Filipino-Canadian dancer Andree Camille “AC” Bonifacio won second place in YG Entertainment’s BLACKPINK “How You Like That” dance cover contest.
The contest, held from July 6 to 20, drew about 2,200 teams from more than 100 countries with the Philippines having the biggest number of participating teams with 270, according to YG Entertainment. It said the number of related contents uploaded on YouTube reached about 97,000.
“It is the biggest number of participants among all dance cover contests held by artists of our agency. Most participants wore hanbok to add more meaning and the number of participants from the US increased significantly,” the agency said, according to the YG blog.
The winners were announced on BLACKPINK’s official Instagram account on July 28. The grand prize winner is a team from South Korea, “Premium Dance Studio-Yemin Boss,” composed of two kids aged nine and 10.
The Philippines’ AC Bonifacio emerged as second prize winner and according to the YG blog, “she not only perfectly re-enacted BLACKPINK’s performance, but also acted as 4 members by herself, expressing BLACKPINK’s individual charms, stylings, and their dance set.”
B-Wild Office from Vietnam won third prize. T.B. Unicorns from Ukraine and Mikayla Channel from Indonesia were acknowledged as special prize winners.
Bonifacio was ecstatic when she learned that she won in the dance cover contest, saying, “Alright i don’t know where to start. my best friends called me congratulating and i was completely unaware and I jumped out the car and starting screaming and told the team!!!”
Her “How You Like That” dance cover has garnered 4 million views on YouTube since its upload on July 1.
“This cover meant SO SO MUCH TO ME because before this alot was being said about me and I wanted to back off cause i’m human, I get hurt and I was scared of what people would say. but we all pushed thru because we absolutely love Blackpink. Not just me but the whole team,” she posted on Instagram.
She added, “We pushed thru because no matter what people said it would not change the love and support I have for Blackpink. THIS WAS SO SO UNEXPECTED. I’ve been doing all my Kpop covers just because I love them and it was my way of showing support and never in a million years would I have thought that we would win 2ND???”
“I wanna thank EVERYONE. from the team for making this all work even if we were under certain rules. The team for ALWAAYYS hyping me up even if i was getting tired. To everyone, my @acnaticsofc who watched and constantly streamed GO TEAM BAHAYYYY and just all the support is so so overwhelming i cant thank you enough seriously. My heart is so full and im on a roller coaster of emotions right now BUT THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. this is for all of us,” she said.