Breaking News!: Mary Murphy Returning to So You Think You Can Dance

After a season on the bench, Mary Murphy is returning to Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance as a resident judge.

The opinionated dancer and choreographer is returning to the show after the series suffered a rather dramatic ratings dip last summer.

“I am delighted to have Mary back on the show,” says producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe, who will sit alongside Murphy during critiques. “Her expertise in dance, coupled with her warmth, compassion and humor, make her an excellent judge and fun to work with.”

No worder on who Mary may be "replacing"? Will Mia Michaels and Adam Shankman also be resident judges? Will So You Think You Can Dance have four resident judges? We'll have to wait and see what transpires. All in all, we're glad to have Mary back on the "Hot Tamale Train".

American Idol May Allow Contestants to Tweet

We always know what the judges think, but next season on American Idol the contestants may also be allowed to speak out during the competition for the first time.

Among the changes being considered for season 10 is a lift on the social-networking ban that has silenced competitors once they leave the stage.

"Contestants may be allowed to Tweet throughout the show," a source has stated. "But there are still logistics to be worked out."

Another change: Unlike last season, the top 12 contestants will be living together in a house in Hollywood. The move is a fresh idea for the next batch of hopefuls, although Idol has done it sporadically in previous years.

What's uncertain, the source says, "is whether they'll film any of it."

The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the changes, and claims they're being made as part of a new "transparency" production theme – the idea being to give fans a peek behind the scenes.

FOX declined to comment on the reports, as did a rep for executive producer Nigel Lythgoe.

American Idol Changes: No More Top 24 Contestants

Winning American Idol just got tougher.

According to the show's executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, the competition will be whittled down to the top 12 contestants – and skip having the top 24.

"I didn't think [the top 24] were very good," Lythgoe tells TV Guide of previous seasons. "I was bored with them by the time they got there."

He's also creating more difficult challenges for the contestants, including having them make music videos, promote themselves, and work on awards show-style performances.

The upcoming season with all of its new requirements will coincide with the level of seriousness that comes along with the new judges.

"They both listen intently and don't make glib remarks," Lythgoe says of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. "They give honest critiques."

As for the last original member of the A.I. pack, Randy Jackson has apparently taken on a strong Simon Cowell-esque sense of command.

"Randy is pulling his weight," Lythgoe says. "He really has stepped up. He's essentially come out of himself. He's enjoying being in that position."

What's in Store for New American Idol Contestants?

As American Idol prepares to reinvent itself with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler – as well as its youngest crop of aspiring pop stars to date – returning executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is feeling a little bit country.

"It's about the talent, it's about the kids," Lythgoe said at the BAFTA/LA's Brittania Awards. "We're seeing quite a lot of country singers, a lot of young talent because we've opened it up to 15-year-olds now."

He added that Lopez, Tyler and returning judge Randy Jackson have already quickly found their own voices when evaluating the aspiring Idols.

"Randy has become very, very positive," said Lythgoe. "Jennifer actually critiques what's in front of her. She doesn't just throw out glib remarks. She listens, she weighs it up and then she says how she feels. Then I think with Steven, who doesn't have a bad bone in his body, finds it very difficult to say 'you suck' to anybody."

Luckily the new judging team found a harmonious balance right out of the gate during auditions. "There isn't a learning curve per say, because Jennifer has watched the show since its inception, so she knows it backwards. With Steven, he's just giving his opinion. So they're not playing roles here, they're not playing parts. They're being themselves and giving their opinions. So it's really very simple to do, as long as you remain honest."

And he hopes the contestants remain instrument free . . . mostly. "People sort of lost a little bit behind instruments. I see no reason why we won't use guitars and pianos at least once or twice across the season, but I don't just want them everyday behind the bloody guitar," he said.

Lythgoe also suggested that celebrity guest judges and large-scale tribute shows may be a thing of the past. "I'm not sure I'm going to use any guest judges, to be frank," he said. "We've got an entire record company behind it now with Interscope. We've got Jimmy Iovine and all of his producers . . . You've got real professionals here. I don't know why I need anyone else. They'll just get in the way."

The revamped American Idol returns to FOX in January 2011.

Jennifer Lopez: I Won't Be a Diva on American Idol

Will having Jenny on the block drag down the neighborhood?

No way, says Jennifer Lopez, who laughed off reports of outrageous diva-like demands during negotiations to become a new judge on American Idol.

"After as many years as I've been in this business, I'm used to that kind of stuff," Lopez said Wednesday at an Idol press conference in Inglewood, California. "I'm used to speculation."

If anything, Lopez says, she felt she was dragging FOX into negative headlines.

