OMG Grand Finalist : Luminiq Crew

Luminiq Crew From Day One ...

Luminiq Crew has been with OMG! from Day One. Joining the show on its premiere episode, the boys have fought their way through 13 weeks of competition on-air. 

Off-air however, its been a little longer than that because the show's earlier episodes were pre-recorded; so technically, the boys have been at it since July - that's four months of blood, sweat and tears. And for Luminiq the blood, sweat and tears are real. The boys often get hurt while rehearsing outside because until now, they do not rehearse in a studio unless its at Mediacorp when they rehearse for Zaki or the producers. On their own, the boys work it out at *scape day after day til late in the night.

Young, hardworking and creative, what I like best about the boys is the fact that they are genuine. Maybe more so from naivete and age, but their sincerity is what comes through in all their performances, and what shows on their faces whether they are delighted or have been slighted. 

Originally a seven member crew (for the show at least, outside the show, Luminiq Crew's numbers are waaaay more), they are now down to six after Faiz left the show (after episode 9) due to familial matters. So who's in the crew to the end?

Azmi bin Noor

17 November 1990

Just one week short of turning 20 - Azmi's birthday falls on Grand Finals day, no prizes for guessing what his birthday wish is! Azmi is a funny guy. I used to call him 'camwhore guy' cos he would always stick his head in almost every picture I took, but as I've gotten to know the guy, I've realised he's actually pretty grounded and determined, and pretty intense sometimes (or maybe just angry), oh well, can't blame him - he's a Scorpio.

Muhammad Syafiq bin Mohd. Karim
9 October 1990
At 20, Spyro is currently serving the nation and often has to juggle missed practices and his NS calling. Often perceived as one of the quieter ones, once you get to know him, he's as loud and full of nonsense as the rest when they're together.

Mohd. Afiq bin Abdul Mutalib a.k.a. Fiqsion
21 November 1991
Currently the youngest member of the group (now that Faiz has left the show), Afiq has some serious moves and serious 'face'. He's usually one of the more quiet ones, leaving Danial, Hamster and Azmi to the noise, but more often than not, I see him singing :) Arguably the cutest Luminiq boy, he's the one the fans love taking pictures with...(and stalk apparently! Danial once commented that Luminiq has fans, but Fiqsion has stalkers!)

Viknash Muthaiah

2 September 1988

Viki's the guy who does most the bulk of the flying/flipping/spinning type stunts. He's usually the one who does flips over people and usually off stages :)

But when he's not performing, Vik's a really quiet guy. Often reserved and plugged into his headphones, while the rest are singing and cracking silly jokes, Vik's staring out the window stoning :) But when it comes to sharing skills and teaching others his moves, he's as generous as the rest of the Luminiq boys.

Muhammad Afiq bin Abu Samah

a.k.a Hamster

12 April 1989

Another trick monster, Hamster's signature trick is spinning on one hand. I've seen him do it so many times I still can't figure out how he does it - and lemmetellyou, other OMGers have given it a try - it ain't easy. 

Hamster is one of the founding members of Luminiq Crew along with Viki. Another funny guy with an opinion about everything, Hamster once asked me to tweet that he's looking for a Chinese girlfriend. 

Danial Hakim bin Supani a.k.a. Doc Orc

2 February 1987

Danial has been the spokesperson for Luminiq Crew since they joined the show. He's the one who does most of the talking at roadshows, radio interviews and also on the show itself. He's a popper-locker and his forte is at freestyling. Friendly and easygoing, Danial has always got a ready smile and a positive attitude even when things got rough for the boys throughout the season. 

Check out the big smile he gave me for this pic despite having a terrible tummy ache - now that's a trooper!

Luminiq's OMG! Journey

I caught up with the boys over the last coupla days to find out what they thought of their time on OMG!, and here's what they had to say :

What was the best thing about being a part of One Moment of Glory?

The best part? The people we got to meet! The people we got the share the journey with, like Jill, The Baos, R'N'M, Danny, The Roses....all the Top 8.

Jill is like a kakak (malay for 'big sister') to us, she's like family. She really shows that she cares for us, she shows us the love you know? Like, sometimes, if she sees that we're down or quiet, she'll ask if we're okay. She's always there for us you know? We always laugh and have fun together. 

Its the same with Danny too.  Danny is like a bro. He's like a crew member we never had. He's such an awesome guy.  He would give us tips and then props, and when we're practising, he would give us suggestions. He inspired us all  on many of the themes. 

What can you guys take away from this experience once its over, whether you win or not?

Well, last time we never used to try new things. We are a b-boy group. That's what we've always been. And we've participated in a lot of competitions. But for this competition, we've stepped out of our comfort zone, a lot, and sometimes quite far out of what we normally do. We've tried a lot of new things in our choreography, trying out different genres other than b-boying. It has been very challenging, but we worked hard and its an experience.

