Julianne Hough

All Music Guide:

Although initially known as the winner (along with Apolo Anton Ohno and Helio Castroneves) of two consecutive seasons of Dancing with the Stars, Julianne Hough also enjoyed success as country singer. Born July 20, 1988, in Salt Lake City, UT, she spent the majority of her younger years studying dance at various schools and eventually wound up in London, where she won the prestigious Junior Blackpool World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion awards. Upon her return to the States, Hough went to the performing arts high school Las Vegas Academy, and upon graduating she set her sights on stardom in California, where she soon got her first taste of the business as an assistant choreographer on a Gwen Stefani video. From there she made a number of television appearances, eventually landing on -- and winning -- Dancing with the Stars for the 2006 season. She defended her title in 2007, and then went on to make many promotional appearances.

Hough launched her country career in May of 2007, when the debut single "Will You Dance with Me" cracked the Top 100 on the Billboard country charts and helped secure a record contract from Universal Music Nashville. One year later, Hough released her second single, "That Song in My Head," and announced that she would be a part of a summer tour supporting Brad Paisley. Her self-titled debut album appeared later that year, reaching the top of the country charts and number three on the pop charts, and the subsequent release of a Christmas-themed EP, Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection, helped make 2008 a lucrative year.

Wikipedia:

Julianne Alexandra Hough (pron.: /ˈʌ/; born July 20, 1988) is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer, and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time professional champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She was nominated for Creative Arts Primetime Emmy in 2007 for outstanding choreography. Hough was signed to Mercury Nashville Records in December 2007. Her self-titled debut album was released May 20, 2008, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. It sold 67,000 copies its first week, and has sold over 320,000 total copies. On October 12, 2008, she released a holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection, which as of January 5, 2009, had sold 157,000 copies. Her first leading role was in the 2011 film remake of Footloose. She also starred in the 2013 drama film, Safe Haven.

Early life [edit]

Hough was born in Orem, Utah, the youngest of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family. Her parents are Marianne and Bruce Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Her brother, Derek Hough, is also a professional dancer. She also has three older sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, and Katherine. All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers.

Her formal training began at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, where she danced with Josh Murillo, among others, in Latin Ballroom; she began dancing competitively at nine. In 1999, when she was 10, her divorcing parents sent her and brother Derek to London to live and study with their coaches, Corky and Shirley Ballas. The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark. Following in Derek's footsteps, she joined him at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts when a slot opened up at that school. They received training in song, theatre, gymnastics and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet, and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") when Hough was 12, performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased in a UK television show. At 15, Julianne Hough became the youngest dancer, and only American, to win both Junior World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion at the Blackpool Dance Festival. She left London that year, after having been "abused, mentally, physically, everything," she said, a situation that escalated "when I started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl. ... I was told if I ever went back to the United States, three things were going to happen. One: I was going to amount to nothing. Two: I was going to work at Whataburger. And three: I was going to end up a slut. So, it was like, I can't go back. I have to be this person." After returning to the U.S. she attended the Las Vegas Academy and Alta High School.

Dancing [edit]

Hough was one of the "Million Dollar Dancers" in the short-lived network television game show Show Me the Money.

Hough won the season four of the U.S. edition of Dancing with the Stars with her partner Olympic gold medal-winning speed skater Apolo Ohno, making Hough the youngest professional dancer to win on the program. On November 27, 2007, Hough and her partner, three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves, became the winners of season five. Hough returned for season six with radio host/comedian Adam Carolla, but they were eliminated in week four. In July 2008, Hough was nominated at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in the category of "Outstanding Choreography" for her Mambo "Para Los Rumberos" (performed with partner Hélio Castroneves) on Dancing with the Stars.

On August 25, 2008, the cast of season seven was announced, and Hough was partnered with Hannah Montana actor Cody Linley. She felt abdominal pains during their jitterbug performance on October 27, 2008 and was immediately rushed to a hospital following the encore performance. She subsequently had surgery to have her appendix removed, causing her to miss several performances; Edyta Śliwińska stood in for her. Hough returned to the show, although the pair were ultimately eliminated in the Semifinals Competition. She appeared on the November 12 results show dancing the jive to "Great Balls of Fire" with her brother for the "Design-A-Dance" contest.

