Can you dance 2 this?

Danz Arena Y2K9

2009-08-12T21:40:00.008+08:00

Top 5

1^st Chakraz

-Mega performance of the night! First and foremost, our heartfelt congratulations to Wheelz. You guys truly deserve the prized trophy! They executed the pongal celebration with pokiri pongal tremendously well. What an impactful performance! Totally loved the bull at the beginning, the platform at the side was very well utilized and the energy, simply superb. Definetly an improvement from Dhool 08’s pieces. One thing that we still recall was the extremely messy in their positioning but nope, not a dancer out of place for this piece! Truly an amazing feat accomplished by Chakraz. But why claim that the choreography was done by everyone when its not? Singapore has seen who’s truly behind Chakraz so we don’t think there was a need to have hidden that fact. The truth would have been much more pleasant to hear, but then again, that is your personal choice. Once again, CONGRATULATIONS CHAKRAZ!

2^nd Warriors

-Excellent excellent entertainment material. This is what showmanship is all about. We could clearly see that they were having fun on stage and that made us have fun from where we were sitting on stage as well! Kudos Warriors, you guys have accomplished the skill of getting the audience engaged along with you! The only downturn for Warriors, we feel, was that there was not much of props used. The concept you told the audience before the dance was a “thiruvizha”, but we didn’t see any props that aided with the feel of the concept. We think that if there was the use of appropriate varieties of props you guys could have been on a tie with Chakraz. Everyone learns from their mistakes yes? Anyways, your team competed like true Warriors. Fabulous effort and spirit! Here is a question posed to our readers. If we happened to spot MR John with Warriors during the morning of the competition, does that mean MR John is behind them? We have no answers to that, but what do you think?

3^rd RSR

-LADIES! Where do we begin! You ladies crushed competition during Danz Floor and honestly, we didn’t think you girls could top it off. But alas! You gorgeous girls have proved us wrong! The concept and performance put up was more ‘traditional’ compared to the top 2, but it was still captivating none the less. Ideas were very refreshing to watch! Choreography and co-ordination was simply awesome! We totally dig the Urumi Melam and when you girls lied down all of a sudden, we didn’t know what to expect. Your next move was the binding factor to seal you girls in the top 3. We even thought that you girls could have gotten 1^st or even 2nd, but then again, top 3 must have felt pretty awesome as well! You ladies bring the saying ‘girl power’ to a whole new level. It wasn’t a mass but definitely a class performance by you girls. Mr John, you really make things happen! Kudos to you and your team.

4^th Swastriyaz

-Swastriyaz. Sorry guys! When the hosts called out your name we were abit puzzled for a moment on which performance you guys did! Then it hit us. The “Meen Concept”. This was the group with the most beautiful props and costumes. We really have to appreciate the effort taken for that. You guys looked pretty with the makeup, costume and especially the fishes! Nice effort. But looking at the dance, we feel as though it didn’t hit the mark. First of all we felt that the whole dance was not entirely folk. The choreography was mostly fusion. We do commend the part that you guys tried to sync the lyrics with your dance but than again, we still feel it wasn’t folk enough. Maybe the judges decided to close one eye because this could be classified as semi folk? We aren’t too sure about that. But overall, the concept was good and performance was still top 5 worthy! So Congratulations fishy fellas!

5^th Mega Geniez
- Give up for Mega Geniez who decided to have a change of costume and dance for Danz Arena! You know what fella’s? You guys gave justice to the phase ‘medaiyae kolithitenga!’. Totally awesome! Honestly speaking, we wanted to come up there and join you guys, it was that addictive! Kudos to the song DJ has edited the song very entertainingly and these guys managed to capture it through their comical choreography. But here comes the bad bit. Co-ordination and positioning was abit messy and off at times. The weakness lies in the fact that all the boys didn’t have the same amount of energy. Some were blasting, and sad to say, some pulled the group down. And of course, we noticed that there were no props used in the entire performance. Having said all that, it was none the less a decent performance to watch. Can we just add that we are really really REALLY glad you guys decided to have a change of costumes? We were expecting you guys to come dance in your very same outfit made for the previous dance. LOL! Kidding fella’s! Awesome job!

Pretty Boys

- Theres a huge commotion going on with these fellas. So many comments going around regarding why they did not manage to clinch top 5 and all. We are no expert but we can try breaking it down for everyone to see why they didn’t. First of all, what was their concept? When India meets China. Ok. They begun with their ‘Wushu’ routine symbolizing China and they suddenly cut into ‘Tamizhendra naan oru’ song with their Indian folk steps. So where was the meeting, the ‘fusing’ of the 2 elements? It seemed to us more like they did one segment, then they moved on the next. There was nothing bonding between the 2. Next, choreography and co-ordination with that many boys on stage were, sad to say fellas, extremely bad! Compared to what you’ve shown us during Danz Floor, which we fell head over heels in love with, this performance was indeed a disappointment. We were wondering if Pretty Boys could pull off folk and we think its safe to say that they cant. We truly think that these were the reasons why our Pretty Boys didn’t make it to top 5, but we can say that they gave a commendable effort with their props and even their concept. So give it up to them for their heart for dance, going through all that trouble to make their huge props and bringing in the dragon. Also, it isn’t an easy feat having that many dancers in a group, but you fella’s tried and we at Dance 2 This applaud you guys for the effort. Do not despair, our Pretty Boys, have faith and carry on the Passion. We still have our eyes on you!

Crew Voltage

-Tage Tage Crew Voltage! Electrifying! There is something about this team that we just cant figure out. They seem to have the X factor all the time. Energy was at 100% throughout the whole dance! Not to forget, wonderful usage of props! It was very creative of you guys to use props that were not too common. We really enjoyed the umbrella and ‘cooling glass’ part. Made us laugh, CV is totally infectious with their smiles and energy on stage. Just one question, directed to the fellas. Why blindfold and dance when you guys were still standing in the same place! Defeats the purpose doesn’t it? Perhaps moving in a risky formation while dancing WITH the blindfold would truly have been a tremendous feat, but that’s just what we think. And as always, lets not forget our beautiful ladies along side these comical boys. You girls were up to par on energy and everything else with the fellas so hats off to you girls as well. Ouh, can we just add that we totally dug the guy’s costume tops? Nice neckline! We commend the effort put in for your dance and you guys lived up to your name. Tage Tage Crew Voltage, keep it burning!

Kali Resurrected

- Heres a group with after-results commotion as well. It’s true that what Kali Resurrected performed was typically folk and they should be appreciated for that. The first thing that comes to mind when Kali is mentioned is the Folk Genre. We really had high expectations for this team of talented dancers. They did deliver an awesome piece as expected, complete with energy and stamina. But then again, was it just us or did we feel as though there was too much drama and dialogues involved in the dance? And also, something that puzzled us throughout the dance. Live props like the horses and kids, they were just there throughout the dance doing nothing but stand there! Incorporating them into your dance would have made it more pleasant to look at AND earn you guys some extra points. Oru kallulae rendu maanganu solluvaangalae? Athuthaan ithu! Nevertheless, it was still a very nicely done piece. Loved it! Keep the Kuthu up Kali!

One last point to note. Consolation was totally given in random order under this logic. Leaving the top 5 aside, consolation prizes were given from the ones who performed last to the ones who performed first. So groups that have gotten 6th to 16th position don't get excited or worried it was called out in the random order afterall. That should clear things.

Special shoutout to AEROCRATZ AND AGNI RELOADED!

YOU GUYS ROCKED THE FLOOR! WE FOR SURE MISS YOU GUYS IN THE DANCE SCENE! Thank you for giving us a power pack performance.

Mega Highlights

Did anyone manage to realize that the top 3 titles went to the top 2 Indian dance professionals in Singapore? Don’t get us wrong, we are not saying that they don’t deserve the top 3 positioning because truth be told they totally did. Infact there were actually on a league of their own. One step, one class, one world above the other performances. Can you disagree with us? So was it fair that they were allowed to enter Danz Arena with a piece that resembled one that could pass off easily for a Aatam Nooru Vagai performance. In a way it was greed, in another way, it was just ambition. But these groups have to bear in mind that when they get extra help from outsiders, they totally cut off the winning chances for groups who take the trouble to do everything from costumes to choreography on their own. Whats fair or not, it just falls on deaf ears at the end of the day. Anyways, Dance 2 This have decided to keep the real top 3 aside and award a top 3 for groups who joined this competition with their own effort. Heres the ranking:

1. Mega Geniez

2. Crew Voltage

3. Kali Resurrected

We have to give credit where its due and for our top 3 pick, they would have been the winners if not for the real top 3. So kudos to the mentioned teams! We really enjoyed your performances!

Organizers

Danz Arena is a classic example of biting off more than one can chew. We received news from backstage that the organizers’ were rushing for time before the show started. Last Danz Arena started 1.5 hours late. This year, despite it being held in NUS UCC, it still started 1 hour later (half and hour improvement. Hopefully at this rate, Danz Arena Y2K12 will start on time).

There are a couple of factors that we would like to address;

1. No Minimum or Maximum Number of Dancers
What is the difference between a team of 6 and a team of 16, dancing at full energy keeping all other factors constant?

The Impact created.

In an audience point of view, it’s always nicer watching more people rather then lesser. The vibrancy and the reach to the audience would feel more apt for such a huge stage. First of all, we do not know if the dancers were informed that the UCC stage would be that enormous (We can’t presume everyone to know this fact). If the organizers had placed a rule, say, 10 (min) to 14 (max) dancers per team then they would have a standard factor to work with. If you had realized, the Top 3’ers for Danz Arena Y2K9 had 10 to 15 members in their team. The stage looked filled up and the power of the performance was amplified.

2. Exterior Factors
Factors like Urumi Melam players. Could have there been a rule imposed AGAINST bringing exterior, non members into a dance? Does this mean that since they were richer (to hire) these people, they brought a better impact and thus, they created much much much bigger of an appeal to the audience? Does money now play a factor to reaching the audience better? And does it mean that even if a team wanted to bring in exterior factors to help strengthen their performance, and they did not have the money, does this mean they have to lose out to teams that did? It would be different if teams got their own members to play the drums, which would have been more appropriate and better showmanship of their respective groups. Teams like Pretty Boys and Transitionz, just to name a few, played their own beat and it was a more commendable effort compared to those who brought in professional drum beaters. What do you, the public, feel about this?

3. Video Re-Cap on Groups for Danz Floor.
The Dance 2 This Crew felt that the video recap bits played before the teams entered was really nicely done. It refreshed the minds of those who came for Danz Floor and gave the ones who didn’t come a better view of who the group was. Very nicely edited with the after-interviews and such. Keep it going!

4. Well selected Judges
Compared to last year’s controversial judges, this years pick was more qualified and fair.

To the General Public:
The reason why we comment on the Organizers as well is because we feel that they are a huge factor for the care of Dancers and Audience alike. They are responsible for both the welfare of the competitors and entertainment of the viewers. And just as it sounds, it is a very tough responsibility for them to juggle both. In naming what we liked and what we don’t, it gives their own organization and other organizations a chance to rectify their own movements such that both performers and viewers enjoy themselves to their maximum on the day of the event. This does not mean that the organizers were bad or unprofessional. Events are bound to have glitches here and there but at the end of the day it is about the show moving smoothly.

With that, we think its safe to say that Gk Productions gave a very commendable effort on their part in putting up the years most awaited dance competition. For all your hard work and sweat put into this, A HUGE SHOUTOUT to all the employees and of course to the employer, MR GK as well. Fantastic spirit and a job well done!

With that we conclude this years Danz Arena’s Reviews! Goodnight!

Congratulations

2009-08-12T01:29:00.007+08:00

CONGRATULATIONS

CHAKRAZ

Winners of Danz Arena Y2K9

We are very sorry about the delay. The most awaited Danz Arena Y2K9 post will be posted up soon. We have been receiving emails regarding the tagboards. We will look into the details and will clear up the tags in few days time. Thank you! We will be back.

DANZ ARENA Y2K9 Preview

2009-08-07T11:45:00.006+08:00

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

The most awaited dance competition of the year has arrived

DANZ ARENA Y2K9

GK production have have come up with an interesting theme by holding this year's competition based on Folk/Semi Folk concept. This is definately going to be very exciting and different. Let us wait and see which group gets to walk away with the 1.5 ft Gold plated Nadarajan Trophy tomorrow!

Here are the 18 participating groups

Djeneration DQ
Transitionz
Evalasting Creationz
Chakras
Exitainerz
Blackoutz
Preety Boyz
Soviets
Ragazza
Megagenie
Idumen Dancers
Crew Voltage
Navaethaz
Aarthiz
RSR
Warriors
Swastriya
Kali Resurrection

Guest performances by

Dhool'08 Winners - Aerocratz

Danz Arena Y2k8 Winners - Agni reloaded

ALL THE BEST TO THE 18 TEAMS! Kuthu Kuthungha!

THIRUVILAIYAADAL NITE 2009

2009-06-29T14:59:00.005+08:00

Apologies on the blog being super quiet for the past few weeks. We were contemplating on closing the blog due to certain reasons but after seeing that you guys do want reviews, we thought against it. Plus, the biggest dance event this year is right around the corner. We hope to keep the hype up for Danz Arena Y2K9!

THIRUVILAIYAADAL Night

1st place – Pretty Boys

2nd place – Crew Voltage

3rd place - Ragazza

We kind of figured that most teams taking part were doing so to put up their Danz Floor piece. And we were right! 80% of the items put up were repeats from Danz Floor.

