Voting FAQ’s for So You Think You Can Dance
How do I vote?
Each contestant will be assigned a toll-free telephone number during the performance show. However, during the first 5 weeks of voting (starting Wednesday, June 10, 2009), contestants will perform as couples and each dance couple will be assigned a toll-free telephone number during those performance shows. To vote, simply watch “So You Think You Can Dance” on FOX each week (see local listings for times in your area) and dial the telephone number of the contestant(s) for whom you wish to vote. Voting will open at the end of each performance show. DO NOT call before the end of the show as the lines will not be open. Results of the vote will be revealed in the results shows that will also air on FOX each week (see local listings for details). Rules and procedures are subject to change at producers’ discretion without notice.
Who can vote?
Anyone calling from within the continental US, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands can cast their vote for “So You Think You Can Dance”.
When can I vote?
Voting for “So You Think You Can Dance” opens at the end of the performance show each week (see local listings for times in your area) and stays open for at least 2 hours, subject to time zone restrictions. Outside of these times, the toll-free lines will play a busy signal and your call will not count as a vote.
Is it true that some people can cast votes outside of the 2 hour window after the show?
No, this is not true. As part of the process to ensure that the “So You Think You Can Dance” voting system is accurate and ready for the public to call and vote, a test window is built into the toll-free system for the morning of each vote show. During this test window, anyone calling the toll-free numbers from a phone with a West Coast area code will hear the ‘thanks for voting’ message. This vote window is for testing purposes only and any calls received during this time do not count as valid votes. Your votes will only count if you call during your valid 2 hour vote window after the performance show, subject to time zone limitations. Outside of these hours, votes will not count, even if you hear the ‘thanks for voting’ message.
How much does it cost to vote?
Telephone calls to the “So You Think You Can Dance” voting lines are toll-free so you will not be charged to vote. If you use a cell phone to call, airtime and applicable roaming and long distance charges will apply.
Can I vote by using my cell phone?
Yes, you can vote using your cell phone, although airtime and applicable roaming and long distance charges will apply to toll-free numbers from cell phones. Contact your cell phone service provider if you want to know how much you will be charged.
If you are calling from a cell phone and you are in a different time zone from your cell phone number, the system will accept or reject your vote based on the time zone of your cell phone area code. For example, if you have a New York cell phone area code but are calling from Los Angeles, you will be voting outside the East Coast voting window and your vote will not be accepted. Try calling again from a land line telephone during the West Coast voting window.
Text message voting is not available for “So You Think You Can Dance”.
I couldn’t get through to the lines or all I get is a busy signal when I call – why?
Although the telephone network is designed to handle huge volumes of calls simultaneously, there may be times (particularly just after the show) when it will not be able to handle every single call due to the sheer volume. If you are calling during your voting window but can’t get through to cast your vote, be patient and try again.
If you hear the fast busy signal, it may be that you are calling outside of the voting window. When your voting window closes, lines will switch from a ‘thank you for voting’ message to a fast busy signal.
If you are sure you are calling within your voting window but still can’t get through, it may be that your local phone company has been flooded with calls. Try waiting a few minutes before calling again. If you still have problems, contact your local phone company.
If you are calling from a cell phone with an area code that is in a different time zone from that in which you are calling, the system will accept or reject your vote based on the time zone of your cell phone’s area code. For example, if you have a New York cell phone area code but are calling from Los Angeles, you will be voting outside the East Coast voting window and your vote will not be accepted. Try calling again from a land line telephone during the West Coast voting window.
Can I vote if I subscribe to a digital phone service or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service?
Yes, you can vote if you subscribe to some digital or internet-based phone systems, such as Vonage or Skype. However, note that digital phone and VOIP services often re-route outgoing calls to a different geographical location from which the call is being made. As a result, you may only be able to vote in the voting window to which your call has been re-routed. If you are trying to vote in the regular voting window for your region and your call is re-routed outside of your region by your service provider, you will not be able to vote (instead, you will hear a fast busy signal). However, you still have the availability to vote during the other voting window. For further information, contact your digital phone or VOIP service provider.
