DirtFaceX Full HHI Report w. Pics

This is my first year attending Hip Hop International and I absolutely LOVE it.  Everyone here is soo nice- from the dancers to the staff.  I'm certainly going to try to make this an annual trip (if my work schedule allows it!).  Thanks in advance for reading- it's a lot of text, but I sprinkled in a couple pictures to hold your interest.  Click here to read my full review of the event. And click here to view pictures of the event.

Sassy reports on the HHI Adult Crews competing in the International Preliminaries

Reader Sassy is in Las Vegas at Hip Hop International and posted her opinions on some of the crews competing in the International preliminary round:

 Wow what a night!!  Happy with the Results....  
--The Crew- Wow, if they wouldn't have stepped up this year than Philippines would not be represting in the Finals cause PAS took a STEP DOWN from Last Year, disappointing. these guys are such a breath of fresh air with their originality.
--Neutral Zone- Their Gimmick = Creative. I would've never thought to dress up as a old man and Go Hard. The reason i want these guys to win is because they are the only crew in the Finals whose Routine is telling a story rather than just Cool Tricks.
--AOV- hands down the Most Creative Crew of the bunch when it comes to moves. I think these guys might be the greatest USA Championship winner ever. Yes, even better than Poreotics.
--Elektrolytes- Just one of those cool and entertaining routines that make you smile. They definitely have Better Choreo in this than they did in every single ABDC Routine Combined
--Rockwell Family- YES! YES! YES! These guys finally made the World Finals!! WHOOOOO! My Favorite Canadian Crew EVER!! I love the Routine, very elegant style and such Great Choreo!!
--Brooklyn- Move Over Elektrolytes, these guys are a True Underdog Story. South Africa is probably going Crazy Right Now. I can't believe Africa is finally representing in the Finals. I'm so Happy!
-- So United Crew- These Guys, while they may not be Original, are entertaining. I think they might have The Best Stunt out of all the Crews where one guy does One Handed Handstand and then Just Drops On His Head. HIS HEAD.
--SNV Crew- One of the Better choreo crews here but they will probably end up getting 7th or 8th. I still love these guys and can't wait to see them again though.

Video: Clips from HHI International Preliminary Rounds - all the top adult crew and megacrews

DanceOn posted very short clips of some of the international crews competing at Hip Hop International including in

•  Megacrew: The Royal family, GRV, UP Street Dance Club, Academy of Swag, Academy of Hype, and La Salle Dance Company Street
• Adult Division: The Crew, Neutral Zone, Academy of Villains, Elecktrolytes, Rockwell Family, Brooklyn, So United Crew, Philippine Allstars, and SNV Crew

HHI 2012 | World Megacrew Final Results

Congratulations to the winners of the Megacrew Competition at Hip Hop International!


Gold Medal: The Royal Family - NZ - 7.91
Silver Medal: GRV - USA - 7.62
Bronze Medal: UP StreetDance Club - PH - 7.43
4th - Academy of Swag - USA
5th - Academy of Hype - USA
6th - La Salle Dance Company 

HHI 2012 | World Adult Semi Finals Results

Congratulations to these adult crews making it to the finals of the Hip Hop International Adult Competition! Thanks to Maxxann for these numbers as they were being announced live.



8th - SNV India 7.2
7th - United crew - France 7.25
6th - Brooklyn - South Africa 7.26
5th - Rockwell family - Canada 7.28
4th - Elektrolytes USA 7.33
3rd - AOV - USA 7.35
2nd - Neutral Zone - Mexico 7.37
1st - The Crew - Philippines 7.52

HHI 2012 | World Varsity Semi Finals

Congrats to these crews making it to the finals of Hip Hop International's Varsity Competition. Thanks to Sassy for these numbers!


1. Sol-T-Shine- Japan 8.22  
2. Zero- Japan 7.91   
3. Sorority- New Zealand 7.70   
4. J.B. Star- Japan 7.42   
5. A-Team- Philippines 7.40   
6. Freshest Nutz- Singapore 7.28   
7. Bandits- USA 7.09   
8. Lil's Dance- Russia 6.91  

Japan's Sol-T-Shine

 

Click here for more pictures of the Varsity Semi-Finals

HHI 2012 | World Juniors Semi Finals

Congrats to these crews who will be moving on to the finals of the Hip Hop International Juniors Competition on Sunday!


