Desert Bloom: The 2013 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders Auditions

Spring time in Arizona is a wondrous site to behold.  The flowers are in bloom and the weather is pleasant.  It is a beautiful time, indeed.

This past weekend I was in Phoenix, not to enjoy the flora, but to cover the 2013 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders auditions.  It too, is a wondrous site to behold with over a hundred beautiful women trying out for a handful of spots on the Cardinals cheerleading squad.

This is my fifth year covering the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders auditions and I have enjoyed my time in Phoenix.  Director Heather Karberg and her staff are very friendly, the girls are gorgeous, and I always do some of my best work in the Valley of the Sun.

Once again, the auditions were held at the historic Arizona Biltmore Hotel and over the course of two days, the myriad of candidates would be whittled down to 32 finalists.

I arrived a little before noon on Saturday to get set up and there were several girls in line at the registration area.  The auditions weren’t supposed to start until 1:00 pm, so I knew this was going to be a good day for the Cardinals with people queuing up this early.

I spoke with Vanessa, the Cardinals 2013 PRO Bowl representative, and noted that only 17 veterans were returning this year and this meant that there would be at least 10 open spots available to newcomers.  Vanessa’s own spot on the 2013 squad was secured with her PRO Bowl honor.

At noon, registration opened and the staff began to process the applicants.

2012 PRO Bowl Representative Allie was there selling audition attire, false eyelashes, and Peavey pantyhose to those girls who needed last minute accessories.   Apparently, she was doing a fair amount of business.  You know, you never want to show up at an audition without the proper attire to make yourself stand out.

Last year, I was made aware of a group of special young women with the potential to become an Arizona Cardinal Cheerleader.  The training group has been in place for some years, but I only noticed them last year because so many of them made the 2012 squad.  This is the current training group and I am curious to see who makes it on to the 2013 squad.

A little before 1:00 p.m, retiring veteran Nicole and her staff led the group in a series of stretches and warm up routines.

After the warm up session, Heather Karberg welcomed the attendees and let them know what was in store for them on this day.

There would be three audition phases this day.  For the first phase, the candidates would be taught an across the floor routine and cuts would be made.  The second phase would include a dance routine with a freestyle and choreographed portion in front of a panel of judges.  And in the final phase, the remaining candidates would learn the audition routine that would be judged on Sunday.

At this point, Heather turned over the festivities to Nicole, who demonstrated the across the floor routine to the candidates.

The across the floor routine consisted of a series of spins, kicks, and a jazz walk portion.  It is used to determine which girls have the ability and skill to perform the most basic dance movements and to eliminate those candidates whose physical fitness was not up to the standards of an NFL cheerleader.

Those girls who made the cut were given a ticket to the next round and queued up to turn in their paperwork and receive their audition number.  The first round was over.  Now the auditions would begin in earnest.

When the girls reassembled in the audition area, the number of girls did not appear to be appreciably less.  It was still packed.  I guess that is a testament to the caliber of girls that the Cardinals attract to their auditions, that the number of girls eliminated after the across the floor routine was few.

The second round began with the staff taking the dance floor once again, this time to teach a dance routine that consisted of two counts of freestyle followed by several counts of choreographed movements.

The candidates were able to rehearse the routines several times before the panel of judges entered the audition area.  At 2:30 pm, the judges arrived and the girls were called up groups of three to perform the dance.

After the group had performed, the judges retired to deliberate over the candidates. A half hour later, Heather returned with the results.  Prior to revealing the candidates who would make to the final round, Heather encouraged those that would be cut to contact her in the near future to receive feedback on their performance and she hoped that they would try out next year.

Over 90 girls started this round of the competition, when Heather came back with the results around 70 girls remained and they would be joined by the 17 returning veterans.

There would be no more cuts for the day, but the remaining candidates and the returning veterans would spend the next couple of hours learning the final audition routine.  Heather has a tradition where she performs the final audition routine and demonstrates it for the finalists.  Last year, Heather was unable to do so, having given birth to her daughter just two weeks prior, but this year she once again took to the dance floor.

Now Heather is an amazing dancer and she’s a great choreographer.  Her movements choreograph quite nicely to the musical selection and it truly is a harmonious blend of sights and sounds for those watching.  And that is not hyperbole.  That she is is a great dancer should not be a surprise because back in the day, Heather was a San Diego Charger Girl.  Our regular readers may know that I have been a Charger season ticket holder for some years and I have been going to games back to the time when she performed.  And as much as it is a tradition for Heather to perform the final audition routine, I also have a tradition.  So here’s my photo of Heather when she was a Charger Girl.

Heather really is quite an exceptional dancer and I joked to one of her assistants that if these candidates want to make this team, they’d better dance at least as good as their Director.

With the veterans warmed up and ready to go, Heather began the process of teaching the final audition routine in individual eight count segments.

After several run throughs, the girls were dismissed for the day.  Several of them stayed a while longer and rehearsed the routine to the music.  This lasted for about and hour and I would later find out that most of them would rehearse throughout the night.  There was an early call for Sunday and I wanted to start downloading my images, so I left around 6:00 pm to retire to my hotel.

 

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SUNDAY

It would be a busy day for the remaining candidates.  A final dance routine performed in front of a panel of judges followed by interviews for those who made the cut.  With an 8:30 am call time, I wanted to get their early to get set up.  When I arrived, I discovered several girls were already in the lobby area, going over the routine.  I guess they had the advantage of staying overnight on site, as opposed to myself, who had to schlepp all the way across town from Glendale, Arizona to the Biltmore.

At 8:30 am, the girls began to warm up and stretch.

After the warm up session, the girls began to rehearse the final dance routine on their own.  At 9:30 am, the judges arrived and were seated.  Before the final dance audition began, Heather once again demonstrated the final routine before the panel of judges, so that they knew what to look for.

At one point, Heather slipped on the floor and fell.  I would later find out that she fractured her elbow, but she got up and continued the dance…and remained all through out the day’s events.  What a trooper!

The candidates were lined up in ascending numerical order.  The girls would once again be called up in groups of three, but Heather’s staff had organized the groups so that there would be a mix of new candidates and veterans.  I think this was done to see how the new girls would blend in with the returning veterans, to get a idea of who belongs and how they would look together.  And then it began, the final dance audition.

It was a little after 11:00 am by the time all the candidates had performed.  It would be almost noon when Heather returned with the results.

73 new girls and 17 returning veterans started this round and by the time the judges results were announced, 32 girls would make it to the interview round.  Two veterans were cut during this phase, but the remaining 32 girls were all worthy candidates.  No doubt there will be some familiar faces on the 2013 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders and there will be some new faces.   In my personal opinion, judging from the candidates that made it through the finals, this is going to be a great looking squad.

Like I said in the beginning, spring time in Arizona is beautiful…and in the desert, a bloom.

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At this point, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Heather Karberg and the Arizona Cardinals for allowing me the opportunity to cover their 2013 preliminary auditions.  I had a wonderful time and look forwarding to visiting the Cardinals again in the near future.

And I would like to thank Vanessa, Andrea, Nicole, Wendy and Samantha for making me feel so welcome.  Good luck in your future endeavors.

And here’s one final look at the 2012 returning veterans.

 

For more photos from the 2013 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders auditions, please visit my personal website: thehottestdanceteam.wordpress.com.  New images will be up in a few days.