The new season starts on Thursday, October 20th on CMT. Save the date!
From CMT.com:
Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is once again the venue for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders auditions. Five hundred candidates, including several familiar faces cut in training camp last year, arrive before sunrise for the preliminaries with dreams of making the 2011-2012 DCC team. For DCC director Kelli McGonagill Finglass, DCC choreographer Judy Trammell and Executive VP Dallas Cowboys Charlotte Jones Anderson, these auditions are extremely important because they have an unprecedented number of slots to fill. Fifteen girls retired from last year’s squad leaving only 18 DCC veterans committed to returning this year. After the grueling preliminary auditions, 122 young ladies are invited to compete at semifinals the following weekend. At the semis, the candidates struggle to learn a powerful DCC dance routine and the signature DCC kick line routine. The auditions come to an end with 69 girls invited to finals auditions. Now they are one step closer to Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders training camp. After the grueling preliminary auditions, 122 young ladies are invited to compete at semifinals the following weekend. At the semis, the candidates struggle to learn a powerful DCC dance routine and the signature DCC kick line routine. The auditions come to an end with 69 girls invited to finals auditions. Now they are one step closer to Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders training camp.
TULSA – A Green Country native is being featured Tuesday on NBC’s hit talent show “America’s Got Talent.”
Tanea Brooks, a former Owasso, Okla. resident, is a member of the dance troupe Purrfect Angelz, which is one of 48 acts competing for a top 24 spot this week.
Born and raised in Owasso, Brooks relocated to Dallas where she became the youngest ever Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and was featured on the much sought-after cover of their swimsuit calender.
She then relocated to Los Angeles where she has appeared in commercials, television shows and music videos. With her dance ability, Brooks landed the top spot as lead dancer in Trace Adkins’ “Honkytonk Badonkadonk” video.
While living in LA, Brooks joined the Hollywood-based dance group Purrfect Angelz.
The Angelz is a group of all-female professional dancers, models and entertainers specializing in high-energy dance shows for casinos, nightclubs, motorcycle rallies and military tours across the world.
With the other Angelz, Brooks recently completed her fifth military tour performing for troups in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Brooks is one of eight dancers in Perfect Angelz currently competing on “America’s Got Talent.”
On Tuesday, the group will perform a sexy western dance for a top 24 spot on the show. The competition’s winning act will receive a $1 million grand prize.
Live Performance Episode: Tuesday, July 26 at 8 p.m.
Live Results Episode: Wednesday, July 27 at 8 p.m.
To vote:
Call 1-866-602-48 _ _ (The last two digits will be given to performers during the show)
Text 48_ _ (AT&T customers only. The last two digits will be given to performers during the show)
Vote online at www.NBC.com
Sidebar: Several members of this dance troupe have backgrounds in pro sports dance. There are almost 50 dancers on the team. Of the 9 appearing on the show, at least 4 have backgrounds in the NFL and/or NBA.
Kristina Rodriquez: Golden State Warriors
Lindsay Dennis: Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers
Lisa Ligon – Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins
Tanea Brooks – Dallas Cowboys
Going through the horrors of breast cancer may be the best thing that ever happened to Leslie Ezelle.
In 2008, the Dallas resident was a stay-at-home mom to her four kids and stepkids when she was diagnosed. Not a lot of people, even friends, knew about it at the time.
“During breast cancer, I was in complete denial — I wouldn’t talk about it,” Ezelle now admits. “I did six weeks of radiation and wouldn’t talk to anybody there; I just wanted to get in and out.”
But while outwardly nothing was wrong, inside she was falling apart. “What am I gonna be when I grow up?” she asked herself. And the answer was: Follow your dream.
“I thought maybe I could combine all the things I have always had confidence in — my artwork and my painting and my design — and make a living at it,” she says.
For years, Ezelle — a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader — had been an amateur decorator, offering her eye to close friends and family free of charge. But in the middle of breast cancer treatment, she decided it was time to make it official and “start charging for it.”
In 2009, she started her company, LeslieChristine Designs. Around the same time, she took another huge step.
