'So You Think You Can Dance' Changed Its Format This Season, and Fans Are Furious
On Monday night, So You Think You Can Dance season 16 wrapped up its Academy Week and the top 20 contestants moved on to the next round.
Instead of going straight to the live shows, however, the top 2o will partner with SYTYCD "All-Stars" to compete for a spot in the top 10.
Fans are frustrated with the format change, saying they feel "duped."
Remember back in the early days of So You Think You Can Dance, when the show spent less time on the Academy episodes and more time on the live shows? As it happens, a lot of SYTYCD fans remember those days — and they really miss them, too.
After the season 16 Academy rounds wrapped up on Monday, it was revealed that the remainder of the competition will follow the same format as SYTYCD season 15: The top 20 contestants will be paired with "All-Star" mentors and will compete in two Final Cut episodes — one with the top 10 men, and one with the top 10 women. Then, after five more judge cuts per episode, only the remaining top 10 will continue on to the live shows.
The show has only featured 10 dancers in the live shows for several seasons now (since the format completely changed with season 13's SYTYCD: The Next Generation, in fact), but longtime fans know that wasn't always how things worked on SYTYCD. Prior to season 13, the show almost always let all of the Top 20 dancers continue on to the live shows, where they got more individual screen time and viewers had an earlier chance to vote for their favorite competitors.
Unfortunately, this change in live show format has been a point of great frustration for many fans, who took to Twitter on Monday night to express their dissatisfaction with the new approach:
Argh!! Please bring back the top 20!! I’m tired of the “All Stars” and there are SO many talented dancers out there! #SYTYCD @dizzyfeet @DANCEonFOX
— Meg (@PsychMegz) July 23, 2019
Idk why they just don’t go back to have 20 contestants on the show, it felt less rushed and we got way more content + the dancers had sufficient time for actual growth and development #SYTYCD
— lєαh (@flutzafana) July 16, 2019
One fan even said that she felt "duped" by the term "Top 20" being used in Monday's episode at all:
Wait, #SYTYCD has been talking about top 20 this whole time, but are just doing top 10 for the live show?! I feel duped. Between that and the lack of diversity in the men’s group, I’m officially out, but for the final time. I’m tired of disappointment. ✌🏼#deuces
— Jess 🤷🏼♀️ (@clumzyklutz) July 23, 2019
Considering SYTYCD has followed this live show format for several seasons now, we're guessing it won't go back to its old ways anytime soon. But who knows? As any reality TV fan knows, rules and regulations can change from season to season on competition shows like this.
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