The competition was very intense and the qualifying couples are moving at a strong pace getting ready for the finale that will be in California this coming weekend at the City Lights Ball.

• Kyle & Allie Spinder Kyle & Allie Spinder
• Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova
• Star Tour final outcome Star Tour final outcome
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With US Smooth champions, Nick Chereemukhin & Victorija, out of the picture by their unexpected withdrawl out of the Tour, four couples are left heading for the front of the finish line. But even though we are near the end things are not getting dull. Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova continue in the lead for the overall tour but took a major slipup this past weekend by coming in second at this leg with the score of 114.86, right behind Kyle & Allie Spinder who won the Star American Smooth Tour leg. This competition brought these two couples closer with a total difference of about 60 points. Considering that the finale is double points this will make it a nail biting competition for sure, right to the finish. We must point out that Max & Tatiana placed second in the Smooth group competition and Kyle & Allie were fourth overall with the scores of 4,4,4,3.

• Matt Rivers & Maliwan Diemer Matt Rivers & Maliwan Diemer
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The big surprise in the tour was the exclusion of Kris Suakjian & Briana Haft in this impressive Smooth final. Kris & Briana are currently third in the Star American Smooth Tour and not making this final might put them on shaky ground as well, with only 2 points awarded to them for making the semifinal. When the finalists were announced, unlike many of the legs before, Kris & Briana were not included, that left them at the mercy of the audience to bring them into the tour. The real wild card here now is Matt Rivers & Maliwan Diemer who also did not make the final and now had to stand with Kris & Briana for the audience vote. In the end Matt & Maliwan made the Star Smooth Tour showdance presentation with a huge percentage of the audience vote and now they have 106.43 points added to their column making them closer to Kris & Briana. It might be unlikely that they can get third position now but they are 180 points away and with double points at City Lights everything could be possible.

• Smooth Event in progress Smooth Event in progress
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As we mentioned the winners of the overall Group Smooth competition were Nick Cheremukhin & Victorija who as you all know pulled out of the tour at the Snow Ball. Third in the Smooth went to another couple that are not in the running for the Star Smooth Tour, Yegor Novikov & Alexandra Smirnova 3,3,3,5. Evgeny Malko & Anna Shahbazyan were fifth overall with the scores of 5,5,5,4, and sixth went to Mariusz Zakzrewski & Lynnsay Ray and they placed sixth in all dances.

• Bob Powers Bob Powers
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There was an achievement award presented by the organizer David Hamilton to Mr. Bob Powers for his accomplishments and contributions to American Rhythm. He was very surprised and all judges and officials gave him a standing ovation.

• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
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Although the Professional Smooth and the Star Tour were perhaps the most interesting competition due to all the variables, all other competitions were well attended with at least a full semifinal in all events. The Rhythm was another good event and this competition went to Andre & Natalie Paramonov who won every dance with a majority of firsts in every dance and the bolero and cha cha with perfect scores. Second in all dances went to Aaron & Iryna DeSotto, third was awarded to Christopher Wayne & Juanita Simanekova who were the local heroes and got major applause and welcome from the crowd. A tie for fourth and fifth was broken with a rule 10 decision and here Jonathan Chen & Melissa Keller were awarded fourth and Daniil Rostvinschii & Yulia Rudenko placed fifth, living sixth to Rommey & Brooke Reyes.

• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
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In the Latin the overall winners in all dances were Dmittry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin, second was Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova placing first in all dances and third was awarded to Andre Voloshko & Kateryna Kyrylenko. Fourth was Riccardo Pacini & Sonia Spadoni, fifth was awarded to Aleksey Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva and sixth place went to Dymitrii Goncharov & Tetyana Lutsenko.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
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In the Ballroom we also had a full competition and the winners of every dance were Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova, second was Radhu Sterban & Xenia Cletova and third was awarded to Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko. Fourth place was awarded to Youriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson, fifth was the brother and sister team of Slava & Valeriia Kostianets, and sixth went to Aleksandr Skriptsov & Aida Skripsova. We most point out that all placements had the same marks in every dance.

We want to congratulate Mr. David Hamilton for doing such a fantastic job and making sure that everyone, every night was entertained during competition hours and after hours. Every night at the Nashville Starz they had a party with a theme and that included food and drinks for everyone. It is a must do event for competitiors of all levels and styles.

Rising Stars Shine at Nashville Starz!

All Professional Rising Star events took place yesterday at the Nashville Starz.  We had full finals in all events and some had packed semifinal rounds with 13 couples or more. During the day it was Smooth time and here too many of the heats were totally full with plenty of quarters and semifinals. We also had a star sighting during the afternoon session - Barbara Mandrel attended as a spectator and was busy taking pictures and watching the dance.  For the most part she went unnoticed but we saw plenty of people asking her for her autograph from time to time.

The Professional Rising Star Smooth was possibly the largest entry of the night and in the end the judges brought back an 8 couple final. Enzo Zappia & Stephanie Betts from Texas, won overall by placing first in 2 dances, third in the foxtrot and second in the waltz.  Just from those marks you can tell that the judges had a very hard time coming to a final decision. Second in this heat went to Slava Kostianets & Valeriia Kostianets, they won the waltz, placed third in the tango and second in the other two dances. Third place was awarded to Matt Rivers & Maliwan Diemer and they won the foxtrot, placed second in the tango and third in the other 2 dances. Fourth were Morten Jensen & Ashley Mokris 6,4T,4,4, fifth went to Danii Rostvinschii & Yulia Rudenco 4,4T,5,5, sixth place was Trevor & Emily Guthrie 5,6,6,7, Seventh were John Fracoviglia & Krita Treu Derington 7,7,8,6, and last but not least in eighth place was Charles & Emily Roberts 8,8,7,8. 

• Enzo Zappia & Stephanie Betts Enzo Zappia & Stephanie Betts
• Rising Star Smooth Rising Star Smooth
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The Rising Star Ballroom was a six couple final and here Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova won every dance.  In second place was a couple that also danced in the Smooth Slava Kostianets & Valeriia Kostianets and here they placed 2,2,3,2,3, third went to Aleksandr & Aida Skriptsov 3,3,2,3,2, fourth was awarded to Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva 6,4,4,4,4, fifth place went to Manuel Trillo & Anna Belyavtseva 4,6,6,5,5, and sixth were Dymytrii Goncharov & Tetyana Luksenko 5,5,5,6,6.

• Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova
• Rising Star Ballroom Rising Star Ballroom
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In the Rising Star Rhythm, Christopher Wayne & Juanita Simanekova won all dances. Jonathan Chen & Melissa Keller placed second 2,2,2,2,3, third was awarded to Danii Rostvinschii & Yulia Rudenco 3,3,3,3,4. Fourth place went to Romney & Brooke Reyes 4,4,4,5,2, fifth was awarded to Stanishlav Morozon & Keseniia Tashkinova 5,5,5,4,5, and  in sixth place were Dustin Donelan & Georgia Anderson 6,6,6,6,6.

• Christopher Wayne & Juanita Simanekova Christopher Wayne & Juanita Simanekova
• Rising Star Rhythm Rising Star Rhythm
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The final Rising Star event this evening was the Professional Rising Star Latin and here Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva were first but not in every dance 3,2,1,1,1, Second was awarded to Andrii Voloshko & Katerina Kyrylenko with these scores 1,1,2,3,2, and third went to Riccardo Pacini & Sonia Spadoni 2,3,3,2,3. Seven couples were called back for this excellent heat and fourth place was awarded to Artjom Shmigeljuk & Uliana Maslovskaya 5,4,4,4,4, in fifth place were Dymytri Goncharov & Tetyana Lutsenko 4,5,5,5,5, sixth in all dances went to Manuel Trillo & Anna Belyavtseva, and all sevenths went to Randy Hallner & Caitlin Andersen.

• Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva
• Rising Star Latin Rising Star Latin
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It was a touching moment when in the middle of the evening performances Mr. David Hamilton took to the mic to speak about a man that had been a part of their community in Nashville and who last year passed away, Mr. David Sholtz.  This was followed by a video presentation of David’s last year preparation for their winter showcase. It was very touching and everyone cheered when they saw the light musical dance comedy he was preparing for.

The evening was packed with onlookers and people coming to see the performances.  Tonight Nashville Starz takes it one notch further with all the Open Professional Ballroom events, and we expect it to be as good or even better than last night.