Her Time to Shine: GELA ATAYDE

It is her time to shine!

Gela Atayde just got back from battling at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships together with their crew "Legit Status" for the MegaCrew division. They emerged CHAMPIONS and represented the country well in the US (Phoenix, Arizona) versus 54 other groups in the prestigious tilt.

Talking to her, I felt how Gela knows herself. She isn't pressured about her status in show business being part of the Atayde family. Her Mom Ms. Sylvia Sanchez was always someone who pushed her to go after her passions, and not be persuaded to prove herself. Seeing her brother Congressman Arjo and sister Ria to have to do that during their start was a learning experience, that she didn't have to do that and just do things at her own pace. When she saw her Mom giving a message about her recent achievements, she immediately looked at her back, and we saw her cry. She was just reminded on how much her Mom and Dad supported her all these years. Her Mom never forced her into show business, but always was there to encourage her in any thing she wants to do with the words "Kaya Mo Yan Nak!".  She also said how even if her Dad wasn't much of a talker, he was on camera this time and really said things that moved her. Her new Sister in Law Maine Mendoza was also so happy about her recent achievements, and felt the love when they were featured in a video prepared for her during the press conference.

Here's a few scenes from the presser a few days ago:

She was actually okay if fitted with a title especially if it's about dance because she wants this particular art form to be something that Filipinos would love. As for love teams, she's okay to be paired up for a show but rather not a permanent one. She can do it much like what Congressman Arjo and Ria did, and if the time comes to have a very serious relationship, we got the gist that she prefers to do it in proper time... and with someone non-showbiz. 

Gela is also part of the cast of the new ABSCBN youth oriented show Senior High which stars Andrea Brillantes (doing a dual role). The show will premiere on August 28th, so make sure you check out what Gela has up her sleeves in this new series. Together with them are former child stars Zaijian Jaranilla, Xyriel Manabat, Gameboy's Elijah Canlas, Gold Squad's Kyle Echarri, singer-rocker Juan Karlos, Daniela Stranner, and her mom Ms. Sylvia Sanchez. 

This is Gela's time to shine, make sure you watch her shows because she's just starting! Congratulations Gela and the whole Legit Status crew for being hailed champs!

ADIDAS Laced Up Tour 2012 Event!

Of course I had to wear my Adidas!

Armed with my Star Wars edition Adidas I went to Time in Makati Avenue last week to get a feel of what's up with the urban scene once more. I gladly went in and saw a different crowd, which this time was almost all full blooded dancers. I wanted to join but I had to see this first, this is the Adidas Laced Up Event!

Awesome moves, bboy just came alive inside Time. The laced up event is a battle of 15 best dancers in the metro and sure enough we were treated to see some great men and women that just exude how it feels to wear Adidas. It first started with 5 competitors. Each round having to choose one person, then on the last one there will be three finalists.

TIME in Makati Avenue was quite nice. The guys probably had great after performing stunts one after another because this cozy venue was rocking with the best hits by world class DJ's that Adidas got for all of us who adore the lifestyle this brand brings.

Everyone brought their shoes along. There were different designs, colors and combinations that I haven't seen yet so it was a treat to see them there too.

And the ladies even got busier as the night progresses. They didn't really show care if the other competitors were guys. They are giving them a run for their money and title.

Hosts were awesome. They knew what we were up to. There were different artists doing different things. Hip hop, street, popping, crumping, I had my share of educating too because some of these guys were doing things that I haven't seen before being done by Filipino peeps. Although they came from the US, Japan or anywhere else in the world they were doing their routines this time as Filipinos and they are damn good at it. After they were divided to three groups of five and they chose 1 rep on each group, the three finalists were out and they definitely made remarkable achievements just by winning their group. Some of them were really good just in that phase.

And it wasn't easy because I saw some competitors were from Philippine All Stars. No joke!

Who won?

The finalists had only a few minutes rest but they gave out their all. It resulted to another round of dance because they couldn't decide who should win. Then after all the drama...

This guy got third place =)

This guy got second =)

This guy worked his butt off and yes he WON Adidas Laced Up! =)

Now that's what you get when you are "Laced Up!"... so now it's your turn to check out Adidas and Adidas Originals stores and do the same.

For more information about Adidas =)

Like them on Facebook!

adidas Philippines

Party University 3: The Aftermath!

It was one awesome evening for music. It was one hell of a party. I had fun watching these guys dance their hearts out. It was my first time to also see quite a phenomenal BBOY battle in the Philippines and DJ's making real music like they were supposed to. I'll have to cut to the chase because this will be another photo heavy article but you'll definitely LOVE what you'll see when I went to PARTY UNIVERSITY 3!

For starters, I don't think I saw every single dance number but the ones I did catch were damn great!

This one was a little reminiscent of Showtime dance crews. They had comedy parts on this last bit. 

This is Xtreme Connection, where this kid was flying literally. We also had a few laughs when these guys stripped naked, well almost LOL! 

