Tuesday August 19, 2008
15 set to shimmy to the top
By JADE CHAN
FIFTEEN finalists are set to shimmy their way to grab the RM5,000 cash and Celebrity Fitness one-year gym membership grand prize and be named the Clorets Dark Secret Amateur Pole Dance champion.
The participants submitted a video of themselves performing one of the six pre-choreographed videos on www.cloretspower.com.
The 15 finalists were selected based on the clarity, technical and artistic value of their video submissions and will battle it out at the Clorets Dark Secret Amateur Pole Dance Grand Finals on Sept 5 at Zouk Club KL.
The second prize winner will get RM3,000 and a Celebrity Fitness nine-month gym membership, while the third prize winner will go home with RM2,000 and a Celebrity Fitness six-month gym membership.
Celebrity highlight: Hannah (left) and Felix striking a pose for the camera The finale starts at 6.30pm and is open to to anyone above 18 years old with the purchase of one pack of Clorets Mini Mints shown at the entrance.
One of the finale’s highlights will feature singer songwriter Hannah Tan and Mix FM DJ Pietro Felix as guest pole dance performers.
All finalists will go through guided training by professional pole dancers in preparation for both their group and solo performances.
“As pole dancing is relatively niche and new in Malaysia, we were surprised with the response for the submissions,” said Cadbury senior brand manager Claire Dominic during a workshop to reveal the 15 finalists.
She wished all the finalists good luck and hoped they would have fun battling it out on the pole.
Hannah hoped to put up an entertaining performance while Felix admitted that it was pure determination to not fall on his face that drove him to train hard for the finale.
“My biggest challenge is to make my performance seamless and to hold my pose while keeping a straight face,” said Felix.
“My routine will feature two stunts, which require both upper and lower body strength.
“I’ve already achieved one, and I’m working on the second one which has a sort of cycling element. I’m a bit doubtful about being able to carry out the second stunt and look good doing it, but my trainers are adamant that I do it.”
He revealed that pole dancing was a great way to lose weight, as well as to motivate himself to make himself lighter and strengthen his muscles.
“Although dancing is not our thing, Hannah and I still want to do a good job and have fun!”
Andrew Tan, a Digital Animation student from The One Academy who goes by the stage name “Auto”, had mixed feelings about signing up but decided to try out because he felt it would be interesting to see how a guy would perform.
Martial arts and hip-hop background: Andrew Tan @ Auto is one of the two guys among the 15 finalists. “Some of my friends weren’t surprised because they know of my interest in dancing and martial arts, but others were completely taken aback,” said the 21-year-old, who took up martial arts for six years and hip-hop and breakdance for a year.
He feels that the men have an added advantage in terms of upper body strength, while the women have the ability to make their movements more fluid.
Andrew’s solo routine for the finals will feature a mix of hip-hop and martial arts moves, while incorporating stunts to show off his strength.
Johor lasses Ivyn Chia and Janice Cham @ Ivyn & Janice will be participating in the competition as a duo.
The girls, both 20 years old, met at a dance studio seven years ago and had been learning a variety of dances like contemporary and ballroom, before picking up pole dancing.
“You need strong arms and good upper body strength to be able to pole dance well, and having a dancing background helps.
“Our routine will be different and more difficult because we have to coordinate two persons’ movements,” said Chia.
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