect "a fiercer competition".