Saturday, March 5, 2011

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch Review: Season 5 Episode 2: The East

Tonight's challenge scoring guideline: overall first impression on the stage. Did the crew show us all they could do or give us a taste of what is to come and do it well

Legendary Seven dancing to "I Can Transform Ya" by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Swizz Beatz
First Impressions- Oh goodie...E-Knock...I will be fair, I will be fair, I will be fair, I will be fair......
note-just loooove how they are doing these judging panels at the location auditions.  Lil Mama getting excited about Legendary seven entering when it fact they entered as Street Legends.  Great editing job folks! /eyeroll
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? For the most part it was clean and on point.  There were good lines and formations in this but the whole thing felt kinda safe. 6 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? It was a very together routine and they did fit the theme of the song in there.  Problem was things kinda fell apart at the end. 6 pts
How well did they do the challenge? They did not do well.  I got a Ghost and Status Quo vibe from this routine.  The Ghost vibe was with their opening and Ghost did that type of formation work better.  The Status Quo vibe was from when they transformed into E-knock and friends for the last bit.  Nothing new was shown here. 3 pts
What were the highlights? The half of the routine leading up to the visual illusion.
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The last 12 seconds.
Total points- 15 pts
Note-Episode Two of the season and I am already tired of Omarion


draZtik dancing to "Shattered Glass" by Britney Spears
First Impressions- They seem likable enough didn't show much personality
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? They were passable in this area.  Numerous formation errors were noticeable from beginning to end.  The difficulty was not up to par either. 5 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? Transition-wise and formation-wise they handled that well.  They brought a bit of Britney towards the end but nothing really stood out to me. 6 pts
How well did they do the challenge? They gave an average first impression.  We have seen their type of dancing before from other crews.  Problem is you could not tell if they had more to offer or is that was all they really had in them. 5 pts
Total points- 16 pts


Blueprint Cru dancing to "Feel On It" by Bishop Lamont
First Impressions- To be honest, this was the crew that got me excited pre-season.  After I first saw their audition piece in New York, I wanted them to make it.  Now can they live up to the hype they built for themselves?
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? At no time in this routine were they not in sync.  Every second they  danced as a unit.  They brought great controlled energy from beginning to end and made their difficult sections look easy enough that anyone could do them. 10 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? This is another one of those great routines that continuously builds on itself.  Each of the three sections worked well with the other and they transitioned effortlessly into them.  10 pts
How well did they do the challenge? They gave a good first impression.  They showed what they could do and also let you know there was more to see from this crew  There was a reason that the producers fought so hard to get them on and they did not disappoint. 10 pts
What were the highlights? the whole thing
Total points-  30 pts


Static Noyze dancing to "On to the Next One" by Jay-Z featuring Swizz Beatz
First Impressions- To quote one of the review sites, FANNY PAC EAST!
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? It was clean for the most part and very difficult.  However, there were a few formation errors and timing errors. 8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? Very well thought out and they told a story as well.  The beginning was a chance of pace for the show and very interesting.  The transition from the comtemp part to the hip hop was one of the best transitions on the show. 10 pts
How well did they do the challenge? You would not expect a contemp hop group to come out that strong but they did.  Well done and you could tell they had more to bring to the show. 10 pts
What were the highlights? The horror movie style abduction in the middle
Total points- 28 pts


Saltare dancing to "I'mma Shine" by YoungBloodZ
First Impressions- Not sure what to expect with these crew seeing as how they had an almost total crew lineup revamp before the show aired.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? This is something tricky to do for this crew.  The difficulty was there because they are using such fluid props throughout the entire routine.  They were together with their formation work and jump work. However, their dancing felt very basic. As with styles like GoGo, Clogging and Tap, only one part of the body seems to used more than the other, which leaves a can highlight a glaring weakness. Overall for what was shown it was clean. 8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? I thought they did well here.  The transitions were good and they built into them very nicely.  They needed to add a little extra oomph to the transitions to really stand out. 8 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Doesn't matter how well the other four crews did, THIS is the crew people were talking about the next day. They showed something new and something exciting. 10 pts
What were the highlights? Too many great moments to list.
Total points- 26 pts

Note- you know this season is going to be messed up when Lil Mama starts making more sense then JC.

Did the judges pick the right two? Ya know, I never was upset when Saltare was picked first.  They gave the most OMG performance of the night. Blueprint was also the only other must-move- forwardright-this-second choice.  They picked well.
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SUDDEN DEATH
draZtik, Legendary Seven, dancing to "Hip Hop Is Dead" by Nas featuring will.i.am


draZtik- These kids came out with fierce energy!  However their moves were sloppy.  The formation errors were back as well, though they did bring more difficult choreo.  One final thing I liked from this battle routine is that they are the first crew since the Enigma/ICONic battle to actually get up in the other crew's face at the end of their set.


Legendary Seven- Right from the beginning, it was old Status Quo that went directly into E-Knock and Friends style choreo and tricks.  This is your second chance to shine and do something new.  So, don't go with grade school flips that make no damn sense what so ever.  NEXT!


Static Noyze- Unlike their original routine, they came out with hard hitting choreo and they managed to tell somewhat of a story with it.  They added nice visuals to the sound effect of the song and reminded me that I needed a Vogue fix with their dip at the end.


Who should win and why?  Static Noyze easily.  They came the hardest and were clean with it.

Did the judges pick the right one? Yes they did and it was really no choice at all.
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Regional Rankings
1. Blueprint Cru 30 pts
2. Static Noyze 28 pts
3. Saltare 26 pts
4. draZtik 16 pts
5. Legendary Seven 15 pts


Thought on this episode as a whole- The East is coming hard this season.  While I may not agree with throwing the Canadian crew in with the East, the three chosen have a ton of potential to entertain from beginning to end.
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