America’s Best Dance Crew: The Quest to Beat the Freaks

That’s right, ABDC fans! America’s Best Dance Crew crowns another winner! It all came down to Quest Crew and Beat Freaks, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I had a favorite. One crew who I was really hoping would win. And while you may have guessed by now that I was absolutely hoping the title went to my girls, Beat Freaks, Quest Crew pulled out the victory, carrying home an ugly gold trophy and $100,000 courtesy of Randy Jackson!

So I know what you’re thinking: Why would I watch a show on MTV, a station that kicked me out of it’s demographic when I graduated college and now only airs shows about fake reality stars, over the top game shows, and an outdated, irrelevant version of The Real World?

I understand that you’re probably watching ER instead, because it’s the last season ever and Clooney’s coming back. While that may be important, you can rent that on DVD in a few months. Heck, just replay it on NBC.com the next day. Because on MTV, what you’ve been missing is one of the best dance shows on television. Sure, you can watch a bunch of non-A-listers tango and foxtrot over on Dancing with the Stars. And So You Think You Can Dance has a bunch of amazing individual dancers in a number of different genres. But over on ABDC, you get the heart and soul of dancing: teenagers and young adults who many times are self-taught, with no hopes of dancing professionally, vying for a title and a little extra cash with friends and family, all for the love of dance. These are kids going through real life right now, who will return to it when the party’s over, and for a few months, they get to be rock stars. In turn, they amaze the dancing shoes off the rest of us, blow our minds, and entertain us better than 90% of the other shows out there (I don’t know anyone who’s going to choose ABDC over Lost, except for me).

Which brings us to Season 3 of ABDC. First of all, a marked improvement over the crews MTV gathered for Season 2. All I’ll say about that prior nonsense is that obviously Fanny Pak should have made it to the finale, and then they most likely would have won the title.  Considering how lacking the talent was last year compared to Season 1, it’s amazing the show even came back.

But it did, and thank heavens, because the crews this season were ridiculous. Having witnessed the New York auditions and seen the great crews out there, how could the producers give us anything less? Well done, Michele McNulty! Each of the crews were outstanding – they entertained while delivering on their challenges, and the judges made all the right elimination calls.

Except for one crew. What the eff is up with the Fly Khicks? Would someone at ABDC please let me know why they continually cast a crew of all females who were/are cheerleaders? Don’t tell me the Fly Khicks aren’t cheerleaders. They dance at basketball games to rev up the crowd, and while any one of those ladies could dance circles around myself (heck, they could be bundled up in sweaters and snowsuits and still walk better than I do), they never match up to the rest of the crews. Yes, they came in third this season and they had a couple of decent routines, but there’s a reason they consistently came in the bottom come voting time. There’s only so many times you can shake your ass and call it dancing, when the crew next to you is pulling out isolations, headspins, flips, and intricate choreography. ABDC does this every season, and it’s insulting, really, as a female.

Which is why I was beyond jazzed with the Beat Freaks and how well they matched up to the male teams. They produced some of the most memorable performances, especially with their Illusion challenge. They managed to be creative, inventive, and skillful. They could break with the boys, pulling out some of the same tricks, while killing it with inventive choreography. That robot section over Katy Perry’s Hot n Cold? Sick! I could go on for days, but to sum up: These ladies Rocked. The. House.

Another favorite was Strikers All-Stars, a step team from Florida A&M University. How incredible was it to see stepping on national television? Long overdue. Their mirror challenge performance was probably their best night. Dynamic Edition gave us clogging, bringing that … odd… dance form to the masses. I wanted them to do better, but there’s only so much you can do with clogging. BreakSk8 set a much higher standard for unusual dancing shoes, and we’ve yet to see it matched. And while Ringmasters brought something extreme to the dance floor, I never quite understood the appeal of popping your bones out of their joints to a musical beat. Lil Mama loved it, but the heck if I know. Nevertheless – their Britney/Circus routine was one of the highlights of the season.

But we come at last, to Quest Crew, who took home the title. Though I really wanted Beat Freaks, their final competition, to run away with it, Quest Crew was just a little bit cleaner, had just a little more talent, and a few more tricks. I can’t be mad that they won – they were excellent rivals for the ladies, and for their final routine before the voting lines opened, Quest put out a better performance than Beat Freaks. In the end they earned it, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy them all season as well. Not always as memorable, but always solid and entertaining.

But wait, I’m not done critiquing. Was it me, or did Mario Lopez seem bored this time around? His enthusiasm felt a little forced. And as much as I’d love to sit and chat and be best friends with the judges, could someone tell me what was going on with Lil Mama’s hats this season? Where did they come from and who told her they were a good idea? Shane Sparks, who has always agreed with everything I’ve always said from my couch (except regarding Fly Khicks), seemed, um, not quite there the last few weeks. Still agreed with me, which is the only thing that matters really, but he got weird towards the end of the season. I’m hoping it’s only temporary. Thankfully, JC Chasez remained consistent, if a little stiff. It’s nice to see him working, isn’t it? Despite all the weirdness and Lil Mama’s tears, this is one of the very few shows where the judges are smart, to the point, and genuinely supportive of the talent. Their egos have very little do with why they’re all there.

The only real problem with the show, which after three seasons MTV doesn’t see and therefore will never fix, is the assumption that everyone watching at home has ADD and/or cannot appreciate dance unless it looks like a music video. This drives me absolutely nuts. The crews choreograph their routines, generally, to face the judges. They sometimes jump off the stage, or dance on the floor (requiring an aerial shot), but almost always, the routines are meant to be seen from the front, even though we’re in a round theater. Why do the producers feel the need to constantly change angles and fly the cameras around the stage, thereby cutting off the performance and ruining the effect? If the routine is meant to be seen from the front, they should hold the stage in frame, changing if necessary. All this cutting and running and wide shots and close-ups ruin the experience for those of us at home. Thankfully, much of the performances aren’t lost, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve grown frustrated watching this show, losing little moments or the full effect of a performance because some idiot in the booth thought it’d be cool to catch an angle on the side of the stage. If you’ve never seen the show, don’t let this discourage you – it’s the only major pet peeve I have. Aside from the existence of Season 2.

I think we should all forget that middle season ever happened, if you ask me. Season 3 is a nice evolution off of the JabbaWockeeZ win, and really brought the show back to what made it so great the first time around. If you enjoy dance, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t watch this show. It seems to be doing great things for MTV and for the crews who win. That means there’s sure to be a Season 4, and I can’t wait.

America’s Best Dance Crew, Season 3 on MTV (2009)

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Photographs courtesy of MTV