So You Think You Can Dance's tenth season is set to premiere tonight with a one-hour episode at 8PM ET/PT on Fox and continue on Wednesday night with another hour-long episode at 9PM ET/PT.

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The reality dancing competition's tenth season will continue to feature Cat Deeley as host and Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy as regular judges on the panel. Guest judges for the series will include actress Minnie Driver, actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, comedian Wayne Brady, All-Star dancer Stephen "tWitch" Boss, and Adam Shankman.

Like last year's edition, So You Think You Can Dance's tenth season will once again combine the contestants' performances and eliminations into one two-hour episode each week.

During a recent conference call with reporters, Cat Deeley talked about the upcoming season of the show and what viewers can expect to see. Below is the first half of Cat's interview. Check back with Reality TV World on Wednesday for the concluding portion.

Talk to me about what's the format going to be this year?  I know we have a two-night premiere, but what's the rest of the season going to look like?  Will it just be one night?  Will we do some second nights?  What do you think?

Cat Deeley:  To be honest, I am purely the monkey.  You need to be asking the organ grinder.  We are definitely going to do a couple of nights for the premiere.  Then, I think we're going to kind of see how it plays out, in all honesty. 

When we come to the studio show, there won't be a results show as in the last season.  I think some of them might be two-hours long and all those kinds of things.  It's a big moving feast, as they say.

I know we've talked about this a little bit, but since you've been through all the kind of different formats Nigel's tried the last few years, what do you prefer?  What's, I guess, the easier thing for you or at least you think makes for a better show?

Cat Deeley:  Well, I actually think that combining the results and the performance show, I think makes for a better show.  I think there's more jeopardy, because, you know, who's in danger and who's not before they perform.  Also, I like the idea that the results are quite a short process rather than being a long drawn-out one.

Because quite often when we had that hour show for the results show, it could feel as though it was really kind of going so slowly.  I know that we have to build the tension and I know it's obviously, it's that critical moment when you reveal who's going home.  It's not that we throw it away, but it just doesn't feel quite as laborious.

Going into So You Think You Can Dance's tenth season, do you find that you're going to go in and go, "Okay, this season, I'm just not going to be blown away by the performances," or like every year, you're just like, "Wow, I can't believe they did it," and you find a favorite again?

Cat Deeley:  You know what, I have to be honest, you always go into a season with a little trepidation because you always think to yourself, "Are we going to find people with the same incredible talent as last year?  Will we be able to find another tWitch, or another [Dominic Sandoval] or another [Kathryn McCormick] or [Travis Wall], whoever it is?"

Then, you start the season and you suddenly go, "Actually, it's not about finding another tWitch or another Dominic or another [Allison Holker].  It's about finding another unique individual with their own creativity, passion, interpretation of music."

I think that's one thing that I've definitely really seen this year, is people are getting very, very creative with the different styles and their choices of music.  They know now that we are in Season 10, so we've seen people run up walls and do back flips. 

We've seen, you know, ten pirouettes all in one go, so they've got to do something that's a little bit unique and normally that involves doing something with the music, so say, putting a hip-hop routine to a classical piece of music or giving the dance a story.  It's about their own creativity.

Also, the big thing for me that I've seen this season is we've got lots of newbies.  We've got lots of people trying out for the very, very first time, which is great.  It means that within the dance community, we're still a relevant show.  We're still a relevant part of their career process, which I think is brilliant.

The thing that I don't think is so brilliant is when I say to them, a little 18-year-old, and then I turn around and I go, "So why do you want to be on this show?" -- "Well, I've been watching the show since I was nine and I've just been waiting until..."  I'm like, "Get out.  Get out of here.  Don't knock on my door again."  I feel like a dinosaur.  It's kind of nice to see these newbies come through again, you know?

If you can think back to when you first became associated with this show, did you honestly think that So You Think You Can Dance had this much staying power?  If you did, why did you think so?

Cat Deeley:  No, of course not.  I had no idea.  You know, for me it was one of those things where I'd seen the show and I loved it.  They'd done Season 1, so I went to see the show and I absolutely loved it -- loved everything about it, loved the fact it was celebrating the American dream.

I thought the kids were amazing.  Loved the whole fact that it was going to be live.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.  But you just never know, you know?  You can only go with your head and your gut.  My head was telling me it was a great show, and my gut was telling me, "You're going to love doing it."

I kind of packed up my bags and moved over here, so for me, it was a really, really big step.  Of course I had faith in it and I really hoped it was going to be a success, but you never know.  I couldn't envision that 10 seasons later we'd still be going.

Like I said earlier, the great thing about the show is that there are newbies coming to it now as well, like 18-year-olds, which means that we're still relevant and we're still very much embraced by the dance community. 

Then, the people at home that watch the show are so passionate about it.  Our show is one of those ones where it doesn't get the ratings of American Idol or The Voice or whatever, but it does really, really well, and our audience is a real hard-core passionate audience.

Our show is one of those that if you don't know it's on, you probably don't know it even exists.  But if you like it, you love it.  That's the great thing, it's while people keep watching it, we'll keep giving it to them.  Our core audience has stuck with us and stuck with us and stuck with us.

You've become such a style icon on this show, so what are you thinking this season about your wardrobe, your hair, your makeup?  Are you planning anything?  Are you doing anything different?

Cat Deeley:  I'm always on the lookout, you know?  I'm always, always on the lookout.  I get inspiration from all different things.  Some of them I probably shouldn't in all honesty. It could be anything from a movie, to a piece of art, to some amazing fashion shoot that I'd seen. 

I was actually quite inspired the last couple of days by the Met Ball.  They've gone punk for the Met Ball this year.  I'm thinking maybe we should do a bit of a punk rock type of look.  I mean, we've gone down the Susie Sue, Debbie Harry.  We've gone down that route before, but I'm thinking we could maybe push it a little bit farther. 

I have -- everything.  The whole look will carry through.  You know what I'm like.  I like to really push the boundary, because on this show, you can.  You can have fun with it.

I've got a few ideas.  I started to kind of collect things together.  I've been to some vintage stores when we've been doing all the different audition cities.  There will also be a day with hair and makeup where we sit with a whole bunch of magazines and just go through everything with possibly a glass of champagne and do a mood board.  That will be a fun day.

Any specific beauty tips or makeup tips or secrets you want to share?

Cat Deeley:  Oh my goodness.  You know what?  I think it's about really paying attention to the changes in your skin and also how you feel.  I think so often you can get really locked into a certain beauty regime, but maybe as you get older or if you change locations -- like for me moving to Los Angeles after being in England, my skin got really dry, because it's essentially desert here.  You know?

Pay attention to the changes in your body, and then change your beauty regime to accommodate it.  I've started going to an amazing dermatologist called Dr. Lancer.  He's great.  He uses light therapies and all those different types of things, but he also mixes in things like if your skin is super dry, use olive oil.  You know, there are different alternatives and I think it's to be smart with your choices.

Above is the first half of Cat's interview with reporters during a recent conference call. Check back with Reality TV World on Wednesday for the concluding portion.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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