Sunday, March 6, 2011

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch review: Season 5, Episode 3: The West

Hype 5-0 dancing to "Drop It Low" by Ester Dean featuring Chris Brown
First Impressions- for such a little crew (as in height wise. What!? I am 6'6, and everyone looks small), these kids seem big with the attitude and swag they got.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Clean for the most part, with some timing issues towards the middle transition.  They hit their marks like pros and gave the most powerful energy I have seen from a crew in five seasons. 9 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? Okay. First off I know you want to give a shout out to where you are from, but doing that puts you in the same dangerous waters that G.O.P. Dance and Afroborike swam.  Thankfully it was over with quickly.  It did take them a bit to get started but once they did, everything flowed nicely and made sense Still, a bit more work could have gone into the set as a whole 8 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Immediately, comparisons between SoReal Cru and Hype 5-0 arise.  I mean, they are both all Asian crews and have five males and two females in them.
Unlike SoReal Cru, they came out with more swag and power to their set.  It made me think that -- if this is their first routine -- I can't wait to see more. 10 pts
What were the highlights? The group knee drop
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The ending felt a bit half-hearted.
Total points- 27 pts

Heavy Impact dancing to    "Raindrops" by Jeremih
First Impressions- The gentle giants.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? This was a good, clean routine for the most part.  The moves were done well and in sync with each other, but they must watch out on their formations. 8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? They killed the first half of the routine.  It had energy and you could tell they planned everything out.  It was the second half of the routine that things felt off to me.  It was a bit to much of a change of pace from the first half with no evening out of the transition. 6 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Another crew that knew what to do to make us want more.  It may not have been that exciting but you could tell they were holding back. 8 pts
What were the highlights? The first half of the routine.
What, if anything, took away from the performance? the second half of the routine.
Total points- 22 pts

The Blended Projekt dancing to "Get Involved" by Ginuwine featuring Missy Elliott & Timbaland
First Impressions- More cloggers, with the largest number of people in a crew on stage to date.  This will be interesting.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Not so much. For cloggers, they really were off-formation throughout the entire performance.  In addition, they were not hitting moves as hard as they should be.  It seemed very basic and timid. 2 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? I really did not get a sense of theme from this and nothing really connected each part of the routine.  Frankly, there was just too many people on stage to really follow what was going on, and the one guy in the group kept drawing
the eye towards him and away from the crew. 2 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Not well at all.  Valerie is a great leader and she has a ton of heart.  This crew has grown by leaps and bounds since their appearance on the show but they simply were not ready at this time. 1 pt
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The group timidity and there were too many people on the stage.
Total points- 5 pts

BreakEFX dancing to "All Eyes on Me" by Clipse featuring Keri Hilson
First Impressions- The first co-ed B-boy crew. This should be great.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Pretty clean overall.  Good formation work with strong and well framed stunts and choreo, though at times it did feel a bit basic. 8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? This was a really clever routine.  Nothing was out of place and everything built up nicely.  Could have used a touch more energy. 8 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Another crew with a great first impression.  They showed us not only what they can do, but gave a glimpse at what they could bring to the show. 10 pts
Note- here's my beef with the judges:  They bitched and bitched and bitched to Super Cr3w and Massive Monkees  for not having good choreo in their routines. We finally get a fusion crew that bridges the two styles, and the judges bitch and bitch and bitch that it was not more b-boy or more choreo based.  If you  want a pure b-boy group say so.  It is rare to get a group this good at both.
Total points- 26 pts

Poreotix dancing to "Love Story" by Taylor Swift
First Impressions- Not gonna lie here folks.  I loathe this crew.  Loathed them before the show, loathed them on the show and loathe them more after the show.  All I can promise is I will try my best to be fair.  Now that you have your ammunition, please commence with the great Guest nerd raging about me not being instantly in love with your favoritest crew ever.  Your whining fills my belly.
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Extremely minor timing issues aside, this is the Rhythm City of the season when it comes to clean and difficult routines. Everyone was together and for such a controlled style, you really felt the energy they had in each of their moves.  - pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? After four seconds I had to mute it.  What I saw was good and built up up to form a good whole.  - pts
How well did they do the challenge? I don't know how to score this.  The entire time it just felt like I was watching an extremely low key Quest routine that didn't have any spark to it. I mean if I want to watch Quest, I will watch Quest.  I don't want to see a tribute crew for them.  For the sake of fairness, I will give them max points for this routine. -pts 
What were the highlights? Overall it was good.
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The music selection and the already dead joke at the end.
Total points- 30 pts

Did the judges pick the right two? No.  While Poreotix was a no-brainer choice, Hype 5-0 or BreakEFX should have been the other one saved.  I mean Heavy Impact was okay,  but BreakEFX and Hype 5-0 were more exciting and entertaining.
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SUDDEN DEATH:
The Blended Projekt, Hype 5-0, BreakEFX dancing to "Showdown" by Black Eyed Peas

The Blended Projekt- They took the judges' advice to heart, and came out harder then they did before.  Sadly, they were still out of formation and off sync throughout the routine.  Big props on starting the dancing when the music started instead of waiting for the announcer,  and for stepping it up.

Hype 5-0- The first 3 seconds was a bit sloppy and they almost lost me, but they went right into the hard hitting style and kept up a good energy level. They completely lost me once they got to the canoe section.  It took too long to set up and just was not needed.

BreakEFX- This was another crew that listened.  They were cleaner and they brought a bit more energy to the routine.  Very nice formation work and well framed stunts helped as well.

Who should win and why? It really too close between Hype and BreakEFX to call.  Both did really good but I would put my money on BreakEFX.

Did the judges pick the right one? I'm still of two minds on this.  I think we could have gotten a lot more out of BreakEFX in the long run, but if that would have happened Hype 5-0 would not have been able to shine like they grew to do later in the season.  I really think they made a mistake overall by putting Heavy Impact ahead of both these crews.
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Regional Rankings
1. Poreotix 30 pts
2. Hype 5-0 27 pts
3. BreakEFX 26 pts
4. Heavy Impact 22 pts
5. The Blended Projekt 5 pts

Thoughts on this episode as a whole- Not gonna lie folks.  The first time I watched this episode,  I did not mind the judges' choices so much.  Now coming back to it, that old Season Two anger is coming back.  This was the first major BS call of the show and there is only more to come.

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