These guys were called Choreo Masters, funky but a bit boring since there were only two kids screaming and cheering them on. Honestly they won't win with this number.

 

Techno Jazz was quite awesome! These flying all gay group kept twisting and turning like a dead carcass. It was unbelievable! These guys are veterans I'm sure since they won a weekly finals spot in showtime. That maybe a drawback though because the contest might have called for something urban/hiphop.

Royalties had some cute ones, but overall the dance steps were not too complex and with the contest calling for a higher level of competition this wasn't that bad but not to great either. I had a booboo on the next crew and they were Crewlab, I think because I watched their performance I forgot to take a photo of them. They were like professionals with a clear street urban vibe. They were really in sync and felt like they've been doing this for a long time; it ended a little weak though. I even thought they were special guests LOL

Now what a treat to see these awesome guys in that event! This intermission number by LDP who had quite a number fast rappers just made me love this genre a little more. I saw Joseph Emara of Beatbox Philippines had a hard time doing his thing but when the rest of the guys joined in I was at awe! The guy called Abra raps so fast my jaw dropped. Rj was like a white guy, with his tone you'll end up mistaking him with nick lache... it was smooth. I love these guys.

As you can see this event was sponsored by the good looking people from urban athletics. These guys are awesome! I felt so good spending time with these people. (Ambait sobra!)

The competition started again. Streetcrew4 was quite good but felt something was missing. I just can't pinpoint what, but they were very in sync. I saw on this bit that some other sponsors on the floor like Wip caps and Pioneer Dj were mentioned. I want to have one of those headphones soon. =)

Honestly I couldn't move around that much because the place was packed! As you can see this is just a part of the place and the judges are in the middle of that chaos somewhere LOL. I'm sure they had the same feeling I had when people were getting thrown into the air haha!

Pinoy Hiphop had a very street vibe and their athleticism was quite evident but their costume was reminiscent of my boyscout uniform in highschool... Oh wait that is my uniform LOL! They had swag and moves were very complicated technically very badass skills.

 

 Join The Quest had a few theatrics in the beginning, I thought I was in showtime but the girl they had with them was awesome and did every single move the guys did, maybe even better but I don't think they were first timers judging from how they presented it. The stage looked too small for them.

E Stars had several sync problems and it wasn't that much for show, they were quite not technically at par with the frontrunners but good attempt on the pyramid plus their version of the gyrating booties. They cleaned it up on the latter part of the dance. 

Fusion had a kpop - robotic - classy - urban number and the kid that was with them was uber cute! It was probably a good decision to include this kid there. The crew had nice acrobatics overall.

Judging from the reaction of the crowd, these ladies are famous. Their group's name is PAGFA. They had some pretty nice members, all ladies. And oh boy they were hottttt! They had some sync problems but the amount of booty and splits made up for it. Plus they do stunts on heels that made me feel Missy Elliot would hire them right now.

Unschool also performed fresh from their win in Australia, they represented the Philippines there. And they really had swagger, I guess that's the reason they are guests here and made a good impression with the crowd.

 

Jay Masta and Peeps from Philippine All Stars were judging the BBOY competition, I saw them doing their thing at the back and I'm not surprised why people were closely watching them. You get respected here when you dance well. There were that good! It was also nice to see MC Dash keeping the crowd alive. This guy is just so good he deserves his own album! Did you already get a copy of it? =)

It was one of the most well attended parties I've ever been in. These guys know what they were doing. The crowd, the ambiance and everything on stage was awesome!

The BBOY Competition started!

Judges stood on the center whilst crews were on the right. When you win a round you stand on the left side of the stage. This was when it gets so competitive!

This last one where you see the guy flying was one of a few things that these BBOY artists did on the floor. He eventually won. Imagine the painstaking things they did to achieve one move after another, it was something I'd only see on dance battles outside the country. I honestly didn't know we have something like this on our own backyard!

I didn't get to stay that long for the DJ battle but I've got the list of winners here!

URBAN ATHLETICS' THROWDOWN DANCE COMPETITION

Champion: Pinoy HipHop (Php 25,000 cash and Pioneer Steez Type-S)
1st Runner-Up: Next To Innocence (Php 10,000 cash)
2nd Runner-Up: Fusion (Php 5,000 cash)

WIP CAP'S 7 To Smoke B-Boy Battle

B-Boy JOLO (Php 5,000 cash, Wip Cap and Pioneer Headphone)

PIONEER DIGITAL DJ BATTLE

 TOP 3 (Will advance to the Finals on August 14 at Prive)

(Prizes-- Pioneer H-DJ 500 Headphones each)
DJ Jeff Almighty
DJ Cklaze
DJ Jeff Almighty

Congratulations and I wish the guys who's going to win on August 14 a greater battle for the best DJ in town! I'm so happy the scenes getting bigger and better, I'll try and be there next time we have something like this! Thank you also to sponsors Urban Athletics, Wip Caps and Pioneer DJ! Here's to awesomeness and more of the urban and hiphop scene right here on my site! ;)