1. Bubble Gum - New Zealand 7.74 
2. Flip - Canada 7.69 
3. J.B. Star - Japan 7.43 
4. Rascals - USA 7.36 
5. Onizaka Ikka - Japan 7.34 
6. Freshh 2.0 - Canada 7.17

Flip from Canada (#2)

Video: Poreotics teach workshop at Urban Dance Showcase

Greg S. participated in a workshop taught by Poreotics at the 2012 Urban Dance Showcase in Germany. He'll have a report on it later, but here's some footage of the event on mokumboi19 Youtube. Thanks Greg!

HHI World Adult preliminary results - Congratulations Neutral Zone, Acad. of Villains, Elektroytes!

*DirtFaceX Edit:
This is my first time attending HHI, so I'm not sure if it usually works like this, but due to delays during the Mega Crew Division Semi-Finals, the last performance for the Adult Preliminaries didn't happen till 3am.  And the results weren't given till 3:30. Here they are:

1.NEUTRAL ZONE - MEXICO - 7.31
2.ACADEMY OF VILLAINS - USA - 7.12
3.ELEKTROLYTES - USA - 7.00
4.SO UNITED CREW - FRANCE - 6.93
5.THE CREW - PHILIPPINES - 6.91
6.ROCKWELL FAMILY - CANADA - 6.91
7.SNV CREW - INDIA - 6.89
8.PHILIPPINE ALLSTARS - PHILIPPINES - 6.88
9.BROOKLYN - SOUTH AFRICA - 6.83
10.PRESTIGE - NEW ZEALAND - 6.82
11.FLY SIX B - JAPAN - 6.79
12.SUPER GIRLS - RUSSIA - 6.77
13.ILLEST-VIBE - CANADA - 6.76
14.P&T - CANADA - 6.71
15.D MANIAC - THAILAND - 6.69
16.MISFITS - NEW ZEALAND - 6.68
17.TEAM RECYCLE - GERMANY - 6.63
18.ABZATS CREW - RUSSIA - 6.62
19.CREATORZ - MEXICO - 6.62
20.RAW EDGE CREW - IRELAND - 6.56
21.RENEGADE MASTER CREW - ITALY - 6.47
22.BIRDGANG DANCE COMPANY - U.K. - 6.46
23.CLOCKWORK - AUSTRALIA - 6.40
24.THE CORE - HUNGARY - 6.32
25.COCKTAIL OF MADNESS - ISREAL - 6.32
26.THA PROJECT - PHILIPPINES - 6.21
27.LOONABEATS - GREECE - 6.19
28.SMOOTHIE - JAPAN - 6.18
29.RUFF DIAMOND - U.K. - 6.16
30.ABC - COLOMBIA - 6.15
31.THE HOUSE OF POSE - SPAIN - 6.15

Thanks for the update, Sassy! 

Juniors Semi-Finals is in 2 hours.  I get a whopping 1 and a half hours of sleep.

HHI World Megacrew prelims - congratulations Royal Family (with video!

Hip Hop International's  2012 World Hip Hop Dance Championship  MegaCrew Preliminaries Results. Thanks for the update and links, Sassy and YourName____! 
 
1. ROYAL FAMILY - NEW ZEALAND - 7.88
2. U.P. STREETDANCE CLUB - PHILIPPINES - 7.65
3. ACADEMY OF SWAG - USA - 7.56
4. LA SALLE DANCE COMPANY STREET - PHILIPPINES - 7.42
5. GRV - USA - 7.36
6. BLACKOUT - SPAIN - 7.27
7. ACADEMY OF HYPE - USA - 7.11
8. ACADEMY OF BROTHERS - AUSTRALIA - 7.11
9. PRAISE TEAM - CANADA - 7.05
10. BEAT KINGS - ITALY - 6.87
11. TEAM RECYCLE - GERMANY - 6.81
12. UNTIMITIVE - SOUTH AFRICA - 6.60
13. DUTCH CONNECTION - NETHERLANDS - 6.59
14. NEUTRAL ZONE - MEXICO - 6.55
15. 7 COMPANY - ITALY - 6.54

HHI 2012 | World Preliminary Juniors

This morning the World Junior Preliminaries took place, and here are the results, from the Official Hip Hop International Facebook page. Keep it locked as we await the Megacrew Preliminaries (ongoing as we speak), and the World Adult Preliminaries later today at 6pm. 


