MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television's yet another successful homegrown format and popular dance reality show India's Best Dancer found its winner in Tiger Pop (Ajay Singh), who hails from Gurugram, and is known for his popping. On Sunday night as the Grand Finale of the show culminated, in a nail biting moment, from amongst the 5 best finalists, Tiger Pop was announced as India’s Best Dancer. India voted wholeheartedly for their favorite finalists and the total votes clocked in for the finale of the very first season of the show were 3 crore 28 lacs. Tiger Pop was awarded the trophy and a cheque of Rs 15 lakh from Sony Entertainment Television by Mr. Danish Khan, Business Head – Sony Entertainment Television, Digital Business & StudioNEXT. Tiger Pop was also awarded a Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza from Maruti Suzuki India Limited. Tiger’s choreographer Vartika Jha received a cheque of Rs 5 lakh.

The competition between the top 5 contestants – Tiger Pop, Mukul Gain, Shweta Warrier, Paramdeep Singh and Shubranil Paul was neck-to-neck as they all excelled in different dance forms. But the audience finally chose Tiger Pop as the ultimate winner. Mukul Gain and Shweta Warrier secured second and third spots respectively. The grand finale was no less than a huge celebration with non-stop entertainment, dance and fun banter. The show was graced by Dharmesh Yelande, Raghav Juyal, Pooja Sawant; the cast of SonyLIV’s upcoming series ‘A Simple Murder’ – Sushant Singh, Priya Anand and Amit Sial; and the cast of ‘Story 9 months Ki’ – Sukirti Kandpal and Aashay Mishra. Malaika Arora and Terence Lewis’s breathtaking performances were a visual treat. Krushna Abhishek in his inimitable way infused the evening with fun and laughter.

Tiger Pop, ecstatic about winning the title of India’s Best Dancer, said, “I am beyond happy to have won the coveted title of India’s Best Dancer. I cannot believe that my childhood dream of being on a platform like India’s Best Dancer and winning it, has come true today. The whole journey of being on India’s Best Dancer, right from my very first audition, to my first battle, to being paired with a choreographer like Vartika Jha, to performing & learning something new week on week has been surreal. Standing here on this stage made me realize that adulation cannot be taken for granted. You have to work hard to earn in. I am thankful to all the judges for keeping us grounded and being an inspiration to all of us. I am grateful and overwhelmed for all the love that I have received from all over the world.”

On Tiger Pop’s win, Malaika Arora said, “I am very very happy that Tiger Pop is our first season’s winner. Tiger is brilliant at what he does, and I think the audience have given their verdict on the same. They love him, and he truly deserves the success he has achieved today.”  Terence Lewis added, “Tiger Pop began his journey with the song Bekhayali and ended it with Ishaqzaade. His journey has been amazing. From being his mother’s favorite, today, he has become India’s favorite. His style, his grace and his performance touched our hearts, and I am extremely happy for him and his parents. Tiger managed to fulfill his mother’s dream and deep down somewhere I can relate to him. I wish him all the best for his journey ahead”.

India’s Best Dancer began its journey with the top 12 outstanding performers from across the country, and gave a platform to talent who deserved to be recognized, thereby inspiring many other aspirants.