Pretty Boys

3 words. Wow. Wow. WOW. You (shirtless) boys certainly caught out eyes! We were yearning to re watch your item since we first saw it during Danz Floor and might we say, that is one impressive piece! Choreography was astoundingly new. Frankly, after seeing the skills of groups like AcidHouz, Killabeez, Aerocratz etc, we didn’t really think that things could get any better. But these pretty boys have really proved us wrong! Although the concept is one that is running on overdrive now (love), we feel as though the execution was flawless. From the hydrogen heart shaped balloons to the synchronized somersaults to the 10 second dress-change, you boys kept us captivated not once, but twice in a row, even though we’ve seen your item before. Keep it up all the way boys! There was no doubt in our heart that you guys had clinched the trophy and that you guys did! Well done! Our eyes are peeled for your next competition so keep rocking it!

Crew Voltage

The first thing that this group screams out once they are one stage is their vibrant energy! We’ve seen it once (Danz Floor) and we’ve seen it again. The collaboration between both sexes in the group has been well worked out thanks to their on stage chemistry. With their high beat song (Oru Kal, Oru Kannaadi) and charismatic charm, you people had us screaming from the moment you got on stage! Once in a while, here and there, coordination and positioning were abit off, but we guess we can close one eye on that. And that’s only because your positive energy knocks all these small negative facts right off stage! Another interesting thing that this team possess is that their female counterparts dance AS vigorously as their male counterparts. Now, it’s quite rare to spot such a thing so we were quite pleased to actually see it. Awesome energy CV! And we really liked your ending pose as well! Congratulations on 2^nd place!

Ragazza

We’ve seen their performance before for Danz Floor and when we heard they were up, we were cringing. After what we’ve seen during Danz Arena Y2K8, we really had our hopes up high buy alas! Their Danz Floor piece really disappointed us. Enna aachu girls? First of all, the item they had was one they had used during a previous competition, some years ago. We automatically recognized their costumes, as seen from that previous competition. The 2^nd part of their dance was extremely… how do we say this?... Messy! The 2^nd part of their dance was extremely messy! We understood the concept they had on hand but execution was, we don’t mean to say this, but it was bad. BUT, having said that about their Danz Floor performance, we did see a couple of changes for Thiruvilayaadal Nite, one of which was thee fabric that was used to represent water, we think. The physical aspects to the second part of their piece was truly a feat, considering that the team consists of only females! Can we hear ‘GIRL POWER!’? Although it still wasn’t all that there yet, it was certainly better then what we saw for Danz Floor. We still think that you girls have the capacity to give us better judging from your Danz Arena Y2K8 piece and we hope that you don’t let us down during Danz Arena Y2K9. Whatever it is, congratulations on winning 3^rd place!

Special Shout Outs!

RSR

LADIES! Or should we say sexy ladies! What an awesome effort we saw on stage! Now this is what an all girls team is about! It’s about exuding sexiness and carrying out the dance altogether in one wrapped up package. And guess what? You girls nailed it! We’ve seen your dance during Danz Arena and instantaneously fell in love with it! Whether we fell in love you girls, or fell in love with the dance, I think we will let the audience have their own say. Bloody awesome costumes with nice jingly bells attached to them! It was evident that their theme (Modern Broadway) was infused into their costumes and choreography making it what we call a ‘complete’ competition item. Well done girls! Danz Arena is around the corner, so what do you have in store for us? All the best!

TidBits

We are finding it extremely hard to write reviews especially when there are so many competitors for just one night. A good example would be both Danz Floor and Thiruvilayaadal Nite. With 18 and 13 teams respectively, it’s close to impossible to write on everyone thus we seek your understanding.

DGeneration did a performance extremely identical to one we’ve seen on Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva. We are not pointing any fingers here, but having the same song and concept, it is kind of hard to conclude otherwise. BUT, energy and expressions were flawless. Flawless. Good on your guys. We bet that if this team injects a little bit of thought and originality, these (wounded) boys can go far with their passion! So live it up, fella’s!

Chakraz! We’ve given our comments on their Suthuthe Suthuthe performance once before, so we shall not do it again. It’s true that we love that item but the same item thrice in a row does make it ‘jelak’ however nice it is! Hopefully it’s the last time we see our poor Chakraz girls being whirled in the air like UFO’s!

And last but not lease, how can we forget last year’s THIRUVILAIYAADAL nite winners, SYNCHRONIX! They gave us a power packed guest performance as did Agni Reloaded! Fantastic energy fella’s! You boys really kept the spirit up till the very end of the event!

Uyir Thuli Sangamam

2009-03-09T05:23:00.011+08:00

After 3 whole months, Dance 2 This is back!

Many apologies for disappearing like that. 2008 was a disastrous year for competitions. After Dhool came and went, all other competitions got wiped out due to either exhaustion or fear of not being able to make quota. Having said that, we will be starting afresh from this year and we will try our best to review as many dance competitions as we possible can. With that, lets get on to the first ever competition of 2009!

Uyri Thuli Sangamam

Winners of the night
1st Mega Geniez
2nd Aarthiz
3rd Sovietz

Mega Geniez

Mega Geniez, mega geniez, mega geniez. Where do we start? Their whole concept seems lifted off from somewhere. Now, we don't mean to criticize blindly, but really, what were they thinking? Maina maina followed by the cuppy cake song? We've seen Hey mina and Barney before this and truth be told, both performances looked an awful lot similar. From their costumes to their concept and to their 'cuteness'. C'mon boys, whatever happened to originality? But for what its worth, their energy level and execution was brilliant, so if these boys could channel all their positive energy somewhere, we would be more then happy to appreciate them even more. Whatever it is, they were the champions for the night, so kudos to them!

Aarthiz

Ladies ladies ladies, you girls have outdone yourselves this time round! From the moment you ladies were out on stage, we couldn't pry our eyes away from you. What costumes and what choreography. Their whole piece seemed to revolve around the Arabic theme. And might we add, we loved the song selection (Muthu muthu from Mr Romeo). It was a nicely weaved together piece of performance you had there. We were rooting for you girls to have won, but coming in as runner up must have felt just as good. Fantastic work Aarthiz!

Sovietz

The Dance2This crew was really impressed by Sovietz's performance that night. With a unique concept, and fluid choreography to match Sovietz outdid themselves. Dressed in Roman outfits, these boys performed an expressive piece that deserved our full-on applause. Song piece was selected aptly for the dance so well done boys! We have our eyes on you for the upcoming competitons.

Simashree

The common contemporary battle between good and evil. Its been in our kollywood movies for years and recently, it has infiltrated into our dance ground. Whats even more predictable, good won over evil. With concerns to Simashree, expressions were played out nicely on both their parts. Having said that, choreography got a little too messy on stage at a certain point of time. Also, they had these props on stage that weren't functioning as they were supposed to but the worse mistake anyone could do WHILE performing was adjusting them to look better. Dancers backstage who were rectifying the props were made visible and that distracted the audience's attention from the dance. Overall, their dance wasn't too bad, but it could have been polished
a little better. Keep the passion going Simashree!

Electricuted Crew Voltage

Enna boys? Neengae sonna maathiri, current appadi adikilae. Voltage kammai ayiducho? Just like Magic of Faces, choreo was way too common. Choosing an appropriate song is a vital factor for dance and ECV's remix was almost inaudible. Sound effects overpowered the song making it sound very messy. All in all, it was too predictable a dance but ECV shouldn't take this as a negative review. It is after all their first performance. With this lets hope they do better for their next appearance where ever it may be.

Chocolate

A couple of familiar faces were spotted in Chocolate. Without saying, they had quite abit of supporters on hand. The chocolate wasn't as sweet and savory as we expected them to be. Energy level was there, choreography wasn't. We weren't feeling it boys! And with a couple of experienced dancers, we really expected it to be something more out of the norm. But it was exactly normal! These type of performances caused an uproar during the late 90's and early 2000, but it is getting a little too old now. Safe tosay, we din like this brand of chocolate too much!

Magic of Faces

The first item to kick off the competition. 5 boys ages ranging from 14 - 18. From their costumes, to their dance, it was clear cut that these boys were new to the dance scene. Choosing their 'horror/ghost' theme, they executed their number a little too... what do we say? typical? Yes, the word is typical. Choreography was too common, steps we've been seeing for years. A little more brainstorming would have done the trick, better luck next time fellas!

Last but not least Synchronix & Aerocratz did guest performances for the night. They sure lifted up the energy of the crowd! Well done guys!

Part 3 of Part 3

2008-11-12T00:31:00.004+08:00

Alas! Aero boys decided to reply us today after a long time! They sent us an email earlier this week, apologizing for the delay in their reply due to the vast amount of work they had up in store for them. However late, they still decided to reply so, thank you Aerocratz!

__________

AEROCRATZ

No one knew them when they first came into Dhool ’08. “Oh, just another old boy group”, everyone thought. Little did they know that these very boys would storm the stage and win the prized cup! Portraying significant societal issues in all of their dances, Aerocratz have indeed created a niche for themselves. With their sharp movements and flawless expressions, these boys danced right into the hearts of their fans. Alrmed with a revolutionary vision and brilliant choreography by Nagen, we are sure that these boys have become, like AcidHouz and Diversity, household names in the Singapore dance scene. So without ado, Aerocratz!

First and Foremost, on behalf of Aerocratz I, Hari, would like to express our deepest and sincere apologies for keeping everyone waiting for this interview. All of us were really busy during this festive month. Therefore please pardon us.

Let’s begin...

1. How long did the process of conceptualizing the ideas to executing the whole piece take?

We had these ideas for quite some time. However we didn’t get the proper opportunity to reveal our dream of showcasing our ideas and talent. Dhool 08 was a golden opportunity for us but due to the time constraint we could only show our ideas vaguely.

2. How did this group come about? We understand that Aerocratz are made up of several established dance groups, but why this collaboration?

Firstly in Dhool 06/07 we were all part of the competition but in various dance groups such as Stepz, Anarchy 99, Acid Houz and Kali Dancers. However, most of our dancers are from Theestainerz. After gaining years of experience through Theestainerz and the competition, we decided to collaborate in this Dhool 08 to show our utmost standard of dancing.

3. Aerocratz had a mission. And that was to bring dance to a whole new level. And that is exactly what you boys have done. Where did the ambition to do so come from?

We prefer to say that it is our passion and our duty to bring our small indian community of dance to greater heights in Singapore. Furthermore, all of us had the same drive within ourselves to send out the messages we thought would make a difference in our community. Some issues that we touched on were discrimination (stereotyping), perseverance and lastly "nothing is impossible in the name of God".

Dance is a silent poetry which is not about impressing but expressing.

4. The songs that you guys choose are very apt for your scenarios. Who does the selection? And is does the song selection cause the idea or is it the other way around?

We work as a team to select the appropriate songs for the appropriate scenarios we had chosen. It’s either the idea we chose that suits the song or the song we chose suits the idea.

5. Its no secret that your costumes, just like your song selection, are big hits. Especially for their appropriate manner. Who comes up with them?

And again we would like to state that all our costume ideas are decided as a whole. Therefore, we use all our creative ideas to come up with the best costume for the chosen song.

6. What are your upcoming plans now that you boys have conquered Dhool?

This is our first step into our upcoming dance journey and like what we had promised, with the given opportunities we will strive harder to bring dance to greater heights n dimensions. Not forgetting to send out messages in every of our Aerocratz performances.

7. Lastly, anything to say to your fans out there?

Our every performance had a big risk involved. But our fans and the people who watched Dhool gave us overwhelming support and appreciated us which gave us more encouragement to take bold decisions as we moved on. Thus, we would like to thank all our fans, genuine supporters, friends and family and all those who appreciated what we did. Without all of Your support we would have been nothing. We would also like to thank our seniors from Theestainerz, Nagen, Seran and Bose who had confidence in us from day one. We will do our best for all our fans who have trust, confidence and faith in all of us. Your votes will not and did not go vain.

Lastly the true gift of dance is to touch, to move and to inspire.

There you have it! The 3^rd and final installation! We hope you guys have a more broader perspective of who our top 3 are and we wish EVERYONE all the best for their future tasks! So until the next competition, adieu everybody!

Happy Deepavali

2008-10-27T01:35:00.002+08:00

Wishing our beloved Indian community a very
Happy Deepavali!!!

Our crew just arrived home after that spectacular countdown show and sure enough, we saw A - LOT of familiar faces dancing. We're quite happy to see everyone alive and kicking. To all those who brought us that wonderful show, crew to cameramen, thank you so much for sacrificing your midnight to entertain us. Well done folks!

*Many might be wondering why the Aerocratz interview is not up yet. The reason behind this is that our beloved champs haven't had the time to reply us back, but they say that they will in due time. Once they reply, be sure that the post will be up the following day.

Part 2 of Part 3

2008-10-15T22:19:00.003+08:00

Here’s the next installment of short interview questions with our Top 3!

Killabeez

Since the beginning, these boys did not have a hard time clinching titles from various dance competitions, despite them being new as a group. Their ability to charm the audience with their pieces is truly remarkable. Although their journey in Dhool started off rather rough, it’s safe to say that these boys bucked up and did quite well in the end. Let’s have a closer look at what these boys have to say.

1. Coming in 2nd place is already a big deal. But beyond that, does Killabeez think that they could have done better? If yes, how so?

To be able to come up among the top 3 is definitely a big deal, amidst the tough competition and the pressure that surrounded us. At the same time, we tried not to keep high expectations and hopes within us. Being in the finals was indeed a big dream-come-true for us, and the only motive we had in the finals was to give the fans what they missed from us.

There is definitely a sense of regret for every dancer or dance group after each of their performance, the regret of not doing that performance better. Likewise, we had the regret too, but we definitely did our best and that’s the bottom line. Many would say we just did a performance we did before. But we intended to make well use of the given time to actually improved on a dance that we have only performed once, and we think it resulted quite well.

2. For your Quarter Finals, the majority of audiences and even a small amount of your fans were rather disappointed with your performance. What went wrong?

Atmosphere was new. The competition was new. We lack the experience and that hit us hard. First of all, we are extremely disappointed with ourselves with that performance. We admit, we weren’t that good in the quarters, but at the same time, we don't think we were that bad in that quarters overall. We may have got in by a tad bit of luck and votes, however, the judges comments were indeed indirectly hurting for us. It really woke us up and our semi finals performance was a result of this 'awakening'.

3. Your journey in Dhool started rocky but it ended smoothly. So how was the overall experience?

Overall experience was pretty good. We learnt alot of new things, not only as a group, but individually. This competition did gel up the group lots more. The bond grew strong and we developed a sense of looking at things in a different angle, in one perspective. And I am sure this experience is going to be helpful for us in the near future.

4. Now that Dhool is over and done with, what are your next steps in the dance scene?

Dhool was definitely a platform to media and we think that we achieved what we came here for. Next step would be to BUZZ the media with performances you wouldn't want to be missing.

5. Lastly, would you like to say anything to say to your fans?

First of all, a sincere thanks to each and everyone who has supported the hive since the start of this journey. Alot more to the crew and family itself that helped us throughout this journey. We did start off rocky and ended off with a high note. If you recall, each performance was planned such to prove our versatility that we are good in different areas/genres, which many groups didn’t make full use to showcase their talents. So whatever you have seen is definitely not the end, but the beginning to a new era. The FKB era. Lastly, ENNA BEEZ?? KILLABEEZ!! Always 1 Love, 1 Life, 1 Hive!!

With that, let’s wish the Beez all the best for their future endeavours! Keep stinging, Beez! Up in a couple of day we have our one and only Aerocratz! Stay tuned people!

Part 1 of Part 3

2008-10-13T02:16:00.004+08:00

First and foremost, before we get down to business, Dance2This would like to congratulate:

Nanyang Polytechnic

in winning the cup for Aarathana ’08!

Coming in 2^nd and 3^rd are ITE Dover & Temasek Polytechnic respectively. Well done!

----------------

It’s been a good 2 weeks after Dhool and all excitement has seemed to die down. Well, we are back for a few post – Dhool blues. In attempt to get the top 3 teams closer to their fans and audience, we sent out different sets of questions to them; about their experience, about their lessons learnt, and more. We aren’t posting all their replies at once so do keep checking this space out to see your top 3 team's replies!

And today, we are ecstatic to feature:

Agni Reloaded

As everyone remembers, it was these boys who snatched the 3^rd prize for Dhool ’08. Their charismatic boys, energetic moves and nose studs kept the audience wanting more. They have come a long way since we’ve first set eyes on them during Dhool ’06 and we sure are proud of these fella’s! Without further ado, lets ask them some spicy questions!

_______________________________________________________________________

1. Out of the top 3 teams in Dhool ‘08, only AR has previously been in the Dhool that was held in 2006. What are the major differences that you boys have faced as a group then and now?

The standards of dancing has changed tremendously over the years. During the previous Dhool, it was all about dancing itself. As far as we can remember, judges were not really into themes, concepts or the usage of props. But for this year’s Dhool, what they wanted was totally different. It was all about themes, concepts and being different. All the groups have improved so much and their much more creative. During our Dhool journey, it was hard to cope up with other competitors as they come up with awesome ideas and costumes. Overall, Dhool 2008 brought dancing in the Indian society to another level.

2. As evident as it is, AR’s specialty lies in your capability to put in so much of energy for an item and hold it with stamina. Any secrets behind this?

The secret behind this is just practice. Practice practice and practice ! Like the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Dhool 2008 has been really hard for us as most of us are in camp. Due to this reason, you see lots of new faces in this years Dhool.

3. Now that Dhool is over, what are your future plans and could you guys give more details about the upcoming Asuraz Thillai?

We would just continue what we love doing. Dancing has been our passion all this 6 years. We don’t dance for passion neither do we dance for fame. Dancing is a common passion among all our dancers which bonds us together. Despite being 2nd runner up for Dhool 08, it makes us no different. We'll still dance for upcoming competitions and shows. As for Asuraz Thillai, it's a competition not organised by Agni Reloaded. It's a competition organised by Nanyang Community Club. Some of our Agni Reloaded members are just helping the organisation out. Asuraz would be held on Dec 13th 2008. Do look out for our guest performance on that day itself. And let us see who walks away with the 1.7m 1st prize trophy. :)

4. All throughout Dhool ’08 (and even during Danz Arena) speculation has been that Agni Reloaded was being backed up by a well known choreographer. Any comments on this?

Lets get this straight. We all know that the public thinks that Ramesh from Rameshwara choreograph for us. That is so not true. Ramesh and us are just good friends. We see him as a mentor and he's someone we look up to in the dancing industry. Our choreography has got nothing to do with him. It's a little disappointing for us when we put our own hard work and the public thinks that someone else is choreographing for us. Dhool was a hectic period for us. We faced all the hardship by ourselves. It's all of us who choreographs our items on our own.

5. Lastly, do you have anything to say to all your die hard fans out there?

We would really thank all of those who voted for us and supported us through out our Dhool journey. We gave our best and we hope we didn’t disappoint any of our supporters. We hope you guys would support us all the way. If it wasn’t for you people, Agni Reloaded wouldn’t be around. Spice up your life with Agni Reloaded!

Well there you have it! Straight from the horse’s mouth! We thank Agni in responding to our mail. We hope you guys had fun reading their comments!

2-3 days from now, the next post will be up and it will be featuring Enna Beez? So keep tuning in! Till then everybody!

Dhool Grand Finale Review

2008-09-30T03:40:00.003+08:00

The rigorous race that has been going on for the past 8 weeks has finally come to an end. We have crowned our Winner for Dhool’08 and it’s safe to say that we will all miss our 7pm Sundays.

Night of the Warriors

DHOOL WARRIORS we would say, fighting for the glorious, glorious crown. We had 7 deserving teams battling it out against each other. Even though some groups didn’t set the benchmark, it’s the effort put in that we have to take account for. Applauds to all 7 teams. Its not always about winning, it’s the experience and knowledge you gain from the journey.

Furthermore, with all the SMS and voting ‘tensions’ that all of us had to go through, we are glad that it’s over. It was funny to witness the fluctuating of votes for 1 long week, only to realise that it did not really match the results. But that god that it did not compromise the true victors for the night. We have got ourselves a winner and a deserving one at that! Lets start off with the one… the only

AEROCRATZ

(DancE... CasTe with a Class)

We were a tad bit sceptical but what do you know, these boys have given us a hat trick! Living up to their name, three times in a row, that is achieving the impossible. And by unanimous likings, public and judges, we have crowned the winners as the least controversial group to have won in Dhool so far!

Brilliant, brilliant performance. Song selection was that of a perfect choice. Expressions that went along with the song was plain hair raising and goosebump – inducing. The choreography was on par with their energy level. Everyone could feel the vibration and anger from their dance. Everything was flawless, from start to end. Like one of their fans said, these boys have brought dance to a whole new level and the sky is their limit. With the end of a season, a new era has been born with Aerocratz. You have our utmost support and may your ventures be successful throughout. You have the blessings of the whole Nation. Live up to it! CONGRATULATIONS

Killabeez

(Fly like a Butterfly Sting like a Bee)

Since the beginning, Enna beez have proven themselves to be one of the more talented dance teams to look out for. We will not comment on their dance as we have done so on our very first post about Danz Arena itself. By far, their rain warrior dance is considered to be the best item they have on their hands. Even more then Danz Arena, yesterdays performance looked even more polished and slick. A smart move by these bees in choosing an already choreographed piece. Amazingly, it was on par with the theme for that night. So lady luck was truly on their side unlike the rest of the teams who has to prepare everything from scratch. Having said that, these boys deserve their position. These boys have more potential then they seem. This is nothing but the beginning, so go on, keep on stinging us with new routines! Enna beez?

Agni Reloaded

(Spice up your life with Agni Reloaded)

A clean and clear concept. Their chosen song and theme went well hand in hand and it was easy to digest. Well done to the spicy boys! Their costimes matched up with their theme fantastically well. Even thought we could see their ‘trademark’ choreography and formations, it worked to their advantage given their chosen song and idea. Instead of backfiring on them, it catapulted them to the 3^rd position. Smooth, crisp and sharp movement. Coordination and energy level were simply mind blowing. Overall, they did justice to their piece, so well done boys! Keep the fire burning!

Special Shoutouts

Chakraz

Chakraz caused us to ‘mudiyae pichikiraans’ among ourselves. But after the many arguments and re-watching of video, we have arrived to our conclusion. As we all know, Chakraz are known for their creativity in thinking of ideas and such. And this was another piece that portrays that part of them in good light. We were at a loss of words at how good they were in their expressions, both males and females. . It was moving sight to see those tears from the girls. After all the throwing around they’ve been through, now they have to shed tears for the finals. -_-

Back to their piece, the storyline was clearly evident and and choreography was on par with the chosen song bit. But as we have ALWAYS realised with Chakraz, their formations were still messy. Very messy infact. So much so that they didn’t even seem to have proper positioning. And the. Also, Chakraz should have differentiated their lead dancers much more evidently, rather then making them wear similar looking outfits.

It is quite easy to see that Chakraz wanted to put up a very detailed performance and we kind of think that it worked to their disadvantage. The flow of ease in the dance was also not evident, maybe it was due to them worrying a little too much on their technical aspects. Movements were not as crisp as what it should have been.

On a whole, they still deserve this shout out. We have appreciated every dance put up by you guys so far and we hope to see more. Don’t be disheartened for this was just a stepping stone! GO WHEELZ!

Tridiac

(100% Pure Hip Hop Concentrate)

At last, out boys tried their very best by refraining from Hip Hop! Even though it wasn’t 100% Hippidy Hop, atleast 20% was visible. We can’t expect them to drastically pull away from who they are, can we? A nice tribal concept was played out on stage. Their wild, brutal and barbaric force could be felt clearly. We found it especially amusing when the boys ran towards the judges, with a few targeting one particular judge for some reason. Also, the idea with the 2 boys sitting like boxes at the corners until they were unveiled drew much awe from the spectators. Fresh ideas were evident, no doubt there.

Tridiac is a team that has taken part in many competitions in Singapore, other then Dhool itself. For this fact and more, we ought to be proud of these boys. We know for a fact that this group will continue to strive in what they do best, all the time. What else can we say but keep the dream alive, krump for the stars!

Having said that, we have reached the end of our Dhool reviews. It was indeed an experience for us too! We are glad that we were part of this journey, even though it was a small one. We thank one all who were part of this. Dancers and readers alike :)

Just in case if you were wondering, this blog is here to stay. This is just the beginning for us and it still holds by our vision: To keep this site dedicated to our very own dancers. So till the next upcoming competition… see you guys!

PS: Our mail is still open. Drop us one if there’s anything! dhaamdhoomdance@gmail.com.Cheers!

Champions of Dhool '08: AEROCRATZ

2008-09-28T23:47:00.004+08:00

Champions of Dhool '08

AEROCRATZ

A DESERVED VICTORY TO AEROCRATZ! Congratulations boys! We finally have the true winners for Dhool '08. You guys really deserve it. Its time for a well deserved break. Once again, well done!

*Reveiws will be posted tomorrow.

Finals are finally here.

2008-09-27T23:27:00.001+08:00

In less then 24 hours there will be a new Champion! This week has been nothing but exhilarating!

Version 2.8

Ryyan Spencer Revolution

Tridiac

Chakraz

Aerocratz

Agni Reloaded

Killabeez

ALL THE BEST TO ALL 7 TEAMS! ALL OF YOU DESERVE TO BE IN THE FINALS SO FIGHT FOR YOUR DESERVED CROWN! MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN!!! BIG K IS ON ALL YOUR PAKKAMS!\

The fact that the champion will be chosen based on both on votes and judges is all a little too scary. We have time and time again seen how the SMS Votes have the ability to 'backfire' matters in Dhool. Let’s just hope the majority of people voting will do so with their decision of who they think did their utmost best, after watching the different dances. There is certainly no point in regretting the decision tomorrow because the crown will already have a name to it; one that will go down in history, like all the previous Dhool winners. This is also our responsibility, so let’s all play a fair role in it.

Also, just a shmaal note. As you all know, we are having a guest judge (Miss Sangeetha) on set tomorrow. You might recognize her as the judge from Jodi No.1. Having said that, we hope everyone can be of their best behaviour in the studio tomorrow. The last thing we want to do is leave her with a bad impression of who we Singapore Indians are. So please, try to not shout out comments and such while the show is going on. This is going to be the last time in the studio for this season until Dhool is back, so why not make it a pleasant experience for one and all?

Everyones co-operation is sincerely thanked for. Lets ALL rock it tomorrow!

DHOOL 08! The final lap!

Saturday Voting Update

2008-09-27T16:19:00.002+08:00

Ryyan Spencer Revolution has swooped from behind to take first place - 18%

Fast on their tracks behind them we have Agni Reloaded - 17%

Tied in 3rd place we have Version 2.8, Chakraz & Killabeez - 15%

Official SMS Rank Page

Woa, we did not see this coming! The only girl group in Dhool is now in the lead! Talk about unpredictable. You go, girls!

Friday Voting Update

2008-09-27T02:20:00.000+08:00

Killabeez overtook Chakraz and they are now running in first place - 20%

Lagging next, Chakraz - 16%

And right on their tails, we have Agni Reloaded - 15%

Official SMS Rank Page

The votes are going off the charts! And it's already Friday! One more day in between and the Finals are here! What surprises will the chart hold for us tomorrow???

And we reckon everyone could do with a little bit of laughter, so here's a video for everyone. Warning: It's a little lame, so yea. Just for gags, folks.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.grapheine.com"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Grapheine : Webdesigner illustrateur graphiste agence de com agence web Paris Lyon graphisme&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;noembed&amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;lt;/object&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Thurdays Voting Update

2008-09-26T04:48:00.005+08:00

ON PAR CHAKRAZ & KILLABEEZ, 20%

Agni Reloaded is on fire behind them, 19%

In 3rd place now stands Ryyan Spencer Revolution, 13%

Official SMS Rank Page

So far the only team who hasn't made it to the top 3 is Tridiac. They have got alot of self promoting to do. Mmm... And who will still be in the lead tomorrow? Chakraz, Killabeez or Agni Reloaded?

Wednesday Voting Update

2008-09-24T23:19:00.006+08:00

Chakraz still in leading position with 20%

Now, trailing right behind them, Agni Reloaded with 17%

Version 2.8 stand at 3rd place with 16%

Official SMS Rank Page

The rankings are fluctuating really badly. Looks like campaigning is going on full-force for certain groups. We wonder what the chart will look like tomorrow!

Tuesday Voting Update

2008-09-24T02:00:00.005+08:00

Chakraz are now leading in first place - 23%

Right behind them, Aerocratz - 22%

Third in line, Killabeez - 18%

Official SMS Rank Page

Now, like Vadi says in almost EVERY episode after a commercial break, ''Vote rombha kammiya irukunnu engalukku thagaval vanthirukku, so vote pannungha vote pannungha vote pannikithae irringha"

And Udhaya will be beside Vadi acting out the voting procedures to the camera. Classic. Just classic.

Countdown begins

2008-09-23T23:35:00.020+08:00

Looks like the countdown has begun. In 6 days, the battle between the teams will be over and we will have our winners.

A small recap on all 7 groups.

Version 2.8 [Vote space 1]

What we liked

- Fantastic use of props, and the incorporation of dance movement with props are very well done.

- Individuality of dance is evident, but we aren’t sure if its enough to clinch the title.

What we didn't like

- Coordination could do with a little fine tuning.
- Lack of confidence in execution of your piece sometimes

Ryan Spencer Revolution [Vote space 2]

What we liked

- ONLY girl group in Dhool. You have a niche right there and then.
- Concepts used have been engaging so far!

What we didn’t like

- Use of props are very minimal (although they are nice). Try making use of the props more.
- Expressions ladies! Semi Finals was a big improvement. Try to keep it going from there.

Tridiac [Vote space 3]

What we liked

- This group holds some of the most pro dancers in the competition, utilize it!!!

- Energy is like WOA.

What we didn’t like

- Tad bit too much of outdoor 'influences'. Original flavour of Tridiac not evident
- TRY refraining from popping, locking, breaking, krumping and anything with HIP HOP. But if they do, will it work to their disadvantage?

Chakraz [Vote space 4]

What we liked

- ONLY mixed group in Finals! So many advantages just because of that. Choreography is endless.

- Creativity has always been there. Up it! Up it!!!

What we didn’t like

- No more acrobatics please. We really like them, but they throw you off course sometimes. And pity those girls. -_-.
- Extremely messy positioning due to the bulk of changing positions and all.

Aerocrats [Vote space 5]

What we liked

- Ideas and concepts have been out of the box so far! But can you up it a 3rd time round? Say yes, please!

- Expressions are unbelievable!!!

What we didn’t like

- We tried and tried to think of a con and the only thing we can come up with is that the public's expectations of them are sky high. Will they be able to match it?

Agni Reloaded [Vote space 6]

What we liked

- Been in the dance scene for VERY long. Experience, use it to your advantage.
- If there’s nothing this group lacks, it definitely has to be energy.

What we didn’t like

- Piece always looks like one of a CC dance!
- Versatility of group not that evident, not as much as what the other groups are displaying.

Killabeez [Vote space 7]

What we liked

- These boys in general just know to to engage their audience
- New and upbeat formations!

What we didn’t like

- No lip syncing! At least not everyone.
- Costumes could so much better boys.

Highlight

It looks like the plea for single SMS entries fell on deaf ears. So now there is only one thing left to do. Ready?

PEOPLE!!! START SMSing!!! If you want your teams to win, then punch in the correct names and vote away! Teams, flood bulletins, send out SMS's asking family and friends to vote, go over to your neighbours house and make nice with them, afterwards ASK THEM TO VOTE for your groups! Maybe, just maybe teams should be thick skinned and vote for themselves as well! Do whatever you can in your will and way to get as many votes in as you possibly can for yourselves. If you don't, then you might just regret it. Same goes for voters. Try your best to vote as much as you can (but please don't bust your bills)!

Why are we turning the tables? Simple! We find it redundant to loose out in SMS votings when you have come THIS far in the competition! And also, the lines have been opened since 7pm last night! 1 week, 7 days, 168 hours, 10080 minutes, 604800 seconds!!! (yes, we painstakingly used a calculator to find out). All we can say is, you CANNOT loose out in SMS votings. it will be extremely sad if you do, that too at the last lap.

Clearly, opening the line for 1 week is for you to vote based on their previous 2 (some 3) performances. Popularity votes. For now, it's not based on their final performances. The fates of these groups lay in our ability to vote in, with no mercy to our wallets.

This is probably the last time we are ever gonna say this but after 8 weeks of Dhool, we all have witnessed what a major role these votings play for all our teams. Please, don't let history repeat itself. Not now. Not at this crucial time. Remember, we all play a role in this. Do your part. Vote now.

Maybe for future shows, we could have a result show. Just for the finals. We have realised using the polls in our website, that before watching any group dance, the public tend to vote for the group they think will do well, based on previous dances. But after the show, the votes change drastically and we see that the team that deserves to be in, their votes start rising. It's only fair if you open it one week before, to close it one week after. Rather then closing it half an hour after the last group performs. Mmmm....

Well, there’s nothing much we all can do except for just sit and vote! The updates of the votes can be found in the link below:

http://vasantham.mediacorptv.sg/dhoolsr2

Aerocratz are leading, followed by Version 2.8 and Agni Reloaded.

Will the positioning very drastically after a few days? That’s in your hands! Till the next time!

2nd Semi Finals Review

2008-09-16T02:02:00.002+08:00

Just as expected! It was indeed a tough battle among the Jaambhavaan names in the competition. Expectations were high and some of the teams went beyond their limits to prove their passion. A really commendable effort to ALL the groups who took part in the 2^nd Semi Finals.

The 80’s flavour was given more experimentation compared to last weeks groups. And they have definitely shown us that the 80’s doesn’t necessarily have to mean Retro or Disco. They have brought it to a another level altogether! Hats off to ALL the teams! Fantastic fantastic fantastic show.

AEROCRATZ

Like what Miss Sri Devi said, this team were the winners for the night, hands down! After watching their exhilarating performance in the Quarter Finals, we were all eagerly awaiting their next performance. We had a lot a lot a lot of expectations for this group. What can we say? THEY NAILED IT. Flawless performance. For the first time in Dhool history, a group has received a standing ovation from the audience (and not mentioning the judges), on their own accord.

We can say this much - it is a totally different experience watching these boys live in action. For those who watched it in the studio, they would have felt the emotions that these boys exuded clearly. Sadly for the viewers at home, their screams of ‘agony’ were not able to be heard via television. Stunning concept and goosebump inducing expressions. That looks like the winning combination for us. MINDBLOWING effort, Aerocratz! We look forward to seeing you in the finals!

CHAKRAZ

Can we say that we found their costumes uber amusing? It was so hilarious to see our Chakraz dancers in their tribal outfit. Kuthu Red Indian! Them dancing to such a song for such a concept just shows the level of versatility of this group. As usual, expressions were smashing although they have some difficulty staying in character because of all the fast changing formations & stunts. Just one thing though – enough with the death-defying stunts! We like em, but too much just makes us a tad bit ‘jelak’. We can’t say that this was one of their better performances, but this group definitely deserves to be in the finals. C-c-congratulations!

VERSION 2.8

This group is by far the only group that had the longest time to prepare for the Semi Finals. We saw them in the very first Quarter Finals, and now, the 2^nd Semi Finals. Needless to say, we had high expectations for Version 2.8. So how did they rank? Mmm, lets just say it wasn’t a good one, neither would we say it was a bad one. They carried off their chosen song relatively well. Incorporations such as the mic at the beginning and the moving ladder was indeed thoughtful. What matters is that they have gone through to the finals with much help from their SMS votings. V2.8 – underdogs of Dhool, compared to all the other names in the Finals. Lets hope they do something bigger and prove us of their worthiness of being in the finals. Well done in getting in!

AGNI RELOADED (SMS ENTRY)

SPICY! The boys looked funny funny funny with their costumes and their mookuthi’s (nose studs)! They were another group who screamed 80’s! from the very time we laid our eyes on them. Moving on to their dance, their choreography did not look very 80’s compared to their choice of song (which we loves, by the way). It was a neat performance but the Dance 2 This crew felt that it wasn’t enough for the Semi Finals. One reason contributing to this was their mixed facial expressions. Some looked so ‘garang’ for such a happy song! Perhaps they were still in their Navras mood. Hmm… By the help of their undying supporters, they managed to slip in through to the finals. You guys have been around for quite some time in the dance scene in Singapore. So needless to say, we look forward to your final performance with high expectations. And we hope that you guys can deliver it to us. All the best boys!

HIGHLIGHT

For this week we are having a special dance2this ranking

1. Aerocratz

2. Chakraz

3. Apsara Asia

Now as to what Ms Sri Devi said in her request to the producer in bringing Apsara Asia back to the grand finals. There have been a lot of mixed responses since yesterday in regards to this issue, both in the official blog and in ours.

It will be great to see Apsara Asia back in the finals. They have won our trust, and we know that they wont let us down. Its safe to say that AA gave everyone else a tough fight. HOWEVER, on the other hand, we have to accept the results too. They will be no respect for the results, which by they way may we add, was everyones responsibility also, if we override them and bring them back in again.

Time and time again we see that the SMS votings are EXTREMELY crucial to the success of a team. As some groups and supporters have learnt, miracles do not happen in Dhool 08’. AA is definitely one of the few groups to have been affected by this over and over again. So the question remains, is Apsara Asia in or are they out? What do the producers have to say about this?

Its quite sad to see a team who had put in so much of effort to get in through the wildcard round, being kicked out of the competition again. Our hearts really goes out to Apsara Asia. For what you guys were worth, you gave everyone a hell of a tough fight! Keep living the passion guys!

Request

One SMS per handphone number. Vasantham Star did it. We don’t see why this is not possible. To make the show as transparent as ever, and to prevent ‘binge’ SMSing, why not keep it to 1 vote per line? We know mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, girlfriends, boyfriends and die hard fans vote for their teams with no mercy on their parent/their own wallets. Sometimes, without them even deserving to be in.

BUT

Its no secret that these votes are 1 of the many profit streams that help the Dhool team. Are they willing to enforce such a rule that would hurt their pocket in the end? What do you think?

Why we would suggest such a thing is very simple; to prove who truly deserves to be the winner of this years Dhool in all fairness and equality. Judges VS The Public. Clean and clear, no strings attached. Lets all bear in mind the winners of Dhool 08’s will be going on the international stage to compete in Aatam Nooru Vagai. We need the best of teams to represent Singapore and keep the title in our grasps.

Also, make the 3 judges to come up with their top 3 picks and take the initiative to reveal their selection to the public as well. Seriously, do we need another episode of ‘Dhool is biased, year after year, the winners are all manipulated.’? We think not. Keep the competition to its highest degree of transparency and we might have the most deserving of the 3 Dhool’s winners. This is our 2 cents worth.

Back to our dance groups.

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the top 7 teams what have fought their way to the finals:

Aerocrats

Agni Reloaded

Chakraz

Killaeez

Ryyan Spencer Revolution

Tridiac

Version 2.8

This is it. The grand finale. We don’t even want to think about them. The competition is at its levels best. Lets see which groups will defy their odds and reign. WORK HARD TOP 7! You are going heads on with the best of the lot! Till next week!

*We apologise for the late entries sometimes. We have to collate information from various sources and put them up as a post. We have a ‘moderator’ who censors what should go into the post and what should not and that too takes up time. We are all working/studying adults, given the time constrain we are doing the best we can. We hope you can understand. We appreciate all the support this blog has been getting so far so, Thank You!

