I am sure that many are familiar with the Zoolander scene when Derek Zoolander gleefully runs onstage to accept his VH1 Fashion Awards Male Model of the Year award, completely oblivious to the fact it was instead meant for rival Hansel.

I am sure at least 1,500 people are familiar with a similar, less comical, and more realistic scene that occurred Saturday at the 2007 AHANA Leadership Council Showdown.

As a freshman on the Phaymus dance team in October, it did not occur to me how big of a deal Showdown was. All I knew was that I was practicing for the "big time" and that my dance captains were whipping out all the stops this year. It was not going to happen again; they were no longer going to be shortchanged.

The makeup of the 2007 "Phaymily," which includes the eight returning members who were accustomed to the feeling of disappointment in the Showdown results and 17 new members who know important this was, refused to let it happen again. Phaymus is a team run on the fuel that is a passion for dancing, a motor that is durable enough to sustain mistreatment, and a team of leaders and dancers determined to go miles beyond of what was expected of them.

The controversy surrounding this year's Showdown, all ticket sales aside, was driven by Fuego's place in the dance category instead of the cultural performance, F.I.S.T.S.' place in Showdown as a step group, and the politics that could potentially influence the decision among the hip-hop groups.

F.I.S.T.S. put on a hell of a show, I was in shock from the difficulty of Fuego's routine and the great technique of the group's dancers, and I thought Synergy's circus theme was creative. But despite my own participation in the group or personal biases, I am not sure how the judges could decide that Phaymus' performance only yielded fourth-place results: on what basis?

Continued...

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