Thursday, March 10, 2011

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch Review -- Season 5 Episode 7: The Disco Challenge

Tonight's Judging guidelines for the challenge- How well did they incorporate their challenge move and the mandatory lift?
 

SAFE CREWS:
 
Blueprint Cru dancing to "Le Freak" by Chic     
Challenge Move: "The Funky Guitar"

Was it clean/Was it Difficult?  Maybe I am being too hard on my chosen crew this season, but this felt very sloppy to me.  I noticed sync errors throughout the routine.  While it didn't really throw anything off, it just 'felt' off.  Difficulty-wise, this was nothing special.  They have done better in past weeks. 5 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? They killed the theme and they did amazing transitions in this set.  Loved the homages they gave to classic 70's icons such as Soul Train and Charlie's Angels. 8 pts
How well did they do the challenge? I watched this routine four extra times just to find ANY funky guitar in this routine.  It was there, but it was so fast and so quick you would easily overlook it.  The lifts were simply okay.  The helicopter lifts were nice but not together. The addition of the carousel lift did help to balance it out. Hate to do this, but you failed your main challenge. 1 pts
What were the highlights? The tribute moments
What, if anything, took away from the performance? It just didn't feel like a Blueprint performance
Total points- 14 pts

Saltare dancing to "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps     
Challenge Move: "The Hustle"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Clean for the most part, with a minor rope error this week.  What I liked was that they focused more on the dancing than on their rope work.  All in all, the moves were done well and cleanly. 7 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? They really shone in this department.  First, they framed all the partner sections very nicely and had great transitions that made whatever they were doing pop out at you.  The addition of the fire ropes was a bit cheesy, but it was handled and highlighted superbly as well. 8 pts
How well did they do the challenge? They were smart and started with their lift early and made it look good.  The Hustle section was well done with the inclusion of the ropes as well. 8 pts
What were the highlights? the framing made everything look better.
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The slight rope mistake
Total points- 25 pts

Poreotix dancing to "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5     
Challenge Move: "The Robot"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? This is the only crew tonight to actually do great.  They were together the entire time and made it look natural.  In addition, it was nice to see them branch out in a good way and actually put some passion and emotion into their work for once. 10 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? Thought and effort was put into this routine from beginning to end. Transitions not only looked great -- they effortlessly set up the next section of the routine. 10 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Another knock out here: I was going to be harsher with them because their challenge was their normal style, but they actually took it old school and then showed many other different ways to make it fun.  The two lifts were nice as well, and did not feel out of place. 10 pts
What were the highlights? The whole thing was a highlight
Total points- 30 pts

Hype 5-0 dancing to "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb     
Challenge Move: "The Electric Slide"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? This was fairly clean.  Only a few short moments where it felt like they were off.  All in all it had a bit of difficulty in it but it still felt kinda safe. 8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? They nailed the attitude of Disco.  Transitions were entertaining and blended everything together very nicely. 10 pts
How well did they do the challenge? Another great job with the look, the attitude and making the challenge move look like fun.  The lifts were on-point and together. I would give them more than ten but rules is rules. 10 pts
What were the highlights? The opening let us know this was gonna be a great set.
Total points- 28 pts
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THE BOTTOM THREE

Did America get it right? Well two out of three ain't bad, is it?  Honestly though, Static Noyze gave the second best performance of the night last week, and they "coincidentally" just happened to have to sideline Enrique due to injury.  I call Bull S***!
 

Heavy Impact dancing to "You Should Be Dancing" by The Bee Gees     
Challenge Move: "The Strut"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Cleanest they have done so far.  A few timing errors in the transition but overall very nice.  They hit their moves harder then normal.  8 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? While the moves were nice, it just seemed to be one formation shift after another. They could have slowed it down just a touch for each one. 6 pts
How well did they do the challenge?   The strut section was very nice but the partner work and lifts were very weak. 6 pts
What were the highlights? The strut section
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The lifts
Total points- 20 pts

Static Noyze dancing to "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy     
Challenge Move: "The Staying Alive Finger Point"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? It was okay, but something felt off (besides Enrique being missing from the group). Nothing felt too difficult, and one person was completely lost for a little bit. 4 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme? They were passable. Formations were basic and transitions lacked their usual pop. 7 pts
How well did they do the challenge? The finger point was okay, but nothing helped it to stand out.  The lifts worked very well, but again not that special. 7 pts
What, if anything, took away from the performance? The one dancer getting lost.
Total points- 18 pts

Jungle Boogie dancing to "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & the Gang     
Challenge Move: "The Bump"
Was it clean/Was it Difficult? Their cleanest set yet.  With that said, they were still off in their formations.  Their moves were done well with power and swag.  However, I did not get that much difficulty from this. 7 pts
Was it well thought out/How well did they handle the theme?  They made their transitions look fun and easy.  Formations were a bit loose but they looked nice.  In addition, the buildup to the lifts and the end set were quite nice. 7 pts
How well did they do the challenge? They definitely brought the funk to this routine.  The bump was done fierce and fabulous and often. The lift was unexpected because this was the only crew that had a woman do it and also the shortest person of the season do it. 10 pts
What were the highlights? The build up to the lift, and the ending
Total points- 24 pts

Did the judges get it right? And thus Jungle Boogie finally vanquished the evil curse of the "The All Black/All Black but One Crew Goes Home in 6th Place Curse."  No I am serious here folks -- this happened in Seasons One through Four:  S1-Live in Color (all black), S2- A.S.I.I.D.(all black but one), S3-Ringmasters (all black), S4-Beat Ya Feet Kings (all black).  It is about time if you ask me, because two of those earlier deserved to go on further and should not have been in the bottom
at that time.
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Thoughts on the eliminated crew- Just when I was starting to love Heavy Impact, they got cut.  They won me over the past week and this week.  Good job guys.  For Static Noyze -- I think the only reason you got cut was the injury.  It was just a graceful way for you all to bow out without quitting.
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Tonight's Rankings (based on tonight's score)
1. Poreotix 30 pts
2. Hype 5-0 28 pts
3. Saltare 25 pts
4. Jungle Boogie 24 pts
5. Heavy Impact 20 pts
6. Static Noyze 18 pts
7. Blueprint Cru 14 pts

Power rankings (based on placement average)
1. Hype 5-0 (7)
1. Static Noyze (7) eliminated
3. Blueprint Cru (5.75)
4. Jungle Boogie (5.5)
5. Poreotix (5.25)
5. Saltare (5.25)
7. Royal Flush (4.75) 8th place
8. Heavy Impact (3.5) eliminated
9. Swagger Crew (1) 9th place

Thoughts on the episode as a whole- Overall -- great episode.  I was surprised how well Poreotix could do once they got a fire lit under them.  These themed style/era challenges always seem to work out as being some of the best of the season.  Really can't wait to see if the streak continues in Season 6.

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