In America’s Best Dance Crew 2, the judges Shane Sparks, Lil’ Mama and JC Chasez are there to act as a final check on the opinion of the people. Shane Sparks, at least, has already tipped his hand as to which way his thoughts are leaning so far, telling BuddyTV in interview, “Super Cr3w, Super Cr3w, Super Cr3w, that’s all I have to say.”
However, with their strong and entertaining performance last week, it’s unlikely that Super Cr3w will need to cash in any judge’s good will just yet. I can’t imagine the public will put them in the bottom for this week’s episodes. I mean, come on: Ninjas and James Brown. You just can’t say no to that: it’s been proven by science.
So who could land in the bottom?
Sass x7 wasn’t in the lowest two last week, which was somewhat surprising. As technically strong as they are, they just don’t fit the America’s Best Dance Crew mold and it seems like a lot of viewers can’t get past that. Enough did, though to keep them safe week one; will it continue?
I thought Fanny Pak had a great performance last week, but they are another group that might face falling to the bottom again simply for being something a little different from what people expect to see on the show.
Shane Sparks called Xtreme Dance Force’s performance last week “wack” and laughed in their faces. Yikes, that’s hard to recover from. Although America’s Best Dance Crew might be able to incorporate a lot of different musical styles throughout its challenges, the fact is it’s got hip hop at its core. And hip hop depends on a sort of legitimacy and credibility that evaporates when someone laughs at you the way Shane did. Xtreme Dance Force might be able to mobilize its fan base of young swoony women – and they are certainly not bad dancers – but I wonder if Shane’s reaction would have influenced other voting demographics.
As mentioned, I think that Super Cr3w is safe, and I think A.S.I.I.D. would be as well. A.S.I.I.D. is unique, stands out from the other crews and has a great story to go along with the onstage “it factor.”
I feel like all the other groups could be wild cards and potentially at risk. SoReal Cru is great, but have already risked comparison to Kaba Modern. And this is a totally nitpicky thing, but their onstage outfits are so muted compared to the cute flash of some of the other groups, I can’t help but wonder if that makes them seem a little less exciting than some of the other groups. A group like A.S.I.I.D. probably isn’t as technically good, but onstage, they have a package of costumes, swagger, and showmanship. If SoReal Cru could brighten up a little, with their talent, they could go as far as Shane Sparks saw – the final two. If not, though, I wonder if the audience might forget about them.
Phresh Select and Supreme Soul are in some ways competing for the same audience. They are all-guy crews who don’t have quite the same defining hook as Super Cr3w or Boogie Bots. I thought Phresh Select had a better performance than Supreme Soul last week, but will the audience agree?
And while Boogie Bots has branded themselves in a way that could be effective, differentiating themselves from the other all-guy crews, the judges noted last week that their name conjures up a sort of expectation that they haven’t met in what they actually did. If they took notes and reviewed their performance as they were directed, maybe they can improve to meet the potential we all saw.
We’ll find out how America voted and what the judges’ final say is tomorrow on America’s Best Dance Crew.
– Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of MTV)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
