First of all, a little note for those who arrive here from other sites or random link clickage. What I write here is not a review, it's a recap. There's a difference. I don't have the dance knowledge to write reviews. I merely share my opinion, like any other viewer out there. My opinion will no doubt differ from other opinions and that's just fine. I like what I like, you like what you like. I have no problems with that. All of this is just a bit of fun. Continued thanks to those who read and take the time to comment. Much appreciated!

Onwards!

Even though I shudder at the mere idea of having to watch this week's episode, it's apparently my duty and one should never abandon people when they need you the most. Sometimes, on a really good day, Cranky can be somewhat of a people person so here I am. I hope everyone got their immune shots because tonight it's Bieber Fever time. While I sit here and contemplate what on earth I did wrong to deserve this horrible punishment, you can just take a second to drool.

smoking HOT!

Should go without saying but please do NOT read if you haven't yet watched the episode as this recap contains spoilers! Unless you don't want to watch it, then by all means go ahead! Although that would be totally unfair as I had to sit through it too :-p

Follow up:

Tip : Get yourself a drink or ten to get through tonight's episode. Make them strong. Unless you're underage. Big no-no!

We're on stage with Mario and he's about to reveal the name of the first crew to go through to next week and that crew is Iconic Boyz which puts Instant Noodles in the bottom two. I'm not surprised and I'm actually quite okay with this.

So Iconic Boyz is up first and for their challenge they need to incorporate basketball moves into their routine because apparently the Bieber likes baskbetball. Fascinating. Don't you think?

*drinks*

I don't usually say anything about the clips that are shown before the performance but I have to mention this : aaawww at those cute little boys crying their little eyes out last week when 787 Crew was eliminated. I just want to hug them. *shudder* I don't know what came over me. Also, please don't let them sing ever again. That made my ears hurt like whoa! Good thing they're better at dancing.

slam dunk

I may not know much about dancing but I do know something about basketball and I really liked the storytelling in this routine from the warm-up to the slam dunk. They did a great job with that and I liked how they didn't just throw in their challenge once but used the basketball moves throughout the entire routine while also throwing in some cute little stunts. I love that they incorporated D-Trix's "dancing Justin Biebers" line from a few weeks back. The choreography was a bit weak and simple but I liked the performance anyway and it was well thought out.

JC says it was tough because the crew was given the challenge of incorporating the baskbetball thing and it was cute but the problem he has is that it was really easy and that a lot of it was very simple stuff. And he hereby earns his first boo of the season. He says he wants them to step up their game.

Lil' Mama says she totally got it. That's a first. She feels this crew is growing and they brought theater. She tells them to bring more definition into their choreography and that they are clean and to step it up a bit more and to keep growing.

D-Trix starts off by saying "no disrespect to JC, but don't be a crackhead". ahahahaha! *ahem* He says he doesn't feel the boys were just jumping around but that they brought the heat this week. He says they thought beyond of what the challenge was supposed to be and he saw the story the whole time. He says they used their heads and took the challenge to the next level and ends by saying he has Iconic Fever.

*drinks again*

Back on stage with Mario and the three remaining crews. Two are safe, one will face the Noodles in the bottom two. The two crews that are still in the running are I aM mE and Phunk Phenomenon (yay!) which leaves Street Kingdom in the bottom two once again.

I aM mE is up and for their challenge, they must incorporate the Usher glide. Mmmm, love me some Usher gliding.

neat intro

Um, well, in a strange turn of events, I actually quite liked this performance. I think this was their best one yet. They did forget their lesson again though and didn't use the stage. But the gliding stuff was great and that intro was awesome. So far Bieber week isn't what I thought it would be. I'm disappointed ;-)

*has a drink*

Lil' Mama says she really appreciates and admires this group. Let's pause for a second here because this made me laugh. She was clearly very intently watching the crew on stage and totally missed this guy hiding behind the judges desk. Her face when he popped up with that rose is absolutely hilarious!

Bieber fan - shocked like whoa - laughing his ass off

Right. Where were we? She appreciates and admires this group because they are very daring and they really take on their challenges. She says she doesn't know what notes to give them except to stay great. She says they stay true to themselves and they continue to expand on the show and don't take it for granted. She says she loved it and they continue to be awesome.

D-Trix says he loved last week's performance and he loves this one again as well. He says they were brilliant entertainers and tells them to keep up the great work because he wants to see more. D-Trix is also clearly affected by the Fever. The merchandise on his desk keeps multiplying and he's spouting off random facts about the Bieber. It'd be kinda funny if he wasn't such a douche.

JC says they had another great performance again but that old habits are apparently hard to break as they once again spent a lot of time in the middle of the stage. What he liked the most is that they took something everybody thought was going to be cute but that their open was so cool, dope, tough, clean, ill, dope, whatever else words he used. He says it was a great performance. Again. He's repeating himself. Bit too young for that, no?

