Monday, March 27, 2006

Unduk Ngadau 2006 - What It Takes to Win?

Again I am tasked with the choreography arrangement of the Unduk Ngadau pageant for the State Level Tadau Kaamatan 2006. This will be my third time as I was involved and incharged of the choreography arrangment of the Unduk Ngadau pageant for the State Level in 2003 and 2005. Apart from choreographing for the main pageant which will be held on the 31 May (the highlight of the Tadau Kaamatan), I will also choreograph the fashion show (catwalk modelling) for the Gala Night or Malam Legenda (this year it will be called Sodop Unduk Ngadau) held on the 29 May 2006. (My other tasks for this year include choreographing for the Penampang District Harvest Festival mid of May, and Ratu Pesta Kalimaran on April 2).

The choreography patterns for the Unduk Ngadau is normally quite straight forward. There are divided into few rounds.

Round 1 is the first time that the audience will view all the Unduk Ngadau contestants coming out into the stage with their sash on indicating the district she represents. She will introduce herself and greet (normally harvest festival wishes) the audience in her own languages/dialects. Judging does not occurred during this round.

Round 2 is the formal judging of the Unduk Ngadau. Normally 5-7 judges with an independent auditor will be selected by the Judges Committee. At least one of the judges selected to judge is an expert in tradtional costume of the indigenous people of Sabah or he/she has vast knowledge on the culture and traditional customs of Sabah. During this round, each of the Unduk Ngadau participants will catwalk in front of the judges. She will deliver 3 poses - front pose, left and right poses each. At this point of time, on a big screen monitor/baco on both sides of the hall the contestant's pictures and video shots will be shown to the audience. While the contestant does her catwalk and poses, the MC will read the contestant's brief biodata, e.g. hobbies, ambitions, etc. (no mention of vital statistics, i.e. body measurement, which was banned few years back). The contestant is not allowed to pose her rear to show her backside.

Judging will be based on originality of costume, poise and beauty. The points or marks during this round will be added with the marks obtained in Round 3 - the IQ session. 15 finalists will be shortlisted based on the 15 highest marks from the judges during this round. *Please note that unlike the judging method used in international beauty pageants like Miss World or Universe, the marks/points during Round 2 is only used and applied solely to select the Top 15 finalists (winner of Miss World/Universe is based on who has the highest IQ during the question and answer session).

Once again all the Unduk Ngadau contestants come out into the stage and the Top 15 finalists will be announced.

Round 3 is the IQ session. Questions are prepared by the organiser and the MC will ask each of the 15 finalists a question accompanied with a slide picture shown on the baco. The topic is quite general ranging from local culture, native musical instruments, traditional costumes, accessories, etc. Each contestant is given 15-20 seconds to share her tought on the question/picture. Judging will be based on accuracy of information and her views as well as her poise.

After all these are done, marks from Round 2 and 3 will be added together and the Top 7 winners will be announced. The contestant who obtains the highest marks will be crowned as the 2006 Harvest Festival Unduk Ngadau. Her reign will last for a year until 31 May 2007.

For my English speaking visitors, here are few translations:-
Unduk Ngadau = Queen = symbolised as Huminodun (kindly refer the Story of Huminodun in my previous post)
Tadau Kaamatan = Harvest Festival (held 30 and 31 May every year, public holidays for Sabah only)
Sodop Unduk Ngadau = The Night of the Queen

2 comments:

  1. Wow this is complicated. I read halfway and felt dizzy. Lol.

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  2. hehe, perhaps I shouldn't mention the choreography's part and just concentrate mainly on the judging selection.

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