Saturday, March 13, 2010

Re-enter our 'Predict the ABDC 5 Top 4' contest now!

Thanks to everyone who submitted entries on which ABDC 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.   The prize goes to the first person to submit the correct answer, based on which week they submit it. If more than one person gets it right that week, we'll employ a tie-breaker rule.

Click here for contest rules and prizes.   Only 15% of all the votes cast are still in the running and there is still room for some upsets -- last season the winning combination wasn't picked until 1 week before the finale. Entries will be taken until Midnight on Monday March 15.

"4th ABDC Judge" rules on Disco Week


The 4th ABDC judge is back, talking directly to the crews with constructive and honest feedback.

Wow, a double elimination week. I never thought I’d see another bottom 3 crews again in the same season. But anyway, time for reviews.  

BLUEPRINT CRU: See, what I like about you guys is that you are in great unison. There were so many parts where you were you doing things at the same time, like the floor work with the six people on the floor moving and the splits on the end. It’s important to be together because it makes your performance look clean. Also, the lifts. The helicopters I thought were okay, but the merry go round lift was hot. You defiantly did not waste your immunity. My advice, You need to highlight different people. For a while, we keep seeing the “b-boy hero”. I’m not saying that’s bad, but I know other crew members want the spotlight to. But still, good job.
Slo-mo: When the guy picked up the afro, and put it on while doing helicopter and tornado spins. That was crazy!  It reminded me of when Jabbawockeez caught the bandana, or when Beat Freaks put on the sunglasses. It was cool.


Click here to read the rest of this week's assessment. Thanks, 4th ABDC Judge!

Post-show interviews with Blueprint, Jungle Boogie, Hype 5-0 and Poretix

  • Pacific Rim has interviews with Blueprint Cru, Hype 5-0 (Part 1 and Part 2 where they talk about the upcoming Usher Challenge), and Poreotix (Part 1 and Part 2)
  • Clevver TV talked to Jungle Boogie after they finished the Disco Challenge and found that they survived the bottom 3 to return next week. 

Poreotix and Hype shirts now available!

 MTV hasn't issued shirts for all the ABDC Season 5 crews, but we did find some crew merchandise:
  • Poreotix has restocked their shirts, but they're going fast! If you want one, email shirts@poreotix.com
  • Go to Hype's Facebook page for info on buying their shirt
Let us know if you know where there are other shirts or merchandise for the ABDC5 crews.

ABDC Disco Week Recaps A Go-Go

  • AC Slater is back from vacation and was grooving on Blueprint Cru and Jungle Boogie
  • Too Interesting for Twitter critiques the performances and quotes the favorite judge's comment:
  • "She held her legs apart, so classy."
  • Spoil the Ending is in hater mode, and gives the "Youtube that S**t" award to Poreotix
  • LA Times thinks this is the hardest season to handicap given the high quality of all the crews.
  • More Youtube recaps:  Big Tashia, ACONNECTIONTV
  • We'll Fix it In mixes in discourse on Platonic Ideals, human torches, classic 70s TV, and challenges they don't want to see
     

Video: Kaba Modern's Tony Tran at Team Millennia Studio Grand Opening

Team Millennia just opened a new studio, and Kaba Modern's Mike Song taught during their opening weekend.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Elimination Challenge/Bottom 2 contest for Week 7 now open - predict & win!

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 5 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.

This week, vote for the 2 crews from America's Best Dance Crew's Top 7 that you think will be in the bottom, and name the one that gets sent home, for a possible 3 points total. For example, in ABDC4's Beyonce Challenge, an entry worth 3 points would have read: "Bottom 2 - Afroborike, Artistry in Motion. Eliminated: Artistry in Motion". 
   
Here's the rules. PLEASE REMEMBER TO USE THE SAME DISTINCTIVE NAME EACH WEEK SINCE VOTES ARE CUMULATIVE!   Jai is in the lead with 9 points, but it's still anyone's game to win. This week, 2 people -- Lil Dawg and Jon93-- got 5 points by correctly naming the bottom 3 crews AND the two who were be sent home. Maybe next week is YOUR week.  Voting closes midnight Monday March 15.

