For current information on this topic, see America's Best Dance Crew (season 4).

America's Best Dance Crew
"America's Best Dance Crew"
Format	Interactive reality game show
Directed by	Michael Simon
Presented by	Mario Lopez Layla Kayleigh
Judges	JC Chasez Lil Mama Shane Sparks
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	24
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joel Gallen Abe Hoch Randy Jackson Rob Lee Howard Schwartz Karen Schwartz Harriet Sternberg Austin Wagner
Cinematography	Scott Hylton
Running time	60/90 minutes
Production company(s)	Warner Horizon Television
Distributor	MTV
Broadcast
Original channel	MTV
Original run	February 7, 2008[1] – Present
Chronology
Related shows	MTV's Top Pop Group
External links
MTV.com Official website

America's Best Dance Crew, which is often abbreviated as ABDC, is an American television show featuring street dance crews from the United States. The show is produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and airs on MTV.^[2]

The show is hosted by former teen actor, two-time game show host, and Dancing with the Stars runner-up, Mario Lopez and features television personality, Layla Kayleigh as the backstage correspondent. The judges are hip-hop artist; the rapper, Lil Mama, former *NSYNC member JC Chasez, and hip-hop choreographer Shane Sparks.^[3][4] The series was originally developed for NBC.

JabbaWockeeZ were declared the winner of Season 1 on March 27, 2008, defeating Status Quo in the finale. Super Cr3w was declared the winner of season 2 on August 21, 2008, defeating SoReal Cru in the finale. Quest Crew was declared the winner of season 3 on March 5, 2009, defeating Beat Freaks in the finale. We Are Heroes was declared the winner of season 4 on September 27, 2009, defeating Afroboriké in the finale.

[edit] Overview

America's Best Dance Crew is a "reality show" where dance crews from the streets compete for a $100,000 (USD) prize. Each week, the crews are given a challenge. The challenge is different for each crew, but of the same general challenge. For example, one challenge included a set of a school gym, and the crews had to incorporate beats with the props on stage (lockers, bleachers, jump ropes, etc.). Every week there is a performance/results show. Mario Lopez reveals which two crews are in the bottom two. These two then do the performances they were planning on doing if they were safe and then the judges choose which crew was better and that crew stays while the other crew is eliminated. Since the first season, the winning crews also receive the Golden B-Boy Trophy, a golden statue of a B-Boy doing a freeze, with the legs moving like a bobblehead. During the first two seasons, the third place winner tended to be the "powerhouse" crew many expected to win. Another unique aspect of ABDC are the crew banners. The logo on the banner represents that crew, appearing on merchandise, appearing in the background for interviews, and also just as a transition effect. When a crew is eliminated, their banner falls off the top of the stadium where the banners of the crews still in the running stand.

In August 2, 2009, as a prologue for the next season, the show premiered a special hosted by Randy Jackson called "The Top 10 Performances of All Time" where Randy Jackson showed his top 10 picks of the first three seasons.

The Top Ten Performances are as follows:

1. JabbaWockeeZ's Michael Jackson week performance (Season 1)
2. Quest Crew's Last Chance Challenge performance (Season 3)
3. Season 1 Top 4 Broadway Week "Hard Knock Life" Group Performance (Season 1)
4. Strikers All Stars' Britney Spears Challenge performance (Season 3)
5. Kaba Modern's Crew's Choice performance (Season 1)
6. Beat Freaks' Illusion Challenge performance (Season 3)
7. Dynamic Edition's Sudden Death performance (Season 3)
8. Breaksk8's Dance Craze Challenge performance (Season 1)
9. Fanny Pak's Missy Elliot performance (Season 2)
10. Super Cr3w Crew's Choice performance (Season 2)

[edit] Season summary

[edit] America's Best Dance Crew (Season-by-Season)

[edit] Season 1

The first season premiered on February 7, 2008. Dance crew JabbaWockeeZ was declared the winner of season 1 on the Thursday March 27, 2008 season finale, and received the $100,000 (USD) prize and a touring contract.

[edit] Season 2

The second season premiered on June 19, 2008. Dance crew Super Cr3w was declared the winner of season 2 on August 21, 2008 season finale, and received the $100,000 (USD) prize, the Golden B-Boy trophy, and a touring contract.

[edit] Season 3

The third season premiered on January 15, 2009. Quest Crew was declared the winner of season 3 on March 5, 2009 season finale, and received the $100,000 (USD) prize as well as the Golden B-Boy trophy.

[edit] Season 4

The fourth season premiered on August 9, 2009. We Are Heroes was declared the winner of season 4 on September 27, 2009 season finale, and received the $100,000 (USD) prize as well as the Golden B-Boy trophy.

[edit] Season 5

It was announced at the September 17, 2009 episode taping that America's Best Dance Crew has been picked up for a fifth season. Mario Lopez revealed on the Season 4 Finale that the fifth season would air in January. He had also announced that preliminary casting (pre-auditions) had already started on MTV's casting page. Season 5 will have the Live Audition where 12 crews will battle and 3 will be eliminated. Auditions will be held in November and December 2009 in Atlanta, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. ^{[5][6] [7]}

[edit] International distribution

In Canada, the show airs on both MuchMusic and Musique Plus.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• America's Best Dance Crew at the Internet Movie Database
• America's Best Dance Crew at TV.com