America’s Best Dance Crew Episode 3

This week’s challenge is martial arts–each crew gets a different martial arts style that they must incorporate into their routine. They bring in a martial arts master to help.

The first two crews that are safe for another week: Afroborhike and We Are Heroes.

Afroborhike is first. They gets kapuera (lucky because it incorporates music and dance into it already) to the tune of “I Know You Want Me.” In their pre-dance video we learn that one girl has injured her ankle. They get up to perform and you can see how things have been adjusted for the girl who is injured. Shane says it was weak and boring. Lil Mama thinks they could have come harder. JC agrees, not spectacular.

We Are Heroes is second. They receive karate as their style which involves a lot of low power stances. Performing to “Starstruck.” Definitely a more interesting and themed dance (though I hate their outfits!) Lil Mama thinks they are dope risk takers. JC says it started slow and picked up. I agree with that. Shane says they thought it out and good job.

Between Rhythm City and Vogue Evolution, one group is safe and one is in the bottom. Moving on to next week is…Vogue Evolution.

Vogue Evolution receives kung fu into their style, which incorporates animal movements. They perform to “Masterpiece.” I’m not as impressed this week as last, I think it was sloppier and a little simple. JC can’t seem to speak. He said it woke him up. The choreography was fun but not necessarily difficult. Shane says he did not like it (boos from the audience), he wants to see more of them and their style. Lil Mama says they performed but it wasn’t difficult choreography.

Between Massive Monkeys, Beat Ya Feet Kings and Southern Movement, two are safe one must battle. The crews definitely back are Massive Monkeys and Beat Ya Feat Kings.

Massive Monkeys are responsible for extreme martial arts (sounds appropriate for the group). The kick they picked looked pretty week but otherwise the dance was pretty cool. Shane says very exciting but they didn’t do their kicks. JC loved their freshness but didn’t quite do the task. Lil Mama agrees they didn’t complete the task but their performance was action packed.

Beat Ya Feet Kings get tae kwon doe as their challenge. They perform to “Chillin.” I dunno it seemed slow. Lil Mama thinks it had a steady pace and tight. Shane syas crews need to be new and creative not doing things that are like youtube videos. Step it up. JC says he got the story but there weren’t levels.

The Battle:

Rhythm City gets muay tai. No idea. But it came out cool (also a good choice of music).

Southern Movement is assigned kali (which has a weapon). I missed something I think because I did not see their slide move, but the dance was also pretty good.

Ultimately, Southern Movement was eliminated.

P.Diddy’s Starmaker

The show opens with Diddy saying “you know what I do, I make dreams come true.” From what I’ve seen on his various Making The Band shows, he’s also destroyed a number of dreams as well, but there’s certainly a ton of drama involved.

14 singers are gathered together in LA “for their shot at fame.” Cue each person saying this is their dream, music is everything to them, and they’ve given up everything for this opportunity.

Surprise, Kimberly Caldwell, American Idol alum is the mc. She’s neither here nor there in that department, sort of a necessary component but doesn’t bring much to the stage. (American Idol has certainly launched careers of one type or another for many of its contestants, whether music oriented or otherwise. If nothing else, it allows them to be part of other reality shows about people who were on reality shows. There’s something so bizarre about that.) She introduces P.Diddy as the ultimate VIP and her boss. She sounds like she’s trying to be louder and more excitable than she actually is. It’s a little weird to hear.

Diddy’s looking for “swagger.” (Why is choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson judging a singing competition? I will say, she’s waaay nicer than she used to be, calling people babycakes and muffin and saying something nice to counteract the more critical one’s commentary.)

One of the things this show is missing is the clips of the singers where we get to know and care about them. Most of them got a one line throw away like “she quit her bjob to come here” or “he has an eight year old daughter” but that’s about it. We haven’t seen their personality. It could just be that this was before we determined who the “finalists” are since the only the top 12 move into the house.

The editing is poorly done. Half the time they tell us exactly what the judges are going to say to a particular contestant before they’ve performed. We shouldn’t know who is bad before we see it!

It’s a poor imitation of American Idol with a lot less talent. I hope things pick up soon.