Video: Rino (Beat Freaks) in Siren Assassins

Beat Freak member Rino Nakasone danced in Rhapsody James' Siren Assassins LA on March 10. WOW. Thanks for the link, Chris!

Videos: Chris and Riquel debrief on the disco challenge AND Glenda invites you to a charity flashmob!

Chris Trondsen and We are Heroes' Riquel Olander share their thoughts after the taping of ABDC's Disco Challenge, discussing the challenge itself and the eliminated crews. Click here to watch.

In the video, they mention that Glenda (who skipped the taping this week because she was ill) asks that people in the Los Angeles area join her and MANY OTHERS in a flash mob dance event hosted by Travis Payne to benefit the Dream Center. It will take place on March 14 starting at 9:30AM and will be taped and shown on CW. Click here for the details. You need to practice the dance first -- here's the lesson (along with some more info on the event:

BJHayPinoy reviews ABDC's Disco Challenge

The first thing I’d like to say is I loved how many of the crews incorporated wacking and voguing into the performance because they are both such fun, free, and energetic styles that go so well into old school moves like locking. The second thing is that I loved was is that all crews again brought it this week.  I also want to REMIND everyone that this review is based on ONE TIME VIEWING ONLY. I respect everyone for reading and voicing their opinions again.

Week 7 Disco Challenge Performance Ranking:
1. Poreotix, 2. Blueprint Cru, 3. Hype 5-0, 4. Jungle Boogie, 5. Static Noyze, 6. Heavy Impact, 7. Saltare

Click here to read the detailed review. Thanks BJHayPinoy!

Chris Trondsen on what you DON'T see on TV: Crew reactions to Eliminations and on-line haters!

Here are some of Chris Trondsen's main points on what you see backstage at the America's Best Dance Crew tapings but isn't clear from just watching it on camera. Plus, here's the scoop on how Chris helped Gabourey Sidibe attend this week's taping in order to meet JC Chasez!   

As everyone knows by now, two crews went home this week.  What you won’t see on the show is how both crews deal with it. All of the crews have always been nice to us. I just want to put that out there, they just all deal with going home differently. Click here to read the details.

Another thing that you don’t really see on the show but we got from a lot of the crews is that the critiques from the blogs and the internet are really getting to them.  Crews are used to just dancing for fun and for the love of it, so it’s hard for them to deal with all the negative attention that they aren’t used to. Click here to read more on this.
I know a lot of you have hit me up on Twitter and Facebook asking when we will get an interview with judge JC.  I tried this week.  I saw Gabourey Sidibe who plays “Precious” in the movie at the Spirit Awards last Friday before the Oscars.  She talked about how she loves JC and it’s the only NSync member she hasn’t met.  I told her about going to ABDC and how we do press on the show and she should show up to see him.  Well, her manager worked it out and she ended up coming to the set and getting to meet all the judges and Mario.  But before she got there, JC came to the press room to see if she had arrived.  Riquel from We Are Heroes and I tried to get an interview with him but him and his manager said no to interviews for everyone and left.  For some reason he doesn’t like talking to press like the other judges. So hopefully he changes his mind soon and we can ask him those questions you want to know. 

Mailbox: Shane Sparks pleas not guilty; Mario Lopez to be a father!

  • PopEater reports that on March 11, Shane Sparks entered an official plea of not guilty to all charges of child molestation. He is due back in court on April 20.
  • People reports that Mario Lopez and his girlfriend Courtney Mazza are expecting a child in the Fall. Mario's reaction? "I'm fired up! I don't know what we're having. I'm going to wait to se [the baby's gender] so it will be a surprise."

Send some love to Static Noyze!

 
Static Noyze's departure from America's Best Dance Crew stunned and upset many of our readers. People knew they could expect the unexpected from Static Noyze, be it a novel combination of dance styles, an outre story around the music choices, or some other funny twist in their routine. They had already made a name for themselves in East Coast competitions; let's hope they continue to bring their fresh approaches to live audiences around the US!

