The sixteenth season of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD), an American dance competition reality show on FOX, returned on June 3, 2019. The series has won numerous awards since its debut in 2005, including eleven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography, the most for any show. This panel of judges again features series creator Nigel Lythgoe, as well as the return of ballroom dance champion and expert Mary Murphy. New to the panel are choreographer Laurieann Gibson and B-boy dancer/choreographer Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval, who serve as the third and fourth judges during auditions and live shows. Cat Deeley continues in her role as host for a fifteenth consecutive season, for which she has earned five Emmy Award nominations. The grand prize is $250,000, a cover article in Dance Spirit, and the title of "America's Favorite Dancer". This is the final season to feature Lythgoe and Murphy as judges and the only season to feature Gibson and Sandoval as judges.
In the first five episodes, the Judges' Auditions featured about six full performances each along with the judges' critiques, as well as montages of other contestants. From those auditions, a pool of eighty-three contestants, who each earned a Golden Ticket advancing them to The Academy where they face, in the next episodes, six Academy Rounds that winnow down to the Top Ten—both gender: five women and five men—for the studio shows.
In episode ten, and for the rest of the season, the Studio Performance Shows showcase the contestants in solos, duets, and group numbers, as they vie to connect with viewers who vote for their favorites. The following week, at the end of the show, the two women and two men (both gender) with the lowest vote totals will be up for elimination. The judges decide which woman and man: 1 in each gender will be cut.
On September 16, 2019, Bailey Muñoz was crowned "America's Favorite Dancer" and became the only b-boy contestant to win the title in the show's history. A forty-stop tour featuring the Top Ten contestants and two All-stars started soon after the finale and ran until December 2019. Muñoz and fellow grand finalist Mariah Russell, who were paired as a couple from the first performance episode, became the forty-first contestants in the show's run never to face elimination from being among the bottom four contestants, became the thirty-second contestants to be in the grand finale, and became the sixth pair in the show's run never to face elimination from being among the bottom four contestants in the grand finale and became the second original couple who were the final two without being in the bottom four and the second season that the top four were never in the danger zone.
Judges' Auditions Madison Jordan, an eventual Top Six contestants, shared that she submitted her online video in January and was contacted a month later to in-person auditions. Those auditions, for contestants ages eighteen to thirty, took place with producers in: New York on February 9, 2019; Dallas on February 12; and Los Angeles on February 23. From these, approximately 130 contestants were chosen by the producers to audition in Hollywood in March before the panel of judges.
In addition to the new judges, the televised auditions have been revamped so instead of remote tryouts, the contestants come to the new SYTYCD Hollywood studio, outfitted with 120 cameras surrounding the stage, allowing the movement to be "frozen" in time, like bullet time. Another change is the addition of a studio audience instead of being just the rest of audition contestants and their supporters.
The five episodes of Judges' Auditions each featured about six full-length dance routines; with an introduction package about the contestant, critique, and vote from the judging panel. Only a few of those were excluded from moving to The Academy Rounds; the successful audition contestants were given a "Golden Ticket" to the Academy. In addition, montages of auditions were also mixed in with the full ones, showing a mix of some voted through.
Some of the episodes were also themed; episode four featured various couple configurations including identical twin eighteen-year-old contemporary contestants Trent and Colton Edwards.
The Academy The Academy Rounds, filmed in April, started in episode six at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California with the eighty-three contestants who made it through the Judges’ Auditions to get a Golden Ticket by excelling in a dance style of their choice. Over three days they will go through four Choreography Rounds of The Academy; rehearsing new dance routines, from a professional choreographer, en masse for ninety minutes.
They then face the original four judges, in small groups, who can: pass them through; have them “dance for their lives”; or be cut from the competition. Of those that started: approximately only one in four, or twenty (ten women, and ten men in each gender) will make it to the Top Twenty; and they will face The Final Cut, with only half (five women, and five men in each gender) going through to the Top Ten studio performance shows.
Choreography Rounds The four Choreography Rounds were:
Hip-hop dance taught by Luther Brown: he was looking for the contestants to have precision in the moves, energy, and star quality. They performed to the dancehall song “Boasty” by rappers Wiley and Stefflon Don with Jamaican singer Sean Paul featuring Idris Elba; Ballroom dance taught by Emma Slater, and Sasha Farber: they taught a “sassy, intricate” cha-cha-cha with “lots of tricks” to the song “Free, Free, Free” by Pitbull featuring Theron Theron. The choreographers looked for fun, and a noticeable “connection with [the] partner”; Contemporary dance taught by Talia Favia: she taught her “fast, and challenging” routine that is “athletic, but with an emotional part [one] must feel”. It's performed to “Moments Passed” by Dermot Kennedy. The Group Round with Mandy Moore, assisted by All-Star Robert Roldan from season 7: Moore, for a first in the show's history, reworked the three previous rounds’ choreography into a new group number; to a different song, a breakdown remix of “Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone. Moore looks for the same quality needed to compete in the Studio Shows, the ability to “push” even when injured, exhausted, or mentally drained.
The Academy's first three rounds were shown in episode six. Day One started with the Hip-hop Round, after which ten of the eighty-three contestants who started are cut, including Trent, one of the identical twins. Day Two, the Ballroom Round cuts another fifteen contestants including: Colton, the other identical twin; and Sarah “Smac” McCreanor, a jazz contestant who wowed the judges as a comedic performing contestant, but whose dancing was not at a high enough standard for the season.
Episode seven picks up in the middle of the Contemporary Round, where fifty-four contestants faced more cuts: including Jay Jackson, a contemporary contestant, and drag queen, who competed in drag last year but opted not to this time; and Jarrod Tyler Paulson, who is in a romantic relationship with fellow contestant Madison Jordan, who advanced to the Top Twenty. Day Three sees the forty-three remaining contestants take on The Group Round: the judges do their cuts by seeing the contestants grouped by their dance genres; eleven contestants are cut, leaving thirty-three contestants.
The Final Cuts The Academy Week finishes with the last two Academy Rounds: The Solo Round features each of the remaining thirty-three contestants dancing a solo in their own genre, thirteen are cut, and the Top Twenty are revealed; while The Final Cut pares the contestants down to ten contestants.
In episode eight and nine, we will see The Final Cut coverage. Each contestant will be paired with a SYTYCD All-Star, and choreographer, to rehearse a duet outside the contestant's genre. In episode eight the Top Ten girls compete, the Top Ten boys (each gender) compete the following week in episode nine. The five contestants going through will be announced each night.
Top Ten Girls In order of appearance in episode eight: +ContestantStyleMusicChoreographer(s)ResultMariah RussellJonathan PlateroSalsa"La Malanga" — MercadonegroOksana PlateroAdvancedMelany MercedesFik-ShunHip Hop"Get Silly" — V.I.C.Randi & HefEliminatedAshley SanchezLex IshimotoContemporary"lovely" — Billie Eilish & KhalidJaci RoyalEliminatedAnna LinstruthMarko GermarJazz"Backwardz" — JunglebaeRay LeeperAdvancedMadison JordanKiki NyemchekCha Cha"Bola Rebola" — Tropkillaz, J Balvin & Anitta feat. Mc Zaac Sasha Farber & Emma SlaterAdvancedSofia GhavamiMarko GermarJazz"Rinse & Repeat" — Riton feat. Kah-LoSpencer LiffEliminatedSumi OshimaLex IshimotoContemporary"Angels" — The xxTalia FaviaEliminatedNazz SldryanFik-ShunHip Hop"Overseas" — Desiigner feat. Lil PumpLuther BrownEliminatedSophie PittmanKiki NyemchekCha Cha"Burnin' Up" — Jessie J feat. 2 ChainzSharna BurgessAdvancedStephanie SosaRobert RoldanContemporary"You Say" — Lauren DaigleMandy MooreAdvanced
Top Ten Boys In order of appearance in episode nine: +ContestantStyleMusicChoreographer(s)ResultBailey MuñozLauren FrodermanContemporary"Fire on Fire" — Sam SmithJaci RoyalAdvancedEzra SosaComfort FedokeHip Hop"We Outta Here!" — Lil Yachty feat. Young NudyLuther BrownAdvancedVlad KvartinMelanie MooreContemporary"You Are the Reason" — Calum ScottMandy MooreEliminatedAleksandr OstaninLindsay ArnoldCha Cha"Sax" — Fleur EastSharna BurgessEliminatedBenjamin CastroKoine IwasakiSalsa"Papi chulo... Te traigo el Mmm 2k16-Bombaton" — LornaOksana PlateroAdvancedBryan "Clocks" VolozaninJasmine HarperJazz"Take It" — Dom DollaSpencer LiffEliminatedBrandon TalbotLindsay ArnoldCha Cha"Vivir Mi Vida (Yo Fred Remix)" — Marc AnthonySasha Farber & Emma SlaterEliminatedNathan CherryMelanie MooreContemporary"Weightless" —Adam FrenchTalia FaviaEliminatedGino CosculluelaLauren FrodermanJazz"That's It (I'm Crazy)" — Sofi TukkerRay LeeperAdvancedEddie HoytComfort FedokeHip Hop"Treadmill" — LightSkinKeishaRandi & HefAdvanced
Top Ten contestants The Top Ten contestants are:
Benjamin Castro: 18, from Miami, Florida, is a contemporary contestant. He was born in Chile, and immigrated when he was two. He has been dancing since he was five, and is close to his large extended family: his cousin Ruby was on season 13; he trained with his uncle Manny, who along with his wife Lory, are “owners, directors, teachers and choreographers” of Dancetown studio. Gino Cosculluela: 18, from Miami, Florida, is a contemporary contestant. His older brother and sister are both professional dancers. He's been dancing since he was very young, first tagging along to his sister's classes before being enrolled in a hip hop class. In 2012 he and his siblings appeared on season 7 of America's Got Talent as the dance trio "The Cos Fam," they were eliminated before the Live Shows. In 2013-2014 he was a recurring dancer on seasons 3, and 4 of Dance Moms; he made a guest appearance in 2016 on season 6. After the SYTYCD tour he is dancing on Broadway in a revival of West Side Story opening in December 2019. Eddie Hoyt: 19, from Buscawen, New Hampshire, is an Irish-American tap contestant. He was homeschooled and had few friends as a child. His first dance was a highland dance when he was seven. During his freshman year of homeschooling, he came out as gay, which was a difficult experience for him having grown up in a religious family. He had previously auditioned for Season 15, but in the end, was cut just before the top twenty were chosen.'So You Think You Can Dance': Eddie Hoyt brings in humor and swagger into his hip-hop routine and aces the Final Cut | MEAWW He moved to Utah to train, and become the tap director at Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem.