Joey Fatone may have been eliminated early from Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars, but he’s getting the last laugh by becoming a judge on the hit YouTube series Dance Showdown. Now in its second season, the web show pits 12 well-known YouTube personalities against each other on the dance floor for a shot at $100,000 — and Joey tells HollywoodLife.com he’s much happier to be on the other side of the judges’ table.

“I love doing the judging; I hate being judged,” he tells us. “When I was in *NSYNC, I was never judged on my dancing. It was all for entertainment purposes. On Dance Showdown, I’m looking more at the entertainment value: How did they execute the dance? Did they look worried? All that stuff. It’s not easy to judge, because you never know what you’re going to see next.”

Joey’s also having a blast with his co-judge, the “really cool” celebrity choreographer Laurieann Gibson, who has a few choice words for the former *NSYNC-er.

I, personally, had a crush on Joey,” Laurieann tells us. “[So Dance Showdown is] kind of like a wet dream come true. Joey was the black girl’s *NSYNC boy. Justin had a little black-girl energy, but it was all about Joey. And he’s really super-talented and super-nice.”

Do you really need more reasons to watch?

Check out the season premiere of Dance Showdown below, then drop a comment with your favorite contestant:

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More on Joey Fatone:

1. ‘Dancing With The Stars’: Second All-Star Eliminated From Competition
2. Is *NSYNC Reuniting? Joey Fatone Reveals What Would Need To Happen

Have you ever watched your favorite YouTube star and asked yourself, “Sure, they can make me laugh — but can they dance?” If so, allow me to present your next addiction: Dance Showdown, a new interactive web series, pairs famous YouTube personalities (“Obama Girl” and Tay Zonday are among its ranks) with professional dancers to compete against other teams.

And while that aspect might sound vaguely familiar, DanceOn founder Amanda Taylor and Dance Showdown creative executive producer D-Trix give HollywoodLife.com three key differences to mainstream TV dance competitions.

1. The audience is broader: “It’s actually cooler than just America voting,” Amanda points out. “It’s the entire world.”

2. The drama is real: “Sometimes [dance competition shows] get too personal,” D-Trix says. “We’re cutting around all the fat and just producing a more to-the-point content,” to which Amanda adds, “We don’t want to have any contrived drama.”

3. The surprises are legit: “I literally thought every single dance number was going to bad,” D-Trix admits, “but there are some good routines out there.” He specifically pointed out JLovesMac1 and WoodysGamerTag as pleasant surprises. “Like, gamers and makeup artists aren’t supposed to be doing this — but they are.”

And the feedback has already been “tremendous.” The first full episode, which showed six of the contestants in rehearsals, went live April 5 and has already generated more than 900,000 views. Episode two went live today, April 12.

Official public voting doesn’t start until April 19, which means you still have almost a week to get caught up and pick your favorite YouTube star!

Watch the first two episodes of Dance Showdown below:

Who’s your favorite contestant so far? Think long and hard, then hit up our comments section with the name of the YouTube star who will get your vote April 19!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift