Robbed: Kaba Modern on America’s Best Dance Crew
March 20th, 2008, 11:19 pm · 30 Comments · posted by Kat "I eat 'til my pants hurt" Nguyen
**Hey all, it’s Kat from Style Scoop/Food Frenzy … I’m guest blogging tonight because I’m such a nerd for America’s Best Dance Crew …
I’ve always secretly wished that I had amazing dance skills ever since I watched Soul Train as a kid and even more so when my kid brother and I started watching breaking videos. So it’s no surprise that my butt has been glued to the couch every Thursday to watch “America’s Best Dance Crew” on MTV.
As soon as I found out that an OC crew made it as one of the 12 finalists competing for the title and a $100,000 cash prize, I was beyond stoked.
UC Irvine’s very own Kaba Modern had six members from its hip-hop dance team competing. These kids — Mike Song, Jia Huang, Lawrence Kao, Cindy Minowa, Tony Tran and Yuri Tag — represented the newest generation of diverse hip-hop dancers and quickly earned a reputation with the judges for their precise, intricate choreography.
Alas, after earning high praise from the judges for nearly every routine, Kaba Modern found themselves at the bottom two last week and tonight, they were eliminated after making it to the top three. Click HERE to read the story. The final two crews are San Diego’s JabbaWockeeZ and Boston’s Status Quo.
I was at the taping of tonight’s episode — which actually took place Tuesday night in Culver City. Only had a minute to interview the weary-looking Kaba Modern dancers backstage before we had to get seated for the actual show. And I have to say this, Kaba got ROBBED …
When Status Quo was announced as the No.1 vote-getter from viewers and were safe from elimination, my jaw hit the floor. Are you kidding me? That loud eruption of cheers that you heard on the show tonight? Didn’t happen. When the announcement was made, there was light applause. People around us were confused and shocked. There was booing. And chants of “Recount! Recount!” Of course, that was noticeably absent from what aired on TV.
I have nothing against the guys from Status Quo and as fun as their flips and stunts are on TV, I don’t see much dancing at all. I mean, if all I wanted were flips and stunts, I’d pop in “Bring it On” or watch ESPN’s televised cheerleading competitions. The SQ dancers themselves have even admitted that they were performers more than dancers in an interview with a reporter from the Boston Globe. And they’ve been dinged by the judges nearly every week for sloppy choreography.
I’ll go out on a slight limb and say why, from a marketing perspective, it makes sense to keep Status Quo. They’re a scrappy, authentic, from-the-streets crew from the East Coast. It makes for better TV to pit a West Coast crew against an East Coast crew. So Kaba had to go. That’s my theory. I wish I could have seen them in the finale against JabbaWockeeZ. Or if it had to be an East Coast crew, Live in Color could have danced circles around (and out-stunted — if that’s a word) Status Quo. Even Iconic was better than SQ. Heck, I’d even take BreakSk8 over Status Quo.
That said, JabbaWockeeZ better emerge as the winners. They killed it on tonight’s episode and they’ve consistently been on point and entertaining to boot … guess we’ll find out on next week’s live finale.
I hope to see more crews from OC make it onto the show next season (which is set to air in June). That is, if it turns out to be a legit competition to find the best dance crew, not stunt crew.
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March 20th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Yes, Kaba was robbed, that battle belonged on next weeks show. I feel no need to watch anymore now.–Even though I love Jabbawockeez a little more, I liked watching them compete against other good teams. Since they are no longer doing that, I’m done.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:55 am
Agreed that the Kaba vs. Jabba battle should have been reserved for the finale. Sigh. I’m still going to root for JabbaWockeeZ and to see if Kaba is going to get to perform at the finale … after Kaba was eliminated, the audience kept chanting “Let Kaba Dance!” so much that they were brought back to perform what would have been their dream routine if they had made it … alas, MTV didn’t air it at all Thursday night.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:26 am
The reaction on Kaba’s face when they announced that Status Quo was safe from elimination was priceless…they totally got robbed and it sucks that MTV/Randy Jackson chose to make it this way. It’s obvious, it’s for ratings but come on…Both Kaba and Jabba have killed it since the beginning. This was totally rigged. Randy Jackson will do anything to make a buck. Funny thing is that he’ll always be in the shadows of his American Idol counterpart Simon Cowell.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:04 am
Jabba and Kaba Modern were the best two groups.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:07 am
It was pretty obvious that y’all were going to have East Coast and West Coast throwin’ DOWN, y’all, you know what I’m sayin’? Didn’t matter if the two best crews were from the West.
