I’ve lots of posts lined up, but first, an update on Naomi’s Carrefour Contest because everyone has been asking me about it.
Well, Naomi didn’t win. She didn’t place either, and I’m a bit more disappointed about that because I honestly think she put up a good showing that afternoon and was one of the more cooperative babies. The event was held from 2-5pm in the afternoon, which was very challenging for all the children involved. Poor Naomi was nodding off on my shoulder just before she was due to participate in the walking/running race, but she roused herself after I gave her a banana for a snack. Still, it was the slowest I’ve ever seen this little girl move. I guess I’m just glad she made it through the entire afternoon without any fuss. She’s a trooper, my little baby, she is.
Now, how about some pictures as I re-count the day?
Segment 1 was the Parent intro. It was a good thing Naomi was 2nd up as it left me less time to get nervous.
I was insecure enough to bring my script with me on stage and made the mistake of blocking Naomi’s face with the paper at certain points. Argh. On hindsight, maybe I should have gone with the Q&A format with the emcee that most of the other parents relied on. That might have put less stress on me too. This segment was a bit of a blur to me but DD assured me that it came off well. I was certainly glad when our turn was over!
We waited for all the rest of the contestants to make their introductions, then came the interesting part — Segment 2: the Talent Showcase!
So what did I get Naomi to do in the end? We decided to showcase her “Death Grip”. When I was trying to decide on a “talent” for her, I decided that it had to be something that was easy to execute and that she enjoyed to increase the chances of her pulling it off on stage. I ruled out action songs, making animal sounds, or dancing because there was a good chance she would just stand there and stare at the audience.
In the end, her talent was a brain wave on the part of my sister. Naomi is actually able to hold on to things really tightly and hang from a monkey bar. It’s actually pretty amazing, considering she could do this at 12/13 months. So I came up with a little story about how she can hold on to things so tightly that we could lift her off the ground and she would still not let go.
Here’s what I said:
Hi Everyone!
In today’s talent segment, we thought we’d show you something we like to call Naomi’s Death Grip. What is that? It is her ability to hang on to something so tightly that it is extremely difficult to pry it from her grip. This is a skill she has perfected with the help of her personal trainer, also known as her Gor-gor Noah, who helps her practice by attempting everyday to snatch toys out of her hands. Her grip is so good that she can hang on to a bar even if I lift her off the ground. And that’s what we’re going to show you today.
And this is what she did:
I was very proud of that act, which went without a hitch.
After that, as the rest of the contestants took their turns, Naomi started to fade. At one point, we saw her closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep on my shoulder. Unfortunately this was minutes before Segment 3, which was a running race, so I had to wake her up.
Still, she just wasn’t in the mood for a race when the time came and she walked uncertainly over to me. Like I said earlier, I’ve never seen this girl move so slowly when I’m waving food at her. I guess it was just bad timing.
Ironically the banana did eventually wake her up and transform her back into her usual energetic self, but it was too late by then. Considering how I used to tank up on bananas during races, it should have occurred to me to give it to her earlier! Well, lesson (re-)learnt.
After all 3 segments were completed, the judges left to deliberate, and the kids in the audience were treated to a magic show. Noey loved it and found it incredibly funny, but the adults thought the magician’s joke were of questionable taste.
The magician finished his act and it was time for the results. After everything, it was a bit of an anticlimax for us, because Naomi didn’t win or place. I was disappointed, and immediately also felt sorry for the grandparents and family members who sacrificed their afternoon to support Naomi. Another parent, the father of another really cute boy, Kieran, even told me that he thought Naomi would win. That was really nice of him. I just smiled in response because I couldn’t bring myself to say anything at that point.
I’m over it now. Going into this, I knew the competition would be tough. The kids were really cute. When everyone assembled at the start, DD told me he’d never seen so many big-eyed, cute babies in one space. And to qualify as one of the top 10 out of a field of over 550 participants is pretty amazing. Plus we did get $100 in Carrefour vouchers and a number of newspaper clippings to boot.
I know we gave it our best shot, and I’m happy with that.
Now, I’m re-thinking joining any more contests because man, that finals experience was draining and really hard work!
Naomi looks great in her cheery outfit; love her 'death drip' to bits!
