Hip Hop International Preliminaries: Philippine Allstars on top again!

Last night, 50 crews competed in the preliminary competition for the World Hip Hop Crew Championship at Hip Hop International. The top 13 crews will compete on Sunday night in the Finals.

Philippine Allstars had the highest score in the preliminaries for the second straight year -- 8.69. Though they were the last crew in an event lasting about 5 hours, the house was PACKED to watch their routine. Watch it below and judge for yourself! And, the next two teams scored nearly as high as PA -- Neutral Zone from Mexico was second with 8.61 and Sweet & Sour from New Zealand was third with 8.61.

All three US teams will move on to the World Finals. Poreotics came in 6th, SoReal Cru was 8th, and Kaba Modern was 12th.

Layla Kayleigh poses in underwear & offers ABDC taping tickets to help PETA

America's Best Dance Crew host Layla Kayleigh is helping PETA with a new campaign to stop cosmetic and household product testing on animals. To further the cause, she is helping them with a contest to win 2 tickets to watch a taping of ABDC 4. Further incentive (for some of you): she strips down to her underwear and a pair of mouse ears and a tail to emphasize the need to save lab mice. Click here to enter the contest and check out Layla's animal costume. Contest ends August 17.

Video: SoReal Cru, Shane Sparks, Howard Schwartz at Hip Hop International

The local Fox News channel in Las Vegas covered the Hip Hop International competition with some dancing by SoReal Cru, along with explanations of the event by organizer/America's Best Dance Crew co-creator Howard Schwartz and ABDC judge Shane Sparks. Click here to watch.

Profile: Beat Ya Feet Kings

Beat Ya Feet Kings are one of the nine crews that were chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Their trademark: a fluid footwork rarely seen outside the Washington D.C. area. They've already gotten some attention from MTV on a 2009 inauguration special, as well as an appearance on Showtime at the Apollo (below)
- Click to see our coverage of their audition, including their choreography callback
- Watch more videos at DCRap.Com
- Visit their Myspace page and their Facebook page
- Read an interview with them in Amadi.com, where they talk about their dance style, backgrounds, battling experience, and aspirations.

Monsters of Hip Hop Summer Intensive

From August 4-10, the Monsters of Hip Hop Summer Intensive will be held in Los Angeles. It will feature over 20 top choreographers including: JabbaWockeez' Rainan, Kevin Brewer, and Phi; Beat Freaks' Teresa Espinosa; and America's Best Dance Crew choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo. Click here for more information and to sign up.

Join us on Sunday for our ABDC Clip show coverage

Even though Sunday's America's Best Dance Crew is a clip show and not a new episode, we want to get the ABDC4 party started already! Jeff #1 will be hosting a Live Play-by-Play at 9pm ET. And, we'll have a party room post set up for your comments starting around 9PM and going on as long as you want. So, join in on Sunday -- I want to come back from the Hip Hop International World Finals and read about what I missed on MTV!

Season 4 Contest: The Elimination Challenge

We will run two contests during America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 which will extend from Episode 1 through the finale. Contest #1: The Elimination Challenge: Which crews will be in the bottom 2 each week? Who will be eliminated? Enter each week and the person with the highest cumulative score for Season 4 will win an ABDC crew shirt of their choice and size (up to $35 retail).

To enter: Each week, we'll publish a new post for this contest. When the weekly post is up, leave a comment with the name of the bottom 2, specifying which one is eliminated. For example, last season a winning entry for Week 7 would have read: "BOTTOM 2 WEEK 7 - Quest, Fly Khicks. Eliminated: Fly Khicks." You will be awarded 1 point for each crew you name in the bottom 2 that week, and an extra point for identifying the eliminated crew, for a total of 3 possible points per week. The contest is now open for week one and will close Midnight Monday August 3 (before the first episode is taped). Yes, I know there isn't enough info yet -- this time it's just speculation based on interview videos. And, please write your vote only; no editorials or hating in the comments here!

In future weeks, entries will be accepted from Sunday (after the episode airs and I put up a new post for the contest) until Midnight (Pacific Time) the Wednesday afterwards, so that nobody can use insider info from the Thursday tapings. **IMPORTANT**:

• Make sure you include your email address in the email field of the comments (not in the comment itself); any answers without email address will not be used.
  
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'BOTTOM 2' in the comment (so I can search for them easily).

Only 1 entry per email address per week, please. Each week, we will only accept the FIRST entry from each email address. Good luck!

Profile: Massive Monkees

Massive Monkees is one of the 9 crews chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The crew has a long history. It is the only ABDC4 crew already listed in Wikipedia. Their style can be characterized as 'fundamental b-boy.' Quoting their MTV profile: "They've won a number of prestigious titles including B-boy Summit 200 and the World B-boy Championships at Wembley Arena..They even have their own holiday as April 26 was dubbed Seattle's Official Massive Monkees Day in 2004."

- Check out our post about them from the NY Auditions, complete with audition and choreography callback.
- Check out their website - massivemonkees.com
- Visit them on Myspace.
- There are almost too videos of them around to count. Here's the most viewed -- their Xbox ad:

>Here's their battle with Project Soul, from HyphyPinoyX1 Youtube Channel -. Watch starting 2:45. Thanks for the tip, Dickolas!


Photocredit: Domesdiggler Photobucket.

Video: Kaba Modern at Hip Hop International USA Finals

Kaba Modern’s Youtube channel [Channel Url:: http://www.youtube.com/user/kabamodern] just posted a video of the crew’s performance at the USA Hip Hop International Championships that took place on July 29^th in Las Vegas, NV. They took the Bronze medal; Poreotics told the gold and SoReal Cru the silver. Thanks to Zatzz for the writeup and links.

Upcoming Events: Week of July 31

• July 31-August 2:Hip Hop International in Las Vegas, featuring Beat Freaks, Super Cr3w, SoReal Cru, Kaba Modern and many other crews from America's Best Dance Crew
  
• July 31: Knucklehead Zoo at Vegas Shakedown, to celebrate their 10th Anniversary
  
• August 1-2: United Styles in Boston, featuring b-boy competitions and lessons from the masters of b-boy style
  
• August 2: Quest at The Show in Burbank, CA

Sneak Previews of the ABDC Clip Show of Season 1-3 Best Performances

Fanscape posted teasers from the America's Best Dance Crew clip show of the best performances from Seasons 1-3, to be aired on Sunday August 2. Here's the clip for Season 1:



Click here to watch the preview teasers for Seasons 2 and 3.

Hip Hop International - USA Championships Report

Hip Hop International held the US Championship Round on July 29, 2009 in Las Vegas. As reported earlier, Poreotics took first place, SoReal Cru second place, and Kaba Modern took third. All three will compete in the International Finals. Other standout performances (for me) in this division included Heroes (the group that will compete as We Are Heroes on ABDC4), CADC, Flos Angeles, and Common Ground.

This was the culmination of several days of preliminaries, so that only the top scoring crews competed in 3 age groups: 13 adult crews, 12 varsity (older teen) crews, and 8 junior crews. While you can definitely see the skill and choreography progression between the age groups, all of the competitors impressed and entertained the packed audience. And, since the crews brought contingents from their home towns, the ballroom felt like a sports arena with hometown signs, rooting, and camaraderie.

The judges were split in two teams of four. The team evaluating skill included Sky Hoffman (an America's Best Dance Crew choreographer) and Beat Freaks' Teresa Espinosa. The team rating the overall performance included Fanny Pak's Matt Cady and ABDC audition judge Michelle McNulty.

Winners in the Juniors division were: RNG - a girl group from Mukilteo, WA; Lil Phunk Boyz from Boston, MA (who were down one crew member because he came down with appendicitis!), and Fierce but Cute - a girl group from San Francisco. Winners in the Varsity Division were: Funk Beyond Control - a San Francisco group from the same studio as Fierce but Cute; Breakthrough from Encinitas, CA, and Phyzikal graffi-T from Mukilteo (same studio as RNG). Once I return home, I'll post photos of the winning crews. Now, on to the International Competition!

Congratulations: Poreotics, SoReal Cru, Kaba Modern for HHI win!

Congratulations to the winners of the U.S. Hip Hop International Championship. All three will compete on Sunday for the international title.

• First Place - Poreotics
• Second Place - SoReal Cru
• Third Place - Kaba Modern

And, one of my absolute favorites of the night was Heroes -- the crew which will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 under the name 'We are Heroes.' Their originality and control stood out in a crowd of very talented competitors. Judging by tonight's performance, they could be a major force in ABDC4.

I will post videos of these dances next week when I return home to my editing software, and I will have longer posts about the Hip Hop International events over the next few days.

Profile: Rhythm City

Rhythm City, from Bronx NY, is one of the nine crews chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. It's a classic hip hop crew, with no other dance styles dominating their moves, but they bring it hard and fast. They've won or placed near the top major dance competitions including Switzerland's Dance2Dance, World of Dance NY, the Main Event (hosted by their ABDC 4 competitors Fr3sh) and Prelude EC. In addition, Rhythm City has appeared in Wyclef's "Fast Car" video, Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" and "G-Slide" videos, Carmen's "Sweat" videos, and on BET's "Rip the Runway, "Blaze the Stage", and "106th And Park." Recently, they were featured at the Apollo Theater in a tribute to Michael Jackson (picture above)

I've seen Rhythm City perform five times in the last 9 months (2 auditions, 3 competitions) and each time was amazing. Their choreographer Alonzo Williams keeps the routines fresh and original, but with a signature look that could do well on ABDC.

• Click here to see our post about their ABDC Season 4 audition, including videos of the audition and choreography callback performance
• Click here to see our post about their ABDC Season 3 audition
• Our post on Prelude EC, including video of their first place performance
• Video of their Third place performance at World of Dance NY
• Read more about them and contact them at their website, their Facebook page, and their Myspace page
• From the RhythmCity Youtube page, here's their recent competition reel for BET's Dance Jam contest:

Photocredit: Reuters News Service

Video: Lost Kids, Tha Acadamee at Collaboration 2009

Zatzz filed this report: Collaboration 2009 took place in Vacaville, CA on July 25, 2009, including several crews who are affiliated with America's Best Dance Crew (including the Academy of Villains, the second generation of Supreme Soul) or auditioned for ABDC.. From xxboredom’s Youtube Channel, here are performances from The Lost Kids and Tha Acadamee, two crews who auditioned for ABDC Season 4 in LA but unfortunately didn’t make it. The Lost Kids performed their ABDC audition number. Thanks, Zatzz!

BreakSk8 moves onto next round at America's Got Talent

Congratulations to BreakSk8. They won a dance-off on America's Got Talent, and will move on to the next round! Thanks for the tip, Anthony!

Hip Hop International News -- SoReal Cru to compete for US Dance Championship!

News from Hip Hop International in Las Vegas: For the first time, a crew that appeared on America's Best Dance Crew will compete for the US Dance Championship, to be held tonight. SoReal Cru placed second in the preliminaries on Tuesday August 28, so they have a good shot at the title. If they win, they will represent the United States for the World title. Wish them luck!

New Contest: Name top 4 Crews for ABDC4

We will run two contests during America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 which will extend from Episode 1 through the finale. The prize for both will be a Tshirt of your size and choice, value up to $35.

First contest: Submit the names of the top 4 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, last season the winning entry would have read " FINAL 4: 1. Quest 2. Beat Freaks 3. Fly Khicks 4. Strikers." Note: if you change your mind, you can enter again the next week, but we will only accept the FIRST entry from each email address each week. The prize goes to the first person to get it right, based on the week they submit the answer. If more than one person submits the right answer in that same week, we'll employ a tiebreaker rule to be determined.

To enter: Each week, we'll publish a new post for this contest. When the weekly post is up, add a comment with the names of the final 4, specifying the final order. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from late Monday/early Tuesday4s (once I put up the new contest post) until 6pm ET the following Thursday (before the next show is taped). IMPORTANT:

• Make sure you include your email address in the email field of the comments (not in the comment itself); any answers without email address will not be used. This way, I'll be able to see the email address but it won't be published.
  
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'TOP 4' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)
  

Good luck! During Season 3, we didn't get a correct entry until 2 weeks before the season ended, so if keep entering if you change your mind!

