Fauzie Laily and Aimee Cheng-Bradshaw take the floor

SINGAPORE — MediaCorp TV Channel 5’s reality dance competition show The Dance Floor is returning after a seven-year hiatus. Starting this Sunday, viewers will be treated to week after week of amateur dance acts of all genres, each hoping to win the grand prize of S$50,000 in cash.

Flanking the stage — or rather, the floor — are the hosting duo of Fauzie Laily and Aimee Cheng-Bradshaw, who will share the spotlight with judges Rosalyn Lee, Ryan Tan and Bill Calhoun.

Fauzie, a familiar face on MediaCorp TV Suria as well as on Channel 5 programmes such as Code Of Law and Tanglin, is a talented singer of Anugerah 2005 fame. But when it comes to dance, he is the first to admit that although he has “groove”, he “can’t dance for nuts. I have two left feet”.

To balance things out, there is 20-year-old Cheng-Bradshaw. The second runner-up in the third cycle of Asia’s Next Top Model is presently taking classes in lyrical jazz and contemporary dance (“the emo stuff”, she said). “I’m not really a hip-hop dancer. I’m really tall, so it takes me a lot longer to get down to the floor,” she said. “Also, I have no groove, so it’s really sad. In hip-hop classes when they do warm-ups and bopping, other people are like, ‘This is so fun’, and I’m like, ‘I feel so awkward’. So I feel like I identify more with the stuff that has got its foundations in ballet.”

Well, it takes two to tango, so we took the first step to find out what kind of dance moves these two can bust.

Q: When was the last time you felt like dancing?

Aimee Cheng-Bradshaw: Last night — I went to dance class last night.

Fauzie Laily: A few weeks back when I finally managed to secure Manchester United tickets. My wife and I finally found two weeks in which we could both take leave. I’m finally going to watch a game at Old Trafford in March. I was dancing all night.

Q: In your opinion, what is the world’s most embarrassing dance?

A: I’d have to say twerking. I don’t think it’s flattering. It’s funny to do it as a joke, but when people actually do it in a club, I’m like, ‘Ooh. It’s a bit much. Calm down.’ But that’s just my opinion.

F: I come up with all these nonsense (moves) because you figure out that if you can’t dance, you might as well not try, so just make a joke out of it. So, yeah, I do the spanking dance. That’s quite embarrassing.

A: For me too, because I was right next to him.

Q: Of all the dance movies out there, which is your favourite?

F: I liked Black Swan. I didn’t like the dance parts, but I liked the movie. The acting was really good.

A: It sounds cliche but Step Up is my favourite because I enjoy watching hip-hop, even though I can’t do it. I felt like it was a good blend of hip-hop and lyrical stuff. And Channing Tatum was in it.

Q: Which celebrity would you pick to have a dance-off against?

F: I’d pick the worst one so I’d win: Mr Unbelievable. I could put on a wig and wear tight pants and big shades and win. I’ll be doing a very short cameo in the movie.

A: I have no idea. I’ve never done a dance-off in my life.

F: Me, so you can win.

A: No, but you do weird funny stuff and people like that, so you would probably win. I really don’t know — The Thing, because he can’t move. I imagine he’d be pretty stiff.

Catch The Dance Floor starting on Oct 25, Sundays at 9.30pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.