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The Davis Cup is a prestigious event in which high-profile tennis players are given the honour of representing their country in a competition to which the whole nation lends it's support. So we were thrilled when asked to provide the pre-match entertainment for this great sporting event! The Davis Cup is the biggest team competition in men's teams and the Rockettes were more than excited about the prospect of being involved.
And we weren't to be disappointed, this really was a top-class event and the atmosphere was electric! I have no hesitation in saying the Rockettes enjoyed every minute of it.
You want proof? Well here is what 4-year veteran Katrina had to say about it…
When I think tennis, I think Andre Agassi and tanned oily legs. So when we were booked for the Davis Cup at Braehead I couldn't quite contain myself. Two days at the event and surely I'd get to meet my hero, I'd worked out what I was going to say – until I was told the Cup was between Great Britain and Serbia Montenegro. Still, they'd all have tanned legs eh?
Braehead Arena looked great, was jam-packed full and also had an extra seating stand erected. Instead of our usual super-polished wooden floor we had a rubber mat-type surface, which was great… until you tried to slide into the splits and your legs jammed halfway! Mind you it made a good landing for my triple back summersault, I've never had a chance to do that at our games as it's so slippy! So I think my fellow squad members were well impressed!
On the Saturday, our first day, we danced three routines back to back to a very reserved audience. Claire forgot she had her watch on and had to pass it to George Bowie who was there compereing. Think he was gonnie try and sell it down the Barras! The seating area was pretty dark, but our floor space was brightly lit which made our poms look like big sparkly diamonds, kind of blinding, and the flashing cameras didn't help either – kept giving me spots in my eye. Some squeals from Carole Anne and Nicole during 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' confirmed the knee rolls were indeed painful and the rubber mat was removing the skin from my kneecap.! Ouch!! The polite applause after each routine seemed to get louder. As we approached the second stand to perform we were greeted by even louder clapping. It was great. By the time our third routine was done there definitely was some 'whoops and woos'. So these tennis followers aren't as La-de-dah as first thought, I think it's safe to say we were an ace!
Sunday morning and we were back at Braehead. Same set as before, three routines back to back and the crowd were well warmed-up. It was so nice to perform to people who don't often see what we do as they were so appreciative and definitely enjoyed what we did. Claire claimed her watch back from George who wasn't too happy, his wife found the watch in his pocket and he got in so much trouble! George actually dedicated his Monday morning show to his embarrassment re the watch. Ha, what he refrained from telling his listeners was that he was left holding our changing-room key too! After our routines we were privileged with a box courtside so we could watch some of the matches.
Last game of the day and let's just say the Serbian player was slightly handsome! Aye, OK, he was gorgeous. Kinda looked a bit like 'Daniel-san' from The Karate Kid sporting his headband. You'd think Hazel had never seen a man in shorts before… So it's true she's single, but no need to be so flushed… She pulled herself together before we called for a paramedic. The Serbian Coach sent chocolates to our box and I think the Umpire was enjoying having us there too (well the Umpire was actually, he put a message on our Message Board for us). 'Daniel-san' was really funny, his eyes were on our box instead of on the tennis balls and he either had something in his eye, a bad twitch or really was winking at us all. Hazel obviously swears it was the latter of the three. Anyway we were hoping that all this distraction would help the Great Britain team secure a victory.
We decided to leave after the second set of the final game. I mean, come on, that poor Serbian needed to concentrate. I couldn't believe it when the Serbian Coach stood up, put his hand to his ear and signalled… 'phone number'!! We were like, just you keep your eyes on the match pal!!
So I think we can definitely say we shook the tennis world inside out. Obviously cheerleaders aren't something you associate with tennis but hey we were received so well – just proves we can add that sparkle to any event! …Next gig could be Wimbledon then eh?? Maybe I'll get to meet my Andre after all.
Kat x x
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