We continue with these little pieces on the personalities that form a huge chunk of So You Think You Can Dance: the judges, the choreographers, and of course, the host.  This time, it's Nigel Lythgoe: executive producer, permanent judge, and creepy uncle wannabe.

For the once uninitiated like me, I always wonder what exactly Nigel Lythgoe is doing on a show like So You Think You Can Dance.  Wasn't he the guy who used to be executive producer of American Idol?  Dance is critiqued in a totally different way from song!  You know, comments of that sort.  Here's something I didn't know: it's dance where he got started.
The older Brits might recognize Nigel as member of the Young Generation, a dance troupe that performed in many shows on BBC programs.  He joined the group in 1969, and back then it was perhaps the biggest thing in his life.  Born in Lancashire, England on July 9, 1949, he took an interest in dance at age 10, later training in ballet, jazz and ballroom, among others.  He performed with the Corps de Ballet during his youth, before joining Young Generation.  He eventually became the group's choreographer.  Oh, and that's where he met his now former wife, Bonnie Lythgoe, who also was a judge on the first season of SYTYCD.

Nigel worked as a dancer choreographer for most of the 70s and 80s, working with the likes of Shirley Bassey, Gene Kelly and the Muppets.  By some twist of fate, he found himself working in the television industry, eventually holding a top position at the now-defunct broadcaster London Weekend Television.

But it was in 2000 when the world would finally know who Nigel is.  While on holiday, he saw the Australian version of the talent show Popstars, which began in New Zealand in 1999.  He brought the show to the United Kingdom, where it became a really huge success.  Well, the show only lasted two seasons--the last of which brought us Girls Aloud, which brought us Cheryl Cole, which, if you might remember, was one of the names floated as Paula Abdul's replacement on American Idol--but its impact is undeniable.  Simon Fuller calls Popstars his inspiration for Pop Idol, which eventually gave birth to American Idol.

It was also Nigel who started the line of the "mean judge" that Simon Cowell popularized.  He was a judge on Popstars--by accident, since the supposed judge, music mogul Jonathan King, was found guilty of sexual offenses and was to serve a prison term--and the press called him "Nasty Nigel" because of his really nasty comments.  Too bad I can't find a clip of him on YouTube, but apparently he told told Kim Walsh, a contestant who was gaining weight, that "Christmas has gone but the goose is still fat".  She cried on screen, tabloids pounced on it, and ratings went up.

Nigel found his way to the Idol franchise in 2002, when Simon Fuller invited him to 19 Entertainment.  By then Popstars was already over, and Pop Idol--which he helped create--would start a string of successful talent shows, or as he calls it, "factual entertainment".  If not for allegations that it was a second-rate copy of Popstars, he would be a judge on there, too, and Simon Cowell wouldn't probably be as famous as he is now.  That's how he ended up as American Idol executive producer, a post he will hold until 2008, when he focused full-time on SYTYCD.  Right then and there, he stopped being nasty, and started being, uhh, creepy.


Other pocket guides:
Adam Shankman
Cat Deeley


- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of WENN)