"I was calming the FOX people down," she explained. "I was like, 'Listen, it'll be gone tomorrow. Once they hear who we are and what we're doing, it's going to be fine. Don't worry about it.' I was just looking forward to getting started."

Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe even poked fun at her reputation.

"I said to Jennifer today, we heard that she only likes yellow M&Ms," he said. "I'm thinking, 'Who's going to pick them all out for her?' She said, 'No, where did that come from?'"

Adds Mike Darnell, head of alternative programming on FOX: "I can tell you from the Fox standpoint, the deal was not tough. There were no diva demands. It was a really easy, comfortable deal with both parties."

Kara DioGuardi is Leaving American Idol

After weeks of speculation about whether she will stay or go, Kara DioGuardi is leaving American Idol, Fox announced Friday.

DioGuardi’s move follows the departures of both longtime Idol judge Simon Cowell and new judge Ellen DeGeneres.

“I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave Idol,” said DioGuardi Friday. “I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol — it has truly been an amazing experience.”

The show’s creator and executive producer Simon Fuller said of DioGuardi, who is one of the music world’s most high-profile songwriters, “I will miss having her on the show, but I look forward to working with her in music for many years to come.”

Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are widely rumored to be in the running to be new judges on the show. Other celeb names that have been rumored as possibilities to fill the judges’ table include Shania Twain, Elton John, Chris Isaak and Harry Connick Jr.

Although he was mum about the makeup of the judges panel, producer Nigel Lythgoe, who is back working on American Idol, told People magazine about the next season, “We will be bringing the spotlight back onto the talent and away from the judges. I think that’s really very important, especially when you lose such a superb judge as Simon Cowell. You need to move the spotlight off him very quickly! But in truth, we’ve forgotten that it’s the talent that drives the program at the end of the day.”

American Idol Judges Update: Why No Official Announcement on Steven Tyler?

Dude may look like an American Idol judge, at least according to a number of internet reports that surfaced on Tuesday, so how come there’s been no official announcement that Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will take a seat at the Idol judges’ table when season 10 callback auditions begin filming in mid-September?

Spokespersons at Fox, Idol, and FremantleMedia all declined comment when contacted by Entertainment Weekly, but a source with inside knowledge of the world’s most high-profile job search insists “there’s nothing to announce yet.” In fact, says the insider, Fox execs are hoping they can get the entire panel locked into place, then “make one, big splashy announcement, but they’re not quite there yet.”

So how much longer is the Idolnation expected to hold its collective breath? “If I was the betting type, I’d say there’ll be something official announced by the end of next week. But that can all change at any second,” adds an Entertainment Weekly source. “Still, what’s the rush? This is, what, the third or fourth time media outlets have ‘confirmed’ the Steven Tyler rumor? All this water-cooler buzz isn’t such a bad thing for a show that a lot of pundits would love to try to paint as finished.” Indeed, to paraphrase a classic bit of Monty Python, Idol‘s not dead yet!

One other factor delaying the final announcement about who — and how many — will fill the chairs that were occupied in season 9 by Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and the definitively exiting duo of Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell: The fact that producers consider the chemistry among its roster of judges just as — and perhaps even more — important than individual star wattage. “We’ve seen over the last two years some really great people that have not fit together, as far as I’m concerned,” returning executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said in an interview with EW earlier this month. “Don’t forget, [when Idol first started] we introduced two people you’d never heard of — Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson. It doesn’t always need this [element of], ‘They’ve done this, they’ve done that!’”

And so while Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson have been widely rumored as the clear front-runners for a revamped, three-member panel, at the end of the day, they’re scattered pieces of a very high-profile puzzle, and all of us will have to wait and see if the hands behind the show pick ‘em up and lock ‘em into place.

What do you think of a Tyler-J.Lo-Randy panel? Share your comments below. I am interested in finding out what Idol fans think of this rumored judges panel.

Eliminated Dancer: ‘Anything Can Happen’ on So You Think You Can Dance

Another female contestant said goodbye on So You Think You Can Dance Thursday, and this week the curtain closed for salsa dancer Cristina Santana. With only three girls left and all six boys standing, season 7 is starting to look like a boys club, and the judges couldn’t be more excited for what the competition has to bring.

“I love male dancers unless the girls are just as strong,” Mia Michaels said after the elimination. “We have some strong girls and I want them to step it up.”

Nigel Lythgoe isn’t surprised at all by the show’s current two-to-one ratio. “How many girls have we had win? Two girls out of seven seasons,” he said. “If it’s great dancing, I don’t care. It’s always going to be a boys club unless we have an outstanding girl.”

Joining Santana in the bottom three for a second week in a row was tap dancer Melinda Sullivan and contemporary dancer Robert Roldan.

