I.aM.mE and ICONic Boyz

I'm just gonna go ahead and copy & paste this straight off my Tumblr. I've been doing these reviews of each episode of America's Best Dance Crew this season on my Tumblr. It's down to the final 2 crews. I'm trying to get my message out to every one who Googles up anything related to the show: Vote for I.aM.mE

Warning. This is an extremely long analysis.

What in the world? The true finals happened in the bottom 2. Phunk Phenomenon and I.aM.mE killed it this episode. ICONic Boyz? Not so much. However, ICONic Boyz should be worried for two reasons:

1. I.aM.mE was beyond spectacular and even had the judges on their feet applauding with uncontrollable smiles on their faces after their last performance.
2. History is not kind to the crew that gets the free pass into the finals. Each crew that has won ABDC had to fight in the Bottom 2 to reach the finals.

With that said, let's get onto the reviews. I'll start with the Kanye West challenge first.

• ICONic Boyz - They started off nice...except T-Money. The kid really has to start putting some energy into his movements. The boogaloo section was decent. The isolation section got lost after the head/shoulder isos. I'll admit, the dougie on the ground was sick. I actually got hyped when they did that. The dougie section was good. Nice touch at the end making it rain.
  My rating: 6.5/10
• Phunk Phenomenon - They truly deserved to be in the Top 2. The beginning with the dougie was hot. I smiled when Cassandra played the part of the gold digger and the guy's pulled out their empty pockets when the song went "broke, broke". I died. Then Bebo went into a hollowback while bobbing up and down on his arms. Nasty. Seriously, Bebo is the MVP of this crew. He is hands down amazing. The swing under and jumping over Trey was jaw dropping. The isolation was hot. They even threw in some housing. I applaud you Xclusive.
  My rating: 9/10
• I.aM.mE - WOW! What in the world...the one edge that I.aM.mE has over every single crew this season is the tracks they use. They have like an endless supply of dubstep that fit the song perfectly. The opening with the isolations blew my mind. Pacman bone breaking and tying his arms behind his back then going down in the bridge with Jaja walking over him was amazing. They then did my favorite move with the shoulder isolations. Beautiful. That head spin between the arms was amazing. The dougie wasn't as amazing (I just used that word three times in a row) as the isos but that's freaking hard to top. However, they brought it back up with the boogaloo section. When they had Emilio, Chachi, and Jaja on the ground between the other 3's legs wiggling their legs, my mind was overloaded with awesome. When they swung Chachi up and Jaja came under, I lost my mind. Then Emilio just had to land a perfect flip over everyone else to cement the greatest performance of the season.
  My rating: 11/10

I really wanted to see what Phunk Phenomenon would do for their final performance. Hope it pops up on YouTube some time soon.

• ICONic Boyz - The beginning was nice, but they lost too much time just walking down the red carpet. But once they got down to the dancing, wow. I have no complaints with what they did. I love crews that can house. These kids can house. The tutting was completely unexpected. It was actually pretty nice. This is what they should have been focusing on all season. They have good footwork. Their footwork won me over again. I loved them in the beginning of the season, but lost me in the middle until this performance.
  My rating: 8/10
• I.aM.mE - Anyone who likes dance should watch this performance. I don't even know what to say but WOW! The song itself...WHAT?!?! PERFECT! The beginning had NO beat and they STILL killed it. I don't even know what happened in the beginning. I don't even know what to call it. The swift movements. The intricacy. Just watch and you'll understand. But that was only the beginning of the sickest final performance since Quest Crew (and I'm a huge Poreotics fan). They proceeded to highlight everyone's individual strengths through elements. Emilio's tricking was dope. Chachi's grooving was hot. Jaja's strobing was so raw and ill. I have to say this...Brandon had the hottest track in his solo. His footwork to the piano was beautiful. I'm so glad Moon got his chance to show off his finger tutting. Best finger tutter in the world I tell you. Pacman...this man is made of rubber. I learned how to do arm waves through his videos. So freaking fluid. You think that's it? NO! They have more after their solos. What is that they do with their entire body and tutting? It's so amazing. It's GORGEOUS! The ending was perfect. Spelling out "I" "M' "E" on the floor at the end was the perfect touch.
  My rating: 27/10

DO THE RIGHT THING AND VOTE I.AM.ME! It's not because I don't want ICONic Boyz to be ABDC. It's simply because I.aM.mE deserves it so much. After I finally finish this post, I'm watching both performances in this episode about 1203912x more.

Just Dance

"Everyone secretly wishes they can just break out and dance" - James

How true. I've heard people say "I can't dance" or "I wish I knew how to dance" so many times. Everyone has the ability to dance. It then goes into if you can do it well or not. But don't fret, no one can be Michael Jackson right off the bat.

There are many reasons why someone should dance. You could be looking for a new hobby. You could be starting it with a bunch of friends for fun.

This brings me down memory lane of why I started dancing. I used to believe that I couldn't dance. I used to say all that stuff (in the first paragraph). I just thought dancing was cool, but it never crossed my mind that I would be a dancer. Then comes the problem every high school boy comes across in their senior year.

Prom is coming and I don't know how to dance.

Basically, my prom date is one heck of dancer. I didn't want to embarrass her by not knowing how to dance. If you're a guy, you know what went through my head. We're supposed to be the guys. We have to take the lead. But how can we take the lead when we have no idea what to do. Solution? The internet. I spent who knows how long looking up videos and browsing forums in hopes of learning how to dance. I asked a friend to help teach me. The months leading up to prom were spent learning how to dance. And you know what? It was fun.

I enjoyed myself learning. I used to practice by myself on an empty train platform as I waited for the train to come. I used to try and play it off if a stranger walked on the platform and saw me. Soon, that didn't even matter anymore. I would just tune them out with the sound of music blasting from my iPod.

If it weren't for the common dilemma guys face when high school prom approaches, I might not be dancing. I look back and I'm proud of the initiative I took to dance. To everyone out there who thinks they can't dance: Yes you can. Incredible dancing skills aren't gonna be served to you on a plate. You're gonna have to practice. But it's fun.