SoReal CruTV returns for a new season today

SoReal Cru TV returns for a new season on February 14. Guest stars will include Quest, Beat Freaks, Strikers All-Stars, Tony Tran, Fly Khicks and more. Subscribe on Youtube. Here's the trailer.

Watch the New Lil Mama video, with Fanny Pak

Lil Mama just released two new songs this month -- Diva and Truly in Love. For the Truly in Love video, she enlisted the dancing and singing talents of those America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 favorites Fanny Pak, as well as So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 finalist Mark Kanemura. Watch it here -- I didn't know Lil Mama could dance that well or that the Fanny Pak guys could sing.!

You can STILL win! -- Enter Week 5 of the Top 4 Contest

Thanks to all of you who submitted entries on which crews will be in the top 4 at the end of this season, in the order of their elimination. If you want to change your vote, here's your weekly chance. At the end of the season, I'll post who won, and who else got the right combination (and in which week).

Now, the top prize may very well still be up for grabs.. Out of the 96 votes cast in the first 2 weeks, only ONE is still in the running! Not all combinations have been chosen yet, and very few of the Week 3 and 4 submissions included Fly Khicks. So, enter now -- this round will be open until next Thursday morning.

Click here for contest rules and prize. Good luck!

Week 5 recaps from all over - Part 1

• Tamara at Zap2It finds herself agreeing with the America's Best Dance Crew judges all this season and appreciated the extra magic tricks
  
• What's Up USANA loved Beat Freaks and counts down to the finale
• Game Show Kingdom notes that Fly Khicks beat the curse, and that Ellen Degeneres is going to be pissed.

Watch Beat Freaks Week 5 Performance again

MTV will probably pull this video soon, so while you can, watch this video of Beat Freaks dancing to Freeze . For me, it gets better with second and third viewings

America's Best Dance Crew (Season 3) - MTV Shows

Detox goes balls-out for ABDC's Magic Challenge

I don't laugh out loud that often, but Jim Cantiello got me twice in this week's America's Best Dance Crew episode, what with his stupid ball tricks and haberdashery observations. I'm having problems embedding the video, so click here to watch. It's worth the click.

Exclusive : Podcast with Dynamic Edition

I spoke with Dynamic Edition on Wednesday, after their elimination on America's Best Dance Crew's Magic Challenge. They were modest and charming talking about how they started dancing, what it was like to hear that they were picked to be on ABDC, misconceptions about their crew, crew movie night (they all went out to see Notorious!), their experience on the show, and what they're looking forward to. Listen in!

Photocredit: MTV

Fanny Pak News -- Music videos, music, fashion!

Fanny Pak will appear in the video for Lil Mama's new release "Truly in Love". It's set to premiere on Saturday February 14. The crew is also diversifying:

• They're working on an album to be released Spring/Summer 2009
• Their Milkshake Kicks shoes will be unveiled at a Las Vegas tradeshow on March 4 and be in stores or online after that
  
• They are collaborating on two different clothing lines -- one with Randy DeJesus (who designed the lightning bolt shirt) and a higher-end one with Cheryl Koo from "the Other Duck Line". So when will we see Fanny Pak on the catwalk??
  

The End is nearer -- Enter Week 5 of our Elimination Challenge contest!

Time to enter your votes for The Elimination Challenge for next week: Which crews will be in the bottom 2? Who will be eliminated? Enter each week and the person with the highest cumulative score for Season 3 will win an ABDC crew shirt of their choice and size (up to $35 retail). In case of a tie, we will have a tie-breaker question, to be posted the last week of the contest.

If you want to stay in contention for the prize -- you've GOT to enter this week. Unless there are stealth voting blocs, the bottom 2 are highly predictable this time!

Last week, 10 people got all 3 points (and I suspect it'll be MUCH higher next week . The current contest leaders are Eddie and Jeff. But the season goes on for 4 more weeks, so there's room for some surprise upsets (especially in predicting the end results!). Enter NOW -- here are the rules and details. Entries for this week will be accepted until midnight, Monday February 16.