When I called one of the toll-free lines, I heard the wrong dancer’s (or couple’s) number – why?
All lines for “So You Think You Can Dance” are tested before going on-air to make sure the lines work properly and are playing out the correct audio. If you call and hear the wrong contestant’s number (or dance couple’s number), it’s possible you accidentally misdialed, so check the number and dial again.
What will I hear if I call the toll-free numbers?
Voting begins at the end of the performance show when ALL of the contestants have performed – if you call before then, you will hear a busy signal and your vote will NOT count.
At the end of the performance show each week, phone lines will be opened and voting can begin. Voting lasts for at least 2 hours, subject to local time zone restrictions, from the end of the show and during that time you will hear a pre-recorded message thanking you for voting for your chosen contestant(s). Each contestant (or dance couple, during the first 5 weeks of voting) will have their own number read/shown on air, and the phone message will confirm for whom you have voted. After the voting window closes, no more votes will be accepted and lines will play out a busy signal.
When I called, I was told to call a “900” number – isn’t “So You Think You Can Dance” voting toll-free?
If you call to vote for your favorite “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant(s) and hear a message to call a “900″ number, or if you hear anything other than ‘thanks for voting’, you have misdialed. Do not call this “900″ number to vote as “900″ numbers are not connected to “So You Think You Can Dance” voting. Please try the “So You Think You Can Dance” toll-free numbers again, dialing carefully.
How do I know my vote has been counted?
Your vote will count if you vote during your valid voting window and hear the ‘thanks for voting’ message. If you do not hear a pre-recorded message thanking you for voting, your vote did not count.
How do I find out the results?
“So You Think You Can Dance” will air a performance show Wednesdays on FOX each week (see your local listings for show times) and the results of each vote will be revealed in the results show on FOX each Thursday (see local listings for details). So make sure you don’t miss a single minute of the two shows each week if you want to see how your vote affected the results!
What’s being done about power dialing?
Production will have in place weekly monitoring procedures designed to prevent individuals from unfairly influencing the outcome of the voting by generating significant blocks of votes using technical enhancements. The producers reserve the right to remove any identified ‘power dialing’ votes.
Why can’t I vote by the toll-free numbers using a payphone?
Votes from payphones will be blocked. To vote for your favorite contestant(s), use a standard land line telephone or cell phone. If you use a cell phone to call, airtime and applicable roaming and long distance charges will apply.
Why can’t I vote on the Internet?
Only toll-free phone voting is available for “So You Think You Can Dance”.
62 Comments | Add Yours




62 Responses to “Voting FAQ’s for So You Think You Can Dance”
How do I get tickets to watch the show in Las Vegas?
I voted for during season and I plan to do so this season.
However this year I got into Dancing with the Stars, and I really enjoyed the ease of voting online. Will SYTYCD move forward with online voting by next season?
I love the show. Either on the show, or better yet, on this website, it would be great to see a little follow-up on Top 20 contestants from prvious years, just to see what they are doing with their careers and how their work on “So You Think You Can Dance” has propelled them to new opportunities. I’m especially interested in those who may not have been in the top 2 or 3. Did the show make a difference in their careers? If so, where did they go? What are they doing now?
ok
it’s a pity, i love the show and would have loved to be able to vote (live outside USA)
We are under severe weather and the show has be preempted by the news station to tell us the same weather updates every other minute. Please add voting online, or put the contestants numbers online so we can vote for our favorites. This storm is affecting the Dallas metroplex, and that, I am sure, is thousands of votes not getting cast tonight because we cannot see the show.
Please add online so we are not unfairly blocked by hyper-vigilance in reporting the weather–or other issues that may occur.If we could at least access dancers numbers, then we could vote!
I love Dancing with the Stars and vote online. I would love it if you would make it possible to vote online for So You Think You Can Dance. Love the show and well vote if I can get through right away, otherwise won’t vote.
