Interview: Cat Deeley of 'So You Think You Can Dance'

Although she's having an early morning phone conversation with a group of reporters, So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley is chipper, which won't surprise fans of the FOX reality hit.

"You know what? It's the funniest thing," Deeley says, faced with a well-intentioned accusation of preternatural enthusiasm. "I've got a friend of mine staying here and her husband called me because he was calling from England. It must have been about 7:15 in the morning and he's like, 'For God's sake, stop being so chirpy. You must have literally just got up.' I don't know what it is with me. If I wake up and the sun is shining it's not bad. Here in California there's nothing much to be grouchy about, I don't think. You've got the sunshine and palm trees and ocean and hills. Yes, I'm pretty happy most of the time I have to say; annoyingly so one might say."

It's hard to imagine anybody begrudging Deeley her happiness. In fact, her boundless supply of energy is part of why So You Think You Can Dance is now entering its fourth season as a summer success. Chipper attitude aside, the 31-year-old host isn't there to be a cheerleader and her job doesn't involve judging, but she's still every bit as integral to Dance as Ryan Seacrest is to American Idol.

"There's a definite, definite feeling where I try to make them the best that they can possibly be, but it's just different people's personalities," Deeley says of her role. "Some people if they're put in a certain position some people get very quiet and shy; other people get very loud and outgoing. I think the deal is that there is charm to both if they're both honest."

She continues, "It's kind of don't pretend to be one thing or the other. You haven't necessarily got to be the loudest joke telling person in the bunch if you're just very honest with anything else that you're kind of experiencing. In all honesty, it's to keep it very real and trust that we've cast it right and that the right people are there on the stage and kind of just let it happen. It's kind of like peeling back the layers of an onion, you know? I don't have to force it too much if we've done our job correctly."

Deeley is involved with the contestants from the earliest auditions through the actual performances and her connection to the dancers never feels forced.

"I absolutely thought that it was a very important element of the show before I even started doing the show actually," she says. "I thought it was very important that I became part of their journey so that there was a connection, because what we're doing is we're essentially taking ordinary people and putting them in this most extraordinary situation where people know their names and we put them in this live TV studio and there are cameras and lights. It's a lot to ask of the dancers and to get the most out of them I think they've got to feel as though they've got somebody on their side and someone supporting them. That's very much what I wanted to do."

She adds, "I didn't want them to turn around when we got to the studio and go, 'Hold on a second. Who is this English broad who's suddenly on stage with us?'"

So You Think You Can Dance premieres on FOX on with a two-hour episode on Thursday (May 22) night and delivers another two-hour episode next Wednesday. Deeley says that viewers shouldn't expect any big changes.

"You know what? It's kind of the same," she says. "I mean it's the same show. It's kind of if it ain't broke don't fix it, but it is everything that you know and love, but back bigger and better. Because the bar has kind of been raised, we're used to seeing people spin on their heads. Now we want triple back summersaults with extras and a run up the wall because we just get blasé about it. There will definitely be another amazing Mia Michaels routine that's going to give you chills. Wade Robson is also going to do something very special for us. But it's kind of the same. We are looking into other styles of dance because, obviously, what we want to do is keep it fresh, too. We aim to surprise and delight, but we've also got Mary [Murphy] and Nigel [Lythgoe] and there will be ballroom and breaking, all contemporary, all of the normal styles will be there too."

Other highlights from Deeley's chat with reporters:

On her weekly routine: "It's fairly hectic quite often, because I'll go in and write scripts and do all different things and go in and see them. I do really involve myself in the show because to me that's what works. If I can do lots and lots of preparation then when it comes to actually doing the show you kind of prep, prep, prep, prep, prep and then you let it go and that's when the good stuff happens. That's just how I like to work. I like to put lots of time and energy and preparation into it, so it is quite busy; nowhere near what the dancers have to go through because theirs is not only emotional. It's physical too, because obviously, you have to learn so many routines every single week. As we narrow it down every week they obviously have to learn more routines because the numbers are going down, so we need each person to do more routines per show. I mean in comparison with the dancers' job I have it easy."

On the possibility of some sort of future crossover with American Idol after a cameo on Idol Gives Back: "It was really special. You know what?  Because of the success of it it wouldn't surprise me if something else did happen. I don't know exactly in what form it will be or how it will happen, but there is obviously a synergy between both shows because of the production teams that work on them both. It was such a huge success it wouldn't surprise me if there was."

On the advantages of airing in the summer: "Well, I think that the schedule seems to work for us. I don't actually know why so much, but it seems to just work for us. I think a lot of the kids are off school, who obviously know that that's the demographic that's a large part of our audience. I don't know. I just think it's a very upbeat, very kind of shiny floor, big set kind of show and it feels good, which I think is what everybody wants all of the time, whether it's summer or not."

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