Local Youth Wins Nickelodeon’s ‘Top Elf’ and $25,000 for Arizona Charity

Bali Bare, a seventh grader at Arizona School for the Arts and inventor of the patented product, the Octopurse, was selected by Santa and Ms. Jingles as one of the seven “elf-testants” to go to the North Pole and compete in Nickelodeon’s show, “Top Elf.”  

As winner of the competition, Bali won a trip to the Nickelodeon resort in Punta Cana and received $25,000 to a charity on her Wish List, which she donated to Miracle League of Arizona, where her brother and cousin, both with special needs, play baseball. 

The nonprofit provides a fun, safe and adaptive baseball experience for individuals with disabilities or special health care needs.  

The elf-testants participated in a variety of holiday-themed challenges and were judged on the “four virtues of elfhood,” including creativity, design, building, and holiday cheer.

The tasks entailed building a life-size countdown calendar, designing sweet treat carts for the North Pole street fair, reimagining Santa’s style for a high-tech makeover, creating a scenic 3D pop-up experience and producing and starring in their very own holiday-themed music video. 

In most of her projects, Bali would integrate her favorite parts of Arizona, which consistently wowed the judges and helped her become Santa’s Top Elf. In the final episode, that aired on December 17, the elf-testants created and starred in their own holiday-inspired music video.

She was given the theme “under the sea,” and turned Santa’s sleigh into a sunken ship for her video. Bali won the judges’ hearts and was crowned with the ultimate title of “Top Elf.”

Each episode of “Top Elf “featured a celebrity guest judge that helped decide who made it on to Santa’s list and continued on in the competition. The guest judges for season two included social media star Addison Rae, Nickelodeon’s Unfiltered host Jay Pharoah, singer-songwriter Tori Kelly, social media sensation Guava Juice and global superstar JoJo Siwa. 

For more information on Bali Bare, visit balibare.com.