I wish that I can vote on line and not use my phone. I would vote more.
Does this mean we cannot vote multiple times if we have a regular phone? Or does this mean if you have some sort of technology that can place 100 votes at the same time, those are the votes that are not counted?
I would love to vote online… dancing with the stars has that available as well as the phone votes. For some of us that use dvrs and tivo and cant watch the show when it comes on it actually lets us vote past that two hours after the show limit.
How many times can each phone number vote?
I wanted to vote online …
It would be nice if voting was available online. I thought the numbers where 1-888-tempest and the number of the dancers but when I called I got another number. Could you at least post the main number and then we can just add the dancer numbers to that.
And how many votes per dancer are allowed…is it one per phone number or more like Celebrity Dance or American Idol?
I agree with the other comments about being able to vote online. Often I watch the show after the two hour window & would love to still be able to vote. I think the easier it is to vote, the more accurate the vote will be. As it is now there are many people that would vote but do not because they have missed the window or did not want to have to keep dialing to get through, etc. Please allow online voting!
We had severe weather tonight, and pretty much weather bulletins took up the whole show.
Please replay it or put it online so those of us who love the show don’t miss the first episode and awesome dances I am sure there were.
Why aren’t the show’s episodes available to watch on the internet? I love watching the dancers, even if it is after the voting period has expired. If, for some reason, I have missed an episode, I would still like to be able to watch the show. Please put the episodes on line!
Love the show but have to record it and watch the following day. I wish online voting was available for people like me.
Ir’s called Text Message Voting…every other show is doing it…join the trend.
i don’t care if you can vote online because i love the show anyway!!!!!
In many competitions, opinions is what it boils down to at times. Unfortunately tonight the judges showed their opinions are favored by non-dance elements. Tonight the judges got rid of a girl with some technique and kept the girl that danced like she was pole dancing, in her bra and did absolutely no dancing at all.
This is the first season they are allowing voting, so I’m sure in time they’ll expand to include internet voting. I agree, they should have the numbers posted online so people who might miss it can still vote (i.e. due to weather bulletins).
It would be great if the producers of American TV shows stopped insulting their viewers north of the border and let us vote. We watch all the same commercials and buy the same products as Americans. Our dollars not good enough?
i wish we could vote online!!!! it would be so easy
I wish that they would extend the voting time to maybe 5hours past showtime. I work second shift and don’t get home until almost midnight CST. Even though I’ve followed the show since the beginning, I’ve never been able to vote for my favs.
Also, I agree w/a previous poster. It would be nice to have updates on previous contestants. The fans get so attached and want to know how they’re doing and if the show helped jump-start their careers, etc.
Thanks for putting together such a great show! I look forward to it every season and am amazed by the talent of the contestants. I love dance but unfortunately have 2 left feet! I find the performances so moving.
Please Please Please Get rid of “little c” as a judge. His comments are just ridiculous. In trying to sound intelligent he ends up sounding like an ignorant, ill informed, lame, uneducated arogant moron. I really love the show but I honestly wanted to turn the channel this week because of his distraction
THE HOST NEED TO GET RID (TRASH) THE RED DRESS…
I love this show!!!! I was a member of WGI (Alliance of Miami ‘91)–Ask Mia about Winter Guard International!!! I have since been a trainer and show designer. SHANE SPARKS IS SIMPLY A BAD CHOREOGRAPHER! he my have some “good” pieces, but tonight totally made me feel sooo bad for the dancers that had to perform his steps
Compared to the talent that SYTYCD brings to the public, Shane’s pieces fell VERY short—sorry
What does “buck” mean?
Can someone please tell me the name of the song that contestants number 05 danced to on tonight’s show (June 17 2009) it was a really slow song and the girl was wearing a light blue dress and his suit matched
I CAN’T HANDLE THE DAMN CAMERA ANGLES!!!!!! let the dancers make the show, not the damn cameramen! its so hard to follow the actual dancing when i’m getting motion sickness from the damn cameras!! aaarrrgh
Hey – at least this year – FINALLY- they stopped putting the camera on the JUDGES DURING the DANCE!
