Cheer 2009 Day One

Talk Bits: I really should get to sleep now as I am totally aching all over and my eyes are already half closed. After leaving Cheer 09 today, I rushed to The Gardens Mall via LRT and taxi to catch Terminator with family. Guess what? I got there even earlier than them -.- I have heard many bad reviews about how sucky Terminator: Salvation was and braced myself for the worst. Surprisingly, I liked it enough but not enough to love it. So, it got me thinking how much a role does expectations play in one's opinions? More on that thought later. x

It's back again, BIGGER and BETTER. Cheer 2009 and celebrating their 10th year anniversary too! I was helping out with The Star BRATs/Rage so I took the LRT and got to Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil at 9am plus. Bumped into Alex on the train and then Editor Ivy later on. It's a small world at Cheer 09. Anyways, we got there, set our bags down and got to work! We were given access to the "restricted area" where we sat and worked on our stuff.

View from our spot. Awesomeness. Headed to the judges' table at one point.

Initially, Alex and I were working on talking heads (quotes from team captains) but upon seeing Niki Cheong lugging the video camera, we felt multimedia was more of our thang (more fun too). We interviewed, got footage and edited all under 2 hours. Not too bad if I could say so for myself! (for the first time of live live everything la..)

Alex. He still finishes my food :D

The whole day was basically all about assignments and the soles of my feet were sore from all the walking around... interviewing... directing... etc. Nevertheless, the cheerleading routines were entertaining and fantastic. Our standard is really getting better and better as each year goes by and the meticulous judges help improve it. They're very particular about hands by the side, legs together and basically, presence on the mat. I found one judges comment quite strange though: "I hope to see more natural smiles". Say eeee :D

Filled with work, Ivy and Marigold juice.

Ugh, I've had enough marigold juice to last me a lifetime. They're the co-sponsor and there were free cartons everywhere! Anyways, the emcees, Jien and Jeremy were hilarious although Jien's jokes were terrible in the beginning and initially, it was evident that Jeremy was a bit nervous and was pretty new at this. Jien has done this for 10 years now me thinks and this is Jeremy's first.

This is Mark.

Falcons supporters.

The supporters were great or from what I saw anyways. The energy was amazing and the buzz of excitement never died down which could be led back to the emcees. One question though, with all the "dance off" games the emcees play, why is everyone gyrating/dry humping? -.- Like literally, EVERYONE. Anywyas, There were 2 BRATs in Cheer 09 this year... one of them is the Captain of Sellors, St. Mary!

Esther Lian ya'll.

...and the other was Michelle from the Titans YEAH who got first place today btw and a very well deserved one at that. Their routine was flawless and probably one of the very few whose pyramid did not falter nor did they stumble. Stunts were superbly amazing, full of creativity and precise with each beat of the song. Can't wait to catch them again tomorrow!

I'm so tired that I can't type anymore. Catch me on Twitter, follow @sandoi. See you guys at Cheer 2009 tomorrow ;)