America's Best Dance Crew
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.[2] The series premiered on February 7, 2008, on MTV. It was originally developed for NBC as World Moves.[3]
| America's Best Dance Crew | |
|---|---|
 Season 1-7 logo | |
| Also known as | Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew |
| Genre | Competitive dance Interactive Reality |
| Created by | Howard Schwartz Karen Schwartz |
| Directed by | Michael Simon Ryan Polito (season 8) |
| Presented by | Mario Lopez (season 1-7) Layla Kayleigh (season 1-7) Jason Dundas (season 8) |
| Judges | JC Chasez (season 1-7) Lil Mama (season 1-7) Shane Sparks (season 1-4) Omarion (season 5) D-Trix (season 6-7) T-Pain (season 8) Teyana Taylor (season 8) Frankie Grande (season 8) |
| Composer(s) | Dylan R. Berry Noah Lifschey |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Randy Jackson Joel Gallen Josh Greenberg Abe Hoch Rob Lee Howard Schwartz Karen Schwartz Harriet Sternberg Austin Wagner Jane Y. Mun Joe Gallon |
| Producer(s) | Tom Park Deondray Gossett Quincy LeNear |
| Production location(s) | Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California |
| Cinematography | Scott Hylton |
| Running time | 60-90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Warner Horizon Television |
| Distributor | MTV |
| Release | |
| Original network | MTV |
| Original release | Original series: February 7, 2008[1] –June 13, 2012 Revived series: July 29, 2015 – August 29, 2015 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
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.[4] Former judges included hip hop choreographer Shane Sparks and R&B singer Omarion.[5][6][7]
After an initial seven season run, America's Best Dance Crew was cancelled in 2012 due to declining ratings.[8] However, on January 10, 2015, MTV announced that the series would be revived for an eighth season.[9]
The new season, titled America's Best Dance Crew All-Stars: Road to the VMAs, premiered on July 29, 2015.[9] 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.[10]
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
| Season | Winner | Original airdate | Judges | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | |||
| 1 | JabbaWockeeZ | February 7, 2008 | March 27, 2008 | JC Chasez Lil Mama Shane Sparks |
| 2 | Super CR3W | June 19, 2008 | August 21, 2008 | |
| 3 | Quest Crew | January 15, 2009 | March 5, 2009 | |
| 4 | We Are Heroes | August 9, 2009 | September 27, 2009 | |
| 5 | Poreotics | January 28, 2010 | April 8, 2010 | JC Chasez Lil Mama Omarion |
| 6 | I.aM.mE | April 7, 2011 | June 5, 2011 | JC Chasez Lil Mama D-Trix |
| 7 | Elektrolytes | April 11, 2012 | June 13, 2012 | |
| 8 | Quest Crew | July 29, 2015 | August 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.[11][12]
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"),[13] Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine (by the alias of "Танцювальні бої", lit. "Dance Battles"),[14] 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,[15] Solar TV, Jack TV, and The Game Channel in the Philippines, Fiji One in Fiji, and YAN TV in Vietnam.
Additional notes
- The opening title sequence created by Framework Studio won a Telly Award in 2009.[16]
References
- The Live Auditions Special (aired on January 26, 2008) was not the official season premiere of America's Best Dance Crew.
- "Randy Jackson is executive producer of 'America's Best Dance Crew.'". Associated Press. Boston Herald. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- Rocchio, Christopher (2007-11-15). "MTV begins production on former NBC Randy Jackson reality series". Reality TV World. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Marechal, AJ (2012-11-11). "Music stops for 'Best Dance Crew'". Variety. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
- Goldberg, Lesley (2015-01-10). "Randy Jackson's 'America's Best Dance Crew' Revived at MTV". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
- Hatchett, Keisha (2015-04-21). "MTV announces summer lineup, T-Pain joins America's Best Dance Crew". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
- "Randy fitted for a suit". New York Post. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
- Hughes, Mike (2010-02-15). "Bridgeport native files suit". TimesLeaderOnline. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
- "MTV.ru:Короли танцпола/Программы/Эфир" (in Russian). MTV Russia. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- "MTV.ua: TV/MTV Шоу/Танцювальні бої" (in Ukrainian). MTV Ukraine. Archived from the original on 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
- "Dance Crew USA" (in French). MTV France. Archived from the original on 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- "TELLY Awards - Winners". Telly Awards. Retrieved 2011-03-03.