Jaw-dropping experience for audience at Pole Idol 2009

What say you on the issue below?

WHEN you think of pole dance, lean and trim women come to mind but it was evident at Pole Idol 2009 that even men and those above 50 can take to the pole as well.

In fact, the grand finals of the competition opened with an atypical performance courtesty of The Hanging Garden and Jitterbugs Swingapore featuring a male pole artiste.

Confident dancer: Pole Idol 2009 grand champion Naoko Enomoto was graceful and ever so flexible on the pole.

The curtain raiser proved a point, breaking the stereotype notion that the dance is limited to women, hopefully to change the negative perception of pole dance, from sleaze to art.

Out of the 11 participants were two guys, 18-year-old Adam Tan and Loh Wei Jun, 30.

To showcase her students in the above 50 category, The Hanging Garden owner/ operator Maple Loo invited her Singaporean students from Jitterbugs Swingapore who performed with ease before an amazed audience.

During the intermission, The Ladybirds comprising Tan Li Leng, Ong Mei Yin and Annie performed beautifully to a Latin number with a decent amount of inverted tricks in the routine.

Needless to say, the participation of guys in the competition was welcomed by cheering women while female participants naturally attracted a horde of male admirers.

Pole dancing as a form of exercise is certainly catching on with city folks judging from the number of dance schools offering the artform previously linked to striptease acts.

One for the guys: Adam Tan showing that guys can do it too.

And the inception of Pole Idol this year gives pole dancers the chance to look forward to a platform where they can showcase their mastery of the danceform.

With four poles stuck firmly in the middle of NEO Global Tapas Restaurant and Luxe Lounge in Jalan Sultan Ismail, the audience marvelled at how participants slid up and down the pole, twirled and held to a position high above the ground doing splits, 90 and 180 degree poses and showed off their flexibility.

While the ladies took to the pole dressed in two pieced sequined and bejwelled outfits, second runner-up Adam Tan, 18, in his laid back hiphop style looked comfortable swinging on the pole with shoes to match.

Ironically, Tan was the top Malaysian pole dancer, winning RM1,000 and a hamper from Tripo-X plus a voucher from A Cut Above.

Chin Jin Jin, 26, was recognised for her masquerade type costume attaining the Best Costume prize of RM300.

Chia Wei Hong, 49, blew minds and inspired many with her Big Spender routine which was executed with such strength, grace and enjoyment.

Well-toned: Almost all the Pole Idol participants were welltoned and lean.

She bagged the Best Performance prize of RM500.

Petite Japanese contestant Naoko Enomoto, 29, an IT engineer from Singapore whose grace and agility was well noted, was named Pole Idol 2009 grand champion.

Her big win came with RM3,000 cash, a vacation at the boutique property JapaMala Resort in Tioman Island, a complimentary workshop package conducted by Bobbi from the 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.

Interestingly, Enomoto’s foray into pole dance is fairly recent but she attributes her 15 years as a ballet dancer that helped her steal the show.

“I also learn contemporary dance and I decided to take up pole dance after watching a video of World Pole Dance Champion 2009 Felix Cane in action,” said Enomoto.

Loo who was awestruck by Enomoto’s audition video had waited with anticipation to see her perform.

“She’s a fantastic and beautiful pole dancer, her execution style was so clean and effortless, strong yet soft and she understands grace.

“It’s phenomenal that she’s been learning for only six months!

“It takes incredible talent and discipline to be good in such a short time, she’s a real star,” Loo said with admiration.

Australian Samantha Lee, 27, who is a dance instructor teaching jazz, hip hop and salsa in Singapore was the first runner-up.

Lee went home with RM1,500 and a hamper from Tripo-X plus a voucher from A Cut Above.

Both Samantha and Adam have been pole dancers for one and half years.

Naoko will be the Malaysian representative to the Asian Pole Summit in April 2010.

Pole Idol 2009 was fully sponsored by NEO Global Tapas Restaurant & Luxe Lounge in collaboration with Tamarind restaurants, JapaMala Resort Tioman Island, A Cut Above Hair Salon, Mireica Nutri-Peau and Tripo-X.