Emily Grace of AlmostAmy

Voice
Emily began her classical training at the age of 12 under Ms Felicity Page, developing a strong technique, extended vocal range and a wide repertoire. In 2002, she began training with a wide range of vocal coaches, both privately and whilst a student at The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Emily is as much at ease singing light opera as she is with contemporary music, although her passion is musical theatre.

Training
At the age of 16, Emily was accepted by The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where she gained a full Dance and Drama Award after her first year. It was here that Emily studied a wide range of dance styles and developed her acting skills.

Instruments
There has always been a piano at Emily’s house, and at the age of four, her mother decided that since Emily was showing such a keen interest, she should begin formal lessons. At the age of 14, Emily was awarded a Distinction for her Grade 8. Emily’s training continued uninterrupted until her entry to the Italia Conti Academy. Along the way, she competed yearly in many music festivals throughout the south of England, winning numerous gold medals and other prestigious awards. She has performed in several Prize Winners Concerts.

Emily also plays flute and alto saxophone. She started with the flute whilst still at primary school and continued until she started at Italia Conti. As with piano, Emily competed and performed at various music festivals both as a soloist and as part of a flute chorus, and was awarded her Grade 8 aged 15. Her proficiency with the flute enabled Emily to learn to play the alto saxophone very quickly under the expert guidance of her tutor Geoff Driscoll (who has played major tours with The Temptations, Three Degrees and Bill Haley and the Comets)

Emily recently turned to guitar and bass guitar to complement her repertoire of instruments, and plans to include the clarinet in the near future. She has also composed several classical based piano pieces, and is working on a collection of her own songs and a musical with the working title ‘An Angel of Prayer’. Emily Grace is now with Almost Amy and Emily also has a myspace page too.

Mark Ballas of AlmostAmy - Composer - Lead Guitar and Vocals

Early Life

At the age of 4, he was enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts Associate School, where he was trained in singing, dancing, and acting.

When he was 10, he became British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin American Dance Champion.

At the age of 11, he earned a full time slot at the Academy, as well as earning a full scholarship to the college. In 2005, he was awarded "Performer of the Year". He then moved on to win championships at The British Open to the World, The US Open to the World, and The International Open to the World. With his former partner Julianne Hough, he won the Junior Latin American Dance Championship and the gold medal at the Junior Olympics.

As an actor, Ballas played the lead role of Tony in the musical Copacabana, and was the lead dancer in the UK national tour of the Spanish musical Maria de Buenos Aires. He was also the understudy for the role of Ritchie Valens in the UK national tour of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story.

AlmostAmy

He began playing the guitar at the age of 4, and at the age of 12, he began to write and perform his own music, playing guitar, drums, and bass. The Hough siblings and Ballas had their own pop music trio called "2B1G(2 Boys 1 Girl)" as the siblings mentioned on Entertainment Tonight on October 11, 2007.With his best friend Derek Hough, he formed the band Almost Amy.Other members of the band are Emily Grace-flute/sax/piano/vocals,Sam Marder-bass and Harry Sullivan-drums. They describe their music as acoustic/pop/rock/soul with catchy melodies and harmonies/funky guitar riffs with a pop/flamenco/jazzy feel good vibe.

Current Dancing with the Stars Champion

On the 5th season of "Dancing With The Stars," Ballas was partnered with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan. Their first week they scored a 26 out of 30, at the time the highest score earned on the first week by any contestant. On week 4 of the show they set another record by scoring 30/30 from the judges for their Paso Doble, the earliest a contestant has ever received a perfect score in the show's history On October 30, 2007, the pair was voted off the show. The announcement was met with shock from the judges and the live audience. An AOL poll voted their elimination "2007's most shocking TV moment." For the second-to-last week, Bryan and Ballas were invited back to the show to perform, another first for any couple.

For the 100th show, their Paso Doble was chosen as number 9 on the top 10 dances of the first five seasons. According to Tonioli, their elimination was the biggest shock of season 5 and this dance was a glimpse of what they could have accomplished.. Bryan and Ballas were the only couple in the top 10 that did not make it to the finals

It was announced that Ballas' partner for Season 6 of "Dancing with the Stars" would be Olympic Gold Medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. In the first week, Kristi and Mark received a 27 out of 30 for their foxtrot, the highest score to be received on the first week in the entire series. Together, they continued to top the leaderboard for 6 weeks straight, a new record on DWTS. However, they came in 2nd in the 7th and 8th week of competition, ending their streak. Kristi and Mark were at the top of the leaderboard for 8 of the 10 weeks of competition, a new DWTS record. They also mantained the highest average as of Week 10 with a 28.3 average including a perfect 90/90 score for the finale, both DWTS records. Kristi and Mark's lowest score, a 26, was also the highest "low" score ever for any contestant throughout the seasons.

On May 20, 2008 Ballas and Yamaguchi won the 2008 Season of "Dancing with the Stars." According to the judges, they had set the standard for the entire season and were the most consistent couple not only in Season 6, but in all the seasons of DWTS.

Mark Ballas now maintains the highest average for pro dancer on DWTS at 27.95. You can Learn to dance Onine for FREE at his father's webiste, "Learning2dance.com" the only online website to teach you now to dance for FREE.

