F&N Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04: THE Finals!

Screams are still filling up my head, my lungs, my heart...
The adrenaline rush has reached deep into my bloodstream, spread to every inch of my skin to the very tip of my fingernails.

Goosebumps overload.

The sore throat was all worthwhile.

THANK YOU, F&N and OMY.SG for this opportunity to attend the Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04 Finals and thanking you a million times is not enough to express my gratitude.



My intention of taking up this challenge as the FNNSDD4 blogger is simple: this program has me constantly surrounded by passionate people, up-close & personal with them. Their positive vibes inspire & remind me to love what I do and do what I love, then share this love with like-minded people like YOU.

Dreams.
They only happen when you sleep until you decide to work towards them and make them into reality.

The first thing I did when I reached Kallang Theatre was to 'chiong' to the F&N booth to get a drink.






The F&N Sparkling drinks were almost wiped out and by the time I got to the ice box, there's only 1 can left!!!



Then nasty MinutemanSG took it while I was busy snapping pictures and I caught him red-handed, ee-yer you sneaky fella!



Thankfully there were these cute F&N bottle dispensers where we can help ourselves to: Groovy Grape, Outrageous Orange, Cheeky Cherryade and Cool Ice Cream Soda, which flavour should I choose?!

MinuteMan seriously #LastWarning.
Leave some for me!





5 minutes before the final show began, Minuteman and I found ourselves at the photo booth doing a 10-second dance which will be converted into a mini flipbook for us to keep for life.

Super love the colour of the photo booth!

Vibrant, Confident, Cheerful and Spirited; just what the F&N Sparkling Drinks are about. F&N is the presenting sponsor of Singapore Dance Delight Vol 4, where dancers from all walks of life come together in celebration of dance and the vibrancy and energy of being young.

F&N + Singapore Dance Delight = PERFECT MATCH





The mini flip-book looks like this:



I'm making a short video of my flipbook at the moment.
Visit again to watch!

Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04 (Finals)

Let the finals begin...

Presented by F&N and produced by O School, the Singapore Dance Delight is widely recognised by young dancers as the competition challenge themselves and to learn and improve their skills by pitting themselves against some of the best dancers in the region.

The top 22 dance crews are to battle it out at the Kallang Theatre, with 14 finalists chosen from the tough battle at the Singapore Dance Delight Preliminary Round held on 30 March 2013 at Vivocity. The other dance crews are the winning teams from Dance Delight Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

Strictly judged on their technical abilities, showmanship, musicality, originality and professionalism, ONE team will be chosen to represent ASEAN at Japan Dance Delight Vol 20 which will be held in Osaka, Japan on 1 September 2013.

*my heart is beating so fast so fast I think it'll pop out of my chest any time now*

The winner of Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04 will receive a 4D3N round-trip, air tickets + Accommodation, to Osaka to compete in Japan Dance Delight Vol 20.

The good news is, F&N is having a Twitter contest right now to give us a chance to Osaka to watch the winning team shine at the Japan Dance Delight Vol 20 so read on!

I was totally wow-ed by the stage set up and effects~



It's a FULL HOUSE!


I have to share this experience with this special someone who has an avid passion for dancing and invited her too~

Dance is her LIFE.
Everyone, say hi to my Love, YUKO!



Yuko is a dancer-host at ADFT and my artiste manager.
Yes I've got so much to update you!
Like how come I suddenly have an artiste manager.
I promise I'll tell you everything once I settle my over-dued homework and back-dating blog posts!


Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04, Panel of judges

First 10 minutes and I felt myself losing my voice already.
I was screaming AT THE TOP OF MY VOICE so much so I can feel my voice touching the ceiling of the theatre.

The finals kicked off with a showcase from each of the FNNSDD4 judges. Their breathe-taking moves almost had me collapsed on the floor that instance. You get to watch, NOT ONE BUT FIVE famous dance celebrities groove on stage, how can you resist?!?!

Mitsuhiro Harada aka Machine from Japan, the creator of Japan Dance Delight and the leader of the legendary break dance team "Angel Dust Breakers':


Ryan Tan from Singapore, the Creative Director of O school, a familiar and well respected name in the local dance community. He has since expanded his vocabulary from Hip-hop and Jazz, to now Lyrical and contemporary styles.



Tony Tzar from Washington D.C, a hip-hop and house instructor at Debbie Reynolds, International Dance Academy and EDGE Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. He has worked with Britney Spears, Jason Derulo, Jessi Malay and lyaz as an assistant choreographer:


Madoka from Japan


Finally here's Jamel Brown aka Loose Joint, a hip hop dance from New York with 30 years of experience. He co-founded Elite Force Crew - A crew that has gone on to world - renowned artists such as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Will Smith and TLC.

I recorded the showcase of Loose Joint, and a sneak peak into Machine's showcase.
Check out the atmosphere: everyone was damn 'high'!
It was MADNESS.



Minuteman shot some of the BEST moves/poses of the judges!
See his pictures here.

My F&N Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04 Experience

Here's a personal recount and some highlights which I think are the most memorable.

Highlight 1:The Emcee
Kallang Theatre reached a new level of madness when a familiar voice greeted us from the backstage. Is he... Yes he is the most awesome emcee in the universe and he is none other than Shiekh Haikel!!!

"Let me hear you say 'yeah'."  (crowd echoed 'yeah')
Let me hear you say 'Yeah yeah'!"(crowd echoed 'yeah yeah!')



Highlight 2: Constant Cheering From The Audience
Meanwhile on the floor, Yuko and I (of course plus every single person in the theatre) were spreading the cheer to support the finalists: Screaming, vigorously shaking their customised LED boards, clapping, waving... Go go fighting!!!



Highlight 3: Individual Crew Introduction
All teams made a grand entry with their crew name shown on the BIG SCREEN:



Followed by a short dance video preview of the crew:


Finally the finalists were to make their way from the middle of the theatre, passed the judges and onto the stage for their final showdown.





Here's my recording showing you how A.O.C. did their grand entry; one of the most interesting ones in my opinion. I like how the team effectively used a mandosong titled Mei Fei Se Wu by Sammi Cheng for their entry:



Here's the mandosong A.O.C. had used:


Hightlight 4: Decada from The Philippines

I cried for Decada.
They are a group of passionate dancers; pushing themselves to their limits.
I saw how hard they had trained.
I see their hard work paid off.
I saw them shine.

I shed tears of joy and for that moment, I felt like running onto the stage to hug every single one.



Highlight 5: FSZ from Vietnam.
Their dance is so adorable; so cute but one can straightaway tell the strength of their foundation.
Popping > Tutting > Breaking > Locking > Act Cute

One of my favourite dance choreography that evening.
Entertainment value: 5 out of 5.

Thank you for the laughter, FSZ.





Highlight 6: Roosevelt from Singapore

In my opinion they are the MOST attractive crew that evening when the girls' eyes electrocuted every guy in the room. The stunning entrance they made totally swept me off my feet, throwing roses at random guests... I WANT A STALK TOO!!!






Highlight 7: BLU CRU from Singapore

They made it to the finals after the prelim results were announced!
WOHOOOOO~!!!!

Congratulations BLU CRU!



While waiting for the results to tally, we had a game segment and DJs spinning for us.
The DJ in a red cap is my classmate from Republic Polytechnic!


Highlight 8: 2 new stars born during the game segment, Brandon and Josh & lots of F&N Gifts!



The finalists peeping from backstage, so cute :)


The judges were invited on stage to say a few words:



FNNSDD4 Winnners Announced

BLU CRU won the most popular crew award that night!
Wohooooo~


Coming in 3rd place: Freekzy Bots from Singapore

Photo Credits: MinutemanSG

2nd place: Flipendemic Kru from The Philippines

Photo Credits: MinutemanSG

And the winner is Megamint!!!
AMIN AMIN AMIN YOU DA BEST~


Is it me or did Amin got more handsome than ever. :p


F&N Sparkling Drinks ONLINE TWITTER CONTEST!


