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So You Think You Can Dance Eight Finalists Compete

August 1, 2007 12:02:00 by Joe Blackmon

The remaining eight finalists (Lauren Gottlieb, Neil Haskell, Sabra
Johnson, Pasha Kovalev, Dominic Sandoval, Lacey Schwimmer, Danny
Tidwell and Sara Von Gillern) compete again on the performance show
Wednesday, Aug. 1 (8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX, and Adam Shankman will
return as a guest judge. After a special performance of “Apologize” by
OneRepublic and a guest appearance by African master dancer Titus
Fotso, America’s vote will be revealed, and two more dancers will go
home on the live results show Thursday, Aug. 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET
live/PT tape-delayed).

Shankman is one of the entertainment world’s premiere dance and physical comedy choreographers, having put his creative stamp on many well-known comedies, dramas, thrillers and animated films. His choreographic projects include “The Addams Family,” “Casper,” “Inspector Gadget,” “Anastasia,” “George of the Jungle,” “Boogie Nights,” “Miami Rhapsody” and “The Flintstones,” for which he was nominated for a Bob Fosse Award. He won the Bob Fosse Award for his work with Simon West.

As director and choreographer, Shankman has brought “Hairspray,” the feature film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production, to life with a remarkable collection of talent, including John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken. “Hairspray” opened in theaters July 20.

OneRepublic was formed in Colorado by Ryan Tedder and model-turned-guitarist Zach Filkins. The pair moved to Los Angeles, where they picked up guitarist/keyboardist Drew Brown and drummer Eddie Fisher. The band’s most recent inductee, Brent Kutzle, plays bass and adds spice to live shows with his classical cello. Tedder has also written and/or produced tracks for other artists, including Bubba Sparxxx, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Oakenfold, t.A.T.u. and Timbaland. 

A remix of “Apologize,” which explores the personal pain of band members’ own relationships gone awry and the empowerment that comes with moving on, is featured on Timbaland’s album “Shock Value,” which was released April 3. The remix landed OneRepublic on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks based on digital downloads of “Apologize” alone, and the band maintained a spot in the iTunes Top 100 Songs for three weeks following the album’s release. OneRepublic is the No. 1 band on MySpace and has been in MySpace Music’s Top Artists since summer 2006, with close to 12 million total song plays and counting – remarkable for a band that is yet to release an album.

Creator of the Masouka dance technique and form, Titus Fotso is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, actor, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He founded the JTF World Dance and Research Project for the Art Not War Foundation. Born in Cameroon, Fotso was introduced to African traditional dance at the age of 8. He trained and performed with the National Ballet of Cameroon and other prestigious African dance companies, and studied modern jazz at the Paris Centre in France. His film credits include “Amistad” and “Tony Jet”; his stage credits include “Soul Possessed” and “From the Heart of Love.” Fotso is a faculty member at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. He is a 1999 winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the World Music category.

Emmy-nominated SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE was created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and comes from 19 Entertainment Ltd. and dick clark productions. It is executive-produced by Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe and Barry Adelman.

Topics: So You Think You Can Dance |

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