1.BUBBLEGUM - NEW ZEALAND - 7.25
2.FLIP - CANADA - 7.23
3.RASCALS - USA - 7.17
4.ONIZAKA IKKA - JAPAN - 7.17
5.JB STAR - JAPAN - 6.94
6.FRESHH 2.0 - CANADA - 6.92
7.TAO - JAPAN - 6.84
8.COOKIES N CREAM - CANADA - 6.74
9.MINIOTICS - USA - 6.30
10.KHAOS - NEW ZEALAND - 6.22
11.THE PRODIGY - USA - 6.17
12.SUPERKIDZ - U.K. - 5.98

HHI 2012 | World Varsity Preliminary Videos

While unfortunately we don't have videos for everyone who performed at HHI last night for the World Varsity Preliminaries, we do have videos for the top 3 performances. Check them out below! Stay tuned for news later today. Junior crews compete starting in 15 minutes, Megacrew at 1pm PST, and Adult later tonight at 6pm PST.


Sorority (NZ) - 7.77 
Apparently they began their performance this year the way they ended after their championship performance last year, sort of a "continuation". Check it out for yourself to see.
Zero (JP) - 7.83 
They're back with a vengance, hoping to win like they did in 2010.
Sol-T Shine - 7.91 
To be honest I've never heard of this crew before, but I'm glad to see that there's still more talent out there.

Greg's Urban Dance Showcase report: All-star show, IaMmE close encounters, & afterparty!

Greg S. just returned from Urban Dance Showcase 2012 in Germany, and files a great report about the performances and afterparty:

Hey, everyone. Sorry my Urban Dance Showcase report is a little late, but I have good reason that we'll get to later. That out of the way, let's jump straight into the amazing, unbelievably memorable night I had on Sunday.

Nonstop opened the show with a bang and the fun didn't end until the afterparty was forcibly broken up at around 5 am. The audience (which included Mr. Wiggles, Ashley & Perry from BGT winners Diversity, Ian Eastwood, Bam Martin and surely others I'm forgetting or didn't happen to see) was buzzing early and the show started late - not that anyone cared with hilarious host MC Trix pulling out all stops to amuse. Let's just go through each act one by one.  

And, as great as the entire show was, the afterparty was absolutely flippin' legendary. No lie, that was the greatest party I've ever had the privilege to attend, hands down. The dancers and the audience mingled while the DJ spun and the bartenders doled out cold drinks in a hot room filled with funk. What started quickly as one cypher turned into three simultaneous circles, which I were hopping around all night long.

Click here to read his full descriptions of the after-party  and performances from Nonstop; Hilty & Bosch; Choreo Cookies; Quick Crew; S**t Kingz; Lando Wilkins (Mos Wanted Crew) and Mike Song (Kinjaz); bboys Lil C, Neguin, and Junior; Poppin John; Jason Smith;  Chachi (from IaMmE), Pacman (from IaMmE); Poreotics and Les Twins.