Send some love to Dynamic Edition!

Dynamic Edition broke the mold for America's Best Dance Crew teams with their precision, county charm, and steadfast resolution to be true to their own style, educating and entertaining us with the varieties of clogging virtuoso. They excelled every week, but really showcased the dance form with their rendition of Achy Breaky Heart. Please send a comment to let the crew know how much you appreciated them.
This post is for positive comments only. If you have negative things to say about Dynamic Edition or any other aspect of America's Best Dance Crew, please visit our Week 5 Magical Critics Corner.
Photocredit: MTV

Survey: Which ABDC Crew gave the Best Performance in the Week 5 Magic Challenge?

Vote in our survey about America's Best Dance Crew Season 3, Episode 5: The Magic Challenge

Survey: Which ABDC Crew gave the Worst Performance in the Magic Challenge?

Please vote in our survey on the worst performance in America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 Episode 5: The Magic Challenge

VOTE FOR YOUR WEEK 5 FAVORITES!

The voting is now open for Week 5: The Magic Challenge, from now until 6am Eastern time. If you want to protect your favorite crew, act now! You can click here to vote. Performance videos will probably be online by 11pm West Coast time, to aid in your choices.

Then, please come back to our Critic's Corner! We need you!

Week 5 Critics Corner is OPEN -- What did YOU think about the Magic Challenge?

The party room for America's Best Dance Crew Week 5 is now open! Share your predictions, impressions, frustrations, hates and loves. TBone will moderate this reader forum on Thursday night during the show.

After the show is over: Give us your reactions to Week 5 and to the season in general. We'll leave this post open and prominent, so you can comment all the way through to next week!

Live play-by-play blogging of ABDC's Magic Challenge

At 10pm, I'll be watching America's Best Dance Crew and live blogging the facts as I see them. So tune in at 10 and feel free to read along!

Even though this software gives readers the option of sending me comments, please post most of them on the separate Party Room post instead (unless you REALLY want me to see your message real-time). Reason: with this software, reader comments must be manually inserted by me and I'll be busy enough between the TV and the keyboard.

Preview info -- Killer performance alert!

Several people who attended Tuesday's taping of ABDC's Magic Challenge say that tonight's show has one KILLER performance that overshadows all the others. MTV Remote Control mentions that Shane Sparks calls it the best performance he's seen on all 3 seasons of America's Best Dance Crew (though Remote Control erroneously call it Episode 6...or maybe they have inside information about next week's performances!).

Care to guess who tears it up tonight?

The Quest Biting Controversy continues - new footage

This video from thetruthaboutdance was sent to our attention yesterday. It shows that some of Quest's moves are similar to the signature moves of other crews.This follows on the heels of Quest's apology for a copied move in the Whack Track Challenge. Please watch this video and comment:

• Is this biting, or is Quest using and then refining older moves? In other words, is borrowing plagiarism or is it okay (even necessary) as a way to advance the art?
• Should it matter for America's Best Dance Crew that Quest is doing this?

TONIGHT -- Join us for live blogging,The Week 5 Magical Critics Corner, and polls

Thank God it's Thursday! Watch America's Best Dance Crew and the Whack Challenge with us tonight! The Week 5 Critics Corner opens at 9:30 ET and stays open as long as you want, so that everyone can comment on anything remotely related to ABDC. Did you like the challenge? Did the magic fit the moves? Who should go home next?

At 10pm ET, I'll be doing live play-by-play while watching the show, so feel free to tune in and make fun of me or get a sneak preview of the action (for those of you from the West Coast/Canada/India or other ABDC-deprived zones).

Tomorrow morning, please vote in our polls on the best and worst performances. Plus, Week 5 of our Elimination Contest and Top 4 Contest will be on-line. Join us!

Week 4 Survey results - Quest 4-sure!

