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.
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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.
Flately -- 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.
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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.
About The Author: John Bracchitta