2008-09-14T01:14:00.002+08:00

Aerocratz
Agni Reloaded
Apsara Asia
Chakraz
Mera Naam Joker
Version 2.8

Close fight! All the best to the teams! Rock the stage tomorrow!

1st Semi Finals Review

2008-09-09T00:55:00.003+08:00

Its Sunday Night fever all over again! And the Semi Finals are finally here! In conclusion, it was a very interesting round to see how the different teams could interpret their given theme 80s. Kudos to the Dhool team for bringing up the competition to the next level by incorporating it with themes and letting the groups battle it out. This gives it a very tight feel of how a competition should be, unlike the previous Dhools. Its good that all the groups have to come out with new choreography rather than them reusing their own stuff. Its a face of challenge to see who makes the best out of a situation being out of their comfort zones. Now first Lets look at the 3 groups who made their way through to the Finals.

RSR

These girls put up an awfully new concept for the Semi's! And you know what? We SO dig it! The '80s famous Yindian ugly betty' hair and the half saree's with metallic - coloured jackets over them just screams 80's!!! And Rajini, we don't even need to elaborate on that. What we loved in their dance was the fact that the girls weren't afraid to express horrible, horrible face expressions to depict them being the 'oorex's' they were suppose to be!"Anybody can kiss me!!! Vait vait vait a minute, vithout touchinggg me!", that was uber funny! Expressions are a definite improvement from when we've seen them in the beginning. Keep up the good work, girls! Special shoutout to the Girl in Red jacket! Girl! You did justice to the whole song with your expressions and dance moves! With that cute lip sync it just add well to the whole concept and character. Well done! Their semi's are a definite improvement from their Quarters. Very creative. We can't wait to see what these girls have in store for us in the Finals. You go girls, make Yindian females in Singapore proud!

Tridiac

Lets face it, Tridiac their forte lies in Hip Hop. So attempting to do something out of the box for 80's did prove to be a little bit of a challenge for these boys. And it was evident that these boys had abit of a difficulty executing the dance according to the theme. Mmm... Their piece was awfully messy, with alot of people running here and there, running in and out of formations. Come to think about it, our Dance2This crew thinks that there wasn't sufficient practice, given the amount of time they had (which was actually quite alot). It's actually quite sad to see something like this happening, because firstly, there’s alot of hype when it comes to these boys, and because expectations were high, even a small let down seems over exaggerated.

Having said that, the idea of the concept was good even though it was 'inspired' from somewhere, its quite safe to say that it suited their chosen song well. Satish did a good job in pulling off the rich man look. And the rest... lets just say that they did a good job as... veleikaarans Haha, joke'u boys joke'u. Well anyways, these boys were among your choice of who should be in. We hope they give us more dance and less action in the Finals!

Killabeez

Clear cut one of the best dance for the night! Killabeez have won our hearts back! After a disappointing Quarter Finals performance, they really brainstormed and came up with something new. It was a really enjoyable dance to watch. We could see that the beez tried, and what can we say, they pulled it off well! Fantastic job boys, you guys are back on the map! Welcome back! And the thing that we have been noticing about these beez are that they enjoy experimenting with new formations, other then the usual boring ones that we always see. That’s definitely a plus plus.

And we couldn't resist but write on this. The 2nd round! Killabeez were hilarious with a capital H! The idea of a spaceman and a caveman is quite corny but both of them did a wonderful job. We were laughing off our seats! The space suit 'mandae' lookes a tad bit too big for his head though, that just added to our amusement. Great job and congrats fellas!

On the Fence

Kali Dancers

In contrary to what many people have to say, Kali Dancers, in our eyes, didn't do as bad as many people claim. Their costumes, energy and expression were very well done. After watching them a couple of times we think it's safe to say that these are the 3 aspects in which Kali excel at. And their infusion of many different types of dance into their piece is also a commendable effort. Although we did like Kali in the Semi's, there was 1 thing which we totally hated. Wrong wrong wrong song choice. Like Sri Devi said, there’s so many other songs out there, why this one? None of us got the hang of the song, so we are guessing that there’s one major put off point. Maybe these folks wanted to give us something new? Might that explain the awful song choice? We don't know. It's sad to see these dancers go. But for what they were worth in Dhool, they gave everyone else a tough fight!

Shoutouts to Synchronix and Anarchy

Fantastic fantastic fantastic effort. You guys have been giving us a new performance 3 weeks in a row and we think that that alone is a big achievement! It would have been much better if the organizers had put all the wildcard teams in the finals, to give ample time in getting a new piece ready, but they didn't and that decision did not work to either both your benefits. Mmmm... Anyways, why did both these teams end up in the first Semi's? A little illogical, if you ask us. But what’s done is done, and we just wanted to give the both of you our shoutouts! It is really hard to come up with an idea, choreography, costumes and props in one week. Its definitely an effort worth mentioning. Our hearts goes out to the both of you teams! You guys have made a name for yourself in Dhool'08 and put up a good competition till now. So keep the passion alive guys!

Having said that, we did see alot of effort put into this weeks performance by all the teams. It was really enjoyable to watch all the teams put up their act. As we sadly bid our goodbyes to the 3 teams that have been eliminated this week, we can't help but wonder which 3 teams we will have to say bye bye to next week. The competition is running on full force and if you don't keep up with it, you just might be the ones bidding audieu. We cannot wait for the next Semi's featuring:

Agni Reloaded

Apsara Asia

Aerocratz

Chakraz

Mera Naan Joker

Version 2.8

You must be kidding us! All the big names chucked into the 2nd Semi Finals! We see a tough battle in store. Who will reign? Its up to you!

Ungal Choice Reviews

2008-09-01T23:41:00.002+08:00

OUH OUR KADUVULE!

The wildcard round was so far one of THE best rounds we've seen so far. These groups are really putting in the effort to show everyone that they deserve to be in the Semi Finals! Although 2 groups got eliminated today, we think that all 6 groups put in their ALL and everyone deserves a round of applause.

*Standing ovation*

Shoutout to Megastar:

Thank you for FINALLY listening to everyones war-torn soul's plead in publicly displaying the voting results. Thank you thank you thank you.

Chakraz

It was a victory that had taken some time, but a well waited victory none the less. Simply mind blowing. What a choreography and what an execution. It's Sunday night fever!! These fellas are DAMN good at what they do! Another blast from the past. All the dancers looked smashing in their outfits with their hats and retro wigs. Shaggalicious baybeh. Like what their representative said, we have NO clue what song that was but it did suit their theme really nicely. The usage of props was very nice. Guitar, Mics and the Balls! We even wondered where the balls appeared from (especially the huge one). Sometimes (even for their first performance) we notice that their positioning is a little off, but we are guessing that that's due to the amount of stunts and swirls that they do. Steps were apt and they seemed really difficult at times when they threw the girl off and of course(like the males spinning the female UFOs). Its truly a feat doing all 4 at the same time. We were worried that some of them might collide onto each other heads-on but thank god they didn't! Hats off guys with that note The Wheelz (Chakraz) have spun themselves right into the Semi Finals. Congratulations!

Apsara Asia

Apsara Asiavukku oru O podunge! Magnificent magnificent piece. We think the speciality in their whole dance was the fact that the non Indians were able to dance classical tremendously well. Not only that, they managed to understand the choreography well and apply it with full technique. Even we as Indians wouldn't have been able to carry that out half as well. So Kudos to everyone in the group. Special mention to the non Indian guy who did a short lead ! HE WAS LIP SINGING THE SONG! You rock! SO our dearest fella Indian dancers I don think there is a reason for you to forge to lip sing. Double A's Energy was just awesome, so as their coordination. But it was funny to think that Arvind said that the song hypnotized him to sleep! Mazhai Thuli is a powerful song that has the ability to make our hair stand and give us goosebumps. So we didn't understand that part a tad bit. But anyway, you guys deserve to be in, even in the Quarter Finals! Another long awaited victory! Kudos!

Anarchy

Given 1 week to come up with another dance plus costume is relatively tough. Having said that, we think that Anarchy did really well for a 1 week choreography. We can call it as a safe performance. We totally dig their costume! It looked very presentable and the colour selection was indeed very attractive. Revolutionary bhangra! Way to go. Steps were unique and energy level was fantastic. Good effort Anarchy! We can't wait to see you guys in the Semi's!

Synchronix

We kind of figured these boys would do one of their previous routines and what'd you know? We were right! Their famous thottu thottu dance. We spotted alot of similar steps from their previous dance. It was surprising the judges didn't notice it. But oh well, these boys, like always, nailed with their expressions and energy level! Good job overall! We are hoping to see you guys try something different and creative and hope you guys can maneuver yourselves to the finals!

Shoutouts to both PFD and 4 Dee Krew

Eh yo, both you guys did incredibly well and there was tremendous improvement from the quarter finals! It's quite sad to see both of you go, but we guess that's how a competition works. For all the hard work and preparation, you have our shoutouts with you. Excellent attitude. We hope to see you guys back in the next season of Dhool (if they have one).

HIGHLIGHT

We can feel the heat!!! Can you? Semi Finals are right around the corner and we are eagerly awaiting for the next set of awesome performances! Our advice to teams in the Semi Finals! Try to step out of your comfort zones and experiment with something new! It's always something different that captures every one's heart. செய்ததே திரும்பி திரும்பி செய்யாதீங்க.

Now now now, presenting the 6 groups that will appear for the first round of Semi Finals:

Killabeez
RSR
Tridiac
Synchronix
Anarchy
Kali Dancers

We are sort of worried for Anarchy and Synchronix, considering they only have 1 week to get everything prepared. Mmm... The rest of the teams have been given sufficient time and we sure do hope they will give us a round worth remembering! All the best to all the teams, we are all here to support you!

Ungal Choice

2008-08-31T14:49:00.003+08:00

4 Dee Krew
Anarchy
Apsara Asia
Chakraz
PFD
Synchronix

Wishing these groups all the best for todays Wildcard round! Burn the dancefloor guys!

4th Quarter Final Reviews

2008-08-26T03:48:00.009+08:00

The final Quarter Finals have zoomed right past us! Might we add that this round was a very normal round. The performances were all more or less very saathu. Hmmm.. In other words, pretty predictable.

Before we go on to the reviews, here's a shmaal shout out to Haresh:

Yo Dude, whoever you are, thanks for the awesome videos! They are crystal clear and you upload them up in a jiffy! It takes effort and it certainly helps everyone especially our fellow dancers. You have brought them to the next level - onto worldwide net. For that, you have our thanks! Nandri fellow Indian!

Now, the 2 groups who got in:

Mera Naam Joker

Clearly the winner in out poll this week, we knew somehow that these Jokers would get in! And they did!

A much better performance compared to Danz Arena. The piece on a whole was very fluid, and gelled together very well. Basically, the song, their movements and their expressions were up to par with everything going on around them.

In contrary to what Miss Lavanya said, we kinda liked the costume. It was different. We think they could have done better with the selection of fabric, but other then that the structure was new and different. It was a tad but plain, but it was an effort, can't say no there. So Kudos to Mera Naam Joker! You boys have redeemed yourself! We'll see you in the Semi Finals!

RSR

Jiggu Jiggu costumes makkal! Haha. The idea of having a 2 sided costume was certainly out of the box! Nice idea on that!! It could have signified the whole concept about snakes, and how 2 headed they could be sometimes. Not too sure on that though, but on the overall, these girls were good!

Something about their performance made if feel like it was from the 90's tv performance. And that is NOT an insult! Its Just a feel of the concept and the whole dance, that’s all. And we think that ladders are the trademark to this group. So far every performance of theirs involves their beloved step ladders! Their choreography and formations definitely suits their concept. But but but, the one thing we noticed in this performance was how awfully cramped up on stage they were. We kind of concluded that this was because of their formations. And girls, expressions were still bland. Why girls, why? Maybe the costume and masks overpowered the whole dance like how Miss Sridevi pointed out? And and and, only 1 person was missing in the dance. Haha, whatever it is, you are all in the Semi's! We hope to see you (and your ladders) again! All the best!

On the Fence

Anarchy

We applaud the effort for thinking of doing something different! This is one of the niche performances for the night. Costumes were extremely unique, it doesn’t strike you as attractive on first glance, but it tends to grow on you the more you watch them. Their dance was really one of a kind. Simple, Straight, Special (any other S u can think of) just like the costumes, the piece grows on you eventually. This junior group of Anarchy 99 is making its way back for the wildcard round! Let’s wish them all the best!

Mega Highlight

Today's highlight is on our very own Vadi's Sms Rap. Thanks to Haresh who uploaded that particular bit; our Dance2This crew came up with our own Rap for the Dhool'08 team. Makkalae's this is on behalf of you guys...

To counter this, here's Dance 2 This's very own rap:

*The song is from Prabhu Deva's Yezhaiyin Siripil (Yeppa Yeppa Ayyaapa). So sing along with us!

Yeppa Yeppa DHOOL Appa

Kannulae SMS votingae Kaathapa

Verum SMS panna sonna pothuma?

Namma kaasu yengae pothupa?

Yen SMS Un SMS

Namma SMS Yellam Panam!

Un SMS Yen SMS

Namma SMS Yellamae Panam!

Ayyo!

Panam Panam Panam

Athu namma podura Panam!

SMS SMS SMS

Athae konjam kaatavendum neeyum!

DhooL!