This post is only for positive comments on Static Noyze. If you have anything negative to say about the crew or anything else, please take it to the Party Room/Critics Corner.
Photocredit: MTV

Send some love to Heavy Impact!

When Heavy Impact was picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 5, many thought they were just a new crew with a different gimmick. The guys proved those doubters wrong week after week, endearing viewers with krumping, tricks, and heavy-hitting hip hop along with some sexiness. We'll miss seeing them, but we know there is definitely a place for Heavy Impact in the hip hop dance scene.

This post is only for positive comments on Heavy Impact. If you have anything negative to say about the crew or anything else, please take it to the Party Room/Critics Corner.
Photocredit: MTV

Upcoming events - week of March 12

  • 3/12: Quest performing in Year of the Hip Hop in Kawai, Hawaii
  • 3/12-14: Groovaloo with Super Cr3w's Mike Murda and Do-Knock and Beat Freaks LindseyB, Keeley, and Alison in Philadelphia
  • 3/13: Glenda (Fanny Pak) teaching master class for Haiti fundraiser in San Francisco
  • 3/13: Maryss (Beat Freaks) and Frost (Supreme Soul) teaching master classes in Morgan Hill, CA
  • 3/14: Pre-competition workshops featuring Static Noyze's Samantha Yu  and others for the Main Event in Matawan, NJ.
  • 3/14: LindseyB (Beat Freaks) teaching master class at Phresh Select's studio in Philadelpha
  • 3/14: Matt Cady (Fanny Pak) workshop in Minneapolis

Survey: Best performance in ABDC's Disco Challenge

Please vote for your FAVORITE PERFORMANCE DURING THIS CHALLENGE.   Do NOT vote here for your overall favorite ABDC5 crew unless you REALLY believe they were the best crew of the evening!!

Survey: Worst performance in ABDC's Disco Challenge

Please vote for your LEAST FAVORITE PERFORMANCES DURING THIS CHALLENGE. Please vote for only 1 or 2 crews. Do NOT vote here for your overall least favorite ABDC5 crews unless you REALLY believe they were the worst crews of the evening!! UPDATE: It is very clear that the results were spammed overnight -- over 1000 votes with 75% going to one crew. So, I've reset it to zero. If this happens again, I'll just delete the survey for this week. Whoever was responsible -- don't ruin this for other people.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Vote NOW -- the end is getting nearer!

The online voting is now open  from now until 6:00am Eastern time. If you want to protect your favorite crew, act now! Click here to vote. Performance videos will probably be online after 11:00pm West Coast time, to aid in your choices.  If you want to phone or text instead, the numbers are: Phone: 1-877-96-CREW + (number):
Text: 22444 then (number):
Blueprint: 1

Saltare: 2
Poreotix: 3
Hype 5-0: 4
Jungle Boogie: 5
 

Then, join us back at the Party Room/Critics Corner for clever repartee, or something like that. 

Disco Party Room/Critics Corner now open - Join in!

The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 5's Disco Challenge is now open! Join lots of other readers watching the show and talking love/trash about the proceedings.  IMPORTANT: If you want to write a long comment, write in in NotePad or Word and then paste it into the comments field. Otherwise, all your work may disappear if someone posts something new while you're in the middle of writing. 

After the show is over: Stay and give us your reactions and ideas.  Do you think results would have been different if a crew had been eliminated last week? What do you think about disco -- are we ready for a revival?  What other challenges would you like to see? This is your party -- snark, humor, recriminations, nostalgia and almost everything else (except obscenity and abject disrespect) are expected and welcome!
Photo credit: Epic Win FTW. Thanks Ninjaboi! 

Live Play-by-Play Blogging for ABDC's Disco Challenge open now!

