Sunday, May 1, 2011

Zekeish's Review of ABDC's Katy Perry Challenge

Now for my grading scale, I’m not a big numbers fan, so I have decided to do this review with words serving as my ratings. My scale is as follows:
OH MY TITS= A perfect performance. Their transitions were on point, their choreography was squeaky clean, and they had wow moments that made you want to disrespect the nearest replay button. Basically the performance that makes a season
FANTABULOUS= Close to a perfect performance. There was just one thing that kept them from being perfection incarnated.
FREAK A LEAK= A great performance. Definitely an eye catcher, but had some problems with some aspects of their performance
GOODISH= A good performance. Had some noticeable problems but still had an overall solid performance that has rewatchability
MEH= An okay performance, nothing outside the ordinary. Had some glaring problems or provided no real wow factor.
INCREDIBLY MEDIOCRE= A very average performance. Worse than okay, but good enough to where I could sit through the performance, Barely.
WELL, THAT SUCKED= A less than average performance, nothing really went right here. Had some concepts that could have been executed better, but nothing really made you like the performance. You wanted to find the nearest dark place and hide there until the performance is over. And maybe binge eat your feelings. Whatever floats your suck fest boat.
ID RATHER WATCH A JUSTIN BIEBER CONCERT= A horrible performance. You’d rather be subjected to Bieber and thousands of 11 year old girls screaming in your ear… Like seriously, the crew might as well incorporate taking a dump on the stage into their choreo.
So let’s get right into it…

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PHUNK PHENOMENON- To say there are underdogs would be an insult to them, and to the show itself. They proved in the past two performances that they are a versatile, creative and clean crew. WITH THAT SAID, this week was nowhere near as good as it should have been. I loved that they incorporated a story into their choreography. But, they got too cheesy for me in their “acting”. I feel they were pushing the story so hard with their expressions and movements that they actually took away from the performance. There was a good part of it spent posing and looking at the camera. If you are going to tell a story, take a page from Static Noyze, and do it effortlessly. The dancing segments were amazing again. I love their combination of housing, hype and bboying. Their challenge was to do a roulette wheel. They executed their challenge perfectly. Having Bebo in the middle doing a flawless head spin with every other member moving in a circle around him was a great visual and really got the point across. I loved the fact that they did a stunt off the stage too. Bebo sprinted (did a front cartwheel) and did a superman-like move off the stage, members off the stage caught him and flung him back on the stage. He then went right back into the “story” of being a groom. That was very creative. But the ending was underwhelming. Bebo and Kassandra then did a little fighting scene and it ended with Bebo in Kass’ arms. That was not good at all. I thought they could have done so much more during that last part of the routine. I feel if they would have done something more at the end, this performance would have been much (much) better. The ending ruined their energy a bit and took away from the performance as a whole. Thusly, I cannot praise them like I did last week. Phunk, I love you, but don’t start relaxing on the details. SOO…
I DUB PHUNK A… FREAK A LEAK

IAMME-
They got "Peacock" as a song, and their challenge was to create a peacock (what a crazy idea for a challenge, I mean, where’d they get that idea?). This performance was phenomenal. Honestly. Their peacock was fantastic and their visuals were, as always, on point. They actually created a peacock three times on the stage. TWICE in the first 10 seconds! (LIKE SERIOUSLY TWICE, OMG, OMG) I loved the moving peacock with Pacman doing his crazy waving thingy with his arms and everyone waving in the background. That was a fantastic visual. The third peacock was definitely more abstract than the others, but, the formation right after 747 and Emilio glided into a “high five” also reminded me of a peacock the way they expanded out (I’ve never said peacock more times in my life either) I loved that as well. I feel as the highlight move was something different though. This move was actually probably missed by a lot of people, but I felt it was one of the sickest transitions I’ve seen in a while. It was the transition to get into a diagonal line right after the formation with 747. They did like a slide step backwards while ticking their arms up and down to the lyrics. They did it halfway across the stage, and it really Wowed me for some reason (I might not explain it well, but if you watch the performance you’ll know what I'm talking about). I also loved the way they moved out of the diagonal line as well. The way they picked up members 1 by 1 as they did the choreo. BUT, this was not a perfect performance. Unfortunately they lost their energy a bit at the end when they took longer than needed to get into that last formation. I didn’t like that at all. But the rest of it was fantastic and well thought out. I would love to see more of JaJa center stage. Hopefully they get that in the coming weeks. As a whole the performance surprised me. I was excited to see that they could still kill a song which is basically a 4 minute penis reference. I mean just take away the vegetable away in the word peacock and you get the meaning of the song. Peacock=dick for those of you under the average IQ line. But that’s thanks to D78 for making this mix my favorite of the night. Anyway YOU ARE YOU… FANTABULOUS

