Sunday May 04, 2009

ON THE SHOW TODAY WWW.CRNTALK.COM

Tony Dovolani - "Dancing with the Stars"
Tony partnered the WWE wrestler Stacey Keibler in Season 2. The couple came in third place. In Season 3, Tony's partner was country singer Sara Evans. The couple had to withdraw in the middle of the competition for personal reasons. In Season 4, Tony partnered Leeza Gibbons into 9th place. In Season 5, Tony led Jane Seymour to a 6th place finish, and reached the final four with Marissa Jaret Winokur in Season 6.Born in Kosovo, Tony began folk dancing at age three. When he was 14, his entire family moved to the United States and Tony got the opportunity to attend a Fred Astaire Dance Academy. From that moment on, he knew he had found his passion.Since that time, Tony has traveled the world and won many championships. Tony also had a featured role in the hit film Shall We Dance and spent time coaching Jennifer Lopez.

Chelsie Hightower - "Dancing with the Stars"
Dancing has been a major part of Chelsie's life from a very young age. She started ballroom dancing when she was 9 years old in an after-school program. Being trained in all styles of dance, Chelsie's specialty is ballroom, where she has had the opportunity to receive thorough and extensive training from current and former world champions. Ballroom dancing has been a passion and an incredible opportunity for Chelsie to showcase her natural talents. Ever since Chelsie began competing at a high level in ballroom, she has been in the finals and ranked as one of the top three couples in the country. In 2006 Chelsie appeared on the television show 'So You Think You Can Dance' and was one of six finalists. Chelsie received much critical acclaim from the judges. As one pointed out to her, "You move so well, you could make a Mannequin look good". Chelsie won her first national title when she was just 11 years old. In 2005, Chelsie and her partner were asked to be one of four couples in the country to represent Team USA, in Blackpool, England, which holds the most prestigious competition in the world. Chelsie represented the U.S. in the Latin style, where Team USA took 3rd place behind Ukraine and Russia. In that same year Chelsie had the opportunity to be one of two couples from the U.S. that represented the country in the Standard World Ballroom Competition. Chelsie has been teaching since she was 15 - she moved to North Carolina to teach and would fly to New York on weekends to get lessons. She has been teaching at Center Stage in Utah, and has helped many students win national titles. She also teaches abroad.