UAAP cheer dance: FEU steals thunder from favorites

Everybody was expecting favored bets from titlist University of the Philippines or even perennial contender University of Sto. Tomas to dispute top honors. Instead it was the Pep Squad from host Far Eastern University which grabbed the spotlight and romped off with the title in the 2009 UAAP Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition Sunday at the Big Dome. The FEU cheerdancers rode on the wings of their “Sarimanok" (a mythical bird with colorful wings and feathered tail) concept, accompanied by the classical theme of Season 72, to cop their first crown in 11 years and end UP's two-year dominance. “Nagbunga naman ang limang buwan na preparation namin. We adopted the Sarimanok concept which is the theme for this season and we just wanted to have a healthy competition," said FEU team captain Venmar Cudag, whose team finished third last year. “Nasunod naman nila ang lahat ng specifics sa routine namin, the highlight of it was the Sarimanok finale," he added. The 25-member FEU Pep Squad got a grade of 86.1 percent from the panel of judges to win the prestigious crown for cheerleaders and bag the P225,000 top prize. It was truly a day for the “underdogs" as the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion danced its way to second place with 83.4 percent, marking its first Top 3 finish since the event started in 1994. Main highlights of the Blue Babble’s performance was the “Moonwalk" routine, executed to the tune of pop great Michael Jackson’s music, as well as liftings to the music of alternative band Coldplay. “Our goal for this year was to pull through with our routine," said Ateneo team captain Sari Campos, who was also awarded the Samsung Stunner award for her beauty and sparkling presence. “We in the Blue Babble are not veering away from the traditional routines, we wanted to go through the sign of the times," added the Blue Babble beauty, whose team netted P140,000 for placing second. The favored UP Pep Squad, which used a “UP Ikot" jeep as props, suffered a flat tire and engine breakdown in its bid for a “three-peat." After two straight titles, the cheer dancers from Diliman could only finish third with 83.1 percent, a placing worth P90,000. Conspicuously missing from the honor roll was the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, owner of the league record with eight titles in all. The dancers from España Blvd. fell out of the Top 3 for the first time since 1994. The pep squads were judged by a panel composed of Dr. Sylvia Chua, president and founder of the Cheerleading Association of the Philippines; Powerdance artistic director Douglas Nierras; Evan Alvia, president of Pilipinas Cheerleading Federation; Joy Garcia Valenton, national judge from the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines; and Al Hasegawa, international judge from the Foundation of Japan Cheerleading Association. The cheerdance competition served as appetizer to next week's UAAP basketball Final Four which features defending champion and top seed Ateneo against No. 4 ranked UST and second seed FEU versus No. 3 University of the East in the seniors division. - GMANews.TV