The live play-by-play for tonight's America's Best Dance Crew Disco Challenge is NOW OPEN. Del and Nancy will be co-moderators tonight. Please feel free to follow along, but use the Party Room/Critics Corner post (above this one) if you feel your comments MUST be posted IMMEDIATELY!  Reason: It's really hard for us to simultaneously follow the show, write about it, AND monitor/post the comments.

Preview from the Pressbox - Chris Trondsen on ABDC5's Disco Challenge

I'm splitting Chris' report into 2 parts: Today he'll share some things to watch for on tonight's show. Tomorrow, his post will describe crew reactions to being sent home and to online criticism. 

When we went backstage at first to do interviews, everyone was in good spirits.  A lot of the crews were joking, laughing, and in a good relaxed mood.  But they were also nervous because of the fact that it was disco week.  I know a lot are much happier with next week’s challenge.

On this episode you will see one crew mess up, fire, afros, disco balls, a lit up dance floor, booty shorts, a crew member bench pressing another crew member, a female showing incredible strength, and mostly positive critiques from the judges.  

Tonight’s show is fun, and you will see some of the crews do things I didn’t know they had in them and the judges rewarding that with positive comments. Especially JC, who had been especially hard on one crew this season so far.  You see him give props to them finally.  You also see one crew do some B-Boy moves that they haven’t shown this season yet as well.

Exclusive video: Saltare's Krumping contest!

Saltare answered questions and challenges submitted by readers of BloggingBestDanceCrew.com at the ABDC Disco Challenge taping. The highlight -- a krumping contest! This is one of  my favorite ABDC interviews for Season 5 -- you have to watch!  

Each crew member also describes where they're from (and share Idaho connections with We are Heroes' Riquel Olander), what guest judges they'd like to see, and how jump rope judges differ from the MTV judges.  Many thanks to World of Dance, our partner for the ABDC5 tapings!

Exclusive video: Chris and Riquel (We are Heroes) on what to look for in the Disco Challenge

Chris Trondsen and We are Heroes heroine Riquel Olander made a quick video before the taping of America's Best Dance Crew's Disco Challenge, talking about the mood backstage. Riquel compares it to her own experience during Season 4.

Video: ABDC Crews play around with the ropes and the dart game

From MTV Remote Control: an inside look at the crews having fun between rehearsals. Saltare gives some jump rope lessons, and inter-crew revenge is afoot in the dart game.


Exclusive Video: Watch & Vote for your favorite Hype 5-0 impression!; plus Hawaiian booty shake, more reader questions

Hype 5-0 had a great time backstage with Chris Trondsen and Riquel Olander (We are Heroes) this week, answering our readers' questions and rising to a reader challenge. They talk about incorporating more Hawaiian moves (will we see fire dancing?) and the girls show booty Shake Hawaiian style. And, they take Jai's challenge to impersonate other members of their own crew, with some very funny results.  
Leave a comment to tell us your favorite impression!

Click on the links at the top of the homepage (center, just below our banner) if you'd like to leave your own questions and challenge for the crews.

Join us tonight for Live Blogging, the Critics Corner/party room, and more!

Join us tonight for boogie and heartache as two crews are sent home after the Disco Challenge.  The Party Room/Critics Corner opens at 9:30 ET and stays open as long as you want, so you can talk about almost anything having to do with ABDC, disco, the heyday of Studio 54, the unfairness of ABDC and life, whatever.

At 10pm ET, Del and I will be doing live play-by-play while watching the  show, so feel free to play along  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 we hope to have recaps, more backstage interviews, and more.   We'll  have week 7 of our Bottom 2/Elimination  contest. On Saturday, I'll post the next round of the Top 4 contest. So stay with us!

