Click here to visit the new home of AOLTV!

Hot on HuffPost TV:

See More Stories
EDITION: U.S.
CA Canada US United States UK United Kingdom
Powered by i.TV
February 9, 2012
 
CONNECT    

Does Quest Crew have an unfair advantage on America's Best Dance Crew?

by Jason Hughes, posted Feb 22nd 2009 11:02AM

Quest Crew
It's a fair question. I'm not going to knock the skills the boys obviously have, but in a way this is a reality all-star crew of hip-hop dancers. Three of their performers are former finalists of FOX's summer hit So You Think You Can Dance. Hell, even judge Shane Sparks choreographed and judged on SYTYCD before beginning his stint on Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew for MTV so the audience is already aware of a connection between the two shows. And you have to figure there's a pretty heavy crossover audience between the two. How many dancing competition shows are there that feature street dancing?

The question is whether or not its unfair that so much of America has already become familiar with and fallen in love with the dynamic style of Hok Konishi, Ryan Conferido and Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval of Quest Crew. Where do you draw the line, or is there any need to? On SYTYCD the three each competed individually whereas here they're part of a larger group so it's not like they're getting a second chance. Still, I'm pretty sure I remember Quest Crew even performing on a results show of SYTYCD last summer.

I think they definitely had an advantage on ABDC in the earlier rounds based on the recognition of their three SYTYCD alumni. But it's akin to the advantage contestants who are featured in the early rounds of American Idol have over those who get no screen time at all. We just saw that this past week with Michael Sarver advancing over superior singers on that show. But is it unfair? In a way.

But in the case of America's Best Dance Crew, I'm going to have to vote "No" on this one. It's an advantage, but not necessarily an unfair one. The crew has continued to excel, standing firmly in the top three this week, but I think that's been mostly on the quality of their performances. There's been no mention on the show of any connections to SYTYCD and the judges have been warning them that the all-girl crew Beat Freaks have been on them the past few weeks so they're not playing overwhelming favorites either.

It is a gray area, however. Should performers from one reality show be allowed to compete in a different one? There was a lot of hoopla over Rob & Amber appearing on The Amazing Race after their double stints on Survivor, but in the end it was good for ratings and people didn't seem to really mind. All the crap they subjected us to after that is another story. I still haven't forgiven them for Against the Odds.

Do you think Quest Crew has an unfair advantage?
Yes, they shouldn't be allowed to compete81 (6.7%)
Yes, but I don't care169 (14.1%)
No, it's a completley different situation433 (36.0%)
No, what a stupid question!519 (43.2%)

Link Squad

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

15 Comments

Filter by:
Peter G

I love my Beat Freaks and Quest Crew. But you have to remember also that the girls from Beat Freaks are professionals in their own right from dancing for Britney and Gwen Stefani. does that mean they shouldn't be on the show either.

Fly Khicks are professionals also as cheerleaders/dancers for the Miami Heat.

March 07 2009 at 12:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Realist

From reading the comments it seems to me that ABDC is getting a bunch of rejects that had good gigs but wound up washing up. So they went back to reality TV because they can't make it anywhere else. They are both good shows to watch, so don't get me wrong I watch them all the time. Give someone a chance who has raw talent that hasn't already been discovered...

March 05 2009 at 11:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
asdf

The judges are obviously bias and showing their support for BeatFreakz. I mean, shane was trying way to hard to pretend BeatFreakz did good on week 7. "YOU GUYS DID IT AGAIN" Applause. LOL.

Besides, BeatFreakz are all professional dancers. A couple of them know Shane Sparks personally. They all dance in music videos and even have 2 professional websites.

Quest Crew are street dancers and they're aren't even as commercialized as BeatFreakz yet.

BeatFreakz have more commercial training. While Quest are straight STREET.

Quest should win, if not its RIGGED.


