Nigel Lythgoe, aka Nasty Nigel

Nigel Lythgoe made a bold promise this year, to not be so mean on So You Think You Can Dance, the show he created, produces, and also serves as judge for. That's a lot coming from the man that earned the moniker "Nasty Nigel." So far, he doesn't seem like he's doing so well with this promise. Maybe it's just part of who he is, like with Simon Cowell.

It appears Nigel has never done what was expected of him, though. His longshoreman father was in heavy disagreement with him, but Nigel, even as a child, did what he wanted to do. Against his father's wishes, he became a childhood dancer, and at the tender age of 20, danced and also served as choreographer for the Young Generation dance troupe on the BBC. This led to a choreography stint on The Muppet Show, which went so well for Nigel, he became the floor director.

Sticking with television, as opposed to his love of dancing, Nigel became the head of Entertainment and Comedy at London Weekend Television, with two of his bigger projects being Gladiator and Blind Date, both of which he also produced. He left London Weekend Television and made his foray into reality television as the executive producer of the UK version of Survivor.

The reality TV interest brought Nigel to the attention of Simon Fuller and had him joining 19 Entertainment. He was the executive producer as well as judge on Popstars, a show with franchises in many different countries. It was this limited success they drew on to create Pop Idol, a show with young people competing for the title of Pop Idol, which had Nigel once again producing, but not fulfilling the "Nasty Nigel" role, as that nasty judge role was being filled by Simon Cowell. When the show was recreated again in the United States under the name American Idol, Nigel was once again filling the role as execute producer, and Simon Cowell was once again a judge.

Fox had such extreme success with American Idol, Nigel was named president of 19 Entertainment, and created a show somewhat similar to the popular formula of the Idol shows, but with dancing instead, a way for him to return to his old love. So You Think You Can Dance is now in its third season with Nigel as creator, executive producer, and judge, once again returning to the "Nasty Nige" label placed on him.

This season, Nigel says he made a promise to himself to no longer be mean to the contestants and has mentioned it in just about every night of the auditions. In New York City, when fellow judge Mary Murphy told Tiffany Green she felt a sense of desperation watching her audition, Nigel blurted out that was just them watching it. He definitely went too far when he told Melissa Browne she'd be great for the dancing part on Ugly Betty. We all love Ugly Betty, but I don't think that was what Nigel meant.

When he did make an honest attempt at letting the auditioners down easy, by telling Janet Dejosia that her technique isn't where it should be if she is teaching young kids, she told him it was a nice try at not being mean. Something tells me, though, she's the type to not understand construction criticism. It could be his reputation preceding him, as even when he tried to be firm, telling David "Sex" Soller that he would never be a dancer, after putting up with his strange auditions for two years in a row, Sex's mother then stepped up to verbally attack Nigel, telling him he can't treat her son that way. He really wasn't being disrespectful to him, but in the end, Nigel had no choice but to tell both mother and son to never grace his stage again.

The ultimate in nastiness was reached in the Los Angeles auditions. Ernie "E.J." Sierra, auditioned with a somewhat effeminate lyrical dance that just wasn't good enough overall, yet he was entertaining and did some fantastic moves like jumping down into the American splits. In an attempt to admonish the audience which consisted of dancers waiting to go onstage, Nigel insulted E.J. a great deal. The audience had given E.J. noticeable applause, and Nigel told him not to pay any attention to them, as they were only applauding for him because he was fat and could move, and they weren't applauding because he was a good dancer. The fact was the audience were all quoted as saying they thought Nigel was mean and they really did like E.J.

In these auditions, he also told Mary the reason why one guy was wearing a mask was that other people wouldn't recognize him, and told another girl she is lying to herself to say she is a good dancer and she should go do something else with her life. It's definitely "mean" and the question then becomes can he really not help it or is this just good TV?

Simon Cowell fell under some criticism this season on American Idol for making a very harsh comment, well, harsh for him. He's considered to be just as mean as Nigel, if not worse. He made some mean-spirited comments to two auditioners in Seattle and fell under fire because one was attacking the looks of the one of the guys, by calling him a "bush baby." It turned out one of the guys was in the Special Olympics, so people complained that Simon should have been a little nicer to him because of that. Even Special Olympics came back and said they didn't expect any of the people that compete with them to be treated any differently.

It seems they're just trying to make good TV. There's a reason Simon is paid the big bucks. He's good, and he's right. And most people that enjoy the show agree that he makes the show. The same has to follow for Nigel. This is a show he created, a format he's very familiar with, and in all incarnations of the formula, there's always a "nasty" or "mean" judge. It's not an accident; it has to be purposeful that the shows wants someone mean. They want the show at some aspect to be about the bad contestants being degraded. After Nigel insulted E.J., and the audience said he was wrong, why didn't they cut that in editing? Because they want us to see him promising to not be mean, but not being able to help himself.

And we have to look at ourselves a little bit. In a way, may be a small way, but in some way, we enjoy it at least a little. In the same way we slow down to look at a traffic accident, we enjoy it. We all say it was mean, yet we keep watching it, and we laugh at the really bad auditions. And many times, the things Nigel and Simon are saying are the things we're thinking in our heads. There has to be some type of degradation in the critique, otherwise it wouldn't be fun to watch, if it was bad auditions and people being really nice to them. It's entertainment. And if Nigel is an executive producer and judge, he's saying he's going to be mean, even though he has no intention of stopping, because he knows it's part of the whole schtick.

You can contact me at LauraBelle@realityshack.com

For more information on So You Think You Can Dance, see Reality Shack or SirLinksalot: So You Think You Can Dance.