Hit or Miss: America's Best Dance Crew: Season 6, ep. 5
This week is the Rihanna challenge. And, as I sarcastically predicted, they are required to do dancehall choreography. Who gets saddled with the Dutty Whine and who only has to do the simplistic Give It A Run? And how come no one has to Butterfly? Instant Noodlez must do The Head Top to "So Hard"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
Instant Noodlez are a bit too frenetic this week. Even their moment of The Head Top--the delightful move where they do a headstand and bounce their booties--isn't as obvious as they've been the past few weeks. They over-thought the routine and came out with something that's hard to focus on or remember.
ICONic Boyz must Give It A Run to "Only Girl (In the World)"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
I feel like I'm a broken record. This crew isn't ready. They aren't together on the choreography and the variance in skill level is too great to overcome. And no, the answer is not sitting out the one kid who can't even come close to Give It A Run while he pants like a dog from thirty seconds of choreography. The solution is to find a way to hide your weaknesses and bring out your strengths. Basic moves with showcases of exceptional talent are probably the way to go here. If you bring the charisma and energy, you can skate by with that rather than almost creating a pecking order of ability that can't be good for the lesser dancer's confidence week after week. This week, the closest thing to a strength is schoolyard humor. Acting like a girl is funny, ergo, we shall all impersonate Rihanna at some point in this routine.
IaMmE must do The Spiderman to "S&M"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
Wow. IaMmE killed it. From the opening skating gag on the backs of the other crew members to the body wave formation to The Spiderman segment (oh MTV, I knew you wouldn't really let them do The Spiderman), they nailed it. They were clean, clever, and coordinated. There was a story to the routine and the moves actually flowed together. Where has this crew been hiding the past three performances?
Street Kingdom must Dutty Whine to "Rude Boy"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
Street Kingdom takes a whole lot of time to build up to their Dutty Whine segment and then they don't deliver. The crew splits into two groups: the girl and one guy, the rest of the crew. That means the rest of the crew is doing some gentle krumping in the background (it's as awkward as it sounds) while the girl is shaking her booty and camping it up. It's a misguided routine that doesn't play to their strengths. Furthermore, their Dutty Whine is awful. They're doing some weird locks in the move that's supposed to be fluid and seductive; instead, they look like they need to be loosened up with an oil can or are all candidates for hip replacement surgery. Street Kingdom is much better than this.
The bottom two crews are Phunk Phenomenon (finally) and 787 Crew (what?). Who stays and who goes? And is it the right choice based on their performances this week?
Phunk Phenomenon must do The Chaplin to "Don't Stop the Music"
Hit or Miss: Hit
Why?
It's actually more of a mixed routine. They're exciting, clean, and engaging with their performance, but I'm not seeing much of The Chaplin in their routines. I think they're doing some variants but I can't be certain. Am I misguided in thinking The Chaplin is a slide from the heel to the toe and back again while angled to the side? Cause that's the only The Chaplin I know of and I don't see it here. Still, at least this week Phunk Phenomenon were entertaining and balanced out their weaker members with choreography and formations that showcased the group to its best potential.
787 Crew must do Gallis Step to "What's My Name?"
Hit or Miss: Miss
Why?
Another crew that's more mixed than outright good or bad. While I saw 787 Crew do Gallis Step (which is an awful, wicked dance move to learn in a week and incorporate into a routine, but that's beside the point as they did it well), they took just a little too long to move between their different steps. They were walking a lot more than they should have and if I know anything about the judges, I know they hate walking between formations. If they connected the moves better and had more energy, they might have outlasted Phunk Phenomenon.
But that's not what happened. Phunk Phenomenon moves on for being entertaining, clean, and high-energy while 787 Crew goes home for choosing the wrong week to coast.
Next week, the crews dance to Justin Bieber music. I will reserve judgment until the episode airs.