ChivaGirl Finals Tonight!

Tonight, a truly outstanding group of dancers will put it all out on the dance floor, in the hope of making the team. I’ll provide photos, etc in the next couple of days. But for now, I want to wish each and every young lady the best of luck.

Here they are (minus Whitney and Sherra, who I didn’t get photos of at Sunday’s interviews. My bad.)

Alexandra, Stephanie, Kyra, and Traci
Alyson, Lauren, and Mekayla
Ari, Sonia, Cameron, and Denise
Ashley, Bernadette, Merria, and Sabrina
Chandra, Andi, and Sujan
Jenny, Melissa, Maryedith, and Cynthia
Joanne, Brittany, Brandy, and Natalie
Lucy and Dani
Tina, Shauna, Sarah, and Simmone

Lady Cat Brittany has a Ticket to Hollywood

By Mark Kern
bobcats.com

Sometimes it only takes one person to realize the potential someone has and help them to reach it.

Lady Cat Brittany Kerr was cruising around in her car this summer with her friend and fellow Lady Cat Rhema, when the band Pussycat Dolls came on the radio. The two joined in and it didn’t take long for Rhema to realize Brittany’s talents.

“I heard Brittany belting it out and I told her, you can genuinely sing,” said Rhema. “She was all bashful saying she couldn’t sing, but I kept telling her she could genuinely sing.”

Once Rhema heard Brittany singing, she was convinced – Brittany had to try out for American Idol. Brittany tried to play it off at first, telling Rhema there was no way she was good enough to make that leap, but with some more prodding from her friend, Brittany finally decided to give it a shot.

“I have always been a huge fan of music. I think I just did a lot of singing, in my room, in my car and by myself,” she said. “I started to realize I had a chance to take my singing a step further, so I decided to go on Idol.”

Once she decided to tryout of for American Idol, it was off to Savannah, Georgia, where she made quite an impression on judge Steven Tyler. Kerr had just walked onto the stage when Tyler all of a sudden said, “I say yes!”

Even though this was a boost of confidence, Kerr still had to sing for the three judges. The song she decided to sing was “Spoiled” by Joss Stone.

Randy Jackson cast the first vote and, like Tyler, was impressed with Kerr and voted for her to move on.

The next judge, Jennifer Lopez, was not as impressed as the other judges and voted against Kerr going to Hollywood.

This left the final decision up to Tyler, and her performance did not change his opinion, as he again voted for Kerr to get her golden ticket.

This means Kerr is moving on to the Hollywood round, and she could not hide her excitement, along with the many people with her supporting her throughout her incredible journey watching at Strike City in the Epicentre on Wednesday night.

“I am super excited. As you guys just saw, I got my ticket to Hollywood,” she beamed. “I am here with all my friends and family and they are supporting me.”

As great as the accomplishment is for Brittany, it’s also another accomplishment for NBA’s Back-to-Back Most Popular Dance Team, the Lady Cats.

“This is bringing so much attention to our team and organization,” said Rhema. “Brittany was already a star, and now we get to see her on a different stage in a totally different light. We are trying to achieve so many goals and it is truly a blessing, and we could not be more proud of her.”

Now it’s off to Hollywood, where Brittany will again showcase her talent to the country. How far will she go? Make sure to check your local listings and tune to FOX to watch American Idol.

[Brittany at Bobcats.com]

Titans Cheerleaders at Mid-Point of Trip to Kuwait

TitansOnline.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arriving in Kuwait this past Saturday after a marathon 14-hour flight, Titans Cheerleaders Brintley, Jalanda, Jessi, Stormi, Tanzye, and Titans Cheerleader alumni and 2007 Pro Bowl Representative, Jennifer, are more than halfway complete with their week-long goodwill tour of Kuwait Army Bases.

Photos

The goodwill tour is sponsored by the Moral, Wellness, and Recreation (MWR) department of the military. The tour includes greeting and dining with troops, learning day-to-day duties of certain departments and performing a variety show created specifically for this trip.

Having performed at Camp Virginia, Camp Buehring, and LSA, Brian Lee, tour director with Pro Sports MVP, said everything has gone very well so far.

“The girls have had great turnouts and the troops love the shows,” he said. “The shows with the interactive skits, Jessi’s singing and the great dance routines are a big hit!”

In addition to performing, the ladies are enjoying their time greeting soldiers and a K-9 unit, along with visiting wounded veterans. They also helped a few Airmen build a temporary hanger!

