There was a lot of energy at Bait al Zubair Museum last Thursday evening as 16 finalists battled for top B-Boy Oman 2013. After a few hours of some mind-boggling dancing, it came down to 2 finalists: B-Boy Engine and B-Boy Dark. Here’s the final battle that I videotaped between these 2: Here’s a pic of the winner, B-Boy Engine (aka”Abdullah Suleiman Al Rawahi” in the real world!), taken (as are all pics in this post) from Red Bull Content Pool (with permission). It so happens that all the pics from Oman BC One Cypher 2013 on the Red Bull Content Pool were taken by my good buddy, Geoffrey O’Dell. The man’s got skills! This is the battle for 3rd & 4th position (with final decision): If you liked that, there’s more where that came from: Judges and also BC One All Stars, Lilou, Lamine, and Pelezinho pose for a portrait at Muttrah Suq before the Red Bull BC One Cypher in Muscat, Oman on April 25th, 2013.
The Red Bull BC One Oman Cypher 2013 was definitely a crowd-pleasing, electrifying success!
I’ve seen plenty of long-stretched limousines before but never a long-stretched hummer until just a few days ago! It’s not every day you see a vehicle like this: Oman National Cert is running a “Mobile Security Campaign” across the Sultanate and this “Awareness Vehicle” is one sure way to get attention. “OCERT was officially launched in April 2010 to analyse risks and security threats that may be present in cyberspace and communicates this information to users of Internet services and technical information outlets, whether they are public or private institutions, or individuals.” (from their website) It was nice to sit inside for a while and hear a bit about this campaign. The lady giving me the tour (who chose not to be photographed) said that I was their very first visitor on this leg of their tour. Sweet! If you see this vehicle around the Sultanate, don’t be shy to approach the folks and find out more about what they do.
I posted this image more than a week ago (along with 2 other events advertised) after it was sent to me from Grand Hyatt Muscat. They wisely send out such promotions to those in media, including simple bloggers like myself. I hit the reply button and asked them to book us some seats for the launch of the buffet on Friday, April 19th and I’m glad we went as it was one of the best Friday brunches we’ve ever experienced in Muscat! I’ll let the pics do the talking! The General Manager of Grand Hyatt Muscat, Garry Friend with guest of honor, Matthew vanKan, who performed at a sold-out concert the same evening at the Muscat Jazz Club (aka Copacabana). If you do go for the brunch + alcohol deal, you should realize that alcohol is not served until 2pm on Fridays. We were more than satisfied with the brunch + unlimited soft drinks for 22 rials (all inclusive). Carl the friendly DJ! Musicians are also part of the live music offered during this special brunch. Probably my favorite pic from the brunch! 🙂 The incredible Grand Hyatt chefs take a short pause for a group pic. Just one of several plates I enjoyed… Eat today and diet tomorrow! 😉 Plenty of desserts! Anyone familar with Mocha Cafe might realize from this pic that tables have been cleared away to make way for all the extra food provided in their Friday brunch! We were very impressed with this new Friday “Beverly Hills Brunch” at Grand Hyatt Muscat! The best part was when we asked for the bill and the waitress came back to tell us that “the bill has been completely taken care of”! WOW! What a pleasant surprise! That had to be Nicole! 😉 We were more than ready to pay 22 rials (tax and unlimited soft drinks included) each for the buffet as the food was so delicious. I was especially impressed with the sushi, lobster and steak. The waitress informed me that the Beverly Hills Brunch will run until May 11th and then close due to the summer heat. I really hope that this brunch becomes a norm at the Hyatt as it really is a fantastic option for family dining on Fridays! You’ve got 3 weeks to try this buffet out before they close shop for the summer…I’d definitely make a reservation if you’re planning on attending as they were quite busy even on the first week of this promotion. (Tel: +968-2464-1234)
This should be a pretty wicked event! Anyone else plan on attending?
