Video: Justin Bieber - "Sorry" | Parris Goebel & ReQuest

Superstar choreographer- Parris Goebel and her girls, ReQuest star in Justin Bieber's latest music video "Sorry" from his upcoming album, 'Purpose'.  I've watched this video at least 10 times already!  This video is so popular, Buzzfeed even did a little write up on it. Enjoy! #CrownsUp

 

Survey results: Kinjaz win in our polls for ABDC 8

According to our readers, Kinjaz was the crew that should have won season 8 of America's Best Dance Crew. Out of 845 votes cast in our poll, 66% thought that Kinjaz deserved the win over Quest Crew 920%).

In related polling news, 46% thought that Kinja's dojo routine was their favorite dance of the season, followed by 23% for Quest Crew's "Take You there" (the bench routine) and 12% for Super Cr3w's "Uptown Funk."

Video: Fr3sh reunion at wedding

Fr3sh (ABDC Season 4) reuned this weekend and performed some of their old routines. I watch this joyous video and am reminded on why my friends dance. Competitions are great but this video capture why Fr3sh were a special group that didn't get enought time on America's Best Dance Crew and that I still miss.

Reggie Gray (ABDC's Ringmasters) stars in Flexn Stage show #abdc

Reggie Gray, a member of America's Best Dance Crew Season 3's Ringmasters, is one of the featured performers in Flexn, a stage show about flex dancing that also tells the story of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The show will be in Brisbane this month, but also may tour elsewhere. The story of show and Gray are described in this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. 

In the article, Gray talks about flexing: When you ask, what is flexing, you're kind of asking what is hip-hop?" he says. "Flexing is a whole generation, it's about the way we dance, the way we speak, the music we play."

E-Knock and Jin Lao (from ABDC's Status Quo) will compete on Amazing Race! #abdc #amazing race

We've seen America's Best Dance Crew dancers on a lot of reality shows, primarily So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent. Here's a first: Ernest "E-Knock" Phillips and Jayjion "Jin Lao" Greer (members of ABDC Season 1's runner up Crew Status Quo) will be racing in the next season of the Amazing Race.  According to the official CBS site on the show (which you should read for the amazing profiles that E-Knock and Jin Lao provided), E-Knock lists his occupation as "Dance instructor, hotel maid/stock boy, homecare provider for brain trauma patients and certified personal trainer."
 
The show premieres September 25 on CBS. We'll be watching and rooting for them! Thanks for the tip, Cherie!

Video: ABDC Judge Frankie Grande talks about finale, why ABDC is important #abdc

No revelations here, but Frankie Grande -- judge on America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 -- makes a case for why Quest Crew deserved to win and why it was important that ABDC returned this season

ABDC finale recaps including concept for Champions vs Challengers season! #abdc

LA Times briefly recaps the finale, then talks to America's Best Dance Crew produces and this season's three finalists on their thoughts for a new season. I like Jane Mun (showrunner for ABDC) has a concept for a Champions vs Challengers season: "Think 'Enter the Dragon' where Bruce Lee entered different floors and had to beat out his opponents in each level to make it to the next round. Knowing the caliber of the dance crews out there now, Crews versus Champions can be a new exciting season."

Entertainment Weekly describes the positives about the dancing performed by each of the three finalist crews, notes how Jason Dundas filled at least half the hour with 'heavy silences' and says that  "it was the true returning All-Star team that claimed the title once more."

Video - watch the ABDC Semi-finals Cypher, and more about Quest! #abdc

Quest just released a video about their preparations for the America's Best Dance Crew semi-finals. Lots of fun and irreverent stuff for fans of the ABDC Season 8 winners. And eventsomething for the less-than-fans: video of the cypher that took place after the episode ended (starting at 3:08). Thanks for the link Afroboring!

Survey: What was your favorite dance on the ABDC Season 8 Finale? #abdc

Poll: Who do you think SHOULD have won America's Best Dance Crew Season 8? #abdc

Join us now for ABDC Finale Party Room and Critics Corner! #abdc

The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 8's Finale is now open! Join lots of other readers, fans (or not) as they vent on what they love and what they hate. 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. 

What did you think of the result? Of the season? How would you improve it if ABDC came back for a new season?

Join us NOW for Live Play-by-play blogging of America's Best Dance Crew finale! #abdc

This is live play-by-play for tonight's America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 Finale. Follow along or keep up with the show if you can't watch it immediately. You should be able to sign in on the platform the first time you try to leave a comment. So --turn on your viewing machine and comment along with us.

Poll: What was your favorite performance during ABDC Season 8? #abdc

What do you think was the best dance for this season of America's Best Dance Crew. The poll answer choices are the 1 or 2 that dominated our weekly polls. But which was your favorite -- the best of the best?

Survey Results: Kinjaz' O.G. smashes competition for ABDC semis! #abdc

We do not know how people chose who to vote for to win America's Best Dance Crew, but in our survey, Kinjaz' routine to O.G. was the overwhelming favorite with 53% of the vote (with 513 votes cast). The next favorite was Quest's Shut Up and Dance with 18% of the vote.

The least favorite based on our unpopularity poll was Super Cr3w's Where are You Now, with 35% of the vote.

Join us tonight for ABDC Finale live play-by-play, surveys, party room ++ #abdc

Tonight is Episode 6 of America's Best Dance Crew's Road to the VMAs - the Finals! We find out who wins the $100,000 prize and performs at the VMAs. I think all six of the competing crews will return for the show. The show airs at 10pm ET/PT (check your local listings for other time zones) and will open our live-blogging post about 15 minutes before showtime. We welcome the comments, observations, and clean snark of the community. 

We'll also have a Party Room/Critics Corner post for you to comment on what you've seen, and the information for voting,as well as a few surveys. And, let us know if you feel inspired enough to write a recap in the next days. 

Ninjaboi's review of ABDC's Semi-finals: who he thinks deserves to win! #abdc

Mman what a semifinals for ABDC this season.  Some of the best performances of the Season this episode, and an ABDC first with a three person finale. Let’s not waste anymore time and jump in. 

These views represent my own personal opinion and are not meant to be gospel truth or anything - just a conversation starter for you to think about dance and these performances in a hopefully somewhat objective manner. I really respect all the crews on this show and think they do amazing work. I’m just a guy who likes to try to categorize things by numbers and compare things for the sake of comparing them. 

Who deserves to win, based on this episode or the season?  For this week my rankings (out of 20) are

1) Kinjaz Dojo - 17

2) Super Cr3w Rocking Beats - 16

3+4+5) All Three Crews First Performance - 15

6) Quest Mad Max - 14

Overall across two weeks, the totals (out of 140) are

1) Kinjaz - 17 + 15 + 14 + 16 + 14+ 15 + 15 = 106

2) Super Cr3w - 16 + 15 + 14 + 13 + 14 + 19 + 12 = 103

3) Quest Crew - 15 + 14 + 18 + 14 + 11 + 15 + 14 = 101

4) I.aM.mE - (12*) + (12*) + 13 + 14 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 87

5) Elektrolytes - (12*) + (12*) + (12*) + (12*) + 13+ 13 + 11 = 85

6) We Are Heroes - (9*) + (9*) + (9*) + (9*) + (9*) + 10 + 8 = 63

Click here to read the full review. Thanks Ninjaboi!

Video: Dance lesson for one step from tomorrow's ABDC Finale #abdc

On Mashable, Tabitha D'umo (half of Nappytabs, who are the choreographers for the group routines for America's Best Dance Crew), breaks down one of the steps that will be used on tomorrow's ABDC Finale. My guess is it's one of the easier moves!

Last week for our ABDC Top 5 contest -- and here's the tie-breaker question for all entrants! #abdc

Okay, so the judges' decision was useless in narrowing the field for our America's Best Dance Crew Top 5 contest, so you can enter one more time if you want -- until noon ET on Saturday August 29. Most important -- for all past, present and future contest entrants: leave a comment below saying how many votes you think were cast during the voting period. I will use that as the tie-breaker for the contest. Whoever got the top 5 order right and comes closest is the winner. If you don't give an answer to the tie-breaker question, the prize will go to the person who got the contest right and did answer the question (it pays to pay attention to this site!) If they don't give this statistic on the show, I'll randomly pick a winner.

  The Top 5 contest: Submit the names of the top 5 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, in Season 5 the winning entry would have read " FINAL 5: 1. Poreotix 2. Blueprint Cru 3. Hype 5-0 4. Jungle Boogie 5. Saltare"  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 the tiebreaker rule described above.

First recaps of ABDC semi-finals, complete with the best video clips! #abdc

Haven't voted often enough yet? Here are two opinions on America's Best Dance Crew from the media:
- Vulture weighs in for the first time in the season, calling ABDC "the elixir of reality television life." They demonstrate it by describing and linking to performances from each crew: Quest's "Shut Up and Dance", Kinjaz' "O.G" and Super Cr3w's "Block Rockin Beats". So -- arguably the three best performances of the night in one easy location!. Thanks Vulture!
 - Entertainment Weekly disagrees with the judges' choice to keep all 3 crews to the finals, but has kind words for each crew (corresponding exactly to the clips shown by Vulture). 

Survey: What was your favorite dance on ABDC's Semifinals show? #abdc

Survey - What was your least favorite dance on ABDC's Semi-Finals show? #abdc

Vote now for the winner of America's Best Dance Crew -- here 's how! #abdc

The lines for voting are now open. It looks like there is only one way to vote:
---Go to abdcvote.mtv.com.  You can push a button for your favorite. Voting ends at 8am Pacific time (11am ET) on Saturday August 29. 

Support your favorite!

Join us now for ABDC Semi-finals Party Room and Critics Corner! #abdc

The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 8's Episode 5 Semi-Finals Challenge is now open! Join lots of other readers, fans (or not) as they vent on what they love and what they hate. 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. 

Who should win the season?  What did you think of the judges' decisions tonight? Would you watch another season of ABDC?

