‘So You Think You Can Dance’: America’s favorite krumper and more

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I think the talent level of Season 6 was summed up when I found myself shocked that Ellenore Scott came in fourth place and Kathryn McCormick came in third, only to remember that they were behind Jakob Karr and Russell Ferguson, and then it didn’t seem quite so unjust.

Of course, tonight’s finale didn’t really need to be two hours long: cut out the flashbacks and the Jennifer Lopez lip-synched song that some of my favorite snarky bloggers call ‘Failboutins’ and the show would have been just as good. I did enjoy seeing the reprises of the judges’ favorite selections, like ‘Beggin,’ from the hip-hop boys, Jakob and Ellenore’s Sonya Tayeh dance and Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasora’s Bollywood routine (was it me or did they seem more mature this time onstage than the first time they did it?) I also think Mary Murphy was reading my mind last night because she requested a Ryan and Ashleigh Di Lello ballroom dance, which, if it was an audition for them to serve as choreographers for the show, made me pity their future dancers because those two do not mess around. Physically, they seem like a very competitive duo. Impressive, but a little intimidating. Also, Kelly Abbey’s opening number for the Top 20 seemed to combine hip-hop with some Fosse-esque moves, and it was sexy and cool.

In general, though, I would have liked less singing and more dance. I thought Jennifer Lopez’s tacky name-brand-dropping song performance was cheesy with the huge shoe set and everything, and Leona Lewis’ song was basically a commercial for ‘Avatar.’ I didn’t have any complaints about Adam Lambert (who seemed to have a dead pigeon on his shoulder) or Mary J. Blige’s performances, but why was there only one guest dancing crew, the Groovaloos?

The evening even had a bit of spontaneous drama, as, in one segment, Cat Deeley’s mic cut out AND Russell Ferguson limped onstage, crying from an injury. That meant the reruns of the classic dances he was in had to come from tape, not live performance, which made me feel bad for his departed partners like Noelle Marsh, who I’m sure would have liked to perform the African jazz routine again.

Don’t worry about Russell, though. The guy who Nigel described as an ‘unpolished diamond’ as compared to Jakob’s polished stone won the show’s title. I’m glad that he won: I would have been glad if anyone in the Top Four had won, but I liked that the underdog came out on top. Russell to me seemed fairly reserved all season, but when he found out he won he exploded, seeming to forget his injury, with a sort of proud aggression that indicated the show meant more to him than we really know. Tomorrow I’ll be interviewing our new favorite dancer, so if you have any questions for our Season 6 winner, please leave them in the comments section and I’ll see if I can get a chance to ask him.

-- Claire Zulkey