Yeppa Yeppa DHOOL Appa

Kannulae SMS votingae Kaathapa

Verum sms panna sonna pothuma?

Namma kaasu yengae pothupa?

And lastly, just for laughs, we made a shmaal video.

The 4 Quarter Finals are over! The wildcard round is up next! Groups in Ungal Choice round are as follows:

4Dee Krew

Anarchy

Apsara Asia

Chakraz

PFD

Synchronix

Basically all the groups who were on the fence are in! This battle is going to be one hell of a tough fight. Who are the final groups who will lock their places in the Semis to join Tridiac, Version 2.8, Kali Dancers, Agni Reloaded, Killabeez, Aerocratz, Mera Naan Joker & RSR? YOU decide!

*Click to enlarge

2008-08-24T02:51:00.006+08:00

Aarthiz

Anarchy

Mera Naam Joker

Ryan Spenser Revolution

Synchronix

The last Quarter final! Which 2 groups will join the others for the semi finals? Lets stay tune. All the best everyone!

2008-08-20T02:03:00.001+08:00

Dhool Megastar has sent in their reply and we appreciate the gesture.

About Devanas and Borderz:

Quoting from their Email,

"Devanas has been disqualified from Dhool 08 because of some reasons that we are unable to disclose. However, the group leader is aware of the disqualification and knows the reason. I seek your understanding in this matter as we are not in a position to reveal the reason for the disqualification.

SWAT was disqualified because they didn't fulfill certain requirements for the competition. Moreover, we couldn't reach any of the group members when we tried to contact them. Therefore we had to make a decision to disqualify them and get a reserve group in.

The reason why we do not announce that teams have been disqualified or the reasons behind their disqualification is because we don't want to publicly humiliate the groups on national television."

We have emailed Devanas's Assistant Group leader on this and there has not been any reply on their part. So we will leave it up to YOUR imagination to figure out what happened.

*New poll is up! Vote vote vote!

3rd Quarter Finals Review

2008-08-18T02:37:00.013+08:00

The (highly anticipated) 3rd Quarter finals have passed and my oh my, we have mixed feelings about what happened.

But first first first:

We think that Vadi's opening act for every Dhool is damn hilarious. And even better, he seems to address Indian social issues along with it. He does it in a very comical rap and you know what? Its damn good! Good going on your part Vadi. We all love you! This week's one on love was good. "Experience pesuthu?" Yosida yosida yo yo. Haha.

ANYHOO.

Lets get down to business. The most anticipated week of all: 3rd Quarter Finals. The amount of votes accumulated in the poll this week was evident enough of what a tough fight it would be!

But lets congratulate the 2 groups who got in first, shall we?

1. Aerocratz

We don’t have to say ANYTHING about this group - they have proved themselves. They got in and hell, do they deserve it! What an interesting and unique concept played up by Aerocratz. It was an extremely bold undertaking, doing their dance. We can't say that anyone and everyone could have pulled it off but these boys sure nailed it! Expressions were very feminine, steps were soft, YET they held meaning, costumes and make up definitely gave us the feminine touch. It was a graceful performance. A special mention to the big, tall, gigantic, bronzed-coloured man. He gave use goosebumps with his excellent expressions! He was perfectly selected for the role. A whole story was depicted in the dance and it's definitely not an easy feat choreographing for that. At the beginning when Mr Gopi gave the speech saying that Aerocratz were bringing dance to a whole new level, they weren’t kidding! Awesome job girls, err we mean boys! Definitely a group to watch out for.

2. Killabeez

Enna beez? Enna aachu? An utterly dissapointing performance by our beloved beez. The funny thing was that the boys decided to dance for their thoduvean remix, the one that got the LEAST number of votes (25%) in their survery. So why the survey in the first place? We wonder if they attempted that dance in a bid to surprise everyone by giving us something unexpected. But sadly boys it didn't give hand. It was the 1st dance they had every performed as a group when they begun and it rocketed them to stardom, but watching today’s performance of it was just a total let down. It was more or less the same dance, with a couple of variations here and there. Boys! You guys are well known for your creativity. What went wrong? At the start everyone was lip syncing to the song, but halfway through, some were, and some weren’t. Same goes for the expression. And might we add, we totally didn't dig the costume. Sorry Viky! Something was just awfully wrong with it. Maybe it was the choice of fabric, or combination of colours OR both.

They've stung us and boy, does it hurt. Whatever it is, they are in. Nothing we can do there. Lets just hope these fellas give us a more convincing and different act in the Semi's. The competition is getting way tougher. We hope you guys take this into consideration and make up for it in the semi finals. All the best!

On the fence

Apsara Asia

C'mon, you have GOT to cut this team some slack. Seriously? Do YOU think they deserve this? They got into the same situation as of Chakraz. Quality was there, support wasn't. Their piece was a mind-blowing piece! Chosen theme was Retro and WOA, it was exactly a blast from the past! They even did a non-remix version of an 80's song. Totally refreshing. Magnificent costumes. They were glittering silver sparkles! Quoting SriDevi, who said white coloured costumes doesn’t impress? Rather than the common pink, orange, yellow etc the simple white and silver combo have brought elegance and beauty to the costume! Job well done for that. Choreography was very apt. Alot of commendable and innovative ideas were evident in the dance. It was really an outstanding effort done. The table was a good prop, and it was used to its fullest potential. The balloons were another nice touch. Formations were a tad bit bland, but we can close an eye on that considering the small amount of people in AA. We can safely say that they are 1 of the groups that we would give almost full scores for. The performance they put up was definitely a standard for the finals.

We kind of knew the SMS votings would screw their chances of getting in, and guess what? We were proven right YET again. Sad sad sad. Our hearts goes out to you. We know we will see you for the wildcard round. We just do! All the very best Apsara Asia. We’d love to see more of you!

Highlight:

1. Another bombshell. Aarthiz in, Devanas out?! We clearly remember Aarthiz not getting in. So what's the deal? So many undercurrents. Seriously speaking, Dhool 08 has an official blog and they ought to use that as a tool for interacting with the public. Can they explain what’s going on? We were hoping that the hosts would clarify the matter on Borderz this week, but that wasn’t the case.

Actaully, we were thinking. There is only but ONE and only Dhool. Almost EVERYONE anticipates it each year. Despite the unjust and unexplained controversies going on, these organisers KNOW for a fact that people will still keep tuning in! Would YOU stop watching/voting even though you did not receive a valid reason? No, you won't. So why must these people heed your words and put in a little extra effort just so people like you and us would keep watching. What’s the difference? No one can help the situation except the organisers themselves. We wish they would put up some explanation of some sort for all the questions posted on them.

2. What is this competition coming to? A 30% voting system overpowers the judges’ choice of 70%? Its safe to say, looking at this weeks encounter, that these groups DO NOT need to dance to get in. They can just be popular, and in they go. This system is undoubtly the most unreliable ones around. Fame over substance. And its quite upsetting sometimes to think that hard work just doesn’t pay off these days. As people on the bystands like anybody else, we ASK of everyone to try their best to vote for TALENT over popularity. Just try putting yourselves in the position of those who deserve to go in, but didn't. We are the ones responsible for the judging too.

Like what Lavanya said at the ending of the show. Like what WE are trying to say every single week. Vote for talent talent talent. Vote for a group that deserves deserves deserves. At levels best, try not to judge a group but how famous they are. When it comes to a competition, everyone is the same. Its the dance they execute on THAT day that should have the last say. We hope that people vote more deservingly. We don't wish to keep talking about this.

Seriously, அரைச்ச மாவை எத்தனை வாட்டிதான் அரைக்கிறது?

Having said that, let’s look at the next 5 groups up next week:

Aarthiz

Anarchy

Mera Naam Joker

Ryyan Spenser Revolution

Synchronix

That more or less sums up the 3rd Quarter Finals. 1 more week and we are into the Semi Finals already! With the performances we've seen so far, it's quite hard to think of what these groups are going to come up with next! Wonder what surprises are in store for us next week. Mmm.. Til next post everyone!

*Credits to Haresh for the awesme videos! Thanks!

2008-08-17T13:08:00.000+08:00

Aerocratz
Apsara Asia
Borderz 1:59
De'Varanaaz
Killabeez

Toughest and closest battle ever yet! Which 2 will emerge? Good luck fellas!

2008-08-15T00:21:00.002+08:00

The tag board is getting way out of hand.

From today, ANY irrelevant, crude, vulgar, demeaning comments will be BANNED on first hand accounts. No more chances. We are tightening up the tag board regulations. When placing up the tagboard, we understood the fact that people WILL have opposing views & opinions etc, but we never felt that it could get to this extent - Tagging under various names, sabotaging various groups and all.

Also, a different issue has risen.

But before we can explain that, you have to look at the picture below.
*click to enlarge*

Now, this is a screenprint of our tagboard user board. From here, we can delete and ban users using their IP Address. Now, notice the IP Address? We sometimes receive tags from extremely weird people, for example, click on the next picture below.

If you had realised, the IP Address is exactly the same (we decided to haze out that person's IP Address to protect him/her before some gizmo freak tracks him down). But look at the name. This person is using various names to... have a conversation with themselves???

Just like this, we have many people giving the wrong info and countering the info using different names. Why? Maybe it's because they want to amuse themselves. Whatever it is, we don't get it. What we are trying to say is, if this still persists, we will be forced to remove the tag board altogether. We hope we don't have to resort to that. Try your best to tag responsibly. Dancers need comments, not negative criticisms.

Tag well everyone. Goodnight.

2008-08-11T23:17:00.006+08:00

The 2nd Quarter Finals has whizzed past and man, are the expectations going through the roof or what.

First off, we want to give Megastar a shmaal shout out. We saw the intro video to Dhool 08 and how they had edited in the 1st Quarter Finals teams dances into it. It’s something small, but yet deserves to be brought to light. Tiny details like this that makes the show more appealing. The very fact that they bothered to go through the trouble to do that makes our little souls happy. And not to mention, boost's the dancers’ spirits. Great going on your part!

Dhool 08 2nd Quarter Finals: The verdict was almost a clear cut one this time around.

Our heartfelt congratulations to the 2 groups that got in. At least this week’s judgment was just as expected.

Agni Reloaded

For some weird reason, we kind of suspected that these boys were gonna dance for Navraz for the quarter finals. Let’s face it, that is one of their better dances compared to so many others. So when we saw them at first glance (the 'please-vote-for-us' speech) we were kind of shocked to see them in the same get up as in Danz Arena. That was until they started dancing and we went... OOOHHHH.

The (in)famous Navraz dance.

With a few modifications here and there, they managed to pull off the whole routine with their new crew (plus plus the original Agni). AGAIN, what can we say? First off, their song has always been of good appeal to their dance. The song alone has the ability to make our hairs stand, including the sound effects that AR adds in.

Costumes, Make Up & EXPRESSIONS were a killer. They nailed all 3 departments! Everything was flawless except for their coordination, at certain times. Maybe it’s the new crew? Not accustomed to the Navraz routine or something? We don't know, but whatever it is, Agni Reloaded deserved to be in and they are! Excellent job, AR! (Spicy Man!) Haha, jokeu boys, jokeu.

Kali Dancers

Kali Dancers have taken a very different approach in this years Dhool compared to the previous.

But the shocker: We found that a few aspects of their dance ware awfully similar to Agni Reloaded in Danz Arena 08. The make up, male head gear and EXACT same song remix from AR's previous performance. Just that they added the Manthira Vaasal bit in the begginning.

Too much of a co incidence? We seriously do not know. What is YOUR scoop on this?

Even though AR Dhooled it, we feel that Kali dominates altogether because of their coordination. But other then that, Agni Reloaded and Kali Dancers are on the same ranking. The freaky thing was that everything was TOO similar to each other. Keeping all this aside, Kali Dancers were of same level compared to AR. The dance was full of impact and energy. Formations and expressions were brilliant. They were TOO good. Kali has always been damn good in their muga baavenei, but seriously, yesterday’s performance takes the cake. We knew you would make it! Well done.

On the fence

We realise that for every week, there will be 2 distinct dancers and of course, 1 group who is 'on the fence'. Basically, that means this 1 group is on a 50/50 card and they MIGHT get to go in if they get major help in their SMS Voting’s. And this week that group is none other then:

P.F.D Workshop (formely known as rebirth)

When we first saw these boys (and their botak heads) we were mightily impressed with their costumes. Even though their costume colours reminded us SLIGHLTY of the Killabeez costume in Bandmaster, that didn’t make theirs any less appealing. And the shaven heads, hats off for that effort. We really liked the fact that you guys stuck crystals on your heads. Nice. Use of stage space was very nicely executed and various formations are commendable. Thumbs up for that.

However, the whole dance was kind of mediocre. Energy level was SOMEWHERE there, but not exactly there just yet. Like we say, Fusion requires Dhaam Dhoom steps and that wasn’t THAT evident (even though we saw the effort). It was either that, or the dance was not executed out right, in the sense of maybe there was a lack of stamina OR moving too much in the formations threw you off course. And like what Lavanya said, expressions were running off here and there. What happened mottai boys?

But fret not! There is still a wildcard round. We wish you all the luck in getting in!

Special Shout Out

SOVIETS

We had to put their name up for 1 reason. Their effort in TRYING to do something different.

ESPANIOL DANCE.

We seriously applaud their tremendous effort in wanting to display something unique and of course, their costumes as well. Though the song choice went with the whole theme, we felt that justice did not prevail for the dance itself.

