''America's Best Dance Crew'', often abbreviated as ''ABDC'', was an American

competitive dance Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a ...

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, re ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that features both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

'' judge

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing ba ...

. The series premiered on February 7, 2008, on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. It was originally developed for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

as ''World Moves''. The show was hosted by actor

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on '' Saved by the Bell'', '' Saved by the Bell ...

, and featured television personality

Layla Kayleigh Layla Kayleigh is a British-American TV personality, actress and philanthropist. She used to host ''The Feed'' segment of G4's ''Attack of the Show!'' and co-hosted MTV's ''America's Best Dance Crew'' where she was the backstage correspondent. S ...

as the backstage correspondent. The judging panel consisted of hip hop recording artist

Lil Mama Niatia Jessica Kirkland (born October 4, 1989), better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer, actress and television presenter from Brooklyn, New York and Harlem, New York. She experienced top 10 ''Billboard'' placemen ...

, singer-songwriter

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actor. He started out his career as a cast member on '' The Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to stardom with NSYNC, and ...

, and dancer Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval. Former judges included hip hop choreographer Shane Sparks and R&B singer

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the boy band B2K. The group achieved success in the e ...

. After an initial seventh season run, ''America's Best Dance Crew'' was cancelled in 2012 due to declining ratings. However, on January 10, 2015, MTV announced that the series would be revived for an eighth season. The new season, titled ''America's Best Dance Crew All-Stars: Road to the VMAs'', premiered on July 29, 2015. Hosted by

Jason Dundas Jason Dundas (born 25 July 1982) is an Australian-born television presenter, actor, producer and director, known for his roles as special correspondent for CBS's '' Entertainment Tonight'', the host of ''The X Factor Australia'' in 2016, host ...

, the revival features a new judging panel: hip hop artist T-Pain, recording artist

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographed ...

, and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

performer

Frankie Grande Frank James Michael Grande Marchione (born January 24, 1983)Murphy, T. Michelle"10 Facts you won’t learn about Frankie Grande on ''Big Brother 16''" Metro.us, September 22, 2014, accessed December 3, 2014 is an American dancer, actor, singer ...

Overview

''America's Best Dance Crew'' is a competitive reality show where dance crews showcase their talent and compete for a $100,000 (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

) grand prize and the golden ''ABDC'' trophy (a figure of a

b-boy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

doing a freeze, with its legs moving like a

bobblehead A bobblehead, also known by common silly nicknames such as nodder, wobbler, or wacky wobbler, is a type of small collectible action figure. Its head is often oversized compared to its body. Instead of a solid connection, its head is connected to ...

). Each week, the crews are given a challenge. The challenges are different for each crew, but have the same general concept or share a specific theme. To begin each episode, host

reveals, in no particular order, which crews are safe and which crews are at risk for elimination. After the crews in the bottom perform their routines, the judges decide which crew will advance to the next round. Another unique aspect of ''ABDC'' is the crew banner. Each banner's logo represents its respective crew, appearing during interviews, performances, and on various merchandise. It is also used as a transition effect. When a crew is eliminated, their banner falls from the top of the stadium, where the banners of the crews still in the running stand. The contestants are allowed to dance one final time on the stage as they " walk it out" to the song of the same name.

Season summary

Controversy

MTV and Randy Jackson were sued by entertainer and activist Dwight McGhee, publicly known as rapper Citizen Charlie Kane, in 2010. Kane had pitched the show concept to MTV in 2004 and MTV "passed" on the concept. When Charlie Kane saw a commercial that depicted the 1970s Warriors' movie that looked exactly like his pitch demo DVD, he filed the suit. Many production elements between the show and Kane's 2003 copyright registration of a "break-dancing league" were identical. TMZ and NYPost were a couple among the many major media organizations to run the story. Viacom/MTV and Charlie Kane came to a mutual settlement in 2011.

International distribution

ABDC airs on

in the Caribbean, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Russia (by the alias of "Короли Танцпола", lit. "Kings of the Dancefloor"), Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine (by the alias of "Танцювальні бої", lit. "Dance Battles"), and Romania. In Canada, the show airs on both

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

and

Musique Plus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

(the episodes on MP are 2 years late) and in Latin America, the show airs on Warner Channel. The show also airs on AB1 and MTV France, where it is called ''Dance Crew USA'' in France,

Solar TV Solar TV (stylized as SOLARtv) was the flagship television network of Solar Entertainment Corporation's television arm subsidiary Solar TV Network, Inc., which is the replacement of C/S 9. This was the revival of the former Solar channel Sol ...

Jack TV Jack TV (stylised as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the Unit ...

, and

The Game Channel The Game Channel (abbreviated TGC, stylized as tgc from January 2014 – February 2015) was a Philippines, Filipino cable and satellite television network owned and produced by Solar Entertainment Corporation who also created the networks My Mov ...

in the Philippines,

Fiji One Fiji One is a free-to-air television channel run by Fiji Television. It provides coverage throughout Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melane ...

in Fiji, and YAN TV (?),

VTV3 VTV3 is a Vietnamese television channel operated and owned by government-owned Vietnam Television. Launched on 31 March 1996 as the country's first sports and entertainment integrated channel, its programs contained sporting events and entertain ...

(Nhom nhay sieu Viet, 2021) in Vietnam.

Additional notes

* The opening title sequence created by Framework Studio won a Telly Award in 2009.

References

External links

* * {{Hip-hop dance 2008 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings 2015 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series English-language television shows MTV reality television series Television series by Warner Horizon Television American television series revived after cancellation