Donny Osmond Wins "Dancing With The Stars" Season 9

Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) Season 9 premiered on ABC television network in the USA on September 21 2009. The 16 celebrities who participated in this season's show included showbiz entertainer Donny Osmond, Grammy Award winning singer Mya and TV reality star Kelly Osbourne. Donny is following in the footsteps of his sister Marie, who had previously competed in Season 5 of DWTS and who was placed third in that season. Among the well-known professional dancers who took part in Season 9 were Mark Ballas, son of dance legend Corky Ballas, Karina Smirnoff, former partner of Slavik Kryklyvyy and Anna Demidova, the younger sister of World Ballroom Dance Champion Katusha Demidova (partnering Arunas Bizokas).

Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba returned as judges as did hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris. For this season of DWTS, the dances that were performed included the 10 Ballroom & Latin American dances, Salsa, Mambo, Jitterbug, Argentine Tango and Freestyle. In addition, 4 new dances namely the Charleston, Bolero, Lambada and Country Two-Step were performed for the first time in this competition. Through a series of elimination rounds, the contestants were whittled down and 3 contestants were eventually chosen for the finale. The 3 finalists were Donny Osmond, Mya and Kelly Osbourne. As in previous competitions, the winner was determined by a combination of the judges' scores and viewers' votes.

The finale was held over 2 evenings - on November 23 and 24. On the first evening, the 3 finalists each had to perform a freestyle dance routine. The next evening, Donny and partner Kym Johnson showcased a slick Argentine Tango performance. Crowd favourite Mya and partner Dmitry Chaplin high-kicked their way into the hearts of the crowd with a high energy Jive routine. Kelly and partner Louis Van Amstel received a standing ovation from the audience for their flawless rendition of the Viennese Waltz. Donny Osmond was adjudged the winner of DWTS Season 9 to the consternation of many who felt that first runner up Mya was the better dancer and clearly deserved to win. The next season of DWTS is scheduled to air in the spring of 2010.

Results Of The 2nd Muar Rising Star Dancesport Championships 2009

More than two hundred competitors from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia participated in the 2nd Muar Rising Star Dancesport Championships 2009 held on November 15 at the SKT Banquet Hall in Muar, Johor. The dancers showcased their skills and talents in the Ballroom Standard & Latin categories before a cheering and appreciative audience. Buoyed by the success of this competition, the organizing Chairman, Siow Boon Wah of SBW Dancesport Centre hopes that this annual championship will attract more top-notch dancers from more Asian countries in future. Here are the results of the major events held that evening:-


Standard - Amateur Open

1 Huchao & Zhangluyao (China)
2 Romeo Alfarius Queri & Triska Tan (Singapore)
3 Eric Labita & Eng Ai Lim (Singapore)

Latin - Amateur Open

1 Wang Xiang & Tian Xin (China)
2 Bernard Lim & Natalie Tan (Malaysia)
3 Vernom Choo & Cheah Yen Thing (Malaysia)

Standard - Amateur Closed (National Ranking)

1 Bernard Lim & Natalie Tan
2 Lai Kim Sang & Zhang Wei
3 Jimmy Yap & Sylvia Yeoh

Latin - Amateur Closed (National Ranking)

1 Bernard Lim & Natalie Tan
2 Vernom Choo & Cheah Yen Thing
3 Derek Yeap & Eunice Ng

Standard - Amateur Rising Star

1 Eric Labita & Eng Ai Lim (Singapore)
2 Nico Darmawan & Yovita Phanjaya (Indonesia)
3 Lai Kim Sang & Zhang Wei (Malaysia)

Latin - Amateur Rising Star

1 Patarasit Lertsoontornpoch & Suveenat Noinoul (Thailand)
2 Vernom Choo & Cheah Yen Thing (Malaysia)
3 Collin Tan & Dawn Tan (Singapore)

Standard - Pre Amateur

1 Tan Kay Leong & Christina Lim (Malaysia)
2 Li Ming & Law Yu Chui (Singapore)
3 Adrian Khor & Bowie Hee (Malaysia)

Latin - Pre Amateur

1 Patarasit Lertsoontornpoch & Suveenat Noinoul (Thailand)
2 Nicholas Yeo & Teng Wei Qing (Singapore)
3 Edmund Teo & Jiang Bin (Singapore)

Krump, Shuffle And Hip Hop Your Way To The Top

KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd is organizing a "Hot Steppers Dance Competition" which will run from November 9 to December 19 2009. To take part in this competition, contestants will have to perform, videocam and then submit online a dance routine that incorporates elements of krumping, shuffle and hip hop. The champion will walk away with a cash prize of RM10,000 while the first and second runners up will take home RM7000 and RM5000 respectively. Consolation and special prizes will also be given away. For more information regarding this competition, log on to www.kfchotrods.com.my.

Krumping is a relatively new urban street dance form that was born (circa 2001) in the streets of South Central Los Angeles, USA. It is a fusion of several dance styles popular in the LA area. In addition to hip hop and breakdancing moves, krumping also involves another unique LA style of dancing known as clowning, pioneered by Tommy The Clown (pic). The popularity of krumping has spread to places like Europe, Brazil, Australia and Japan. A krump dance competition was held recently in Japan with the first prize being an offer to battle against Lil' C and Miss Prissy in the USA.

The shuffle, or better known as the Melbourne shuffle is a dance style created in the underground parties in Melbourne, Australia during the early 1990s. The basic movements are a fast heel and toe action with a style suitable for various types of electronic music. Some variations include arm movements. Melbourne shuffle footwork is based on Celtic dance, in particular Irish dance. Since the days of the Gold Rush in Australia there has been a large Celtic population in Melbourne mainly from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain (Iberia) and France (Gaul).

