Dance is still Nigel Lythgoe's passion

Decades after he hung up his dance shoes, Nigel Lythgoe glides gracefully through a crowd.

The executive producer of Fox's "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance," which has its season finale Aug. 11, is in New York to meet advertisers. For half an hour, he slips into a room and fields questions. Sporting a beautifully tailored dark suit, long blond hair and a red tie, Lythgoe, who also judges "SYTYCD," doesn't bother with airs.

"I came from nothing," says the son of a dockworker. "I had to work my way up. If you come from nothing, you have to work harder. A lot of the greatest characters in the world have come from nothing."

He credits his success to his years as a dancer and the passion that came with it. "Dancers are so passionate. You have to be. You work every single hour. You are underpaid and rejected a great deal of the time. It's a very short life. In order to go into that life, you have to be absolutely passionate," Lythgoe says.

He knows a talented dancer instantly. He also remembers contestants who have returned, having spent another year honing skills.

"They sit in front of mirrors in bedrooms, isolating every muscle, working just so hard," he says.

One of the changes this season was with the type of dancers selected. "We took more not-formally trained dancers, more street dancers," he says. "I wanted to see something else."

Lythgoe doesn't dance at all these days. "I do Pilates," he says. "I get pulled about. I am such, and always was, a stiff person."

To prove his point, he stands, plants his feet farther apart than his shoulders and still can't touch the floor. Lythgoe also demonstrates a bit of singing. In a fake baritone, he launches into a misguided "American Idol" contestant's rendition of "Phantom of the Opera."

One aspect that pleased him most about the recent "Idol" season was if anyone sang like that in an audition, the judges asked what else was in the hopeful's repertoire. "They were given the opportunity to grow in the audition room," he says. "That has not happened before."

"I'm extremely happy with the success we had this season," he says, especially since it was "Idol's" first year without its star judge Simon Cowell. "I'm thrilled, delighted. I always said it's about the talent. This year it was about the talent."

Though "SYTYCD" is a hit on a smaller scale, its legacy could be lasting. "One of the wonderful results of having a popular show about dance," he says, "is that it can reach more people, especially kids, who may approach their parents and say, 'I want to be a dancer!' and not feel guilty or bad."

It's been a grueling schedule, with Lythgoe commuting between London and Los Angeles. Exhausted, he says, "I would love to have formats with longevity so I can stop flying around the world working and fly around the world on holiday."

He wants to go to Boston and Charleston, S.C., and to play golf.

At 62, Lythgoe's philosophy is, "enjoy life, have fun and even when you are working, find the fun in it."