Join us NOW for live play-by-play of ABDC's Semi-finals! #abdc #abdc8

This is live play-by-play for tonight's America's Best Dance Crew semifinals. Follow along or keep up with the show if you can't watch it immediately. You should be able to sign in on the platform the first time you try to leave a comment. So --turn on your viewing machine and comment along with us.

Video: Super Cr3w rehearsals for ABDC Semifinals show #abdc

Better late than never -- MTV released the video of Super Cr3w's rehearsal for tonight's show. Their VMA Choice dance will be to a Justin Bieber song and their crew choice dance is to Block Rockin Beats

Poll Results for ABDC Crew Control Challenge: Quest Crew on Top! #abdc

Quest Crew dominated last week's poll for the favorite performance on America's Best Dance Crew's Crew Control Challenge, with 38% calling their dance their favorite, followed by 27% for Kinjaz. The IamQuest Megacrew beat out SuperKinjaz with 12.5%.

In our poll for least favorite performance, Super Cr3w was at the bottom with 37%, followed by I.aM.mE with 26%. Come back tomorrow to give us your views in our polls on tonight's semifinals.

Join us Tonight for ABDC Semi-finals - live play-by-play, polls & VOTING! #abdc

Tonight is Episode 5 of America's Best Dance Crew's Road to the VMAs - the Semifinals! Tonight we'll see Quest Crew, Kinjaz, and Super Cr3w each perform twice, and the tweets suggest that there will be a shocker! Plus, the fans FINALLY get a change to vote! We'll be watching  at 11pm ET/PT, 10pm other timezones and will open our live-blogging post about 15 minutes before showtime. We welcome the comments, observations, and clean snark of the community. 

We'll also have a Party Room/Critics Corner post for you to comment on what you've seen, and the information for voting,as well as a few surveys. And, let us know if you feel inspired enough to write a recap in the next days. And, let us know if you're planning to attend Sunday's live finale!

Video: Quest Crew's rehearsals for ABDC Semifinals - we're here to win! #abdc

MTV interviews Jo Lee and Feng of Quest Crew about their preparation for the America's Best Dance Crew Semifinals episode. He talks about exhaustion and their goal to "affect people" by stepping outside their comfort zone, and how they are now focused on winning the season. Scenes from the rehearsal are interspersed with the interviews

Video: Kinjaz rehearse for ABDC Semi-finals & talk about their 2 routines #abdc

MTV released a video showing snippets of a Kinjaz routine for the America's Best Dance Crew semifinals airing on August 26. Vinh Nguyen also talks about how this week is difficult because they have to prepare two routines, one smooth and one dojo-style. He also talks about his surprise at making it so far on the show.

All about Howard & Karen Schwartz, ABDC Exec Producers! #abdc

Forward runs a delightful profile of Howard and Karen Schwartz, who founded Hip Hop International and are Executive Producers of America's Best Dance Crew. It describes how they met, how they got involved in the world of hiphop dance, and why events like Hip Hop International are so important to the dance community, having "spread the gospel" for over 13 years.  The article also talks about how HHI and ABDC helped rocket the careers of D-trix (Quest Crew) and Parris Goebel (ReQuest Crew).

From the article: “They’re so passionate about every single aspect. What I think they are the most passionate about is giving these kids a platform to show their creativity.” When the couple was getting started, however, not everyone in the hip-hop community welcomed the aerobics producers and their vision.“When we first approached the b-boys to try to get them involved with us and support us, they were very dubious and very concerned,” Howard recalls... “Even to this day,” Howard admits, “the b-boys are still not 100% accepting of what we do.”
 About America's Best Dance Crew:  It took us five years to pitch the show ‘ABDC,’” Howard recalls. Finally getting it on the air was one of the most rewarding experiences of his career."

Photocredit: Karen & Howard Schwartz, Randy Jackson, Toni Basil, from Sthanlee Mirador/Pacific Rim

So how's ABDC doing? Ratings for Season 8 #abdc

America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 has aired 4 episodes. So, how's it doing in the ratings? Will numbers help or hurt the show's chances of being picked up again?At one time, ABDC was a powerhouse for MTV. Several premieres and finales had the top cable originals ratings for their core audiences (people 12-34) and the seasons were quite successful in this demographic:

• Season 1 average rating P12-34 - 2.5
• Season 3 average rating P12-24 - 2.23
• Season 6 average rating P12-24 - 1.8

The show's ratings started their slide after Season 3. According to Variety in 2012, "Ratings never bounced back for “ABDC,” however, likely due to viewer fatigue and dance crew saturation on bigger tent shows like “America’s Got Talent.” The increased emphasis of hiphop dance on So You Think You Can Dance may also have diminished ABDC's pull.

This season of America's Best Dance Crew has been placed in a late time slot in the summer months, when ratings are lower, so it is only fair to expect ratings to be lower than earlier seasons. But, we can compare it to its lead-in show "Catfish" which airs just before ABDC starts, as well as 2 original shows that aired at the same time -  "Nick Cannon Wild and Out (on MTV2) and Conan (on TBS).  

