Randi & Kupono with Cat Deeley
Randi and Kupono were eliminated from The Top 10 of So You Think You Can Dance. The morning after their elimination, they opened up about their time on the show and their future plans on a press call.

Randi Evans, the 5′3″ blonde with a bright smile and personality, was ecstatic to make it on to the show after three years of auditioning for it. Before announcing that she made it to the Top 20, Mia joked with Randi about her collection of unitards.

For the first five weeks on the show, Randi was paired up with Evan. The pint-sized pair had an amazing chemistry together. Randi mentioned that “we just hit if off right at the beginning. Having to switch partners for the first time this week, Randi found it challenging to have such a limited amount of time to learn two dances with a new partner this week. However, she thinks Kupono is a great guy and that they gave it their all. Randi hopes that she and Evan will get the opportunity to perform their jazz routine from the first week on the tour. She also loved the Mia Michaels’ “butt dance,” and would like the opportunity to dance that again.

When Randi found out that she was in the bottom two couples, she held herself together quite well and kept her signature smile on her face. She said, “I kind of had a feeling that I would be [in the bottom] just because the numbers the previous night had been so great.” Randi said that the girls she was competing against were just so amazing. She knew someone had to go, and she felt that she had a really good run on the show. And now Randi can keep holding her head up high because she’s headed on tour with her fellow Dance finalists. “I feel lucky to have gotten as far as I did and I’m on tour and get to spend tour with amazing people,” she said.

Besides dancing, Randi describes herself as an “outdoor junkie.” She loves to go camping, boating, and four-wheeling with her husband and her family. It’s not every day that Randi is wearing fringe and make-up!

Randi is walking away from the show with some good advice from the choreographers. They said “the general idea for me was to just take risks and don’t be like an ‘in-your-box’ dancer – really explore and see how far you can take your dancing.”

To all of her fans, Randi would like to say thank you. “I can’t believe the love and support that I’ve gotten from so many people – people that I don’t even know – it’s just crazy to me, so I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough!”

Kupono Aweau, the Hawaiian contemporary dancer, had a great ability to connect to the pieces he danced. During one episode, Mia Michaels mentioned that everything the judges have asked Kupono to change, he has.

When Kupono was in fifth grade, he witnessed a girl dance a solo in a school performance. He thought she was so cool, and that was what inspired him to dance. However, the dancing industry in Hawaii isn’t that big and there aren’t many studios, so Kupono wasn’t able to attend a studio until he was old enough to get himself there. “Once I did, though, it kind of just cannon-balled from there and just kind of got better and better and better…it really helped me just perfect my technique,” Kupono said.

On the So You Think You Can Dance website, Kupono’s signature dance move is pretty hilarious and something everyone can do at home. Check it out here: http://www.fox.com/dance/videos/season5/index.htm. Kupono explained his signature move and said, “That’s like my happy dance. It’s kind of like the thing that I do when I’m back stage; it’s what I do to make people laugh or get my spirits up…It’s the most ridiculous movement ever, so when you’re doing it, you can’t help but smile and I’ve always got positive energy.”

During Kupono’s first week on the show, he performed a crash test dummies routine that was choreographed by Wade Robson. Kupono was ecstatic to work with Wade. “When you’re working with Wade, he’s just a very positive person and I’m all about energies and all that kind of stuff. He really took into consideration Ashley and myself…we found ourselves in the characters that he gave us.”

Another powerful piece Kupono performed was Mia Michaels’ “Addiction” themed piece. Kupono explained, “I feel like [Mia] brought stuff out that I didn’t know was there.  My family is so much better at everything – they’re much healthier and all that.  And I’ve dealt with everything, but clearly, there is something in there that I just didn’t know was still there with me, and it was almost like therapy.  So it’s like I needed Mia Michaels in my life, I needed her, I needed that piece, I needed Kayla, that whole moment- I needed it.”

Kupono showed us his OCD side on the show. Besides being super organized, he was always making check lists with his goals. What’s next on Kupono’s to-do list? He can’t wait to go home and see his family and give his niece “knuckles”- their special handshake.

Lastly, Kupono said, “I’m completely excited and ecstatic and so, so grateful for all this.  Everyone and anything that I’ve ever come into contact with, and came across in this whole process, it’s been absolutely amazing and I’m just so grateful.”