HHI World Preliminaries - Varsity Division Results

I just got back from the World Preliminaries - Varsity Division.  And here are the results:

1. SOL-T-SHINE - JAPAN - 7.91
2. ZERO - JAPAN - 7.83
3. SORORITY - NEW ZEALAND - 7.77
4. I-ROCK - CANADA - 7.29
5. A-TEAM - PHILIPPINES - 7.28
6. J.B. STAR VARSITY - JAPAN - 7.27
7. LIL' DANCE - RUSSIA 7.18
8. FRESHEST NUTZ - SINGAPORE - 7.15
9. BANDITS - USA - 7.03
10. LEGIT STATUS - PHILIPPINES - 6.97
11. UNDERGROUND - USA - 6.92
12. SHOCKARELLAS - U.K. - 6.76
13. LAS 8 SUPERNENAS - SPAIN - 6.70
14. IDK - USA - 6.67
15. GET DOWN - RUSSIA - 6.65
16. BANDA FORSE - RUSSIA - 6.63
17. F8 - CANADA - 6.29
18. DIAMOND ALLSTARS - U.K. - 6.25
19. NEUTRAL ZONE - MEXICO - 6.19
20. SPIRIT DANCE - MEXICO - 6.18

Sorority's routine was amazing (as expected), but I think there was one slip-up.  That, Japan's Sol-T-Shine and USA's Bandits were my top three of the night.  Freshest Nutz, I-Rock, Stiletto (Australia), A-Team, and Legit Status also ranked high for me.  And the sickest stunt of the night came from Neutral Zone when one guy was launched high into the air and did, what almost looked like, a straight up face-plant. Here's the only decent picture I took of Zero (#2) from Japan:

 

Tomorrow is a full day of World Preliminaries for the rest of the Divisions.  Good luck to everyone!

US Finals Videos - Hip Hop International

From the [OfficialHHI] Channel, here are the videos for the top 3 routines in each category - Junior, Varsity, Adult and Megacrew. Click on each name for their video! The World Championships start tonight with Varsity Preliminaries, so we're looking forward to that!


Junior
3rd Place: Miniotics
2nd Place: The Prodigy
1st Place: Rascals


Varsity
3rd Place: iDK
2nd Place: Underground
1st Place: Bandits


Megacrew (currently no links, will edit with links when available)
3rd Place: Academy of Hype
2nd Place: GRV
1st Place: Academy of Swag


Adult
3rd Place: Mixd Elements
2nd Place: Elektrolytes
1st Place: Academy of Villains (below)

Anthony Lee ft Funkdation Crew - Give Me One Reason

While we're waiting the results of the World Hip Hop International Preliminaries later tonight, enjoy this video from Anthony Lee (CADC/Kinjaz) and ABDC7's Funkdation Crew!

DirtFaceX's photos from Hip Hop International

DirtFaceX is at Hip Hop International this week. He's sent some pictures back, and will probably have more for us as the week goes on. Click here for a picture of Mineotics and other US Final competitors.  Thanks DirtFaceX!

 

The Acadamy of Villains (Gold Adult)

Video: Lando Wilkins, Lil G, and Neguin dancing at UDS after-party

Greg S. filmed some amazing bboy moves from Lando Wilkins (Mos Wanted Crew), Neguin (winner of Redbull BC One 2010) and Lil G (runner-up for Redbll BC One 2011). From mokumboi19 Youtube.

HHI US Finals -- Skool District sweeps all 4 divisions, Elektrolytes & Mix'd Elements qualify for internationals!

The finals were held for the United States teams at Hip Hop International on July 31, 2012. Teams from the Skool District bloc took first in all events, with Elektrolytes (ABDC7 winners) taking silver and Mix'd Elements (ABDC 7) winning bronze in the adult division. The top 3 teams in each division will compete against the other nations later this week to see who makes it to the finals this weekend. Congratulations to all! Thanks for the info, Sassy and ANino13.

Adult Division:
Gold - Academy of Villains Score: 8.16
Silver - Elektrolytes Score: 7.99
Bronze - Mix'd Elements Score: 7.82

Megacrews:
 Gold: Academy of Swag (8.04)
 Silver: GRV (7.84)
 Bronze: Academy of Hype (7.78) 

Junior:  
Gold- Rascals
Silver- Prodigy
Bronze- Miniotics

Varsity:
Gold- Bandits
Silver- Underground
Bronze- IDK
 

HHI 2012 | PacRim Video Recap of Preliminaries

While we have yet to see any videos of full sets from HHI, our friends at Pacific Rim Video Press have put together a recap video that shows snippets of the performances from the top 3 crews in each of the US categories. Be sure to check it out to get an idea of how the crews our. Congrats to all the crews! Special shoutouts to Skool District (with Hype 5-0 and Supreme Soul alum) for placing in the top 3 of each category, along with Elektrolytes and Mixd Elements!

