We know you were secretly rooting for “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant Russell Ferguson to win the competition. Well, you can uncross your fingers now. The 20-year-old untrained dancer is America’s Favorite Dancer, winning him $250,000 a shared cover story in Dance Spirit magazine and a spot in the 2010 Academy Awards telecast.
“It feels like everything has just fell into place … everything is so perfect right now. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Ferguson, a krumper from Boston, told People.The “So You Think You Can Dance” finale featured performances from Mary J. Blige, Leona Lewis–who also performed in the “Dancing with the Stars” finale–Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert.
The show’s executive producer, Nygel Lythgoe, couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.
“I’m really happy with the result. I wouldn’t have minded Jakob [Karr, 19, the contemporary runner-up winning] or Russell. But for me and how I feel about dance — I want it spread everywhere — [Russell] does that for me more than Jakob would have done. Dancers will look at Jakob and go, ‘Wow, what a brilliant dancer,’ because he is. But America will look at the charismatic performer that Russell is and will say, ‘If he has done that, I can do that.’ And remember, he didn’t win by krumping. He only krumped once the whole season, as I remember. He won by doing other styles, and that opens up for street kids.”