We've tallied the votes in our survey on the best and worst performances for the America's Best Dance Crew Whack Track Challenge. Quest came in at the top for the 4th week running, with 58% calling them the best performers of the week. The voting was much more mixed on the worst performance-- Ringmasters got the most votes (32%), but Dynamic Edition and Fly Khicks also were in the running.

Backstage warmups and clowning

Ever wonder what it's like backstage before the America's Best Dance Crew taping, when the crews are preparing for the show? Monica Monroe shot some candid footage for Allie is Wired during the Whack Track Challenge. Wish I had been there!

MOVMNT covers ABDC, starting with ABDC judges and Dynamic Edition

MVMT.com does an irreverent take on the America's Best Dance Crew interview circuit. Their star reporter is Ivan Koumaev a hip hop dancer who competed on So You Think You Can Dance. Watch as he drives through LA (and gets lost looking for the Warner Bros. Studio, grills Lil Mama on fashion, and gets Dynamic Edition (lounging on their hotel beds) to tell their favorite joke. He's got captions, cartoons, and other grabbers. Here's installment 1 -- more will follow in the next few weeks.

Readers -- what are some themes ABDC should NOT use!?

It seems to me that America's Best Dance Crew has been getting 'creative' with their weekly themes, what with the Whack Track and Magic challenges. I'd like to suggest some ideas I don't want to see. Here are 3 of mine -- please submit your own in the comments. And may the worst ones lose!

• MTV stars gone bad - e.g. The Chris Brown Whack attack, TI's prison challenge
• MTV tie-ins: dances and moves based on past and present hit shows (Jackass, The Hills, My Super Sweet 16, Sex with Mom and Dad, Detox).
  
• The Bail-out: dances based on endangered industries (banking, automotive, real estate)

Dynamic Edition - Clogging and Relaxing at the Mall

The DeKalb Times Journal caught up with Dynamic Edition after they made it through the America's Best Dance Crew Britney Spears Challenge. Highlights:

• They are NOT going to take JabbaWockeeZ' Kid Rainn's advice to incorporate more hip-hop into their dance. "Our game plan is, like Shane Sparks said in week two, to incorporate better hip hop while continuing to do what we do best: clogging."
• They feel that "all the crews pose a threat to them"
• In their spare time, they go to the mall.

Photocredit: MTV

Supercr3w in Guam: in performance and as judges

Super Cr3w (America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 champions) hit Guam this week, performing both at large venues and at local high schools. Here's some news coverage from Guam Pacific Daily News about their Guam performances and their role in judging local talent to appear in their show. My favorite quote: SC3 choreographer Jesse Santos said, "Every time I see one little Chamorro kid or any little kid from the island do these moves, I try to hold make my tears...on the one hand it makes me shameful that I have not been back to my island in 20 years to help, but on the other it makes me proud as a Chamorro man, to see the children from my island strive to excel."

Another cool thing about the visit: Super Cr3w also performed for the local kids at area high schools. Here's a video from Julene95 documenting the crew visit to St. Francis Catholic School. Thanks for the tip, Super Cr3w and friends!

Super Cr3w: Pepsi Smash video

Pepsi Smash featured a video/ad with America's Best Dance Crew Season 1 winner JabbaWockeeZ, and now it's Super Cr3w's turn. The video even has a plot (of sorts): first there's a battle between members of Full Force, Battle Monkeys, and Knucklehead Zoo wearing shirts from each of the 3 crews. This reflects the way the crew members met. When each dancer takes a sip of Pepsi Smash -- they have an instantaneous shirt and attitude change, becoming the Super Cr3w that ABDC fans came to know and love.

UPDATE ABDC Week 5 - playlist and challenges

MTV Remote Control announced the playlist for this week's America's Best Dance Crew.

