Tonight: Body Rock 2011

Apologizes for the late notice, but tonight (7pm PST) is the annual Body Rock Hip-Hop Dance Competition! Body Rock is one of the biggest competitions of the year, and always showcases amazing talent. This year will be featuring competing crews, including Choreo Cookies, GRV, Sh*t Kingz (Japan), SGBM, Prestige (New Zealand), Kaba Modern, Team Millenia, Dangerous Game (Italy), and MANY more!

The event will be judged by Jet Li (Poreotics), Ellen Kim (Movement Lifestyle), Joe Larot (Jabbawockeez), Free Boogie, Jenny Kita, and Mike Song (Kaba Modern 6)

This year, there will be a Live Ustream of the event. [UPDATE] Show has started. We're live!: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/body-rock-dance-competition

Stay Tuned!

Video: Jabbawockeez on Shake It Up

Disney Channel's 'Shake It Up' keeps on racking up the dance stars. This time they've gotten the original ABDC Champions in Jabbawockeez to make a cameo. Below is the video of their performance on the show, which will air tomorrow (Sunday, June 12th) at 8:30 EST. I don't know if there's more to their appearance, but if anyone actually watches the show be sure to report back on it tomorrow!

Video: IaMmE's path to winning ABDC - highlights from Season 6

IaMmE created a demo reel of their finest moves from America's Best Dance Crew Season 6. Though it starts with footage of some of the injuries, fatigue, and emotions experienced, the dancing elevates the video to a joyous level. On PacMan Youtube. Thanks for the tip, Austin!

Video: Chachi (IaMmE) shows us how to eat a donut

We were so focused on the dancing skills of IaMmE's Chachi that we forgot to post this lesson on how to eat a donut. Now that she gets part of the $100,000 prize for winning America's Best Dance Crew Season 6,  there can be lots more donuts in her future.

Zekeish's Review of ABDC's Finale

The FINALE BABY! (Sorry for the lateness)If it wasn’t for the stupid red carpet pre-show along with the onslaught of commercials between performances, this would have been one of the best episodes of ABDC ever. All of the past champions return with new routines to blaze the ABDC stage once again and of course the headliners being the JabbawockeeZ. I wish that the finale would have been live, so the reactions would not have seemed so forced, but whatever, IaMmE won, so I can’t complain. Thank you guys for reading my reviews all season long, and hopefully I will be back next season. Well, go grab yourself some purple skittles and play some levels of Pacman, I.aM.zEkE-ish and its reviewin tyme. (BTW, I have never held back and I won’t this episode. I'm being extra harsh on the champions mainly because they won their respective seasons. That’s me. Here we go). Click here to read the full review.

SYTYCD Videos: the 4 hiphop dancers in the top 20; choreo by Christopher Scott (LXD) and Sonya Tayeh

So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 picked their top 20 dancers, including 4 who specialize in hip hop: Chris Koehl, Tadd Gadduang, Wadi Jones and Robert Taylor Jr -- click here to see their group performance.  The show that aired on June 9, 2011 featured some stellar choreography including the top 10 girls dancing Sonya Tayeh's interpretation of "Pop, Drop and Roll" by Chonique Sneed (one of America's Best Dance Crew's choreographers), and the top 10 boys dancing to Christopher Scott's (LXD) choreography:

The cost of competing on ABDC: ReQuest scrambling to raise enough money to defend HHI title

Possible bad news for those who planned to attend Hip Hop International to see ReQuest Crew: The New Zealand Herald reports that the girls don't have the $36,000 needed to return to defend their title. 

"Manager Brett Goebel...said the group's funds had been sapped by an appearance on America's Best Dance Crew..Though they were praised by the judges, the cost of competing on the prime time show has them scrambling to make the $36,000 needed to defend their title at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Las Vegas from July 26-31....The group gets no Government funding and has to raise all its money from touring and corporate shows, Mr. Goebel said. "If you drive past us and there's a ReQuest car wash on, please drive in. We're the world champs but those funding agencies don't give any money out." If you want to book them, go to their website, and you can follow them on  Facebook

Upcoming Event: MYX TV/KPOP takeover with Poreotics & Movement Lifestyle, June 17-18

MYX TV and K-pop’s top choreographers and dancers have come together to bring “KPOP Takeover“ on June 18-19 in Los Angeles.  Movement Lifestyle choreographers - Shaun Evaristo, Lyle Beniga, Keone Madrid, and Mari Martin -- will be at the convention breaking down dance moves from “the hottest Korean music videos.” In addition, Poreotics (ABDC Season 5 winners) will also be there teaching workshops.

