Kagman teens are CNMI’s best dance crew

Six teens from Kagman, who arrived at the competition venue on a pickup truck yesterday morning virtually unnoticed, turned themselves into instant celebrities, signing autographs, enjoying picture taking with new fans, and ending up in a VIP Room at the posh Club V, where they savored the moment with members of KABA Modern after winning the first ever search for CNMI’s Best Dance Crew that drew a huge crowd at the Marianas High School Gym.

With homegrown talent and team effort as their two main assets, the group members, who call themselves I-Candy, became the instant crowd favorite as they bested four other groups that made it to the finals.

Final Extreme placed second, TNT was third, Scoopz from Rota was fourth and Public Notice from Tinian, fifth.

Three other teams from Saipan—Level-up, Spectrum and Blackout—were eliminated during the preliminary competitions.

I-Candy is composed of Tom Pangelinan (Jolly Rancher), Roger Boyer Dris Jr. (White Chocolate), Tharnton Masayos (Sweet Tarts), Kyle Concepcion (Cookies N’ Cream), Gregory Santos (Lollipop), and Scott Borja (Tootsie Roll).

“This is really so great. We’re the best. We just do our dance steps and coordinate with each other. We had a lot of fun. We have no manager or choreographer,” said Pangelinan while eager fans and relatives congratulated them a few minutes after the awarding ceremony.

As the best dance crew in the CNMI, I-Candy will have the chance to join Season 3 of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew competition in February.

Producer Ed Arriola, who was asked by I-Candy to manage the group, said he would work this out for the kids. He would submit a video of the event for placement in the MTV Network in order for the Kagman kids to realize their Los Angeles dream trip.

“We will work hard for it. We have to continue practicing and learn more steps,” said Pangelinan.

Arriola said he would most likely accept the offer to be their manager.

Competitors of the MTV show will come from the East Coast, North Coast, South Coast and West Coast. If things work out, I-Candy will be included in the West Coast lineup.

Saturday’s show also featured the electrifying moves of KABA Modern, one of the finalists in Season 2 of MTV’s Best Dance Crew in January this year. The members are Mike Song, Jia Huang, Cindy Minowa, Tony Tran, Lawrance Kao and Yuri Tag.

Minowa and Kao echoed similar appreciation for I-Candy.

“They have great chemistry. They are going in the right direction. They deserve to win,” Kao said.

Minowa said she was amazed by the big turnout for such a small community.

“Actually, all the teams have a lot of talents to offer but, as always, there must be a winner and I-Candy was really amazing for me. The crowd is so amazing too. I like also the two groups that made it to the top three,” Minowa said.

It was a jam-packed crowd at the 1,600-capacity Gym.

Arriola said tickets were sold out two days before the competition, which was jointly sponsored by Tan Holdings Foundation, PTI, Mobil, Power 99/Sorensen Media Group, Pepsi, KWAW 100.3, Continental Airlines, Hertz, G4S Security, Elite Printing, Sky Castle Limousines, and the Saipan Tribune.

Arriola said the presence of KABA Modern, who were here mainly as judges for the event, helped a lot in bringing in such a big crowd.

As early as 8am the fans, mostly youngsters, were already lining up at the gates.

Arriola gave special appreciation to the people who made the show successful such as Frank Eliptico of the Northern Marianas College Foundation and NMC president Carmen Fernandez and his two line producers, Ivan Quichocho and Ben Babauta.

“These were the people who gave their time and effort in the last two months to prepare the show,” Arriola said.

The production included Alana Leon Guerrero, Benjamin Babauta, Ana Rae Deleon Guerrero, Tioni Alvarez, Ana Kim, Ramir Bialba, Jewel Villacorte, Kelvin Fitial, Marco Pua, Dina Jones, Fran Santos, Josh Diaz, Oscar Yema, and DJ Jeyrock.