Derek Hough

Derek Hough (/ˈhʌf/; born May 17, 1985) is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for his work, since September 2007, on the ABC dance-competition series Dancing with the Stars, on which he has won a record six seasons. He has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography for several routines that he choreographed for the show.

Hough starred in various stage productions such as in the 2006 original production of Footloose: The Musical at the Novelo Theatre in London's West End, as well as the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. He also starred in Make Your Move, a 2013 Romeo and Juliet-inspired South Korean-American independent dance film. In 2014, he guest appeared on ABC's musical drama Nashville.

Early life

Hough grew up the fourth of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He is the son of Marianne and Bruce Hough, and has four sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, Katherine, and Julianne. All of his grandparents were dancers, and his parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college in Idaho. He is a second cousin of musicians Riker, Rydel, Rocky, and Ross Lynch from R5.

Derek

Derek is a male name. It is the English language short form of Dederik, the Low German form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".

Common variants of the name are Derrek, Derick and Derrick, more rarely also Deryck or 'Derrok'. The Dutch language short form of the same Low German / Low Franconian name is Dirk (popularised by the actor Dirk Bogarde) and the Low German Di(e)rk (Dierk Hoff).

History

The English form of the name arises in the 15th century, via import from the Low Countries. The native English (Anglo-Saxon) form of the name was Deoric or Deodric, from Old English Þēodrīc, but this name had fallen out of use in the medieval period. During the Late Middle Ages, there was intense contact between the territories adjacent to the North Sea, in particular due to the activities of the Hanseatic League. As a result, there was a lot of cross-pollination between Low German, Dutch, English, Danish and Norwegian. The given name Derk is found in records of the Low Countries from the early 14th century, and in the spelling Derck becomes rather common in name lists compiled in the Habsburg Netherlands during the early 16th century. An early bearer of the name Derek was lord of Keppel, Gelderland, in the early 14th century. A Derek van Keppel, lord of Verwoelde, died in 1495 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called Derek van Keppel. A later Derek van Keppel died in 1646, succeeded by Asewolt van Keppel, the father of Arnold van Keppel, who in 1688 was created Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England.

Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 42 territories.

Versions have also been produced in dozens of countries across the world. As a result, the series became the world's most popular television program among all genres in 2006 and 2007, according to the magazine Television Business International, reaching the Top 10 in 17 countries.

The show pairs a number of well known celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing one or more choreographed routines that follow the prearranged theme for that particular week. The dancers are then scored by a panel of judges. Viewers are given a certain amount of time to place votes for their favourite dancers, either by telephone or (in some countries) online. The couple with the lowest combined score provided by the judges and viewers is eliminated. This process continues until there are only two or three couples left; when they have competed for the last time one couple is declared the champion and win a trophy

Sasuke (TV series)

Sasuke (stylized in Japan as SASUKE) is a Japanese sports entertainment television special in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four-stage obstacle course. An edited version, named Ninja Warrior, is screened in at least 18 other countries. To date, Sasuke content has been aired in 157 countries.

Shot on location at Midoriyama studio in Yokohama, it airs on TBS between Japanese television drama seasons. Each 3-hour special covers an entire competition; there are normally 100 participants. There have been 31 specials produced, approximately one new special per season (twice per year). The show is produced by TBS and is one of the spin-offs of Muscle Ranking (筋肉番付, Kinniku Banzuke), another sports entertainment competition, which aired on G4 under the name Unbeatable Banzuke. Until the 10th competition, Sasuke was broadcast as a special part of Muscle Ranking, but it became an independent program when Muscle Ranking was discontinued. The first competition was held indoors, marking the only time Sasuke did not take place outside. Competitions generally start in the daytime and continue until completed regardless of weather or darkness. After Monster9's bankruptcy on November 2011, all rights to the show fell completely into the hands of its broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System. Following their acquisition of all rights to Sasuke, TBS renamed the show Sasuke Rising for the 28th, 29th and 30th editions, but have since reverted to the original Sasuke title.

Jimmy Kimmel

James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, producer, writer, comedian, voice actor, musician and radio personality. He is the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC in 2003. Kimmel also hosted the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 23, 2012.

Prior to hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money. Kimmel has also produced such shows as Crank Yankers, Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, and The Andy Milonakis Show.

Early life

Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the neighborhood of Mill Basin the eldest of three children of Joan (née Iacono), a homemaker, and James John Kimmel, an IBM executive.

He is, and was raised, Catholic, and as a child served as an altar boy. Kimmel's mother is of Italian ancestry; two of his paternal great-great-grandparents were German emigrants, and his family's surname was "Kümmel" several generations back. The family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was nine years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School.