So You Think You Can Dance revealed the identities of its Top 20 eleventh-season finalists during Wednesday night's broadcast of the Fox reality dancing competition.
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Thousands of hopefuls across five cities auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance's eleventh season by attending open casting calls from which 157 contestants were invited to attend the "Los Angeles Callbacks."
All 157 dancers got to perform a solo for regular So You Think You Can Dance judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy, as well as choreographer and guest judge Adam Shankman, show all-star TWitch, Olympic figure-skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski, and prima ballerina Irina Dvorovenko.
A total of 36 hopefuls were cut after solos, leaving 121 contestants to advance to the hip-hop choreography challenge. Each choreography round allowed the dancers only one hour to learn a routine and then perform it with a partner for the judges. After the hip-hop round and then ballroom choreography, 65 dancers remained.
Those 65 hopefuls then performed in "the dreaded contemporary round." After that challenge, 29 boys and 21 girls remained -- so 50 people total.
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The 50 dancers then participated in the group round. Groups of five randomly selected a song and had to choreograph their own routine. Only 44 performers remained after the group round and they got to dance an additional solo for the judges.
The Top 20 -- 10 males and 10 females -- were then selected by the So You Think You Can Dance judges and given either good or bad news one at a time. All the dancers will perform next week for the first time.
So You Think You Can Dance's Top 20 eleventh-season finalists are:
- Bridget Whitman, a 20-year-old Contemporary dancer from Tempe, AZ
- Tanisha Belnap, a 20-year-old Ballroom dancer from Payson, UT
- Emily James, a 21-year-old Contemporary dancer from North Kingstown, RI
- Brooklyn Fullmer, an 18-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from Provo, UT
- Carly Blaney, a 20-year-old Contemporary dancer from Wyckoff, NJ
- Jourdan Epstein, a 24-year-old Ballet dancer from Plymouth, MN
- Jessica Richens, an 18-year-old Jazz dancer from Yorba Linda, CA
- Valerie Rockey, a 20-year-old Tap dancer from Indianapolis, IN
- Jacque LeWarne, an 18-year-old Ballet dancer from Clive, IA
- Malene Ostergaard, a 25-year-old Ballroom dancer from Aarhus, Denmark
- Rudy Abreu, a 19-year-old Contemporary dancer from Miami, FL
- Serge Onik, a 26-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from Upper Saddle River, NJ
- Zack Everhart Jr., a 20-year-old Tap dancer from Kennesaw, GA
- Nick Garcia, an 18-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from Miami, FL
- Teddy Coffey, a 19-year-old Hip Hop dancer from Rochester, NY
- Casey Askew, a 19-year-old Contemporary dancer from Seattle, WA
- Ricky Ubeda, an 18-year-old Contemporary dancer from Miami, FL
- Stanley Glover, a 19-year-old Contemporary dancer from Chicago, IL
- Emilio Dosal, a 23-year-old Popping dancer from Houston, TX
- Marquet Hill, an 18-year-old Latin Ballroom dancer from South Jordan, U
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski