OKLAHOMA CITY, Tuesday, July 21, 2009 – The Oklahoma City Thunder hosted final auditions for the 2009-10 Thunder Girls Tuesday night at Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar and Grill” in Bricktown. With a process that started with more than 100 women last Saturday, 40 ladies competed for a place on the team, and judges narrowed the selection down to 18 talented dancers. The final member will be chosen by Thunder fans in an online vote at thunder.nba.com
Two Thunder Girl hopefuls, Stacy from Edmond, Okla. and Erica, from Midwest City, Okla., were chosen to participate in the first ever “People’s Choice” vote. Beginning on Wednesday, July 22, fans can visit thunder.nba.com, view photos and videos of the two finalists and cast their vote for either Stacy or Erica. Voting ends Monday, July 27 at noon and the “People’s Choice” Thunder Girl will be announced shortly after on the Thunder site.
Dance team hopefuls performed in pairs on Tuesday night in front of more than 650 Thunder fans. Of the 18 dancers to make the squad, 10 come from Oklahoma, one from Barrington, Ill., and one from as far away as Tokyo, Japan.
Auditions were open to females over the age of 18, who were energetic, had dance experience and were interested in performing at Thunder home games and representing the Thunder organization in the community.
The 2009-10 Thunder Girls are presented by FireLake Grand Casino. Below is the new 2009-10 Thunder dance team roster:
Last names are not released to protect privacy. *Returning member
About FireLake Grand Casino:
The 2009-2010 Thunder Girls are presented by FireLake Grand Casino. The latest achievement for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, FireLake Grand Casino is taking Oklahoma gaming to the next level with beautiful architecture inside and out, and a rich experience like no other in the state. FireLake Grand Casino features over 125,000 square feet of premier gaming space, and over 1,800 Class-3 Vegas style games. Plus, because all games at FireLake Grand Casino are Class 3, Oklahoma Compact games, six percent of all net gaming revenue goes back to the state to support Oklahoma education.