-787 CREW- Hey guys look, they are improving! (yeah I said it)This performance was a bit of a love/hate performance for me. Let me start on what I loved. I loved the use of their injured member on stage. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that they used him, it was how WELL they used him. He contributed to a small tutting-like section (it really wasn’t tutting but it was close enough) and they used him as a WOW factor in their performance. I could also tell how much Perry loved being on that stage.  I also loved the use of levels in this performance as well. The dive rolls were very good as well as their air swipes. I liked the ending bit where they did subsequent suicides to end the routine. Very clever. Their beginning stunt was good this week as well. Their “merry go round” into corkscrews were a very nice visual to bring to the stage and it gave their performance a great kick start. Here’s what I had a problem with,  they really didn’t do their challenge at all. They had moments in there that could have been seen as a roller coaster if you wanted to see a roller coaster, but I saw no defined coaster, and with how good they are at tricks, I was very disappointed. It isn’t that hard to create a roller coaster effect, so I was upset when I saw no such thing. This took their performance down a notch for me. IF they had included a defined roller coaster, I would have given this performance a much better score. But, when a challenge is given to you, you must do that challenge to the best of your ability, and they didn’t do that at all. With the crews before them giving VERY visual representations of their challenge, it was disappointing to see 787 not go for it. I must say though, their choreography is improving, and they are clean. So for tricksters I give them props on that. The parkour moment was pretty cool too. But I digress, with the talent levels of the crews on this season, you have to kill every aspect of your performance, and they didn’t at all. Thusly JAJAJAJA… GOODISH
 

-ICONIC BOYZ- Oh poor kids. They got re-used jackets, and got the song "Teenage Dream" (which they probably don’t even know the meaning of) and gave YET AGAIN, a less than average performance. BUT, finally someone sees what I have been saying for weeks now, and that is “IF THESE KIDS WERE IN THEIR 20’s IT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT STORY”. But, D-trix got called a crack head for saying that. Honestly, if D-trix is a crack head, then Lil Mama has a meth lab in her basement RIGHT NOW. Lil mama saying these kids are her babies… UGH, one week she’s the Voice of the Youth and the next week she is saying she is “mothering” these kids. All she is doing is building them up and giving them a false sense of accomplishment. They have not done ANYTHING on the show yet that has made me think they have potential to win this thing. Anyone who says they deserve to go farther is delusional. They give America basic choreography with basic moments and get rave reviews. FINALLY someone came out and said the truth about them to their face. Anyway, to the performance. There really wasn’t much to say about it. It featured the same type of stuff as every week before. Very basic choreo, the way they did their challenge was very mediocre, and the rest of the performance was less than average. Their “highlight” this week was the cat daddy, which was cool to see, but again, should NOT be a highlight moment. With crews working their asses off to try and deliver the best performance every single week and these kids are getting by because of a huge fan base and supposed “cuteness”. It’s very frustrating seeing them beat out much better crews because of their age. This week, however, was a slight improvement of last week’s performance. Their choreography was clean finally, and they have some concepts to work off of. Kids, if you’re reading this, this is not personal, but understand you are not still in the competition because of your talent level alone. Don’t get that mistaken, hopefully you can deliver a somewhat solid performance eventually, until then, you’re just a lasting gimmick. Don’t get mad at me, this site, or anyone else who says this, because it’s the truth. Now work harder.  HERES YOUR TEENAGE DREAM- WELL THAT SUCKED (Get it?)

