Posts Tagged ‘callbacks’
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Top 20 Finalists for Season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance Revealed! Individual Photos Added!
New: See the Profiles of the Top 20 Finalists
After thousands of auditions across the country and the grueling callbacks in Las Vegas, the judges of summer’s No. 1 series, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, announced Season Five’s Top 20 finalists tonight. The top girls include Randi Evans, Karla Garcia, Caitlin Kinney, Asuka Kondoh, Janette Manrara, Jeanine Mason, Kayla Radomski, Melissa Sandvig, Paris Torres and Ashley Valerio; and the top guys are Kupono Aweau, Tony Bellissimo, Brandon Bryant, Phillip Chbeeb, Jason Glover, Vitolio Jeune, Max Kapitannikov, Evan Kasprzak, Ade Obayomi and Jonathan Platero. See individual photos and bios below.
The competition truly begins Wednesday, June 10 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) as the Top 20 finalists dance for the judges’ praise and America’s votes on the season’s first performance show. The Top 20 are paired into 10 couples who will each work with a world-renowned choreographer to compose a dance routine representing their assigned genre. After each Wednesday performance show, the phone lines will open and the fate of these 20 finalists – one of whom will be the named America’s Favorite Dancer – will be left up to the voting fans.
On the live results shows beginning Thursday, June 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live PT/tape-delayed), the three couples with the lowest number of votes will be announced. Each week the six contestants comprising the bottom three couples are given a chance to perform solo routines in the hopes of convincing the judges to keep them in the competition. The judges then decide which dancers stay and which two are eliminated. If a couple is split apart, the two individual dancers who remain become a couple the following week.
Thursdays will also feature live performances by today’s hottest music stars and dance acts. On Thursday, June 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) Sean Kingston will perform his new hit single, “Fire Burning on the Dance Floor,” from his upcoming sophomore album, “Tomorrow,” live from the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE stage.
The Top 20 finalists scheduled to perform Wednesday, June 10 (8:00–10:00 PM ET/PT) are:
Girls
Randi Evans
Dance Specialty: Jazz
Hometown: Orem, UT
Currently Resides: Springville, UT
Age: 23
Evans began dancing at an early age and performed in the closing ceremonies at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. She currently attends Utah Valley University where she is majoring in elementary education.Karla Garcia
Dance Specialty: Jazz/Contemporary
Hometown: Oxon Hill, MD
Currently Resides: Brooklyn, NY
Age: 23
Garcia is a graduate of New York University. Her early dance experience included learning traditional Filipino folk dancing. Garcia performed on Broadway in “Hot Feet,” danced in the ensemble of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” and went on to tour with “Wicked.” She is a member of “Boogie Bots Crew.”Caitlin Kinney
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Currently Resides: Annapolis, MD
Age: 21
Kinney graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2005. She danced at North Carolina Dance Theatre as an apprentice for two years and is an experienced gymnast. After beginning as a competitive gymnast, Kinney found her way to dance though an acrobatics program at “C&C Dance Company”. After graduating from Baltimore School for the Arts in 2005, she then joined North Carolina Dance Theater, first as an apprentice then later as a second company member.Asuka Kondoh
Dance Specialty: Latin Ballroom
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Currently Resides: Irvine, CA
Age: 25
Kondoh loves swimming, golf and tennis and has played piano for 13 years. She is a graduate of University of California, Irvine, and has worked as a Latin Ballroom instructor for the last two years.Janette Manrara
Dance Specialty: Salsa
Hometown: Miami, FL
Currently Resides: Hialeah, FL
Age: 25
Manrara began performing in musical theater at age 12, and started her formal dance training at 19, studying Ballroom, Ballet, Pointe, Jazz and Hip Hop. She currently attends Florida International University.Jeanine Mason
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Miami, FL
Currently Resides: Pinecrest, FL
Age: 18
A recent graduate of the Ransom Everglades School, Mason plans to attend the University of California, Los Angeles in the fall. She began her dance training in Ballet and Lyrical and then went on to study Jazz, Acrobatics, Hip Hop, Modern and Contemporary.Kayla Radomski
Dance Specialty: Jazz/Contemporary
Hometown: Aurora, CO
