Season 1
So You Think You Can Dance is a South African version of the American dance reality competition created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and produced locally by Rapid Blue which has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big South African dance star.
So You Think You Can Dance premiered on SABC1 on Saturday 9 August 2008, at 18h30. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 1
Season 1 aired on SABC1 from 9 August to 1 November, 2008, on Saturdays at 18h30. Episodes were an hour in length. The half-hour Results Shows were on Tuesdays at 19h00.
The competition came down a final four dancers: Ashley Searle, Elizma Wildschutte, Kim McCusker and Thabiso Lebuka.
In the week preceding the Finale TVSA readers voted for their favourites for the win - the results were as follows:
Ashley - received 11% of the votes
Elizma - 56%
Kim - 5%
Thabiso - 29%
The Finale was broadcast in a live hour-and-a-half special from the Standard Bank Arena on and the season was won by Elizma.
The results were the same as those predicted by TVSA readers with Kim taking fourth position, Ashley third and Thabiso in second place.
The prize: a Cherry car and R190,000.
Series Synopsis
Dancers skilled in everything from ballroom and ballet to salsa and hip-hop compete to be named the best dancer in South Africa.
The show starts with a nationwide casting call where dancers must impress the judges with their moves and routines to survive the auditions. Those who do are invited to a dance 'boot camp' where they're put through their paces by top choreographers.
Only the best 20 move forward to the studio shows where they learn challenging routines and dance their hearts out individually and in pairs to impress the panel of judges and audiences, who play their part by voting.
The winner receives prizes to the value of R250,000.
The show is hosted by Sade Giliberti and the judges are Adele Blank, Harold Van Buuren, Didi Moses, Debbie Rakusin (Season 1) and David Matamela.
Show Format
Producers travel around the country looking for the best dancers at casting sessions in major cities across the nation.
At the casting sessions, each dancer must perform their own routine in front of a panel of judges, who then decide immediately who is good enough to continue.
Those chosen to stay work on a routine as a group, and after a further round of eliminations followed by a choreographed routine with a partner, the final 50 are selected to move on to the Dance Boot Camp.
At the Dance Boot Camp, each of the dancers is put through their paces by 5 choreographers, who take them through a variety of dance styles.
At the end of the camp, the group is immediately cut down, 20 of whom will be chosen to move forward to the studio shows after one-to-one interviews with the choreographers. This group is then cut down to a final 10.
Each studio show is structured the same way. As contestants are eliminated the remaining participants are randomly paired together, and the dances they need to perform the following week are drawn from a hat.
We follow each couple as they learn their routine by a top choreographer, before performing that routine in front of the panel of choreographers, and a live studio audience.
Once all the couples have performed, the panel identify the 3 weakest couples (or in later shows, 2 weakest couples) to go up for elimination by the public who vote for their favourites to stay.
Each dancer has an opportunity to encourage voters to keep them in the competition by dancing a solo routine for 45 seconds immediately before the phone lines are opened.
Each week, one guy and one girl is eliminated until only 4 dancers remain.
After performing for the last time, all 4 dancers are put to the public vote and it is the public who decide the final winner.
Auditions
These were the audition dates and venues for So You Think You Can Dance South Africa:
Johannesburg
Dates: Friday, 27 and Saturday, 28 June
Venue: University of Johannesburg Arts Centre, Auckland Park campus
Durban
Date: Sunday, 13 July
Venue: The B.A.T. Centre
Cape Town
Date: Saturday, 19 July
Venue: 14 Hope Street
Port Elizabeth
Date: Wednesday, 30 July
Venue: The PE Opera House
Related Articles
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Meet The Judges Of So You Think You Can Dance SA
Casting Call: So You Think You Can Dance
SABC1 Scoops SA Version Of So You Think You Can Dance!
Must-See! SYTYCD SA
SYTYCD Dancer Rushed To Hospital (Updated)
Blaze Eliminated From SYTYCD SA
Special Features
Spotlight On The Judges
Contestant Q&A's
TVSA Interview: Elizma Wildschutte
Week 1 Live Show
SYTYCD: SA Show Of The Year!
Week 2 Live Show and Results
So This 18 Think They Can Dance: Gallery of the 2nd Live Show
The Launch Of TVSA's Very Own Beat
Another Two Tango Out
Week 3 Results
Tamara Can't Save Herself
Week 4 Results
Eliminated: Louisa & Katlego
Week 5 Results
Taekwondo Should Have Gone
Week 6 Results
Harold Rages As Megan Is Axed
Week 7 Results
Tears For Lee And Darren
Week 8 Results
SA's Fave Four Dancers
Finale
Elizma Wins So You Think You Can Dance SA!
Winners
Season 1: Elizma Widschutte
Season 2: Lulu Mlangeni
Season 3: Sibahle Tshibika
Seasons
Series exclusive to SABC1
Season 1
Premiere: 9 August 2008 | Finale: 1 November 2008 | Sat, 18h30 / Tue, 19h00
Season 2
Premiere: 24 July 2010 | Finale: 16 October 2010 | Sat, 18h30 / Wed, 18h30
Season 3
Premiere: 17 August 2013 | Finale: 9 November 2013 | Sat, 18h30 / Mon, 19h00