“I was in and out of the hospital during breast cancer with infections and reconstructive surgery,” she says. “I started thinking, ‘What I really want is my own design show. And I want it to be different than other kinds of reveal shows, built around my crazy life. I want it to be like Modern Family.”
Ezelle’s crazy life includes sharing an adopted daughter, Ella, with her ex-partner Marisa Diotalevi; rearing her stepson and adopted sons with her wife Libby; managing “a petting zoo” of a four-legged family that includes a one-eyed Shih-tzu and countless other fauna; and fitting it all into a small house in Preston Hollow.
And the best way to get such a show, she felt, was to compete for it.
Ezelle and her clan were already huge fans of HGTV’s Design Star competition series, which pits 12 aspiring decorators against each other, with the reward being their own weekly series. She figures she might as well try it.
“The day of the deadline, I FedEx’d my stuff to them. Real soon I went up there to meet them. Then I got a call that I was accepted. It was quick and pretty amazing, but really cool, though. They were auditioning for close to nine months; to go through it that long would have made me a nervous wreck. I did it on a whim and it worked out beautifully.”
This season, gay designer Vern Yip returns as the head judge (alongside Genevieve Gorder and Candice Olson), with guest judges like Thom Felicia and Nate Berkus, plus the addition of a new mentor: The gay former series winner and current TV host David Bromstad, who serves as a Tim Gunn-esque mentor. (Gay judges, gay mentor, gay contestant: This might be the gayest show on TV not on Bravo — and that includes Logo.)
Until the winner of the series is revealed (she can’t talk about it), Ezelle’s own design business is doing well.
“I seem to be caught up with the straight-male-bachelor-penthouse scene, which is really great because they have money!” she laughs. “I’m actually doing my first gay male couple shortly — the first gay clients I’ve had.”
But Ezelle found the whole TV experience worthwhile.
“I felt like I knew all these guys,” she says. “Vern is so sweet, so straightforward. I’ve heard critics and other designers describe him as the Simon Cowell [of the show], but I’m not at all intimidated by him. We have much in common: He and his partner had a baby. He lost his mom to cancer, and he’s very dedicated to this foundation [in her memory]. I learned that the day before I went to check into the show and I just lost it. He’s a good guy!”
Ezelle herself is becoming a devotee of cancer awareness, as well. While she was undergoing treatment, she refused to acknowledge how serious things were.
“I didn’t want to see anything pink — I didn’t want to ‘play’ breast cancer. But that’s really what brought me to the show. I’ve decided to embrace the pink.”
For the season premiere on July 11, Ezelle is hosting an invitation-only screening party and fundraiser for Susan G. Komen foundation at Studio Movie Grill.
“I’m trying to raise $25,000 for Susan G. Komen, hopefully more,” she says. “It’s my time to pay back and bring awareness. Of course, I may be hiding under the table when [the episode] airs, out of embarrassment…”
Ezelle finished her last cancer treatment on Dec. 27 — a milestone for her, but not one she would readily trade.
“Breast cancer really drove me in this direction,” she says. “It makes you remember, ‘It’s not that bad — I’m not dead. I don’t have it as bad as this [person.]’ And I think my story is what got me on the show. Doom and gloom brought me to my dreams.”
And if all works out, it just may make those dreams come true.
This season, former New England Patriots Cheerleader Carrie Binette appeared on TLC’s hit show “Say Yes to the Dress.” Last year, Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Kari Pujadas appeared on the southern incarnation of the show, “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.” Now here’s another interesting factoid: Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Brandy K. is a Casting Director for Say Yes: Atlanta. Here she is with two members of the cast: Lori Allen, owner of Bridals By Lori, where the show takes place, and Monte Durham, Fashion Director for Bridals by Lori.
By Vince Rembulat The Manteca Bulletin
vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com
May 27, 2011
Jonni Rogers kept her secret under wraps for months.
She auditioned for Season 8 of “So You Think You Can Dance” back in October. Tryouts were held at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre.
Back then, Rogers, who is a 2008 graduate of Sierra High, juggled her duties as Oakland Raiderette – she’s currently gearing up for her fourth season on the sidelines with the Silver and Black – while chasing her dreams of trying out for the hit FOX-TV show.