Exclusive videos: SYTYCD judges Nigel & Mary talk about new format shocks, how not to be a jerk as a judge

Riquel Olander (We Are Heroes) interviewed Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe, judges of So You Think You Can Dance after the Top 16 taping. Nigel talked about how the new format (learning who was in the bottom before the show) and how it shocks him.  Mary Murphy talked about the need for kindness and constructive criticism as a judge, and the style she'd most like to learn-- hiphop!..

Korea's Got Talent | Animation Crew, BWB, Khan and Moon, Morning of Owl,

It hasn't even been a month since R16 and once again, we see great dance coming out of Korea. While a dancer has yet to win America's Got Talent, over in Korea, their finals are loaded up with world class talent, with poppers taking the crown for a second year in a row.


BWB, short for Blue Whale Bros, is a combination of poppers Crazy Kyo and Poppin J. They are the current Juste Debout popping champions, so it's not beyond reason that they would win the whole show. Check out their video below, as well as the other performances after the break!



Click here to see the rest of the performances, including crazy bboying, dark light dancing, Juste Debout level locking, and more popping!

Video: Behind the scenes at a private LMFAO and Quest Crew Performance

This video shows Quest Crew going to New York for a private performance, rehearsing steps, and the run-through onstage with the full dance group. In all, a good inside view of life for the very successful group. From QuestDanceCrew Youtube.

Hip Hop International 2012 results - US adult crews

The Crews who are going to the US Finals for the Adult Division Are:  
11th Place- The Waackers (6.81)
10th Place- Broken Toyz (6.90)
9th Place- D-Squad (6.94)
8th Place- Illmatik Phlow (7.00)
7th Place- Lipstick Crew (7.06)
6th Place- 5 Foota Thrillaz (7.21)
5th Place- Kaba Modern (7.21)
4th Place- Blank Canvas (7.27)
3rd Place- Mix'd Elements (7.61)
2nd Place- Academy Of Villains (7.98)
1st Place- Elektrolytes (7.98)

AOV and Elektrolytes got the same score, but being the Reigning Champs, Elektrolytes take 1st. 
Thanks for the info Sassy!


EDIT: Thanks to Pacific Rim for the scores!

Hip Hop International results - US Megacrews

The Crews who are going to the US Finals for the Megacrew Division Are:
10th Place- IDK (6.59)
9th Place- CFD (6.66)
8th Place- Breakthrough (6.81)
7th Place- The H (6.84)
6th Place- High Profile (6.92)
5th Place- The Prototypes (7.10)
4th Place- GRV (7.79)
3rd Place- Super Galactic Beat Manipulators (7.80)
2nd Place- Academy Of Hype (7.98)
1st Place- Academy Of Swag (8.31)
Thanks for the info, Sassy!


EDIT: Thanks to PacificRimVideo for the scores!

HHI US Adults Livestream

Our friends at Pacific Rim Video have a livestream going of the US Adults Preliminiaries of Hip Hop International. Make sure you check it out below



Video streaming by Ustream
Also, we have news that Academy of Hype took second place at Megacrew. We'll post results as we get them.

HHI 2012 | US Junior and Varsity Prelim Results

Here are some preliminary results for the Juniors and Varsity US Hip Hop International Preliminaries. Thanks Sassy and Pacific Rim Video Press! Check back later for Adult/Megacrew results.


