With the Top 20 officially announced this week, we wrap up this batch of 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 Tyce Diorio, the guy that made Mia Michaels cry last season.

Some way to wrap this series up: I can't find anything much about Tyce Diorio, he who does a lot of Broadway and the occasional contemporary piece in between.  So, I'll try to keep this a bit more straightforward.  More of me not really having a choice.

Before joining So You Think You Can Dance--where he won an Emmy for his Adam and Eve routine from season 4--Tyce was a judge of the TLC reality series Masters of Dance.  You probably wouldn't have noticed, because he was using his real name there: Keith Diorio.  Personally, Tyce still rolls nicely.

Anyway, Tyce was born on August 22, 1970 in Brooklyn, and was already the sort of guy you'd see dancing to anything.  At age 17, he's already appeared on the talent show Star Search, where he held the distinction of being the first in the show's history to come off with a perfect 4-star rating every week.  Unfortunately, I can't find it on YouTube or anywhere else.

He then attended the New York High School of the Performing Arts, after which he moved to Los Angeles and started dancing.  From being a backing dancer to Paula Abdul's Under My Spell tour, he went on to act as a choreographer for artists such as Janet Jackson, Ricky Martin, Celine Dion and Toni Braxton.  He also devised routines for several TV ads and Broadway musicals, most recently the Beach Boys-inspired production Good Vibrations.

And you probably saw him dancing on 13 Going on 30 or Mr. & Mrs. Smith or Starsky & Hutch.

Tyce joined SYTYCD on its first season, initially working on only one routine, before becoming a more prominent choreographer and judge in succeeding seasons.  And then he won an Emmy.  And then he choreographed Katie Holmes' guest appearance on the show.  And then he made Mia Michaels cry with the breast cancer piece last season.


Other pocket guides:
Adam Shankman
Cat Deeley
Nigel Lythgoe
Mary Murphy
Mia Michaels
Wade Robson


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