America's Best Dance Crew

Last updated
America's Best Dance Crew
JacksonDanceCrew.png
Season 1-7 logo
Also known asRandy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew
Genre
Created by
  • Howard Schwartz
  • Karen Schwartz
Directed by
  • Michael Simon
  • Ryan Polito
Presented by
Judges
Composers
  • Dylan R. Berry
  • Noah Lifschey
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes73
Production
Executive producers
  • Randy Jackson
  • Joel Gallen
  • Josh Greenberg
  • Abe Hoch
  • Rob Lee
  • Howard Schwartz
  • Karen Schwartz
  • Harriet Sternberg
  • Austin Wagner
  • Jane Y. Mun
  • Joe Gallon
Producers
Production locations Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California
CinematographyScott Hylton
Running time60-90 minutes
Production company Warner Horizon Television
Original release
Network MTV
ReleaseFebruary 7, 2008 (2008-02-07) –
August 19, 2015 (2015-08-19)

America's Best Dance Crew, often abbreviated as ABDC, is an American competitive dance reality television series that features both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former American Idol judge Randy Jackson. [1] The series premiered on February 7, 2008, on MTV. It was originally developed for NBC as World Moves. [2]

Contents

The show was hosted by actor Mario Lopez, and featured television personality Layla Kayleigh as the backstage correspondent. The judging panel consisted of hip hop recording artist Lil Mama, singer-songwriter JC Chasez, and dancer Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval. [3] Former judges included hip hop choreographer Shane Sparks and R&B singer Omarion. [4] [5] [6]

After an initial seventh season run, America's Best Dance Crew was cancelled in 2012 due to declining ratings. [7] However, on January 10, 2015, MTV announced that the series would be revived for an eighth season. [8]

The new season, titled America's Best Dance Crew All-Stars: Road to the VMAs, premiered on July 29, 2015. [8] Hosted by Jason Dundas, the revival features a new judging panel: hip hop artist T-Pain, recording artist Teyana Taylor, and Broadway performer Frankie Grande. [9]

Overview

America's Best Dance Crew is a competitive reality show where dance crews showcase their talent and compete for a $100,000 (USD) grand prize and the golden ABDC trophy (a figure of a b-boy doing a freeze, with its legs moving like a bobblehead). Each week, the crews are given a challenge. The challenges are different for each crew, but have the same general concept or share a specific theme. To begin each episode, host Mario Lopez reveals, in no particular order, which crews are safe and which crews are at risk for elimination. After the crews in the bottom perform their routines, the judges decide which crew will advance to the next round.

Another unique aspect of ABDC is the crew banner. Each banner's logo represents its respective crew, appearing during interviews, performances, and on various merchandise. It is also used as a transition effect. When a crew is eliminated, their banner falls from the top of the stadium, where the banners of the crews still in the running stand. The contestants are allowed to dance one final time on the stage as they "walk it out" to the song of the same name.

Season summary

SeasonWinnerOriginal airdateJudges
Season premiere Season finale
1 JabbaWockeeZ February 7, 2008March 27, 2008 JC Chasez
Lil Mama
Shane Sparks
2 Super CR3W June 19, 2008August 21, 2008
3 Quest Crew January 15, 2009March 5, 2009
4 We Are Heroes August 9, 2009September 27, 2009
5 Poreotics January 28, 2010April 8, 2010 JC Chasez
Lil Mama
Omarion
6 I.aM.mE April 7, 2011June 5, 2011 JC Chasez
Lil Mama
D-Trix
7 Elektrolytes April 11, 2012June 13, 2012
8 Quest Crew July 29, 2015August 29, 2015 T-Pain
Teyana Taylor
Frankie Grande

Controversy

MTV and Randy Jackson were sued by entertainer and activist Dwight McGhee, publicly known as rapper Citizen Charlie Kane, in 2010. Kane had pitched the show concept to MTV in 2004 and MTV "passed" on the concept. When Charlie Kane saw a commercial that depicted the 1970s Warriors' movie that looked exactly like his pitch demo DVD, he filed the suit. Many production elements between the show and Kane's 2003 copyright registration of a "break-dancing league" were identical. TMZ and NYPost were a couple among the many major media organizations to run the story. Viacom/MTV and Charlie Kane came to a mutual settlement in 2011. [10] [11]

International distribution

ABDC airs on MTV in the Caribbean, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Russia (by the alias of "Короли Танцпола", lit. "Kings of the Dancefloor"), [12] Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine (by the alias of "Танцювальні бої", lit. "Dance Battles"), [13] and Romania.

