Audience support boosts Blockbusters juniors

Dubai: An almost full theatre watched junior contestants from Dubai compete for Blockbusters on Friday.

Parents and school pupils from around Dubai decided to make use of the weekend to cheer for their children or peers, while some came just to watch and perhaps even learn.

A family of three could be seen attentively listening to the questions and answers, and jotting them down in a notebook, while adults in the audience had to control themselves from saying the answers out loud in excitement.

A 10- year-old member of the audience, Nitin could be seen clenching his fists tight on the edge of his seat every time a challenging question was asked.

In some instances, he would shut his eyes and mouth the answer repeatedly hoping that the contestant would read his mind.

"I can relate to what the contestant is going through," he said. "This gets really competitive and there is a lot of pressure to win from teachers and parents."

So why did he not participate? Despite knowing the answer to many of the questions, Nitin said he preferred to "observe" this year and make mental notes on winning strategies for next time. His mother, sitting next to him, nodded approvingly.

Winners

The winner of heat 5, Shreyas Ravishankar, had a very tough fight, as his co-contestant Kaushik was determined not to give up and fought till the end. But Shreyas' quick fingers and answers saw him through.

Rishabh Kumar, 12, who won heat 6, said he was very nervous initially because he saw how competitively heat 6 was played.

"Everyone was watching so I was nervous initially but then I found the audience to be very supportive of me and the other contestant and it helped," he said.

The fact that his parents also encouraged him to participate and "have fun" without having to worry how he did, he said, made him more confident.

It certainly is fun for Rishabh and others, as five of his school friends have reached the quarter finals already.

Winners of the Toshiba DVDs were Maniza Jalal and Jonathan Joji.