On November 20, 2008, Hough told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show she would not be returning to Dancing with the Stars, for the foreseeable future, in order to further her country music career. However, she did return for season eight, partnering with boyfriend at the time, country singer Chuck Wicks. They were voted off in week eight of the competition and came in sixth place. On October 11, 2011, Julianne returned to Dancing with the Stars and danced with her Footloose co-star Kenny Wormald twice, as well as her brother. She returned again on May 15, 2012 in a dance performance to promote her film Rock of Ages.

Music [edit]

Hough's first country music single "Will You Dance With Me" was released to iTunes and Wal-Mart in May 2007 to raise money for the American Red Cross. The song placed at No. 100 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She later signed with Universal Music Group Nashville's Mercury Nashville division.

Her self-titled debut album was recorded in Nashville and produced by David Malloy, who has worked with Reba McEntire, Eddie Rabbitt, among others. Hough's album, which met with mixed reviews, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart on May 31, and also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Hough's second single, and the first to be released to country radio, was "That Song in My Head".

Hough joined Brad Paisley's 2008 Tour, along with Jewel and Chuck Wicks. Hough, Paisley and Willie Nelson appeared in the video for the Snoop Dogg song "My Medicine". Hough appeared in a Juicy Fruit commercial in the fall of 2008. and released an EP of Christmas music called Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection. Hough performed her second single "My Hallelujah Song" on Dancing With the Stars on November 18, 2008, with her brother, Derek Hough, Mark Ballas and Lacey Schwimmer dancing.

Hough, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson, and Kellie Pickler announced the 2009 Academy of Country Music Award nominees in February 2009. Hough was nominated for the Top New Female Vocalist award, a fan voted award, which she subsequently won. Hough won the Top New Artist award at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 5, 2009. Hough did not get the chance to write on her first record because the whole process was so quick. For her next record, she plans to write more. Hough released a single, "Is That So Wrong", to country radio on June 21, 2010. It was intended as the lead single for her second album, Wildfire, however the album was never released. In June 2012, Hough told AOL's The Boot that her second album was "completely done" and that she was initially "really, really looking forward to the record." However, she also stated that, due to the underperforming lead single and having "a lot of momentum" in her film career, there are no plans to release Wildfire. She does intend to resume focusing on her music career at some point, though: "I feel like when I have the time to focus on it, and when I feel like it is the right time, [I'll return to] my music," she said.

Acting [edit]

Hough's first acting job was in 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's bestselling novel. She appeared in an uncredited role as a "Hogwarts schoolgirl". Hough appears in the 2010 musical Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. In the film, which chronicles a small-town girl (Aguilera) who finds success at a Los Angeles burlesque club, Hough plays a dancer named Georgia.

Hough's first leading role was as Ariel Moore in the 2011 remake of the Paramount film Footloose, opposite Kenny Wormald as Ren McCormack. Filming began in September 2010. The film was released on October 14, 2011. Hough played the role of Sherrie Christian in the 2012 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, alongside Tom Cruise and Mary J. Blige. In 2012, she filmed her starring role opposite Josh Duhamel in the romantic drama Safe Haven, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, which was released on February 14, 2013. Hough is also set to star in an untitled 2013 Diablo Cody film about a woman who loses faith after being burned. Her Rock of Ages co-star Russell Brand also stars.

Personal life [edit]

Hough was dating entertainer Ryan Seacrest from April 2010 to March 2013. It was announced on March 15, 2013, their relationship had ended.

She supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 United States presidential election.

Dancing with the Stars performances [edit]

With Apolo Anton Ohno [edit]

(average 27.53)

With Hélio Castroneves [edit]

(average 27.13)

With Adam Carolla [edit]

(average 18.5)

With Cody Linley [edit]

(average 23.56)

With Chuck Wicks [edit]

(average 23.22)

Filmography [edit]