This convention is open to all levels of dancers. And if you don’t feel like learning the dances to top K-pop songs, they also sell tickets for observers. Tickets are on sale now -- Click here for details and to buy your tickets. Thanks for the tip, Chocobopie!

Tell us your favorite performances during ABDC's Season of the Superstars!

Now that America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 is over, it's time to look back and nominate your favorite performances. Leave a comment on what you consider the highlights. Next week, we'll run a survey so that you can vote for your favorites!

Congratulations Zekeish and Alan -- winners of our Elimination Challenge and ABDC Top 4 contests

America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 is over, but there are still some awards to be given out:

• Zekeish won the Elimination Challenge contest with a total of 16 points. His estimate of 55 million was also close in predicting how many votes would be cast during the last week
• Alan won the ABDC Top 4 Contest by predicting the winning order: IaMmE/ICONic Boyz/Phunk Phenomenon/Street Kingdom in Week 5, a week before Teldon, 787 Crew Fan, and ABDC Freak

Zekeish and Alan -- please email BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com so I can get you your prizes: a Tshirt worth up to $35 or a $30 iTunes gift certificate. And thanks to everybody else for playing along!

ABDC6 and the Season Finale = ratings success!

The special 90 minute season finale of America's Best Dance Crew, which included live coverage from the MTV Movie Awards red carpet achieved a 2.1 rating among people 12-34, up 38% from last year's Movie Award's lead-in. 

The finale was also a success for ABDC, with ratings up 17% from the ABDC fifth season finale. It delivered 2.6 million total viewers, up +24% from last season's finale. (Explaining the difference in percentages: rating = the percent of people watching ABDC compared to the total number of people watching any TV show at that time; total viewers = number of people watching ABDC (regardless of how many people were watching other shows).

For the season, ABDC averaged a 1.8 rating among People 12-34, up 13% from the fifth season average.  ABDC delivered 2.1 million total viewers each week, up  17% from season five.  ABDC is Thursday's #1 original cable series with People 12-34.  Congratulations, ABDC team!

Videos: Fanny Pak behind the scenes -- a new member and dance rehearsals

In this video from HouseofCrews Youtube, Fanny Pak announces that Phil is leaving the crew but will be replaced by Preston. The video also mentions FP leader Matt Cady in Poland's So You Think You Can Dance and shows some dance rehearsals. Thanks for the link, Michael C!

Video: Jungle Boogie dance in Jason Derulo's "Don't Wanna Go Home"

Members of Jungle Boogie (ABDC Season 5) appear in Jason Derulo's hit music video "Don't Wanna Go Home" starting at 1:50. Thanks for the tip, Elise 10!

The So You Think You Can Dance Party Room is open - join us!

The Party Room/Critics Corner for So You Think You Can Dance's Las Vegas extravaganza is now open! Join other readers as they transfer their passion from ABDC to SYTYCD, and watch some of our fan favorites -- Hiro, Lil O, and a few other hip hop experts.  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: The party has just started, so stick around and join many others to praise and complain. Who on this season do you expect to eventually appear on ABDC? Who do you want to win SYTYCD? What would you like to see in future seasons of ABDC?   This is your party --  humor, keen observation and almost everything else (except personal attacks/disrespect not related to the dancing itself,  spam, and obscenity) are expected and welcome.

Video: Quest Crew dances with LMFAO on Lopez Tonight

On June 6, 2011, Lopez tonight featured LMFAO performing "Party Rock Anthem". Their dancers: Quest Crew (ABDC3 champions). Thanks for the tip,Kotsu!

Party room tonight for So You Think You Can Dance -- join us!

Tonight is the first round of the Las Vegas performances and eliminations on So You Think You Can Dance, and we expect to see Hiro (We are Heroes) and Lil O there. This is a good excuse for a party room, so feel free to join us at 8 pm ET.

Please Help Empire Kidz win Guam's Got Talent!

Empire Kidz from Guam was one of our reader's favorite kid crews from the America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 auditions -- click here to watch their audition video.

Right now they have entered a small dance competition on Guam, ironically called "Guam's Best Dance Crew" but they are under a different crew name called the "Doodlekwisps." The crew can win if you vote for them online through www.guam.com (the link is on the TOP RIGHT corner of the website). In order to vote, you have to create an account, which is fast and simple -- I've done it and you can too! You can only cast a vote once per hour. They are currently behind but you can help them catch up!  Voting continues to Saturday June 11. Please help this terrific crew. To help convince you, here's some of their performance on the show: 

Video: Elektrolytes dance on America's Got Talent!