The Season premiere of ABDC on July 29 pulled a 0.51 rating with P18-34 and was the 5th most popular show for the night in that demographic. In contrast, Catfish pulled a .82 with people 18-34 and was the most popular show with that demographic. So far, not bad.

Since then, the ratings have plummeted for ABDC. Episode 2 lost almost half its total audience from the prior week -- so much so that my sources (Showbuzz Daily and TV by the Numbers) only show the larger P18-49 ratings . That week, ABDC slid from being the 14th most watched overall cable original show for the night overall in down to 54th most watched. The only other time that the show cracked into the 40 most watched cable originals for the night (August 12), it averaged a .29 rating for P18-34.  Both Nick Cannon and Conan did better with that demographic group in the same time slot.

Upshot -- not rosy for fans of ABDC. Sorry.
 

ABDC recapalooza - all about Crews Control #abdc

• Aaron's Little Blog of Dance found most of the dancing cool but found that the episode made him emotional -- saddened by Quest's dance I.aM.mE's elimination, touched by Moon's marriage proposal
• LA Times provides a well-summarized recap short on editorialization, except for their questioning how a bottom 2 will be picked next week
• In contrast, Entertainment Weekly's recap is all judgement on the dances (mostly positive except I.aM.mE's use of airboards which they feel distracted from choreo) and wants to give T-Pain a hug 
•  If you've got half an hour with nothing to do, you can watch a video recap featuring Beat Freak's Shorty posted by Afterbuzz TV

Hip Hop International 2015 | Videos, Pictures, & Review #HHI2015

Several weeks ago, I spent a wonderful week in beautiful Southern California to attend this year's Hip Hop International.  I had so much fun!  Special thanks to the HHI Staff and Pacific Rim Press! Everyone was really cool.  Check out my full review here or at the link down below.  It includes pictures, videos, and my opinions on things like- the new location, the performances, the controversy, and the results!  Visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel - BloggingABDC - for ALL our #HHI2015 videos.  Visit and follow us on Facebook - BloggingBestDance - and see ALL the pictures I took (even the bad ones!).  And lastly, follow us on Instagram - BloggingBestDance - to follow me on ALL my hip-hop dance adventures.

Click here for DirtFaceX HHI 2015 Review

BONUS: Here's my personal favorite routine from this year's HHI.... and it didn't even win a medal! I could watch this performance all day.  Crowns up!

Ninjaboi's review of ABDC's Crews Control Challenge: was the right crew sent home? #abdc

Hey BBDC readers.  Hope you guys have been doing well this week. Apologies for missing most of the live play by play, I had some real life stuff happening (nothing major don’t worry), but I wouldn’t let that keep me from doing a write up this week.  An man what a week this was. A lot of ABDC firsts - megacrews competing outside of opening performances of final episodes, no music on stage, hoverboards, single shot performances, and loooooove in the air.

Insert obligatory introduction here - Hi I’m Ninjaboi, a dancer and blogger who owes this site a lot for getting me into dance. I like Excel and dance so decided to combine the two and write up reviews that try to go a bit more in depth compared to what the judges say on air, while adding in a quantitative scoring metric as well. I have mostly background in bboying and other funky street styles, but love learning from any dance style I can. 

In short, for this week my rankings (out of 20) are

1) Quest Crew - 18

2) Kinjaz - 16

3+4) Super Kinjaz and I aM Quest - 14

5+6) Super Cr3w and IaMmE- 13

Click here to read the full review. Thanks Ninjaboi!

Video: Battle between Quest and Kinjaz #abdc

In a possible case of art predicting reality, a dance video was created on April 1, 2014 on Mike Song's Youtube Channel showing a Final Fantasy Dance Battle between  Quest Crew and Kinjaz

Enter Week 3 of ABDC8 Top 5 Contest! Prize! #abdc

Note: the comments field is acting wonky. If it doesn't appear for you, just click on this post's headline and it should work. Sorry for any inconvenience!
This is the third week of our Top 5 contest! Predict the finishing order of the America's Best Dance Crew winners for glory and a prize!

The Top 5 contest: Submit the names of the top 5 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, in Season 5 the winning entry would have read " FINAL 5: 1. Poreotix 2. Blueprint Cru 3. Hype 5-0 4. Jungle Boogie 5. Saltare" Note: if you change your mind, you can enter again the next week, but we will only accept the FIRST entry from each commenter each week (PLEASE DO NOT USE MULTIPLE IDENTITIES!!!). 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 5, specifying the final order. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from Thursdays (once I put up the new contest post) until midnight ET the following Monday. Yes I know there is a chance for spoilers since the program tapes the day after the prior show airs. That's why you need to get the order right as soon as possible! This week's contest closes at midnight Monday August 24.

IMPORTANT:

• Create a user name you will use every week for the entire contest, and make it memorable (not just a common first name or word).
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'TOP 5' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)

Good luck! During Season 4, we didn't get a correct entry until 1 week before the season ended, so keep entering if you change your mind!

