“Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” return for its eighth season Fri. Sept. 6 at 9:00 p.m. on CMT. The network”s longest running non-music series will feature eight one-hour episodes.
Making dreams come true (or not) are longtime DCC director Kelli McGonagill Finglass and choreographer Judy Trammell. Once again, the hit series follows the girls as they must survive the auditions, training camp, the powerhouse technical coaching of former DCC Kitty Carter, and the demanding expectations of fitness trainerJay Johnson.
As an unprecedented 32 veterans return, this might be the most competitive season ever. And the competition doesn”t stop with veterans – out of the 500 vying for a coveted spot on the squad, 30 are former professional cheerleaders from other teams, 50% of the girls are from states outside of Texas and cheerleader hopefuls from as far as Japan, Canada and Australia raise the stakes for a Texas-sized showdown.
Following Season 8 preliminary auditions, 146 competitors make it to the semi-finals where that number will dwindle down to 86, leaving 47 young ladies to duke it out in training camp for one of the prized 37 spots on the squad. In a never-before-seen twist, this season DCC democratizes the voting process by allowing fans to also vote online for their favorite candidate to make it into training camp. (Voting began on May 9, 2013 and closed on May 17th).
Proving that Season 8 is rife with real emotion and adversity is a storyline of a training camp candidate who tears her ACL on camera while performing a routine and is forced to withdraw from the competition; a 26-year-old single mom fights for her right to try for the squad, and Kelli and Judy making an “in the moment” split decision to bring back a veteran who had already been cut.
Once the quintessential Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader herself, Kelli understands the importance of image so she calls on world-renowned designer Abi Ferrin who has dressed celebrities such as Carrie Underwood and the Duchess of Cambridge herself, Kate Middeleton, to host a “Do”s and Don”ts of How to Dress Like a DCC,” fashion seminar. The result is a few of the most dramatic makeovers DCC has ever seen. And teaching the ladies new and different styles of choreography are celebrity choreographers, DJ Guthrie (“American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars”) and Jordan Johnson (“So You Think You Can Dance”).