Elektrolytes from Arizona appeared on America's Got Talent on the June 7, 2011 episode and were called "one of the freshest routines I've seen in a long time" by judge Piers Morgan. They are moving on to the Las Vegas round. The crew has also auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Seasons 4, 5, and 6 and competed at Hip Hop International. Thanks for the tip,Wings!

Video: Instant Noodles Photoshoot

Instant Noodles(ABDC Season 6)  posted some new scenes of some free-style dancing, candid moments, and a photoshoot (not sure what it's for. From InstantNoodlesCrew Youtube Channel.

Video: Quest Crew and Blueprint Crew partying and dancing

Quest and Blueprint Crews danced to Party Rock Anthem with everybody at Tokyo Bar in Quebec on June 4, 2011 (just days after Quest taped their ABDC6 finale performance). Video from MeezyBouahom Youtube Channel. 

ABDC to represent at Hip Hop International: ICONic Boyz performances, IaMmE workshops, + more ABDC champions!

Hip Hop International hits its 10th anniversary this year, and many of the standouts from America's Best Dance Crew will be out in force:

• ICONic Boyz (the ABDC6 runners-up) will be competing. The group that appeared on ABDC will be split between the Junior and the Varsity divisions due to age differences, but other members of ICONic Boyz will fill in so that the groups will dance at the level they showed on ABDC
• Pacman of IaMmE (the ABDC6 winner) will be teaching at an Urban Moves workshop during HHI
• Poreotics and Super cr3w will perform in tribute to Randy Jackson, who will be at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship Finals to receive HHI's Living Legend of Hip Hop Award 
• JabbaWockeeZ will also perform in exhibition at the HHI World Championship finals

The USA Hip Hop Dance Championship takes place on July 24 & 25, followed by World Hip Hop Dance Championship prelims and semi-finals from July 27-29. On World Battle Day on July 30, the world's best bboys, poppers, lockers and freestylers will be put to the test in a series of “can you top this” battles including World Bboy 3 on 3 Crew Battle, All Styles Battle and World Popping & Locking 1 on 1 Battles.    Defending World Champions from Japan and New Zealand will return for a chance to retain the title, gold medals and $25,000 in cash and prizes.  Tickets are available through www.hiphopinternational.com or by calling 1.800.669.5867 in the USA.

Please don't leave us: why you should stay with BloggingABDC now that Season 6 is over

America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 is over, but BloggingBestDanceCrew.com will be here for you over the next few months. Why should you keep reading us?

• We'll continue post the latest news on America's Best Dance Crew plans -- including an exclusive news scoop later today
• Over the next week, we'll run results from our contests, new polls on your favorite Season 6 performances, some new contests, and more reviews
• We'll keep up with your favorite crews, judges, and ABDC personalities. We'll supply information on performances, workshops, meet-and-greets, films/videos, merchandise, and anything else they're up to.
• We try to get YOU in the action, letting our readers tell us what questions they want to ask their ABDC favorites, and getting ABDC readers into local hip hop dance events as field reporters
• ABDC may be done, but hip hop dancing is thriving. We'll provide news and videos about other dance events including Hip Hop International, Red Bull BC One, World of Dance, and international Dance Crew competitions.
• We'll run forums, contests, and polls so that you can stay connected to others who love ABDC.

So stay with us! You'll be glad you did.Cartoon credit: Adventure Time 

Video: 787 Crew dance on Sunshine Remix

ABDC6 alums 787 Crew recently performed on Sunshine Remix on Wapa.tv. "'Sunshine Remix' is a  mix of music and comedy, so after they perform, a parody crew called 939 comes on to 'challenge' 787. Click here to watch. Thanks for the tip,  787 Crew Fan!

Videos: ABDC alums at World of Dance NY -- Rhythm City, Static Noyze, Concept Artists

Alumni of America's Best Dance Crew performed at World of Dance New York 2011. Rhythm City (the larger team that includes the ABDC members) performed in exhibition. And there were two competing crews with ABDC alums: Static Noyze (the larger team) and Concept Artists (which contains members of Static Noyze and Phunk Phenomenon).

Byeynyn's review of ABDC6's Finale!

Last Thursday, America's Best Dance Crewthe show tried to fill an entire episode with only three dance routines, which had to be a record low. IaMmE and ICONic Boyz tried their best to stall for time with some insider videos and interviews, but it was still a dreadfully paced episode. Fortunately, the Finale Episode is loaded with solid routines, including from the previous ABDC champions (all of whom I will be giving an automatic “two thumbs up” just for showing), and our winner will finally be crowned. Click here to read the full review.

