Ashleigh Tavares & Sam Malseed came SO CLOSE to making the TOP 4 of this season’s So You Think You Can Dance but sadly missed out when they were eliminated last week.
Nothing could have dampened their spirits though as they both admit they could not have been happier or more surprised with how far they had come in the competition.
Sam and Ashleigh joined the entire Top 20 in intense rehearsals over the past week to prepare for last nights amazing Finale but we managed to chat to them today about their experience.
Ashleigh: “I really expected to get out the first week so the whole experience far exceeded my expectations! It was so unexpected, I was STOKED to be Top 6 in Australia!It was the best to share the experience with Patric. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience having him next to me! He is the best support system and to have someone there with you every step of the way was just a god-send! It was even good having a fresh eye on my routines as well.
“I started off like a lot of dancers, doing Brent Street full-time. It was probably one of the best years of my life because I learned so much about the dance industry and I kind of knew what I was in for. The industry is really hard to get into and it’s really small and you need to have your first big break before anyone notices you. Marko Panzic gave me my first big job on Australia’s Next Top Model. Then after that, one person uses you and then I started working a lot professionally. For the last two and half years before the show I’ve worked with Ricki Lee, Jess Mauboy, Beyonce, Ricki Martin, Flo Rida. So that’s been really good and I think it really prepared me for the show. I watched behind the scenes as Ricki Lee would do her interviews so that helped me really prepare for being on TV. I saw the pressure she was put under and it taught me a lot.
“Being on the show, you get so much inspiration but I never thought that a fan would aspire to be like me! That in itself is a huge achievement for me to see little girls that say ‘I wanna be like you’ – I did the same watching Jess Stokes or Carly Cooper Smith on So You Think You Can Dance a few years ago. I feel like we can really motivate young dancers.
“I would love to work with a fashion label with dance wear as well from here – it would be something really cool!
“I couldn’t thank my fans enough. I was in the show and wondering who was voting for me. I had girls tell me they voted for me 200 times and one girl voted 800 times – my own family didn’t vote that much for me! I just think that they are just so amazing.
Sam Malseed
Unfortunately Sam has been unavailable for interview with us due to the hectic rehearsal schedule over the past week for the Finale. We hope to catch up with him very soon and update this article – stay tuned!
