This week's theme is Black Eyed Peas and futuristic challenges. Don't ask me why those go together when the Black Eyed Peas haven't been progressive hitmakers since before Fergie joined the group. Iconic Boyz must connect to each other while performing to "Just Can't Get Enough"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
They're sloppy and they didn't do the challenge for very long. I'm waiting to see when the "OMG they're SO totz cute" vote drops out if the judges have the nerve to eliminate them.
Phunk Phenomenon must do slow motion while performing to "Don't Stop the Party"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
Phunk Phenomenon seems right in their element with this song. They throw a bunch of different style out, including some nice footworking, that flow really well with the remix of the song. Their slow motion section is impressive for the breaker doing it in a handstand position. There's one sloppy moment where one of three breakers (the one on the left) misses an entrance, but otherwise it's a solid and entertaining performance.
IaMmE must create a robot while performing to "Meet Me Halfway"
Hit or Miss:Hit
Why?
Their challenge is to do what they already do. They make living machines through popping and locking. That's not a challenge. That being said, this is a great performance. They mostly worked in unison and no one was out of step. I'm especially fond of their floor work where they sat down and kept dancing in a circle. The robot was insane. They didn't just form a robot; they changed their choreography to be more mechanical and made everyone do the complicated footwork to achieve the effect.
Street Kingdom must use light sabers while performing to "Imma Be"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
Forget about the judges' commentary. They said the krumping crew didn't battle onstage so they did a bad job. They didn't battle onstage two weeks ago and they got universal praise for combining the raw energy of krump with actual choreographer. This week was no different. You can krump to a slow song and be powerful and Street Kingdom nailed it. If anything, the light sabers were the weakest element of the routine as they were used mainly to highlight the leader of the crew during solos. For some reason, the producers must want this crew off the show if the judges pulled a 180 like that. It's either that or there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what krump is. You aren't going to get perfect unison beyond basic movement as each person does the style differently. It's like Ringmasters (the bonebreaking crew from season 3) all over again.
787 Crew must teleport while performing to "Boom Boom Pow"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
The solution to their challenge is very good. It's perhaps the second best solution of the night. However, the stiffness to their movements I praised last week is a distraction here. They are so constricted in every single move that they fail to hit the actual groove of the Black Eyed Peas. 787 Crew can't be given a free pass because they break. If anything, as breakers, they should be better used to hitting the major musical elements of a song. They failed to do that this week.
Instant Noodles must create a video game while performing to "My Humps"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
Instant Noodles used their strengths--humor and loose movement--to play up video game imagery the entire way through their performance. There was nothing too innovative about the routine, but it was entertaining. They're clearly having fun and are skilled at what they do.
FootworKINGz and ReQuest are the bottom two crews as voted by America. America, how could you? I didn't even need to watch the results to know how this would go down. Every season, if an all female crew falls in the bottom two after the first audience vote, the other crew goes home. Even if there are only one or two guys in the other crew, they go home to project a false sense of diversity. So FootworKINGz, my second favorite crew behind Street Kingdom, were doomed to be sent home. But did they deserve to?
FootworKINGz must levitate while performing to "I Gotta Feeling"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
Strike 1: they did nothing innovative with the challenge. Strike 2: they did the same stupid challenge choreography twice and neither try had any real impact on the routine. Strike 3: when they sped up the track to do real footworking, they were really sloppy.
ReQuest must clone themselves while performing to "The Time (Dirty Bit)"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
For petty reasons alone, they nailed this. Judge JC Chasez hates rollouts (dancers get in line and fan out) and that's how ReQuest did their cloning. They also managed to make an unending series of rollouts look fun, novel, and compelling. They're greatly helped by the Nicki Minaj-esque hair, make-up, and costuming. Their choreography was spot on and they did the best job of making the challenge the actual focus of the routine since Fanny Pak all the way back in Season 2.
Next week is Katy Perry week. Apparently, JC Chasez got his longtime wish since this show has nothing to do with hip-hop music anymore.