M is for Mickey and MTV

*Phew*, what a crazy week that had just passed!

Last week, I was cast as a hip hop dancer for a music video. It was a super last-minute thing as one of the dancers had dropped out suddenly, and I was informed about being selected only after three out of five rehearsal sessions had already passed! And out of those two 2-hour rehearsals I did manage to attend, I could only make it for an hour of each. So you can imagine how jittery I was on shoot day. Luckily there were seven other dancers to divert attention away from my pitiful fumbling, and because I was the tallest female dancer, I was naturally placed in the back row anyway.

A music video for what, you may ask? This is the coolomondo-est thing: to promote the Asian premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock. Indeed, after an endless string of casting calls for the role of 'Mother' over the past three years, I finally get one more shot at passing off as a teenager. Who cares if I'm twice as big and wrinkled and body-discoordinated as the other kids on set? It's freaking Disney, man.

The song we performed to is from the soundtrack, called 'Hasta La Vista'. It has a surprisingly bold and almost dirty street sound to it, which the brand name obviously isn't very synonymous with. But of course the lyrics are squeaky clean. It was a really fun song to dance to. The shoot was done completely in green screen, and apparently there will be a shot of me getting groovy with krumping smurfs or something like that.

The music video will premiere on Disney Channel Asia sometime in August.



The weekend before that, my sister Steph and I also went for the auditions for the MTV Asia Awards 2008 moshpit at Zouk. Who would've figured that you'd have to audition to be in a moshpit, eh?

(The event brought back fond memories of the time I won a trip to Bangkok to catch the awards back in 2005, in a freestyle dance contest held at Zouk as well. Back then though, it was called the MTV Asia Aid in light of the tsunami crisis. I didn't document it in my blog as I set up Retardation Nation only right after my return, but here's the flashback picture, with fellow Malaysian winner Tony.)



This year, VJ Utt was in town to help facilitate the auditions, and candidates were forewarned that moshers at the awards itself would not be allowed to have food, drink nor toilet breaks during whole three hours of showtime, with strictly no cameras allowed.

Auditionees were let into the club in groups of twenty or so. We were led onto the dancefloor, with crazy lights and party music cranked up to the max. The one and only instruction given to us: Mosh like your life depends on it.

Utt and other MTV crew guys walked around the dancefloor, placing an MTV sticker on anyone worthy of gracing the occasion with their jumping-screaming-dynamo-madness.

Guess who's headed up to Genting this Saturday.



Anyone up for joining my quest to drink Jared Leto's bathwater?