Mark, Chynna and JC, Yasmien in celebrity dance showdown

MANILA, Philippines - All roads lead to the final dance showdown on June 7, 2009, as Mark Herras and Chynna Ortaleza beat fellow GMA Kapuso stars JC Tiuseco and Yasmien Kurdi in the last qualifying round of Audition Celebrity Dance Battle, the first ever dance competition based on an online game. Nationwide viewers of S.O.P., GMA7’s Sunday afternoon concert party, were in full force, supporting their favorite Celebrity Audistas as text votes for both teams poured in. Scores of the judges were combined with the text votes to determine the winner of Audition Celebrity Dance Battle. The pair of Mark and Chynna will be up against Rainier Castillo and Ryza Cenon, who beat Vaness Del Moral and Dominic Roco during the 1st qualifying round last May 24. The pair’s winning competition piece consisted of Capoeira and lifting moves. “We’re excited to be in the final dance showdown! Chynna and I have worked so hard to put on a great performance, not just because of our love for dancing but even more since we have a charity partner," Mark said. The winning pair in the grand finals will receive P100,000, half of which will go to charity partner, IP Foundation. The healthcare beneficiary of IP Foundation is Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics (FVSC), which operates the largest chain of privately run vaccination clinics in the Philippines, with 30 clinics across 17 provinces nationwide. Each celebrity pair will sponsor one FVSC clinic and a beneficiary family. “This is the first time Mark and I are competing in a dance competition for charity. We will do all that we can to win, because seriously, our inspiration is our beneficiary family," Chynna said. The pair also bonded with the beneficiaries, who have attended rehearsals and were present during the show to show support for their celebrity partner. Audition Celebrity Dance Battle was launched in S.O.P. last May 17 and is based on the highly popular online game Audition Dance Battle, developed by T3 Entertainment in Korea and published locally by X-Play Online Games Inc. (X-Play), a joint venture between IP E-Games Ventures Inc. (E-Games) and GMA New Media Inc. (GMA-NMI). Besides being the online unit of GMA Network Inc., GMA-NMI is the parent company of Media Merge Corp., the company that runs GMANews.TV. Celebrity Audistas perform dance moves inspired by the online game. The actual game graphics flashed on TV and the colorful Korean pop costumes of the contestants were also adapted from the game. Jason Tomas, Product Manager for Audition Dance Battle, said that the entire gaming community is incredibly excited about who will be named as the first ever Ultimate Celebrity Audista pair. An “Audista" is a player of Audition Dance Battle, the leading online dance game in the Philippines with millions of registered users worldwide. “Our gamers have been so thrilled about this because we’re finally taking online gaming mainstream via S.O.P., GMA7’s top rating Sunday musical variety show," says Tomas. For more information, visit www.sop.clubaudition.com.ph and www.clubaudition.com.ph. - GMANews.TV