In Canada, the show airs on both MuchMusic and Musique Plus (the episodes on MP are 2 years late) and in Latin America, the show airs on Warner Channel. The show also airs on AB1 and MTV France, where it is called Dance Crew USA in France, [14] Solar TV, Jack TV, and The Game Channel in the Philippines, Fiji One in Fiji, and YAN TV (?), VTV3 (Nhom nhay sieu Viet, 2021) in Vietnam.

Additional notes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jabbawockeez</span> American hip-hop dance crew

The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008. Established in 2003 in San Diego, California when dancers Kevin "KB" Brewer and Joe Larot put together an innovative dance crew. They participated in dance competitions with the idea of striking a balance between dancing to the music, and dancing as an artistic expression.

The first season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on February 7, 2008. The season, hosted by Mario Lopez, featured a judging panel consisting of Lil Mama, JC Chasez, and Shane Sparks. In the live finale, which aired on March 27, 2008, JabbaWockeeZ was declared the winner.

The second season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on June 19, 2008. The live auditions special took place on June 7, 2008. The season was hosted by Mario Lopez, featured Layla Kayleigh as the backstage correspondent, and included Lil Mama, JC Chasez, and Shane Sparks as judges. In the live finale, which aired on August 21, 2008, Super CR3W was declared the winner.

Super CR3W is a male assemblage of hip-hop dancers originating from Las Vegas, Nevada. The group won the second season Americas Best Dance Crew in the finals. Contrary to popular belief, Super CR3W was formed long before their appearance on Americas's Best Dance Crew, specifically in 2000. They wanted to bring the dance style, "Breakdancing/B-Boying" to the world.

The third season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on January 15, 2009. The season was once again hosted by Mario Lopez and featured Layla Kayleigh as the backstage correspondent. Lil Mama, JC Chasez, and Shane Sparks returned as the judging panel. This was the first season without a special casting episode. In the live finale, which aired on March 5, 2009, Quest Crew was declared the winner.

Quest Crew is an American hip-hop dance crew from Los Angeles, California who were declared winners of the third season of America's Best Dance Crew. They made their first few appearances individually on shows like So You Think You Can Dance and at events such as Kollaboration 8 and World of Dance. They helped with the choreography for well-known duo LMFAO and have previously toured with them as well. On August 29, 2015, Quest Crew was declared all-star champions of Season 8 of America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) receiving $100,000 and the ABDC trophy again. This is the crew's second time being declared champion of MTV's hit show.

SoReal Cru is a hip-hop dance crew from Houston, Texas who gained fame as the runner-up on the second season of America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC). Before ABDC, they won first place at the World of Dance competition in Pomona in 2008. After the second season of America's Best Dance Crew was over, they returned to MTV for a two-part ABDC special, Battle of the VMA's. In the spin-off, popular crews from seasons one and two competed for an opportunity to win $25,000 for charity and to present the 2008 VMA for Best Dancing in a Video. Alumni crews BreakSk8, Fanny Pak, Kaba Modern, Status Quo, and SoReal Cru participated in the event. SoReal Cru danced to Forever by Chris Brown and made the cut in the preliminary rounds while BreakSk8 and Status Quo were eliminated. After the public voted, SoReal Cru lost to Fanny Pak and Kaba Modern for having the fewest votes. After a dance off at the VMA Preshow, the public voted again, and it was announced during the VMA's that Fanny Pak won.

The fourth season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on August 9, 2009. All three regular judges, host Mario Lopez, and backstage correspondent Layla Kayleigh returned. This was the last season to feature Shane Sparks as a judge. In the live finale, which aired on September 27, 2009, We Are Heroes was declared the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Pak</span> American dance crew

Fanny Pak is a ten-member contemporary, hip-hop and jazz-trained dance crew from Los Angeles, California that gained popularity after appearing on the second season of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC). Often while performing, the crew wears bright clothes and bold patterns reminiscent of the 1980s as well as fanny packs, which is where their crew name originated. In addition, all of the members were born in the 1980s. The crew returned to ABDC on the seventh season, placing fifth in the competition.

We Are Heroes is an all female popping dance crew best known for being the first all-female crew to win America's Best Dance Crew with their title in Season 4. The winning prize amount was $100,000 in cash as well as ABDC's Golden B-Boy Trophy. Their styles of dance is popping, locking, tutting, and waacking, and also Nichelle and Ali are trained in gymnastics and can do flips.

