Talented Young People Reviews

In today’s episode, the Dunbar Highschool cheerleaders show their performance at Nationals in the hope of winning a 3rd national champion title in a row. The girls are competing against 60 other teams so the competition is tough. They aim to be in the top 2 teams so they can get an automatic pass to the finals performance.

Unfortunately, just when they were about to practice their routine, it started pouring down with rain which stopped their plans straight away. This meant that the team had no where near as much time as they wanted to warm up for, and in the end got something around 10 minutes to warm up. The teams coach- Saleem- played their routines music as they were heading towards the building where the competition was held to try and help the girls a little.

Ryans’ ankle was still hurting her but she still wanted to compete but with her flying through the air and tumbling so hard, will this become a problem?

The girls were welcomed to the stage with screams from the entire audience. Megan tried her full again but Unfortunately touched down on it (where you touch the floor) which is roughly a 1 mark deduction. The girls stuck all the stunts and the timing was impeccable. However the girls were given a score sheet, and it showed that Ryan had stepped off the mat on her full. However Ryan was certain it wasn’t her. In the end, when they watched the video of their performance, it turned out to be Kaitlyn who stepped out. All the girls could do is wait for the marks and pray they made it into the nationals. Saleem had the job to announce the results, and amazingly they managed to get straight to finals!

That night, Saleem watched the performance to analyse the teams mistakes. He is still undecided on whether or not Megan should throw her full and he thought this decision would be “One of the hardest decisions he would ever have to make”.

The next day, Saleem decided to let Megan attempt her full and while Megan and Saleem were talking, the parents were making rattlers out of red and black materials for them to shake when the girls perform. The girls practiced their performance outside for hours on end to try and maintain their National title. That night the seniors started crying over the fought of this being their last ever competition.

The next day was nationals day. 15 minutes before their performance, they had to warm up. Megan kept practicing her full and managed to land it a few times before they were up to perform. But now it was time for them to take to the stage. After an entire year of practicing, will it finally be worth it?

Megan managed to throw and land her full, the stunts were solid, Katie landed her punch-front, the cheer section was loud and had the entire crowd joining in, the basket tosses were high, the synchronisation was perfect and the pyramid was solid. Overall the squad performed what could be called a perfect performance. The team celebrated for hours on end and by the end of the night it was time for the award ceremony. The top 5 were announced, then the top 3, then 2nd place, and finally the top team (national champion) which went to Dunbar! They had managed to do what no other team had done before and win 3 national championships in a row. It was a team effort and even the littlest mistake would have lost them the national title. Next year, will they win again and do what no other team has done and win a 4th national title? Only time will tell!

Follow up::: in 2007, Dunbar went to nationals again and won for the forth year in a row!

The show has now ended it’s first screening in the UK. It may be repeated on Living2 or show on another channel someday but you can download the series through iTunes by going to the official Cheerleader Nation website:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/on-tv/shows/cheerleader-nation

Luke Read

Official Cheerleader Nation Reviewer for Talented Young People

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

“envisage it, believe it achieve it”

On today’s episode, the team leaves for nationals, but after months of hard work, will the team coming crashing down at the final hurdle?

The show began with the teams’ coaches - Saleem and Donna - bringing the girls to a local school showcase which involved them showing off their skills. However, one of the teams showcasing their skills was local rivals Tates Creek. Luckily though, they were in a different category so they were not showcasing with them.

As the girls took to the stage, they felt confident with their routine. However, Megan tried her full but unfortunately did not stick it. But this was not the only mistake, Ayrica’s stunt group fell and Jordan stumbled on her back tuck. Also, Chelsea fell during the pyramid which ruined the ending. This was not their best performance and the team cannot afford to have any of these mistakes during nationals as it could cost them a ranking place.

The show then followed the stress the girls and their families went through (and a lot of all-star cheerleaders can relate to) which is packing for nationals. You must make sure you have the entire uniform otherwise people may not be able to afford.