“It was tough trying to keep it a secret from my Raiderette sisters,” she said while watching the national airing of the two-hour audition show Thursday featuring judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.
The third judge’s seat for this season will be conducted on a rotation of Robin Antin, Lil C, Tyce Diorio, Toni Redpath, and Jason Gilkison.
Rogers earned her way to finals in Las Vegas. But in order to reach that point, she had to undergo two 14-hour days that consisted of dance, interviews, and photo sessions.
“There was a lot of talent at the audition,” she said.
Rogers can be seen again in “So You Think You Can Dance” in the coming weeks.
Harmony Flores, owner and operator of Manteca’s Dance Stars studio – she’s also a friend and mentor – invited friends and Dance Star members to the airing of “So You Think You Can Dance” featuring Rogers and others at the Oakland audition.
“Since it was my birthday, we decided to combine the two together,” said Flores, who reserved Chez Shari inside the clubhouse of the Manteca Park Golf Course for the occasion.
She also helped Rogers prepare for the audition, and was in the audience during the airing of the show. Meanwhile, some of Rogers’ students – she teaches a group of youngsters at Dance Stars – along with her parents waited for the outcome of those auditions.
Behind the scenes, Rogers had to dance improv, undergo interviews with the producers, do slow-motion steps, and perform in an improv section.
She was seen in the group dance.
“If they liked you, you went to Vegas. Or else you went back to choreography. In my case, I went back to choreography before being picked,” Rogers revealed.
But, in her moment of excitement, Rogers was censored while receiving her congratulatory hugs from students, friends and family.
“It was one ‘bleep,’” she said. “I was kind of embarrassed (seeing that on TV).”
Rogers, who specializes in jazz dancing, was contractually prohibited from commenting further on her “So You Think You Can Dance” efforts in Las Vegas.
She did receive a dozen or so text messages during the airing of her show. “They came from people who I cheered with along with my friends and family,” Rogers said.
The Phunk Phenomenon hip hop dance team based out of the Phunk Phenomenon Dance Studio of Everett owned by Reia Briggs-Connor and her husband, Rick Connor, has advanced to the round of four on the MTV show, “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew.”
The Phunk will try to advance one step closer toward the $100,000 first prize on the next show that airs Thursday at 10 p.m. The show has been attracting three million viewers per week so the dancers and their coach Reia Briggs-Connor have begun to experience the glow of national fame.
Briggs-Connor and her husband have been traveling to California to be with their team in person but they’re in town this week for the studio’s recital that will be held Sunday at the Lynn City Hall Auditorium.
The followers of Phunk will be watching the show with Briggs-Connor and her husband Thursday night at Pizzeria Regina in Medford.
“It feels great to be in the final four and I’m proud of our dancers,” said Briggs-Connor. “I knew their talent would get them there, but I wasn’t sure how America would vote. It’s been good that they’re getting the support from the Boston community and from people all over the country.”
Every week the Phunk Dancers have been performing a new routine each week to a new song.
“The producers give the teams a different song and a different challenge, trying to make them step out of their comfort zone and to do something they’ve never tried before,” said Briggs-Connor.
The former New England Patriots cheerleader has been receiving well wishes from parents of dancers at the studio, Everett residents, and friends.
“There’s been so much excitement,” said Briggs-Connor. “Every Thursday everybody looks forward to going over to Pizzeria Regina and watching the show. The show has pulled everybody together and it’s been a nice bonding experience.”
Reia Briggs-Connor and Rick Connor and their son, Jared, have been featured in a segment on the show. Jared is afflicted with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare disease, and Phunk’s popularity has brought more awareness for the disease, which was one of Briggs-Connor’s goals.
Those who watched Reia Briggs-Connor grow up in Chelsea knew she was a great academic student and a talented dancer/performer herself. They followed her career as a professional cheerleader and a business owner.
But will the Reia Briggs-Connor-coached Phunk Phenomenon group become the best hip hop dance team in the world?