Be chosen to go Osaka, Japan for the Japan Dance Delight Vol 20 Finals!!

F&N Sparkling Drinks has a “F&N Fulfills Your Dreams” contest on Twitter!
The winner will win a 4 Day 3 Night package for TWO to Osaka, Japan, to cheer on Megamint and witness the crowning of the Japan Dance Delight Vol 20 Champion!

JUST TWEET.

Yes tweet, as many times as you want, about why you should be chosen to go along with our champions to Osaka Japan, and include the hashtag #fnnsdd4 in your tweets.

Here's mine:
"I am Mini Mint and I wanna go to Osaka to watch MegaMint shine on #FNNSDD4 dance floor!"

Remember to include the hashtag #fnnsdd4 else no one will know that you tweeted~

For more info, please visit www.fnn.com.sg or www.facebook.com/FnNFun.

BLU CRU, Jia you next year~!!!!



Read up more about the latest news posted by the 6 FNNSDD4 official bloggers!
Click on our family picture to access the site:

Photo credits: MinutemanSG

Megamint, go to Japan and SPREAD THE GROOVE!
Amin Amin, go go go go!

Photo Credits: MinutemanSG

F&N Singapore Dance Delights Vol 04 Preliminary Round

There were lots of screams.
So much screams that the roof could be blown off anytime.

For a Saturday evening, the atmosphere in the amphitheatre of Vivocity felt like mega theme park filled with death-threatening thrill rides; those rides so sick they made you scream so madly, you find yourself going back home with a hoarse throat yet a happy and contented smile at the end of the day.


Vivocity Amphitheatre

The posters definitely garnered lots of attraction because as I walked towards the amphitheatre, I heard whispers from some onlookers...

"Why got long queue huh?"
"Is it a concert?"
"Let's go watch lei, where to get tickets?"
"There's music sia, let's go check it out leh."
"Just now I see many people dancing..."
"Are those F&N bags on the floor for us?"




Stepping into it's FOURTH year Singapore Dance Delight Volume 4 (#FNNSDD4) is back with more screams, more adrenaline rush, exhilarating performances and beautiful people. Quick, meet them!




Sweet girl quietly sitting at a corner waiting for the event to commence.


A whole group of friends coming to support their friend who was one of the FNNSDD4 contestant.


Adorable little girl on the left who insisted she wanted to take photo with 'gor gor' instead of her aunt.

Families coming to support their family member:



Little boy fanning himself with the F&N paper fan but became so shy when I smiled at him.


Beautiful people posing with their F&N Citrus Drink~


Dance Delight is a dance competition first held in Japan.

Running for almost 2 decades now, Japan Dance Delight has become one of the biggest international street dance competition globally, attracting thousands of dancers from all over the world including Paris, Taipei, Shanghai, New York, Asia & more!

Wait a minute, are you kidding me?
Dance Delight is a DANCE COMPETITION?!

Based on the standard of the crews (dance groups) that night, it's already as if I'm watching a paid dance concert! I was screaming my lungs out and so amazed by the dance performers who shone like superstars on stage.

Woa... So that means if we were to go Japan and watch the Japan Dance Delight,
I would most probably be jaw-dropping, in fact, drooling, my body bursting with so much goosebumps like as if I've contracted a rare disease and may even lose my voice for at least a good 1 month screaming at those mad dance performances! MADNESS

This is so sick but I LIKE THAT SO MUCH. :p

I've made a video about the Singapore Dance Delights (Preliminary Round) featuring all 38 competing crews and some highlights of the preliminary round. Also, learn how you can stand a chance to win ONE PAIR of tickets to Japan (all expenses paid for) to catch Japan Dance Delights while watching the video.

The TOP 12 crews who will be battling in the finals are also announced in this video.
Last but not least, I managed to record a mini behind-the-scene celebration from a group of sweet friends at the venue!