Video: ICONic Boyz and Phunk Phenomemon dance together post-ABDC!

ICONic Boyz  flew out of Los Angeles on June 3, 2011, hours after the taping of the America's Best Dance Crew finale where they were Season 6 runners-up. The next day, they performed with Phunk Phenomenon (the 3rd place finishers on ABDC6) at the annual ICON Complex Dance end of year event. From evideopr Youtube Channel. Thanks for the link, MichaelC!

Congratulations IaMmE -- ABDC6 Champions!

Before the ABDC auditions started, I talked to some MTV executives who mentioned how the West Coast has dominated the show every season and were sending some great crews to try out. In response, I told them to watch for IaMmE, a Texas crew with amazing members and awesome dance videos. So, weeks before the auditions began, I predicted IaMmE could win. I wish I had had some money on that prediction!

IaMmE brought something new to the show and kept it exciting every week. Like JabbaWockeeZ, their performances are almost trademarked -- nobody else is going to copy their brain-banging style without looking like byters. Their sets made masterful use of the different members' skills, going from solo tricks to pairing to full-crew choreo seamlessly. Every member has unique strengths and abilities, as shown in their Last Chance Challenge. And, it's about time that a crew with both men and women members took the trophy!

This post is only for positive comments and congratulations to IaMmE. If you have anything else to say, take it to the Party Room post, or it will be deleted. 
And, thanks to Shahin for creating the new championship banner on our page!! 
photocredit: MTV

First recaps of ABDC's Finale

• AV Club has a great in-depth review of the entire season including the superstar concept, the problems with the voting system, and best/worst moments.
• Ology is shocked that IaMmE won and gave JabbaWockeeZ a perfect score
• Too Interesting for Twitter focuses on reviewing the champions, with astute observations like "only Quest Crew could make it cool performing in onezies"
• CMR loved most of the performances but was disappointed that D-trix didn't join Quest Crew onstage in their performance

Exclusive video: JabbaWockeez (with Lil Bit) backstage at the ABDC Finale

JabbaWockeeZ talked to Glenda Morales (Fanny Pak) and Chris Trondsen before the taping of the ABDC6 finale on June 2, 2011. They talk about how good it feels to be back to ABDC, introduce Little Bit (their newest member and secret weapon), talk about the their MUS,I.C Las Vegas show, their congratulations to the two finalists, trading stories with the other ABDC champions, the bittersweet aspects of life after ABDC, their openness to help and advise other crews. 

Send some love to ICONic Boyz!

ICONic Boyz were about as unconventional a competitor as America's Best Dance Crew has ever fielded. Both lovers and haters often ignored their obvious dance skills and professional development over the season, focusing instead on their youthful demeanor and charm. But make no mistake -- the dancers will continue to be a presence on the dance scene. They've done more than most other crews in getting younger people to take dance seriously. The dancers are as serious about their craft as their older counterparts, and I look forward to seeing them develop their skills and choreo repertoire. The thing that amazes me about ICONic Boyz is how they stayed modest and charming despite killer schedules and the kind of pressure few kids ever encounter. I hope to see them when they perform at Hip Hop International, and in many other future dance events.


This post is only for positive comments about ICONic Boyz. If you have anything else to say about this crew or other aspects of ABDC, take it to the Party Room/Critics Corner post. Any other posts will be deleted.
photocredit: MTV

Survey: What was your favorite performance in the ABDC6 Finale?

poll by twiigs.com

Survey: What was your least favorite performance in the ABDC6 finale?

poll by twiigs.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO ABDC SEASON 6 WINNERS!! (the name starts with I)

I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't watched yet, but you can go to the party room or play by play to learn the outcome. Congratulations to the winning crew, and good job to the other crew. Both will continue to inspire dancers and audiences.

The ABDC6 Finale Party Room/Critics Corner is now open -- join us!

 
The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 6's Finale is now open! Join lots of other readers as they rave and vent on the best and worst parts of this season, the ABDC past champions, the crowning of ABDC6 champions, and other stuff. 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: The party has just started, so stick around and join your friends (old, new, and not-yet) while you watch the Movie Awards to celebrate, reminisce, and think about the beautiful summer full of dancing and joy ahead of you! What did you think of the themed performances tonight? Which season's champion do you think is the best? Which would win in a fight with the Wolfman? How has this season affected the dance community? How does this season and its finale rate with other ABDC seasons? This is your party --  humor, keen observation and almost everything else (EXCEPT personal attacks/disrespect not related to the dancing itself,  spam, and obscenity-- Please read our guidelines!) are expected and welcome.

