Jennifer Lopez Says ‘World of Dance’ is Going To Be Bigger This Season

For Jennifer Lopez, being a judge for seven years to gift contest shows hasn't only been about coordinating young performers, but also about enhancing himself.

The celebrity, who spent five years on the "American Idol" judging panel, is currently on another season of her show "World of Dance," for which she is a judge and executive producer.

"I love mentoring, I love being part of someone's travel like this, and that I also learn so much from viewing and assessing performances all of the time," Lopez told Variety during the show's press day before this season. "I feel like it has made me a better singer, dancer, performer, entertainer myself. I feel like I have grown leaps and bounds since 'American Idol' just cause of that -- cause when you begin picking things apart you are like 'Oh, I do that. '''

"World of Dance," which started shooting at the end of January and can be set to broadcast within the summer, features dancers from all over the world competing for the $1 million prize facing judges Lopez, Ne-Yo, Derek Hough and host Jenna Dewan. This year, the show will expand the number of young competitors -- with 50% of contestants being under the age of 18 -- and raise the entire amount of dancers.

"Last year was such a victory for us, and we had been so happy about that. It really kind of surpassed all of our expectations," Lopez said. "I knew we had the right stuff for a gorgeous show, but you never know what's going to occur, so it was just exciting to have the ability to come back again. And we're going to give them more of what they loved the very first moment."

The show was a passion project for the singer and actress, who calls dancing her "first love," and wanted to provide hardworking dancers their time at the spotlight.

"They have been in the background for so long, and people do not realize how much dedication, devotion, passion and love it takes to be a dancer," she explained. "It is exactly like any artist on the planet, you need to love this, and I just love providing a stage where they become not a step away or a step behind but front and the celebrity."

Ne-Yo echoed a similar sentiment, stating, "The height of a lot of dancers is dance behind somebody else, and for the amount of blood and sacrifice, sweat and tears you have to put into it in order to become great, it was almost sad there was no platform for all these people to be the star."

In terms of why the series was such a success in its very first year, crowning French duo Les Twins as its winners and foremost as the top-rated new summer collection, Hough says that the key is "only the love, the love of dancing," while Dewan thinks it is because of the uplifting message.

"I think once you are finished with your day and [are] with your loved ones, you want something you can see all together and you want your popcorn -- you wish to be entertained and you also would like to feel great -- and I think that is a little of what we've tapped into," she explained.

"World of Dance" premieres May 29 on NBC. It's also already been renewed for a third season.