Bad judging is just one of the show’s problems. Let’s hope for season two they spend more than 45 cents on the production.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
MTV and Status Quo are nothing but jokes. I will post an interesting read as to reasons why Kaba got the boot. Screw YOU MTV!
I have been thinking of this recent rigging of MTV’s ABDC, with Kaba Modern getting kicked off a show. I can speak on behalf of all my friends, and say that Kaba deserves to be on. Well, they should be, only to realize that MTV is doing this for their network, ratings, and uniting the nation to watch their show. Here’s why:
Think about an all West Coast battle. A crew from San Diego and a crew representing Orange County. Both are massively skilled and are killin’ it. However, here is the issue for MTV. The focus is going to be on strictly West Coast if Kaba and Jabba were to make it. The way that MTV looks at it, this is horrendous for their ratings. They are losing their East Coast viewers and everybody in between. So, this leaves MTV with a problem. Do we: A. Give the people what they want, a kick a*s battle? or B. Save our viewers, Atlantic to Pacific? They ended up choosing B, with intentions of keeping choice A. How did they do that: deliver that anticipated battle tonight. With kicking Kaba off tonight, we get to see that kick ass battle, MTV gets massive ratings tonight, and is ensured even better ratings from next week, from Jersey,to the nobody states in between, to the border of Mexico in California. AND LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST: issue of RACE. 2 Asian crews? This type of dance was invented by African-Americans, leaving MTV with one question: Are we going to lose black audience? Putting in Status Quo, leave issue of race out of this and at the same time, give the “inventors” of this dance the ‘respect’ they deserve. I mean, without the token black crew, MTV would be doing so poorly right now. They lost all the fans of Kanye West (read further). Next, the rest of black audience? In addition, 2 Asian crews: a joke to MTV. ALL POLITICAL/MONEY/RATINGS/BULLSHIT. Reganomincs Much?
MTV needs to stop this bullshit. Last time they cheated out something out of greatness: Kanye opening for VMA’s in 2007. Who did they choose instead: Bimbo Spears. And for what purpose: RATINGS!!!!!! So, on behalf of all my Facebook Friends:
MTV, SCREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 21st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
KABA MODERN SHOULD BE IN THE FINALE! they should be dancing against jabbawockeeZ and even though they would lose, it would be a tight battle to watch. status quo is just going to do the same things they always do, they just do flips and all of thier performences seem the same to me. i understand that it difficult to do a flip, but c’mon we know you can do it stop doing the same thing over and over.
Kaba Modern got jipped! jabbawockeeZ should have been the top group, as they really are (MTV MOST LIKELY RIGGED THE SHOW) and kaba would have killed status. its rediculous how they got eliminated just for an east vs west showdown. people want good competitions not a slaughter at the end.
i didnt waste my time watching this show for it to end in crap.
and the judges, wow they really suck. shane knows what hes doing but as for lil mama, she is just a wierdo and she acts like she knows a lot but really the people performing probably know more about dancing than she does, just because she got famous for a stupid song about makeup doesnt mean she can judge dancing. and the last guy i dont remember his name…jc? i think i dont really have an opinion about him, i just dont think he knows what he is doing.
next time put out a few more bucks for the judges and the show would be much better.
i hate listening to lil mama’s dumb voice all the time.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I’m really disheartened at MTV’s BS
I grew up in the OC and moved out to boston a few years ago
and I can say that when I saw status quo perform this past Summer it was interesting then got boring real fast I never thought I’d see them on MTV especially not in the top2.
And in addition to the east vs west angle, there is the status quo ” token black group” + their sad story about how empty their pockets are with a cool 100,000$ grand prize at the end of the rainbow. It would see as though MTV is giving SQ as many chances as possible to do something amazing and actually earn their dues. But in the end we all know that Jabbawockeez will ultimately put SQ in their place.
With the news that kaba will perform in the season finale I can sleep tonight and hope it will be nothing short of memorable while (***) Status Quo will be sent packing.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:35 pm
LOL i clicked on the oc register article listed in this article and it had a quote from shane sparks saying Status QUo is the crew to beat!!!??!?! Are you kidding me? jabba wockeez can come out and just to sit up s and push ups and still win.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I believe that Kaba and Jabba - like most people agreed should be in the finale. The thing is, I have been reading so many comments and forums regarding last week’s elimination. if you go on mtv’s website at http://www.mtv.com you will discover that many people are angry about the rigging that has taken place. Status Quo had an 85% thumbs down rating from viewers, while they are considered “the number one team to beat”. This show was definitely one of the best shows on MTV but as of Thursday’s elimination, it has lost so many respect as well as viewers because of their unfairness. The faith and the trust that the audience has for MTV has definitely been broken.
