Jeanine Mason Named Champion During "So You Think You Can Dance" Finale

The fifth season of the summer hit SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE came to a spectacular conclusion last night, August 6th, as Jeanine Mason was named the champion on the two-hour season finale broadcast live from the renowned Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Mason, 18, a Contemporary dancer from Pinecrest, FL received the most votes out of the record-breaking 21.6 million votes cast. Additionally, she danced off with the cash prize of $250,000, the title of America's Favorite Dancer and a cover feature in the November issue of Dance Spirit Magazine.

Mason's fellow finalists - Brandon Bryant, Evan Kasprzak and Kayla Radomski - were eliminated as host Cat Deeley revealed the voting results. Mason had this to say about winning SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: "This has been the craziest time of my life, but in the moments when I thought I absolutely could not do it, it was the fans and their immense support that got me through. So I have to thank you!"

In addition to naming America's Favorite Dancer, the Season Five finale of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE featured performances by this season's Top 20 dancers, Hip Hop dance team The Rage Boyz Crew and Talia Fowler, winner of Season Two of "So You Think You Can Dance Australia." The celebration also showcased dancers from the first four seasons, encore performances of the judges' favorite routines from Season Five and a special performance of "One" from "A Chorus Line" featuring the judges and the Top 8.

A special featuring fan-favorite routines from previous seasons of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE will air Wednesday, Sept. 2 (8:00-8:58 PM ET/PT), and the sixth season of the original dance competition will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 9 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

This season's Top 10 dancers will participate in the 40-city SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour 2009. The tour kicks off Sunday, Sept. 20 in Manchester, NH, and tickets are on sale now. For ticket information, click here.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE was created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and comes from 19 Entertainment, Ltd. and Dick Clark Productions. It is executive-produced by Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe and Barry Adelman.

Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Ltd. is recognized as a lead creator, provider and promoter of globally successful entertainment and music brands of today. The company has attracted a unique team of exceptionally creative executives, who work together to integrate and leverage activity across television, sports, film, touring, merchandising, music publishing, recording and artist management.

19 Founder/CEO Simon Fuller has developed and managed some of the biggest entertainment properties of our time, with credits that include the creation of TV phenomenon AMERICAN IDOL and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, and the HBO series "Little Britain USA." 19's unique talent includes legendary musical icon Annie Lennox, country music sensation Carrie Underwood, the pop group sensation Spice Girls, and IDOL alumni Chris Daughtry, David Cook, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and soccer icon David Beckham.

Founded in 1957, Dick Clark Productions has grown to become a leading independent producer of a wide range of TV programming for broadcast/cable networks, distributors and advertisers. The Company has produced thousands of shows and specials in all genres and for all day parts, including such perennial hits as "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," the "American Music Awards," the "Golden Globe Awards," the "Bloopers" specials and series, the "Daytime Emmy Awards," the "Academy of Country Music Awards" and the recent "Disney's American Teacher Awards," among others. The Company also is a leading creator of award-winning communications experiences from live events and meetings to integrated marketing programs for major corporations.

For more information, visit www.fox.com/dance.

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