03/04/2006 7:15 PM - With a field of over 70 women, Dance Team Director and her esteemed panel of judges had a deep talent pool to assemble the Spokane Shock's first ever dance team.

After three grueling rounds of try-outs, Sabrina Chaudhry finally has her team in place. "I'm really happy with the team that we have. They are a fun group of girls who are very talented; I'm really looking forward to working with them."

The first round of the try-out was an open call to all women (18 and over) in the Inland area. In all 70 women showed up from all across the Inland area. That field was then cut down to 40 who advanced to the semi-finals and then that number was cut once again with the top 30 advancing to the finals on March 3rd at the Northern Quest Casino.

The final round was open to the public with the doors opening shortly before the program began. The auditorium filled with family and friends of the finalists totaling nearly 400 people with many on-lookers standing in the back.

The event was hosted by KHQ's Stephanie Vigil who kept the crowd entertained for the 2 hour program. Additionally, Chaudhry assembled a small panel of select celebrity judges to help with the decision process. This panel included: Dave Cotton and Sean Owseley from KHQ's News Team; KZZU's Morning Show Team Dave, Ken, and Molly; local acclaimed dancer Abbey Crawford; and Isamu Jordan from the Spokesman Review's entertainment section "7."

First, the women were asked individual questions by the judging panel to get to know the contestants a little better. The questions covered a variety of topics from pop culture: "If you were a Desperate Housewife who would you be and why?" to more football oriented questions including, "What is the best part of Arena Football?"

Then, the women performed a choreographed routine of their own that was set to Madonna's "Hung Up."

"I was really impressed with the creativity of the women," Shock General Manager Adam Nebeker said. "They really came up with some great routines; all 30 of those women are fantastic dancers."

The second half of the program allowed the women to perform a routine that they learned at the semi-finals set to the bass heavy rhythm of Missy Elliott's "Lose Control."

The scores were then tabulated and the Dance Team was revealed carrying 14 members.

"Every Dancer who made it to the finals are so beautiful and so talented it made it VERY difficult for us (as Judges) so I know that we will have a great team. I just can't wait to get started!" Chaudhry added.

The Dance Team will be performing at all Shock home games and will make a variety of promotional appearances throughout the community.