The third edition of Sun & Sand Sports’ School’s Got Talent came to a thrilling conclusion on Friday as the judges voted dancer Tanish Nagvekarthe competition winner.
Over 100 people packed out the sports hall at the GEMS American Academy Dubai as the seven finalists battled it out in a bid to be crowned champion.
Virgin radio personality Kris Fade hosted the event and began proceedings by introducing the crowd to the three judges, before last year’s winner Naya Al Ghazzi took to the stage. After her performance she said. ”It feels really good to be back. I was so happy when I won last year so I know what the finalists are going through.”
The first finalist of the day was martial arts MVP Bima Johnson who received a score of 8-8-8 for his performance. Speaking afterwards he said: “I’ve been doing martial arts for three years and I was really excited to perform at the final.”
Winner: Tanish performing his routine
Next on stage was dancing MVP Tanishwho impressed the judges with a complex routine, which included a segboard. “It took me around a week to learn the routine for the final and I feel that it went really well.” The judges were highly impressed scoring him a score of 9-9-10.
The crowd was treated to a special CYR Wheel performance before kids were given the chance to win a PlayStation 4 at one of the various entertainment attractions, including football darts, total wipeout and football snooker.
Swimming MVP Neal Bisht joined Kris Fade on stage to talk the judges through his different lengths in the pool as they were shown on the big screens. He said, “I want to be the best swimmer in the world.” He got a score of 8-8-8.
Basketball MVP Nathan Philip thanked his uncle for getting him into basketball at a young age. “I’ve been playing ever since I could walk,” he said. The judges awarded his performance, where he bounced two basketballs simultaneously, a good score of 8-8-7.
Footballer Hassan Saleh started playing when he was just six years old and performed a freestyle routine for the judges. His inspiration is Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, who he described as, “unbelievable”. He picked up a score of 9-7-9 from the judges.
Attention turned back to the big screen as running MVP Cassius Leota’s performance was shown to the judges. He said, “I want to become a football player to help my family, and help other people who are poor.” The eight-year-old New Zealander is a fan of football and rugby and incorporated various movements into his routine. He scored 7-7-8 from the judges.
Rounding off the performances was gymnast Haifa Niegas. She said: “I feel proud, I started gymnastics two years ago in Abu Dhabi.” The judges scored her an impressive 10-9-10.
After the Q&A round, which counted towards 30% of the contestant’s overall score, it was Tanish who took home the 2019 School’s Got Talent crown, along with 20,000 AED.
