BLOOMINGTON -- The Illinois Wesleyan University community is taking a keen interest in who will win Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" next week.

IWU senior Evan Kasprzak is among the top four dancers competing for the $250,000 prize in next week's two-part grand finale.

His climb to success hasn't surprised his teachers and friends. But it has energized them.

"We're pretty fanatical" about watching his performances and voting for him, said Scott Susong, who heads IWU's musical theater program in which Kasprzak, of West Bloomfield, Mich., is enrolled.

Susong, is leading a production of "Triumph of Love" in Portland, Ore., this summer. But he's got several IWU faculty members and students with him as fellow fans.

Back at IWU, there have been show-watching parties at the homes of IWU teachers.

Kasprzak, 22, danced his way through the "American Idol"-style program's fifth season -- winning judges' and viewers' votes along the way. Each week, he's escaped elimination as, two-by-two, the 20 finalists were whittled to just four.

Whether the young man who loves the dancing style associated with old MGM movies and Gene Kelly takes the winning title or not, the experience has been life-changing, said Susong.

"He's got dancing, singing, acting. At 22, he'll be able to hit the ground running," said Susong. "I think it's immeasurable. It really tests his technique, gives him more dance vocabulary and creates a fan base for him."

The senior will be on the television show's live tour this fall, so he'll miss class at the Bloomington campus. But he'll use the tour as an internship, said Susong.

"And he'll return in the spring and tie up some loose ends and be able to graduate with his class," he said.

Garrett Rapp, an IWU student and friend of Kasprzak, noted his classmate has more than 5,000 "friends" on his Facebook fan page, and that videos of the dancer can be viewed there.

"A whole bunch of us get together each week and watch the show," he said.

This isn't Kasprazak's first run with the show. He also auditioned for Season 4 but was eliminated just before the naming of the Top 20.

This spring, he and his brother Ryan auditioned. Ryan was the last to be eliminated before the Top 20 selection.

Repeated attempts to reach Kasprzak through Fox TV were unsuccessful this week.

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