Blitzers take the 10th Cheer Championship

What a weekend! The atmosphere at the Cheer 2009 cheerleading championships, organised by R.AGE, was electrifying as always. It was our 10th anniversary this year and what made it most joyous for me is that a new team won! Not that I have anything against the old teams winning but only four teams had previously won, so it’s nice to celebrate 10 with something new.

The new team is SMK Bandar Utama’s Blitzers who were, if you ask me, very deserving. They weren’t my favourites (but then again, I’m not a judge so I’m not the best person to comment on skill and techniques) but I did think that they did really well. My favourite move they had was their two flags:

The started out at opposite ends and when they cross paths, thats when it reads:

Blitz Out! I loved it!

I didn’t have my camera with me on day one, other than my phone camera, so most of the shots are from Day 2. There were a few of my new blogger/Twitter friends who showed up and were nice enough to say hi (from left) – Mynjayz, DilaAriff, Bryanlyt and GuaiChaiKid.

The whole event was hosted by Jien, who returned for the eighth (ninth?) time. It’s been an extreme pleasure having him, and it was nice to catch up this weekend too. His co- host this year (my, he’s had a few partners hasn’t he? heh) was Jeremy Teo from Red FM, a really nice guy!

At one point, Jien and Jeremy (Double J?) borrowed my hat so that some supporters could perform a Michael Jackson tribute dance. There was a lot of Michael Jackson on Day 2 because the hosts thought a 10th year final should be a bit retrospective – so there was some Abba, Take That and of course, MJ. But truth be told, any mention of Michael Jackson sent the crowd wild, so it was most appropriate.

I too joined in of course, and attempted to do a Michael Jackson move. I succeeded of course, with a bit of help from some friends like Jeremy and Ian. ;o)

Ian spent a good part of the two days watching over the BRATs who I had called in to do live reporting of the event, the first time we were doing it. They Twittered live on @starbrats (Sharmila and I were Twittering from @thestar_rage instead) and posted blogs every now and then at R.AGE Online (there are videos too). Good job guys.

Of course, the event being a youth event, the whole desk was there, including our intern Max (and part-timer Max 2). Here’s one shot for the album – from left: Ivy, Ian, Melody, Nasa, Myself, Sharmila and Max 1.

At the end of the evening, after the winners were announced (and a speech from Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who earlier sportingly joined in the Thriller dance with the rest of the stadium), we had a special 10th year anniversary concert featuring the likes of Dafi, Love Me Butch and Deja Voodoo Spells. One Buck Shots also performed (picture of my friend Rahul below) as did Bittersweet (who we met in Ipoh during BRATs).

It was a tiring weekend, but really, the intensity and energy there always makes it worth it. Then there are the teams who did so well, and others, who have such an amazing spirit like the Mantin Boys and Girls, and my favourite below – the Pirates who looked like they were enjoying themselves so much even if they didn’t win. They won for Best Showmanship though, and were the only al-boys team to win a prize yesterday.

1.05am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Tags: bittersweet, blitzers, brats, cheer 2009, datuk ahmad shabery cheek, jeremy teo, kui jien, Michael Jackson, one buck short, pirates, R.AGE, red fm