So You ThinkYou Can Dance Malaysia 2 - Top 18

The show which was held on June 12 was telecast live from Ruums, KL and was hosted by the bubbly Aishah Sinclair. The judges were Pat Ibrahim, Judimar Hernandez and the very lovely Linda Jasmine who stood in for Ramli Ibrahim who was unable to make it this time.The placard-carrying audience was boisterous and you could see many uncles and aunties in the crowd. I guess they were there to support their favourite contestants whom I believe also happen to be their children.

Last week 18 contestants were chosen to go to the next round. This time the contestants were paired off with each other again except for Sly and Zef who are partnering each other this time as their previous partners were eliminated in the previous round. The names of the couples and the dances they had to perform were:-

1) Belalang & Jorida - Modern Contemporary

2) Raymond & Jojo - Broadway

3) Sly & Zef - Afro Cuban Contemporary

4) Hanafi & Sim - Lyrical Jazz

5) Ray & Cecilia - Mambo

6) Fai & Zen - Malay Contemporary

7) Chee Wei & Sam - Hip Hop

8) Hong & Sarah - Malay Contemporary

9) Black & Farah - Hip Hop/Salsa

Many of the dances performed were of the contemporary genre. Surprisingly there were no Ballroom and Latin American dances in this round. Could it be these style of dances were too difficult for the contestants to attempt?

Most of the contestants danced fairly well and were appropriately attired for their performances. However you could see that a couple of them appeared tense, nervous or just plain tired. They were not fluid in their moves, made mistakes and could not express the joy of dancing. One contestant in particular put on a long face! That's a big No-No in competitive dancing. Whatever it is, you must show to the judges and the audience that you really enjoy dancing and must be able exude that joy well in your body movements and facial expressions.

My vote for the Best Couple is a tie between couple number 4, Hanafi & Sim who did a lyrical jazz piece and couple number 9, Black & Farah who danced a hip hop/salsa mix. "The best so far, bravo, excellent" were some of the comments made by the judges for couple number 4. As for couple number 9, the judges were equally lavish in their praises with remarks such as "entertaining, perfect, what a performance!".

The Bottom 6 chosen by the judges were Cecilia, Ray, Zen, Chee Wei, Sarah and Fai. After doing their "Dance For Survival" the lines were opened for the audience and television viewers to cast their votes by sms. Fai and Zen did not make it to the next round. Tears were seen flowing on their faces and many of their supporters in the audience very equally moved to tears. Hope we will see more exciting performances instead of the usual contemporary and hip hop stuff next week. In my next post, I will write on how dance competitions are judged.

Best Wishes,

Dance Aficionado

Dancesport Malaysia