Why do we say this?

Every continental dance has a unique way of movement. Be it Samba, Salsa, Jazz, they all have their own individual specialty. Even though we saw effort in the choreography, it was executed very poorly because the boys bodies are obviously not accustomed to the flamboyant and sleek movements required in a Spanish dance. Even though their (partial) choreography was based on their theme, execution made it look really bad, simply for the fact that their bodies could not carry off the steps. Could have been a lack of practice OR a lack of awareness. We hope these boys take what we say into consideration and give us something out of the ordinary for their wildcard round!

Highlight:

What is this? Borderz 1:59 are in?! What happened to S.W.A.T?! From news gathered it seems that S.W.A.T backed our for some unsaid reason and in their place, Borderz got another chance to fight for the crown in Dhool 08. Actually, we are wondering. On what basis did Borderz get in? (Not that we are upset that they got in or anything. They were one of the groups we were hoping to see this year, but they didn't make it through to the Quarters due to some technical issues during the auditions) As in, there were 10 groups that were rejected in the Auditions. Borderz were 1 of them. Were they the best of the 10, or is this ANOTHER publicity stunt to make the rating of the show soar? Any comments?

And the official Dhool blog seemed to have removed S.W.A.T's name quietly and re edited it with Borderz. Mmmm... Enna nadakuthu ingae?

Under currents under currents under currents.

Now, on a lighter scale, the next 5 teams up for Dhool 08's 3rd Quarter Finals are:

Killabeez

Aerocratz

De'Varanaaz

Borderz 1:59

Apsara Asia

In our opinion, the coming week is the TOUGHEST of all 4 weeks thats going to go by. Seriously, the judges are going to have a hell of a time. Lets hope they don't get caught in another argument like how they did during the 1st Quarter Finals. The groups must be working their tails off, considering what a close fight it is going be. Break a leg everyone! Till the next post!

*Groups, try sending in your group photo's. We would love to put them up for you. Like we said, we deserve the regognition anyways. Email them pictures to dhaamdhoomdance@gmail.com . Thanks!

2nd Quarter Finals

2008-08-10T01:35:00.004+08:00

Kali Dancers
4'Dee Krew
Agni Reloaded
Sovietz
PFD Workshop

IT SURE IS GONNA BE A TOUGH FIGHT! ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD TO THESE PARTICIPATING GROUPS. LETS SEE WHO GETS TO GO ON!

*Vote fair people! Good day!

2008-08-08T00:32:00.004+08:00

We know we are super dooper late... but...

CONGRATULATIONS TO SYNCHRONIX FOR CLINCHING THE TITLE FOR THIRUVILAIYAADAL NITE!

We heard you boys did the same performance as you guys did for Danz Arena 08. Well, our words didn't go to waste then. You guys deserve it and you sure do seem happy about it! Look at all the smiles in this picture (expect the top left hand corner fella. He seems kinda 'garang')

Compare it to this picture which they took during Danz Arena. So sad and solemn. And heartbroken. Haha.

See, hard work does pay off. Fantastic job fellas!

Coming in 2nd: PFD Workshop
And 3rd: Trialvana

Good job on your part too!

We apologize, we didn't even know there was a dance competition that night!

*New polls up! Place your vote!

1st Quarter Finals

2008-08-04T23:26:00.007+08:00

Finally!

The day we were all anticipating; the first broadcast of Dhool's Quarter Finals. And just as we expected it was a very interesting round in deed.

Note: There is TOO many name changing and group-hoping dancers around in this years Dhool. Based on that we are giving our opinions SOLELY on the dance alone and how well the dancers bring it to life.

The 2 groups that secured their places in the upcoming Semi Finals:

Version 2.8

Version 2.8 yesterdays show in what seemed like a tamer version of Fusion. Their opening with the sheer piece of fabric over them was a nice. But here’s the thing that has been bothering us ever since we've seen them from the Auditions. Version 2.8's expressions are confusing at times, because firstly, different dancers seem to exude different emotions. We caught some looking blank, some full of rage (which was suppose to be the case we THINK, more about that later) and some just plain confused. We weren't sure if that was how it was suppose to be or was it a lack of concentration on that matter. And Version 2.8’s concept. The authors of this site are still trying to make out what the concept was all about. Yes, we saw rage in the dance, but that’s about it! When Mr Vijayendran commented that he liked the concept of their dance, we were relieved because we thought, HEY! this fella was going to elaborate more on it.

And then he didn't.

And then we are back to scratching our heads.

But Version’s use of colors and props on stage were good, even though we think it was the same ones used during Danz Arena. Song was also a very unique choice that kind of wrapped everything up together. It reflected what they wanted to depict really well. And energy was up to par with their dance. Basically Fusion needs alot of DHAAM DHOOM (forceful movements) and that’s what these guys delivered so good going boys! Congrats on getting in!

Tridiac

We kinda figured these boys had something up their metallic sleeves when we saw their costumes! Costume wise they are taking a really different a approach from last years Dhool. Lyrical hip hop Makkal! From slow to fast, there was a good transition (we agree with what Miss Lavanya had to say). The thing with Tridiac is that even when they try something different, you can still roughly figure that thats them. We guess they have their TRADEMARK baby! There's a clear cut stamp in whatever they do.

And we spyed with our little eyes a little bit of Acidhouz and a little bit of Movesh 'sprinkled' among this years Tridiac *ahem ahem*. This years competiton is really turning out to be one BIG Indian rojak man. So what are YOUR comments on this? We'll let you decide. But none the less, they still DHOOLED it! Congratulations fellas!

Special Shout Out

Chakraz

You have got to be kidding us. We are so utterly dissapointed.

In our eyes, these people were the clear cut winners for the evening. What a soft song, and what complimenting choreography. We had the exact 'lau' feeling when watching them as to when we were watching Killabeez perform for Danz Arena. An intricate and detailed piece brought to life with so much of emotions and body language. We can see that there was a whole lot of research that went into the routine. And we have to add, we loved the shoe part! The shoe part! The shoe that the guy has so much difficulty putting on for the females’ feet! We felt that it was a classic touch to such a classic song. Haha.

So what happened? Did the judges screw up? Or was it the voting? Our bet is on the voting. You know, since people MIGHT have already stereotyped them. Whatchu say?

Whatever it is, we are definitely waiting to see this group in the Wildcard round. Chakraz, don't be disappointed, rock on with your next performance! We are confident that you guys will get through :)

Highlight:

Now that we have seen how this competition is going to work, we see the impact that voting actually hold on these groups. We found it quite weird that the organizers didn't find the importance in informing the groups AND the audience how much SMS votings compares in to the judges’ decision (in percentage form). Or maybe they forgot? Mmmm...

In our opinion it would be more fair and 'on the table' if everyone knew how many votes came in for each individual group and who the judges finalized on. They ought to place the statistics on an LCD screen like they did for Vasantham Star. THEN and only THEN will everything be clear and no suspicions will arise due to conflicting views

So the question: Is Dhool 08' a competition based solely on popularity votes, or a competition of true talents. Its good if both work hand in hand, but if 1 outrides the other, then what can we say?. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Well well well. The Quarter Finals are right on their way and might we add that they are on FIRE? The heat is definitely up after watching the first episode! It's another 6 days of painstaking wait till we see the next 5 groups, who are:

1. PFD Workshop

2. Agni Reloaded

3. Soviets

4. Kali Dancers

5. 4'dee Krew

Work hard fellas! Till next week take care people!

And ouh, Congratulations to REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC on winning the trophy for MINERVA!

2008-08-03T00:05:00.001+08:00

Vedham
Chakras
Anonymouz
Tridiac
Version 2.8

ALL THE BEST TO YOU GUYS! ROCK THE STAGE!
(New poll below, vote for your teams!)

2008-07-30T23:24:00.008+08:00

GK Productions have come into contact with us and this is what they had to say:

*click on image to enlarge

There you have it, straight from the organisers themselves. We thank GK Productions in acknowledging this matter.

*We would appreciate it if no one comments on this issue anymore. Like we've said before, there’s nothing much anyone can do about what's done. The only reason why we put up their email is to be fair and let them have a say as well. TAGS IN REGARD TO THIS ISSUE IN ANY WAY WILL BE DELETED. We seek your co-operation and understanding in this matter.

2008-07-29T23:01:00.006+08:00

Oh.Our.Kaduvule.

This blog has caught on fire! (PATHIKICHI MACHI!)

At this point of time: the authors of the blog would like to say something:

TagBoard Comments - Readers, please. This blog is a growing ground for positive comments and constructive criticisms. If you find the urge to tag about anything at all, please do it in a more diplomatic way. Vulgarities and obscenities will NOT be tolerated. Any post with obscenities studded in them will be automatically deleted, regardless of it's material. We suggest you to structure your words before posting them up for the whole world to see. This is our humble request. Let's motivate one another rather then bringing everything down altogether.

Also, try sticking to one username on the tag board. There are far too many unknowns and anonymous. Anonymouz (we are referring to the dance group) are gonna get frustrated with this, you know, since they can't talk and all. We have to stand up for the vaayillla jeevans. Haha. Jokeu people Jokeu.

And please people, let your tags be coherent. We find it hard to understand some of your language, or even what you are trying to say =s. Puriyira maathiri tag pannungo.

eg. riacht: ur gradfather 2 round one was inside ur eyes! --> What the....??? Is it just me or does anyone of you guys understand what this fella just said?

*Vulgar tags will be deleted by midnight today, so rant all you want right now.

GENERAL COMMENT: GUYS! STOP PUTTING OTHERS DOWN! IF YOU GOT SOME INFO, EMAIL (dhaamdhoomdance@gmail.com) IT TO US. This blog is not to create internal 'wars' among groups. False accusations are polluting the tag board. What is done is done, lets all look toward the future. Whats important now? Dhool 2008. And the 20 teams in it. So lets pledge our support for them and boost them! This blog is 101% dedicated to our dancers & their groups. We are here to give bystander reviews, NOT to look down on anyone. Again, we are not here to discriminate any group. If we were with such an intention, then this blog wouldn't have gone public at all. I hope this rests everyones hyper soul for today.

(Jeezuz Bajeezuz! 145 tag comments just in 1 day?! Now, who was it that said the AUTHOR of the blog was 'so free'...?)

Cheerio people! :)

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY

Once again: Likes, Dislikes, Favouritisms, Biasness aside, be it your friends, boy/girl friend, juniors or seniors dancing. When it comes to competition, open yourself up to true talents. Appreciate real talents rather than supporting your own. In this kind of competitions ones passion, talent, hard work should be judged NOT by how much they are likeable or famous among fellow peers. We hope this message reaches out well to everyone on a good note.

2008-07-28T21:30:00.006+08:00

Dhool 2008 Auditions

All we can say is, WOW. The bar has definitely been taken up a level compared to last years season. From 30 groups, it has been cut down to 20. The 20 groups who got in, you have our congrats with you.

A few thoughts:

We have never really understood this position in which people humiliate themselves in front of television viewers. As always, there were a few black sheep’s in this department this year. Please keep in mind that we are not targeting anyone in particular (unless we say so). These are just general comments.

First off, no one really bothers if you have an exam tomorrow, or your school's starting early the next day. You are young? SO? You want to join a competition? Then there are sacrifices to be made. Know what your responsibilities are and act according to them. Plus, it's not like the organizers didn't give you enough time to work on your piece. Don't ever, ever hide behind reasons for your dance not being at its full caliber. Seriously, do you think the judges would give 2 hoots if your tailor screwed up your costumes? That’s your 'pasal'. All the judges care about is your dance, and how you execute it. So please, do away with all the excuses.

Second, ok, this is going out to 1 particular group. AW 66. We want to say that your costumes are nice. They really are, at least better then some of the groups who got in. What we are gonna say next is only referring to one of the female members in the dance group. Honey, you've got to wear something that compliments you a little bit more. The editors were making a fool out of you because of your 'exposure'. It could be humorous for others, but definitely not for you. It’s not a nice thing being humiliated on air. So although we applaud you guys for your effort on your costumes, please rethink certain factors. And this goes out to the guy who told Vijayendran that he'll be back. We don't know about Vijayendran, but we are definitely waiting to see your group at next years Dhool (if they have one). You can sure bet on that. =)

Third, contesters should be more responsive to criticisms, rather then being more rebellious. After all, you are in this at your own accord. No one forced you to join. Its like, in school, your teachers/lecturers DO reprimand you even though you pay your school fees. Just because you are pay the school, it doesn’t mean that your teachers are indebt to you. Its the same thing here. You pay money to enter the competition to put yourselves on the map. At the same time, are you putting yourself on the map of criticisms as well. Its just part and parcel of how a competition should be.

Fourth, this is also going out to a group in particular. Navaethaz. We think it wasn't very nice of you to have pin-pointed another team (Anonymouz). Whatever it was, you shouldn't have said that on air. In our eyes, it only shows you as spoilt sports. C'mon girls, why do such a thing when everyone has one aim on their agenda: DANCE. So why put another group down, that too on tv? Tsk, it saddens us when such things happen. Even our Aarthiz girls were down to earth with their reply of what their opinions was on not getting in for Dhool 08. Quote: 'Its not about winning, its just about showcasing our talents, and that’s what we did'. Their positive outlook have won our hearts. (As a side not, we think that Aarthiz was actually not that bad and should have made it in as one of the top 20. Better luck next time girls.)