Exclusive Interview: Sarah Mitchell (The Dance Scene) Popstar.com
There’s nothing Sarah Mitchell loves more than performing. As a first-rate dancer, she has appeared in mega-hit films such as Burlesque, Music and Lyrics, and Did You Hear About The Morgans. Now, she’s set to appear in a Brand New reality series on E! titled The Dance Scene. The show, which is a Ryan Seacrest Production, will focus on the day-to- day life of dancers as they work with a famous Pop superstar’s illustrious choreographer.
Sarah has also begun an acting career, and hopes to parlay her talent into larger roles. She is devoted to her craft and believes in giving back. During her tenure as a cheerleader for the Knicks, she worked with young dancers throughout the New York area and now plans to renew her efforts in Los Angeles.
We recently sat down with the gifted, yet unassuming Sarah Mitchell to discuss her new projects and to find out a bit more about her journey. During our exclusive interview, she took five and told us about working with the “crazy talented” Christina Aguilera, her highly coveted Super Bowl ring (yes, she has one!), and a most unusual job which landed her in somewhat of a pickle.
Tell us about the new show, The Dance Scene which will be airing on E! starting this April.
Basically, it’s kind of like The Hills meets the dance world. It’s based on Laurieann Gibson who is Lady Gaga’s choreographer, and we’re kind of intertwined in her world a little bit. Basically she’s so busy that she needs to bring more people into her company. It shows us a day in the life of Laurieann and just being a dancer in general. It should be really good. I’m really excited to see how it all turns out. It’s going to premier April 10th on E!.
You have appeared as a dancer in several films. What’s been your favorite experience so far?
Burlesque was probably my favorite experience, just because we danced so much and we were so involved. Basically dance was a big part of that movie. With The Other Two movies, it was like we worked so hard and you really only saw a little bit, which is so crazy to me. Even with Burlesque we did so much, and you still only see a little bit of the dancing. But I think that process for me was great, and I think for any girl it would be fun. {laughs}. I’m sitting there with Cher and Christina Aguilera and all these crazy stars who are extremely talented. The music, the dancing, everything about it was just awesome. It was tough at times, I’m not gonna lie. There was days where I was like “This is hard,” but it was all definitely worth it.
Who have you enjoyed working with the most thus far?
I would say probably Christina because I worked with her outside of Burlesque. I worked with her a little before, and I was on her Bionic Tour (Actually we only did the promo tour. We didn’t really go out on a full tour). But working with her, being on stage with her was just – it’s powerful. It’s extremely motivating and she’s so talented that it’s almost like it’s not real {laughs}. Even when she’s just playing around and not even singing, it’s just amazing. She’s crazy talented.
What do you consider to be your ultimate goal or achievement? In other words, what will happen that makes you say “I’ve made it,” or has it happened already and you continue to redefine your goals?
Yea, I kind of do redefine my goals, and I’ve had a few of those moments where it’s like “Wow!” When I was younger, I really do remember when I had those little goals, one at a time, and I would reach them. I remember being on stage with Christina in London doing Lady Marmalade thinking, “Oh my gosh this is amazing, I’ve finally made it! I’m a dancer!” And Burlesque was something that I had my heart set on. I was like, “I’m doing this movie.” I had to audition about five times but I was like “I’m doing this, one way or another !” I think as a dancer, those have been a few “Whoa” moments for me.
Now, I think my ultimate goal is just kind of transitioning, and making this into a full career. I’ve also been working really hard on acting and training really hard, and I would love to be able to star in a movie musical as an actor and a dancer – just expand on all of this in general. I’m open to new things, and I’m just open to whatever new comes my way. As long as it’s creative and interests me, I’m totally down for it.
What does dancing do for you that nothing else does?
I found the perfect way to describe that. I remember reading in an article somewhere that Beyonce has her alter-egos when she’s off stage and when she’s on stage, and I feel like I’m a completely different person when I’m on stage. I’m more confident and I just feel more like a woman when I’m on stage, and it gives me that fire. There’s nothing I like more than performing, and it seems to be dancing because I’ve trained and worked so hard at it, and I feel really confident when I dance. I really can’t describe The Feeling it gives me. I just love it. But it’s kind of like an alter-ego,you know? When I do get on stage I’m like a different person.
