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America's Best Dance Crew Recap: Vive la Evolution?
***SPOILERS*** Sunday night's episode of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew featured AfterElton favorites Vogue Evolution. Coming off of last week's controversial haranguing of transwoman Leiomy by erstwhile ally Lil'Mama, V.E. fans waited with baited breath to see whether all the drama would bolster the all-LGBT crew with sympathy votes, or permanently slow their roll, forcing them to duck-walk into the sunset. This week's challenge was "dance craze," with each crew assigned a move popular in hip-hop hot-spots — while utilizing a trampoline.
Ho-o-o-old up. A trampoline!? Did we tune in for dancing or Cirque de So-lame? Right off the bat, we learn that our favorite Voguers — smartly dressed in pink and blue rugby stripes — have placed in the bottom two, and will have to battle for their survival. Cue host/eye-candy Mario Lopez's segue in typically cringeworthy fashion (Uncle Mario, you're embarrassing me!) to the uber-preggers Layla Kayleigh, who thankfully resists the urge to copy Mario's faux-street shtick, and assigns Vogue Evolution the unenviable task of incorporating the "Halle Berry," a move that essentially pantomimes the application of rouge. Thanks for that, MTV. But first, the other safe crews perform. Afroborike debuts an energetic, hypersexual hip-hop routine, to mixed reviews. Next up are the Massive Monkees, who once again prove that dancing and spinning on one's head are mutually-exclusive skill sets; predictably the judges love it. Finally, Rhythm City puts on a respectable show based around "The Jerk," a move that has nothing to do with either Steve Martin or self-love, but serves up a buffet of punny lines for Lopez. At last the battle lines are drawn, and Vogue Evolution faces off against We Are Heroes, an all-female pop-and-lock crew that also placed in the bottom two last week. W.A.H. starts things off, and to our dismay, kills it and receives a massive ovation.
V.E. is next, but first we are treated to an intro video that thankfully gives Leiomy the chance to respond to Lil'Mama, saying the lil'rapper's critique "had nothing to do with the dance." Amen, Leiomy. Unfortunately, the crew's routine is less eloquent, and while judge Shane Sparks describes them as "one of the most charismatic groups" to ever take the ABDC stage, Vogue Evolution is forced to "walk it out." Amid the hugs and tears, Leiomy proudly announces "we love our community." And we love you, too, Leiomy! What do you think about the results? Did the judges naturally select, or was Vogue Evolution burned like a Kansas Biology book? Let us know in the Comments! Submitted by on Tue, 2009-09-08 15:40. |
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Not Fair
agreed.
i think VE had one important factor working against them. like you mentioned, no female has ever stood in the winners' circle on ABDC, and methinks the judges believe WAH has a better chance than VE. of course, they're wrong -- i would've stayed up all night to vote them through.
but i can't fault WAH; they brought it hard.
Am I watching the same show?
This Years current competition:
Afroborike (male/female, non-breakers)
Rhythm City(male/female, non-breakers)
We Are Heroes (female, non-breakers)
Massive Monekys (the only male breakers)
Last year's top 3:
1) Quest Crew (Male crew)
2) BeatFreakz (Female Crew)
3) Fly Khicks (Female crew)
notes:
Beatfreakz made it to the end. They dominated the competition all the way through, but their final dance just didn't stack up. That's why they didn't win. The Fly khicks made it to the finals, and were saved from elimination FOUR TIMES! And let's not forget that Fly khicks were not breakes. Placing at number 4 were Strikers Allstars who were steppers and 5th was Dynamic Edition (4 girls, 1 guy) who were Cloggers.
Other crews to make it to the end that were not breakers or all male:
-Fanny pak
-So Real Crew
-Kabba Modern
-Break SK8
-Fysh 'N Chicks
i don't
know what you mean by "make it to the end."
for example, being "kaba moderned" is now a major part of ABDC fans' lexicon, and is a verb that means to be voted off too early. for example: fanny pak was kaba moderned. of the crews you listed, only SRC made it to the finals.
and the only reason Quest Crew won was because their leading members came in with large fan followings from starring on "So you think you can dance," where they worked with Shane Sparks.
but you're right in the sense that the only peeps who are to blame are the voters.
Mixed Emotions
Once i heard that We Are Heroes we're in the bottom two with Vogue Evolution, i knew that VE was going home because of two reasons:
1. W.A.H are an AWESOME crew that really shouldn't have been in the bottom two in the first place after that great bollywood performance last week;
2. Leiomy's diva attitude, i totally agree with Lil' Mama with what she told her last week, and with Leiomy telling her to "kiss her ass" this week, it's obvious that she didn't take the advice given to her. Not to mention, W.A.H killed it in this week's performance. i'm sure if Massive Monkees or AfroBorike were in the bottom two instead of W.A.H, one of them would have went home.
Another thing is that i'm getting tired of breakers too, but i do really like JabbaWockees and Quest Crew and those were the two groups, based on their final performances, that really deserved to win throughout the past seasons. i do think the Fanny Pak shouldve won in the second season, but Super Crew stole that.
VE had an amazing run, and their's not gonna be forgotten anytime soon.
Um, no; they deserved to go.
Their performance was very sloppy and repetitive of what they've been doing on other routines. Afroborike probably should've gone before VE, but that's voting for you. I was appalled at the obscene face-fucking dance they did on national TV, for one.
Back to VE, WAH crushed them . WAH and Rhythm City are going to duke it out for the title, most definitely.
The issue with VE is that their last routine was not comparatively athletic and properly synchronized. The ending kiss was sloppy. Everything was pretty much sloppy and unimpressive. Nothing they did in that last routine made me gasp. I kept hearing about Leiomy's Matrix awesome move, but it never was brought out. It was always the same dipping and some elementary dancing. They barely used the trampoline (VE has a record of ignoring their tasks in favor of staying in their comfort zone).
So, yeah, after seeing WAH's superb routine, I really hoped VE would get their game together after the previous 2 crappy routines.I wasdismayed when they didn't.
In terms of consistency, they fell apart. 2 really flashy routines at the beginning; the rest were decent. You need to nail it consistently in a show like this to keep up your votes.
Furthermore, their weakness laid in the members being accustomed to single dancing, not team-dancing. Vogue as a genre is very individual. This show requires superb teamwork, and their relative new dabbling as a team showed.
VE was a good team, and I'm happy for people like Leiomy getting to put a positive face to young American transgenders. I really didn't like how the emphasis was often on her as a team, though. For being a gay crew, they were pretty heteronormative in going with the usual model of showcasing the female figure and female sexuality instead of giving their male members some sexual prominence as well.
I have yet to see-- and continue to hope for-- a team that will bring sexualized males to the forefront.
can't fault your logic.
it was probably their time; but they had a good run. but i have to disagree with you on one point: i *do* like Afroborike, and i didn't find the move in question to be any worse than a lot of the other crews'. (but still not for the kids.)
also, for more footage of VE discussing Lil'Mama, there's a great vid up on MTV's Remote Control Blog, that features the crew's impression of Leiomy's "death glare:"
http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/2009/09/03/video-vogue-evolution-stand-by-leiomy-all-the-way/
there're also a few pre- and post- elimination interviews.
LOL! I actually really like Afroborike.
Ignoring the trampoline? I
I am very saddened to see
i would
totally watch that show!
UPDATE!
in a horribly ironic twist, next week's theme is VMA memorable moments, and We Are Heroes, who bested Vogue Evolution were assigned...
"Vogue" by Madonna.
Clearly, the producers figured VE would still be around by this point in the competition.