By John Bracchitta
NBC has announced that Susie Castillo will join professional dancer Michael Flatley as the co-host of Superstars of Dance, a new international dance competition series the network will premiere on Sunday, January 4 at 9PM ET/PT. NBC Superstars of Dance.
Castillo, a former Miss USA, has previously served as a host for ABC Family's America's Prom Queen reality competition as well as MTV's TRL and Big Ten programs. She's also currently appearing in an acting role on TBS' House of Payne sitcom.
Flatley -- the Lord of the Dance star who recently appeared as a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars -- will serve as the host of Superstars of Dance, which will pit skilled dancers of various genres from different countries against each other.
The eight countries currently scheduled to participate in the show are Ireland, India, USA, Argentina, China, Russia, South Africa and Australia. Each team -- which will be comprised of two soloists, one duo and one larger group -- will showcase dances that are "unique to their nation," such as the Shaolin Monks from China, Cossack dancers from Russia and Bhangra dancers from India. Following its two-hour Sunday night debut, Superstars of Dance will air two-hour episodes in its regular Mondays at 8PM ET/PT time period beginning January 5. Its finale is currently scheduled to air January 26 at 8PM ET/PT.
Superstars of Dance, which NBC had ordered under the title Superstar Dancers of the World earlier in November, is being produced by Big Red 2 Entertainment, a new production entity formed by American Idol creator Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, who are executive producing the series.
Lythgoe -- who also co-created Fox's So You Think You Can Dance with Fuller and served as executive producer for American Idol for the show's first seven seasons -- confirmed in August that he would be stepping down as Idol's executive producer to devote his time to both So You Think You Can Dance and also "a new venture with Simon Fuller" -- which turned out to be Superstars of Dance.
New dancing reality TV show "Superstars of Dance", produced by Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller, two masterminds behind "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance", promises to bring in something different. Unlike two other dancing competitions, "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars"which determine their winners through viewers' vote, this NBC's TV show will rely its evaluation on the selected world-class judges. "These are professional dancers; it would be very difficult for someone at home in their living room to pass judgment on the prima ballerina from Russia," host Michael Flatley explains why audiences are not involved. "It's very difficult to see how she might have done her pirouette or how she may have stood en pointe properly. It takes a specialist."
Eight countries; Ireland, India, America, Argentina, China, Russia,South Africa and Australia, are currently scheduled to participate at the show. Each team, consisting of two soloists, one duo and one larger group, is expected to perform their dance styles based on their culture, such as tango from Argentina and classical ballet from Russia.One nation will be crowned as the world's best.
"The most exciting thing about 'Superstars of Dance' is how grand these performances are," co-host Susie Castillo says when spilling the beans on who will come to the competition. "All the dancers are professionals and most have taken time off from touring the world to compete on the show. The Shaolin Monks from China, for example, are on their 'Wheel of Life' tour, and our Irish team is on tour with 'Lord of the Dance.'It's pretty spectacular."
America, meanwhile, will be represented by duo ballet dancer experts Georgia Ambarian and Eric Luna, who have held three world and three U.S. cabaret championship titles. Commenting on their participation at the show, Georgia says,"We're just going to go and perform the best way we can. You can't think of it as a competition. You have to think of it as your personal best."
"Superstars of Dance" will be hosted by Michael Flatley from "The Lord of the Dance" and co-hosted by Susie Castillo from "House of Payne".The TV series will be premiered on NBC January 4, 2009 at 09 - 11 P.M.ET. The following day on January 5 through 19, 2009, it will be aired beginning at 08 - 10 P.M. ET.