Survey Says: Blueprint pwned ABDC's Lady Gaga Challenge; no clear worst

Interesting results for last week's surveys on your favorite and least favorite performances during America's Best Dance Crew's Lady Gaga challenge:
  • Blueprint Cru was the clear favorite, with 52% of the 1990 votes cast. No other crew was even close -- the next most popular was Poreotix with 18%. Click here for details.
  • Over 3000 votes were cast for the 'worst' performance! This was a close race -- Heavy Impact got the most votes (19%), but 5 other crews received 13% or more of the votes. Static Noyze received the fewest votes here (6%). See full results here.
Photocredit: MTV

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Exclusive video: Blueprint Cru answer reader questions on Canadian dancing, ABDC immunity, and more

Chris Trondsen and We Are Heroes' Riquel Olander interviewed Blueprint Cru before the taping of America's Best Dance Crew's Disco Challenge. They answer our readers' questions including topics like their signature 'chop suey' moves, their mascots and their custom Reeboks,  the crews' many ethnicities, how they differ from US and Western Canadian crews, and the impact of getting immunity during the Lady Gaga Challenge.

Exclusive Video: Poreotix on skydiving, college, sex and Wow moments!

Before the taping of ABDC's Disco Challenge, Poreotix members answered reader questions posed by Chris Trondsen and We are Heroes' Riquel Olander. Among the questions: their plans to go sky-diving, what they studied in college, whether they are planning any WOW moments, how Dumbo got his name, how they feel watching themselves on TV-- they don't like how they look!, their sexual preferences, and more! Thanks to World of Dance, our partner during ABDC Season 5!

Poreotix on Live Call-in radio show today (3/10) at 4:30 PT

Poreotix fans take note: Some members of Poreotix are calling into the Reality Wanted radio show today at 4:30pm PST.  It's live, so fans can call in with questions.  The number: 1-877-242-8212.  You can listen live at www.realitywanted.com/radio or www.chataboutit.com.

FYI -- Canada CANNOT vote for ABDC choices as far as we can tell!

I've read that some people don't vote for Blueprint Cru because they believe that the Canadians will support them. Well, if you want to keep Blueprint Cru on the show, you better vote for them because it appears that Canadians CANNOT vote for ABDC online or by phone. According to one very reliable source: "to our understanding the voting is only in the U.S. On the website it says that votes from outside the country do not count and when Canadians go to the website the majority are unable to click on the vote button. Calling and texts do not work either. So it's up to US residents to decide who gets sent home."

I emailed MTV about this several days ago, but have not yet received an official response. I wanted to get this message out before the voting opens this week. SO - support all the crews you like and don't count on other people to prop up your favorites!

Reports from the ABDC Disco Challenge Tapings

Crush! and De'Janaro Dior attended the taping of America's Best DanceCrew's Lady Gaga Challenge on March 9.    Here are spoiler-free excerpts from their excellent reports on the  night. 
IMPORTANT: KEEP THIS SPOILER-FREE!  IF YOU USE THE COMMENTS FIELD HERE (OR ELSEWHERE ON THIS WEBSITE) TO LEAVE SPOILERS, I WILL BAN YOU FROM THE COMMENTS FOREVER. AND I HAVE WAYS TO SEARCH THE ENTIRE SITE FOR SPOILERS, SO DON'T GET CUTE.
 
Crush!: Hey guys! Let me tell you that this week's episode was not a let down at all! All the crews had really good performances. I loved that the stage had cubes the light up while the crews danced, and there a bunch of disco balls! There was a huge one in the center of the stage! I loved the atmosphere tonight! Click here to read the details. Thanks Crush!

De'Janaro Dior: Is this show really about America's Best Dance Crew? After tonight I think not! Well this was my first time seeing a live show and it was incredible. I'm just upset the show to me is becoming fake as other reality shows. Click here to read more.Thanks De'JanarO!

Early video interviews from the Disco Challenge Taping - Crews and Campbellock Campbell!

Warning: anyone using the comments field here to post spoilers WILL be permanently banned! Both Pacific Rim and Dance Plug were up late posting videos of interviews from America's Best Dance Crew's Disco Challenge taping. Dance Plug interviewed Blueprint Cru, Static Noyze, Hype 5-0, and Saltare.
Pacific Rim talked to most of the crews before the taping including Blueprint Cru, SaltareJungle Boogie, and Heavy Impact. But my favorite interview from them is Beat Freak Maryss talking to Don Campbellock Campbell (a member of the original Lockers) about dance and about ABDC.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Did ABDC run out of talent for Season 5?