**REMEMBER** no matter the outcome, no matter who is crowned champion, there is a whole world of talented dance crews out there. This show represents only a small aspect of the hip hop dance community, and both crews will be successful out in the world afterward. If the crew you were rooting for doesn't win, it doesn't mean they're bad dancers or that people don't recognize their talent, it means that in the context of this particular competition, they got fewer votes. The end. So let's all be pleasant and level-headed. Please and thank you.  
Imagecredit: devilgirl.com

Join us now for Live Play-by-play of ABDC6's Finale

Del, Michael Calvin and I will be co-hosts of this live play-by-play of America's Best Dance Crew Season Finale, where they will announce who wins ABDC6.. Feel free to follow along (particularly if you cannot watch it until later). Please be aware that your comments might not be posted immediately (or at all) as we have to moderate them, watch the show, and type at the same time.If you want to leave longer comments and be sure they're used, go to the Party Room (the post above this one).

Video: Glenda Morales (Fanny Pak) on the excitement at the ABDC6 finale

Glenda Morales (Fanny Pak) and Chris Trondsen talk about ABDC Season 6 before the taping of ABDC's Finale. Among the topics: how she dressed up for the finale, how the final 2 are dealing with the finale, the feeling at the all-champion finale, Glenda's appearance on Glee and thanks to all the fans!. Thanks to MOVeMEDIA for all the production help during this ABDC season!

JabbaWockeeZ videos: sneak peek at Finale performance; "Devastating Stereo"

EW.com has an exclusive clip of JabbaWockeeZ's performance in the America's Best Dance Crew Finale show. And, the crew also just released a new video called "Devastating Stereo". BTW --We taped an exclusive interview with the full JabbaWockeeZ crew, but  won't release it until Monday June 6 because it has something that we consider a spoiler about their performance -- so come back tomorrow to see it! Thanks for the tips, Jace1 and Sebb!

Join us tonight for Live Play-by-play, Party Room, Surveys and more!

 
Tonight's the Finale for America's Best Dance Crew's Season of the Superstars, at long last. Watch with us tonight! Since the show airs at 7:30 pm ET/PT, the Party Room/Critics Corner opens at 7:15 and stays open as long as you want, so that everyone can comment on anything remotely related to ABDC. What did you think about the past champions? Have they changed for the better or worse? Are you surprised about who won this season of ABDC?

At  7:30 pm ET, Del, Michael, and I will be doing live play-by-play, so feel free to tune in, watch and comment along with them or get a sneak preview of the action (for those of you from the West Coast/Puerto Rico/New Zealand or other ABDC-deprived zones). Tomorrow morning, please vote in our polls on the best and worst performances. Plus we hope to have recaps and other content. Join us!

More pre-taping interviews at the ABDC finale

Yesterday, we posted our interviews with ICONic Boyz and IaMmE backstage before the taping of the ABDC Finale and will have our interview with all the JabbaWockeeZ available tomorrow (small spoiler in it!). For those who want more: DanceOn has interview highlights with ICONic Boyz and IaMmE backstage before the ABDC taping, including how the crews prepared for the finale. Pacific Rim was there in force (as usual) with ICONic Boyz, IaMmE, and Ben, Kevin and Phil of the JabbaWockeeZ. 

Facebook Petition: Get IaMmE, Phunk Phenomenon and other ABDC6 crews on the road!

A group called "I aM pHuNk" just started a Facebook petition to get their favorite crews to do a tour. They are hoping that your support will help the effort and maybe get other crews from America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 to go with them. If you want to help the effort, click here.

Survey Results for ABDC Battle Challenge

The results are in! There were thousands of votes cast in our surveys about readers' favorite and least favorite performances in ABDC's Ultimate X-treme Battle Challenge episode:
  
  * Favorite performance: Out of 2271 votes, the favorite performance was IaMmE's Battle routine (40%), followed by IaMmE's lengthened "S&M"  routine (30%), ICONic Boyz' Battle routine (23%), and ICONic Boyz' lengthened "Baby" routine (6%). Click here for the full results
    * Least favorite performance: Out of 1632 votes, the least favorite performance was ICONic Boyz' Battle routine (41%), followed by ICONic Boyz' "Baby" routine (29%), IaMmE's Battle (17%), and IaMmE's "S&M" ( 10%). Click here for the full results.