-INSTANT NOODLES- Instant Noodles is a very creative crew, and I enjoyed last week’s performance a lot. This week was just okay. I felt it moved slowly, there wasn’t a very high energy level in this one and it wasn’t very clean. I did enjoy the concept they had with the fuse being lit and that creating a chain reaction to the rest of the guys. But the rest of the performance was pose-y and slow. I enjoyed the ballet moment, that was very clever to throw in the performance, and I thought at this point it would light up (so to speak) but it didn’t. The crab walk done by Mike (NAO) wasn’t very clean, and the lead up to getting into that moment was too long. The end freeze was nice, and gave a nice visual to end the performance and the solos were good, but other than that I really didn’t get too excited about the overall aspect of the routine. Instant Noodles has to find good filler choreography between their bboy choreography and their power moments. The Noodles are definitely showing a new side of Bboying not yet seen on ABDC, but most of their performances have had a slow moment here and there, where you’re stuck waiting for that BIG moments that gives the performance life. Like much needed seasoning to a bland noodle dinner. I'm not saying they are bland, but this performance wasn’t their best. They know it, I know it and America knows it. If they want to win ABDC (and they can), they need to step their game up. I do fear bottom 2 for them next week unfortunately.  INSTANT DUB… MEH
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*Bottom Two*
ReQuest was sent there again, This time facing off against a crew who was made for battles. Unfortunately, once I heard the songs each of these crews were going to perform to, I knew what was about to happen. Giving ET to Street Kingdom was like saying “Here is a free pass out of the bottom two if you are in the bottom”. Sure enough, that’s what it turned out to be. ReQuest was an awesome crew that doesn’t deserve to go home this early, but I have to be honest with you, they didn’t kill it on ABDC as much as I expected. Week 1 wasn’t great and neither was this week. Honestly, sad to see them go, but I'm glad to watch them leave because I know they are going to keep doing very well in spite of what happened. This week’s bottom two (which is based off of last week’s performances) should have been Street Kingdom and Iconic Boyz, with Iconic Boyz going home.

-STREET KINGDOM-“And we will be performing to E.T”. That about says it. Everyone knew that if Street Kingdom got "ET" they would have the performance of the night, and they did just that. You can tell they really took time to think about and clean up some of their formations and movements. I love the way they used the lyrics as well. When it says “The other side of sanity” you see a couple members turning around to reveal other members who were behind them. Basically they switched places by turning (i.e. revolving door effect). They also used the “fill me up with poison” line by having one of the members punch another member in the gut making it seem like he was injecting something into the other man’s stomach, both very thoughtful moments in the routine. Also having one guy cross his legs in a sort of Avant guard and having a member life him up was a great visual. Another great visual was having tight eyez come up to the front and hover over the cross legged guy, and look like tight eyez was controlling the guy underneath his body. That was front and center, in your face and very neat to look at. But the first highlight of the performance was… of course… the SPACESHIP. Which was incredibly well done, it looked like a spaceship and for the first time this season, having the most members on the show was an advantage. Creating this spaceship visually isn’t that hard, making it look fantastic is. Street Kingdom made it look amazing. Tight Eyez in the background with his yellow tank top (wife beater) on, sticking his tongue out like he saying what I was thinking. “THIS GOES SO EFFIN HARD”. I was up out of my seat already, and that moment made me fill up with even more giddy-ness. I felt like a 12 year old girl trying to shake the hand of Justin beiber/iconic boyz, it was that type of OMG OMG OMG feeling. As if the spaceship illusion wasn’t enough, they started getting nasty buck on AND off the stage, which reminded me of what makes Street Kingdom such a great crew, and why ABDC needed someone like Street Kingdom on the show. The Passion and feeling you get from watching these guys (and girl) krump is like none other. I have never felt so intrigued by a crew before in my life. The way they can express themselves through a raw form of movement is incredible to me, and even with last week’s very weak effort from them, this week BY FAR makes up for it. The visuals they gave, the incredible feeling and energy they had mixed with the best song for them of the night. They were destined to give this performance. Am I crying over this performance, not even close, but I know a great performance when I see one. Whether you don’t like krumping, don’t understand krump or even don’t want to see it, you have to admit, you had to have felt the energy coming at you and in your face the entire time Street Kingdom was on the stage. Street Kingdom stepped their game up, hopefully they are not a one hit wonder. I DUB THEE… OH MY TITS

