SYTYCD Season 9 Scoop: Two Winners, Plus Format Tweaks

Ever since Fox announced the axing of the SYTYCD results show at the very start of this year, which we strongly disapproved of, fans have been wondering what tweaks the network and producer Nigel Lythgoe will make for the upcoming ninth season. Earlier this afternoon, we got wind of a little bit of scoop from Lythgoe, who is currently focused on next week’s Finale of American Idol, pitting Phillip Phillips against Jessica Sanchez.

Remember, SYTYCD premieres NEXT Thursday, May 24 at 8/7c on Fox!

Two Winners | Based on the fact that “girls dance totally different than guys,” according to Nigel, it looks like we will be having a male and female winner for Season 9. Nigel, who spoke with TVLine about the changes, hopes this will give viewers more reason to invest in the show’s contestants and have more cause for celebration when the winners are crowed late this summer.

Dance For Your Life Still In Play | As in seasons past, the contestants will still need to dance for their lives in order to stay in the competition. The difference? The first LIVE episode will be a purely performance show. The following week, all of the Season 9 finalists will perform but might find out from the judges AFTER their performance that America put them in the bottom 3. This news will be broken after the performance because “we don’t want the contestants to be panicking” while they dance. At the end of the 2nd episode, the judges will take into consideration America’s votes from the previous week AND the performances of the current week. Based on those discussions, a contestant will be sent home at the end of the 2-hours. If solos need to be performed to assist the judges in their decision making, Nigel promises that the show will be flexible and ask the contestants in danger to perform a solo. Nigel was also insistent on how the dancers are in good hands and America’s favorites should never be put in the position of probably elimination. Voting has never been as important. It seems, with this particular format, judges critiques will have to be trimmed. Nigel jokingly noted that Lil C will have to “make up shorter words.”

Introducing New Choreographers | It seems as if we should expect to be introduced to 3 or 4 new choreographers. Fans will also be pleased to know that Nigel hopes to bring back some of Season 8′s popular guest judges, namely Christina Applegate, Kristin Chenoweth and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

On a very personal note from the writer, did we really need to ax the Results shows for not one, but TWO silly dating shows on Fox? I hope this isn’t true, but it is looking like Fox is slowly sucking the life out of this show. I’m not sure what is sadder … that or the fact that Fox is probably doing it consciously. Here’s hoping Season 9 brings good ratings and Fox realizes how truly awesome this reality competition is.

So, what do you think about the SYTYCD changes? Will you be watching SYTYCD?