2018 GrandSlam Taipei City

Here is the 94-minute Vimeo on Demand programme covering the semi-final and final of the 2018 GrandSlam Latin Taipei City. The programme is made up of four parts: the full-length semi-final, interviews with the finalists, the full-length final and interviews with the medallists.  The quarterfinal and an in-depth interview with Charles-Guillaume Schmitt and Elena Salikhova, FRA, are the two bonus features. US$ 3.75 for a 6-month streaming period!

Editing on the Vimeo on Demand package on the 2018 GrandSlam Latin Taipei City is nearly done. The 94-minute programme covering semi-final and final plus the bonus features (The Quarterfinal and the interview with Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - Elena Salikhova, FRA) will be available prior to midnight CEST today, Friday 6 July. Here is the trailer! It is set to "Walking on Sunshine" from Casa musica.

It is that time of the year when everybody living on the Apennine Peninsula seems to be drawn to the beaches. Good thing that Italy has plenty of them and they're never very far. Between today and 15 July, more than 20,000 dancers travel to one of the country's best known seaside resorts: Rimini. There they will not only soak up the rays on perfectly aligned beach chairs, no, they will also hit the floor at SportDance, the Italian Championships held at the Rimini Fair.

The media are already reporting about what is the biggest event in a truly inclusive DanceSport, one featuring some 54 different disciplines. Check out Republica!

WDSF had staged World (SEN III STD) and European Championships as part of SportDance in 2016. This year - and for the next four - it will return with the GrandSlam Rimini leg held on the last two days SportDance: 14 (STD) and 15 July (LAT). You, too, can be there: through a LIVE webcast on both days!

If we stick to our allegory of two dancers finding each other through good matchmaking and try-outs for the planned partnership between FloSports and us at the World DanceSport Federation, we now have to ask ourselves: "Is it the match we thought it would be?"

The first collaboration was promising, no doubt. However, the exact number of viewers generated by the webcasts of GrandSlam quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals - as well as their patterns of viewing - will still need to be discussed between FloSports and us in the coming days.

In terms of traffic to the "Live from Taipei City" blog, it was a few notches below the benchmarks established over the past five years by the GrandSlam Hong Kong. But everything new will need time to find its place in the awareness of the public.

In all likelihood, we will repeat our collaboration with FloDance in the webcasting of the 2018 GrandSlam Rimini on 14 (Standard) and 15 July (Latin). It will be the final question: "Is this the match?" And you will have your say in answering it.

It was an eventful and memorable night for all six couples dancing in the final of the 2018 GrandSlam Standard Taipei City. Obviously, it will be remembered by each and every one of them for something in particular. For Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova it was the quality of the floor at the Taipei Gymnasium that stood out. For Evaldas Sodeika and Ieva Zukauskaite, LTU, it was something that they preferred to keep to themselves during the post-event interview. But none of the couples will remember last night quite as vividly as Madis Abel and Aleksandra Galkina, EST, who danced in their first GrandSlam Final ever.

You'll get to meet the two 22-year-old dancers in an extensive interview that will get released as a free bonus feature to the Vimeo on Demand programme on Friday 13 July, just prior to the next leg of the GrandSlam Series in Rimini, ITA.

Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova, RUS, had their highest scores in the fifth dance of the final: a gradual build-up from 9.83 for Techniqual Quality to the perfect 10 for Choreography and Presentation, and two nearly perfect 9.92 each for Movement to Music and Partnering Skill in between. These scores put them into first in the most convincing manner, with Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva Zukauskaite, LTU, and Francesco Galuppo - Debora Pacini, ITA, as first and second runners-up respectively.

The quarterfinal of the 2018 GrandSlam Standard Taipei City was webacst live, in full length and in an outstanding HD quality through FloDance. FloDance is one of 20+ over-the-top platform operated by FloSports and dedicated to 20+ different sports, from cheer and gymnastics to rugby and rodeo. FloSports is based in Austin, Texas, USA. It is the authentic source for content and an entirely new world of coverage that aims at the true diehard fans. Focused on live competition coverage, the company takes fragmented communities and provides them the platform to connect with the sports they love.

The 2018 GrandSlam STD Taipei City Semi-Final and Final are scheduled to start at 11:30 UTC and 12:30 UTC.

Go to FloDance ... You will get prompted to register with your name, email and a password, but DON'T PAY ANYTHING. Just leave from the payment submission page and call the streaming page up again and the player will load.

As we did yesterday, we start the LIVE WEBCAST with the Quarterfinal at 08:45 UTC. We will stream exclusively through FloDance. You will get prompted to register with your name, email and a password, but DON'T PAY ANYTHING. Just leave from the payment submission page and call the streaming page up again and the player will load.