The Cheerleaders are currently beginning a show at Ali Al Salem Air Base (The Rock) today and undoubtedly, these troops are sure to enjoy it as well.

Bruins doin’s: ICE Girls award Somersworth Middle School students for finished projects

By Amanda Beland
Foster’s Daily Democrat
January 19, 2012

SOMERSWORTH — Two members of the Boston Bruins Ice Girls with their furry friend and mascot, Blades, paid a visit to Somersworth Middle School Wednesday morning to see some of the final projects completed by the students during their temporary enrollment in I.C.E. School.

I.C.E. School is a collection of lesson plans developed by Bruins staff to help students learn required subjects with a twist of hockey. The lesson plans, available online, are created to meet state education standards for grades pre-kindergarten to eighth grade in the subjects of French, geography, math, English, language, arts and science.

For the past several weeks, middle school students completed I.C.E. lessons plans in math and reading comprehension, among other subjects.

On Wednesday morning, some of the students got to present their hard work to Rory Patten and Kelly Thomson, two of the current Bruins Ice Girls, as well as Blades at a schoolwide assembly.

First, a group of sixth-graders presented Bruin’s ice rinks constructed out of paper. Participating students first took the actual size of the Bruin’s ice rank in feet and converted it to inches. Then, the students constructed miniature paper ice rinks, complete with the Bruins colored logo in the middle.

Along with the ice rinks, another group of sixth-graders presented handwritten Hock-us to their classmates. Hock-us, similar to Haikus, are several line poems where a certain number of syllables is required of each line.

Although the structure of the poems were set, the subjects of the creations were up to the students — as long as they related to hockey, of course. Some of the chosen subjects included overtime and the excitement of the game itself.

But, these weren’t the only activities completed by the students. According to Kathy Patten, mother of Ice Girl Rory and reading comprehension teacher at SMS, participating students did everything from completing research on every Bruins player to finding out a little more about the visiting Ice Girls. Students even wrote down their reading goal for the year on a paper shaped hockey puck before placing it on one of the school’s walls in the shape of the Boston Bruin’s logo.

“It was very successful and the kids loved it,” said Patten.

Patten began looking into bringing the Ice Girls to SMS after her daughter became a member of the group four years ago. Initially, Patten just wanted to bring members of the Ice Girls to the school to promote reading and initiate literacy activities between the visitors and students.

However, after she began researching the Bruins community page, she found out about I.C.E. school lessons and thought it was the perfect scenario for SMS to become involved in. Hosting the Ice Girls was just another added plus to the assembly.

“I call them the ambassadors to the Bruins,” said Patten. ‘They’re not cheerleaders, which is generally what comes to mind. They’re great role models and accomplished young women.”

At the end of the assembly, every SMS student received a special reward for the completion of their projects: an authentic, real-life Bruins hockey puck.

“COOL,” the crowd of SMS students bellowed after the announcement.

Finalists Compete for Spokane Shock Dance Team

…and on to the next round
SpokaneShock.com
01/07/2012

In the world of professional sports, it’s often a numbers game. With only a handful of professional leagues, those who earn a roster spot have to demonstrate outstanding skills. In the world of professional dance, it’s no different.

This past weekend, the Spokane Shock Dance Team hosted its annual open tryout with nearly 50 hopefuls. By the end of the first round, that total was trimmed to 32 – including 13 returning members from the 2011 team.

Dance Team Director Maggie Kazemba opened the audition by teaching a short pom routine. Once the routine was taught, Kazemba put the Dance Team candidates to the test by performing in groups of three in front of a small panel of judges. Each judge scored the candidates on five different categories that included: appearance, choreography, performance, technique, and overall performance. The top-32 scores advanced as finalists.

The finals will be open to the public on January 18th at the Knitting Factory. The doors to the all-ages show open at 6 PM and will begin at 7 PM. Tickets to the event can be purchased in advance for just $5 (by clicking here) or at the door for $7. KHQ’s Stephanie Vigil will host the festivities.

The finalists will perform three routines – including the routine they learned in the first round – at the Knitting Factory.

“In my tenor, there is no question that this is the most talented group we have ever had,” Kazemba explained. “Every spot is up for grabs – returners and rookies alike. It will be the most competitive finals in my coaching experience. It’s going to be a great show and we hope to pack the house with Shock fans!”

To see the event through the lens of team photographer Gary Peterson, click here.

A two-second look back at last year’s finals: