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POLE IDOL is geared to promote pole dancing as the new phenomenon in dance and fitness. This acrobatic sport, undeniably a beautiful art form, has recently captured the interest of many Malaysian women as well as men. This competition is therefore an exciting event for all, but essentially an eye-opener!
The Pole Idol champion will represent Malaysia to compete at the upcoming Asian Pole Summit in Singapore this November.
Over RM10,000 worth of cash and prizes to be won!
LIVE AUDITIONS : Oct9 & Oct10, 2009
For those who wish to participate in the competition, please contact TIME OUT KL magazine at Tel: +6 03-2166 6650 or Maple Loo of The Hanging Garden at mapleloo@gmail.com
As for the rest, come and enjoy the show!
Jointly organised by Expatriate Lifestyle, Time-Out KL, and The Hanging Garden - a prestigious pole school in Malaysia - the competition followed the well-known format of American Idol. The three permanent judges were Sam Coleman (Executive Editor of Expatriate Lifestyle magazine), Lim Chee Wah (Editor of Time Out Kuala Lumpur magazine) and Maple Loo-Asaro, the main judge, and the most famous pole artiste and instructor in Malaysia, founder of The Hanging Garden.
POLE IDOL kicked off on Oct 9 and Oct 10, two live audition nights at KLs latest hip high-end venue NEO Global Tapas Restaurant and Luxe Lounge. And then same venue hosted this weekends Grand Final, as hundreds of pole fans and curious onlookers came to see what pole dancing is really all about and who would be crowned the Pole Idol 2009 grand champion.
A total of 11 finalists were chosen to compete on 24 Oct 2009 :
Naoko Enomoto - Japan
Samantha Lee - Singapore
Adam Tan - Malaysia
Chia Wei Hong - Singapore
Chin Jin Jin - Malaysia
Charlene Leong - Singapore
Loh Wei Jun - Malaysia
Jessy Eng - Malaysia
Esther Ng - Singapore
Judy Wan - Malaysia
Liew Yen Shan (Nana) - Malaysia
The Pole Idol grand champion, Naoko Enomoto, took home the title together with RM3,000 cash, a vacation at the boutique property JapaMala Resort in Tioman Island, a complimentary workshop package conducted by Bobbi from the world-famous Bobbi Pole Studio, Australia at the upcoming Asian Pole Summit in Singapore and a hamper by Tripo-X and a voucher from A Cut Above. Naoko will also compete at the Asian Pole Summit competition in April 2010.
1st Runner Up is Samantha Lee from Singapore who went home with RM1,500 cash and a hamper from Tripo-X plus a voucher from A Cut Above.
Chee Wah loved Samanthas performance, praising her for cleverly fusing lyrical contemporary dance and pole, Shes the only contestant who demonstrated a routine on both the static and spinning pole. She did it with such an interesting articulation of her piece fusing strong modern dance elements into it.
2nd Runner Up is Adam Tan from Malaysia. He took home RM1,000 cash and a hamper from Tripo-X plus a voucher from A Cut Above. I think when you see a hip hop guy doing a routine on a pole and being utterly amazing at it, that makes you realise that pole dancing is not this sleazy Las Vegas thing. Its an art, its a viable dance form, said Sam Coleman.
The grand finals panel of judges also included the soul queen of Malaysia, Ning Baizura who loves pole dancing herself and has been training at The Hanging Garden under Maple Loo. Im really impressed by the quality of the performances by these finalists. Pole Idol was set with very high standards hence the competition was tough, really tough. But not only did these finalists live it up, they enjoyed every minute of it. Thats great spirit.
