Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Emmy-winning choreographer Mia Michaels, who has become a huge part of "So You Think You Can Dance," left fans clutching their leg warmers for comfort when recently announcing her departure from the popular show. While it's hard to imagine not getting to watch the gritty yet elegant movements mustered up in Mia land and brought to life through contemporary dancing, she tells us she had to be true to herself as an artist.

"It's been five years since I started the show and it came to a point where not only was I getting opportunities to do my own shows, but I just felt like it was time," she says of leaving. "When you're an artist, when you get comfortable, it's kind of a wrap at that point. You have to stay challenged and on fire. It's the only way to keep growing as an artist. I'm very, very excited about my future and what I'm going to be moving into. It's not to say I'm not going to go back and be a guest on the show. It's a family. There's a lot of love there."

Michaels, who is currently taking some time to nurse a bad back, tells us people won't have time to miss her. "I'm in development right now on three new shows of my own. One of them is linked to a live stage show that will tour. It's like the making of the show and everything that goes into it, and who I am when I create. It will not be about the dance steps. It's not the glossy surface part of dance. It's the meat and potatoes of what dance is to me," explains Michaels, who is also working on a clothing line and writing a book.

"The book that I want to do first talks about my inspirations for every single piece on 'SYTYCD.' You really, really understand that piece. I also write poetry so it's going to include that as well as photographs," she adds. "In the long run, I know that everyone will be happy because I'm expanding myself and I'm going to be back on television doing what I do and being Mia. People will get to see my work and my creative process probably more in depth now more than ever."

FLYING HIGH: "Glee" fans who tune in to tomorrow night's (11/11) installment of the hit Fox show will see Chris Colfer's and Lea Michele's characters having a "diva-off" as they compete to sing "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked." The sequence was inspired by Colfer's own life, he tells us — since he repeatedly asked to sing "Defying Gravity" in shows back in high school, but was declined again and again on the grounds that "It's a girl's song." Speaking of series creator Ryan Murphy, says Colfer, "I was venting to Ryan about the experience, and the next thing I knew, he'd written it into the show." In fact, initially, a different song was going to be used on 'Glee' since rights to "Defying Gravity" weren't the easiest to secure.

Singing "Defying Gravity" was a "personal dream come true" for Colfer. "Being able to perform my favorite song in the entire world, that was just a thrill." But he says it isn't quite so spectacular for his character, Kurt. "He probably isn't fulfilled by the end of the story because of the way the story is. But it's more touching and valuable the way it was written so I couldn't be happier about it." The story has Kurt trying to help his father as he struggles to come to terms with Kurt's homosexuality.

Meanwhile, things continue to be hectic for the 19-year-old actor, despite the fact, "We stopped filming in August. We've been busy ever since, promoting the show here and in Australia. We did a mall tour. Last summer, when we went out to malls, maybe 200 people would be there because only one show had aired. Now, the numbers of people waiting for us are in the thousands. It's a lot like what you'd expect for a rock star."

WHAT'S REAL: Hollywood's hottest bad girl, Kristin Cavallari, may enjoy stirring up controversy on this season of "The Hills," but the reality star/actress tells us she's a lot pickier about the friends she makes in real life. "When you make new friends, you just have to be a little cautious and make sure they don't want to be friends with you just because you're famous," says Cavallari. "I'm pretty good at spotting that, though. I have a pretty good instinct with people."

STAR TIME: With a Dec. 2 start date for the Nic Cage-January Jones "The Hungry Rabbit Jumps," the "Mad Men" actress is certainly not going to be relaxing much this holiday season. She's set to go right from the "Rabbit" thriller — in which she plays Cage's wife, a school teacher who gets beaten and raped, causing his desire for vengeance to become so passionate, he gets involved with a vigilante group — into "Unknown White Male" with Liam Neeson in January. The latter is a chiller suspense story about a man who blacks out after a car crash he's in while traveling abroad with his wife, only to find someone else has replaced him in his life. Meanwhile, the beauty once best known as the former girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher and Josh Groban is hosting this week's "Saturday Night Live."

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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