Let’s Dance finale
Nova, Elect, Vibes gun for N15m
Edited by: TOSIN AJIRIRE
Saturday, May 16, 2009
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•The
contestants
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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They got verve and passion for dance. And in the past couple
of weeks, they’ve raised the tempo of dance to the highest
level. Dancing their way to fame and fortune, it’s now
time to reap in the reality TV show tagged, Let’s Dance
Nigeria.
The grand prize is 80, 000 US Dollars (N15 million) put forward
by the show’s headline sponsor, Verve, the Pan-African
chip and PIN card powered by InterSwitch. But come tomorrow,
who will smile to the bank among Nova, Elect and Vibes, the
three dance couples in the finals of Let’s Dance?
One thing is certain.
From the classic Latino ballroom to Afro-fusion, hip-hop,
swange or the Nigerian stomp to the jive, the winning couple
must have the moves, the chemistry and, of course, the public
votes.
It’s a long road to the grand finale. 48 couples chosen
by choreographers from audition tapes from all six regions
had kick started the competition in March.
Every week, for four consecutive weeks, nine couples were
asked to pack their dancing shoes and head home. After the
mass eviction, a couple got evicted weekly. But on Sunday
night, Nigeria’s best dance couple will take all the
love, the glory and the cash. All this will come live on DStv’s
channel 102.
Last week, M-Net audiences watched as the dancing duo, Style
stumbled out of the competition just a week before the all
important finale as they failed to gather enough votes from
viewers and were eliminated from the show.
This week, the couples performed four times each, testing
their skills in the fast-moving jive, a hip-hop number, an
improvised routine to music they had never heard before –
which turned out to be samba - and traditional Nigerian dances.
The couples were offered the chance to hear the music for
their improvised dance just once, before taking to the floor,
one after the other, to perform their best ‘instant’
samba routine! The judges felt that this was an ideal test
of the couples’ improvisational skills and took a few
to task over the repetition of moves from previous dances.
The judges were almost overwhelmingly impressed, praising
Nova for the innovative storytelling of their choreography,
Vibes for their sense of fun and Elect for being “good
enough”.
The hip hop dances had the audience – and the judges
– dancing along! The couples were roundly praised for
their attitude, movement, dynamics and quality of their choreography.
Only Elect fell short in the judges’ estimation after
failing to keep time with the music. The traditional dances
rounded out a full show, with Vibes drawing purring praises
from the judges for their renditions of Akoto and Urhobo dances,
while Nova and Elect were scolded for their lack of finesse
during their Akoto and Eu Odun dances.
Tomorrow, the contestants will again dance four times, tackling
the Argentine tango, salsa, another improvised dance and the
traditional Nigerian dances. So, who carries the day among
the three remaining couples on Let’s Dance?
To vote for your favourite couple, text their group name to
32355 or log on to the website www.mnetafrica.com. Votes are
verified by the auditing firm of Alexander Forbes. The winners
– chosen completely by voting viewers – will take
home USD 50, 000, the second-placed couple would earn USD
20, 000 while the third-placed couple receive USD 10, 000.
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