I've edited this video with a mandarin song 'Baboo' by Da Mouth (大嘴巴).
Whenever possible I'd want to introduce more mandopop songs to you.

Aisha is the female vocalist in Da Mouth, is a Japanese who became a celebrity in Taiwan after participating in a Taiwan variety show. From the song,  I think you can tell rightaway that's she's a Japanese due to her strong Japanese accent. But one thing for sure, Aisha's mandarin is definitely way better than mine having lived in Taiwan for so long! Inspiring to know another dream chaser who travelled alone away from home to live her dream as an artiste. Kudos to you, Aisha!

Here is is, the video of F&N Singapore Dance Delights Volume 04 (Prelim Round):



Told you guy right, it's like watching a dance concert and not a competition.
Everyone of them danced with so much passion & love.

I love dancing but I honestly cannot dance very well.
Sometimes I wonder how these dancers put so much energy and life into their grooves & moves.

One can tell how much hard work they've put into their rehearsals and perfecting those moves.

I supposed they even dance in their dreams.

All my favourite teams got into Top 12 except BLU CRU.
Congratulations to you guys and good luck for the finals!

The question is, I liked BLU CRU so much and was so sure they would make it to Top 12 but WHY WHY WHY BLU CRU NO GET IN?

*sob sobs*

I went into the Singapore Dance Delight Facebook page and found out that there's actually a ranking for the crews that day:




BLUE CRU, you ALMOST got in, ALMOST~

They say whatever that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and that failure is the mother of success.
Achieving real success is not to win, but to keep trying UNTIL you reach your goal.

PLEASE COME BACK NEXT YEAR AND GET INTO TOP 12!


As I'm looking at the next photo, I can't help but laugh.
It's a candid shot!


For the whole time, I was looking at my chilled F&N citrus drink on the floor next to me every other minute, making sure no ants had crawled into the opening & no one has toppled over my drink. When did I take this photo of my own can drink on the floor?!

#LikeABusy

No ants, yay!



Attend Singapore Dance Delight Vol 04 FINALS held on:

13 April 2013

Saturday

7PM

Kallang Theatre

Ticket Pricing: S$15(circle) /S$20 (stall)

FREE SEATING

You'll expect:
The TOP 3 Crews from Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam to join our selected Top 12 and compete in the finals!

Grab your Final Tickets at O School

O School is located at:
*SCAPE
2 Orchard Link #04-04
Singapore 237978

Contact: 6509 0016
Email: info@oschool.com.sg


Meet the 6 official bloggers of #FNNSDD4 who will be bringing you more insights of Singapore Dance Delights in the coming month. Difference experiences to share and introducing you to different Top 12 crews! (Not in any particular order)

#FNNSDD4 Blogger 1: William Tan
William went with the champion crew to Japan for consecutively 2 previous years to bring to you the latest news of Dance Delights.


Read about his experience at #FNNSDD4 Prelims here.

#FNNSDD4 Blogger 2: Maybelline Sim
A beauty, lifestyle and fashion blogger.



#FNNSDD4 Blogger 3: Melissa
I particularly like her nick, Rugfella.
She's the Ocean Butterflies Dance Ambassador 2013!



#FNNSDD4 Blogger 4: Emily Goh
A fine lady with few words but a passionate freelance graphic designer.



#FNNSDD4 Blogger 5: Colin AKA MinuteManSG
Pronounced as mind-nude and not min-need.
I have subscribed to his blog not because he is my boyfriend but for the fact that he can write really well and the content of his blog is extremely informative.


Read his post of the Preliminary round here, sharing with you even MORE information about dance. HE LOVES DANCING.

#FNNSDD4 Blogger 6: Mint Leong
Yup,  Yours truly who've just shared all I know about #FNNSDD4 with you.

Thank you for reading, muah muah muah~

Follow Singapore Dance Delight on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sgdancedelight
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sgdancedelight

Ending this post with Baboo MV.
ENJOY!