Dance With Celebs
Posted by admin on October 19th, 2008
(From left) Awal, Linda and Fahrin as hosts.
Couples take to the dance floor in Season Two of the local adaptation of a popular foreign reality show. HIZREEN KAMAL writes on the new contestants of Sehati Berdansa.
WHEN local television actress Amyza Aznan celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary recently with her technician husband Khairil Izhar Mohd Nazir, she did not ask for a present.
Instead, her only wish was that Khairil agree to participate in Astro Ria’s highly rated reality show Sehati Berdansa (Season 2).
Adapted from an international TV programme, it features celebrity couples competing against one another on the dance floor.
“I told him (Khairil) that since I was not asking any gift from him, he should just agree to any other request I made. And he said ‘yes’.
“That’s when I dropped the bombshell – that we were participating in the show,” she said, giggling.
The couple is one of 10 husband-and-wife teams who will be taking part in Sehati Berdansa, which crowned actress Vanida Imran and actor husband Rashidi Ishak as champions of the inaugural show held last year.
The show has been adapted to suit Malaysian culture and society.
Celebrity couples will compete against each other to help fund a local charitable organisation that they are representing.
Among the 10 charities are The Heart Foundation of Malaysia, Malaysian Mental Health Organisation, Pusat Jagaan Nur Salam, Malaysian Federation of the Deaf, Malaysian National Animal Welfare Foundation and The National Autism Society of Malaysia.
The other celebrity couples who will be joining Amyza and Khairil are actors Fauzi Nawawi and Lisdawati, Sabrina Ali and Mohamad Shahrin, dangdut singer Ani Mayuni and Zairi Azmi, Def-Gab-C vocalist Ashed and Sharifah Noor Shima, popular model/actor Mazin Ameen Siraj and Ida Chairunisa, and former national footballer Shahril Arsat and former actress Noraini Morat.
Their courage and willingness to be involved in this programme is commendable seeing that they do not have any dancing experience.
Nonetheless, the dance floor is sure to heat up when radio presenter Jamal Jamaludin and Noor Faridah, newly-wed Akademi Fantasia 1 stars Khai and Rosma, as well as former member of the all-girl group Elite, Sasha, and Salyo compete, as these couples have some dancing experience.
They each have the responsibility to perform their best for their respective charity homes.
Each week, the eliminated couple will present cash to their selected charity organisation. The amount of cash collected will increase every week until the night of the finale on Dec 27.
Like last year, performances based on technical aspects will be judged by a jury (which will constitute 50 per cent of the votes), while the remainder will be from audience’ votes via Short Message Service (SMS) and fixed line.
The couple with the least votes for the week will be eliminated.
Sehati Berdansa aired on Saturday and yesterday over Astro Ria (Channel 104) with two introductory episodes – Kenali Sehati Berdansa at 9pm, hosted by Awal Ashaari.
Debaran Sehati Berdansa, the weekly live show to announce the result, will only begin from Oct 26.
Other complementary shows are Detik Sehati Berdansa, which will feature five-minute clips of the celebrity couples, from Monday to Thursday at 9pm, and Di Sebalik Sehati Berdansa, aired every Friday at 9pm, for the behind-the-scenes snippets of their training and recording sessions.
After the finale on Dec 27, there’s Memori Sehati Berdansa, slated for Jan 3 and 4. These will look back at the winning couple’s journey.
During the launch of the show recently, Astro Ria channel manager Khairul Mizan said the first season of Sehati Berdansa received overwhelming response from Astro viewers.
“We have discovered that the content variety in this programme appeals to our customers and at the same time, is able to be a catalyst for charity.”
Each couple will be assigned to 10 professional choreographers. This will allow each choreographer to provide his full attention to the couple, choreographing suitable dance movements based on weekly dance themes such as ethnic, disco and even Bollywood.
Dance consultant Ahmad Kasan has been appointed to advise each couple and choreograph their dance performance weekly.
Popular Era radio presenter Linda Onn and actor Fahrin Ahmad return as the show’s hosts.
Promotional activities include a roadshow at Aeon Jaya Jusco, Bukit Tinggi, Klang on Sunday.
A line-up of activities has been arranged from 10am to 6pm, including a meet-the-fans session with this season and last season’s Sehati Berdansa finalists.
New Straits Times