Let us know if you attend tonight's ABDC taping! #abdc8

America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 tapes again tonight -- three crews left and the dancing quality could be amazing. If you will be in the audience (or backstage or press or performing!), please let us know (almost) all about it --- what you think of the performances, music choices, clothes, and what a fashion challenge even means. Just please do not include spoilers:  DO NOT reveal who is in the bottom and who goes home. 

If you want to attend this performance or the finale, check with 1iota.com to see if there are any remaining tickets.

Poll: what was your favorite dance on ABDC's Crews Control Challenge? #abdc

Poll: What was your least favorite dance on ABDC's Crews Control Challenge? #abdc

Join us NOW (we hope) for ABDC Party Room/Critics Corner! #abdc

The prior party rooms appear to be blocking comments, so I'm going to try again here.
The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 8's Episode 4 Crews Control Challenge is now open! Join lots of other readers, fans (or not) as they vent on what they love and what they hate. 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. 

Did the right crew go home? Was the megacrew idea a good one? Who will win the season?

Join us NOW for Live Play-by-Play of ABDC Crews Control Challenge! #abdc #abdc8

This is live play-by-play for tonight's America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 Episode 4 - the Crews Control Challenge. Follow along or keep up with the show if you can't watch it immediately. You should be able to sign in on the platform the first time you try to leave a comment. So --turn on your viewing machine and comment along with us.

Videos: Some sneak previews of tonight's Super Cr3w, Quest #abdc

Here are 2 Instagram posts showing some outstanding excerpts from tonight's performances by Quest and Super Cr3w.

Quest Crew excerpt
Super Cr3w excerpt

Chris Trondsen's preview of tonight's ABDC Crews Control Challenge! #ABDC

Chris Trondsen attended last week's America's Best Dance Crew taping as part of the Pacific Rim press crew and send this non-spoiler preview. Thanks Chris!

Ever imagine what some of your favorite crews would look like performing together? Well, on tonight's episode of America's Best Dance Crew you'll finally get your dream come true! I'm not going to ruin the surprise on which crews pair up but the remaining four crews split down the middle and form to make 2 mega crews. The first crew that comes out the gate is able to match their styles beautifully. There is some critique from the judges and some of it is understood. The expectations of seeing these two crews perform together were probably so high that unless they flew around the stage they couldn't meet it. But overall it was a perfect blend of two styles. The second group came out and was spectacular. This one seems like a more genuine combination and the performance couldn't have been any better. They really seemed like they were a mega crew and they were able to take the best of both styles. During the deliberations the judges and producers got it wrong and ended up putting the two that performed better in the bottom two and saving the mega crew that wasn't as strong in my opinion.

Tonight's theme will be "Crews Control" where the crews have control of everything including the music, the background, costumes and more.

Click here to read the rest of Chris' report including descriptions of the dancing and teasers about the surprises!

Join us tonight for Live Play-by-Play, party room & surveys! #abdc

Tonight is Episode 4 of America's Best Dance Crew's Road to the VMAs - the Crews Control Challenge! Tonight we'll see paired crews, props, and some promised surprises.  We'll be watching  at 11pm ET/PT, 10pm other timezones and will open our live-blogging post about 15 minutes before showtime. We welcome the comments, observations, and clean snark of the community. 

We'll also have a Party Room/Critics Corner post for you to comment on what you've seen, as well as a few surveys. And, let us know if you feel inspired enough to write a recap in the next days. And, let us know if you're planning to attend tomorrow's taping!

Hope to hear from you tonight!

ABDC Survey results for VMA Fashion Challenge - Quest & I.aM.mE Rule!

Our survey results for favorite dance crew on America's Best Dance Crew's VMA Fashion Challenge might be off due to a late posting. Be that as it may -- Quest Crew got the most votes with 32.7% out of 309 votes, followed by I.aM.mE with 30.1% of the votes.

Our voters agreed with the judges on the least favorite crew, landing Elektrolytes at the bottom of that poll with 39.4%. 

Join us after the next episode of ABDC where we will have new and more reliable polls for you!

Ep. 2 Rehearsal videos Part 2: IaMmE & Quest paired together - do they collaborate or compete? #abdc

In the videos for IaMmE and Quest for this week's episode, there is talk about the conflict between collaboration and competition when working together. They also talk about use of props, as I.aM.mE. incorporates airboards into their routine

Videos; Super Cr3w, Kinjaz prepping for Episode 4 - bringing something entirely new & dancing together #abdc

MTV has released interviews with Kinjaz and Super Cr3w talking about preparation for Episode 4. Kinjaz promised that they will be doing something never seen before on ABDC. We've heard that before, but hope it's not an idle promise. The crews also talk about being paired together for one of this week's performances.

Format for ABDC Episode 4 - Pairing up! #abdc

Ninjaboi posted on Reddit (hey Ninjaboi -- what gives??) that "Apparently the remaining 4 crews are split into two groups to collaborate on a piece:
Kinjaz + Super Crew
Quest + I.aM.mE 

Whichever pair does better is safe. The other pair has to battle it out. Not sure if this entails a head to head battle, or if it entails just a separate performance each."

Ninjaboi recap & ratings of ABDC VMA Costume Challenge: was there biting? #abdc

Hey all - apologies for the late writeup this week - had a wedding I had to attend, and a slew of work at my job, so the time for writing this was few and far between. This week the crews tackle the fashion challenge, and overall it’s a bit of a step down, but only because the crews at the top didn’t keep up the same level as last week; however by my judgement I still think that all the performances (or most of them anyway) were at least average and all were more or less enjoyable.

For those of you who are confused as to who I am, I’m Ninjaboi, BBDC’s resident overanalyzer who has chosen to try to apply maths and number scores to the abstract art of competitive dance on shows airing on the Music Television channel. My primary experience in firsthand dance is through bboying with my college crew and randomly learning the basics of locking and popping, but I love to see how people love to move and express themselves through movement.

Also just a note - this week’s review does contain a note on the idea of biting, based on some conversations on social media about it in relation to this week, as well as comments on Frankie’s comments about Quest’s performance.  But for those, as well as this week’s scores (spoiler, I disagree a lot with the judges this week, though I do agree on some points), you’ll have to click through below. 

In short, for this week my rankings (out of 20) are

1) Super Cr3w - 14

2) Kinjaz - 14

3) Elektrolytes - 13

4) I.aM.mE - 12

5) Quest Crew - 11

Click here to read the discussion on biting and Ninjaboi's ratings. Thanks Ninjaboi! 

Poll: What was your favorite crew: VMA Fashion Challenge #abdc

Recaps of ABDC's VMA Fashion Challenge #abdc

Aaron's Little Blog of Dance is not totally thrilled due to plagiarism and some weaker performances. But he's warming to the judges!

LA Times is unimpressed with how most crews handled the Fashion Challenge aspect of their routines

Entertainment Weekly doesn't care if the challenge wasn't met because the dance was "mind-boggingly creative. They again identify each crew's standout move

Chris Trondsen's review of ABDC VMA Wardrobe Challenge #abdc

Chris Trondsen attended the taping of last week's ABDC (and will probably attend tonight). Because of his many other commitments (including Hip Hop International) his write-up was very delayed, but still interesting as a review/preview of the show that aired last night.

Some things you didn't see on the episode tonight is T-Pain having a dance off with Marcus from Elektrolytes.  T-Pain can actually dance and the dancers and crowd was shocked.  He also sang without auto tune and the guy has a great voice.  I don't know if they will show this at the end but all the dancers go into a freestyle battle during the credits and it's always impressive to see everyone do their thing without limitations and challenges.

 I think some people won't be too surprised about who goes home.  This was actually their best performance but the crew they went up against had their best performance as well.  Both crews used a similar theme by dressing up as other people so it was who made people laugh more and one crew won.  It will be sad to see them go, especially because of how nice and humble they are but no one can say they did not have an impressive showing. 

Click here to read the full review. Thanks Chris!


  

Enter Week 2 of our Top 5 contest now! #ABDC

This is the second week of our Top 5 contest! Predict the finishing order of the America's Best Dance Crew winners for glory and a prize!

The Top 5 contest: Submit the names of the top 5 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, in Season 5 the winning entry would have read " FINAL 5: 1. Poreotix 2. Blueprint Cru 3. Hype 5-0 4. Jungle Boogie 5. Saltare" Note: if you change your mind, you can enter again the next week, but we will only accept the FIRST entry from each commenter each week (PLEASE DO NOT USE MULTIPLE IDENTITIES!!!). 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 5, specifying the final order. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from Thursdays (once I put up the new contest post) until midnight ET the following Monday. Yes I know there is a chance for spoilers since the program tapes the day after the prior show airs. That's why you need to get the order right as soon as possible! This week's contest is now closed. Enter again on Thursday!

IMPORTANT:

• Create a user name you will use every week for the entire contest, and make it memorable (not just a common first name or word).
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'TOP 5' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)

Good luck! During Season 4, we didn't get a correct entry until 1 week before the season ended, so keep entering if you change your mind!

Poll: What was your least favorite crew for ABDC's VMA Fashion Icon Challenge? #ABDC

ABDC Party Room and Critics Corner now open! Join us! #abdc

The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 8's VMA Fashion Icon Challenge is now open! Join lots of other readers, fans (or not) as they vent on what they love and what they hate. 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.  JUST BELOW THIS POST IS OUR LIVE BLOG -- Join us there during the show taping!

Is this a really odd challenge theme? Did the right crew get sent home? Any highlights?  What do you think about this season so far? Let us know what you think!

Join us NOW: live play-by-play of ABDC's VMA Fashion Icon Challenge! #abdc

This is live play-by-play for tonight's America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 Episode 3 - the VMA Fashion Icon Challenge. Follow along or keep up with the show if you can't watch it immediately. It's not easy to simultaneously watch the show, write about it, AND monitor the comments, so please leave most of your long comments at the Party Room/Critics Corner post above this post! You should be able to sign in on the platform the first time you try to leave a comment. So -- dive in and watch with us.

