Murtz On The Scene: Exclusive Finale Interview With So You Think You Can Dance Runner-Up Jaja Vankova

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Last Monday’s So You Think You Can Dance season finale saw stage dancer Gaby Diaz crowned as America’s Favorite Dancer over street dancer Jaja Vankova.

The reality series underwent a dramatic overhaul in its 12th season as the traditional format was changed to pit classically trained dancers against performers with street dancing experience. The show also introduced pop article Jason Derulo as a formal member of the judging panel and brought in former SYTYCD competitors Travis Wall and tWitch as coaches for the stage and street teams.

At the finale, I had the opportunity to catch up with runner-up Jaja Vankova. We chatted about a variety of subjects including how she felt about being so close to winning the title of America’s Favorite Dancer but falling just short. We talked about how many of this year’s Top 10 dancers had previously tried out for the show and were unsuccessful and whether this resilience was one of the central theme’s of the program this year. Jaja opened up about her highlights from the season. Jaja also talked about how this season’s theme of Stage vs. Street was integral is enticing her to come back and give So You Think You Can Dance one more shot. Finally, the street dancer revealed her post-show plans which include a trip back to the Czech Republic.

Check out the interview above!

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.