The day started off not quite the way I liked it. I had to get up early and - of all things - go to work. No, my boss is not a slave driver. She's actually had to postpone this appointment which was supposed to be held last Saturday (that's right - on Bangi competition day) in view of my competition but she could postpone it no further. But she's very understanding, and in fact picked me up from my office to go to the appointment place; and after lunch she dropped me off directly in front of the venue of my competition that day, which is at Berjaya Times Square Hotel. She even wanted to buy me some egg tarts and it was all I could do, telling her it was not necessary.
I had already been exhausted from the past week, not having enough sleep, and my body not fully recovered from the Bangi competition. I tried pumping myself up with some ginseng and some vitamin B complex.
It is the Finals of the Nestle Dance For Your Heart Fest... I was in the finals for both my individual (youth) and team (youth) categories. I had to do my individuals first - 2 dances (Cool Whip, and Cobra) before my team event.
The agenda was as such:
1st Dance
- Senior (51 years and above)
- Junior (15 years and below)
- Youth (16 - 29 years)
- Adult (30 - 50 years)
2nd Dance
- Senior
- Junior
- Youth
- Adult
Team
- Senior
- Junior
- Youth
- Adult
I'm sad to say that... I screwed up my first dance terribly. I knew it myself and I know a lot of people think that too. The moment I stepped off the floor, my coach (who was one of the judges at the competition, although she did not judge my event as I was one of her students) asked me if I was ok, because I looked really dead on the floor. I flew off to pump myself with even more ginseng and vitamin B, and my teammates had to calm me down. Helen actually made me sit down and she hugged me and told me to relax and breathe slowly. I was nearly in tears given my horrible performance. Thank God for such a supportive team, I don't know what I would have done without them.
As I warmed myself up trying to get into the right frame of mind for the next dance, to my horror I found my muscles absolutely fatigued and not responding to what I want. So one of my teammates (who was not competing), Hui Koon took me out of the noisy hall into a waiting area outside so that I could get my mind relaxed. Thank goodness there was time between my first and second dance for me to recompose myself. I did much better in the second dance, although it was not as good as I had done in the Bangi competition.
I had given up hope on my individual category, but I was determined that I would not be the one to bring my team down. One of my teammates, Catherine, was really sweet; she tried to help me calm my nerves during our warm-up session. I think she could really see how frazzled I was.
My team did spectacularly, especially Catherine, who really went out. Catherine has always felt she was one of the weaker ones because the improvement in her dancing over the past year was not as marked as the rest of us, but my coach said that during our show, she really went all out and she was really wonderful, in spite of a slight mistake. My coach says that Catherine is the real star of the day. I'm really glad for her because I know that comment means so much to her, and she really deserves to be in the spotlight for a change.
Dinner was not a very memorable event. You'd have expected a whole lot more for RM70. It's not even worth mentioning here. I'm going to skip this whole bit.
However halfway eating a tiny fruit tart (after stuffing myself happily with the miserable selections) I heard my name and another girl's called out and something about a rematch. I remember that I just dropped the half-eaten fruit tart and ran over to the emcee console asking him to repeat his announcement. He explained that another girl and I had tied for a placing and that we needed to dance again to decide the new placing.
"What, NOW?!" I asked.
"Yes" was his reply.
"I can't dance now! I've just eaten!"
Fortunately right at that moment Bronya (my coach) came up and so did the other girl, Vivian Khoo. Vivian also said that she's just eaten her fill and there's no way she could dance immediately. Bronya then told the emcee that they had to give the two of us time to digest and get warmed up.
"Is 10 minutes ok?" he asked.
"Obviously not! They need half an hour at least."
"But the prize-giving is supposed to be in 15 minutes. Unless we delay the prize-giving..."
"Yes, you have no choice."
Thank goodness for such a strong voice like Bronya. Otherwise I might be in the hospital until today being treated for appendicitis.
So we were given a half-hour preparation time, which Bronya advised the both of us touched up my make-up and at Bronya's advice, changed back into my black jeans (I had worn all black for my individual, and all white for my team) although I stayed with the white top. I was frankly annoyed at having to dance again and wished I didn't eat so much, but Catherine kept saying, "Think of this as a positive thing. You can get a placing!!!" She's such a lovely, positive person.