Profile: Vogue Evolution

Vogue Evolution, from New York City, is one of the nine crews picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Though the full crew has only been together for a few years, it includes some of the most respected dancers on the voguing and house/ballroom scene. The group differs from many ABDC crews past and present in that there's also a 'star': Leyomi's moves have been copied by Beyonce and other pop stars, and she has dominated the ballroom battle scene. But, judging from their audition performances, the crew will bring the teamwork and allow each the members to shine.

Vogue Evolution also stands out because they are openly and proudly gay. Leyomi is one of the first transsexuals to be front and center on TV to showcase her talent (as opposed to just her 'novelty'). I hope people will respect Vogue Evolution by judging them on their dancing and entertainment value alone. I know that in the choreography callbacks, they won over everyone with their creativity and presence.

• Click here to read our post about their audition, including videos of the audition and callback
  
• Follow them on MySpaceand Twitter
• Check out the VogueEvolution Youtube Channel for earlier performances by some of the crew members
• From Deshaunevisu's Youtube channel, here's a video of their rehearsal for the ABDC audition

• From ithl123's Youtube channel, a compilation of Leyomi moves

Video: The Hype rehearsing for ABDC audition

The Hype is a crew from Hawaii that auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Unfortunately, they weren't selected for this season. But since there has been so much interest in seeing their audition, they just posted a rehearsal of it on their HypeHS4L Youtube channel:

Profile: Artistry in Motion

Artistry in Motion is one of the 9 crews picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The all-girl crew hails from North Hollywood, CA. Their styles is a cross between contemporary and hip hop. According to their Facebook profile, "The ladies have been seen on So You Think You Can Dance, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tyra Banks show and various commercials. They have performed with artist such as Missy Elliott, Black Eyed Peas, BBD, Ne-Yo, Wayne Brady, Lloyd, Ludacris and Gnarls Barkley."
- Click here to read our post about their audition ,watch their audition video, and read an interview
- Visit their Facebook page.
- LeGrande007 posts a video of Artistry in Motion in rehearsal. -

Photocredit: Leo Lam

Why BloggingABDC is The Place for ABDC 4 Coverage

We're gearing up here for the start of America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We'd like you to think of BloggingBestDanceCrew.com as a central resource for all your ABDC 4news and activities. Here's what we'll have:

• Two contests with prizes which will begin this week
• Backstage interviews at the tapings - This season, we're collaborating with Chris Trondsen and DanceTag on bringing you interviews with crews, ABDC personalities and more. Pharside (from Supreme Soul) has also agreed to conduct interviews for us! And, we'll continue our tradition of using reader questions.
• Weekly exclusive podcasts with the eliminated crews, also using reader questions
• Spoiler-free preview reports from fans who attend the tapings.
  
• Live blogging when the show airs
• A 'party room' where you can hang out, discuss the show during and after it airs, and air your views on ABDC
• Surveys on the best and worst performances of the week
  
• A summary of recaps and videos from other media
• Continuing coverage of news about the crews from Seasons 1, 2, and 3

So, please stay with us! And, if you want to get involved in some way, email us at BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com.

Video: Academy of Villains in performance

Academy of Villains is the second generation team for America's Best Dance Crew alums Supreme Soul. They had their debut competition performance at Collaboration 2009, on July 25. The footage courtesy of Mangubatman's Youtube channel:

Video: Extended version of the Quest Promo

MTV just released an extended version of the Quest Promo for Season 4.

Wanted: more info about the ABDC 4 crews!

Over the next week, I want to post profiles of the nine crews that have been chosen. But I need your help, especially for Afroborike, Southern Movement, and We Are Heroes. If you have information, photos, or videos of the 9 crews, please leave me a comment here or email me at BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com. You will be duly credited and thanked!

We are Heroes Audition video

Fanscape is releasing videos of all the crews that were picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We already ran 6 of them over the last month, so we're posting the other three today. Here's We Are Heroes from Los Angeles. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV

Video: Southern Movement Audition

Fanscape is releasing videos of all the crews that were picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Over the last month, we've already shown you 6 of them, so we're posting the rest now. Here's Southern Movement from Nashville, TN. When they auditioned, they were called Team Rocky Top from Nashville, TN. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV.

