At the age of 12, Joseph Delpriore danced on Ed McMahon's "Star Search" program with four of his Columbia, S.C., friends. But their hip-hop routine was not enough as the group lost to the contest's eventual winner.
Nearly a decade later, Delpriore is teamed with fellow Brigham Young University student Stacy Johnson in the current version of "Star Search" with a chance at a $100,000 prize in tonight's finals competition in the dance category.
Program viewers will determine the winner through telephone voting during the live telecast.
And that poses a problem for Delpriore and Johnson because the program airs on a tape-delay basis on KUTV Channel 2 in Utah at 7 p.m. local time, about 40 minutes after the live broadcasts in the eastern and central time zones. Fellow BYU students and local family and friends will be left out of the voting process unless they are logged on to cbs.com/star during the commercial break scheduled for voting (estimated for sometime between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. local time).
Delpriore said he hopes to make the best of a good hometown following on the East Coast where the show will air live.
Delpriore said he and Johnson — who is also the reigning Miss Utah for 2003 — are unique in the competition, dancing as a couple and using an interpretive technique.
"We're telling a story," he said. "We're not just being entertaining."
Delpriore said he thinks the dance lifts in the performance will score points with the audience and celebrity judges.
Actual air time for the couple during the preliminary competitions has been scarce since they arrived in California three weeks ago. While they have performed only once in that time, it was sufficient to earn a place in tonight's finals.
The season started off in January with the past season's champions in the winner circle. As the Saturday night contests have proceeded, new contenders entered challenges to those in the circle in an effort to become one of the three finalists.
Delpriore and Johnson eliminated last season's champion two weeks ago and
have gone unchallenged since, putting them into the finals.
Even though they will perform tonight, Delpriore worries that having been out of the public eye for two weeks will hurt them once the voting begins.
Johnson and Delpriore auditioned in Salt Lake City last October and were notified in January that they had made the cut and could attend the competition in Hollywood.
"We went on a whim," said Johnson about the audition. "We never thought it would happen."
Johnson said the couple practices about four hours a day and in their downtime they record video diaries detailing their thoughts and emotions concerning the competition.
"It gets a little boring sometimes," she said.
Johnson, 21, is excited about the Star Search experience, but is disappointed she will miss this year's Miss Utah festivities back home.
As for adjusting to life in California, Delpriore and Johnson said "Star Search" has accommodated them well. The organization provided separate apartments so they could comply with BYU's Honor Code.
"The people in Hollywood have had to adjust for us," Delpriore said.
While Delpriore has a passion for dancing, the 22-year-old has chosen to study English and business at BYU. The university junior said he spends most of his "Star Search" downtime visiting Los Angeles and some with his studies.
"I am doing enough that I'm not getting in trouble," he said.
E-mail: jburke@desnews.com