What an evening! High on energy, excitement, competition, cheer and, not to forget, the prize money. The finals of The Hindu NXg Campus Jive was on at the Lady Venkatasubba Rao Hall on August 28, with 12 teams clashing for the top spot. There wasn’t just competition between the teams but between hip hop and jazz, girls and boys, drama and stunts, themes and entertainment factor…
Performances
One by one, the teams took centre stage to give it their all. Though hip hop was the most common style, there was also some jazz, ballet, free style, rock ‘n’ roll and even a tribal dance and an Arabian sizzler. The props too varied from hats, ladders, dragon, spears, shields, feathers, fluorescent masks, and mikes to basket balls.
SDNB Vaishnav College for Women combined a serious theme in their performance about acceptance of physically challenged in society with two girls performing, one with a hand tied behind her back and another with a leg folded up. Meanwhile, RKM Vivekananda College of Arts and Science’s performance had an entertaining storyline, with comedy in their actions, dance and expressions.
With competition running high, judging the winners must have been quite a task, but our special judges for the evening — Actor Sangeetha, dancer/producer Varalakshmi Sarathkumar and S. Ramesh, Managing Partner, Pothys — did it with élan.
“It is a very good show and I enjoyed very much” said S. Ramesh, while Sangeetha confessed to have expected something amateurish but was surprised to find college students coming out with such professional performances. And Varalakshmi said “There is definitely a lot of talent out there.”
Speaking of the judging, apart from the usual co-ordination, costumes and props, Sangeetha said “I was looking for creativity because anybody can perform but how they hold the audience’s interest throughout is what makes the difference”.
Winners
And, rightly so, there was one team that achieved that and also came backed by a large cheering squad — whether it was reading of the names of participating colleges, announcing the next team on stage or the end of the performance, the very mention of this team was accompanied by a long thunderous cheer. It was also the team that won the audience’s awe with their UV spectacle towards the beginning of the performance that had glow-in-the-dark heads being juggled around. This was the Dream Team from Loyola College, the favourites, which walked away with a cash prize of Rs. 1,50,000.
The 18 Degreeze Danz Crew from Jeppiaar Engineering College earned the second spot with their snazzy hip hop stunts to take home Rs. 1,00,000. The third place with a cash prize of Rs. 50, 000 was bagged by the high-on-energy girls team DSD Homies from Ethiraj College for Women that had two teams representing it.
Prizes were also given to the best performers from each team. The 13 winners (two from Loyola College) received goodies from Vivek & Co. Mrs. Nirmala Lakshman, Joint Director, The Hindu, gave away the prizes and congratulated the winners. She said that she hoped the competition would be a lot tougher next year.
The thrilling event had some breathers by way of well-choreographed fashion shows by GRT Stylus, the event sponsor, and Basics 029 Fall-Winter Collections in between the performances.
Sponsors
The Hindu NXg Campus Jive was presented by GRT Stylus, along with Health Drink Partner Nutrivita, Fragrance Partner Jolie Fashions, Fall Winter Collections by Basic 029, Radio Partner Chennai Live, Official TV partner SS Music, Entertainment Partner Vibha, Event Co-ordinator Swingers and i ads & events.
The gift sponsors were: VLCC, Vivek& Co, VGP Universal Kingdom, Bubbles Family Saloon & Spa, Lotte, Mahavir Optics, Jeans park, S Mart, Marrybrown, Inox, Ambassdor Pallava, Sri Krishna Sweets and FitnessOne.
By the end of it, the first edition of The Hindu NXg Campus Jive had everybody asking for more. So get working with your team right away and watch out for the second edition next year. Until then, keep jiving!
