BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Former Point Park University student Neil Haskell may or may not triumph in Fox's reality competition series "So You Think You Can Dance" (8 tonight, WPGH), but he already feels like a winner. Last week he made it into the final 10, meaning he'll go on the show's national tour.

	Neil Haskell, one of the top 10 finalists on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," says attending Point Park University "was such a good experience." Click photo for larger image. Related Coverage Press Tour Notes: Next 'Idol' to get up close and personal Tuned In Journal

"The moment I realized live on TV that I'd be on tour for the next three months, it was such a surreal moment," Haskell said after a "Dance" press conference Sunday. "This is the longest audition process we've ever been on. I feel like [making the final 10] took a little bit of weight off my shoulders, but now I have a completely different weight on my shoulders trying to win this thing."

Haskell's path to the "Dance" final 10 hasn't always been smooth. Audience votes landed him in the bottom three times, including last week, before the final 10 were selected. He had to "dance for my life" to get into the final 10, performing to Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe."

"It was kind of rockish, with a lot of tricks and dancing and fun," Haskell said.

His favorite performance was on the show that aired a week ago tonight, when he performed a Mia Michaels-choreographed contemporary routine. To the music of Citizen Cope's "Let the Drummer Kick," Haskell danced with partner Lauren Gottlieb. (The dancers get new partners tonight.)

"It showcased my talents and the way I like to dance the best," Haskell said. "It was just the best time I've had on this stage since I've been here, so it just made me feel a lot better about my dancing."

Michaels said she thought Haskell was "awesome" in that performance, but judge/executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said he was not impressed.

"I didn't understand it," he said during Sunday's press conference. "I thought it looked like two tadpoles dancing. The best he ever did, in truth, was probably his first solo, when he was dancing to save his life on the program. That kept him on the show. That was a really important dance for him."

Haskell, 20, grew up outside of Buffalo, N.Y., and attended Point Park as a freshman during the 2005-06 school year. He performed in Pittsburgh CLO shows last summer, including "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," and intended to return to Point Park, but while shopping for school supplies he got a call that he was hired for his first Broadway show. Two days later, he was in New York, rehearsing with choreographer Twyla Tharp for "The Times They Are A-Changin', " a dance musical made up of Bob Dylan songs. The show ran only for a few months last fall, but it gave Haskell a taste of what he hopes to return to: dancing in a Broadway show.

"I would love to go back to New York and hopefully be able to book a Broadway show or something along those lines again," he said. "I don't think I'll be back to school, but I stay in touch with some of the teachers, and they're supporting me a lot."

Haskell grew up doing jazz/tap/ballet in competitions and got more seriously into ballet at 15 when he began attending summer programs at the Chautauqua Institution. From there he was on to Point Park.

"Point Park just gave me so much awesome training I use in the show," he said. "I had to take all sorts of classes there: modern, ballet, I had to do all this partnering work. The jazz classes there were amazing. I loved all the teachers. It was such a good experience."

Haskell was back in Pittsburgh earlier this summer to visit his girlfriend, Katie Terza, who's playing Demeter in CLO's "Cats." He stopped by Point Park, hoping to sit in on a few classes, but students in a summer program there had other ideas of how he should spend his time.

"There were all these little girls, and I had to do a 45-minute photo session," he said, laughing at his unexpected celebrity. "It was really interesting to see what type of popularity the show has. I was just hoping to slip in, take a class, slip out, but that didn't happen."