Judges Vanessa Hudgens, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe opened up to ET about the dancing competition show’s ability to constantly raise the bar when it comes to sensational dancing and touching storytelling.
Who’s ready to dance?!
So You Think You Can Dance is returning to Fox on June 4 for its fifteenth season, and judges Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Vanessa Hudgens have promised it’ll be a riveting ride full of sensational dancing and touching storytelling.
ET has your exclusive first-look at the colorful key art, which features all-star dancers Robert Roldan and Gaby Diaz showing off their flexibility and seriously en pointe technique. Their bodies, covered in splashes of rainbow hues, are fit, fabulous and ready to shine as they demonstrate challenging leaps mid-air. We imagine we’ll see hopeful contestants tackle a lot of these impressive moves throughout the upcoming episodes.
Since its initial debut 13 years ago, the high-energy competition show has maintained steady momentum because it always delivers on its promise to entertain and move fans in a special way. Lythgoe, the executive producer and the only permanent judge who’s appeared every season, insists they’re pushing the envelope yet again.
“We’re bringing together a lot of new, young dancers... You just go, ‘Wow, where did this come from? Or, ‘What made you think about doing that?’” he told ET during the Los Angeles auditions last month. “We’ve seen so many, what we call, ‘signature moves,’ where we’ve never seen that sort of move before and that’s what I find so exciting.”
Mary Murphy, an acclaimed ballroom dance champion herself who’s returning to the judges’ panel this season, marveled at how the show continues to leave her in awe.
She gushed, “I just get all fired up, still, it’s like the first year, like no time has passed. I get so excited to see who’s going to surprise me, who’s going to make me scream bloody murder, and somebody will!”
Vanessa Hudgens, who has been singing, dancing and acting her way into our hearts for over a decade, joined SYTYCD as a judge last season. Similar to fans who are thrilled to have her vivacious energy on the show again, the 29-year-old triple threat couldn’t be more excited to return.
“It was definitely an easy ‘yes,’” she said, smiling, when asked about her decision to come back. “I had the best time last season, so the fact that they wanted me back, I was very honored.”
“I just I know what it feels like to start from nowhere. I grew up without a lot, and had to work my way up there and at the end of the day, it did come down to my hard work and perseverance but also someone giving me a chance,” Hudgens explained. “The fact that I get to be a person to give these guys a chance, well, my heart kinda melts.”
So You Think You Can Dance returns Monday, June 4 on Fox.