ABDC 3: Episode 1

January 19th, 2009

It’s back baybeh. The first episode of America’s Best Dance Crew 3 premiered on Sunday and if you missed it, catch up on our video player – watch the full episode now! But for now? Let’s discuss.

Mr. Mario, good (?) to see you again. He tells us that this season will offer “explosive dance styles you’ve never seen before”, and that the audition team traveled to twice as many cities to pick this year’s crop. I expect ingenuity, Lopez!!

We get our first introductions to the crews, who run out in excited fervor – pounding chests and shaking bootays. They are:

Strikers All Stars from Talahassee, FL
Beat Freaks from Hollywood, CA
G.O.P. Dance from An Juan, Puerto Rico
Quest Crew from LA
Fly Khicks from Miami, FL
Ringmasters from Brooklyn, NY
Boxcuttuhz from San Diego, CA
Dynamic Edition from Winfield, AL
Team Millenia from Fullerton, CA

One east coast crew, whaaaat?!! Anyway, we get straight into the Sudden Death challenge, where three crews perform at a time, and then one of those three is chosen to perform for their life at the end of the show.

First up are the Strikers All Stars – southern steppers who call themselves the “upper echelon of campus life” at Florida A&M. They perform to their “own mastermix” featuring “Swing Ya Rag” by T.I.. Pretty dope, but I think they should showcase more of their stepping with quieter music. Judge Shane Sparks says the exact same thing – he likes their versatility, but they should cut the music sometimes. Guest judge Kid Rainen from JabbaWockeeZ says that he hopes the other crews can.. step.. up. Noooo, he didn’t use those words, but that’s totally what he meant.

Next the Beat Freaks are a b-girl squad who want to take an all-girl crew further in the competition. Hey, that one girl is totally wearing my sneakers! Ahem. On stage, they rip it up to “Din Da Da”, and the judges love them. Lil Mama thinks they’re “a-may-zing” and Shane says that he thinks an all-girl group will win this time.

G.O.P Dance (Group of Peace) show us their home base in San Juan and say that it took dancing to stay off the streets. They perform to Daddy Yankee’s “Rompe” and do a pretty good job. Rainen likes them, although some moves were a little off. Mama is way more skeptical and is like, real talk – you didn’t impress me. Whoa.

At the end of round 1, the judges choose Beat Freaks and Strikers to move on, which is pretty obvious I guess.

NEXT: Quest Crew and Oh My God that’s Hok from So You Think You Can Dance! And Dominic! This has got me more than amped to see this crew pull it out – and that they do. Whoa. Sick with it. The crowd goes bananas and the judges voice their unanimous approval. “The battle is ON!”, Shane says. Indood.

Fly Khicks are up – Miami Heat dancers with serious sneaker addictions. Hey, me too! Let’s be friends. Anyway, they shake some ass and hit it hard to “Milkshake”. Shane is in love. And ooo, there’s a Wendy! Lil Mama is like, “y’all are sexy, and I don’t mean that in a gay way.” Uh… ok?

The Ringmasters describe their style as “gruesome. It hurts.” And um, holy sh*t. I think they’re right. They must all be double jointed, or masochists, or both. They twist their arms around, one dude flips off a ten foot ladder. Insane. Rainen is impressed, as are Shane and Mama, who is happy they’re representing the east coast. “I feel like crying.” Oh.. and she does. Aw, Mama!

This was a good round, and at the end the judges pick Quest Crew and Ringmasters to move on.

After the break, Boxcuttahz introduce themselves as underdogs. They’re pretty aight and have a cute style, even if lensless glasses frames are getting a little tired these days. Shane likes their use od choreography and theatrics, and Mama calls out the girl for being a little weak.

Aside: I know I drop a lame pun every once in awhile (read: sentence), but Mario needs to stop.

Aaand we’re back. And why, if Dynamic Edition aren’t a bunch of cloggers! Huh?! And that’s totally the guy who auditioned and was invited back to perform live on So You Think You Can Dance. They perform to “My Humps”, which is like a small-town idea of the latest in Teh Hip Hop. It’s weirdly appealing, but also kind of like what Kenny from 30 Rock might look like doing a hip-hop routine. Mama is impressed, but Shane and Rainen think they need to work on their raw hip hop flavour.

And then we have a crew you might recognize – Team Millenia, who didn’t quite make the cut last season. But they worked on it, and they’re back to rock it out. The judges say that they’ve definitely improved and it’s a welcome return, but Mama tells them to not categorize themselves as just a “rock crew” this time cause they have more to offer.

End of round 3, Team Millenia and Dynamic move on.

So then we have the Sudden Death Face Off – G.O.P, Fly Khicks and Boxcuttahz each have 30 seconds to prove why they should stay. “Live Your Life” blasts on the speakers and the dance off begins. All do quite well but I think Fly Khicks are the definite stand outs. In the end, the judges send G.O.P. packing back to San Juan, and eight crews remain!

Until next week… who are your early favourites?

Posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 4:38 pm by Wendy and is filed under America's Best Dance Crew, We <3 TV.