It only took 4 seasons to stop that ridiculousness………..
This is my favorite show; I literally await its return each year. I like the format, especially as it’s respectful & honest, not pandering to the freak show meanness of Idol, but giving folks useful feedback. (Whether they absorb or repel it!) Seeing such variety & facility has taught my ignorant self to appreciate far more than I’d been exposed to before, & I’m really grateful.
I agree with lots above: online voting; handles more volume than phones, no extra cost for cell users, allows international involvement, no more duplicable than multiple cell phones. (Being fairly broke, over the years I’ve never voted because no one has specifically pointed out voting’s toll-free!)
I kinda like ol’ Liddle C ~ man makes sense ta me!
Camera people are trying to gild the lily with Ahtistic angle action- I am trying to watch the dancers.
I so wish old dances were online…Bad enough I’m on dial-up & wld have to download over extended time to enjoy them, but far better than seen just once & gone.
There is something re the choreographers’ occasional creative strike-outs. Some routines are dreadful & drag those poor dancers who can’t yet transcend the design down down down into the public opinion quagmire… Brut. There needs to be another call-up # for comments re the designers, yes? This way there’s a counter-sway built in for sand-bagged dancers, like the huge weights in skyscrapers that help resist winds. (Hope that image gets thru to alla yous!)
Great work: great vision; great fun, & a wonderful chance for so many self- & professionally schooled talents! thank you all ~ Kate
I like this show, it’s a great entertainment for me.
I would like to move on…
I wish we could vote online like we can for Dancing With The Stars… It would make everything so much easier and we could keep track of voting and our favorites.
I have DISH on my tv & last season if I pushed the “info” button while watching the show it listed Joshua & then he won. Now when I push the info button during the show it lists Kapono’s name……..does that mean he’s going to be the winner? If he does win then that obviously means that our votes count for nothing.
Please tell my I’m wrong!
Why don’t they put the 888 number on the site? That would be nice if you forgot the number but knew which couples you were going to vote for.
1-888-TEMPO-01/02/03/04
1-888-83676-01/02/03
i think phillip chbeeb is just awesome and i dont care if he cant really do ballroom i love his hip hop hes just awesome
and america loves him and jeanine and even though they sucked on that one ballroom dance
but i got mad when nigel said were just not gonna like you when america is
keeping you here but your not bringing anything to the table.
but nigel needs to remember that this show is to find americas favorite dancer
not americas best dancer.
I’m deaf and can’t use the toll-free number without using relay which is a huge hassle. Perhaps you can set up online voting for equal access! And I can finally vote for my favorite dancers.
Is there a limit to how many times you can vote? I know other reality competition shows have had a limit for voting.
I sooo agree with the entry by “Kate” on June 21 !! I know choreography can sometimes make or break a dancer. Unfortunately, except for Tice, most judges “dance” around a piece of bad choreography because they know each other. When the dancers are performing as directed by their choreographer, and the CHOREOGRAPHY is bad, the judges must be honest with the audience because the dancers get hurt for it. ALSO…If a costume or hair or a prop is awful…don’t throw it at the DANCERS!! Any comment, or glance, nuance, etc effects the voting. I have seen someone carry on and on over a costume that the dancers were just given. I bet a lot of young voters think that is part of the criteria for the dancers! All in all, the judging is more positive this year and rotating the 3rd judge seat is great. However, the judges should treat all dancers fairly and not have their “favorites” or predestined “top 10″ at the start of a season. This show is brilliant for what it teaches all ages. We need more showcases for dance, acting, musical theater…are you listening Nigel?
I would like to see a listing of contestants and the numbers beginning when the voting opens, if voting is not to be available online. I always seem to miss which numbers are assigned and therefore do not end up voting at all. It would make it much easier to see the assigned numbers posted with the dancers on the website so you can be sure you are voting correctly. Thanks.
