Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Charlie Bruce wins So You Think You Can Dance final


So You Think You Can Dance, the BBC's hunt for the UK's best dancer, has been won by 19-year-old Charlie Bruce.

Charlie, from Leicester, won £100,000 and the opportunity to perform on the US version of the show.

She faced competition from just two other finalists, Lizzie Gough and Tommy Franzen, after Robbie White was forced to pull out with a dislocated shoulder.

The final of the BBC One show also featured a live performance by Robbie Williams on his 36th birthday.

Williams, who sang the official Sport Relief single Morning Sun, could not resist showing off some of his own dance moves.

Afterwards, he told the show's host Cat Deeley: "I thought it was a chance to do a medley of all my dance routines."

The final saw each of the contestants perform six routines. In the absence of the injured Robbie White, former contestants who had been voted off in earlier weeks returned for routines in which they were partnered with the competing finalists.

The winner burst into tears when Deeley revealed she had won the most votes from the public and said she would "never forget" the experience.

The teenager said she was "absolutely speechless" at her success and, fighting back tears, added: "Thank you so much. I did it."

Tommy was voted into second place and Lizzie came third.

Arlene Phillips, who joined the show's judging panel following her controversial departure from Strictly Come Dancing, told Charlie: "You have just changed through the night and grown through the series. What you have done tonight is mega, honey, mega."

Fellow judge Nigel Lythgoe praised Charlie's "journey" and said the teenager "grew" throughout the series. He said her trip to Hollywood to perform on the US version of the show was the "chance of a lifetime".

Although So You Think You Can Dance was on its first series for the BBC, its US equivalent - also hosted by Deeley - is hugely successful with viewing figures of 20 million and is about to start a seventh series.

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