March 02 2009 at 4:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
orimental

If you do some research, then you'd realize that many of the Beat Freaks members are professional choreographers who have actually worked with Britney, among others. Also, the male clogger from Dynamic Edition tried out for SYTYCD. Lydia, the lone female member of early cast off Boxchuttaz is actually part of Quest Crew, just not on the show.

February 25 2009 at 3:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to orimental's comment
Jason Hughes

Yeah, I saw that as well. There's a lot of professional pedigree here, but it doesn't directly relate to the argument. Joe Average TV Viewer won't know Britney's back-up dancers on sight, but if they watched SYTYCD they will recognize D-Trix, Hok and Ryan. And appearing in an episode or two trying out and performing on a results show isn't the same as appearing every week competing in my opinion.

February 25 2009 at 4:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brandon

I don't think it's an unfair advantage. There is a lot of crossover between the dancing shows on TV. "So You Think You Can Dance" alums Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, and Dmitry Chaplin will be professional dance partners on the upcoming season of "Dancing With The Stars." They do have their own pretty sizeable fan bases, but so do many of the other pros on that show (like Mark Ballas, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Edyta Sliwinska). Having a crossover fan base from "SYTYCD" will only help them to compete with "DWTS" pros with their own fan followings. In many cases, the pro's fan base is actually larger than that of their celebrity partner! Plus, Twitch from last season of "SYTYCD" was a contestant on "The Wade Robson Project" a few years ago. I'm don't think that previous exposure helped him get to the "SYTYCD" finale last season. I think it was his talent, above all else.

I have to admit, the reason I started watching "America's Best Dance Crew" this season is because I saw that Quest Crew would be competing. And even though I'm a fan of Dominic "D-Trix" and Hok individually, I must admit that The Beat Freaks are amazing and have been Quest's only real competition all season long. So, even though I'm a fan of individual members of Quest, I think Beat Freaks will win.

February 23 2009 at 8:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Laptop Deal

i have don't idea of that crew

http://www.laptop-deal.net

February 23 2009 at 4:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

No, not really. In terms of fans maybe. They are easily recognizable and have already a following. As soon as ABDC was launched, everyone was thinking why not the bboy finalists from SYTYCD join that show. The 3 guys aren't the best bboys around in terms of techniques, but they were chosen by Sytycd because of their personalities. In fact it does not help that they are from that FOX reality show as pressure are on them.
I've seen many of the contestants perform in major events. Maryss of Beatfreaks is another recognizable talent.
If there is one sticking like a sore thumb, it's Beatfreaks. The ladies are so talented but are overshadowed by the fact that they're an all-girl group. Unfair to think that people are rooting for them just because they are girls.
It's called Best Dance crew so give them the best so viewers will not be shortchanged.

February 23 2009 at 2:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Val

Being on another dance reality show shouldn't matter as long as you can dance.. Its the producers fault for casting crap groups around them.. they are SOOO much better than everybody else I don't even know why I watch.. Quest Crew is clearly going to win.. Judges saying Beat Freaks are looming in the weeds is just to create hype when voting. (their performance last week was pretty great though)

This is by far the weakest season. First and Second seasons I couldn't call who was going to win.. and every week was a great performance.. This season I wait for quest crew maybe beat freaks then I watch something else

February 22 2009 at 9:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MWM

The real question should be, who gave Layla Kayleigh a job on ABDC? She can't interview for sh!t. A chimp could deliver the challenges every week. For those who will argue she is eye candy, i would say are you kidding me?
Layla is no Cat Deeley.

February 22 2009 at 3:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to MWM's comment
BBOY

hey she's hot
that's what it's about

March 02 2009 at 12:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alexis

i am completely addicted to both SYTYCD and ABDC, and even though hok, dom and ryan were all on SYTYCD, it a completely different show. they keep proving week after week why they belong in the top 3 and i'm always excited to see what they are going to do next.

that being said, i think beat freaks are giving them a run for their money. girl power!!!

February 22 2009 at 12:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

TV Squad Hot Topics

From Our Partners