• FLY KHICKS - “Diva” by Beyonce. Challenge: stretch like rubber
  
• STRIKERS ALL-STARS - “Swing” by Savage. Challenge: walk through a solid object
  
• BEAT FREAKS - “Freeze” by Chris Brown & T. Pain. Challenge: make something float
  
• QUEST CREW - “Got Money” by Lil Wayne & T. Pain. Challenge: pass an object through their bodies
  
• DYNAMIC EDITION - “Starstruck” by Lady Gaga & Flo Rida. Challenge: one member must appear out of thin air
  

Quest apologizes for unoriginal Whack Track move

Last week, several of our readers pointed out that Quest's 'upside down' move in America's Best Dance Crew's Whack Track challenge had been done before. Follow-up: Quest's D-trix responded on BboyWorld with an apology:

"... Myself and the rest of Quest would like to apologize to all the bboys/bgirls and creators of the gimmick we had performed last week on the show!!!... I can promise you all that we had no idea that some one else had thought and performed this same gimmick long ago!... Here we thought we were being all creative and then the morning after the showed had aired... people posted a clip from youtube saying "Quest bit this move"... and it was footage from Project Seoul doing the same gimmick in uk champs 2002!!... at this point our whole crew was frozen and we were all ashamed... We had no intention of stealing ideas and especially accepting credit for it!!... It is totally our fault for not doing our research!! this incident has heavily affected us since we normally pride ourselves in being original and creative. Ive personally been in the bboy scene for many years.. entered many jams.. watched tons of footage.. and its unbelieveable how something like this could escape my attention!!!... we hope most of you can believe that things like this do happen by total coincidence, but Quest will make absolutely sure to prevent it from happening again. "not knowing" is not an excuse, and we do not intend on ever using the gimmick again, out of respect to those who have done it before us."

Personally, I think the apology shows class. And here's Project Seoul video:

Shane & Layla summarize the crews in 1 word; Ringmasters after the show

LA Times did their usual insightful debrief at the Whack Attack taping. But that's not why you should read this article. They've also embedded 2 videos worth watching:

• First video: Shane Sparks and Layla Kayleigh talking about the crews. They go into depth on why they respect Ringmasters and why this crew was underappreciated. They also give one word (more or less) summaries of each crew:Beat Freaks=dangerous?; Dynamic Edition=hopeful; Fly Khicks=sexy; Ringmasters=out of here; Quest=sick; Strikers=the bomb?
• Second video: after the show, they went to interview Ringmasters. They had trouble getting through because the other crews wanted to show their support for the eliminated crew. And the Ringmasters interview is poignant but upbeat.
  

Watch Ringmasters Performance - Week 4

Here's Fanscape Video's clip of Ringmasters, as they perform to the Macarena on America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 Week 4 Whack Track Challenge:

ABDC 3-- Ringmasters, Week 4

Watch Fly Khick's Week 4 Performance

Here's the video clip from Fanscape of Fly Khicks performing Everybody Dance Now, from America's Best Dance Crew Season 3, Week 4 (Whack track challenge):

ABDC 3-- Fly Khicks

Watch Dynamic Edition's Week 4 Performance

Here's Fanscape Video's clip of Dynamic Edition, as they perform to Achy Breaky Heart on America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 Week 4 Whack Track Challenge:

ABDC 3-- Dynamic Edition, Week 4

Watch Strikers' performance - Week 4 Whack Attack

Here's the video clip from Fanscape of Strikers doing MC Hammer's 2 Legit to Quit, from America's Best Dance Crew Season 3, Week 4 (Whack track challenge):

ABDC 3-- Strikers All-Stars, Week 4

Boxcuttuhz: Answers to fan questions

Loads of Boxcuttuhz fans were extremely disappointed that the crew left America's Best Dance Crew so soon. The crew put together two videos to answer questions that fans keep asking -- why they think they're underdogs, how music and health problems impacted their first week performance, why Lydia was in Boxcuttuhz and not in Quest, who they want to win, where to get a Boxcuttuhz Tshirt, how to keep up with Boxcuttuhz news, and more . Thanks for the tip, Michael and Arlando, thanks for making the videos, Landizeesgbm, and thanks for the shoutout Boxcuttuhz!

