With thousands of votes tallied and reviewed in the last three weeks
of hectic voting, the organisers of the Sassa Step contest and video shoot winner have finally announced the winner. The winner is (drum roll please) Shy N, who tallied an incredible 35 per cent of the vote.
As the winner, Shy N will be flown from Japan to Jamaica to appear in
Mr. Vegas' new Sassa Step music video which is scheduled to be shot on Wednesday, August 19, 2009.
Most Internet voters will remember that Shy N, who hails from Japan, had compiled a pretty nifty video on youtube where he demonstrated the Sassa Step on a sidewalk which ran parallel to a graffiti-decorated
wall. Viewers obviously thought that he had earned great style points
for adding a combination of break-dancing movements to his Sassa Step.
He also showed creativity by incorporating a nearby parking meter into his dance routine.
The adjudicators said that the vote was close with a creditable
showing from Ruby Red of Taiwan who ran a competitive second. The organisers, in a release on Mr. Vegas' website, congratulated all the contestants who submitted videos, and the voting public for helping pick the winner.
Three months ago, Mr. Vegas announced the contest geared towards dancers who could compete for a spot in his new Sassa Step video through video submissions. Hundreds of videos were received and the final list was winnowed down to five dancers. Mr. Vegas will foot the travel expenses of the winner of the contest to come to Jamaica for the video shoot.
The contest has been extended by three weeks to allow online dancehall fans to vote for their favourites. The Sassa Step dance was originally created by the Ravers Clavers crew from Nannyville.
In the meantime, Vegas' runaway hit I Am Blessed is enjoying its second week at the pole position of the Toronto Top Ten Reggae/Dancehall singles charts. Mr. Vegas is presently on his I Am Blessed tour of Europe which has seen him performing at big festivals such as the Summer Reggae Festival in France and the Dour Festival in Belgium in front of thousands of reggae fans. The singjay heads to Zurich, Germany for a show on July 31st and completes the tour on August 3 in Amsterdam. He returns to Jamaica to perform at the UDC in Montego Bay, Jamaica on August 6th.
