WOW Moments: There were plenty of WOW moments in this performance. The first, that most people probably saw, was the mirror effect or a peel-away freeze. I do not remember exacltly who is the front, but I believe it was Jungle Boogie’s Usher of the night, Codie. The mirror that they created was nice. The next is the knee-gliding, which was a representation of Usher’s gliding. The last is the ending where Raqi pulled down Codie’s pants to give off the sexiness and seduction that Raqi “had” for “Usher (Codie).”
Word of Advice: Though you guys did branch off and show musicality and versatility, because the crews are able to change their mixes a little bit with the opinion of District 78 as well. I would have loved to see the crankin’ that Jungle Boogie has to offer. Also, some of the regular glides were a bit simplistic because it didn’t give the illusion of Gliding (like Codie’s glide across the stage to Raqi. The okay gliding was a bit reflective after I noticed it in their pre-performance video package.
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POREOTIX (Yeah): Poreotix got the song Yeah by Usher. This is probably one of the most popular club songs that Usher has put out. In the pre-performance video package, Usher told Poreotix that they had to take the lyrics “take that and rewind it back” and then make them come to life in their performance. Well now, after seeing that performance, as asians would say.. OH MAH GAWD, DEY BROUGHT DA SEXY AND DA ASIAN, AND DA BOOTAY!! Let’s start from the beginning of the performance. The first thing that Poreotix did was make it known that Usher’s Yeah was a clubs on. They busted from behind the stage and made it seem like they were at the club and in JC’s words, they “took the club over.” The choreography was great, and I only do saw a tiny part where it could be “one and two” which is what Omarion stated. The sexiness was great, it was playful with Can pretending to hump Law, and the challenge was handled so well. They took that and rewinded it back twice. The first part was a GREAT choreography reversal and the second was with breakdancing into a reversal and revamp, which is what I’d like to say. This was when Law and Dumbo did flares and passed it onto Jet Li, and Jet Li did a flare/windmill-ish move into a backspin. The ending was POPPING with some of the guys being on their back and booty shaking upside down. I do not know who did the lone booty shake in the middle of the guys (looked like Law or Charles?), but that was sexy too. Poreotix handled this challenge well, and did like.. little to no popping whatsoever and was hot. Poreotix also stated that they accidentally embodied two other challenges, which one of them I caught was the fight scene. The other was either, the hands across a member, which I think what it was, or the gliding. Actually.. yeah scratch the gliding.
WOW Moment: There were three that stuck out particularly. The first is their challenge/the first reversal that they performed. That was a great way to interpret the challenge handed towards them. The next wow moment that stuck to me was the playful hump and head bobbing through one of the guy legs. The next wow moment was the second reversal. It started off with two flares from Law and Dumbo, that was passed onto Jet Li, which he not only reversed, but revamped into a backspin and a pop up after. The last moment, was one of my favorite wow moments throughout the whole night. Two of the guys were like, upside down or doing a type of headstand, while being sexy waving their legs out. At the same time, the rest of Poreotix was doing the sexy-type Usher, groove. It was a nice seal to the whole performance because Poreotix was like.. yeah we can be sexy. We can be sexy and bring it out too! They didn’t look like they tried to be sexy, but they really WERE sexy.
Word of Advice: I did catch the tiny bit of one and two choreography. Just stray away from “average one and two’s.” Otherwise, I can really see no real reason to bash on a great performance. Raise the BAR even FURTHER than the rest of the crews as well, because Poreotix does well to bring out everything that they can in a performance.
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HYPE 5-0 (U Don’t Have To Call): Hype 5-0 got the song U Don’t Have To Call by Usher. This is one of Usher’s first songs and is also is the old school R&B that Usher brought in the 90’s. In the pre-performance package video off, KC was struggly immensly with the heely’s. It got to her, especially when she was crying and frustrated to the point where she had to leave the practice room for a while. This definitely did not show throughout Hype 5-0’s performance. The performance was.. well.. in the words of Lil’ Mama, “Ya’ll WAS SWAGGERIFIC!”, which in addition is another quote Nancy needs to put in the quote tournament type thing. It was great. The first thing Hype did was give a memorable moment, which is a great way to start a performance. The choreography was a nice touch of Usher that strayed away, just a tad bit, from their usual high-energy performances. The first thing I’d like to say is Hype did well to stay within the bounds of Usher ,while also touching on their style. They were giving a little bit of everything that they do, while giving out the Usher. I also would have to disagree with what JC said because I do not believe that the Heely’s detracted at all in the performance, but more so over added to smooth and precise transitions that gave the effect of being at a roller rink or just going around and being on Heely’s with your friends. This was the task that Hype 5-0 was handed with and I believe it was performed very well. Overall, the performance was great because each move transitioned well into each other and the attention to detail was what I loved the most.
WOW Moment: The first wow moment is the way Hype 5-0 opened up with their head isolations because the first thing that I saw was precision and attention to detail, which in my agreeance with JC is my favorite things to look for when I watch choreography. The next thing wow moment that I saw was Josh “Hazmat” Ulep’s chain spin that Usher did in the music video. That was another moment with attention to detail and I believe that it added to the back flips/back hand springs that Josh was doing. The last moment was the sexy choreography and grinding on the floor, where a nice overhead was shown. That was the embodiment of Usher that I saw from Hype 5-0 and it was a great and lasting moment.
