Season 18 of So You Think You Can Dance started on Fox this week. Cat Deeley hosts, and the judges are JoJo Siwa, Allison Holker and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
The new season offers a couple of new wrinkles. The contestants are living in a house together, and viewers get a glimpse at the roles they play there — who keeps the mood light, who messes up the place, who makes everyone breakfast.
“They go through the entire experience and the audience gets to see it,” Deeley told B+C.
The contestants also take on what Deeley called “real-world challenges” facing elite dancers — ad campaigns, working with an artist, performing on Broadway. “All the challenges require different aspects of their talent and skills,” Deeley said. “Who responds the best to it, who is great off set as well as on set, who can handle a quick change.”
Deeley likened the challenges to a “university of dance” for the SYTYCD contestants.
“As we finish the show, we’ve created these amazing, super-professional dancers who hit the ground running,” she said.
Fox teased a “documentary-style” look at the contestants this season.
Siwa was also a judge in season 17, with Matthew Morrison and the late Stephen “tWitch” Boss, while Holker and Chmerkovskiy are new to the show. Siwa was asked to return when allegations of sexual assault surfaced against Nigel Lythgoe. Lythgoe and Simon Fuller created SYTYCD.
Deeley said Siwa is the youngest in the show’s cast, but has been in the business the longest. She got her start on Dance Moms as a kid. “There is nothing this lady hasn’t done,” Deeley said. “Her enthusiasm is completely infectious.”
Holker was a contestant on season two of SYTYCD. Deeley said she’s “an absolute perfect example” of a contestant who used the show to attain their dreams, despite not winning.
Deeley described Holker as “the most insane entertainer” and “a storyteller.”
Chmerkovskiy, for his part, “doesn’t mince words,” Deeley said. “He can be quite stern but he’s such a teddy bear as well. He comes from this amazing place of wanting the dancers to do really well. The criticism is always constructive.”
Comfort Fedoke is a judge for the audition rounds. She’s an associate choreographer on the film Wicked and associate choreographer for Cabaret on London’s West End.
Eliminations take place weekly, and three contestants make it to the season finale. One walks away with the $100,000 grand prize.
The show is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions.
After episodes air on Fox, they stream on Hulu.
Asked about what has enabled So You Think You Can Dance to stick around for 18 seasons, Deeley said it never did American Idol-in-its prime numbers, but has an audience that is “completely and utterly loyal and devoted.”
Deeley, raised in the U.K., mentioned the “American dream” motif SYTYCD offers. “You can come from anywhere — race, religion, color, creed,” she said. “If you have the talent and prepare to work hard, you can dream the biggest dream and make it happen.
“That’s right at the show’s core,” Deeley added.
