Eight teams competing in the Dancing With Our Stars fundraiser brought a packed house of fans to their feet, cheering and pumping their fists, Saturday night at the Alhambra Theatre.
Dancing partners Mary Anne Garnett and Caleb Lancaster took home two of the competition’s three trophies, winning online fan favorite and overall champion.
If a prize had been awarded for most exuberant dancer, it surely would have gone to Lancaster. He and Garnett danced to the Blues Brothers’ “Soul Man.”
Joe and Tierra Leavell received the judge’s choice award. Joe, who is a Baptist preacher, nearly brought the house down when he sprang several feet into the air and sailed over his wife as she kneeled on the stage.
Throughout the evening, dancers seemed to defy expectations (their own and of the audience) as they flipped, twirled, leaped and even moon-walked.
Emcee Russ Guffey and judges Francene Gilmer, Cody Noffsinger, Alissa Keller and Carter Hendricks lauded them with praise and big scores.
Kate Russell, who danced with her Hopkinsville Brewing Co. co-owner Joey Medeiros, joked she didn’t think she was much of a dancer and wouldn’t be giving up her day job as a brewer. She added it was the last time anyone would see her in sequins and false eyelashes.
The four judges disagreed with Russell’s self-assessment and gave her and Medeiros perfect 10s — as they did with nearly all of the contestants.
Completing the lineup of dancers were Becky Dearman and Nancy Askew, Kiley and Brandon Killebrew, Desma and Vulenzo Blount, Craig and Katie Richardson, and Cat Lacy and Austin Jauregui.
The event set a fundraising record by raising $91,239. The goal had been $80,000. The proceeds will be split between the Pennyroyal Arts Council, which manages the Alhambra, and Sanctuary, the domestic violence shelter.
Frank Giles announced the total raised and presented the disco ball-styled trophies to the winners. His company, Hughart, Beard & Giles Funeral Home, was the lead sponsor for Dancing With Our Stars.
You can see more of Hoptown Chronicle’s photos from Dancing With Our Stars here and here.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