Tell us about your Super Bowl ring.
{Laughs} I was still living in Massachusetts and I was looking for some sort of audition, so I auditioned for the Patriots [cheerleaders] and I made it. I remember they were having a really bad season and doing appearances was kind of bad because people were like “Patriots suck!” {laughs}. I remember being so Young And naive and saying “I want to go to the Super Bowl!” {laughs}. We actually did go to the Super Bowl that year which was crazy, and they ended up winning. That year was the only year that they actually allowed cheerleaders to get the rings, because I think it caused a few issues in terms of who would get them and who wouldn’t. But they won the Super Bowl I think two times after that, so I picked the right year, for sure.
So yea, I have a Super Bowl ring which is really random, but I do. {laughs}
You have also been involved in teaching arts to children. You were doing some things in New York and now you’re working on setting something up out there in L.A. Can you tell us what you do and why it is so important to you?
Yes. When I was with the Knicks, there was an organization called Garden of Dreams that we worked with, and for four years when I was on the Knicks, not all of the girls, but some of us would teach kids in Harlem and in The Bronx. I didn’t realize it until later, but a lot of those kids were from shelters and in foster homes, and I just saw them in school. I didn’t know better, and when I found that out, it was like ripping my heart out. They were just sweet, talented kids – and talk about passionate. Those kids were extremely passionate. I just remember being in school in art class and gym. I actually hated gym, and if it would have been a dance class, it would have been much better. But I think kids need that. Growing up, it was the only thing I loved. It was the only thing I really did have. When I remember finding out that you really could be a dancer, I was like, “I’m gonna be a dancer.” I knew I was going to be a dancer, and I didn’t care what anybody said. I just think it would be great to have that option as kid to be exposed to it and expand their knowledge of it. I don’t think many of these kids even realize that they could be a dancer or do something creative. It’s not offered to them and I just think it should be. I’m really looking for some way to get involved here in L.A. with that.
Name Three Things that you would like people to know about you, and share with us something about you that is funny.
I’m definitely a little dorky. Maybe corny. I like to think I’m funny, but I’m not really. {laughs} We’ll just say I’m funny.
Oh, I have a good one. For one of my first jobs, I worked in a pickle barrel selling pickles, which is just so funny {laughs}. It was an actual large pickle barrel that I sat in and I sold pickles. Just the fact that I did that was funny.
[You heard it here first, folks!]
Name one thing you don’t have yet, but really want.
Probably an acting role. A large acting role. I’ve had some smaller roles, but I’d like a bigger one.
What advice would you give to aspiring dancers?
If it’s something you really love to do, do your work. Train as much as you can. Anything that’s in your control, whether it’s staying healthy, keeping in shape, keeping up on who you need to be working with and what agencies are out there. Take care of what you can take care of. Thinking back, I had so many large let-downs with jobs and every day I questioned “Is this something I should be doing?” Then I thought, “You know what? If I’m not doing this, there’s nothing else I really want to do, and I know I want to be happy.” Getting knocked down sucks, and there’s a lot of rejection but it’s just something that you’ve got to deal with. If you want it bad enough, you just have to keep pushing and eventually it’ll happen.
You can see Sarah on The Dance Scene beginning June 10th at 10:30/9:30c on E!
You can’t swing a snow shovel without hitting someone on television with a Wisconsin accent.
Random Lake resident Andrea Boehlke’s torch is still lighted on “Survivor: Redemption Island.” Milwaukee’s Naima Adedapo earned a standing ovation on this week’s “American Idol.” Robb Mariani of Milwaukee brings his love for big rigs to the Speed Channel on Thursdays with “American Trucker,” and was among the finalists on HGTV’s “Design Star” in 2007. Menomonee Falls’ Jessica Szohr is on “Gossip Girl” and reportedly dates Aaron Rodgers.
And “That ’70s Show” and “RoboCop” veteran Kurtwood Smith – who appears in the new CBS series “Chaos” – is from New Lisbon.