America got it wrong in voting off Jason & Jeanette! I’m very skeptical that the voting accurately reflected a fair vote — one person, one vote! In this situation, it should be one phone number, one vote. With speed dialing, one phone number can easily connect (vote) over 1,000 times in the two hour voting window. I probably won’t watch any more shows given the lack of assurances of fair voting!
Sad to see the best dancer of the season voted out: Jeanette. Sad to see the production of the show let the breast cancer routine compete in an elimination show. Come on guys, this is a “for sure vote”. In this case people voted for the good cause that it is the fight against breast cancer, not for the real talent of the competitors. Maybe something to think about for future seasons. Also, I strongly believe the American public should not decide on who stays and who goes. It’s OK to use the public vote to find who the button 2 dancers are but it should be the judges deciding and saying the last word. Very, very disappointed about today’s results
Every week one guy and one girl get voted out of the running however in the end only one dancer stands. The top four girls maybe better than the top four guys. If the show works on partnerships why is not two dancers that take away the title. The show should not come down to one dancer but a top girl and a top guy!
get on line voting! Let us vote for the top two dancers male and female!
Hey! I can’t get through to vote for Evan. When I dial 866-TEMPO-06, I get a recording for a conference reservation hotline. I don’t want him to lose votes because of this problem.
Never mind. I realized I should be dialing “888.” I agree with Apres from July 1st.
How many time can one person vote on the same cell phone? And how many will count?
I think they should let u also vote online not just anybody can afford to us their cell phone or a regular phone hello does that mean poor ppl shouldn’t have a say so in this vote, I think its ignorant to the ppl who can’t vote based on their poorness, basically a million dollar show can’t make it easier for ppl to vote, just ignorant really… Love the show but hate the voting ways, at least on big brother which is as big as this show lets u vote on this show, grr..
I agree totally with D hay’s comment. Its partner performances all along and then only a single winner. It should be one girl and one guy!!!
i love the show, but would like to be able to vote online. I can’t call to vote so all i can say is… GOOO EVAN!
I came to vote; wish you could do this online. I love the show and watch but do not write down the contestant numbers. I can’t find them on this site even if I wanted to call. Such a shame … it will be a difficult choice this year. All are so good!
I want to vote for Kayla but i keep getting a busy signal when i call! Somebody PLEASE vote for me!!!
What is the number to vote and what are each dancers number?
I watched the show tonight but missed the numbers to call cause I was taking care of my kids. I wish there was a way to vote online or at least the numbers of the dancers listed online for those of us that miss the numbers for our favorite dancers. I’d vote a lot more if voting was available online!
Maria, the numbers are 1 888 tempo 01 brandan, 02 Janine, 03 Evan, and 04 for Kayla.
Last night, I could not get through for two hours during the vote time! If you want people to vote, install more phone lines!
Really need online voting…..Please
If the judges think Evan is so untalented, they should not have allowed him in the top 20. I understand giving critiques to make dancers better. On the last performance show, what’s the purpose of nit picking someone? Shouldn’t it be a celebration of the top 4 dancers? Point out their good qualities and let the public decide who gets the title. They just make themselves look petty and overly critical, like they are going to be so disappointed if Evan wins. Yet that’s the way they set up the show to work. WE get to decide, not them.
I think Brandon should have won and since he didn’t I done with this show.
There need to be a number to call when one of the contestant lines goes down. Brandon line went down in my area on the East coast just after 10:30 pm. I am not talking about a busy signal, but a message letting you know that the line is down! Which resulted in him losing 1 and 1/2 hours of voting time. There need to be a way for the network to monitor live voting and know when a line for one of their contestant have been shutdown. Or provide the caller with a number to inform the network what is going on.
There is no doubt in my mind, that if Brandon’s voting line had not been shut down, he would have won by a land slide!
I voted for Russell on SYTYCD, and half of the calls I made (on auto redial) I got the message, “This call cannot be completed as dialed.” This has never happened before. Usually, I would simply get a busy signal. I sure hope he wasn’t cheated out of votes b/c the line wasn’t working properly.