The fifth season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on January 28, 2010. Similar to the live casting specials featured in the first two seasons, the first three episodes consisted of separate regional auditions before proceeding to the official national-level competition. Shane Sparks did not return as a judge this season, due to his arrest, and was replaced by Omarion in his only season as a judge. In the live finale, which aired on April 8, 2010, Poreotix was declared the winner.

Poreotics, also known as Poreotix, is an American all-male dance crew from Westminster, California. The crew was formed in 2007 by Matthew "Dumbo" Nguyen and specializes in popping, choreography and robotics, hence the name Po-reo-tics. They have performed in numerous hip hop dance competitions, most notably coming in 1st place in the USA division of the 2009 and 2010 Hip-Hop Internationals and in other dance programs and competitions including the Vibe 15, FUSION X, Body Rock, and World Of Dance. On April 8, 2010, they were crowned the champions on the fifth season of America's Best Dance Crew. On January 14, 2011, they were crowned as Team of the Year at the World of Dance awards.

The sixth season of America's Best Dance Crew, also known as America's Best Dance Crew: Season of the Superstars, premiered on April 7, 2011. Taking a different route from past seasons, the crews performed to the music of one specific artist each week, including Rihanna, Lil Wayne, and other stars. The season also featured special guest appearances by various music celebrities including Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, and Kanye West. Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval, a former member of Quest Crew, the winner of the third season of America's Best Dance Crew, joined returning judges Lil Mama and JC Chasez as the newest judge. In the season finale, which aired on June 5, 2011, I.aM.mE was declared the winner.

I.aM.mE is an American hip-hop dance crew from Houston, Texas. The group rose to prominence after being crowned champions in the sixth season of America's Best Dance Crew. The three founding members, Phillip Chbeeb, Di Moon Zhang and Brandon Harrell, formed I.aM.mE after Marvelous Motion Crew disbanded. Three additional members, Chachi Gonzales, Emilio Dosal, and Džajna "jaja" Vaňková, joined later after an audition.

The seventh season of America's Best Dance Crew, also known as America's Best Dance Crew: Return of the Superstars, premiered on April 11, 2012. Return of the Superstars used the same show format of the previous season, in which the crews performed to the music of one specific artist each week. The season featured artists including Rihanna, Britney Spears, Madonna, Pitbull, David Guetta, LMFAO, Jennifer Lopez, Drake, Flo Rida, and Katy Perry. In the live finale, which aired on June 13, 2012, Elektrolytes was declared the winner.

8 Flavahz is an all-female dance crew originally based in both Honolulu, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California. They are best known for being the runners-up of the seventh season of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew.

References

  1. ↑ "Randy Jackson is executive producer of 'America's Best Dance Crew.'". Boston Herald. Associated Press. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  2. ↑ Rocchio, Christopher (2007-11-15). "MTV begins production on former NBC Randy Jackson reality series". Reality TV World. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
  3. ↑ Gorman, Bill (2011-03-31). "Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval, Season Three Winner Of MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew," Returns As The New Judge When Season Six Premieres April 7". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  4. ↑ Ghosh, Korbi (2010-01-11). "'America's Best Dance Crew' exclusive: Is Shane Sparks being replaced?". Zap2it.com:Korbi TV. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  5. ↑ Rocchio, Christopher (2008-01-16). "MTV to debut Randy Jackson's 'America's Best Dance Crew' on Feb. 7". Reality TV World. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  6. ↑ Rocchio, Christopher (2008-01-24). "Rapper Lil Mama to serve as 'America's Best Dance Crew's third judge". Reality TV World. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  7. ↑ Marechal, AJ (2012-11-11). "Music stops for 'Best Dance Crew'". Variety. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  8. 1 2 Goldberg, Lesley (2015-01-10). "Randy Jackson's 'America's Best Dance Crew' Revived at MTV". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  9. ↑ Hatchett, Keisha (2015-04-21). "MTV announces summer lineup, T-Pain joins America's Best Dance Crew". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  10. ↑ "Randy fitted for a suit". New York Post. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  11. ↑ Hughes, Mike (2010-02-15). "Bridgeport native files suit". TimesLeaderOnline. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  12. ↑ "MTV.ru:Короли танцпола/Программы/Эфир" (in Russian). MTV Russia . Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  13. ↑ "MTV.ua: TV/MTV Шоу/Танцювальні бої" (in Ukrainian). MTV Ukraine. Archived from the original on 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  14. ↑ "Dance Crew USA" (in French). MTV France. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  15. ↑ "TELLY Awards - Winners". Telly Awards. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
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