<p>I loved the finale. Lots and lots of great dance and I too loved Ellen doing the piece with Alex. Kind of wish I had not read that it might be her beforehand, though. It would have been a fantastic surprise. I was happy that Lauren won, as I voted more for her last night than either of the other two. But I would have been very happy with any of them winning. I am so happy we have tickets to the tour in September!!!</p>
<p>Oh shoot, I shouldn’t have opened this thread! I wanted to be surprised (I’m on the west coast). I’m glad Lauren won. Makes sense since she’s the only girl remaining, and a deserving one at that, and a guy (Russell) won last season… I wonder if Alex would have won had he not injured himself?</p>
<p>"Why is it disrespectful to Alex? Take it for what it is: a joke.</p>
<p>I guess that’s my point.</p>
<p>Alex seemed really excited about it. He was grinning from ear to ear and just beaming when he met Ellen. I think he was probably more thrilled than he would have been if a pro dancer had danced his role. The crowd loved it. </p>
<p>I was a bit unsure before but I think it was a good choice and the way Ellen worded it as a tribute to Alex was just right - having someone trying to actually emulate Alex’s part would have been not quite right somehow. I also wish it had not leaked in advance - it would have been a fun surprise. Of course I would have liked to see the whole tape of his performance. Guess we’ll always have you tube.</p>
<p>Yippee!!!</p>
<p>I missed the opening number. How did Alex participate?</p>
<p>We found the Ellen piece with Twitch to be totally delightful. Alex seemed to “get” it and was gratified by the tribute. He and Billie were our favorite dancers, followed by Adicheke and Robert. We are quite pleased with Lauren, though. She is a trooper. We somehow were immune to the Kent cult. Just couldn’t get passed his facial expression and found his dancing athletic but not particularly artistic. I loved the finale piece with Robert dancing to West Side story. Also loved Lauren and Twitch doing the political NapTab piece.</p>
<p>Finally, who was the choreographer for the opening number Wednesday night? That was wonderful. I hope we’ll be seeing more by him (whoever he is).</p>
<p>Oh, have to say Mary Murphy seemed to be wearing a wig perhaps? Hope she hasn’t been ill. I never minded her shrieking.</p>
<p>Loved the Ellen/tWitch number and agree - I wish it had been a surprise. </p>
<p>We are huge Kent fans (maybe it has something to do with being from Ohio ;)), but love Lauren as well.</p>
<p>Did anyone else think that Cat had resurrected (and shortened) that infamous peach bridesmaid dress from the worst bridesmaid dress thread?</p>
<p>
In one part of the number, Alex was wheeled out to the stage seated in a chair. He did some kind of complicated hand and arm movements to the music. It was nice that they found a way to include him.</p>
<p>sewhappy, I agree with you about the choreographer of that opening number. It was excellent. Wonder why they haven’t used him before?</p>
<p>Dee Caspery choreographed the Wed night opening with the allstars. He has choreographed before but this was his first group piece. Thursday’s opening (which I LOVED) was choreographed by Christopher Scott of the LXD (Legion of Extraordinary Dancers).</p>
<p>I’m glad Lauren won. I wasn’t a fan of anyone in particular this year, but Lauren seemed to hit every type of style she was given. She showed a lot of growth and maturity during the course of the season.</p>
<p>It was nice to see Mary Murphy. I was wondering about the hair, also. I hope she’s ok.</p>
<p>I guess I’m the only one who didn’t care for the number with Ellen, but we are all entitled to our opinions. I wish they would have re-played the original number, instead. </p>
<p>Tabitha and Napoleon are amazing. </p>
<p>I hope Alex comes back next year. It was great to see him dancing in the chair in the opening number. :)</p>
<p>It’s over. :(</p>
<p>The opening number last night was wonderful, too. Christopher Scott. Another choreographer to watch for. </p>
<p>In addition to building interest in dance and dancers - this show has really built an appreciation for the art of choreography. NapTab were just amazing throughout this season.</p>
<p>Oh darn. Sad it’s over. DD and I will just have to tune into Project Runway now.</p>
<p>I wasn’t paying any attention to this until the past few weeks, then got reeled in. It only took a couple of minutes a few weeks ago to figure out that Lauren and Kent were the final two – Kent grabbed my attention in a show-opening ensemble number. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, though. After Wednesday night’s show, I had a long conversation with my favorite 16 year-old dancer about Lauren and Kent; she couldn’t decide, either.</p>
<p>After the results show, however, I find myself with a clear opinion. </p>
<p>Lauren is absolutely adorable. It may be a bit much to claim, as Adam Shankman did, that she embodies Music, but she certainly exemplifies the age-old “do-be” formula for stardom. And her win was a win for conventionality. She can talk – honestly – about her inner nerd, and express wide-eyed dismay at being cast as a “maneater” (is that term not archaic yet?), but Lauren is an Alpha girl through and through. Cheer is at the core of her dance technique. Her experience of dance is one of being surrounded by friends; her experience of life is clearly that when she walks into a room all eyes are on her. </p>
<p>Kent is . . . a boy who dances. A particularly slight, androgynous boy. Fairy-like, in a number of senses. His enthusiasm, bounciness, athleticism, and hamminess bring him into the mainstream, buy him a place at the table, but one senses that his center is as weird and lonely as Lauren’s is conventional and social. I wish America had declared him the winner.</p>
<p>By 9:03 I had 4 pms telling me the results! **Thank you so much to everyone who PM’d the results to me!!! **CC folks are the best.</p>
<p>As for the results themselves: I was afraid of that. I think Kent peaked a week or two too soon. By the finale it was pretty evident that Lauren was the best and could do anything. There is such a difference between an 18 year old girl (aka a woman) and an 18 year old boy (aka a boy.) I hope we get to see Kent in a few years. We loved Kent from the first auditions. But I’ll grudgingly say that that Lauren deserved it.</p>
<p>I was able to watch some, but not all, of the finale last night. Poor Robert,having to say goodbye in that Bollywood costume.</p>
<p>I always feel bad that the second place winner doesn’t get to say anything at the end.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Great analysis!</p>
<p>Like everyone else we were thrilled that Lauren won. We loved Kent also and would have been happy for him too.</p>
<p>JHS - I think your analysis is spot on.</p>
<p>All in all the finale was a good one. I’m excited to see who they find for next season and really hope Alex will get another chance.</p>
<p>I actually hope that Alex is so busy with a great job that he won’t need/want to be on the show.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think it will be fair to the other contestants next season if Alex does decide to come back. He already went through half a season of being declared one of the best contestants ever, and his presence is going to completely overshadow everyone else.</p>
<p>Or on the other hand, being aware of the real risk of injury, Alex could come back playing it safe and cautious…which would lead to an early (disappointing) exit. I hope there is someone to give him good career advice.</p>
<p>If Nigel still wants to help Alex’ career, he could offer him a spot on the next tour after this one.</p>
<p>I guess I’m part of the minority who wanted Robert to win. He reminds me of the classic premiere danseur - always handsome and princely, even when dancing the clown. I also felt as if he was more of a dancer and less of an acrobat than Kent or Lauren. An older soul. His performances just interested me more.</p>
<p>I admire Lauren a lot. I really do. But there was something about her lower back that bugged me. It seemed sort of hyper-arched and rather broad. Threw off her arabesque lines for me over and over. When Allison would dance I would inwardly sigh and think - “yes, that is the female form that really completes the line.” This was never an issue in the hip-hop numbers. There Lauren was just superb. I actually liked her best dancing hip hop.</p>
<p>I really don’t know what annoyed my daughter and me about Kent but it was there throughout the season. My daughter says he lacked honesty.</p>