TORONTO – Tara-Jean Popowich of Lethbridge, Alta., has won the second season of “So You Think You Can Dance Canada.”
The 20-year-old earned the most viewer votes to nab the $100,000 grand prize and a new car in Sunday night’s finale on CTV.
Popowich specializes in contemporary dance and was touted as one of the frontrunners going into the finale.
Judges said she had “star quality” but was also humble and could touch people’s emotions with her moves.
The announcement of the winner was accompanied by some sombre news as host Leah Miller revealed that guest choreographer Mia Michaels was in a Toronto hospital with a “serious back injury.”
Miller says that is why she wasn’t at the finale to watch the top 10 contestants perform the routine she created.
Miller said Michaels injured herself while choreographing the routine.
Three other finalists made it to the finale: Everett Smith of Glen Morris, Ont., Jayme Rae Dailey of Montreal and Vincent Desjardins from Trois-Rivieres, Que.
The Top 10 from this season will go on an 18-city Canadian tour beginning Nov. 25 in Kelowna, B.C.
The Season 3 audition tour kicks off next month, with stops in five cities including Toronto on Nov. 14, Montreal during the weekend of Nov. 28 and Vancouver on Dec. 5.
There are no dates yet for the other stops: Calgary and an East Coast city still to be announced.
Nico Archambault of Montreal won the first season of the show, which is hosted by Miller.