To MTV: Congratulations on making your ratings! Too bad it went down rather then up. Should of been truthful. Why vote when you already determined the winner?
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
So I’m watching this episode and thinking to myself, “forreal? How the hell are they gonna rip KABA like that?” I mean, there is no way that Status Blows can out dance Kaba; they can out flip them yes, but no way can they out DANCE them. I mean seriously, how messed is MTV to do this. I see some possible truth in SCREWMTV’s conspiracy theory, it seems to make sense. I mean with all the crap that Status Blows got from the judges in previous episodes, it’s surprising to see them still in this competition (SUPPOSEDLY that’s what it is). Excuse me, Status Quo is a good crew just not the best. AMERICA”S BEST DANCE CREW, or so they say. Think about this: 1. UCI’s Kababayan (KABA for short) Modern has been around for years alongside the likes of Cal State Long Beach’s PAC Modern, Team Millenia, and Culture Shock; just to name a few of the many… They have honed their skills year after year. These foo’s have been around since the early 90’s dancin and battlin around and winning competitions like nobody’s business. 2. Kaba, like the Jabbawockeez , have been super consistent since their auditions. True Yuri’s mishap was untimely, it in no way should have cost them THAT many votes. Look at SQ, they have messed up pretty much everytime they step on stage. Yet for some reason they’re still in this (CONSPIRACY) competition. 3. HMMM, let’s see….OH YEAH- KABA MODERN IS PLACED SECOND IN THE WORLD. At the 2007 World Hip Hop Championships they placed second, against numerous other crews from all over the globe. Damn they’re sick and they even have the credentials to back it up. Kaba Modern you guys should be battlin the wockeez. We know it, the fans know it, and stupid a** MTV knows that sh*t. That’s real talk.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am
I think that Randy Jackson had Kaba Modern’s music changed the day before the Grease routine to try to make one of them slip, in order to justify having them slip into the bottom two the next week. And RJ has been going into the crowd to pump up SQ to get the crowd to accept his anointment.
It’s floating all around that SQ was picked to be the winning crew a long time ago. One of my friends had someone, who was in the know, tell him 3 weeks ago the exact order that the crews were going to be eliminated and it has transpired exactly that way. I hope that with all the uproar on the WWW, that Randy Jackson will actually let it be a real competition for the last week (i.e. let Jabba win) to save face.
Other than that, after his gastric bypass he has lost more than just weight, he has lost his credibility as well. OUCH! I wouldn’t be surprised if legit crews stay away from this show next season.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:52 am
just another dance fan,
Thanks for the link. That was a good performance.
I think it is funny that someone in the audience can use their own camera and produce something that it is much easier on the eyes and is better at showing the competitors than the constant changing angles and shots that MTV producers have used for this show.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
wejomerv,
No problem I’m glad you enjoyed the vid. It’s funny how you mentioned the camera. I remember when the show first started, a lot of the people on the ABDC forums were complaining about the camera angles. I have been watching Kaba and other dance teams compete at various events for years, and every single show that’s recorded doesn’t move around like ABDC. Ok, maybe once in a while it’ll switch to a second angle ONCE IN A WHILE. Again I’m glad you enjoyed it. They have countless other vids, hope you’ll find some more to like.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:22 am
“DANCE PUPPETS! DANCE!!!” - Randy Jackson
For any of you that thought this was a competition all along are sadly mistaken. Let’s look at the facts:
1.) No vote tallies the entire time, so there was no way of telling who got the most votes except for A.C. Slater telling us so.
2.) Celebrity judges were given way too much power in the decision making. (Celebrity judges are just that … Figureheads that “dance” for the producers).
3.) They played on Status Quo’s, and other down in out crews, story way too much (the fact that they came to LA with nothing, even $ to get a ride back home), as more of a PR scheme to give the effect that they are living the “American Dream”.
4.) BreakSk8, however much I did not like them, got COMPLETELY sandbagged with “Dream Girls”.
5.) Kaba was put up against Jabba when the physical challenge was to emulate locking, popping, and breaking … all skills that Jabba are best at. (In my opinion as soon as that one Jabba was done with his 50 revolution headspin, the entire competition was over at that moment).
MTV spends WAY too much time manipulating their “reality” shows. If Jabba doesn’t win, I am never going to watch another program by Randy Jackson’s charcoal burnt, deflated ass, or by MTV.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I agree with PCfromtheOC…
First of all they only had try outs for the show in 4 cities… So crews living somewhere else that cant afford to get to one of the tryout locations were automatically excluded. There could have been some top notch crews that didnt try out… Also, keeping Femme5 just cause they were midwestern girls?? common! Im a midwesterner and I think they had no business being on the show!