Video: Afroborike audition

Fanscape is releasing videos of the crews that have been chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We've already shown 6 of them, so we'll post the others now. Here's Afroborike, from Las Vegas, NV. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV!

Season 4 crews are announced!

MTV Remote Control has the list of crews for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We'll start preparing some descriptions, but here are the names and their audition videos

• Afroborike (Las Vegas, NV)
• Artistry in Motion (North Hollywood, CA)
• Beat Ya Feet Kings (Washington, D.C)
• Fr3sh (Matawan, NJ)
• We are Heroes (Hollywood, CA)
• Massive Monkees (Seattle, WA)
• Rhythm City (Bronx, NY)
• Southern Movement (Nashville, TN)
  
• Vogue Evolution (New York, NY)
  

Survey Results: Top Performances of 'all time'

After a week and almost 1000 votes, the results are in for our survey on the top America's Best Dance Crew performances 'of all time.' As mentioned in the survey, we wanted to pick 10 crews and the favorite performance for each, and asked people to only vote for one dance per crew. Results: 8 easy choices. I'm putting them in alphabetical order because (for multiple reasons) a ranking would misrepresent the data's meaning:

• Beat Freaks - Freeze (36%)
• Fanny Pak - Get Ur Freak On (27%)
• JabbaWockeeZ - PY (30%)
• Kaba Modern - Audition (28%)
• Quest - Hip Hop Decathlon (41%). Note: OrQuestra close behind with 39%
• SoReal Cru - A Milli (32%)
• Super Cr3w - We Fly High (26%)
• Supreme Soul - Audition (17%). SS had both the highest cumulative vote (over 4 performances), and the highest single performance vote for a crew not yet listed
  

To choose the final 2 (in order to pick 10 performances), I chose 2 ways to cut the data: Either most popular performance for a crew not yet named, or most popular crew (cumulative votes). Alternative 1:For most popular performance for a crew not yet named:

• Boxcuttuhz - Bonafied Lovin (16%)
• Boogie Bots - Game Over (15%)

Alternative 2: Most popular crew not yet named, based on cumulative votes across the survey:

• Strikers (25% cumulative) - Move if you Wanna (14%)
  
• Team Millennia (18% cumulative) - Me Against the Music (10%)

Click here for more analysis, including the top 10 single performances and the cumulative crew scores. Note that this additional information is not representative of trends due to survey limitations and instructions -- so don't start arguing about it! I'm only presenting it because of several requests). And let me know today if you really want me to rerun the survey, allowing multiple votes for each crew.

Video: Quest Free-style at Star Systems

Quest appeared at Star Systems talent competition in Nashville on July 22. Katiew307 captured their freestyle and posted it on Twitvid:

Reminder: last day for our survey on Best ABDC performances of all time

Our survey on the best ABDC performances of all time will close tonight at midnight. Click here to read all about it and to vote.

JabbaWockeeZ on SYTYCD July 30 - UPDATED

It's been announced that JabbaWockeeZ will perform on So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday July 30, 9pm ET/PF. In addition, Sean Paul will perform his new song, "So Fine." UPDATE: Fly Khicks' member Karelix will NOT be appearing on the show. During this results show, they will also announce which four dancers will make it to the finale. So expect a hot night and set that TiVo! And, thanks Shay for the tip!

Video: Fly Khicks Michelle, Karelix, and Teena perform at Premios Juventud

Michelle Burgos "Cheena Khicks" and Karelix Alicea "Sassy Khicks" from Fly Khicks (third place finishers for America's Best Dance Crew Season 3) are among the dancers who perform with Pee Wee live @ the 2009 Premios Juventud Awards in Miami, FL.

At the same event, Teena "Trendy Khicks" performed with Anahi.

Viral dance video: why Sundays are really for worship!

No, there are no America's Best Dance Crew groups here, nor any jaw-dropping moves. But this video is being shared millions of times because it shows the power of music and dance for joy. It's my antidote for the day for all the ills of the world and for all the arguments and hating.