The Top 20 two-steppers who will compete as finalists on So You Think You Can Dance's third season were revealed by Fox at the conclusion of Thursday night's broadcast of the show's "Las Vegas Round" auditions.
ADVERTISEMENT
After auditioning thousands of hopefuls during So You Think You Can Dance 3's casting calls in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta earlier in the spring, the judges picked 190 dancers for the show's "Las Vegas Round." Once there they performed in a series of group routines before being whittled down to 50 by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe and choreographer Mary Murphy -- the show's two permanent judges -- and choreographers and rotating guest judges Mia Michaels and Shane Sparks. Each of the 50 remaining dancers then had a chance to perform one final solo routine before the field was narrowed to the 34 dancers -- 17 males and 17 females -- from which the season's Top 20 finalists were chosen.
The Top 10 males -- which include the adopted brother of Travis Wall, So You Think You Can Dance's second-season runner-up -- range in age from 20- to 27-years-old and have dance backgrounds encompassing everything from hip-hop to contemporary.
The Top 10 females -- which include the younger sister of Benji Schwimmer, So You Think You Can Dance's second-season champ -- range in age from 18- to 25-years-old and have dance backgrounds that mirror those of their male counterparts.
Murphy called So You Think You Can Dance's third season the "toughest year in the Top 10 for the girls" -- a sentiment echoed by Lythgoe, who commented it was "really a tough Top 10."
ADVERTISEMENT
| What did you think about last night's So You Think You Can Dance broadcast?
Talk about it on Reality TV World's So you Think You Can Dance message boards. |
So You Think You Can Dance 3's first live results show -- an hour-long broadcast -- will then air the following night, Thursday, June 14 at 9PM ET (PT tape-delayed) and follow an early-season format similar to last summer's So You Think You Can Dance edition. After the three couples who received the lowest number of viewer votes are announced, each member of the bottom three three couples will receive one last chance to impress the judges with a solo performance of his or her choosing. Then, once all six dancers have had their chance to perform, the judges will eliminate one male and one female.
After its first finals round, So You Think You Can Dance's third season will continue with a twice-weekly schedule in which performance shows will air Wednesdays at 8PM ET/PT and results shows will air on Thursdays at 9PM ET (although due to an NFL preseason game on Thursday, August 9, So You Think You Can Dance's results show for that week will air on Tuesday, August 14 at 9PM ET). So You Think You Can Dance 3 will air its final performance show -- a two-hour broadcast -- on Wednesday, August 15 at 8PM ET/PT. The show's season finale -- another expanded two-hour broadcast -- will air the following night on Thursday, August 16 beginning at 8PM ET/PT.
The Top 20 finalists who will compete on So You Think You Can Dance's third season -- and their Fox supplied bios -- are:
| Anya Garnis, a 25-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from New York, NY.
Anya has been living in the U.S. for six years after growing up in Russia. She has been dancing with partner Pasha Kovalev -- also a finalist -- for nine years. |
| Jaimie Goodwin, a 19-year-old Contemporary dancer from Virginia Beach, VA.
Jaimie danced in competitions with So You Think You Can Dance 2 runner-up Travis Wall before coming onto the show. |
| Lauren Gottlieb, an 18-year-old Contemporary/Jazz dancer who currently lives in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Lauren is originally from Scottsdale, AZ. After moving to California, she landed a spot dancing with Shakira at the Grammy Awards. She has been dancing since she was 2-years-old. |
| Sabra Johnson, a 19-year-old Contemporary dancer from Roy, UT.
With additional training in Ballet and Jazz, Sabra hopes to pursue dancing as a professional career. |
| Ashlee Langas, a 19-year-old Contemporary/Jazz dancer from Tyler, TX.
Ashlee has spent her life dancing in all sorts of settings from dance theaters to high school productions. |
| Shauna Noland, an 18-year-old Contemporary dancer from North Hollywood, CA.
Shauna has been dancing for 15 years and also has an avid love of singing. |
| Jessi Peralta, a 24-year-old Hip-Hop dancer from Valley Village, CA.
Jessi has danced in front of President Bill Clinton at the Apollo and has performed at Madison Square Garden. |
| Faina Savich, a 21-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from Brooklyn, NY.
Following in the footsteps of her brother Stanislav -- a So You Think You Can Dance second-season finalist -- Faina grew up in Moscow and has been living in the U.S. for six years. |
| Lacey Schwimmer, an 18-year-old Swing and International Latin dancer from Redlands, CA.
Following in the footsteps of her brother and dance partner Benji -- So You Think You Can Dance's second-season champ -- Lacey has her own style which she hopes to showcase this season. |
| Sara Von Gillern, a 23-year-old Hip-Hop/B-girl dancer from Ft. Collins, CO.
While she started as a journalism major at Colorado College, dancing has always been Sara's main love. She is a dance instructor and was one of 30 people from all over the world selected to be part of the Red Bull: Beat Rider program, which gave her the chance to work with some of the biggest names in the Hip-Hop/Breaking field. |
| Jimmy Arguello, a 21-year-old Contemporary dancer from Miami, FL.
After taking his first dance class in middle school, Jimmy at first focused on running in track and field and then changed directions completely and found his true calling in dance. |
| Kameron Bink, a 20-year-old Contemporary/Hip-Hop dancer from Coral Springs, FL.
Known for his distinct red-star hair, Kameron brings over 15 years of dance training to the show and hopes the experience will bring him new and exciting opportunities as he pursues a professional dance career. |
| Cedric Gardner, a 23-year-old Hip-Hop dancer from New Berlin, WI.
Cedric started training at 18 at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, then moved two-years later to Los Angeles, where he received a full scholarship with Monsters of Hip Hop. |
| Neil Haskell, a 20-year-old Contemporary Jazz dancer from Clarence Center, NY.
Neil is currently training in New York City, where he performed in the play The Times They are A-Changin' on Broadway and was named Male Dancer of the Year in 2005 by the American Dance Awards Competition. |
| Hok Konishi, a 22-year-old B-boy dancer from Los Angeles, CA.
Born in Tokyo, Hok spent much of his youth in Oxford, England and also auditioned for the first two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance, making it all the way to last year's "Las Vegas Round" before being sent home. |
| Pasha Kovalev, a 27-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from Fort Lee, NJ.
Pasha is originally from Russia and has trained with numerous professional ballroom dancers. He has been dancing with partner Anya Garnis -- also a finalist -- for nine years. |
| Ricky Palomino, a 25-year-old Contemporary dancer from Phoenix, AZ.
Ricky also enjoys singing -- he recently recorded his first album -- and he is a master teacher and choreographer. |
| Dominic Sandoval, a 21-year-old B-boy/Hip-Hop dancer from Roseville, CA.
Born in Sacramento, Dominic started his hip-hop training in January of this year. |
| Jesus Solorio, a 23-year-old Contemporary/Jazz dancer from Paso Robles, CA.
Jesus makes his own wine at his family vineyard. |