Sofie Clarice Dossi (born June 21, 2001) is an American contortionist, aerialist, YouTuber, dancer, singer, and internet personality. In 2016, she rose to fame on the eleventh season of America's Got Talent. As of May 2023, her YouTube channel has 9.44 million subscribers and 1.6 billion views.[3]

Sofie Dossi
Dossi in May 2023
Personal information
Born
Sofie Clarice Dossi[1]

(2001-06-21) June 21, 2001 (age 23)[2]
Occupations
  • Actress
  • contortionist
  • aerialist
  • dancer
  • internet personality
  • singer
Websitesofiedossi.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2016–present
Subscribers9.82 million[3]
Total views2.01 billion[3]
Associated actsJordan Matter

Last updated: June 1, 2024

Early life

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Dossi grew up in the city of Cypress in southern California.[4][5] She was homeschooled from a young age by her mother, Abir. Her father, Mike, has helped with her career by designing props and roadying, and her older brother, Zak, produces and appears in her YouTube videos.[5][6] She is of Arab descent on her mother's side and Italian on her father's side. Her father is originally from Brooklyn, New York.[7]

As a child, Dossi took gymnastics and dance lessons and learned classical piano.[5][6] When she found that she was able to perform similarly to the contortionist in a Cirque du Soleil video, she began at age 12 to teach herself contortion by emulating poses that she found on YouTube and inventing new poses.[5][8][9] She soon performed at gatherings for friends and family and eventually was hired for larger events.[5][10] Despite frequent online speculation, Dossi does not lack a spine.[8][11]

Career

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Dossi in 2023, shooting a bow and arrow with her feet in a Stokes Twins video

America's Got Talent

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In 2016, America's Got Talent featured Dossi, then 14, on the show's 11th season, where she performed various feats of flexibility, strength, and dexterity.[12][13] Her first performance included shooting a bow and arrow with her feet while doing a handstand.[13][14] After another performance that featured an aerial hoop routine and shooting a flaming arrow from a bow with her feet, guest judge Reba McEntire awarded her the "Golden Buzzer" during the Judge Cuts.[4][14] In the season finals, she did another routine with handstand tricks and an aerial hoop but did not make the cut for the top five.[15][16]

She returned to the series in 2019 for the first season of America's Got Talent: The Champions. She did an aerial act in the first episode and finished in third place.[17]

Sofie Dossi appeared in season 14 where she collaborated with singer Bianca Ryan and violinist Brian King Joseph during the first quarterfinals of the season where she did her aerial performance in the background.[18]

In season 18, Dossi reunited with Reba McEntire for a special performance during the final result show. As McEntire sang "Can't Even Get the Blues", Dossi did her usual contortion, hand-balancing, and aerial performances.[19]

In 2024, Dossi competed on America's Got Talent: Fantasy League.[20] In the preliminary rounds, she received the "Golden Buzzer" from her mentor Heidi Klum which sent her directly to the finals. During the finals, she did a new type of balancing act involving hand stands on a rotating wheel called the Wheel of Death. In the results show, she partook in the opening joint performance doing her contortion, hand-standing, and aerial performance with the latter having her collaborate with Aidan Bryant. She made the finals, but did not make the Top 5.

Later in 2024, Dossi did a guest performance on the season 19 of America's Got Talent where she did her aerial, contortion, and hand-standing performances while Sara James sang "Sunshine State of Mind" during the semifinals result show.

