Dancing for Madonna
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Pin Karndee missed out on a chance to join the superstar's tour, but the New York audition was a blast
The flood crisis meant that Thailand was alone among 50 countries that missed out on Smirnoff’s global Nightlife Exchange Project last month.
The party here has now been rescheduled for February, but in the meantime the gathering in New York saw Madonna selecting a dancer for her next tour – and one of those auditioning was Wirattanaporn “Pin” Karndee.
Pin won the Thai preliminaries for the chance to show Madonna her moves. “I never thought I’d make it that far,” she says, back home in Bangkok.
“A friend sort of forced me to send a video clip to enter. I never thought I’d win, but there obviously was nothing to lose, so I did a sleepy three-minute clip to Madonna’s ‘Celebration’ at 3am the morning before the deadline.”
Pin has been serious about dancing for six years and, having recently finished her degree, is making a career of it. She earned her parents’ approval by showing them that dancing is both life-enhancing and financially practical.
“I dream of having my own studio one day where dancers can hang out and people can get proper dance lessons,” Pin says.
Stunned at securing the right to represent Thailand at the Madonna audition, Pin worked hard with her dance guru and choreographers to win over the Queen of Pop. But her luck ran out in the Big Apple, and she wasn’t among the 11 finalists.
The Smirnoff party at the Roseland Ballroom kicked off with French superstar DJ Martin Solveig. After the finalists showed their stuff, Madonna decided on an American hoofer named Lil’ Buck.
“I’m not sad at all,” Pin says. “The winner really deserved it and I learned a lot from just hanging out with these great dancers from all over the world.”
World culture
Smirnoff started the Nightlife Exchange Project last year to celebrate cross-culture nightlife and global music integration.
Fourteen countries had representatives at the inaugural party.
