The votes are in and the fans have had their say. Joshua Allen is the winner of Season 4 of “So You Think You Can Dance”, dancing away with a cash prize of $250,000 and a spot in Adam Shankmans new movie Step Up – 3D.
The two hour finale show was probably the best season finale this series has seen. With judge Mary Murphy showing off her incredible legs in a Rumba with past contestant Dmitry, and Nigel Lithgoe himself leading a tap dance routine with dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen’s students. The Jonas Brothers performed live to screaming fans in the audience. Past contestants appeared and danced together in a lively number that took fans back to past seasons. Noticeably absent was last year’s winner, Sabra. Not only was there no verbal mention of her, but no clips as well.
But let’s talk about Mary Murphy for a minute. Not to obsess, but for four seasons fans have seen (or should we say “seen and heard”) Mary sit behind the judges table, critiquing and cheering on the dancers with her now famous “Hot Tamale Train” scream. Last night, for the first time, fans got to see this former U.S. champion ballroom dancer strut her stuff in a fun and frilled short dance outfit that showed the world that there’s a reason she’s the queen of that Hot Tamale Train. Simply put, she was fantastic…and HOT!
For the first time the show gave away two prizes. Including the grand prize for America’s favorite dancer, they gave away another $50,000 to the top female, Katee. While it’s all well and good that the top male and female won cash prizes, Katee was actually the 3rd contestant. The runner-up dancer was Twitch. When Joshua was announced as the winner, Twitch genuinely jumped for joy, hugging his friend and celebrating. At the time of this writing no one really knows if Twitch will enjoy a cash prize as well. It seems a little strange that first and third receive something while the runner up is left with an “almost but not quite” moment to remember.
Joshua, clearly in shock and stunned, looked out into the audience to see his family celebrating with him, and told the world to never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.
Dance on, guys. Well done.
