America's Best Dance Crew: West Regional

The show's not over yet, but Season 5 for America's Best Dance Crew is shaping up to be entertaining. My early favorite has got to be the all-Asian crew from California, Poreotix, which just got selected to the Nationals. They aren't a traditional b-boy crew but have a unique style which is pretty entertaining.

Hype 5-0, another Asian crew from Hawaii was also selected and I like their style and energy.

More on this later.

"Girls On The Dance Floor" on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 finale!!

America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) is airing their Season 4 finale tonight. I've been a fan of the show for the past three seasons for many reasons. While it helped that the previous three winners of the show prominently featured Asian-Americans, I found the majority of the dance crews very entertaining.

Alas, I haven't found Season 4 of ABDC as compelling as the previous seasons. Unlike the previous seasons where there were clear crowd favorites, there was not one crew that stood out to me. It's clear that America felt the same way as various crews bounced in and out of the bottom two throughout the season.

However, I still watched the show, and especially looked forward to the season finale. Besides naming the winner, I especially like how the judges select various groups to dance with each other. One of the best performances came last season when Quest Crew (Season 3 winners), Strikers All-Stars and Dynamic Edition were selected by Shane Sparks to perform in the Season 3 finale. A link to the performance is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPzsKi7N6YU

As I type this, I am watching the ABDC Season 4 finale. Imagine to my SURPRISE when the first three crews selected by judge Lil' Mama to perform (We Are Heroes, Vogue Evolution & Artistry In Motion) danced to the song GIRLS ON THE DANCE FLOOR by Asian-American hip-hop group FAR EAST MOVEMENT.

Here's a link to the original song on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limGtd-DmZM

Far East Movement (http://www.fareastmovement.com) has been around for years and the group definitely has it's share of fans. However, the group was still relatively unknown to mainstream audiences until recently. When Far East Movement released Girls On the Dance Floor last year, many DJ's took to the song and began spinning it on radios and clubs all over the United States and beyond. Among the biggest supporters of Far East Movement and the Girls On the Dance Floor song was LA's Power 106 radio station (http://www.power106.com). Far East Movement's reputation was slowly rising.

Thanks to Girls On The Dance Floor being played on the ABDC Season 4 finale tonight, the boys of Far East Movement may find their reputation growing even further. The national exposure the group has been craving for years may finally be there for the taking.

Girls On The Dance Floor , as well as other songs from Far East Movement's most recent album ANIMAL are available on ITunes and other online retailers. I highly recommend it!

(SIDENOTE: Congrats to We Are Heroes for winning Season 4 of ABDC)

America's Best Dance Crew - Martial Arts Challenge

I just finished watching this week's episode of the 4th season America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) on MTV. This week was the Martial Arts Challenge week. The dance crews had to incorporate moves from various martial arts styles (Kung Fu, Karate, among others) into their dance choreography.

Alas, it appeared the challenge made things difficult for the dance crews. The first several dance crews struggled to incorporate the martial arts moves into their dances and were called out for it by the judges. Ironically, it was the final two crews that performed did the best in incorporating martial arts in their dances. Unfortunately, these last two crews were also up for elimination!

While the challenge may have hurt the dance crews competing tonight, I think it was a good idea. The show had Steve from Quest Crew (winner of the 3rd season of ABDC) present the various martial arts styles to the dance groups. Judging from the reactions of some members of the dance crews, it was clear they had no idea of what some of these martial arts style were.

It was great that MTV had Steve explain the various martial arts styles that exist. Most people are aware of martial arts in a general sense. They may have seen a Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Bruce Lee movie or watched a mixed martial arts fight. However, most people don't know the difference between Kung Fu, Karate or Muay Thai (three of the styles presented today, among others). Martial Arts is an important part of Asian culture and it was great to see this presented on TV to a large audience.

It may have been a conscience choice by MTV because the past three seasons of ABDC have been won by Asian-American dance crews. They may have been playing to the large Asian audience that may be tuning in. Alas, the irony is that the only all Asian/Asian-American dance crew part of this season's ABDC was eliminated during the first week. However, there are some Asian-American members that are part of the other crews.

While I don't claim to be a big hip-hop dance fan, I have tuned into the show because it was great to see Asian-Americans represented in something they are not known for. Asian-Americans don't get a lot of exposure in prime-time TV but ABDC is one of those exceptions.

Lastly, I think ABDC is the best reality show out there due to it's diversity. It shows people of all cultures doing what they love (dance) but also interacting and working together. I think ABDC has proven that people do not care who is performing as long as they are entertained. I hope that network TV and movie executives pay attention to this in the future. We have a big melting pot in the United States but it sometimes is not accurately represented in the mass media.