While last week’s decision to let Alexie Agdeppa go was unanimous, the judges were divided on which of the girls to let go this week, with Lythgoe pulling for Santana to stay and Michaels and Adam Shankman choosing to give Melinda another chance to find a sense of vulnerability and connect with the audience.

“We feel like Melinda grew the most last night because she did something completely out of her genre,” Michaels said of her panel-pleasing performance on Wednesday. “And she was pretty awesome. Other than that dress.” When it came down to making their final decision the judges took everything from the opening number to the individual solos into consideration and both Shankman and Michaels agreed that Santana wasn’t as strong as Sullivan in comparison.

Lythgoe, however, couldn’t have disagreed more. After giving Santana high praise for her paso doble and calling it his favorite performance of the night, he wanted to see more from her throughout the competition. “I think she’s grown across the season,” he said. “And I thought she was fabulous last night.”

While Santana couldn’t deny that Lythgoe’s compliments were flattering, she wasn’t completely surprised she was in the bottom for a second consecutive week. “Anything can happen on this show,” she stated in a recent interview. “I wasn’t expecting not to be in the bottom three. I’m actually pretty happy with what I’ve done, but it’s sad to go home.”

Mia Michaels & Adam Shankman Named 'So You Think You Can Dance' Judges

We all know that the guest judges on 'So You Think You Can Dance' can tango with the best of them, but occasionally, even the most accomplished choreographers want to trade the toe-tapping for a more verbal form of the rumba.

Following the news that former judge Mary Murphy will be ditching the judging table full-time to provide more choreography in season 7 (Murphy will still serve as a guest judge), The Wrap is now reporting that previous guest judge Mia Michaels will be stepping up to fill her spot alongside returning experts Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman.

Michaels first joined the talent contest in 2005 as a contributing choreographer, and has gone on to win two Emmy Awards for her choreography on Celine Dion's 'Calling You' and 'Mercy' TV shows.

"I am extremely happy that Mia and Adam have returned and agreed to be resident judges," show-creator Lythgoe said in a statement. "Mia's outspoken approach combined with Adam's passion will definitely add a fresh new chemistry to the panel."

Michaels' appointment is one of several new shake-ups designed to reinvigorate the franchise. Other adjustments include 10 finalists in competition and only one elimination per week. Competitors are also set to switch partners every week, dancing with one of several 'SYTYCD' all-star dancers, all recognizable former finalists who are skilled in numerous styles of dance. In addition, all performances will now be live.

The all-stars include Stephen "Twitch" Boss, Comfort Fedoke, Courtney Galiano, Anya Garnis, Lauren Gottlieb, Neil Haskell, Allison Holker, Mark Kanemura, Pasha Kovalev, Kathryn McCormick, Ade Obayomi and Dominic "D-trix" Sandoval.

British presenter Cat Deely is returning to host the series, which premieres May 27 on FOX.

So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe: Bringing Back All-Stars for Dance Partners

After previously revealing that Season 7 of "So You Think You Can Dance" will change things up with weekly partner switching, no choosing genres and no Top 20, Nigel Lythgoe finally revealed what ties all these changes together.

"There's going to be a Top 10 that will come out of Vegas. Each week they will only be leaving one at a time, so you should get to know them," Nigel tells us on the conference call. The Top 10 will still be split evenly between male and female dancers.

"We obviously don't have to push them and their partners anymore, so like most shows of this nature you're going to get their back stories and understand who they are."

"They are changing partners every week. We are going to put together a pool of ex-"So You Think You Can Dance" all-stars, some of our favorite dancers form across all six seasons and they will act as a pool of dancers," continues Lythgoe.

"The competitors instead of drawing the genre of dance out of the hat, will draw a photograph of one of the all-stars and that will dictate the genre of dance that they're going to be dancing."

There is going to be a pool of all-stars because they won't know if there are men or women going home each week, so there will be more than 10 all-stars returning. Lythgoe says that in choosing the all-stars, "They had to be dominant in their genre of dance because they are the ones that are going to dictate what the competitors are going to dance ... It's going to nd make the show more exciting."

Some of the returning all-stars include: season 3's Pasha (standard & latin ballroom), season 6's Kathryn (jazz, contemporary, broadway & cultural), aseason 4's Twitch (krump, popping & locking).

For the finale of the show, Nigel says they aren't sure if they are going to have 2 or 3 in the finale. "It depends on if I can do something very, very special, which I can't talk about at this moment in time, on where the finale is placed on FOX's schedule," teases Nigel."This is going to be another huge press release if I get my way on something."

Lythgoe also reveals that Mary Murphy will be both sitting on the panel and will be choreographing this year. Mia Michaels will also be back as well.

You can look for the all-stars to be revealed over the next few weeks on Nigel's Twitter account. This should be an exciting season for SYTYCD!