Diamond Bar’s Got Talent

Diamond+Bars+Got+Talent

Vrinda Chauhan, Asst. A&E Editor

A rare opportunity to enter showbiz presented itself to Diamond Bar’s All-Male dance crew when they were asked to perform in TV show “America’s Got Talent.” As result, the crew will be seen by millions of viewers next Tuesday on NBC.

Danielle Dorey, the contact manager of “America’s Got Talent,” saw footage of All-Male symphonic performance at Nationals two years ago. Dorey, seeing All-Male’s potential for the talent show, contacted dance coach Jeff Calimbas and requested the team to be on the show. Because they were selected by the producers, they did not need to audition for the show.

The performing team included past and current All-Male members. Participants included senior Elijah Ang, sophomore Justin Kang, and juniors Peter Kang, Austin Kim, and John Kim. All-Male alumni Keegan Sullivan, Dylan Nguyen, Derrick Sy, Clay Boonthanakit, and Franklin Yu also participated; Yu and Boonthanakit were past captains of All-Male.

“It was a challenge because it was so last minute and it was in the middle of AP testing, but I feel like that really shows the kids’ dedication, since they were willing to give up so much time to work on a product at the last minute,” Janna Lindenberg, DBHS dance teacher, said.

Within three days, participants combined different parts of previously used pieces, including the Motown piece and an Orchestra themed piece to use for the show. However, they did not move forward because the celebrity judges, Mel B, Heidi Klum, Howard Stern and Howie Mandel, were unimpressed by the team’s lack of leaps and flips.

“What they came out with was really fun and even if they didn’t move forward with it, I’m really proud of it,” Lindenberg said.