Season 7 of 'So You Think You Can Dance' is definitely living up to its promise for being unexpected by giving us not 10 but 11 finalists (down from the Top 20s of seasons past).

On tonight's episode, the Top 11 were revealed, including a professional ballet dancer, an untrained b-Boy and a tapper and familiar faces from past seasons who finally made it to the big time. TV Squad caught up with all 11 last week at their photo shoot to quiz them about their experience, their expectations and which of the All-Stars' names they're dying to pull out of the hat.

The top finalists are (left to right in the photo above):
Lauren Froderman, 18 (Contemporary Jazz), Jose Ruiz, 21 (Breaking); Adechike Torbert, 23 (Contemporary); Melinda Sullivan, 22 (Tap); Alex Wong, 23 (Ballet); Kent Boyd, 18 (Contemporary); Alexie Agdeppa, 26 (Jazz); (Front row) Billy Bell, 20 (Contemporary); Cristina Santana, 24 (Salsa); Robert Roldan, 19 (Contemporary); and Ashley Galvan, 19 (Contemporary).


On being the last two vying for the last (or so they thought ) guy's spot:
BILLY: "Robert was one of my dancers in my company (Lunge Dance Collective) in New York and Adam [Shankman, judge] told us after our show premiered, "We only have space for one more guy, so Robert, you're our fifth guy." I was just so happy for Robert. I'm already congratulating him and out of nowhere, Adam is like, "There's a sixth guy and it's you, Billy." And I was like, 'What? Are you kidding me right now?'"
ROBERT: "I was definitely shocked. It came down to Billy Bell and I. They told me I was the fifth spot, and I was in shock because Billy is unbelievable. He's such an incredible dancer. And then Adam said, 'You're both in,' and I was like, 'Thank God!'"

What inspired you to first start dancing?
ROBERT: "I really didn't want to start dancing but I got forced into it by my mom and fell in love with it. I used to dance around church like a little idiot an she was like, 'Why don't you get in dance?'"
MELINDA: "When I was younger, I just loved stomping around in loud shoes, so that was what got me hooked when I was little."
JOSE: "The Dirty Vegas 'Days Go By' music video, just the guy dancing on the cardboard. My first fundamentals were learning how to walk on my hands and then one of my best friends, Q, showed me The Freeze. And after that, we started researching the history of the dance and basically we were just self-taught."
ADECHIKE: "I didn't want to at first. My mom forced me, so thanks, Mom! I wasn't a bad kid, but I just had so much energy. I was the only boy in my class, which is something I can appreciate now! But back then, you want to be around your boys."
ASHLEY: "My parents put me in dance at the age of 3 and I've been dancing ever since. I have an older sister and back then it was like, the "Ahhh, Push It," kind of stuff, so I just saw her dancing at a wedding and I was interpreting those dances, and my parents were like, "Oh no, we can't have that," so they put me into dance."
ALEXIE: "I was 4. I started dancing in my parents' living room. My mom saw me copying everything Madonna was doing on MTV and so she was like, "Okay, we'll put you in dance class."
CRISTINA: "I started dancing when I was 7, back home in Mexicali. And then ballet and when I came to the United States, I started dancing salsa. It's kind of funny because I'm from Mexico, I should be learning that there."

Any dance training besides the usual tap, jazz, ballet?
JOSE: "While I was learning how to break dance, I was taking kung-fu and it taught me all the proper stretches, so it's given me more longevity to my dancing. I'm 21 now and I know some 21-year-old b-boys whose bodies are really banged up already."
ADECHIKE: "I started out in traditional African dance when I was six."
CRISTINA: "I've done a little bit of belly dancing. My sister is a belly dancer."
BILLY: "I've done every form of dance possible. I did Indian, I did African, even clogging!"

Previous brushes with fame:
MELINDA: "I was on 'Star Search' in 2003 and I competed against tWitch! Who wasn't even tWitch yet, he was Stephen Boss. So I think it would be really fun to dance with him. It was me and two other people in this group called Tap Sounds Underground. It would be nice to reconnect with him."
ALEXIE: "I was on 'Star Search' when I was 6. Adam Shankman apparently judged the time I was on it and I didn't find out until a couple of weeks ago."
ROBERT: "I recently did 'Dancing With the Stars.' Travis Wall choreographed a piece and I got to be a part of that. It was awesome."
ASHLEY: "I was a principal dancer in the movie 'Fame' and I was on a Nickelodeon show, 'Dance on Sunset.'"

