JC Chasez knows a thing or two about dancing. As a member of boy band 'N Sync, he gained notoriety as a singer, a songwriter and a dancer as their performances were featured on everything from the Academy Awards to the World Series to the Super Bowl to the Olympics. In February of 2008, Chasez began applying those skills to the judges' table on MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew." Now in its fourth season, the series is making the switch to Sundays at 9:00/8:00c as nine new crews are battling to call themselves America's best. I had the chance to chat with Chasez recently about the show's veteran status, his contributions to the series and his hope for what's ahead for the franchise.

Brian Ford Sullivan: Do you feel like you've established what you're looking for in a crew?

JC Chasez: You know what, the thing is, the approach to every season is unique. We've established the fact that it has to be high quality. You watch some of the stuff the groups in the past have done and what they've had to do in order to win, people know that it has to be good. It has to be athletic, it has to be charismatic, it has to be together, it has to be technical but still very grounded and so it's going to take a little bit of everything. I think it's just a matter of we've set the quality bar high.

Follow up:

BFS: In previous years the frontrunners always seem to establish themselves very quickly. Is that the case this year having taped the season premiere?

JC: This season in particular is going to be very, it's going to be a tough one to judge because I will say this season is probably the most diverse. There's a lot of range in this season. And so we really will be kind of looking at apples next to oranges as far as styles are concerned. So it's our job as judges - and I guess the people at home that are watching - to really look at the styles and then dissect the style for what it is. Because you're not going to be comparing one guy doing the wave next to another guy doing the wave anymore, this season's going to be about paying attention to the technicalities of each style. And so it's going to be a tough season to judge but there are I will say, for me, in the first show three or four groups out of the nine that I've got my eye on. But that could change next week. I try to be as objective as possible.

BFS: Have you ever made any suggestions for the themes or challenges of the week?

JC: We always talk to the producers about what we'd like to see, you know, for ideas and stuff like that. But the show's up and running, you can't like really make a change two weeks from now, that stuff's already planned way ahead, but yeah we definitely, we get on the calls, we talk to the producers and we tell them things we would like to see.

BFS: Do you get the chance to mentor the crews after the season ends?

JC: Usually at the end of the season, I mean my mentoring pretty much goes on on camera. My critiques are honestly how I feel in the moment and what I would like to see, things like that. Because again, I don't play favorites, I don't think anybody deserves a better chance than someone else. I think if you've made it that far that everybody deserves a fair shake. So really my mentoring really comes on camera. Everybody sees exactly what I have to say. And then of course after the seasons are over, usually they bring all the crews back, we all have a good time. Some of them will say, "Hey man, you beat me up a little bit!" Some of them will say, "We really appreciate what you said because we learned a lot and it made us better." And that's my favorite thing in the world to hear. I do get to talk to them. Again, when the season is over they can ask me anything they want. They want to ask me about managers, about lawyers because all of a sudden everybody's [circling] them. Like, "This guy came up to me, what do I say?" And I go, "Hey man, I can just tell you from my experience what I would do."

BFS: Lastly, I know a lot of the crews have their own tours - has there ever been any movement to do an official "ABDC" tour?

JC: You know, I don't know. I definitely think it's an idea worth exploring. But, you know, it's just a matter of who they would send out and things like that. Wouldn't it be great to partner up with one of the other shows? That I don't know because I don't own the rights to it. [Laughs.] It's not really my place to say. But that would be something that I definitely think they should do, or at least look into, because these kids are really talented and I think they are highly entertaining.

"Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew" airs every Sunday at 9:00/8:00c on MTV. [source]