Three young dancers will compete for the chance to attend the season finale of 'So You Think You Can Dance' in California and the public gets to choose. Eight contestants submitted videos of their dance moves to the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda competition.

Yesterday a judging panel led by former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith, chose three contestants to continue on to the finals.

Now it is up to the public to decide which of the dancers Melanie Mendonça, Makeda Simmons or Malachi Simmons will get to see the live showing in Los Angeles next week.

Voting begins this morning and will continue until midnight on Sunday. The dancer with the most votes will be announced on Monday. Up for grabs is an all-expenses paid trip to California and two tickets to watch the Emmy-award winning TV series next Thursday.

Fifteen-year-old Melanie has studied many forms of dance since the age of five. She currently studies with In Motion School of Dance.

Makeda, also 15, has studied ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern and contemporary dance at Somerset School of Dancing.

Her brother Malachi, 17, specialises in hip hop with United Dance Productions.

Dame Jennifer, a member of the NDFB's honorary board, said the judges were "very impressed with the quality of the performances that all of the entrants demonstrated".

She said: "Eight young people took a considerable amount of time to learn the routine choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo, record their performance and submit it for consideration. We know there is considerable dance talent in Bermuda and hope that when an opportunity like this next presents itself, our entry numbers will be even higher."

The judges included board member Sophia Cannonier, Celia Powell, an executive at sponsor PartnerRe, Eric Bean Jr., a faculty member at the DanceBermuda summer intensive and the Foundation's development director Cathy Aicardi.

Visit www.dancebermuda.org to vote for your favourite. Go to www.theroyalgazette.com to see the videos submitted by the dancers.