(S04E23) It all comes down to this. The season has been a bit underwhelming at times compared to seasons past, but it did indeed have its fantastic moments. I'm sure I won't soon forget Twitch and Kherrington's Viennese waltz or Katee and Will's pas de deux.

Still standing at the end is a girl who is the ultimate underdog, a girl who would've quit, a guy with absolutely no formal training, and a guy who was #21 last season, just shy of making the top 20 dancers. Let's talk about the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. For Real!

We got some more information about the prizes from Adam Shankman. He will be putting the winner in his new movie as a featured dancer. The movie is the first 3-D dance film, Step Up 3-D. We also found out later in the show that the top girl / guy would also get $50,000 in prize money. Not too shabby.

THE OPENING PERFORMANCE

The top 20 dancers got together again for the finale with a Shane Sparks hip-hop piece to "Boom" by Sin featuring T-Pain. You know I was happy. Two magical words. Shane. Sparks. The piece was electric. He did a great job of using the 20 dancers, alternating with different size groups and solos. As for the performance, I have to give it to Kherrington who stood out the most for me. Gev was also great. I like how Shane spotlighted him. The freeze he did was dead on and his crazy jiggle underneath the girls' feet was fantastic.

JUDGES' PICKS

It was long finale. An entertaining finale, yes, but a long one. And some of these acts I didn't need to see again. Let's go through them briefly. Mary Murphy, Lil C, Nigel Lythgoe, Mia Michaels, Debbie Allen, and Adam Shankman were all on hand to pick some favorite dances as is customary for the SYTYCD finale. However, (and correct me if I'm wrong) I seem to remember that the judges and the final four got to pick their favorites in past finales. I remember particularly in season two when Benji said that he wanted to perform that mambo with Heidi again. Am I just completely mistaken?

Here are the judges' picks:

• Nigel picked Katee and Joshua's Bollywood dance. This one has such energy. I was happy to see it again. And any chance to watch Katee and Joshua as partners is always welcome.
• Mary picked Courtney and Gev's rumba. She said they mixed innocence and maturity perfectly in this performance. But where was Courtney's blue dress?
• Adam picked Comfort and Twitch's hip-hop number by Dave Scott.
• Lil C picked Mark and Chelsie's hip-hop performance choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. I didn't really like this dance the first time. And I just fast-forwarded through it this time. I didn't think that we needed to see it again.
• Mia picked the pas de deux with Katee and Will. As she put it, the dance was a magical combination of legendary choreographers and brilliant dancers.
• Adam picked the Sonya jazz dance with Courtney and Mark.
• Mary picked the Katee and Twitch contemporary routine to "Mercy," choreographed by Mia Michaels. Another fast-forward for me.
• Debbie picked the Viennese waltz by Twitch and Kherrington. This number was so truly beautiful. The song, the story, the performance all made this so touching.
  
• They also did a repeat of "Five Guys Named Moe." Thank goodness they got better costumes this time.
• Nigel picked the first routine that Tabitha and Napoleon choreographed for the show, "No Air" danced by Katee and Joshua. The part when Katee pulls Joshua up and he propels himself off the floor never gets old for me.
  

THE POPPER BATTLE

This was a great addition to the finale. Robert Moraine and Philip Chbeeb engaged in an all out popping battle to Kanye West's "Stronger." It was very entertaining to say the least. I have to agree with the judges -- Robert is slightly better than Philip (at least this time around). All but Mia voted for Robert Moraine to win the battle. Debbie Allen pointed out that while Philip has incredible musicality, Robert has theatrics and theatrics always wins. I agree. But I will say that if Philip just worked on the theatrics a bit more, he could take Robert Moraine to school.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES

The finale was full of special guests and numbers. I'm going to make a list.

• Mary Murphy did a Latin ballroom number to "Baila, Baila" with Dimitri from season two. It was nice to see her dance. I actually wish that she would still choreograph for the show. Then I wouldn't have to listen to her incessant screaming and twitty remarks. However, I wish she wouldn't smile so big. She looked half-way decent when she didn't open her mouth. And what was with that awkward ending pose?
• The Jonas Bros. were there. Whatever.
• We got to see a Wade Robson piece from his new project, Believe. It's a Criss Angel show in Vegas with Cirque du Soleil dancers. The piece was long. I was like, "Enough with the dancing rabbits. I'm going to have bad dreams." It was called "Homage to the Rabbits" by Eric Serra. Wade's choreography is wonderfully stylized though.
• The Debbie Allen Dance Academy performed a tap dance to "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It was very good. And guess who showed up in the middle of it? Nigel Lythgoe. He looked like a giant dancing with all those kids. Do you think that those taps were pre-recorded? I know they can set up floor mics on the stage, but the taps were just too perfect.
• Finally, we caught up with some of the dancers from seasons past. After a video package, Cat said we were about to see "The Best of So You Think You Can Dance." And it certainly was the best. The alums danced to "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna. All of their solos were amazing. What energy. At the end, season four came walking through and danced with them a bit. I think this was my favorite of the night. Totally worth waiting for.
  

THE RESULTS

Courtney was eliminated first. Then Katee. I can't believe Twitch beat Katee. Twitch was the runner-up and Joshua is America's Favorite Dancer. I'm so happy for him. He made an inspiring speech about being able to do anything. I also liked how they did the eliminations this year. It's how they should have done it all along.