Hip hop originated from the Bronx in New York, USA during the 1970s. The four core elements of hip hop culture are - emceeing (often referred to as rapping), DJ-ing, breakdancing and graffiti art. Hip hop dance refers to social or choreographed dance styles danced primarily to hip hop music that have evolved as part of the hip hop culture. Hip hop dance styles include locking, popping, breakdancing, new jack swing and house dance. What separates hip hop from other dances is that it is often freestyle in nature and the dancers frequently engage in 'battles' which are formal or informal dance competitions.

Last year, KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd organized a KFC Hot Rods "Shuffle Your Way To Melbourne" dance competition in which contestants had to perform, videocam and then submit online a shuffle dance routine. Twenty one contestants were eventually selected for the finals. The winner was Fareedzwan bin Saddi who won a holiday package tour worth RM8000 for two to Melbourne, Australia. The prizes offered for this year's "Hot Steppers Dance Competition" are attractive and should attract the top hip hop dancers from all over Malaysia.

Dancesport Results of the 2009 Asian Indoor Games Vietnam

The 3rd Asian Indoor Games 2009 which was held in Hanoi, Vietnam from October 30 to November 8 saw the participation of some 2000 athletes from 45 countries/regions in Asia. Athletes came from all across Asia (stretching from East Asia to West Asia) to compete in 25 sports in 215 medal events during the 10-day meet. Among the medals at stake were those for dancesport, dragon & lion dance, atheletics and martial arts. China topped the medal tally winning 48 golds, 25 silvers and 19 bronzes, followed closely by Vietnam with 42 golds, 30 silvers and 22 bronzes whilst Kazakhstan came in third with 21 golds, 16 silvers and 21 bronzes. Malaysia was in 15th place with 3 golds, 5 silvers and 8 bronzes which were won through dragon & lion dance, bowling, petanque and pencak silat (Malay martial arts).

In the dancesport events, medals were awarded for each individual dance. A total of 30 medals - 15 each for ballroom and Latin American were up for grabs. As expected, China and Japan dominated the dancesport events. Vietnam sprang a surprise by clinching third placing in the dancesport medal tally. The results of the dancesport events are:-

China - 5 golds, 2 silvers, 1 bronze

Japan - 3 golds, 2 silvers, 2 bronzes

Vietnam - 2 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze

Korea - 4 silvers, 3 bronzes

Thailand - 1 silver

Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan - 1 bronze each

Are we seeing the emergence of Vietnam as a dancesport rising star in Asia? The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan which was expected to perform well in dancesport could not deliver the goods. At the last games in Macau in 2007, Kazakhstan came in third, bagging 2 golds and 3 silver medals. This time, Kazakhstan could only managed one bronze. Maybe, Kazakhstan did not send their best dancers for this meet. Kyrgyzstan, which lies to the south of Kazakhstan also won a bronze. Like its neighbour Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan also has a sizeable Russian minority. Russians make up 9% or roughly half a million of the country's estimated population of 5.5 million people. Hopefully, the Central Asian countries will be able to bring some excitement and glasnost (publicity) to dancesport in Asia.


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ISTD Chief Executive Visits Malaysia

Julian Amey, Chief Executive of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) UK, recently visited Malaysia to meet with dance teachers and familiarize himself with the local dance scene. While here, Amey also met up with his colleagues Richard Hunt, Vice Chairman of the Modern Ballroom Faculty and Yvonne Taylor-Hill, Chairman of the Disco/Free Style/Rock 'n' Roll Faculty, both of whom had arrived in Malaysia earlier to conduct the ISTD medal tests and dance teacher examinations. A dinner reception in Shah Alam, Selangor was hosted in their honour by Nelly Tsen, the ISTD examination organizer for Malaysia. The function held on October 31 2009 was attended by about 50 dance teachers and those in the dance fraternity.

In his speech, Richard Hunt spoke of the many interesting programmes planned by the ISTD in Malaysia. In the offing was a plan by the ISTD to conduct workshops for dance teachers and students. Another was in getting dance schools here to organize medallist competitions or medallist festivals. Nelly Tsen later informed me that these competitions are strictly for medallists, that is; those who have taken the ISTD medal tests. Medallist festivals offer lots of different events (up to 100 or more is possible) for different age groups of differing grades. The rules and regulations differ slightly from normal ballroom dance competitions. A medallist festival was last organized in Malaysia in 1994 by Tsen and it is hoped that the festival will be revived soon.

Four dance teachers were presented with mementos by the ISTD in recognition of their contributions and efforts in helping to promote dancing in Malaysia. They were:-

1) Chong Kim Yee - Swan Link Dance Studio, Kuala Lumpur

2) Apache Yong - Le Dance Centre, Petaling Jaya

3) John Chong - John's Dance Centre, Kota Kinabalu

4) Maxine Lau - John's Dance Centre, Kota Kinabalu

Nelly Tsen also took the opportunity to announce the election of Lim Sae Min as the new president of the Malaysian Ballroom Dance Teachers Berhad. Lim, the principal of I Dance Studio in Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya takes over from Jimmy Liew who had helmed the association for a good number of years. After dinner and speeches, it was time for socialising, dancing and karaoke till the wee hours of the morning. A wonderful time was had by all. Those who were seen enjoying themselves that evening included George Lim, the president of Malaysian Dancesport Berhad, C C Lai, the president of Kuala Lumpur Dancers' Association and Jimmy Liew, the past president of Malaysian Ballroom Dance Teachers Berhad.

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