The judges of “So You Think You Can Dance” just might send a Denver finalist to the competition. After callback auditions Friday at the Colorado Convention Center, the judges pronounced the Denver contenders “quiet,” “safe” and “disappointing,” with the exception of one young man.
“We got him,” said judge Mary Murphy.
She declined to name names, but several of the dancers thought they knew which contemporary male dancer jumped out. Is it possible Chase Everett of Denver was the one who emerged as a contender? We’ll see.
Creator-producer Nigel Lythgoe said the Denver auditions produced lots of good social dancers, but overall a rather “narrowcast” group, lacking training and focus.
He has wanted to return to Denver to cast one of his series ever since trolling here for his creation “American Idol” a couple of years ago.
Asked about his TV alma mater, the 800-pound gorilla of TV, Lyth- goe disapproves of the way “Idol” has been changed up this season, giving judges veto power.
“We’ve discussed it for years and I’ve never liked giving the veto to the judges. The American public is going to make mistakes — they do send Daughtry home, they do send Tamyra Gray from Season 1 home — but that’s part and parcel of the show.”
The way the producers presented the new rules, however, “it almost seemed America had demanded it. That was very clever,” he said.
He isn’t strictly opposed to adding a fourth judge, but “we forget it’s not about the judges.”
And while his global dance contest early this year, “Superstars of Dance,” was a critical and ratings misfire, Lythgoe defends its worth.
“We had six weeks to pull that together. It was only thanks to the U.S. immigration department that we got it on.” He’d like to try a European version.
Ultimately, he succeeded in getting 7.5 million viewers to watch a ballerina, Maria Kochetkova of the San Francisco Ballet. “I’m very happy to have achieved that.”
Crank it to the west.
The Rocky Mountain PBS translator on Horsetooth Mountain in Fort Collins is now working. The translator rebroadcasts KRMA digital channels so viewers will see 6-1, 6-2 or 6-3 once they rescan their receivers and point outside antennas westward.
Those channels reflect the switch to digital, and vary depending where you live. For Denver and the Front Range, 6-1 is RMPBS, 6-2 is V-me (Spanish), 6-3 is Create (cooking, gardening, crafts). On Comcast, V-me is channel 245, PBS Kids Sprout is 119, and RMPBS is 658, or plain old 6.
George tweets.
At 10 a.m. today, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos plans to try something new: He’s conducting an interview via Twitter with Sen. John McCain. “So, if you have any suggested questions for me to ask Sen. McCain — in 140 characters or less — ‘twitter’ me!” Stephanopoulos e-mailed.
Jazz critic on-air.
Norman Provizer will post his Jazz Notes column on KUVO’s website (www.kuvo.org) every Thursday. The former longtime jazz critic for the Rocky Mountain News, a voter in the annual Down Beat Critics Poll and a voting member for the Grammy Awards, will also be on the air Thursday mornings at 9:40, with Susan Gatschet Reese, on KUVO (89.3 FM).
KHOW switch.
KHOW (630 AM) hosts Tom Martino and Glenn Beck will trade time slots beginning March 30. Beck’s program will air 9 a.m.-noon weekdays. “Troubleshooter” Tom Martino will air noon-3 p.m.
Denver dodge ball.
At 8 tonight the Western Alternative Sports Association will be featured on the Discovery Channel show “Wreckreation Nation With Dave Mordal,” featuring a dodge ball event held at the Pepsi Center in January.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
