So You Think You Can Dance Has a Winner!

Despite strong performances by all four finalists, head judge Nigel Lythgoe predicted that the winner of So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday night would be one of the two remaining women: Sasha Mallory or Melanie Moore. 

Was he right? Or did the victory go to one of the men, Marko Germar or Tadd Gadduang? Read on to find out. 

Spoiler Alert: Winner to be announced.

With 11.5 million votes, Lythgoe was right: The competition came down to the two women. 

Melanie Moore was crowned America's Favorite Dancer with 47 percent of the Top Four vote. 

"You two are both exquisite dancers, you have both been amazing," Emmy-nominated host Cat Deeley told the dual finalists – both female for the first time in the show's eight seasons – only moments before announcing the winner. 

In the end, with confetti falling upon the stage and pyrotechnics lighting up her face, Moore was crowned America's Favorite Dancer. 

"Thank you," was the only phrase Moore could utter as tears streamed down her face before she was lifted in the air by the entire Top 20. 

With 32 percent of the vote, Mallory came in second; Germar, third; and Gadduang, fourth. 

Tough Contest

What began with a pool of thousands nine weeks ago was whittled down to only 20 dancers vying for $250,000 prize and a sponsorship deal – but in the end, only four could make it to the finals. 

Moore, 19, of Marietta, Ga., had been the frontrunner from the beginning of the season when she and Germar wowed the judges with their statue routine. With every new partnership, Moore threw herself in to the material and was often called not only a dancer but also an “actress.” 

Mallory, 23, of Bakersfield, Calif., began the competition tied to Alexander Fost, a partner with whom she had trouble finding a connection. But once she broke free she jumped to the head of the pack with routines both emotional – like her wall routine with season 7’s Kent Boyd – and powerful, like her breakfast table routine with season 4’s Twitch. 

Germar, 22, entered the competition after being shot in the shoulder a few years ago, but he never let his injury hold him back and was deemed by judge Mary Murphy to be “a beast just like the girls.” A self-confessed “crier,” the Guam native was moved to tears earlier this season when his mother flew in to watch him dance. 

As the Final Four’s only B-Boy, Gadduang, 25, of West Valley City, Utah, was deemed the underdog because he was forced to dance out of his style all season long. He is the only finalist who was perpetually in the bottom this season, but his “sweetie-pie factor” won Murphy over.