That night the girls went for another practice rehearsal at the gym. Megan was trying to land her full that she missed during her performance but was inconsistent with landing it. However, a full is an advanced tumbling move and it is hard to flip yourself upside down while also doing an entire 360 degree rotation. At one attempt, she landed fully on her head and needed medical attention. This mistake just shows how dangerous some of the skills are.

Megan’s fall was the topic of conversation for the other girls as they met up for a meal.

The teams main goal was to clean the performance up, e.g. straight arms, facial expressions. However, one stunt group could not “stick it” i.e. keep the girl up in the air. Saleem and Donna were constantly yelling at the girls for not nailing the performance but after 2 hours of stunting, tumbling and jumping, wouldn’t you be tired as well and make mistakes? On top of everything, Ryan sprained her ankle which is a major injury in cheerleading. She was told to keep off from cheerleading from 2 weeks but she ignored his advice and decided to go ahead with nationals.

The night before nationals- as tradition- the girls put on a showcase performance. This is one of the most important practices as it is the last full practice before nationals. Everything went perfectly and Megan even managed to throw her full!

The next day the girls set of for nationals in Orlando, Florida. Donna had left her hair dryer at home which lead her to knock on all the girls door asking for one. The team then all set off to the canteen where we learnt just how superstitious the team was. They were all hoping for red jelly as whenever they win, red jelly is being served- weird.

The team then went for yet another practice before the nationals competition and this gave the girls a chance to see what the other teams had come up with. Other teams quickly came up to them and wished them good luck. Dunbar have always been seen as the team that “sets the standard”, but will they be setting the standard this year yet again and win their 3rd national title or will little mistakes cost them the top spot?

You can catch episodes of Cheerleader Nation every Tuesday at 9pm on Living2 in the UK. If you do not live in the UK then you can download the series through iTunes by going to the official Cheerleader Nation website:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/on-tv/shows/cheerleader-nation

Luke Read

Official Cheerleader Nation Reviewer for Talented Young People

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

“envisage it, believe it achieve it”

With nationals coming up in less than 2 weeks time, the Dunbar Highschool Cheerleaders (the Bulldogs) really had to stick all their stunts as one girl’s mistake can make the difference from winning and coming second place. However some people were having problems with the routine. Ashley faced being dropped from the team as she could not stick her barrel roll (where a person does a twisting cradle i.e. spin while coming down and the she has to be tossed back up in the air and do a 360 degree rotation all at once! But this is the type of standard that nationals is all about. Also, the routine had little energy and people were not as focused which lead to stunts falling and a shaky pyramid. But after a brief pep-talk from their choreographer Saleem, the girls seemed to put on a practice worthy of being the best in the nation i.e. national champions.

The programme this week also followed on how once of the girls- Ryan- struggled to maintain her grade point average of at least 3.5 to allow her to continue to cheer. All cheerleaders have to maintain a certain GPA otherwise they faced the possibility of being pulled from the squad and at a crucial time like nationals, this can not happen as finding a person to replace the dropped girl would be virtually impossible. Thankfully, Ryan retook an exam and managed to continue to cheer at Dunbar.

Also this week, the programme focused on the girls doing a common task called ‘team bonding’. This is basically a task where the entire team is involved and basically- as the name says- helps them to bond. We were first introduced to this ‘team bonding’ a few episodes ago when the girls sabotaged Saleem’s house which is a traditional thing every year after regional’s. This time however, the ‘team bonding’ involved helping people less fortunate than them when they worked at the soup kitchen which basically was an area where the homeless went to have a free meal. The girls got involved in serving the meals, talking to the homeless and basically making their day a bit better. This was a huge success and gave the girls the boost they needed for nationals in 10 days time.

Finally this week, the programme followed some of the parents and girls as they prepared senior gift bags. Being seniors, this would be the last year they can compete and so this can be the last time to girls could win a national title. The parents had the task of actually buying presents for the bag e.g. a bulldog soft toy, photo frames etc. Some of the younger members of the squad also helped by personalising the photo frames by painting their names on them, adding accessories etc.