I’ve never heard of it either.
He also appears in the film “Cedar Rapids,” opening Friday, which is partly set in the state and was written by Neenah native Phil Johnston.
That probably only scratches the surface.
And let’s face it; as the budget battle, Madison protests, phone pranks and missing state senators play out on the national stage, the whole state looks like a dysfunctional reality show.
All of which demonstrates that geography is no impediment to notoriety or success.
“I love being from Wisconsin,” said Tanya Fischer, 25, from the CBS series “The Defenders.”
Fischer, who grew up in West Bend, spent her youth “daydreaming among the cornfields” about being an actress and was involved in “all sorts of activities” in high school. After graduation, she joined the Milwaukee Bucks’ Energee! Dance Team. She moved to New York in 2004 with “$1,000 and one suitcase,” slept on a friend’s couch and worked odd jobs. She didn’t have money for acting classes but got experience by working for theater companies and performing on stage. Through that, she got an agent and landed a recurring role on the short-lived ABC show “Life on Mars,” which was shot in New York.
“Then the stock market crashed and the industry changed,” she said.
She started losing roles to more established actors looking for work. So when a band she was in visited Los Angeles, she went to a “Defenders” audition, and after several screen tests she got the role. “The Defenders” stars Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Donnell as Las Vegas lawyers. The season finale airs Friday night at 7.
Fischer plays their secretary Zoey, whose competence is camouflaged by her coquettishness.
She said she drew on Judy Holliday in “Born Yesterday” and “Monkey Business,” an early Marilyn Monroe film, in creating the character, whose trademarks are brightly colored Post-it notes and a pink fuzzy-topped pencil, a prop Fischer pocketed when the series finished shooting.
Belushi is the star of the comedy-drama hybrid, but “The Defenders” is also an ensemble show, of which Fischer’s character is “the wild card. The random piece of the puzzle.”
“The Defenders” is produced and written by Whitefish Bay native Niels Mueller, with whom Fischer shared “handshakes and hugs” during the Green Bay Packers’ run to the Super Bowl, albeit behind Chicago native Belushi’s back. She said that Belushi “runs a tight ship” but is “open to improvisation if you come prepared.”
John Candy’s daughter is Fischer’s stand-in, and Belushi’s son Rob has appeared on the show.
Fischer had no such show business connections.
“I’m no producer’s kid,” she said.
Far from it. Her mother, Peggy Fischer, runs Shooting Star Travel in West Bend. Her dad runs a martial arts studio. Her younger sister attends the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her brother attends her alma mater, West Bend High School.
When we spoke by phone last week, it was the day after she had finished filming her final scene of the season, and she was on a giggly adrenaline high.
“Right now, they’re packing up the stages until we get word” if the show was picked up for a second season, she said.
She is optimistic – “we’ve been pulling in good ratings consistently” – but also philosophical about the show’s future, and her own.
She said that when she interviewed for the commentary track on the DVD boxed set of the first season and was asked what she liked best about the job, “I had to say ‘everything.’ I’m not crashing on friends’ couches or eating food that restaurants throw away anymore. I like knowing my rent’s going to be paid for a while. And I can send my sister some dough for college. Who knows how long anything will last?
“But the work we are doing is something I’m proud of, and the audience seems to like it.”
And renewed or not, her dream is the same as it was in that cornfield: “To be a great actress.”
“I just want to keep at it,” she said. “I can’t wait to see after years of being around, the roles I can play when I’m a crazy old lady.”
The new season starts on Thursday, October 20th on CMT. Save the date!
The Phunk Phenomenon hip hop dance team based out of the Phunk Phenomenon Dance Studio of Everett owned by Reia Briggs-Connor and her husband, Rick Connor, has advanced to the round of four on the MTV show, “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew.”
Sarah has also begun an acting career, and hopes to parlay her talent into larger roles. She is devoted to her craft and believes in giving back. During her tenure as a cheerleader for the Knicks, she worked with young dancers throughout the New York area and now plans to renew her efforts in Los Angeles. 
Tell us about your Super Bowl ring.
