What a night. Okay. Here we go. Only way to do this--the 10 best finale moments, in no particular order (well, except for the last two, which were the best of the best):
10. The general feeling of love and affection. Reality TV is a mess of anger and nastiness and the worst kind of revelry in humiliation. Not here. The boundless joy and sheer, impossible-to-falsify enthusiasm for dance--and for each other--that each of the professionals in this show demonstrate the key reason why, of all the Reality TV I watch, SYTYCD is not a guilty pleasure--it's just a pleasure.
9. The amazing "Damn Yankees" routine. Athletic, playful, Fosse-tastic and unbelievable. Kent remains adorable; he can also jump about eight feet in the air.
8. The return of Comfort and AdeChike's "Fallin'" routine, maybe my favorite paired dance of the season. It's like a mini-movie of athletic, graceful heartbreak. And the suitcase throw...what a great moment of drama.
7. Lauren and tWitch's hip hop reprise, reminding us that the girl can do anything. Anything. Including showing up tWitch in his own specialty. My word.
6. The return of Alex Freakin' Wong--his specter has hung over this show ever since his injury removed him from the competition. It seems like back in week two, he was crowned the dance heir apparent, and I don't think we've ever really gotten over his loss. His brief return to the top of the show--albeit wheeled on in an office chair--was lovely. Awkward, sure, but wonderful to see.
5. The omnipresent respect and kudos for Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo. Their mark is all over this season; last night alone featured FIVE (!) of their routines, including the aforementioned hip-hop routine with Lauren and tWitch.
4. Mary Murphy's return to the judges' table, I've missed her frothy, mad brand of genius. Sadly, we got MAYBE 20 seconds of old-school Mary Murphy-ranting, and that's it. We know it, the producers know it: this isn't her show anymore.
3. Robert's perfect, elegant exit. In full Bollywood regalia. He knew this was coming, as did we all, and when called to he bowed out with both tact and grace. Which frankly, is sort of hard when you're all sparkly and wearing parachute pants. But he pulled it off.
2. Lauren winning. With Alex's exit, she'd been the one marked to come this far, and of course, she did. Still, the crazy, unlimited joy on her face made me literally cheer. Literally. I think my neighbors were concerned.
1. Ellen. Oh, my lord. Ellen Freakin' Degeneres slipping into Alex's shoes in the NappyTab number that put him on the map. Ellen. Degeneres. She turned beautiful hip hop into beautiful, contagious, goofy comedy, full of love and joy and that old-school Hollywood comedy charm where you can't help but let loose a grin and let all the awful cynicism in your life fall away. I am still laughing at, and so thankful for, that wonderful moment.
So, there you have it. Another season's come to a close. There were issues last night, to be sure--where was Ashley? Do we need to spend four minutes discussing Nigel's hair? Does Cat have to smile like she's about to swallow us all whole?--but I felt completely satisfied. Despite the injuries, the breakneck pace of the new All-Star format, the loss of Mary, and some of the other hurdles this season, SYTYCD's seventh season was a triumph, and I'm so happy to have been your recapper, dear reader!
Enjoy the rest of your summer, friends. See you before you know it for season eight--and, in case you missed it, check out Ellen bringing the house down:
