Thursday, April 14, 2011

ABDC Season 6: Ke$ha Challenge


This week, the remaining 5 crews are performing to Ke$ha hits. Last week's episode was so strong with IaMmE Crew and Street Kingdom. We'll see which crews shine through this week.

The group performance to "We R Who We R" was even better than last week's! Again, each crew got a chance to take center stage, and I think Instant Noodles and 787 Crew were the standouts for me. Iconic Boys were instantly recognizable because of their size and youth. It'll be interesting to see if a crew so young can stand equal with the big boys (or girls).

Crew: FootWorKings
Ke$ha Song: Tik Tok
Background: Footworking is a Chicago style that has Mike N Ikes, Dribbles, and Erk N Jerks. You basically move your feet to every beat of the song. Dancing to Ke$ha, they have to worry about making sure they feet can keep up to the beat.
Routine: The backflips at centerstage were great since he just went right into the footwork and was able to stay in time with the others. I loved the last move where the girl, "Lil Bit" ended as the only one standing. She definitely works hard to stay in time, keep up with the quickness of the guys, but also stand out since she is the only girl. JC pointed out a dangerous "ankle break" move that I would not have noticed without that slow-mo. D-Trix thinks this footwork is the future of hip hop and is glad they're showing it off to America. He's already a fan and I think I am too.


Crew: 787 Crew
Ke$ha Song: Blow
Background: This Puerto Rican crew is counting on their stage energy and tricks to take them through to the finals.  With such a fast song, it's going to be hard to incorporate their tricks. Last night at their last rehearsal, one of the members broke his leg during a flip. That's so depressing! To make it all the way on to the show, only to get injured in the last rehearsal. And not just a sprained ankle or something, it's an injury where he won't be able to perform on this show at all. Then, the group had to go and re-choreograph the routine to accomodate being down a member.
Routine: Even with their last minute changes, they had a fantastic routine! Filled with high flying tricks, flips, and b-boying moves mixed with solid choreography, they danced their hearts out for their injured member. The judges loved them as well, but JC is concerned they're going to use up all their moves. They did a lot of stunts and not so much choreography and this is a marathon, not a sprint. He doesn't want to see the same moves week after week and neither does America.



Crew: Iconic Boyz
Ke$ha Song: Your Love is My Drug
Background: They've been a crew for about 2 years now, which is a huge percentage of their young lives. Gio from Iconic Season 1 is their dance teacher, which is probably where they get their name. 
Routine: The get a standing ovation from D-Trix and Lil' Mama! JC was pleasantly surprised, but not enough for a standing O apparently. They did a great job coming up with interesting choreography - levels, formations, good transitions. D-Trix thinks they're "a bunch of dancing Justin Biebers"and are great dancers, not just as kids. Also, 12-year-old abs?! Those have to be airbrushed on. 

Crew: Jagg6d
Ke$ha Song: Sleazy
Background: They're a pole dancing company and are out to prove that pole dancing is art, not just stripping. Doing pole work can be very painful, since it's your skin that grips on to the pole. 
Routine: These ladies must have AMAZING core and upper body strength to work the poles like they do! JC didn't like how they walked in to formation and again commented that some of those moves were super sexy and stripper-esque. D-Trix respects what they do, but wasn't really entertained since there was too much going on at once with their choreography and pole work. He had the best quote of the night with: 
"I'm a man, so I see you ladies with your long hair on the pole and I can't help but get hard nipples." 
Crew: Instant Noodles
Ke$ha Song: Dirty Picture
Background: From The OC, but grew up in Taiwan and is the first all Taiwanese crew on ABDC. They all went to the same high school and came out to California for college. Like 787 Crew, they're down a member this week. One member ruptured his Achilles tendon a few months ago and it is still healing. If they can survive on ABDC for a few weeks, he'll be able to join them on stage again in front of America. I loved their slogan too: "We're Instant Noodles and we will serve you in 3 minutes or less."
Routine: Lil Mama thought they brought a lot of energy, but thought they were missing some choreography. JC thought that may have been the lowest routine ever on ABDC. There were so many floor moves and not much variation, which JC thought was interesting and good to see, but they better mix it up more should they come back next week. D-Trix, the resident b-boy, didn't like it at all which does not bode well for their chances of survival. He found their routine predictable and not up to par for ABDC Season 6. Ouch. With such negative comments from the judges, they are definitely in danger of going home tonight. 
Results: The judges saved FootWorKingz, Iconic Boys, and 787 crew leaving Jagg6d and Instant Noodles in danger. No surprise there, since they were the only crews to get negative comments. In the end, Instant Noodles live to see another day. I'm surprised Jagg6d is going home so early considering they're an all girl crew and were bringing a new dance style to the show, two things that make them stand out more than Instant Noodles. And while they got some negative critiques, D-Trix flat out didn't like Instant Noodles. When the b-boy judge doesn't like the b-boy crew, you know something's wrong there. 

My favorite crew of the night was 787 Crew with their amazing stunt work, but overall I think last week's batch was stronger. And while it's super early, IaMmE Crew may be my favorite of them all. Which crew was your favorite tonight? Favorite crew over all? 

2 comments:

  1. I agree with you about I.aM.mE, they are my favorites too, but I disagree on 787, I think they should do less tricks and more choreo. And you really liked this group performance better? I think last week's was miles ahead. But great review, even though I don't agree with everything you said.

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  2. Both group performances were really strong! I just thought this one flowed more cohesively and worked with each group's style. IDK, I think the other groups were more diverse last week so the group number was a little more all over the place. It's hard to blend in Krumping with the more smooth moves of IaMmE, for example.

    And thanks for reading! I'll be recapping every week, so be sure to check back. :)

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