'So You Think You Can Dance...' again!
CRISTINA: "I auditioned in Season 6 and I got to the Green Mile [final round] and I got cut there. That made me [want to] try again, if I did that good last season, maybe this is it."
ALEXIE: "This is my fourth time auditioning. Season 2, I got to Vegas and I got cut during the second or third day because I forgot the combo. I blanked out. They told me, 'We love you, but we can't keep you.' Season 5 I got to the day before the Top 30 and then Season 6, I got to Top 30. I decided, "I'm going to try one more time because I got so close.'"
BILLY: "I was in the Top 20 in Season 6 and then I got sick with mono. I couldn't dance for three and a half months. Mono definitely knocks you out. After that, they invited me back to do Season 7 starting in Vegas. So I auditioned and it went well."
ALEX: "In Season 5, I auditioned on a whim and I made it to the Top 20 and I was forced to withdraw because I had a prior contract with Miami City Ballet. I've been with them for five years, I'm a principle soloist. It was rough, because I really, really wanted to do it. I had to give up my position in order to be eligible. It was a huge leap of faith because I didn't know if I would even be on the show."

Which of the All-Stars are you most excited to dance with?
ALEXIE: "I really want to get down with tWitch. I want to see if I can do it. I'm kind of scared but I want to get the 'grr' and the groundedness."
ADECHIKE: "I'm definitely excited to dance with Comfort (Fedoke), Lauren (Gottlieb), and Courtney (Galiano). I'm not sure if they're going to let guys partner with guys, but I'd love to work with the other Ade (Obayomi)! He's got a great quality of movement, he's a powerhouse and I think our energies together onstage would be unstoppable. And tWitch. He's ridiculous, man."
LAUREN: "I'm hoping that I get at least one dance with Neil (Haskell)."
ALEX: "I don't know if they're doing male-male partner, I'd really like to dance with Mark (Kanemura). I really look up to his dancing."
BILLY: "I'm a really huge fan of Allison Holker, and she's kind of my dream team right now. And I'm really anxious to dance with Anya (Garnis). I feel like I can learn so much from her."
ASHLEY: "tWitch and Pasha (Kovalev), because I'm excited to do hip-hop and ballroom and I think that they're amazing at what they do."
KENT: "Actually, I don't know anyone. I'm just a small town kid, coming out here, pretty clueless, just excited and thrilled to be here."

Which of the other contestants have you bonded with the most?
LAUREN: "Ashley is my roommate. She's awesome. Our paths have crossed before this show. She's a lot of fun. Obviously, Robert, home boy. And Kent cracks me up. Alex is hilarious. Alexie's a sweetheart. Everybody on this show, I think, probably because there's only 11 of us, I feel like I'm already BFFs with all of them."
ROBERT: "Kent Boyd is my roommate. All the guys are awesome. I've known Billy for a little while. I just did a show in New York and got to know him a little through that. The girls are amazing. I've known Lauren Froderman for a little bit. And Melinda, who's also from Thousand Oaks. She's come to my studio, before. My roommate, Channing Cook, was actually on the last season. We live together now in North Hollywood and we just make bad dance videos together all the time. We love to just be dorks."
MELINDA: "I actually auditioned with my friend Ashley Galvan who made it to the Top 11 as well! She's the reason I went. We just finished working together on this new musical called 'Wonderland' and she told me she was going to audition. We woke up super early and waited on the street all day, and then we did our solos."
ASHLEY: "Melinda's amazing. I saw her in class and I told her I was going to audition and I was like, 'Come with me.' She's a phenomenal tapper and great at other styles. I kind of knew from the beginning that she would probably be in this position."
JOSE: "Alex Wong, he's from Miami too. And Adechike, he's from New York. They're my good, close friends. East Coast overdose!"

Does the prospect of performing live scare you?
BILLY: "Being live is so nerve-wracking. I've only done the taped shows before. I've done live theater and live dance obviously but it's not the same. Camera is so much harder to perform to. It's different, bringing the energy to an audience you can focus on, but when you have to focus through a piece of glass, it's a lot harder. You have to have this huge expansive focus when you're dancing."
ADECHIKE: "There's no room for intimidation. No room to be nervous, to be scared. It's like, you've got one chance to knock it out, just hit the stage, kill it. It's now or never."

What makes you unique as a dancer or a contestant? How do you think you'll come across to the audience?
KENT: "I have less experience, but hopefully that'll work to my benefit. Because everyone who watches is pretty much exactly like me. All season I was at home watching it with my friends, so hopefully they'll see that person and say, 'If Kent can do it, why couldn't I?' I'm just a normal kid, honestly."
ROBERT: "I'm a guy that always has a smile on his face. I'm a goofball."
LAUREN: "I'm a pretty cheerful person, so I hope it comes across on TV that I'm a pretty happy kid."
MELINDA: "Tap is something that I'm really passionate about and really good at and I have a lot of fun doing it. I'm super stoked to tap dance on television. A lot of people think it's old school or cheesy, but it's really not. It's hip, it's really edgy."
JOSE: "I'm completely self-taught. I've been training ever since I started b-Boying and your power of observation is everything. I look at the choreo and I visualize myself doing it and you just do it. That's what I think gives me an advantage."