Next week the programme again follows the girls last minute preparation for nationals as they try to defend their national title and go for something no other squad has done before, get 3 national titles in a row.

You can catch episodes of Cheerleader Nation every Tuesday at 9pm on Living2 in the UK. If you do not live in the UK then you can download the series through iTunes by going to the official Cheerleader Nation website:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/on-tv/shows/cheerleader-nation

Luke Read

Official Cheerleader Nation Reviewer for Talented Young People

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

“envisage it, believe it achieve it”

In today’s episode of Cheerleader Nation, the cheerleaders at Dunbar High school were holding a fundraiser in the form of a formal dance. Also in the episode, it showed how the Bulldogs (Dunbar’s cheerleading team) had been affected by their choreographer Saleem taking a new job and therefore not being able to be at the cheerleading practices as much. With Saleem gone, the only person in charge was Donna (Ryan’s mum).

Saleem has always been known for being a bigger risk taker than Donna so with him gone, the girls had time to goof off which is not the best thing as nationals is just around the corner. The girls were also unsure what was happening which lead to many accidents and falls. The entire team felt that since Saleem had gone, nothing had been achieved and were accusing Donna of not pushing them hard enough. The only way Saleem was informed of the girl’s performance was when Donna called him up.

Since the cheerleaders were hosting a formal dance, the episode also followed some of the girls as they went to purchase dresses. It highlighted one of the girl’s insecurity of her body and how she believed she had to be this “model figure”. It also highlighted how the girls struggled to find a dress both they enjoyed wearing and what their parents didn’t consider being an “inappropriate dress”. The dance was chaperoned by the girls parents which lead to lots of conflict and in the end, most of the girls leaving the dance early as they felt their parents were not letting them dance how they wanted to and not playing the songs they wanted to dance to.

The girls all met up at Dunbar high school later on to cheerlead at the basketball game. This was a chance to see if the rehearsals with Donna had paid off. However during the game, their main coach-Saleem returned to see the girl’s mediocre performance. Saleem quickly noticed that Donna had changed the counts of the stunts which lead to many falls and overall a sloppy performance.

After the basketball match, Saleem told the girls to meet at his house for a “Pot luck dinner”. The girls were all given a “goal sheet” to fill in by Monday which is when the Pot luck dinner was. This sheet was all about what the girls wanted to achieve; I.e. their goals. The girls read what they had written down in front of the rest of the squad which lead to some of the squad members crying. The entire idea of this Pot Luck Dinner was to help the teams to bond.

Next week, the reality kicks in for the cheerleaders that Nationals is just around the corner, one girl may be dropped from the team and another has to keep her GPA (Grade point average) up to continue cheerleading.

You can catch episodes of Cheerleader Nation every Tuesday at 9pm on Living2 in the UK. If you do not live in the UK then you can download the series through iTunes by going to the official Cheerleader Nation website:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/on-tv/shows/cheerleader-nation

Luke Read

Official Cheerleader Nation Reviewer for Talented Young People

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

“envisage it, believe it achieve it”

When you first think of cheerleading, what is the first thing that comes to mind? PomPoms and chants are the most common things, but cheerleading has now evolved into something much more advanced. Cheerleader Nation shows the lives of the Dunbar High school cheerleaders (the Dunbar Bulldogs) in Kentucky, USA as they prepare for the regional and national competitions. It shows the tears, injuries, hard work and skills needed to be a cheerleader. It shows the team rivalry between themselves and Tates Creek, how one persons mistake can result in first or second place, the long hours it takes to perfect a 2 and a 1/2 minute routine and just what it takes to make it as a high school cheerleader.