Juniors
1st - Miniotics - Orange County, CA (7.81)
2nd - Prodigy - Las Vegas, NV (7.73)
3rd - Rascals - Honolulu, HI (7.08)
4th - Genex - New York, NY (6.80)
5th - Recess - Houston, TX (6.74)
6th - Mighty 7 - San Diego, CA (6.40)


Varsity
1st - Bandits - Honolulu, HI (7.92)
2nd - Trouble Makers - Los Angeles, CA (7.87)
3rd - Underground-  Irvine, CA (7.69)
4th - IDK - San Diego, CA (7.63)
5th - Elektrolyttles - Gilbert, AZ (7.58)
6th - The Sandlot - Houston, TX (7.49)
7th - Nu Era - Covina, CA (7.40)
8th - The Midas Touch - North Bergen, NJ (7.34)
9th - Prophecy - Suisun City, CA (7.28)
10th - Youngskull Club - San Fransisco, CA (7.25)
11th - Filthy But Clean - San Fransisco, CA (7.22)
12th - TM Juniors - Placetia, CA (7.19)
13th - Double Trouble - Los Angeles, CA (7.11)
14th - The Organization - Anaheim, CA (7.??)
15th - Tru Definition - Encinitas, CA (7.07)

Video: Marquese 'Nonstop' Scott dancing at Urban Dance Showcase

Greg. S. is at Urban Dance Showcase in Germany and sent a short video of Marquese 'Nonstop' Scott dancing before the showcase started. Thanks Greg -- we look forward to more on this event!

Going to Hip Hop International? Let us know! | Schedule + PacRim Videos

While the Olympics are going on in London, out in Las Vegas, another sort of World Championships are happening. It's the US Championships and the World Championships for Hip Hop International. Over the coming week, crews will compete in one of the largest crew choreography focused events in the World. We've already listed the crews competing in both levels of competition (US Junior, US Varsity, US Adult, US Megacrew, Intl Junior, Intl Varsity, Intl Adult, Intl Megacrew - note that lists may have updated since we posted them), and we'll be posting the results as soon as we find them.

If you're there please let us know what it's like! It's not like there can be any spoilers like with ABDC, so feel free to report results, as well as your impressions on the performances, the atmosphere, or anything really. Email any reports to bloggingabdc@gmail.com

If you want more up to the date reports, our friends at Pacific Rim Video Press are tweeting as events go on, and will be posting interviews. Follow them on Twitter @pacificrimvideo. Check out their montages of the crew orientation from yesterday below, as well as another montage here. You may see some familiar faces, including Academy of Hype (and their affiliated family crews), SGBM, Soul Fresh Fam, Funk Beyond Control, and more.



 Best of luck to all the crews performing!

Monday
US Preliminaries
Junior/Varsity: 9AM
Megacrew: 3PM
Adult: 6:30PM

Tuesday
US Finals: 6:30PM

Wednesday
World Preliminaries
Varsity: 6:30PM

Thursday
World Preliminaries
Junior: 9AM
Megacrew: 1PM
Adult: 6PM

Friday
World Semifinals
Junior: 9AM
Varsity: 11:30AM
Adult: 6:30PM
World Finals
Megacrew: 4PM

Saturday
Junior/Varsity/Adult Finals: 7:30PM

Exclusive interview: Nappytabs at SYTYCD Top 16 show: how they choreographed this week's routines

 Riquel Olander (We Are Heroes) interviews Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo (aka Nappytabs) backstage at So You Think You Can Dance's Top 16 show. They talk about baby gifts, choreographing about parenthood, the Nappytabs sweats, and choreographing for Cyrus & Eliana

Videos: Stepboys workshops from Pocholo, Kendall, Green

Stepboys members have also been involved in teaching workshops since they left ABDC. Here's one taught by Pocholo Yabes, and click to watch others taught by Kendall Santos  and Green Gaskell. From SBvdo Youtube.

Videos: Learn popping from Funky Lia - 4 parts

YAKFilms has now posted 4 parts of the Funky Lia (of Insane Brain) popping lessons. IMO, one of the better tutorials available now. Click to watch Part I, Part 2, and Part 3; here's Part 4:

Exclusive SYTYCD interview: Brandon & Amber talk about elimination, what's next for them

Riquel Olander (We are Heroes) interviews Brandon and Amber, the two dancers eliminated on this week's So You Think You Can Dance. They talk about having no regrets about their performances,  how this week was their favorite performance on the show, how they helped each other on technique, their plans after SYTYCD, and how to follow them.