Noah Matthew Galloway is a former United States Army soldier, motivational speaker, and extreme sports enthusiast. He was injured during the Iraq War, losing his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee. He was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars season 20, paired with Sharna Burgess. The pair finished in third place. He led his team to victory in the first season of the American Grit TV show on FOX. His book Living with No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier was released in August 2016.
Edward "Eddie" Griffin is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman on the UPN television series Malcolm & Eddie and the title character in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother. He also played T.J. in the Deuce Bigalow movies. Griffin has starred in films such as The Meteor Man, Double Take, John Q, Scary Movie 3, and Norbit. In 2007, he starred in Urban Justice, a thriller set in New Mexico. Griffin was ranked at number 62 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of all time. He brings his signature brand of comedy to audiences at the Rio for a night of nonstop laughs.
Forrest Griffin is an American retired mixed martial artist and a UFC Hall of Famer. Since 2005, he has been signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Griffin, a former Georgia police officer, first rose to prominence after winning the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. In the tournament finals, he fought and defeated Stephan Bonnar in Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar, which is widely credited as sparking the current success of the UFC. The Stephan Bonnar fight was declared the #1 UFC fight of all time in the UFC Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights program.
Mark Hall-Patton is the Museum Administrator for the Clark County Museum system, where he oversees the Clark County Museum, the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, and the Searchlight History Museum. He has worked for both public and private non-profit museums and has consulted with numerous start-up and established museums and museum boards. In 2009, Mark hosted a live interview roundtable program on C4 television in the Vegas valley and is regularly seen on the History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” as a visiting expert. Mark is a MAP surveyor for the American Association of Museums and the author of two books and over 400 published articles. He has written and produced forty-eight local history videos.
Jewel is an American multi-platinum, singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress, author, and poet. She was discovered by Inga Vainshtein in August 1993 when John Hogan, lead singer from the local San Diego band Rust, whom Ms. Vainshtein was managing, called about a girl surfer who sang at a local coffee shop. Ms. Vainshtein drove to The Inner Change with a rep from Atlantic Records, and after the show they called Danny Goldberg, the head of Atlantic Record's West Coast operations, and asked him to pay for Jewel's demo. Vainshtein, who at the time was working as a film executive at Paramount, eventually became Jewel's manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war that led to Jewel's deal with Atlantic Records. Jewel's debut album Pieces of You was released in 1995 when she was only 21. The album became one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, going 12 times platinum. Part of the album was recorded live at The Inner Change Cafe in San Diego, where she had risen to local fame. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for an impressive two years, reaching number four at its peak. The album spawned the Top 10 hits "You Were Meant for Me", "Who Will Save Your Soul", and "Foolish Games". The album was a huge success and eventually sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone, more than all of her subsequent albums put together. Jewel has received four Grammy Award nominations and, as of 2008, has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
Robin Leach is an English entertainment reporter and writer, best known for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, from 1984 to 1995, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic details. His voice is often parodied by other actors with his signature phrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams." During the final season, he was assisted by Shari Belafonte, and the show was renamed, Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte. He resides in Las Vegas.
Marshawn Lynch is a former American football running back. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. As a Seahawk, he won Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. He was drafted by Buffalo in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft after playing college football at UC Berkeley, where he became the school's second all-time career rusher. Lynch earned the nickname "Beast Mode" for his powerful running style, propensity for breaking tackles, and consistent ability to run over defenders.
Asia Featuring John Payne are a rock group formed in 2007. ASIA extensively toured the world for the next 14 years performing new classics and old favorites. With John Payne fronting the band, ASIA released 8 stunning studio albums and several live recordings. In May 2006, it was agreed that John Payne would continue his 14 year legacy with ASIA as "ASIA Featuring John Payne". ASIA Featuring John Payne have been touring in North America since 2008.
Marcus Peters is an American football cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. Peters received multiple honors for his rookie season. He was one of three rookies named to the 2016 Pro Bowl. He also was named 2nd Team All-Pro. He won several awards including AFC Defensive Rookie of month for December and AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, he also was a finalist for the Pepsi Rookie of the Year award. Peters is the fourth Chiefs player to win defensive rookie of the year joining Dale Carter, Bill Maas, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas. He was ranked 65th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
Plain White T's is an American pop punk band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher. They were joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs and bars in its early years. The band is best known in the USA for the number-one hit song "Hey There Delilah", which achieved platinum status in 2007 and earned two Grammy nominations, as well as "1234" and "Rhythm of Love", which were certified platinum in 2009 and 2011.
Alex Reymundo is a comedian and actor, who was featured on the 2007 ALMA Awards. Reymundo had a one-hour special that aired on Comedy Central in 2007 called Alex Reymundo Hick-Spanic: Live in Albuquerque. He was also featured in the Showtime and Comedy Central special The Original Latin Kings of Comedy along with other Latin comedians such as George Lopez and Paul Rodriguez. He received an ALMA Award in 2008 for "Outstanding Comedy Special" for his one-hour comedy special "Alex Reymundo Hick-Spanic, Live in Albuquerque." He is currently opening up for fellow comedian (and brother-in-law) Ron White on his tour.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is a Japanese-American actor, sports physiologist, martial artist, and stuntman. Tagawa has appeared on television in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Thunder in Paradise, Nash Bridges, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, and Heroes. He is currently featured as Nobusuke Tagomi in The Man in the High Castle, the Amazon original series adaptation of the novel by Philip K. Dick. Tagawa has recently been involved off-screen in addressing student groups (at SFSU and Stanford). He has also been coaching the martial artist portraying Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat Live Tour, and in his free time developing his new form of martial arts, called "Chun Shin."
Ronald Dee "Ron" "Tater Salad" White is an American stand-up comedian and actor, best known as a charter member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. But with two Grammy nominations, a Gold Record, three of the top rated one-hour TV specials in Comedy Central history, a book that appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List, and CD and DVD sales of over 10 Million units, Ron has established himself as a star in his own right. Ron had a supporting acting role in the feature film “Sex and the City 2,” and has a role in “Horrible Bosses” (starring Jennifer Anniston and Kevin Spacey) and “Jayne Mansfield’s Car” (Billy Bob Thorton and Robert Duvall). In business, Ron co-founded his own media company “Organica Media Group” along with acclaimed Producer Michael Blakey. Over the past 5 years he has been one of the top 3 grossing comedians on tour in the United States.
Sam Wills, is a New Zealand prop comic, busker, and mime residing in London. He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape Face. He was also half of the two-person act Spitroast and sometimes performed under his own name, Sam Wills. He doesn’t say one word while he’s onstage, yet he has audiences from around the world doubled over in laughter at his antics. He has featured in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, the World Buskers Festival, and was a finalist on Season 11 of America's Got Talent.