A RANT: I’M IN DENIAL JABBAWOCKEEZ LOST

A GOLIATH HAS BEEN DEFEATED. ARE THEY THE NEW HEROES? WILL WE HAVE NEW HEROES?

 

A rant on a very disappointing truth: Jabbawockeez got eliminated so early on in the first season of World of Dance and I am still in denial.

I am a huge internet buff and so when I was browsing the internet one day, looking for cool stuff aka shows to watch out for June, I came across: World of Dance Premiere on May 30. Ain’t that just awesome? I binge-watched all seasons of ABDC and followed crews like I.Am.Me, Kinjaz, Sup3r Crew among others and yes – the Jabbawockeez. I am a fan of every dance reality TV show there is as evidenced by my ripping off the remote control from my brother’s hands when Dance Kids aired last year in my country. Anyways, according to NBC, the contestants will be divided into three divisions: junior (dancers ages 17 and under), upper (up to four adults), and team (five or more dancers, 18 and older). After four elimination round competitions, the winners of each division will compete against one another for the grand prize in the World Final. And this “grand prize” lives up to its name — it’s a cool $1 million.

 

Now what’s the deal, Mona? WTF is your problem? My problem is that WOD has not only managed to make me happy to see my favorite crews dancing on TV again, competing for a title all of us fans know they do not need to do battle on, but it has also made me utterly – and I do mean utterly – speechless that they have let two crews go because of what…. for lack of a better term (comfortability and being outdanced?) Er… hello? How can this dance outdance this? Or this one outdance this? And for real, if you did not just click those videos I put on those for… I do not want you reading my rant! Get outta here, yo!

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I AM PISSED! I AM GETTING CHILLS ALL OVER MY BODY! What little IQ I have left from the explosion that has just happened inside my brain cannot comprehend that this happened. World Of Dance, specifically Ne-Yo, Jennifer Lopez and Derek Hough judged wrongly twice! It was hard enough that Quick Style didn’t go through the second round in the Upper Category, but now … now they eliminated Jabbawockeez too? And the worst part is… that no one saw it coming. Okay fine. I know that this is a competition and I should not be a sore loser of a fan.  Okay fine, I know nothing about judging a dance on a professional level because the only ever “best dance” I do is with really close peers and I do not do it in the way that these awesome crews do, but I… in that very unprofessional intellect on dance matter, cannot understand how they lost after executing such a clean routine! World. of. DANCE. Not world of COOL TRICKS and COOL GIMMICKS. But hey, sorry for getting too ahead of myself in the rant. I shall explain.

 

Where to start? Now, all of you may or may not know the history of the Jabbawockeez (JabbaWockeeZ) but I am sure you have at some point seen them. These ‘masked men’ are for me, the pioneers of the change in the dance industry of entertainment. Ever since they signed up for America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008, they have since changed the world of dance, forever. JabbaWockeeZ’s history shows them first having three main members which gradually grew based off on contacts and what I would assume as auditions for one to be a part of the crew. If you know anything about how these things go down, you’ll know that there will always be people and they will know people who will inturn, know people and the list goes on. This means then that members of one crew could consist of one from another crew and vice versa. Other crews like Kinjaz, Quest Crew, Sup3r Crew, KABA Modern, are made like this. With just the passion to dance and show it to the world.

World of Dance, an NBC show people have been clamouring for for quite some time. Imagine me chilling in the living room watching dance videos and then in one related video, I see Jabbawockeez auditioning! Wait? What? They are competing?! Are they even allowed to compete? Is this clickbait?

A lot of thoughts come swarming up in my head and be like, “this is a done deal, y’all” and “I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen them dance on TV”. They danced to Still feelin it by Mistah F.A.B still giving off that cool freestyle vibe and the humour that they have always been known for. But I sit there, after they dance – looking like I’ve seen every rainbow and pot of gold and the comments the judges are blah! WTF?! Uhmm… A-okay. They get through. AT least. But then for this routine they get an 86? I don’t really understand. I have always been living in the bubble that dancing should not be about the ‘in’ thing because like everything else, dancing is ART.

What’s even pissing me off is the fact that some fans just don’t get it. They are acting like the ones they support is the best without even looking at it objectively. And one comment is just effin shit.

“Jabbawockeez are old-school, the Kinjaz crew is what’s new today and they are the best dance crew there is right now. But whatever, the Jabbawockeez have done a lot to and for the art form and the industry itself and for me, they are legends.” Then there is this: “Kinjaz are trying so hard to be like the Jabbawockeez. Doing isolations and all those really cool stuff that the Jabbawockeez did before them.” I do not get it! Is he being nice? Is he being sarcastic? Which side is he on? Kinjaz for one is made up big names in itself already. Ben Chung one of the founding members of Kinjaz is a former Jabbawockee and they have KABA Modern former members and former member of ANBU too. Stop being a hypocrite! Respect all crews. Having known people who live the life, I know their hardships. Don’t hate on them. No one is ever more ‘in’ or can outdance someone. And I really feel bad for Quick Style but Keone and Mari should be judges! Not competitors! Just take a look at this video and listen to the conversation! LIKE FUCK! Why are you killing my tear ducts!

I get it. I am a sad person. I should not be stressing myself over this.  Their life as professional dancers are not easy. My life as a fan watching the shows they compete in is not easy too. How can a clean routine get defeated by mere gimmicks? I have no disrespect for Ian Eastwood and The Young Lions. They should not have won that round. AND…. FROM AN 86 in the qualifiers, which seems to me like a quirky dance routine to a very clean dance routine and that awesome cannon move? THEY JUMP DOWN TO AN 84.7? I am just straight up pissed. Hough said it right. They were at a disadvantage. They are already famous. They have been since winning in 2008 and people expect a lot. BUT Phi Nguyen’s response is just as good. “We’re competing against our own catalog” and that… that is just what might make me want to watch this show to the end. Here is the full episode of the three-way battle that made me come out of hiding. 

 

BTW, Kinjaz did a sick routine in the second round, guys. If you wanna check their routine out, it’s right over here. Kinjaz was the runner-up in the 8th season of America’s Dance Crew.  

And I know.. You will probably like this one better but remember this:

HEROES ALWAYS GET REMEMBERED BUT YOU KNOW LEGENDS NEVER DIE.

 

Jabba didn’t win this round. Sadly. But they are a brand now, anyway. I should just go back to working. I’m out. Game of Thrones best not disappoint me! I should go ahead and bury my denial.