Since its founding 10 years ago, Red Bull BC One has earned a reputation as the premiere one-on-one B-Boy Championship. The international series will be hosted in Oman to choose the best of the best to represent the nation. Winners of the country cyphers will get the chance to compete in one of six global qualifiers in an attempt to reach the 10th World Final in late November. Qualifiers have been confirmed for the USA, Eastern Europe in Ukraine, Western Europe in Italy, Latin America in Colombia, Asia Pacific in Japan and Middle East & Africa in Egypt. Please join us to watch the best 16 Omani B-Boys battle against each on Thursday April 25th at Bait Zubair Museum.
Here’s a video from last year BC Event in Oman: And a few pics: “London based DJ Renegade will crank the volume up and play a mix of electrifying break beats to absorb the audience.” “Dancers will be judged on three main skills, including technique, innovation and dance flow by some of the best breaking stars in the world, the judging panel will include three members of the BC One All Stars including B-Boy Lamine, B-Boy Lilou and B-Boy Pelezinho.”
If you’re not doing anything onThursday evening, you might want to come by and check this out!
If you missed, it, Matthew vanKan‘s performance at Muscat Jazz Club (aka Copacabana), Grand Hyatt Muscat was stellar! Can this man ever sing! This was his first performance in Muscat and it was a sold out event to an exclusive crowd of 200 (to ensure everyone had an unhindered view of the stage). A big thanks to Nicole Bassit who reserved us some of the best VIP seats in the house just in front of the stage to the right. Here’s a small sample of what the evening was like. This is Matthew vanKan singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin“: If you ever get a chance to see Matthew vanKan live, don’t hesitate to buy a ticket. He’s got a fantastic voice and is quite the entertainer.
To see what I mean about being a great entertainer, watch this next clip of him singing “What a Wonderful World” and see how he handles a table of men who can’t sing very well (table next to ours…), haha! Classic!
Like any great entertainer, Mr. vanKan would also give some history or deep thoughts behind some of the songs he sang. As one quick example, this is how he introduced the classic song “Mr. Bojangles”: “This song, I think, everyone loves it but I’m not sure that everybody has thought about what it really means. And I was on the tube in London a few days back. And realized, you know somebody fell over and nobody got up to help or do anything about it. And it just seemed really strange to me that that could happen and nobody kind of reached out. My Gran died a couple of years ago and she was like my #1 fan. And when someone is gone you realize the questions you didn’t ask, the things you don’t know about them. This whole life that’s lived, and especially with the elderly, you sort of forget that they’ve done all the things that we’ve done and more, and lived through much more than we ever have. You’re not necessarily that aware and it’s very easy to dismiss people as you walk past them or meet them through your lives and that’s the story of Mr. Bojangles. With that in mind, listen to the words and I’ll try not to cry. This is Mr. Bojangles.” And here he is singing Bojangles at the Grand Hyatt Muscat:
"The suppression of ideas and thought is a major sin, and we will never allow anyone to stifle freedom of thought." (His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said)
There was a lot of energy at Bait al Zubair Museum last Thursday evening as 16 finalists battled for top B-Boy Oman 2013. After a few hours of some mind-boggling dancing, it came down to 2 finalists: B-Boy Engine and B-Boy Dark. Here’s the final battle that I videotaped between these 2: 
Here’s a pic of the winner, B-Boy Engine (aka”Abdullah Suleiman Al Rawahi” in the real world!), taken (as are all pics in this post) from Red Bull Content Pool (with permission). It so happens that all the pics from Oman BC One Cypher 2013 on the Red Bull Content Pool were taken by my good buddy, Geoffrey O’Dell. The man’s got skills!
This is the battle for 3rd & 4th position (with final decision): If you liked that, there’s more where that came from: 
Judges and also BC One All Stars, Lilou, Lamine, and Pelezinho pose for a portrait at Muttrah Suq before the Red Bull BC One Cypher in Muscat, Oman on April 25th, 2013.
Andy in Oman 