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A man, a plan, a wildly successful TV show: So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe puts his heart in his critiques.

Article Excerpt
He's choreographed for Ben Vereen, Shirley Bassey and those lovable big-eyed Muppets. And, like the film character Billy Elliott who studied ballet against the wishes of a working-class father, this native Liverpudlian got hooked on dance at age 10. He went on to study tap and jazz, contemporary and European folk at the HyltonBromley School of Theatre Dance on Merseyside and in London under Joanne Steuer and Molly Molloy.

Indeed, Nigel Lythgoe's training served him well: The 58-year-old Englishman who frugged, twisted, and choreographed his way through Britain's swinging '60s is also co-helming two of America's reigning television juggernauts, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, both from Fox.

Recognizable to millions as the lead judge on SYTYCD, Lythgoe, dubbed "Nasty Nigel" and often compared to Idol naysayer Simon Cowell, has been riding the crest of a show biz wave for years. This mouth, Lythgoe and fellow judges will anoint America's "favorite" dancer on the show, now ending its third season.

"When we first started Dance," says Lythgoe, "we just wanted another successful TV show. Everybody was ripping Idol off, so we thought, 'Let's look at some other area to do the format.' The other area is dancing and it's not as easy.

"You can sing in the shower," adds Lythgoe, "but you can't dance in the...

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