Thanks! I realise that yellow is quite a good colour for her! I just didn't want pink, which I thought was a bit boring.
awwwwww you're forever a winner to me, nomnom! 🙂 Death grip is the BEST EVER TALENT!! hahaha! Laughed till i fell off the chair when i saw that photo! And your description of how that talent came to be! Personal trainer Gorgor Noey! hahaha i bet the whole shopping mall laughed! <br /><br />Good job mummy and naomi! :)))
Hahaha, I'll try and get the video from D's cousin or my sis and show it to you when we meet for lunch! The photos make me laugh too.
She is our star! And what a talent! I wanna say kudos to mummy too, for lifting Nommi off the ground too! 🙂
Thanks Y! Good thing she isn't too heavy! DD was a bit freaked at first about how high I could lift her but we realised that she could hold on really well. It is a death grip after all! Haha.
It's the best talent I've ever heard of for a baby contest! She should have won hands down based on that alone!!
Aww, thanks for the support, Lyn 🙂 Maybe I should enter her in a talent contest next instead of baby contests huh!
you girls did awesome! that is one very cool talent! ;)<br /><br />if i have to do a presentation for the contest, i'd probably have given up on the contest already. you are GOOD!
Thanks C! I was very stressed about the intro! You would think that my ex-profession would have prepared me for this sort of thing but I still get nervous about speaking before a crowd. Glad it went smoothly.
Naomi is really a cutie and I love her talent, "death grip". Good thinking there and perhaps you should bring her to go the kids gym to work those muscles 🙂 Don't worry about not winning, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities in future and it must have been a fun experience for the both of you.
Thanks Susan! I am planning to sign her up for kiddy gym class, just haven't gotten round to it. After such a hectic contest, I don't know if I want to sign her up for any more such contests in future!
dude that skill is madness! and so much more useful than singing or dancing!! i wish i could do that! she'd make a great gymnast! 🙂 <br /><br />im probably biased but i think she should have won!! she did look really chic and that little face is precious! :)<br /><br />xx
Awww, thanks Z! I wish I could do that too really. My upper body strength is non-existent, though it's better now that I have to lug 2 kids around all the time. I also think gymnastics might be for Naomi, because she just loves jumping and swinging. Thank you for saying she looks chic. Means a lot coming from you! 🙂
She's a winner in our eyes, supercute sweetie! Mummy did great too! 🙂
Thanks for the vote of support, V!
Aww, you guys did great 🙂 I thought her death grip idea was very clever and she looked so cute!
I was so glad when my sister suggested the idea – could finally stop cracking my head over a talent to execute! I'm just glad Naomi pulled it off.
Naomi's sucha cutie! Loves everything about her! Definitely the winner in my eyes! Also, love that shade of yellow of her – stands out totally! 🙂
Hey, thanks Lixia! That's so sweet of you. I do think yellow might be her colour! 🙂
She is SO cute and what an awesome talent!!!! I love her chubby legs as she lifts off! I do think she is cuter than the winner though, what a pity!
Yes, the short dress worked to show off her legs, didn't it? Haha. I love chubby legs on babies. Now Noey's are all skinny and long. Sigh! We know you are biased, but thanks for the vote of support 🙂
Oh well done, Naomi!<br /><br />Getting through such a gruelling contest is no mean feat, and I think the death grip really rocked :)<br /><br />Nish
Thanks Nish! Gruelling is the word!
Haha, that's a great talent! Though she didn't win, but I think you two did a great job! =) And she looks really good in that outfit! A little matchy matchy with mummy too!
Thanks babe! Hee, I did deliberately try to colour coordinate with her since we were both going to be on stage at the same time 🙂
I saw Naomi's photo in the Carrefour ads cos I work in Suntec… She is SUCH a sweetie pie – plus those big eyes to boot! 🙂 Good job on that death grip! 😉
Thanks Sandra! Oh, I didn't realise they would be featured on the Carrefour ads around Suntec, if not I'd have gone down to take pics! Haha. Should have realised that!
The death grip rocks, as does Naomi, and her yellow dress!<br /><br />And yes, it's always disappointing to not win. Years ago I entered us into a family photo competition and we got into the finals, where there would be 10 consolation prizewinners and three top prizes. They announced the consolation prizewinners first… and we were the 10th name announced. Such an anticlimax, hehe!
Thanks Evelyn! Ugh, that must have been such a sickening moment. So near and yet so far! Yeah, when you don't win, you sort of don't know what to do with yourself after the event. Haha.