(Fox)
Virgil Gadson was a bonafide entertainer on Monday’s performance finale of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Watch below!
The Team Street dancer made a big play to become the season 10 winner, despite stiff competition from his fellow Street member Jaja Vankova, as well as Team Stage contestants Gaby Diaz and Hailee Payne. He undoubtedly had an advantage as the only male still in the competition, and was paired with Diaz for his first dance of the night. Together they performed a hip-hop routine that seemed to draw heavily on contemporary moves, and Paula Abdul called it “so creative” and “brilliant.”
Derulo, too, praised the uniqueness of the dance, as well as the execution, saying Gadson and Diaz made a “perfect blend” of Stage and Street. It was all about Team Street next when Gadson teamed up with his fellow finalist Vankova, though they were challenged with an emotional contemporary piece. Nigel Lythgoe commended Gadson for dancing to the “extremes,” and Derulo thought it was evidence of how much both he and Vankova changed throughout the season.
Gadson followed that with a lighthearted Broadway routine with Hailee Payne that had Derulo saying he was “right on with the character.” Later, in the second half of the show, he paired with All-Star Joshua Allen, who won season 4, for a thrilling hip-hop routine that received the first standing ovation of the night that got all three judges on their feet. Lythgoe was so excited he even started dancing and screaming.
“I wish they had that style when I was a kid! I woulda killed it,” he amusingly yelled. He went on to tell Gadson, “This has brought you back to your roots… I loved it to death.” Abdul called the contender “larger than life” and “heroic,” and Derulo then unexpectedly stood up again and started cheering, too, leading Lthygoe to get back up as well.
Gadson lastly took the stage for his solo, explaining how, despite falling short in season 8, he felt he had to “represent” when he learned season 10 would be stage vs. street. And he did here once more, getting another ovation from Abdul. Votes for tonight’s episode will be combined with votes for last week’s performances to ultimately determine the best dancer of 2015. Will that be Gadson? Watch below, and tell us what you think!
