Six-Year Old Tapper, “Lil Starr” , Puts Chino On the Map on “America’s Got Talent”!
The excitement over this special little girl began 4 years ago when she took her first dance class at The Dellos Dance Connection in The Chino Valley at the age of 2 years 11months. I remember Miss Michelle, her tap teacher sharing, “I’ve never seen anyone like this little girl… she’s really special…she loves challenge and is focused like an older child.” Auditions for the Company competition teams were only a few months away and Lilliana was far from being ready to compete with other 4 & 5 year olds vying for nine spots on Dellos’ youngest tap team. Lilliana’s parents set up private lessons and within weeks, her innate talent placed her at the top of her classes. The rest is studio history…the youngest dancer accepted (at the age of three) on a Dellos competition team becomes the leader of her group, developing into an incredible tap soloist and winning Regional and National Title acclaim all before the age of six!
Lilliana Rose, 6, who attends Rhodes Elementary, lives in Chino and has been dancing over half of her short life. “The only other things I like to do is play in the park and swim in the pool by my house”, the little one smiles, “but I’m almost always at my dance studio!” As a Kindergartener, Lilliana took 6 hours of dance instruction weekly, accompanied by private lessons to help perfect her execution and to reinforce memorization of material. Dressed as a bear in her first recital routine, “Bear Necessities”, the smallest member of the group earned her the nickname, “Lil Bear”. It wouldn’t be long before I dubbed her, “Lil Starr”, a name that has stuck and describes not only her talent, but her winning personality as well!
Successful children are the product of a positive and nurturing support system that includes committed coaches & trainers, family and friends. Lydia and Gabe Silva’s entire life has revolved around the activities of their first-grade daughter. “As long as Lilliana is happy and loves what she’s doing, we will support her 100%”, Gabe shares…”Sometimes we ask her, aren’t you ready to go home after being at the studio for over 4 hours?…but she always answers, no!…can I stay longer?” Lil Starr’s parents have been hands-on with at-home practice, preparing her for bi-weekly private instruction. “Sometimes we wonder if it’s just too much”, Lydia smiles at her daughter, “but she never complains…and even when she’s not taking lessons, she’s always dancing all over the house!”.
For three years, Lil Starr has been a member of award-winning tap, jazz, lyrical and hip-hop teams at The Dellos Dance Connection. Celebrating the end of another amazing season, she was excitedly looking forward to attending this year’s July National Finals in Las Vegas. Who would have guessed that she would be in New York on the other side of the U.S. instead of with her studio dance friends? Ironically, almost simultaneously, Lil Starr would compete on the largest competition stage in America, “America’s Got Talent”, as one of the youngest competitors ever booked!
The past year has been like a whirlwind, starting with a local audition nearly one year ago. “We heard about AGT auditions on the radio…we got up really early to get in line but still had to wait a long time”, Dad recalls. “But once Lilliana finally performed her tap routines, “Smooth Criminal” and “Dr. Feelgood”, she was taken from room to room to dance multiple times and to meet the producers of the show. We were told that we might be contacted in the next four months but that they still had the entire U.S. to audition…so we thought at that point that Lilliana didn’t have much of a chance. There were literally multiples of thousands of AGT hopefuls waiting to be seen.”
NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” is the most popular and largest viewed Summer ‘reality talent show’ on TV. For a local six-year old with virtually no prior exposure, selected to be a competitor on Season 7’s ‘Quarter-Finals’ as one of “The Top 48” acts selected out of hundreds of thousands from across America, is more than remarkable! The first live show was in February at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre in Hollywood where Lilliana performed “Dr. Feelgood”, followed by a standing-ovation from the audience and two of the judges. Even though Howard Stern made it obvious that he didn’t care for kids and ‘especially dance acts’, Howie Mandell and Sharon Osborne put her through to the grueling Las Vegas rounds. “Lilliana was one the youngest competitors there…we had ten, long, hard days of rehearsing a brand new routine…it was crazy!”, shares Mom. “So many acts were sent home before they ever made it to the taped round”, recalls Dad. “Lilliana’s second routine, “Captain Jack” was her best performance to date but the entire dance wasn’t shown on tv. The audience gave her another standing-ovation and this time even Howard was impressed, so the judges put her through again to the first live show in New York!”
My husband and I surprised the Silva family by showing up in New York for Lil Starr’s live “AGT Semi-Finals” taping. A large box-prop complete with lazer lights and explosives, incredible costume and hip-hop theme was created specifically around her new “Party Rock” tap routine. But, once again, Howard Stern stated that, “A six-year old tap dancer is not a million dollar Las Vegas act!” Sharon and Howie dubbed her “A BIG Star” and said she was ‘something extra-ordinarily special’. “We’ve made long and lasting friends and have experienced so much”, shares Gabe…”That’s the hardest part of the process because you feel like you’re losing a family member when someone leaves the show. Everyone was so nice to Lilliana and they truly treated her like a star”. Lydia adds, “The AGT staff was awesome and really, really nice. Lilliana’s producer was right there for anything we needed”. I experienced the Silva family’s personal sadness first hand when new competitors were arriving as Lil Starr was exiting the theatre, heading home to Chino, California. Begged by her groupies at the Stage Door, Lilliana signed autographs and took pictures with adoring fans 2 to 80 years of age. “We love you!”, they screamed, and Lil Starr echoed back, “Love you too!”
Though not moving on to ‘The Final Top 16’ was disappointing, a booking on NBC’s “The Today Show” the following morning brought a huge smile to her face. “You mean I get to go to New York City again?”, Lilliana squealed with a whole new excitement. After a late night out celebrating with a pizza party in the lobby of The Best Western Plus Hotel in Newark, New Jersey, the morning trip into the city came all too soon. “Lilliana is a grouch when she’s tired”, shared her mom, “but she jumped out of bed with energy and was ready to perform all over again!”. A personal-driver dropped Lil Starr’s entourage at NBC Studios in the heart of New York City, where she was whisked into The Green Room to meet the TV hosts before filming her segment. After a short televised interview and tap demonstration, a gift-basket full of headbands and crowns topped off the event, making the day most memorable.
As the Silva family walked Times Square, adoring fans asking for pictures and autographs slowed down their sight-seeing experience. When I asked Lil Starr about her favorite part of the entire AGT experience, she candidly answered, “I liked meeting all of the judges and Nick Cannon…he was so funny. Oh yeah, the other contestants too, and the producers…they were all nice to me. I liked the tall buildings, the double-decker bus ride, the horse and buggy ride and Times Square. But the best part was seeing myself on TV!”. The family ended the day at “The Top of The Rock”, taking pictures above the New York City skyline before heading to the airport. Wiped out from her two-week whirlwind of New York memory-making, Lil Starr curled up in her airplane window-seat, dreaming about her own bed.
“Lil Starr”, unaffected by her immediate TV popularity, doesn’t realize the impact that her innocent child-like and un-affected, humble nature has made on viewing audiences of all ages across America. When asked what’s next she replies, “I’m excited to go back to dance to see my friends and dance teachers! Oh yeah, and one more thing…my new baby sister, Emma, is coming in September!” Miss Michelle shares, “AGT kept Lilliana busy from morning to night making last minute changes. We all became like one big family rooting each other on but in the end it is a competition. I’m so proud of Lilliana…she’s one exceptional little girl!” Competing on a national level is on hold for now, but getting ready for end-of-the-summer auditions at Dellos is Lil Starr’s next goal~
