A CHA-cha here and a Tamworth star there, the annual dance for cancer fundraiser had tins-rattling, toes-tapping and a controversy lingering.
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A sell-out crowd jammed in to the Tamworth Town Hall for the Cancer Council appeal with organisers’ preliminary counts suggesting a record return with more than $75,000 expected to roll-in.
They were almost hanging from the rafters in the Fitzroy Street venue, with the balcony opened for seating to accommodate the bumper crowd.
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Cancer Council community engagement manager Kate Dubois said the record haul caught her a little off-guard.
“We were finding it hard to gauge, as far as the ticket sales,” Ms Dubois said.
“A lot of the stars did a lot of late banking.
“But we got a really good late sales.”
She said it was a confluence of factors which led to the event’s resurgence in 2018.
“The decision last year to take it to town hall and the reputation from last year’s event drew people in,” she said.
“Plus we had a great mix of dancers who drew-in great crowds.”
Daniel Sherwood, director of Cloudwize Technologies, was the top individual fundraiser pooling more than $11,000.
Sue Cowley, from Curves, spurred-on by her daughter’s current battle with breast cancer, won the people’s choice award attracting the most donations on the night.
Rebecca Creighton-Clarke and Sarah Mayo-McCowen from PRD Nationwide won-over the judges with their homage to Michael Jackson, beating their competitors, albeit controversially, with the impossibly perfect score of 31-out-of-30.
Ms Dubois said the quality of dancing had improved markedly and paid tribute the commitment of Kellie Singh and Cherie Gaites getting the stars into shape.