heinnews this week asked good friend Doug Sutton to take over the Interview of the Week and he delivered a fun chat with the Efes Pilsen Girls, the dance group which performed at the Euroleague Final Four in Berlin. They discussed where they are from, costume changes, how much they practice and the crowd in the German capital.
heinnews: Good evening ladies. Good job out there tonight. Where are you all from?
Sevda Khamidova: Well, I’m from a lot of places. I’m Turkish but I was born in Uzbekistan and lived in Tampa and New York.
heinnews: And you are?
Monalisa Oygut: Monalisa.
heinnews: And where are you from?
Monalisa: Brazil.
heinnews: Is this your first time in Berlin?
Monalisa: Yes I really like Berlin. It’s such a beautiful city.
heinnews: For fans outside of Turkey who may not know your dance group, tell us about the Efes Pilsen Girls.
Sevda: We have been cheerleading in Turkey for seven years. But this is our first time outside of Turkey.
heinnews: How many costume changes did you ladies do tonight (during the semi-finals?
Sevda: We had 10.
heinnews: Is that a record?
Sevda: No.
heinnews: What’s your record for most costume changes?
Sevda and Monalisa (in unison): 15
heinnews: So tonight was less, why that?
Sevda. There just were not as many chances. It depends on the game. They didn’t take a lot of breaks. So if they have a lot of breaks then we go and change back and forth.
heinnews: I was very impressed with how much you dance. How much do you practice a week?
Sevda: We practice five days a week, three or four hours.
heinnews: Do you ladies choose the music you dance to yourself?
Sevda: Yeah. But we also pick what people like.
heinnews: So, you lived in the United States, I assume you saw cheerleading while you were there?
Sevda: Not really. I was never interested in cheerleading until I got back to Turkey.
heinnews: What did you think about the crowd tonight at the o2 World arena?
Sevda: People didn’t see to be cheering that much tonight except for the Russian fan block which clapped for us. But otherwise we didn’t get as much we usually experience in Turkey.
