Philippine All-Stars Bag Gold Medal In 2008 World Hip Hop Championships

Philippine All Stars 2008 World Hip Hop Champions

I picked up my sister Chloe from her school the other day from her cheer-dance practice, and she was ecstatic to share the news that the Philippine All-Stars won the Gold medal in the 2008 World Hiphop Championships held at Las Vegas, Nevada. Not being a real fan of hip-hop or dance, I was like “whuh?” Then, she continued to explain with much enthusiasm about this dance group called the Philippine All-Stars that came in third place in the 2006 World Hiphop Championships and then this time won the gold in 2008, beating other hiphop dance teams from New Zealand, US, Mexico, Canada and more. Of course the story caught my attention as does anything that has the theme of Philippine pride, and so I researched to write about them.

Apparently, the Philippine All-Stars hold their home at a dance studio somewhere near Katipunan, Quezon City. Their motto goes something like: One Love. One God. One Hip Hop. Sarap Lang. Catchy. Interesting. Based on my research at the Philippine All-Stars site and Philippine All-Stars Multiply site the 2008 group that went on to compete in Las Vegas and win the gold is composed of: Kenjohns, Kykz, Laurence, Lema, Madelle, Maya, Michelle, Niko, Big Pat, Prince, Reagan, Sheena and trainees Lil Pat and Joshua. 33 countries were represented by several groups with a total of 1,000 hiphop dancers taking to the stage. 12 finalists were chosen all-in-all to perform for the 2008 World Hiphop Championships, and joining the Philippine All-Stars were the likes of Kaba Modern (USA), Prestige (New Zealand), Xtreme Soul Style (Canada), Legacy (New Zealand) Eclectik (Trinidad & Tobago), Peridot (United Kingdom), Black Soul (Mexico), FLos Angeles (USA), Release (South Africa), Rockwell Family (Canada) and Phunk Phenomenon (USA).

Of course, the Philippine All-Stars turned out to be number one. Multi-Grammy award winner and competition judge MC “You Can’t Touch This” Hammer was quoted by ABS-CBN news correspondents as saying: “The Filipino artists… they continue to evolve in a global basis. They take art and dance seriously. I am very proud of the level that the Philippines overall has developed into.”

Judge Shane Sparks was also quoted saying: “Great kids, great dancers and choreographer… I think they’re some of the hottest dancers that touch the stage of America’s best dance crews and I know there’s more to come.”

The guys and gals of Philippine All-Stars even documented and chronicled their entire journey leading to the 2008 World Hip Hop Championships in a short movie called His-Story. To make it to their trip, they even had a fund-raising concert at the Ateneo de Manila gym in which they gave a peek performance as to what they would be showcasing in Las Vegas. Talk about taking charge of life and making their dreams come true, sacrificing and working hard to achieve their goals, and eventually giving all to His glory. Wow! Inspirational stuff here.

Anyway, I certainly tip off my hat to their global achievement, and for being able to be an inspiration to many others to strive big for their dreams by working hard for it. One Love. One God. One Hip Hop. Sarap Lang. Galing!

Well, visit their sites and check out their photos, profiles and videos. You can even check out the video of the Philippine All-Stars hiphop dance number which won them the gold medal in the 2008 World Hip Hop Championships. I won’t ruin the surprise for you.