Whoever mentioned the camera angles: thats why I stopped watching long ago. I got dizzy from it!
Lastly, if you remember the commercials from before the show started, it showed all kinds of dance from ballet to stomp. They didnt even know what they were doing yet.
If America really wants the “Best Dance Crew” they would film and air true competitions like someone mentioned ESPN’s cheerleading or like PBS’s Ballroom Dancing Championships…
March 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Well…what do ya expect, thats MTV for ya.
and yes kaba got robbed, status quo is weak, no style no image. just flips and tricks
we all know who the clear winner will be this thursday….if status quo wins this thursday that’ll be lame
March 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
MTV and ABDC producers are extremely stupid to think that an east coast/west coast battle would bring more ratings… this of course going on with the theory that the show was rigged.
Surf the web, check youtube, check forums, check facebook.. EVERYONE .. i mean EVERYONE here knows who should be the final two… Kaba and Jabba have the LARGEST fanbase… if it came down to a battle between kaba and jabba .. the excitement and more importantly, the DANCE LEVEL would be off the roof!
that finale alone would bring buzz for years to come. no one will ever remember a battle between jabba and SQ .. we already know who owns between the two. GREAT BATTLES always go into the history books… it’s been proven time to time in ANY type of medium.
lets say SQ DID get top vote.. why didn’t MTV just rig it there and let Kaba and Jabba face it off… it only brings them MORE ratings, MORE excitment, MORE fans and in the end.. MORE ENTERTAINMENT!!
not only was Kaba Modern was robbed… Jabba WockeeZ was robbed with a chance to have a REAL battle… and also.. the FANS were ROBBED!! we lost out on the greatest show that could have been.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I agree with h.nguyen.
Jabba AND Kaba were robbed. SQ wasn’t a challenge for the Jabbawockeez! They could have defeated them with their eyes closed.
And the fact that SQ even MADE it to the final 3 shows how rigged this show was. Every week they were criticized, whereas Jabba and Kaba had practically flawless performances every week.
And who the HELL voted for SQ?? 38 million votes and Status Dopes made it on top?? Who are all these supposed SQ fans?? Who does MTV think they’re fooling??
Viewers should boycott, let this show die off the air. Randy Jackson is a grade A jackass.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I think Status Quo deserved to be sent home from the start. They SUCKED more than Kaba Modern did and I felt that KM deserved to go against JabbawockeeZ
March 29th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I think you are all missing the picture of these voting shows. how many times on american idol did judge favorites get eliminated early because of a lack of vote? jabbawockeez and kaba modern split the asian/west coast vote and status quo had much of the east vote. (and anyone who likes stunts)
honestly, jabbawockeez was not going to lose, they were by far the best crew. jabbawockeez and kaba modern had similar dancing styles and jabba was better than kaba.
live in color had one move (@$$ shaking)
Iconic was bad (you lose all credibility with this comment)
breaks8 was fun for awhile, but you see their limitations after a few weeks
“best dance crew” and not “best stunt crew”. should they go out and ballroom dance? would that please you more?
March 30th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
That was such bs that Kaba got elimnated. It is obvious that Kaba is way better than SQ. The show is rigged and Randy Jackson wanted an east coast group for ratings and he didn’t like too asian Cali teams in the final. On an interview on TRL when there was still 4 groups left he said his favorite was Jabba and SQ. It pisses me off that he controls who has the most votes. There is NO WAY that SQ got more votes than Kabba and Jabba. I am so pissed!
March 31st, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I agree Kaba Modern did get robbed.
Status Quo was more of a crowd-pleasing crew that did stunts, but I think Jabba vs. Kaba would have been the best.
But hey, all of this is rigged from the start. The whole point of shows like this? To make profit. It’s low-cost (the ‘actors’ come to you to audition and you don’t pay them much) and it gives the illusion that the viewers have a choice so it will get many viewers. In the end it’s all controlled by the producers and Randy Jackson is simply a corporate tool.
That’s not to say it was completely inaccurate though. The decisions were quite fair, to a certain extent. I say Live In Color’s elimination was completely unfair, but that’s coming from someone from the region that knows one personally.
And I have to disagree with you, unbiased opinion, because, well, one, voting didn’t really matter much for the most part here, and two, because Kaba Modern probably got as much votes as both of them. I think of it as
People who give the asian/west coast/dance votes: about 70%
People who give the stunt/east coast votes: about 30%
Split the 70 between Kaba and Jabba and you’d get about equal in all three.
But I’m probably wrong; the stunt/east coasters may have mad more.