Word of Advice: Bring everything at, what the Judges will call, the “above the bar” level. It was great, the Usher choreography was brought out immensely well and the moments they gave were transitioned in very well, coupled by huge detail, but the choreography I believe could have been brought out more intensely. Also I hope that Hype asks District 78 to add a little touch of “Hawaiian Flare” and their own high-energy style, because Hype has touched on that very little for the past few weeks.
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BLUEPRINT CRU (Hey Daddy): Blueprint Cru got Usher’s latest hit song, Hey Daddy. In the pre-performance video package, Usher presented the challenge of emulating and bringing out the use of hands that was used in a portion of the music video. Blueprint’s hardworking bboy, Nicola (B-Boy Hero), was also touched on as well.. I commend him so much for being able to drive three hours FORWARD AND BACK to practice with Blueprint Cru. The first thing that I’d like to say is Blueprint Cru is so far, the most consistent crew on the show and their performances show everything that a crew embodies. As JC stated, the Chemistry has ALWAYS BEEN THERE, and the added love that Nicola shows for Blueprint added to the foundations of trust necessary for a crew to have. The routine as a whole was well put together. The opening was not as appealing as some of the other crews, but that did not really detract from the overall performance. The choreography was great and the sexiness that Usher embodies was DEFINITELY there. Nathalie brought the sexiness out tonight and it was funny how JC was hitting on her during his comments to the crew. The next thing is the togetherness and hardwork that Blueprint embodies. Throughout the whole performance, you see the crew working as one, especially with the challenge. The hands running and moving along/around Vincent were not apprehensive in the slightest, and the girls did well to bring out the sexiness with a tiny crotch grab thrown in. Overall, this performance had a great amount of everything and it is very commendable that Blueprint takes every week as “we’ll be in the bottom 2, so let’s bring a great performance.”
WOW Moment: The first wow moment is the challenge to me. The hands were sexy, flowing, moving all around and along Vincent’s body and he did well to take upon the “all hands on and over me” challenge. He came out as an Usher as well. The next moment was the, for Quest fans (A Quest Reference), Victor Kim type move, I forgot what it’s called; Hollowback?, I’m sorry if this b-boy terminology is wrong, but that was a very memorable moment that worked well into the Usher choreography because you saw the whole crew reacting to the move, not just standing place lifeless. The last moment was the ending. The ending to me, sealed the song in a sexy envelope, because just the walk-away was great. They took off their shoes, just like in the music video, and gave me the sense of “We’re bout to get this sexiness on, behind the scenes” just like how Usher conveys a sense of sexuality and sexiness.
Word of Advice: A portion of the choreography, as was the same in a portion of Poreotix routine, was a bit one and two and just thrown in. It was after the way Blueprint Cru started off their performance. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed and loved this performance. Raise above the bar that America sees, and Blueprint will have one of the strongest fighting chances as “if it happens” a “Final Two Crew.”
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SALTARE (Caught Up): Saltare had Usher’s Caught Up. Their challenge was to emulate a fight scene and make it even greater that Usher performed in the music video. In the pre-performance video package, they were out to show America that they take negativity and do their best to turn it into an immense amount of positivity. It’s great that they stay true to who they are, while taking immense amounts of negativity. For the first time ever.. I’ve felt that Saltare was dance crew. They for the first time, showed me that they have grown up from just being a national plain-old jump rope crew to being a better dance crew. The tricks, like when I first saw them in the East’s Regional Episode, brought my eyes to focus. Even though I am slightly against Saltare, I do feel the conviction that they give. They embody the element of a dance crew, just as much as a pure choreography dance crew does. They show that they do their best to work well with each other and I honestly want to commend them for a performance well deserved. I thought Usher would slow them down to the point where it would throw them off, but they showed me that they were doing their best to to do choreography. I believe it was Billy and Lisa in the middle, doing some of Usher’s choreography and being sexy. I do admit, the sexiness was actually there for me. Lisa is, to probably many viewers in America, a form of eye-candy and she did her best to sell the performance. The stunts were great because they were a bit different from their usual stunts. There was a bit of stiffness with the choreography out of the ropes in the beginning, but it showed that Saltare was out to fight tonight, and it was prevalent throughout their whole performance.
WOW Moment: The first wow moment I saw, was actually Billy and Lisa working well together. I believe that this is a GREAT STEP up, and Billy did well to fill in the shoes of Usher. The next moment was altogether, the stuntwork, which was presented beautifully. Billy showed timing and precision as he jumped into the ropes after two previous members were doing great choreography. The last moment was when two of the jump-ropers, while spinning the ropes to add the choreography of the other two members in the ropes, did the spinning backwards, and I thought this was very commendable and a bold move. Their timing was amazing all-throughout the whole performance.
Word of Advice: Always show that you guys are growing and fighting to be the best, and always keep the attitude that you guys embody. You are a true jump rope crew and for the first time made me want to jump for you guys. Keep true to who you are and develop as dancers. Show that you guys can do well to beat the odds.
Note to Saltare as the Eliminated Crew: My word of advice is kind of the same as a Note to them. I’d love to see how well Saltare does off the show, and I know that the doors to opportunity and future for Saltare will be opened up. It was a great way to leave the show and I know that Saltare will keep to who they truly are. Good luck in the future and to all your future endeavors.
ABDC5 Episode 8 Usher Challenge Rankings:
1. Poreotix
2. Blueprint Cru
3. Hype 5-0
4. Saltare
5. Jungle Boogie
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