New York Magazine's Intelligencer column  runs an article musing that reality shows have run out of talent. It cites America's Best Dance Crew twice as evidence:"Maybe the telltale moment came when, last month, MTV’s reliably entertaining reality contest America’s Best Dance Crew trotted out a crew that had failed to make the show in all four of the previous seasons...This season, not only did we see the crew of former also-rans, but another crew featured members who’d been bounced in Season One, while yet another has been imported from—gasp—Canada."

Video: Lil Mama talks about Shane Sparks and Omarion

TheMandoShow asked Lil Mama on her feelings about Shane Spark (and her reactions on hearing about his legal troubles) and what it's like to work with Omarion "He brings energy back".

Pacific Rim covers TM Studio Opening: Blended Projekt, Danny Batimana, Sheroes

Chris Trondsen (working for Pacific Rim on this assignment) attended the Grand Opening of Team Millennia's new studio in La Habre, CA on March 6 and talked to  TM director and founder Danny Batimana, Sheroes, and members of ABDC5's Blended Projekt:

Field reports on Kollaboration 10 with We Are Heroes, Prepix, Anbu Black Ops & more

Several readers attended Kollaboration 10 on March 6, 2010 and reported back:


TimetoFlytotheCheese: First of all I want to thank Nancy and the Kollaboration staff for giving some of Bloggingbestdancecrew's readers a chance to attend Kollaboration 10. The night was full of amazing performances of all different varieties. There were comedians, dancers, singers, musicians, and film makers displaying their talents to a jam packed theater. The highlights of my night included an amazing Bollywood performance by Bhangra Empire, and performances by dance crews such as Prepix, Anbu Black Ops (including members of Quest, Boxcuttuhz, and Kaba Modern), and ABDC's own We Are Heroes. All in all, you could really feel the Asian community come together in the theater and it was really nice to see different people of Asian ethnicity congregate from all the world and celebrate the wide array of talent they have. It was an amazing night, and I can't wait for next years.
                                                          
DanceNinja2 covered this as our field reporter, and has details on the the competitors (including the winners) and guest performers (including We are Heroes, Anbu Black Ops, and Prepix -- for whom she also shot video which will be posted soon).  While you wait for her performance videos (there are others online, but they are a little shaky so don't leave comments with their links just yet!), click here for a Pacific Rim interview with Anbu Black Ops.
Click here for DanceNinja2's full report. Thanks DanceNinja2!!
                       

Monday, March 8, 2010

Exclusive video: ABDC4 crew members talk about partying until the police shut them down!

DeShaun Williams from Vogue Evolution and Riquel from We are Heroes describe an ABDC4 reunion (including Massive Monkees) which ended with the police shutting them down! They also talk about Glenda taking DeShaun to Disneyland and dancing, their favorite crews for Season 5, and more.

Video: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD) Oscar Performance

The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD) made an appearance at the Oscars on March 7, 2010, dancing to a medley of music from the best score category, which included music from Up, Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, and Sherlock Holmes.hanks, Karen Chu!

Playlist (with old videos!) for ABDC's Disco Challenge - there WILL be a bottom 3 battle!

MTV Remote Control has the music choices for ABDC's Disco Challenge this week. I've linked to videos with the music (including some original artists and some movie footage) if you want to listen without buying. MTV also reports that there will be a bottom 3 battle, but didn't name the music choice. Thanks Mike and Daniel!

Video: Ghost shows their Lady Gaga Challenge performance

This week, Ghost took on VideoPhone from ABDC's Lady Gaga Challenge. This continues their series to show fans what they might have done if they had lasted longer on Season 5 of America's Best Dance Crew. You can see more at the HoustonGhostCrewYoutube Channel.

Last day to enter this week's Elimination challenge and Top 4 contests

Deadline fast approaching: if you want to have an entry for this week's elimination challenge and top 4 contests for ABDC, you have until midnight tonight. Good luck!

