Written by: Choa Zhao Xiang and Leung Lok Heng Edited by: Choa Zhao Xiang and Leung Lok Heng Photos by: EusoffWorks
IBG Cooldown
After days of duking it out on the courts, fields and tracks, it was finally time for our blocks to take a well-deserved break at the (air-conditioned) FH to mark the end of IBG with our closing ceremony. An annual tradition for Eusoffians to showcase their non-sporting talents and to award notable individuals, IBG Cooldown marks the official end of an enthralling and competitive series of competitive games and of course, crown a certain block as overall IBG Champions. C Block sat at the top of the standings but the other blocks were right on their heels and with points still up for grabs, it was anyone’s game.
For the first event of the night, the blocks were tasked to entertain the crowd in whatever way possible in the aptly named “1 Minute of Fame” segment. The blocks had free reins to do showcase whatever talents their members possessed, and boy did they put on a show! In the Freshies-round, A Block (Wanlin and Ananya) and C Block (Avina, Jun Han, Yu Qi) serenaded the crowd with their acoustic covers of “Young Dumb & Broke” and “Fire on Fire” respectively. Khalid who? Sam Smith what? Judging by the crowd’s applause, the freshies’ covers were better than the originals!
B Block’s Sheana, Yuichiro, Bella and Hannah went a different route, opting to do an interpretative dance of the modern literary masterpiece “Anaconda”, which was the very epitome of intellect and sophistication.
D Block combined both song and dance, re-enacting a scene very near and dear to us millennials – High School Musical’s “Breaking Free” starring Lay Chun and Alicia. Complete with background dancers, D Block took us all back to 2006 (do you feel old yet) with their amazing choreography and emotional rendition of the song.
Just when we thought we had seen it all, E Block threw us a curveball and surprised us with an astounding display of juggling! That’s right, Divakar from E Block put on a masterclass as he juggled 3 tennis balls in various formations while his blockmates danced in tune behind him. If only we could juggle our commitments with as much ease as Divakar did with those tennis balls…
Not to be outdone, it was the Senior’s turn to rep their blocks and put on a show for us. There seemed to be a continuing theme of Nicki Minaj as E Block’s very own Alun and Shu Yi brought the house down with their cover of “Super Bass”, leaving the crowd howling with laughter as Shu Yi spit every word and lyrics with ease, never missing a beat.
B Block’s Jeong and C Block’s Pat turnt it back up with their sick dance skills, moving and contorting their bodies with such smoothness that it left all of us wondering whether they actually had bones. A Block continued to showcase their musical talents as Bobby and Jared performed an instrumental version of “Radioactive”, much to the enjoyment of the crowd who sang along cheerily. However, D Block’s Jung Ha proved that he didn’t need no instruments – he WAS the instrument. His beatboxing performance had the crowd in awe as each sound that came out of his mouth sounded as if it was a recorded clip playing from the speakers in front instead. It was truly a sight (or sounds) to behold.
The judges were in a tough spot, as ranking the block’s performances was surely no easy task. After much deliberation, the judges decided on the following standings for this segment of the night:
1st – D Block
2nd (tied) – A and E Block
3rd – C Block
4th – B Block
Up next was the prize presentation ceremony, where every block’s Best Male and Female Freshie for IBG was awarded a small token of appreciation for their continual support for their block. Though it was not easy for the block heads to nominate only 1 person per category, the following freshies really made their mark on their blocks throughout the events:
A Block: Girls: Wan Lin Guys: Dylan
B Block: Girls: Sheana Guys: Yuichiro
C Block: Girls: Jodie Guys: Tien Chun
D Block: Girls: Xin Ran Guys: Bangyi
E Block: Girls: Zoey Guys: Benny
Another big award for the night were the Best Overall Male and Female Freshie. The crowd was anxious to see which of their fellow freshies would be recognised for this prestigious title. After our Emcees had shared what their block head’s had said about them, it was clear that the awards had gone to Matteus (A Block) and Avina (C Block)!
There were other awards given out as well, namely: Best Supporter: Joel (C Block) Senior Male MVP: Pei Jie (D Block) Senior Female MVP: Jamin (E Block)
Finally, it came down to the moment everyone was waiting for. With the points from the 1 Minute of Fame segment tabulated, the final standings were confirmed. It was an immensely close fight right till the very end as there was only 1 point difference between many of the blocks. However, there could only be one. After 7 days of competition, a victor had been crowned – C Block! The IBG champs from last year had repeated and taken the grand title of Overall IBG Champions again! Nonetheless, the other blocks gave them a good run for their money as the final standings were revealed:
1st – C Block (48 Points)
2nd – A Block (47 Points)
3rd – B Block (39 Points)
4th – D Block (38 Points)
5th – E Block (36 Points)
All good things must come to an end, and with that, IBG 19/20 as well. SMC would like to thank everyone who came down for the games, be it to compete or to cheer their blockmates on, and for creating such a lively and joyous environment for the entire hall. Shoutout to EusoffWorks as well, for their consistent coverage of the events and compiling the final video shown during the night.
IBG 19/20 would also have not been possible without our partners! Red Bull energised our lactic acid-laden thighs and lecture-fried brains, giving our Eusoffians the strength they needed to compete in the games! Let’s not also forget the tantalising Acai vouchers and Oatberry snacks that Oatberry provided as part of the prizes tonight! Their lovingly handcrafted granolas are allergy free and healthy, making it a fitting prize for our equally fit Eusoffians! We would also like to give special thanks to FBT, who provided our winners with lucrative FBT vouchers and quality Under Armour bags for our prize winners as well. With their support, our prize winners will surely be well-equipped for school and future sporting events in style! Thank you again to all our partners for making IBG 19/20 a success!
We hope all of you have enjoyed yourself throughout IBG in one way or another, and stay tuned to this page for our next series: the Captain’s series. You definitely wouldn’t want to miss that!
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