Video: Super Cr3w explain how ABDC is a welcome change of pace #ABDC #ABDC8

Steve and Ronnie tell us what it like to compete non stop with the show. They also give hints at what they plan to do this week as well.

Join us tonight for ABDC live play-by-play, party room, surveys ++ #abdc

Tonight is Episode 3 of America's Best Dance Crew's Road to the VMAs - the VMA Fashion Icon Challenge! The picture above shows some VMA fashion icons I personally don't want to see (especially since We are Heroes aren't competing!)  We'll be watching  at 11pm ET/PT, 10pm other timezones and will open our live-blogging post about 15 minutes before showtime. We welcome the comments, observations, and clean snark of the community. 

We'll also have a Party Room/Critics Corner post for you to comment on what you've seen, as well as a few surveys. And, let us know if you feel inspired enough to write a recap in the next days. And, let us know if you're planning to attend tomorrow's taping!

Hope to hear from you tonight!

Video: Kinjaz tell us how they are growing. #ABDC #ABDC8

Villin and M-Pact share with us some of the difficulties they had this week. They also let us know how that are pushing themselves.

Video: Elektrolytes explain this week's challenge #ABDC #ABDC8

Chris let's know how last week has affected the crew (spoiler-Joey went home). He also tells us what this week's theme is about and how the crew plans to face it.

Though I just want to say get better soon Joey! I know it is not easy to leave your brothers behind like that. I am just glad you are looking out for yourself.

Video: I.aM.mE let us know they are going to try something new #ABDC #ABDC8

Bebo and Brandon give us a sneak peek about the opening number. Then they go on to explain how they are trying to bring new elements into their style.

Video: Quest tells us how it has been broughten #ABDC ABDC8

In this behinds the scenes interview both Jo Lee and Ryanimay tell us how they are preparing to make the best routine of their lives.

Video: Sneak Peek of Episode Three Opening Number #ABDC #ABDC8

Do you want a seek peak at what is going to start off episode three? OF COURSE YOU DO!!! Well in this sneak peek we see Super Cr3w and Elektrolytes do their crew solos. Apparently there is an MMA theme with this one and the Music is (shudder) Bad Blood by Taylor Swift.

Watch the #HHI2015 World Championships RIGHT NOW!

Head on over to hiphopinternational.com right now and watch the LiveStream of The World  Hip Hop Dance Championships for free! Leave comments on which routines are your favorites below.

WATCH THE HHI 2015 LIVESTREAM RIGHT NOW! 

The LiveStream is scheduled to begin at 6:00PM PST. Keep trying if the stream isn't loading.

Videos: Chris Trondsen Interviews Super Cr3w, Elektrolytes at latest taping #ABDC

Chris Trondsen (representing Pacific Rim Videos) got backstage before the taping of America's Best Dance Crew's VMA Fashion Challenge. He spoike to Super Cr3w, Elektrolytes and about how they've changed for this season, impressions of other crews and the judges. FYI - the fashion challenge aspect is not evident from the interviews -- we'll have to see the show to understand this challenge.

#HHI2015 World Championship Semi-Finals Results | Controversy in the Megacrew division

Its been an intense week here in SoCal at HHI.  Dancers from all over the world brought their A-game and have left their hearts out on that stage trying to take the Gold. And I'm just a fly-on-the-wall, watching and enjoying everything that's going on. Even if you're not a dancer, I would still encourage any fan of hip-hop to attend HHI at least once in their life. It's truly an amazing experience!

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram - BLOGGING BEST DANCE - and see the new friends I'm making and EXCLUSIVE video clips from the preliminaries and semi-finals rounds in all divisions.

Here are the results from the semi-finals:

Junior Division

1. ChapKIDZ - USA
2. Next Jr. - Japan
3. Bubblegum - New Zealand
4. Youngsters - Canada
5. Classic - USA
6. Khaos - New Zealand

Varsity Division

1. Legit Status - Philippines
2. Kana-Boon! - Japan
3. Sorority - New Zealand
4. JB Star Varsity - Japan
5. Brotherhood Varsity - Canada
6. Duchesses - New Zealand
7. Ill Habits - USA

Adult Division

1. Romancon - Philippines
2. The Bradas - New Zealand
3. Keraamika - Germany
4. Kings United - India
5. Brotherhood - Canada
6. 158 Crew - Russia
7. Prophecy - USA
8. Rockstars - Philippines
9. PNT - Canada

Megacrew Division

1. The Royal Family - New Zealand
2. Lock n LOL Crew - Korea
3. A Team - Philippines
4. La Salle Street Dance Co. - Philippines
5. Chapkis Dance Family - USA
6. Legit Status - Philippines

Scores and performance breakdowns can be found on the Hip-Hop International Facebook page.

It should be noted there was quite a bit of controversy Friday night after the announcements of the Megacrew semi-final results.  Many in attendance felt that Canada's DM Nation Megacrew should've placed higher than they did and should've been in the finals- especially coming from 2nd position with an absolutely STUNNING performance. As the final six crews were announced and presented, more than half the audience in attendance filled the arena with chants of "D!-M! D!-M!" and "C-A... N-A... D-A! WHAT?!" Needless to say, the judges had made their decision and it is what it is.