-REQUEST- ReQuest, one of the better crews on the show, gets thrown in the bottom two once again. They get the song “California Gurls”. A very upbeat happy song, just perfect for a battle right? *cough*.  Anyway these girls had the challenge of making a wave on stage. Not a hard sounding challenge, but definitely hard to do because of the many times a “wave” formation or visual has been done on the ABDC stage before. They did their challenge okay. Not better than .aMmE or Phunk, but way better than 787 and ICONic Boyz. It was an interesting visual, which could have been executed better by changing one simple thing: The girl “riding” the wave should have been doing something more than just walking through the wave. I feel like if she would have glided through it, it would have been a much better illusion. It was definitely a good way to attack the wave, but it could have been better.  The highlight of their performance was when they were all on their sides and moved parallel to each other. A very good visual and gave me the vibe they were in the ocean. It was a lot better than their wave, and it gave this performance a highlight. But, the fun stops here. I hate the way ReQuest started this performance on the steps while doing nothing with it. I liked the idea of starting off somewhere new, but I feel like they could have done a lot more on the steps. They then got up and started into their choreography, which included a “makeup check” pat face session. This confused me a little bit. I was thinking to myself, where be that hardcore edge I know and love? Honestly, their energy level never got to that upper echelon this week, which really disappointed me. After two weeks of being high energy, high impact- in your face, they start doing this cutesy choreo with moderate energy. It really threw me off a bit. I get they were trying to send a message with the song of “yeah we are Cali girls, putting on our makeup and such. We are cute” I just hated that type of vibe on them. They finally got grimy a little bit with their booty shaking mid-way through, but that was it. Another instance that could have used a bit more thought in it was when one of the girls was lifted up but two other crew members. This was right after their booty shaking, so I thought it was going to pick up a bit, but it didn’t. Nothing really happened. The girl just got up and got right back down. It was very lackluster and bland and didn’t do anything but fill time until they got to the wave. After the wave, they did a neat locking section. The camera angle kind of screwed that whole visual up, but we got what they were doing. The end of the routine was a little bland for me as well. After the highlight of the routine, they got up, the one girl that was standing did a very good vertical leg lift, and then they walked (walking transitions) into a straight line, leaned back and fanned their face. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I expected from them. I feel like they thought they wouldn’t be in the bottom two this week, because I don’t think they gave it 110% this week. I feel that performance had a lot more potential  to it even if the song wasn’t that good on them. I feel saddened by request leaving, but versus Street Kingdom this week, Street Kingdom was better. I love ReQuest, and I wish them the best.  ALL HAIL THE QUEENS… GOODISH
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OH MY TITS MOMENTS
1)    IaMmE’s Two Peacocks
2)    Phunk’s Roulette Wheel
3)    787’s Merry go round
4)    Street Kingdom’s whole performance
5)    Dtrix calling out Iconic Boyz

--POWER RANKINGS—       (Encompasses Every Week So Far)
1 and 2)    PHUNK PHENOMENON and IAMME -- FANTABULOUS
3)    STREET KINGDOM -- GOODISH & ½
4)    INSTANT NOODLES -- GOODISH
5)    787-- MEH & ½
6)    ICONIC BOYZ -- WELL THAT SUCKED
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HEY YOU ZEKEISH, DEM JUDGES GET IT RIGHT?
Honestly, yes they did. Once again America is the one who is in the wrong. Keeping mediocre crews in the competition longer than necessary will probably ruin this season, especially if ICONic Boyz don’t end up in the bottom two within the next two weeks. I do want to know what was wrong with JC this week. He contradicted himself amazingly this week. I think he said something like “It’s not always about the choreography, it’s about the performance”. Well, let's rewind a bit here, to Season 1- JabbawockeeZ Movie challenge. (the one where they hand the mask to Lil Mama) You said something like “One thing I’ll say is that the Choreography wasn’t hard or challenging, so I was disappointed at that”. That’s just one instance. JC said it with Poreotics as well. He’s always stressed harder choreography, and now that kids are standing in front of him, everything is all good as long as it’s clean. WHAAA?  Go back to the old JC, he at least seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Anyway, the judges have been right so far this season. Street Kingdom had the better performance this week, ReQuest had the better performance last week against FootworKING, the lesser crew THAT NIGHT went home. I hope voting will turn in favor of the better crews these coming weeks because of ReQuest's elimination and the lesser crews on the show will get put in the bottom, as they deserve. No hate, just honesty. (IT IS the best policy)
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Well, here marks the end of my review. Be sure to comment and tell me if you liked it, loved it, hated it and why. Also, if you’re interested, check out my crew’s YouTube page, youtube.com/colloseocru and tell me what you think there too. Also, NO I HATE YOUR LIFE, YOUR DOG, YOUR COUCH or YOUR COOKING SKILLZ. YA DIGGG? Thanks for reading =)

Click here to return to the first page and to leave comments. Thanks as always Zekeish for laying it out there!