Currently Resides: Aurora, CO
Age: 18
Radomski has been dancing for most of her life, and participating in SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is one of her most rewarding experiences. She is grateful to her amazing mother who has supported her love of dance for so many years. Radomski also enjoys acting and singing.Melissa Sandvig
Dance Specialty: Ballet
Hometown: Los Alamitos, CA
Currently Resides: Los Alamitos, CA
Age: 29
Sandvig has been dancing for most of her life. She has danced with the Milwaukee Ballet Company, LA Opera, Long Beach Ballet and Helios Dance Theater. A highlight for Sandvig was performing “Le Coeur Illumine” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.Paris Torres
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Issaquah, WA
Currently Resides: Issaquah, WA
Age: 19
Torres is a graduate of Skyline High School. She began dancing when she was 6 years old and now teaches at a studio near her home. She was also a Miss Washington Teen pageant winner, and was a Seattle Storm and Seattle Sonic Jr. dancer from 2000-2003.Ashley Valerio
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Mesa, AZ
Currently Resides: North Hollywood, CA
Age: 22
Valerio has been dancing for most of her life. She is a graduate of Mountain View High School.Guys
Kupono Aweau
Dance Specialty: Lyrical/Contemporary
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Currently Resides: Kailua, HI
Age: 23
Aweau graduated from the Kamehameha Schools and has been dancing since he was 16 years old. He loves his home state of Hawaii, and is an avid collector of home furnishings.Tony Bellissimo
Dance Specialty: Hip Hop
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Currently Resides: Buffalo, NY
Age: 20
Bellissimo has been dancing for most of his life. He is a graduate of Frontier High School, and played on the school’s soccer, football and lacrosse teams. He likes to write short stories and poems, and his favorite professional dancer is Barry Lather. He finds inspiration working with children in a local pre-school and mentoring young kids between the ages of 6-12 in an after school program.Brandon Bryant
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Miami, FL
Currently Resides: Salt Lake City, UT
Age: 19
Bryant began dancing ballet at age 10. He is a graduate of Coral Reef Senior High School and now attends Miami Dade College. His most memorable dance experience was performing for Madonna at her daughter’s birthday party.Phillip Chbeeb
Dance Specialty: Popping
Hometown: Houston, TX
Currently Resides: Los Angeles, CA
Age: 20
Chbeeb has had no formal dance training, but began dancing when he was 15 years old. At age 16, he founded the Marvelous Motion Studio in Houston. He is currently an engineering physics major at Loyola Marymount University.Jason Glover
Dance Specialty: Lyrical/Contemporary
Hometown: Fresno, CA
Currently Resides: Fresno, CA
Age: 21
Glover began dancing at age 12, studying Tap and Hip Hop. He is a graduate of Bullard High School, and his favorite dancer is Michael Jackson. Tapping onstage with Gregory Hines, in one of his last shows, changed Jason’s life.Vitolio Jeune
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Pétionville, Haiti
Currently Resides: Miami, FL
Age: 26
Jeune began dancing at age 18, and is a graduate of Florida’s New World School of the Arts. He loves motorcycles, and his favorite dancer is Desmond Richardson.Max Kapitannikov
Dance Specialty: Latin Ballroom
Hometown: Moscow, Russia
Currently Resides: Brooklyn, NY
Age: 26
Kapitannikov has been dancing for as long as he can remember. He comes from a dancing family, and his mother is a ballet teacher. He also enjoys sculpting and playing the guitar. He attended the Manhattan Comprehensive High School.Evan Kasprzak
Dance Specialty: Broadway
Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI
Currently Resides: West Bloomfield, MI
Age: 21
Kasprzak graduated from Wylie E. Groves High School and currently attends Illinois Wesleyan University. He has been dancing since he was 6 years old, and his most memorable dance experience was performing in a Gregory Hines tribute with Hines’ family in the audience.Ade Obayomi
Dance Specialty: Contemporary
Hometown: Chandler, AZ
Currently Resides: Orange County, CA
Age: 20
Obayomi has been dancing since he was 6 years old. He is a graduate of Corona Del Sol High School and currently attends Chapman University. A dance highlight for him was performing at Radio City Music Hall.Jonathan Platero
Dance Specialty: Salsa
Hometown: Sanford, FL
Currently Resides: New York, NY
Age: 21
Platero was a gymnast before he began dancing at age 16. He is a graduate of Seminole High School, was a World Salsa finalist in 2006-2007 and performed as a dancer and acrobat in “High School Musical.”
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