Fly Khicks answer BloggingBestDanceCrew Readers' Questions

Fanscape talked to Fly Khicks Gina and Michelle last week, asking some of the questions asked by Blogging Best Dance Crew readers.

Q. How strict is life while you’re on the show? What’s your daily schedule like? (thanks Youuu)
A. All day consists of dancing, dancing, and dancing. We get a break to eat or sleep. But it’s amazing. We can’t get enough of it, we love to dance.

Q. If you guys were able to win ABDC, what would you do with the $100,000 grand prize? (thanks, John)
A. Wow, never thought of it. Of course save most of it. But we’ll have some kind of getaway or party. We also want to open up a foundation for kids to teach them how to dance, give them shoes, etc.

Q. Is there anything special you guys do before you get on stage? Do you have any good luck charms or anything? (thanks Hobbit)
A. We don’t have any good luck charms, but we do say a prayer before. And I think we’re going to start a new ritual today, “breathing,” before we get on. Decompress, focus, and continue on from there.

Q. What advice would you give to hard working, younger dancers that are looking to make it? (Thanks, Archie!)
A. Never give up. Passion and dedication will get you anywhere. I’ve always been turned down and people have told me I’d never be a dancer—even teachers. I made it here because I love to dance. Just as long as you put hard work, passion, and dedication you can get anywhere.

Mailbox: Strikers, Shane Sparks

• America's Best Dance Crew judge Shane Sparks attended the grand opening of TONYS on February 5. The event supports Tony Riviera's new restaurant and helped raise money for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Here's Shane with Twitch from So You Think You can Dance. Photocredit: Chris Polk (Polk Imaging)
• Simply Brown Online talks to Strikers All-stars about their distinctive stepping style and how ABDC is the Superbowl of dance

Week 4 Performance videos: Quest

Readers have been asking me to post performance clips as soon as the show airs. Okay, but I'm still not running the bootleg versions. Instead, I'll post 1-2 of the Fanscape clips per day. These are legitimate (though they may be missing a few seconds of the performance) and won't be deleted because of copyright violations.

Here's Quest, performing to the Right Stuff

ABDC 3-- Quest Crew, Week 4

Watch Week 4 Clips: Beat Freaks

Readers have been asking me to post performance clips as soon as the show airs. Okay, but I'm still not running the bootleg versions. Instead, I'll post 1-2 of the Fanscape clips per day. These are legitimate (though they may be missing a few seconds of the performance) and won't be deleted because of copyright violations.

Here's Beat Freaks dancing to "Pretty Fly for a White Guy":

ABDC 3-- Beat Freaks, Week 4

More recaps from Week 4's Whack Attack

More recaps for you, with lots of commentary and lots of performance clips (some of them even legit!)

• Give Me My Remote Loved the Strikers and Quest, and thought they should have used NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye as one of the songs
• Seattle PI is light on words and heavy on nifty photos and videos.
• Reality TV Online is calling the season for Quest and Beat Freaks
• You Love to Watch got off her couch to cheer for Strikers and felt Ringmasters left too soon
  

Mailbox: Mario Lopez:the boy can't help it; JabbawockeeZ:the boys CAN help it!

• OK! Magazine dishes the dirt on Mario Lopez' love life. Notable quote about Mario's charm: "The girls swarm. It's absolutely amazing," says friend and Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis. "It's like when you throw chum in the water and the sharks feed."
• MTV taped a pre-Grammys interview with JabbaWockeeZ, with Kid Rainan demonstrating his footwork and KB showing some popping. Yes, they've still got it.

MTV Shows

Video: Beat Freaks as Britney Spears Backup Dancers

This video from BritneySM15 shows Beat Freaks members Teresa Espinosa and Rino Nakasone as backup dancers for Britney Spears' 2004 tour. Hat tip: Britney Spears Blackout