Of course, for me, I was saying silly negative things. We didn't know what placing I was tied for, so I kept saying, "It's probably for third. I know I'm not good enough to get first" to which everyone shushed me. But hey, I know that I was not at my peak performance and I was only being realistic.
We danced for about two minutes, and I really went all out. Apparently I did better than in my actual dance; I was in a better frame of mind, and my moves were much sharper. And thank GOODNESS they picked Cobra for the rematch! If it were Cool Whip, I'd have just DIED!!!! Honestly though, Vivian was a really good dancer in her own right. I think it was really, really close. She kept losing her wall though; I know because I have heard the song so many times that I know exactly when to do what. I just don't know if the judges knew that, because some of the judges weren't line dance teachers.
Anyway, prize announcement.... when it came to my category, for 3rd placing, at first the emcee wanted to say my name, but then changed to Vivian. And as he was about to read out the 2nd placing, all of us who were there in a huddle were praying and almost holding our breath, and....
"HOO SZE YEN!!!"
I think we may have screamed the whole place down. I know it's only second placing but for me it was really unexpected, given the terrible performance I gave and the lack of energy I had in my dancing. It's hard for me to dissect later, because we weren't allowed any videocameras in and I could not review my dancing. I kept asking my coach who although agreed my dancing was not at its best, but she said that a lot of other things count other than energy levels; things like technique and footwork. I must have practised Cobra so many times that in spite of my lack of energy, the technique and footwork just carried me through.
Well, first placing went to someone no one else had noticed on the floor. But obviously she must have been noticed by the judges because she won.
When it came to the team announcements, we were in an even tighter huddle. We knew we deserved to win, but we hoped the results were not biased as the other team in our category (there were only 2 teams then; there were supposed to be 4 altogether but 2 pulled out) was trained by the advisor of the said competition. The moment the results were announced, our screams must have been the loudest ever the whole hall has heard. We got champions! We got champions! WE CHAMPED THE TEAM EVENT!!!
I think the whole hall must have recognised me by then. I've been on the floor more often than any of the dancers. In fact, before finals results announcement, they were giving out top performer prizes for semi-finals, and somehow I just KNEW that my team would win our category. And sure enough, we won that prize.
I'm still on a high. I really am. I'm proud of my team. And selfishly, I'm proud of my achievements. I was and still am totally shocked that I could even get a placing in the top 3. I was probably one of the oldest in that category, and there are plenty of young and very talented dancers in my category which I thought I could not even hope to match or touch. I'm surprised I beat them, what more with my completely dismal Cool Whip (which I hope never to dance again). The girl who got top performer for semi-finals in my category didn't get any placing, which must have been quite a blow for her. But hah! I don't care! I won! I won! It's 2nd placing, but I still won something!
After that, all of us (except Ellyn) went to Qba at Westin Hotel to party and dance ourselves silly. For the first time in my life I actually got drunk, although I was still clear-headed enough to remember what I was doing, and able to keep time with my feet when one of my friends tested me by singing "We Will Rock You". I just couldn't walk straight, Bronya had to walk me. I remember throwing up, luckily before I got into the car. Ugh! Fortunately I wasn't driving; Hui Koon drove me home. I just rolled myself into bed that night. What a horrible experience. I never want to go through that again. I don't understand how anyone could drink themselves silly and throw up and get hangovers and ... repeat this every weekend.
Thankfully I didn't get a hangover the next morning, probably because everything got thrown up. However, I did have a pleasant Sunday with Bronya and Helen, by going to get my hair properly done. For the first time in my life, my hair actually looks manageable. No one could recognise me from the back. That messy thing that used to sit on my head is not there anymore!
Wow. What a weekend. I seemed to be finding some 'fans', and finding long-lost friends among the audience. A lady I met at the Dance Option competition who had recognised me from my friendly competition in Sg Way last year was there in Bangi, and she was there again in Nestle and came over to me both times to congratulate me. One of my neighbours who used to send me to school when I was a child called my mom up on Sunday to find out if I was the one who won the Nestle competition. And this is not a fan, but one of the most talented dancers from Penang actually told me that I did a good job, although I told her I think it was horrible, but thank you (this was just after the first time I did Cobra, right before my team event). FYI few people would actually stop to make comments like this, unless they really meant it. And my 'rival' from Bangi was there to watch (she didn't participate), and she was most encouraging whenever I went on the floor. She kept flashing me the thumbs-up and was very supportive with her claps and cheers.
I am still on a high. I really am!