Kyle XY- Final

Well, now I’ve seen it all, at least as far as the show goes. With only ten episodes in season 3, we didn’t get very far, and we of course ended off with a cliff hanger (much like Angel and Dark Angel). What will Kyle do to Cassidy? Was Cassidy lying about his relation to Kyle? Who will Kyle choose?

I personally hate cliff hangers. If a network is going to end a show, end it. Granted, sometimes they hope the show will get picked up again, they didn’t know they would be canceled until after the season had been written, or, if they’re a little lucky, they’ll manage a movie out of it like Serenity and Dead Like Me. Let’s face it though, there’s no plans for either option. (Has ABC Family ever done something like that?)

I’m disappointed with the whole Kyle-Jessie relationship. Again, it’s just so predictable. I’d have preferred Jessie to grow and move on, realizing that having the same birth story doesn’t necessarily mean you’re soul mates. Also, why are they so hyper aware of each other? I would have liked an answer (a scientific one) to that. Because just being born the same way doesn’t explain it. If there were more of them, would they all feel that way?

The Andy-Josh thing was so sad. I almost hoped for a Topanga-Corey resolution (despite how ridiculous that one was).

A lot of the questions we’re left with get answered to some extent or another on the ABC Family website, though I find a good number of the answers unsatisfying. For example, Kyle’s life would find him alone and working for the betterment of humanity. The idea that a hero can’t have someone to share their life with is such an unhappy one and considering how quickly Kyle can solve problems, unnecessary. Superman had Lois Lane. Scott Summers had Jean Grey. And it would be one thing if Kyle were fighting off super villains all his life but ending world hunger doesn’t require secrecy.

There’s also something supremely frustrating about the Kyle-Amanda relationship. If it was Amanda’s music that attracted him, then anyone who could play well would garner the same attention. I hate relationships built on “she’s so pretty” or “wow, she plays music so well.” They’re so superficial and not about the people. Whereas Declan and Lori as well as Andy and Josh, for all their issues, have a solid foundation and personalities that matched up over time.

But while the cliffhanger was frustrating, season3 certainly carried some high impact with it. (Amanda’s kidnapping, Jessie’s revelation, Mark’s secret connections, etc.)

Kyle XY Part 3

Finally into season 3 and sadly close to the end of the series.

We get a fighting action sequence–it’s about time!–but the truth is they were battling against people so inferior to them that it wasn’t much of a fight. How great would it be to find there were more of these pod people like Kyle and Jessie so we can get a real hand to hand?

I absolutely LOVE Andy and Josh. They’re the best relationship out there. Well, I guess mostly I don’t like that Kyle and Amanda, though perfect for each other, are kind of personality-less. (And why is it he can tell everyone else his secret but not Amanda who would accept anything with him?) And Declan is way too good for Lori (though I wish he’d actually explained why he broke up with her beyond “I’m Kyle’s secret keeper”). So Andy and Josh are perfect, both with personalities and super cute together.

Then there’s Lori’s new love interest. I don’t want to ruin anything here, so all I have to say is: great job writers. Perhaps one of the best bits of writing they’ve done yet. And everything that I know about him (getting into Season 3 Episode 2) is intriguing to say the least.

I’m bothered by the whole Hilary-Lori friendship. They basically ignore the fact that Hilary iced Lori at school–which is not fighting it’s brutal bullying. And Lori just forgave her. Something like that shouldn’t go unaddressed as it sends the message that it’s not such a big deal to do that to someone.

I like that the show is once again delving into the secrets of Kyle (and Jessie). Quire frankly, Jessie is the far more interesting of the two, with personality quirks, issues, and perhaps a bit of craziness.It’s unfortunate that Kyle is super oblivious to her to the point where he is kind of negligent of her. (Yes, she’s overly obsessed with him and does stupid things, but he had someone to guide him in everything that she didn’t and she’s clearly in need of his help but he never notices.) And what was that comment the psychic made about her? I am so not interested in Kyle and Jessie becoming a super couple or anything like that though. WAAAY too predictable among other things.

So far so good. I can’t wait to see where the final season goes.

(I will make one serious complaint: they make this huge deal about Kyle’s lack of navel and then there’s a scene–I forget which episode–where they definitively show his belly button. Of all details to screw up…

Also a question, why is it that whenever someone pregnant is about to give birth in some unexpected location, they’re always wearing a dress and always lacking underwear when the time comes?)

See the final part.