Upset Victory at Hip Hop International Finals!

There were four types of surprises at the 2009 World Hip Hop Dance Championship on August 2: 1.some dark horse victories, 2.a tie score, 3.some new performances by America's Best Dance Crew alums, and 4.a marriage proposal within Germany's Physical Funk crew. Once I return home, I'll prepare videos of the last two surprises. But the big news were the crews that won and lost.

In the adult division, first place was won by R.A.F. Crew from France, who placed fifth in the preliminaries. Second place went to Mexico's Neutral Zone adults, and third place to Singapore's Joyce and the Boys who placed eleventh in the preliminaries. Many of the attendees were surprised at the shut out of defending champions Philippine Allstars, New Zealand's Sweet & Sour (who won the World Varsity Division in 2008) and all three US crews.

The only US medal was a first prize in the Junior Division to Lil Phunk Boyz, and member Kyle was able to perform after having an appendectomy earlier this week. Other Junior winners: Monsoon! (from Japan) won seond and Freshh (from Canada) won third.

In the Varsity Division, there was a tied score between first and second, so the judges invoked the rule that the crew with the highest Performance Score (as opposed to Skill Score) got the gold medal. New Zealand's Request won the gold, Canada's Irratik won silver, and Japan's Kana Boon! took third.