America's Best Dance Crew a hit with audiences & still growing!

Multichannel News reports that America's Best Dance Crew's audience is strong and growing:
"ABDC counted 2.2 million watchers on average March 4, according to Nielsen data. The show posted a 2.2 rating against person 12 to 34 and a 2.8 among females 12 to 34, the medium's best performance on Thursday night, said MTV officials. The installment of ABDC, which featured the remaining crews infusing the music and fashion of Lady Gaga into their routines, racked up gains over the previous week of ABDC..: 38% among persons 12 to 34, 33% among females 12 to 34 and 19% with total viewers."

Video: Quest and the Michael Jackson tribute picture

Members of Quest Crew dance and talk about Michale Jackson in  a video to support the Michael Jackson tribute picture campaign. The artist - David Ilan -- creates celebrity pictures using dots (Pointillism), but only puts up the dots when people sign up for them. He has a campaign now to get a million dots for a Michael Jackson tribute. It's easy and it's free -- sign up at MichaelJacksonCelebrityPortrait.com.Thanks for the tip, Cynthia!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Video: Dumbo (Poreotix) and 11 year-old ArianaLynn teach BoogieZone class

Arianalynn is the youngest person in history to teach a Boogiezone dance class at age 11 and she has been competing on large stages all over America to her own choreography since age 7. Here's a video of her working with Dumbo from ABDC5's Poreotix, from JamieZari's Youtube Channel. Thanks for the tip and link, ThePrez!

What backstage challenges would you like to see the crews do?

At the taping of America's Best Dance Crew's Lady Gaga challenge, Hype 5-0 suggested that we give the crews a challenge as well as using reader questions. Given that this is a make-or-break week, we might not do it this week, but please leave your suggestions and I'll pass them on to Chris and Glenda. Here's the relevant footage from our Hype 5-0 interview:

Video: Student documentary of JabbaWockeeZ visit

JabbaWockeeZ visited Poway High School in California for a charity event. Here's a documentary about the visit created for the school's Digital Media Production Class by Alfred Joseph Pappas and other students.

Ninjaboi's Review of ABDC5's Lady Gaga Challenge

Here's Ninjaboi's review: 
Let me preface this week’s review with this short disclaimer:  I have what some have called “an intensely passionate dislike” for Lady Gaga.  Some combination of the fashion, music style and general manner just doesn’t sit well in my stomach.  But I’ll do the best I can this week.  I’ll probably actually boost a couple crews scores since the more Gaga they brought, the better they gave me the heebie-jeebies, as well as completing this week’s challenge: capture the essence of Lady Gaga.  I apologize to any crew that may feel insulted and feel that I am being way too overly harsh or negative compared to how I usually am, but that was largely a result of the music, I think. 

Click here to read the rest of Ninjaboi's detailed analysis and his power rankings. Thanks Ninjaboi!

Del's Review of ABDC's Lady Gaga Challenge

Hello everyone! It was a lovely episode this week, even without the drama of finding a banner fall at the end of the show. Next week however we’re going to have the most cutthroat episode in ABDC history(if you don’t count those pesky regionals that happened just this season *cough cough*) in which two crews will be ousted from the competition in the same episode. But before we get to that there’s a hell of a lot of reviewing to do!

As a reminder, Del is using a scale introduced to this site last season that was used by judges at Hip Hop International (although he took away and added to a few areas) so you will notice a few alterations) and I went ahead and added a “wow moment and tricks” section like many of the BABDC readers have this season as well. Here is Del's final scale that factors in creativity, showmanship, entertainment value, musicality, execution, difficulty, and the wow factor.


Based on that scale, the week's rankings are (from best to worst): Blueprint Cru (8.2), Hype 5-0 (7.6)
Poreotix (7.5), Static Noyze (7.4), Jungle Boogie (6.7), Saltare (6.2), Heavy Impact (6.1). 

Click here to read the detailed critique. Thanks Del!