The first episode focused mainly on the tryouts and what it took to get on the varsity squad (the A-Team the cream of the crop). The bare minimum they needed to have to get into this squad was a standing tuck. People attempting to get onto the squad were strictly marked and after the tryouts were over, the top people were picked for the squad. If the entire squad can do standing tucks, they gain higher marks in the competitions and therefore helps them to defend their title as national champions i.e. the best squad in the entire nation. This episode highlighted something many cheerleaders experience which is a mental block. This is caused by an accident which makes the person nervous when attempting a cheerleading move and stops them from doing a move. Many cheerleaders will tell you that this is hard to get over and was a major problem for one of the girls at tryouts who was attempting a back-handspring.

During the tryouts, people also had to prove they could tumble. The most common tumbling pass is a round-off back-handspring, back tuck. Some people tried the more advanced tumbling pass which was a round-off back-handspring full which requires a person the spin a full 360 degrees while upside-down. Once they could prove they could tumble and do a back tuck, they then had to learn a dance and chant and perform it. Judges were looking for sharpness (i.e. straight arms, feet together etc) as this makes the routine more astatically pleasing and again gains them higher marks. Finally, they had to do a stunt. Stunts require basers and flyers. Basers hold the person in the air. The person in the air is called a flyer. To be a flyer, flexibility is important so you can achieve heel-stretches, scorpions, bow and arrows, arabesques etc. Once all the marks were added together, the top 30 were picked for the squad. The entire tryout process took 3 days.

The next few episodes focused mainly on the practices and how the cheerleading affects the team members’ personal life. Their routine consists of tumbling, stunting, jumps, motions (dance) and pyramids. These episodes highlighted just what can go wrong in a routine; from crashing to the floor while tumbling, to falling 10 foot from a stunt onto a hard mat floor. Once the routine was perfected (after 2 hour rehearsals each night), the team attended their first competition.

Their first competition is Regionals where thirty two teams from all around the state compete to try and get 1st place. If a team can get 1st place in Regionals, they move onto Nationals which is one of the hardest competitions around. The Dunbar Bulldogs team rivals- Tates Creek- were at Regionals which sparked panic within the squad. Tates Creek beat Dunbar at Regionals the year before and Dunbar were determined not to let this happen again.

The squads were given a meagre 5 minutes to warm up before they had to begin their performances. Tates Creek performed before the Dunbar Bulldogs which gave them a chance to see what they had come up with for this year’s competition. Tates Creek had delivered an amazing performance which would prove hard to beat. Dunbar would have to step up their game if they were going to beat them. The Dunbar Bulldogs were welcomed on the stage with a massive roar of claps and chants. Nerves were flying all over the place and the parents and coaches were as nervous as the squad performing. They began their performance with 5 stunt groups however amazingly 1 of the stunts fell, costing Dunbar points. However, only minor errors happened during the rest of the performance i.e. placing their hands on the floor as they did punch fronts (usually a 1/2 point deduction). They ended their performance with a strong pyramid and the crowd seemed to love the performance, cheering, clapping etc.

While the other squads were performing, people were trying to comfort the girl who fell from the stunt at the beginning, and Saleem- their coach- gathered all the squad together and told them that he thought that Tate Creek had beat them again as their performance was not the best. This was a harsh blow to the entire squad but it was now time for the award ceremony. The second place and first place would be extremely close between Tates Creek and Dunbar Bulldogs. The tension was high and all the squads huddled together hoping to get the 1st place. Then the second place result was announced- Tates Creek, which of course meant that Dunbar had won. Dunbar had gotten lucky, however they would have to step their performance up a gear if they are going to win Nationals. Next week we see how the squad performs as they start rehearsing for nationals, however their is a sting in the tail, their coach Saleem has accepted another job which results in him not being at as many rehearsals. How will the squad react to this change? And will they win Nationals for the 3rd year in a row- something no other squad has done before?

You can catch episodes of Cheerleader Nation every Tuesday at 9pm on Living2 in the UK. If you do not live in the UK then you can download the series through iTunes by going to the official Cheerleader Nation website:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/on-tv/shows/cheerleader-nation

Luke Read

Official Cheerleader Nation Reviewer for Talented Young People

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

“envisage it, believe it achieve it”