Tomorrow is the World Championships and will be LiveStreamed for absolutely free! We'll post a link for it later tonight.

Recaps and reactions from all over! The word on ABDC VMA Icons show! #abdc

• Aaron and his LittleBlogofDance provides both ABDC history and discusssion of dance technique to justify the elimination. And, thanks Aaron for BABDC's new banner!
• Entertainment Weekly highlights standout moves for each crew in its writeup  
• LA Times does a quick recap, then interviews Riquel Olander of We are Heroes about sacrifices, disappointment, the future, and her prediction for this season
• MTV interviews TPain on the elimination

New Blogging ABDC Contest -- predict the Top 5 in order! #abdc #abdc8

Now that eliminations have begun, it's time to run a contest to predict the results of the rest of the season. Who will win it all? What's the boot order?

The Top 5 contest: Submit the names of the top 5 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, in Season 5 the winning entry would have read " FINAL 5: 1. Poreotix 2. Blueprint Cru 3. Hype 5-0 4. Jungle Boogie 5. Saltare" Note: if you change your mind, you can enter again the next week, but we will only accept the FIRST entry from each commenter each week (PLEASE DO NOT USE MULTIPLE IDENTITIES!!!). 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 5, specifying the final order. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from Thursdays (once I put up the new contest post) until midnight ET the following Monday. Yes I know there is a chance for spoilers since the program tapes the day after the prior show airs. That's why you need to get the order right as soon as possible! You can enter the contest now -- deadline for the first entry: Midnight August 10. This week's contest is not closed. Enter again on Thursday for your next shot at truth and glory

IMPORTANT:

• Create a user name you will use every week for the entire contest, and make it memorable (not just a common first name or word).
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'TOP 5' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)

Good luck! During Season 4, we didn't get a correct entry until 1 week before the season ended, so keep entering if you change your mind! 

Ninjaboi's Review of ABDC8's Episode 2 (aka what the judges aren't telling you!) #abdc

 So last week was not a weird collective hallucination/dream, America’s Best Dance Crew is actually back, and we have a second week’s worth of routines to look at analyze, and pick apart in way too much detail. (Wait that’s just me? Really? Okay then… I guess someone has to).

For those of you who somehow stumbled upon this site randomly (Only a 4.22 x 10^-31 chance that you randomly selected from the 26 letters before adding a dotcom, by the way) for the first time today, my name is Ninjaboi, one of the content contributors/advocates/moderators/lifelong member of this site, thanks to the kindness and grace of our fearless leader Nancy.  I have way too much free time on my hand (or a horrible sense of priorities and time management, it’s hard to tell which sometimes), an unhealthy obsession with excel (seriously though, have you used Excel in an English class? I have), and a deep love for this show, dance in general and this site. Put it all together and you’ve got this review you’re reading right now.

This week, our former champions (plus Kinjaz) dance to songs by “VMA Icons” which in all honesty, really is still pretty open ended.  They did try to emulate different artists in their sets, and we’ll just have to see how well they did.  In the end though, dance trumps challenge, so long as the challenge is met at a minimum. And with an open ended challenge like this, there’s no real reason for the dancing to not be top notch. 

Ninjaboi's ratings for the night (on a scale of 1-20)

1) Super Cr3w - 19

2) Kinjaz - 15

3) Quest Crew - 14

4) Elektrolytes - 13
5) I.aM.mE - 12

6) We Are Heroes - 10

The full review (and explanation continues here - definitely worth the read for dance fans. Thanks again Ninjaboi for the insights! 

Are you going to tonight's ABDC taping? Tell us about it!

America's Best Dance Crew Season 8 tapes again tonight with The VMA Fashion Challenge. If you will be in the audience (or backstage or press or performing!), please let us know (almost) all about it --- what you think of the performances, music choices, clothes, and what a fashion challenge even means. Just please do not include spoilers:  DO NOT reveal who is in the bottom and who goes home. 

If you want to attend a performance in the weeks ahead, go to 1iota.com.

Videos: Mashable dance lessons from Kinjaz, Quest Crew #abdc

Mashable has some exclusive dance lessons based on America's Best Dance Crew routines. Today's lesson: Kinjaz teaches steps from the OMG performance in Episode 2. Click here to watch the Quest Crew lesson

What was your favorite crew in ABDC8's Episode 2? #abdc

What was your least favorite crew for ABDC8's Episode 2? #abdc #abdc8

ABDC Party Room and Critics Corner now open! Join us! #abdc

The Party Room/Critics Corner for ABDC 8's Episode 2 is now open! Join lots of other readers, fans (or not) as they vent on what they love and what they hate. 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.  JUST BELOW THIS POST IS OUR LIVE BLOG -- Join us there during the show taping!

Did the right crew get sent home? Any highlights? What should they change in the ensuing weeks? Let us know what you think!