Derek Hough of AlmostAmy - Vocal and Guitar

Derek Hough (pronounced like rough with an 'H') (born May 17, 1985) is an American dancer and choreographer. A former world champion in Latin-American Dance, he appeared on Season 5 of the ABC television series, "Dancing with the Stars" with actress Jennie Garth (earning 4th place in the competition), and was eliminated during the 7th Week of Season 6, earning 6th place with actress Shannon Elizabeth. Hough has also been featured in the track Dreaming Under The Same Moon on his sister, Julianne Hough's self-titled debut album.

Biography
Hough was born in 1985 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1998, along with his sister, Julianne Hough, he and Julianne Hough, moved to London to live with Corky Ballas and Shirley Ballas, Mark's parents, The Ballas' raised and trained Derek to further his career in all art forms.

He attended and subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. On this foundation, he built a career, which has included professional competition, television work, and roles in the West End Theatre.

Hough played the role of Ren McCormack in both the UK Tour and the West-End run of Footloose the Musical. His moves in routines including Can’t Stand Still and the show's finale particularly impressed audiences at Aldwych’s Novello Theatre, where Footloose ran from April until November 2006.

Before this, Hough’s theatre work included playing the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Millfield Theatre, and dancing in the company in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium.

He and Mark Ballas started a band called "Almost Amy".

Dance
Hough is a former IDSF World Youth Latin Champion (2002) for Poland with Aneta Piotrowska. He has won the LA Outstanding Dancer of the Year and the New York Dance Alliance Outstanding Dance awards.[2]

Hough is one of Bruno Tonioli’s panelists on BBC One’s DanceX, the first episode of which aired on 14 July 2007.

He was on season 5 of Dancing With The Stars and was paired with Jennie Garth. Hough and Garth competed in the semi-finals and were the 9th couple eliminated from the competition. He competed in season 6 of Dancing With The Stars, this time paired with actress Shannon Elizabeth. On April 29, 2008, Hough and Elizabeth were the 7th couple eliminated from the competition.

Dancing with the Stars Celebs
With celebrity partner Jennie Garth
With celebrity partner Shannon Elizabeth

Harry Sullivan of AlmostAmy - Drums

Yo Yo Yo, Harry Sullivan here, born in the UK, London. Started playing drums when I was 12. Went to school in Croydon and then fufilled one of my dreams by going to Berklee College of Music for a semester a year ago. I got into music pretty naturally, my teachers made my parents get me drum lessons because I was always banging on tables at school and then my dad introduced me to loads of cool music and I guess I just went from there. Drummers like John JR Robinson and Jeff Porcaro who play on a lot of the Micheal Jackson records have been my main inspiration, because its all about layin in that pocket.

Favourite movie? Probably Fight Club.
Colour: Blue
Book: Catcher in the Rye. Great book!
Food: Steak and Sushi (not together though)
Country: Italy
Best Time in my life: Right now man, getting signed with Almost Amy!
5 Whats Hot
: Yamaha Drums, California Girls, Converse, Sushi and the New Batman movie.
5 Whats Not
:Theres nothing really that I can say that bothers me, maybe one day, but at the moment im pretty chill.

What turns me on: California Girls.
What turns me off: The rain.
I really like watching movies to relax or a massage.
My dream like Sam is to make people dance and have fun while "rocking the set" with Almost Amy.

Sam Marder - Bass Guitar of AlmostAmy

Place of birth - Chichester, Sussex, England

Age - 20

Started Playing - Summer 2002

Schools - The Weald School and then the ACM (Academy of contemporary music)

Accomplishments - I started the higher diploma course at the ACM majoring in
bass guitar at just 16, and graduated at 17. On paper I have achieved Cert H.E
in popular music, CPD HND majoring in bass guitar and a Grade 8 distinction in
bass guitar, along with a distinction in BTEC music technology.

What got U in2 music - My parents finally buying cable tv for the house
mean't bands like the Red hot chili peppers, Incubus and Blink 182 were
rocking out on tv in my living room, and I fell in love! I started watching
MTV2, Kerrang and playing bass religiously.
Favorite -

Movies - Angus, Shawshank Redemption, Remember the Titans, Star Wars and the
coolest film ever Pulp Fiction.

Color - Dont really have one, I usually like the one's with the silly
names.

Book - I have to admit I don't really read books, but I have read Charlie
and the chocolate factory and I liked it a lot.

Artists - Doves, John Frusciante, The Doors, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead,
Jamiroquai, Mars Volta, James Jamerson and The Streets.

Foods - My mums Chickpea curry! Shepards pie, a really good roast dinner and my
girlfriend's Banana bread.

Country - UK and USA equally.

Time in Ur Life - Recently showcasing and getting the record deal I've been
dreaming of for so many years.

5 What's Hot

Fender Jazz bass guitars
Cocker Spaniels (I have one called Snoop Dogg)
Guitar Hero
The Sun
South Park

5 What's Not

Seafood
Seafood
Seafood
The North pole
And more seafood

What Turns U on? - My Girlfriend Lizzie

What Turns U off? - Seafood

How do u relax - Having a few drinks and jamming with friends

What are your dreams and goals - To be playing bass and rocking out forever with AlmostAmy