Anonymous

Aarthiz

And as for your question on why known groups are taking part, we don't think that that should even be a question because we don't see NUS Vidiyal, Acidhouz OR Diversity trying out again. It's the groups who didn't get in top three that are giving it a shot again in hopes of winning the crown this time around. If you had thought that it was unfair that groups from last year were taking part (which is inevitable), then tell me this: why try out for Dhool 08? Teams are gonna keep trying till they get somewhere, right? All this aside, we know that it might have taken you some time to put the whole act together for the auditions. You guys were better then some of the other groups. So a big shout out to your girls. No hard feelings ladies.

Fifth and most lastly, a few small general comments.

You love dance! You live to dance! Dance runs in your veins! Dance is your passion! BUT:

1.) You look down at your feet when you dance! Do you have your steps written on your feet, just in case you forget? Or is it to avoid tripping? Machan's & Machi's! Dance pannumbothu audience'sae paarungo! Siringo! KUMMIYADINGO! But seriously, maintain eye contact with your judges/audiences, it can really help.

2.) You adjust your blouse, pants or even worse, HAIR when you dance. Pin up your clothes in position. And do your hair up in something that wont bother you later when you dance. Trust us, it will make a difference

3.) Your face is like this {-_-} throughout the dance. Then sometimes like this {^_^} Like for real. Haha. Try adding more expressions. We enjoy the dance even better when we see YOU having fun. So smile more. Show us that rotten teeth of yours. =D

Highlight of the highlight:

We don't how to put this in a more diplomatic way. As Vadi has put to light, Chakraz is a junior group of Sangeshtraz. Did you know that Ryyan Spencer Revolution is also a junior group; that of Rameshwara's? The reason being to why we are saying this is simple. Both Rameshwara and Sangeshtraz are mediacorp artists. And in our opinion it isn't fair if everyone knew only about Chakraz and not about Ryyan Spencer Revolution. Both these groups are pioneers in Singapore's indian dance culture and so we think it's only right if this fact comes to light.

Sangeshtraz - Main Crew

Rameshwara - Main Crew

So now the big question: Why have these 2 big groups sent in their junior batch? They have already achieved so much in television history. If you ask us, we think that these people are cutting the chances of individual groups from winning the trophy. But then again, whatever your experience or expertise, lady luck has to be by your side for all 3 weeks to get in. Lets watch and see if these groups do have what it takes to reach the finals. This is going to be a very, very interesting fight.

With that, we end Dhool 08 auditions review. We are totally ecstatic to watch the first quarter finals next week featuring:

1. Vedham
2. Chakras
3. Anonymouz
4. Tridiac
5. Version 2.8

Applauds to all the groups who gave an effort for the auditions, regardless whether you got in or not. And of course, all the luck in the world to the 20 groups who got in. A champion will emerge from these 20 groups. So, who do YOU have your bet on?

**Groups taking part in Dhool 08, please email us your group picture to dhaamdhoomdance@gmail.com. Especially the new groups. Let the readers have a closer look at all of you. Besides, you guys do deserve the recognition. Also, if anyone find the need to correct or add to whatever's written on this blog, you can drop us a mail too. We'll look into the matter for you. So don't be shy, let the mails roll in!

OUH OUH, one last thing. We reserve the right to publish the email WITHOUT asking for your permission if we think it is necessary. But please don't make us do that! Whatever it is, let’s all try and remain civil. Until the next post everybody!

Danz Arena Y2K8: Reviews

2008-07-25T22:39:00.008+08:00

Danz Arena Y2K8

One of the most awaited Indian Dance Competitions held in Singapore Polytechnic every year. Seating capacity of over 1100 pax. And this year, they (GK Productions) are SO proud to present 18 groups all in 1 night. For some reason, we wern't as excited as the organizers on this one. We remember clearly last year, there were 15 groups in total. And we couldn't wait for it to end, not considering the fact that we were dead beat just screaming and cheering for the first few teams to perform. Tell me again, what were they thinking when they allowed 18 groups to participate? Or were they trying to follow the standard 'tamil padam' timings?

The show was due to start at 6pm and end at 11pm. Or so it was printed on the tickets. From my experiance and knowledge of being with fellow Indians, here is just SOMETHING with Indians and punctuality. They don't seem to gel together somehow. After the gates were opened at 6.30 the show only commenced at the 7.30 mark. Hmmm. Why were we not surprised?

But on a lighter note, the hosts that they got to emcee this years show was much better then last years selection. Vishnu (V1) is hilarious on his own, and we have always found Bharathi to be a very complimenting co host. Both their presence of mind during hosting definielty made watching 18 (+2 guest performers) groups a little better then we had expected. Even though, we have to say, quite a few of Vishnu's jokes were R21-ish! Haha. All in good fun we suppose.

Now, lets get on to the interesting part, the dances (AH DUH). Just a prenote, we wont be reviewing EVERY single group that made an appearance. Just the top 5 and a few others who deserve to be named for their efforts.

1. Agni Reloaded

From repeated bulletin alerts by Agni Reloaded, everyone would have learnt by now that they have topped as champions for Danz Arena Y2K8. Haha, jokeu boys, jokeu. Our hearfelt congratulations to them. They have done it again, but that dosent quite mean we had a blast watching them. What we are trying to say is, they have done a concept widely chosen as a safe option for Danz Arena.

Fusion.

Ever since AcidHouz revived fusion in Dhool06, it has been a famous way of dance for many groups. This includes our dear Agni Reloaded as well. We aren't saying that thats a bad thing, after all, they are good at what they do. But after watching AR's Navras performance a couple gazillion times at various competitions, we got 'jelak' of it. Too much of a good thing is bad, right? Right. So when we saw what they had for us, it was kind of a let down. We didn't find anything outstanding in it, simply because, it just reminds us of their previous routine. Its almost like its being overused / reused. But one thing that did catch our attention though, their costumes, make up and props. Those, unlike their dance, had the WOW factor in them. The heads of our AR dancers were shining gold sparkles on stage. Uber cool. And their energy on stage, what can we say? Its still up to par. A shout out to AR since we love them so much: Re Invent boys! Reinvent!

2. Killabeez

Enna beez? This group of boys have always awed audiences with every single performace of theirs. And this years Danz Arena Y2K8 performance was no difference! At first, when the dance began, we were surprised with their dance. It was so not them! And we all agree to the ingenious fact that, no one would have ever thought of dancing to such a song. But yet again, Killabeez have outdone themselves. Their chosen concept for the evening was Rain Warriors. We swear we didnt know what that was until we came back home and googled it up. Again, kudos to them for thinking out of the box yet again!

Their soft, fluid movements gave that extra 'lau' feeling to the dance. Haha. We also spotted a variety of new, innovative steps, making it all the more appealing to keep our eyes glued on them. As always, coordniation was pitch perfect. Sometimes I wonder if these boys are humans or clockwork robots...

3. RSR

A never heard of before, all girls troupe managed to clinch the 3rd prize for Danz Arena this year! Their choreography complimented the song (sei ethavuthu sei) very nicely. I think one if this groups biggest highlights were their props. Aluminium ladders drapped in cloth, swords and samsui hats. Interesting choice of props. For some reason the girls looked like a Japanese version of power rangers in their outfits with swords!

I think it's safe to say that RSR was a tough competitor for the other girl groups who participated that day. But then again, we would like to highlight the fact that even though the choreography was very well done, the girls expressions could not match up to standards. We are guessing that they girls were concentrating a little too much on their steps (which did seem quite tough at certain points) until their expressions jammed. You think?

One last thing. During RSR's performance, we noticed that one of their dancershad a leg injury and it was evident that she was bleeding or something to that effect. Even with that, she decided to go on with the dance and give it her all. Who ever she is, hats off to you. Must have hurt, but we are glad it paid off. =)

4. Mera Naam Jokers

Honestly, knowing that they were the 2nd last group to perform for that night really dampened our spirits. We heard that the former Nickeash Production group have revamped their identitly and were now named after an old hindustani flick! Their outlook and concept is from that movie (or so we are making a guess). We've also heard from 'insiders' that their performance for Dhool '08 was really refreshing and entertaining. It seems that these jokers dance to make us laugh! Well, after listening to all the hoo-haa about Mera Naam Joker, we were waiting in anticipation to watch their performance.

But lo and behold, we were extremely dissapointed by this years performance! Jokers! What happened?!

Nickeash Productions has always made and effort to be slightly different from the rest of the dance groups around. How? Well, if you have noticed closely in their dances, they always try to infuse something new into their routines. For example, Sangamam 07 Finals, they added in a little bit of malay/ balinese dance to their choreography. Its like, they always have something new to entertain us with. I mean, we appreciate the new notion of becoming comedians in dance, but there was no, what do we call it... ooomph? Yea, there was no OOMPH to the dance. And sad to say, their formations were a mess! Were they clowning around with that as well???

5. Ragazza
A fairly new all-girl group with about 2-3 performances on their hands so far, we think. We remember watching them during Chandralekha night last year. After watching their previous performance, we felt quite neutral about this group. No big excitment or anticipation. Thats, until we viewed thier dance for that night. We were seriously not expecting alot from them, but they have proved us wrong! We think that the thing we have to really mention here is their concept. One of their dancer on stage might have said that it was Jazz Infusion, but along with that we saw a little resemblance to Broadway performances as well. This, just like the rain warriors, was something totally niche. By the time they were up (11th to perform) we had already seen 6 - 7 fusion performances. So watching them was definetly refreshing. And reviving.

And also, some of us didnt even know that the 2 'guys' were actually girls until someone pointed it out to us! Yes, we were sitting that far back! Haha. But great job girls. Right there, we had a gut feeling that they might have made it into top 5. And that was exactly what they did. Well done girls.

Special Shout Outs

Our special shout outs to these groups for we think that they should have landed in better positions. They have put in commendable effort and we think it's only fair if we name them.

Synchronix

We were super dissapointed that Synchronix did not make it to top 5! No words can describe our dissapointment on this. So what on earth went wrong?! We honestly and truly think that this group deserves to be in the top 5. Yes, we are aware that they did fusion, but somehow, there was an X factor to it. They made a connection to the audience (partially because of their selected song) and we think that is what matters. Their formations and coordinations were flawless. Their expressions and energy was unquestionable. Everthing blended in with the song so well. We took a double look at each other in disbelief when we heard their name being called out for the last consolation. If we the audience felt that way, then we can only imagine how Synchronix felt. Our hearts go out to them. Seriously, sad.

Devarnaz

A special shout out to this group as well. Initially, when their dance began, no one quite understood what the girl running loose on stage was doing. It was a few seconds of bizzareness on stage. The girl did not give a convincing act at all. But then the dance soon entered and all hell that broke loose was saved! The dance consisted of beautifully made up choreography and formations by their well known leader, Viky. The best part to this group was that the girl counterparts were dacing up to par with the boys! And we personally think that this group dominate in expressions. Another thing that impressed us was that the choreography was in line with the concept and the lyrics of the song. And their energy level, simply mindblowing.

It was another huge blow that they received the 10th prize. We seriously think that Devarnaz should have at least gotten top 5. They COULD have lost quite a bit of points on their opening act, but we felt that the dance made up (and even more) for it. Our hearts go out to them as well. All the best for your future, we have our eyes on you!

Now, here is Dance2This's ranking:

1. Killabeez
2. Agni Reloaded
3. Ragazza
4. Synchronix
5. Devarnaz

MEGA HIGHLIGHT:

We have come to learn that 1 of the 4 judges for Danz Arena had actually choreographed the dance of 1 of the 18 groups that took part that night. Now, how did the oraganizers let that person become a judge, we wonder? Do we smell politics in the air? We think that having such a situation is highly biased against the other 17 groups, irrelevant to whether they made the top 5 or not.

At this point, we would like to state that: Likes, Dislikes, Favouritisms, Biasness aside, be it your friends, boy/girl friend, juniors or seniors dancing. When it comes to competition, open yourself up to true talents. Appreciate real talents rather than supporting your own. In this kind of competitions ones passion, talent, hard work should be judged NOT by how much they are likeable or famous among fellow peers. We hope this message reaches out well to everyone on a good note.

With that, we close our very first review ever made in this blog. We certainly hope people reading out there took what they read with a pinch of salt.

Take care everyone, God Bless. =)

First post ever. Introduction

2008-07-25T15:10:00.001+08:00

Hello to everyone reading this blog.

This blog will be a new venture in expolring our Singapore Indian Dance Competitions / Competitors. There will be a couple of authors to this blog, but we wish to remain anonymous for several reasons being:

1. We do not wish to be killed under our blocks
2. Our comments would be what we feel, and we know that SOME of our fellow Indians cannot handle the truth.
3. And last but not least, I'll just say that we know our fellow Indians very well. And we know their short tempers even better
*EH, ENNA?! Enna paakurae?! WANT TO FIGHT AH?! @#&^%$*

Ok, now lets set some records straight:
1. We are not from any dance group. We are just mad about dance.
2. The critisism you see on this blog should be taken constructively.
3. We have no intention of putting any group down, afterall it is the same passion that we share.
4. We are not profesSional judges, but we can be the voice of the audience, looking at things in a spectators point of view.
5. If you were wondering, we are Indians ourselves. And that gives us the rights to ridicule ourselves. Like for real. *heehee, rubs hands*

And off we go...!