What do you think was your best performance this season?

The one we did for 'School's Out!', when we brought in our youngest Luminiq Crew member Aziz. Why did we think it was our best? Because the producer said so :) She said we had improved a lot and she was very pleased, so we were really happy. We got a lot of good feedback from that week's performance. 

Okay, worst performance then?

Oh, its gotta be the 'Singapore Dream' week. We had a really tough time cos we had no ideas that week. All the ideas we came up with did not meet the mark with producers and we started to run out of time. That was the week that one of our members had some family problems, so it was a really rough week - in fact that was the last time he performed with us on the show, he had to drop out after that. So we just did what we did that week, tried our best to put it out there and make it work. 

Best ever moment of the season?

When we found out that the theme for Ep 11 was gonna be 'school'-themed. The original theme was called 'Cutting Edge' and that was a really difficult theme to interpret. Originally, back in the Survival rounds, we had already wanted to do a 'school'-related choreo, but didn't get a chance to do so, so when this theme came up we were SUPER happy - also because we could bring in an external member. We were damn happy la.

Worst/Saddest ever moment of the season?

When Danny left. Cos he was one of the pioneers you know? All the way from Episode 1, it was him and us. So that night we felt really really down. He was actually quite close with us, we had a strong bond with him, almost like brothers. But we had to pick ourselves up also cos that night was 'School's Out' and we wanted to give a really good performance and we were excited about our routine - so it was really mixed extreme feelings that night!

Some quick LMQ on OMG! stats : 
Survival Rounds :
No. of times performed : 2/6 episodes
No. of times challenged : ONCE ONLY! (by Pretty Boyz,  on Episode 4)

Elimination Rounds : 
No. of times Judges have put LMQ in bottom 3 : 4/6 times
No. of times Viewers have put LMQ in bottom 3 : 0/6

Looks like LMQ get a lotta lurve from you at home. Despite low rankings by the judges, public votes have kept Luminiq out of the bottom 3 all season. 

Videos of Luminiq's OMG! Performances

Lucky for us, Viki has been very consistent with putting up clips of the LMQ performances up on Youtube, so you can watch everything the boys have done from Episode 1 to 12. Thank you Viki! (Btw, did you know, Viki and Azmi are the guys that put together LMQ's music every week - the splice and dice their own dance mix at home!) They have performed a total of 8 times competitively. 


This is their very first performance - a soccer themed routine on Episode 1. 
9 August 2010.

In the first 6 episodes of Survival Rounds, Luminiq Crew were challenged just ONCE - on Episode 4, by dance troupe Pretty Boyz. LMQ won that challenge. Here's the routine they did - btw, I loved how snazzy they all looked for this routine.



LMQ had immunity on Episode 5 and weren't challenged on Episode 6, so they sailed right through to the next phase - Elimination Rounds - where they would perform every week according to a theme. This is Episode 7, Elimination Round 1 - Collaborations, where they collaborated with Elaine Daly for a zombie-inspired routine.



This is Episode 8 and the theme is 'Come On Baby Light My Fire' and the boys change it up by doing a 'bedtime' inspired routine - with a bit of 'fire' thrown in .



This is Episode 9, and the theme is 'Singapore Dreams' and the boys portray their dream of representing Singapore in an international dance competition.



This is Episode 10, 'Lights, Camera, Action!' and the boys whip up a routine that pits their two favourite movies - The Matrix vs Ip Man. 



This is Episode 11, 'School's Out!' and that week, each Contender would have to incorporate kids into their act. Lucky for the boys, they already had a kid in their midst - 10 year old Aziz who is Luminiq Crew's youngest member - so they brought him on the show and boy did he 'wow' the crowd :) 



This is Episode 12, 'Fright Night!'. The boys did a creepy bomoh/pontianak/hantu inspired routine. Aside from the creepy theme - the moves were sharp and synched and to me, one of their better performances.



Its a pity no one uploaded the 'dancer's segment' from Episode 13 OMG Cares. I thought LMQ did great with the choreography that night too - very synchronised and spot on. I can't wait to see what they're gonna bring for this Wednesday's show. Apparently the routine involved some basketballs? Real or imagined, I have no idea - waiting to be surprised.


Catch Luminiq Crew this Wednesday on the One Moment of Glory Grand Finals where they will battle it out against the other four to win the $50,000 grand prize. 


Voting lines will open at the start of the show at 8pm. The Results will come to you LIVE the same night at 10pm. 


To vote for Luminiq Crew :
Call 1900 112 1203 or sms '3' to 71199.


Good luck boys, and all the best for Wednesday!
And Azmi, Happy Birthday in advance dude!


xoxo, s.