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A dance crew is celebrating after being crowned winners of Alesha's Street Dance Stars, C´óÏó´«Ã½'s search for Britain's best young street dancers.

Hundreds of young people from across the UK put on their dancing shoes to audition for a place in the programme, which was hosted by Alesha Dixon, and experts from the show had the difficult task of whittling down the talented dance groups to just 24 crews – including Lil' Diamondz from Hartlepool.

The crew locked and popped their way through four rounds of the show to be crowned champions – the qualifiers, heats, semi-finals and grand final – all in front of the C´óÏó´«Ã½ cameras.

Lil' Diamondz were put through their paces by the expert judging team: Laurence Olivier Award-winning choreographer and co-founder of the Boy Blue Entertainment hip-hop dance company Kenrick Sandy; internationally acclaimed dancer and So You Think You Can Dance finalist Lizzie Gough; and Issac 'Turbo' Baptiste, one of the UK's most versatile street dancers with a string of impressive credits including working with Madonna, Will Smith and Whitney Houston.

Perri Luc Kiely and Jordan Banjo from UK street dance crew Diversity were also on hand to mentor and support the dance crews as they progressed through the series.

Lil' Diamondz choreographer, Zac Healey, said: "I'm so proud of the whole crew. To win a show like Alesha's Street Dance Stars is just amazing. The entire group worked so hard throughout the process, developing and rehearsing their routines, and it's incredible to see that hard work pay off. The competition on the show was tough, but it was an amazing experience and the guys really worked hard as a team. They dug deep to make sure they gave the very best performances they could. It's not easy performing in a big studio under lots of bright lights with stars like Alesha Dixon looking on, but they stepped up to the challenge and delivered winning performances throughout."

As well as being crowned Alesha's Street Dance Stars 2011, Lil' Diamondz won the chance to perform at a very special event, Dance 2011, at The Lowry in Salford Quays on 3 September, also hosted by Alesha.

The crew will also take to the stage for a unique performance of their winning routine as part of the production Some Like It Hip-Hop at the Peacock Theatre London, during the October 29 matinee.

Visit ´óÏó´«Ã½ iPlayer to watch this show again, and to find out how the crews did throughout their journey.

CB2