And Jabba and Kaba did have similar dancing styles but they were distinctly unique, there’s a clear line between them. That’s why I think it would have been more interesting with those two, since they are similar but different in their respective areas. I want to see Jabba do isolations the way Kaba does them. I also want to see Kaba do flares like Jaba does them.
LIC did have one move, but you can say then that SQ only had stunts.
Iconic was definitely not a bad crew, they were great. If SQ had not done that amazing Soulja Boy routine then I’m sure Iconic could have gone further. They were great (by the way, you lose all credibility with my comment. See how unfair you were?)
But I agree on Breaksk8. They did get to their limitations after a while, yes.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
I was so shocked when i heard that SQ got the most votes that night … leaving Kaba and Jabba to battle it out …
After reading your blog, everything makes sense now.
There is NO way SQ could have garnered top votes. MTV must have rigged it, or maybe some votes didn’t get through, and they are hiding that fact.
I am sure Kaba and Jabba got the most votes that night. None of them had even tasted being in the bottom two, so how come all of a sudden, they are in it now? And all because of SQ? Yeah right. Maybe to a better team, but never because of SQ.
I have to mention something very odd.
Live in Color was one of the top crews there, and yet the judges sent them home to save Fysh n Chyks. Again, this makes No Sense. Why? Fysh was at the brink of elimination for weeks. Why would the judges send home Live (which was, in many ways, the better crew) I also noticed Lil Mama’s face when they saved Fysh. She was pissed as hell. This tells us that the decision ws decided PRIOR to the actual taping and voting, and that the judges don’t even agree with it.
The bottom line is … MTV lied to us. Randy Jackson lied to us. When I heard that the show isn’t even live anymore, then i knew the possibility of them editing out stuff had also opened up.
I don’t even know if I will still watch the new season of ABDC.
Please, everyone, spread word of this blog posting to everyone that you know is a fan of the show.
If enough word gets out, maybe MTV will stop trying to cover up, and stop lying to the fans. More importantly, maybe they will stop lying to the dance crews.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
i agree with everyone that thinnks that MTV rigged Kaba Modern. I saw it on youtube in one of kaba Modern’s perfromances the Sensual Seduction one. In the real performance Tony Tan’s mouth was close and in the SLO MO it was open. that why now i know that MTV is lying.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Personally Randy Jackson and MTV are to blame for ripping off JabbaWockeez a chance to take on Kaba Modern. They deserved a real match in the finals and KM was more of a power house dance crew than Status Quo. I Booooooooed Status Quo being saved over KM big time and MTV shouldn’t have edited out everyone arguing and booing. Status Quo deserved to be booed by the audience who disliked their performance.
Jackson and MTV wanted to save Status Quo instead of KM because they wanted an East Coast/West coast battle. Newsflash, It didn’t garner any RATINGS and Jabba could easily taken SQ out quickly. They want good Ratings, Stop lying to your asses and start being honest with yourselves. They knew if Jabba and Kaba dueled it would’ve been more interesting to see how far they go.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I for one was peronally upset with Status Quo being saved. No one wanted to see them in the finals. Kaba Modern deserved to be in the finals more than them. JabbawockeeZ should’ve been the only dance crew without a bottom two. Kaba could’ve easily taken SQ out with their arms behind their backs. Both Randy Jackson and MTV rigged it and it all their fault that less than half the people watched it.. I know some people that are from the east coast. and they told me that they didn’t want to see SQ go to the finals. Here’s why, they were more inconsistent with their performance than both Jabba and KM put together.
The crowd that booed SQ for being saved was very justified because they felt that MTV and Jackson should’ve thought with their heads and recounted the votes, not rig it. SQ should’ve been in the bottom two with BreakSkate and eliminated against Kaba Modern. Then Jabba and KM’s match up would’ve more interesting that that boring bs we got. A West Coast match up would’ve garnered more ratings without them knowing it. An East/West Coast match up was boring as hell and they knew that, but didn’t care about what the fans thought.
July 11th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
If MTV and Randy Jackson really want high ratings, they should seriously consider letting Jaba and Kabba have a freestyle against each other. I bet that would make the fans come running back. =p
July 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I agree, but they chose an easier dance crew like INCONSISTENT STATUS QUO who I call STUCKUS CUE. MTV AND RANDY JACKSON, IF YOU D-WADS HEAR THIS , QUIT LYING TO EVERYONE FOR ONCE AND TELL THE TRUTH. JabbawockeeZ and Kaba Modern deserved to duel each other more in the finals. You should’ve done the right thing, recounted the vote and sent Statis Quo home. SQ didn’t deserve to be saved.