YouTube

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Dossi uploaded the first video to her YouTube channel in late 2016 and continues to post weekly.[9] As of 2023, her channel has accumulated over 9 million subscribers and over 1.8 billion views.[3] For her YouTube work, she has been nominated for several Streamy Awards.[21]

Acting

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In acting, Dossi had cameos on Disney Channel's Bizaardvark and K.C. Undercover and starred on the Brat TV show Boss Cheer (2018–2019).[21]

Music

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Dossi ventured into pop music with the release of her debut single, "Bunny", on August 19, 2022.[6][22] She co-wrote this breakup song with her brother, Zak, who directed the music video.[6][22]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 America's Got Talent Herself/Contestant Season 11 finalist
2016 K.C. Undercover Contortionist Episode: "Tightrope of Doom"
2016 Bizaardvark Herself Episode: "First Day of School"
2018 Boss Cheer Dani Main role
2019 America's Got Talent: The Champions (Season 1) Herself/Contestant Eliminated in Episode 1
2019 America's Got Talent Herself/Guest performer First quarterfinals result show; season 14
2023 America's Got Talent Herself/Guest performer Qualifiers #5 result show; season 18
2024 America's Got Talent: Fantasy League Herself/Contestant Finalist
2024 America's Got Talent Herself/Guest performer Semifinals result show; Season 19

References

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  1. ^ Dossi, Sofie (December 14, 2019). Fitting into Small Places to Impress My Crush. YouTube. Event occurs at 0:05. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  2. ^ Dossi, Sofie (June 26, 2021). Nobody showed up to my birthday... YouTube. Event occurs at 5:27. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "About Sofie Dossi". YouTube.
  4. ^ a b Bayos, Kris (July 18, 2016). "'America's Got Talent 2016' update: Self-taught contortionist Sofie Dossi earns golden buzzer". International Business Times. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Hawkins, Sally; Valiente, Alexa; Effron, Lauren (April 3, 2018). "What life is like for this 16-year-old, self-taught contortionist and YouTube star". abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Despres, Tricia (August 29, 2022). "TikTok Influencer Sofie Dossi Spills the Tea About the Breakup That Turned into Her Debut Single 'Bunny'". People. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Dossi, Sofie (August 12, 2022). Answering the Internet's Darkest Questions About Me. YouTube. Event occurs at 6:16. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Keegan, Kayla (January 7, 2019). "Does 'AGT' Star Sofie Dossi Have a Spine? An Investigation". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b A Contortionist's Entire Routine, From Waking Up to Training. Allure. November 24, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  10. ^ "Sofie Dossi". nbc.com. NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016.
  11. ^ Mather, Katie (June 22, 2022). "YouTube Shorts Collaborated with Creators to Make Exclusive Snacks Fans Can Win at VidCon – And We Got to Try Them First". intheknow.com. Yahoo!. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  12. ^ Sanusi, Tayi (December 28, 2022). "7 Times Children Absolutely Stunned the AGT Judges With Their Acts". nbc.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Wiley, Elizabeth (September 13, 2016). "Meet the 10 finalists competing on 'America's Got Talent' tonight". 12news.com. KPNX. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Slead, Evan (June 13, 2016). "America's Got Talent: Simon Cowell calls contortionist something out of Game of Thrones". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  15. ^ Foy, Kenya (September 15, 2016). "14-year-old contortionist Sofie Dossi absolutely killed it on the 'America's Got Talent' finals". HelloGiggles. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  16. ^ Mallenbaum, Carly (September 14, 2016). "The 'America's Got Talent' champion is..." USA Today. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  17. ^ Swift, Andy (November 16, 2018). "America's Got Talent: The Champions Reveals 25 Returning Acts". TVLine. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  18. ^ Cohn, Paulette (August 14, 2019). "America's Got Talent Recap: Which Seven Acts Were the First to Make It Into the Semi-Finals for Season 14?". Parade. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  19. ^ Weisholtz, Drew (September 22, 2023). "Reba McEntire Does Duet with Contortionist on "America's Got Talent"". Today. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Manno, Jackie (November 15, 2023). "Here Are the 40 Acts Returning to Compete in the AGT: Fantasy League Spinoff". NBC Insider Official Site. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Thompson, Avery (January 7, 2019). "Sofie Dossi: 5 Things To Know About The Amazing Contortionist, 17, On 'AGT: The Champions'". Hollywood Life. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  22. ^ a b Hammer, Katherine (August 19, 2022). "Exclusive! Sofie Dossi spills on the story behind her very first single 'Bunny'". Girls' Life. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
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