Alrighty. Up next, Phunk Phenomenon who need to incorporate stepping into their routine. And just like that, purely coincidental you understand, they have a stepper on their crew. Isn't that amazing? Kinda shows that these challenges aren't really thrown at them in the most random way. Anyway, good for them. Or something.

the only decent cap I could manage in this routine, deal with it ;-)

I say it every week and I'll say it again, this crew rocks my socks off! They are clean, they are on point, they pick out the beats of a song so amazingly! This song was hard because it kept changing pace but not in an abrupt way and they just made it seem so easy. The stepping sequence was fantastic and I love that they didn't just let Kassandra do it because she knew how to but they all did it and it looked awesome!

D-Trix .... oh dear. Well, I guess it's better than having crying judges but really?

could not look more like a chipmunk if he tried

D-Trix says Kassandra did a great job teaching the boys on the crew how to step. He points out that there were 5 backflips in this routine and that they need to be careful not to repeat those moments too much. But overall he thought they did a great job.

JC says that while he understands D-Trix about repetition issues, there was a point when crew member Beebo did three backflips in a row without using his hands and sometimes there is something to be said about repetition. He also says there was great balance. They would go into the stepping which was really aggressive and tough and then they would get cute and croon the crowd. He says what he found difficult and what this crew handled masterfully were the tempo changes which were gradually up and down and he feels they handled those wonderfully.

Lil' Mama says she loves this crew because they have so many different styles of dance. She says they are diverse and adapt to their challenge. She feels the choreography wasn't the funk she's used to but it was very Bieber and they really embraced their challenge. But next week she wants to see them back in their element and to really bring it hard without taking anything away from tonight because it was awesome.

On to the battle of the bottom two and Instant Noodles will go first. Their challenge includes the use of a prop, namely a chair. Which I think is unfair. And that rhymes but that's not the point. Either you give every crew a prop or not at all. Dancing with a prop is always harder.

it's a Bieber BoyBand

Finally! Finally they are actually Instant Noodles and not a Poreotix copy. I think this was their best performance so far. They handled the chairs really well. And wearing that really recognizable Bieber outfit and even having the hairdo was a fun touch. Their floorwork was on point as always and they were very clean. I think they did great!

You know what's missing from this recap? The cranky! I don't understand. I need to find something to be cranky about! Maybe it's the drinking?

*has another drink anyway*

Last performance of the night and the honor goes to Street Kingdom. I don't know what to expect from this one. Such a hard, tough crew and the aggressive krumping. How are they going to reconcile that with the sugary Bieber music? Their challenge is to incorporate martial arts and high hitting kicks into their routine.

kung-fu fighting

Good heavens. I am stunned. And not in the bad way either. I can't believe I'm going to say this but that was my favorite performance of the episode! Such a lot of little intricate things that I loved. For the first time, it didn't even bother me that there are so many people on stage because they were actually really part of something and doing stuff instead of just standing around. They picked out the beats, they threw in a little bit of humor and incorporated the martial arts seamlessly. I really, really loved it! *looks out of window* Are the pigs flying?

D-Trix gets to talk to the Noodles and tells them he wasn't a fan of them during week one which they knew but that changed in the following episodes and this week they definitely set it off. He commends them on doing floorwork to the beats because that's really difficult to do as a crew to hit isolated beats. He congratulates them on everything, he says they are killing it and he wishes them the best.

Lil' Mama will share her opinion on Street Kingdom. She says there is only one word to describe the performance with and that word is "growth". Right. Not the word I had in mind but okay. She says they took it to the next level and they put a smile on her face because she can appreciate the hard work they put into it this week. She says it feels like they got a second chance at the battle scene because when they got it a few weeks back with the light sabers, she wasn't impressed but this time, they totally created a battle. She finishes by saying they really impressed her tonight.

JC shares his thoughts on Instant Noodles first. He tells them they presented really good theater and they embraced the Bieber thing while still doing their own thing and being very much Instant Noodles in that performance. He says they had one of the more difficult challenges but he feels they absolutely owned the prop. He says it was a great night for them.

*hiccup* Sorry.

As for Street Kingdom, he says they are receiving such a positive response because they've done something positive with their presence on this show. He doesn't think people at home get to see what the audience and the judges get to see because week after week, they get to see all the small little pops and details and people at home can't see how hard each crew member is working. Blame MTV for that. If they would just put the camera in one position and leave it there, we'd see a helluva lot more! He says they did a really great job in showcasing those little moments tonight. He says they took the lyric of the song (never say never) and put themselves into it and turned themselves into an army of red and black and he's off on a ramble but he's making some really good points. I just can't keep up with the typing. Suffice to say he liked it ;-)

During the break, the judges (or the producers) will decide which crew's dreams are all over and which crew still has a chance to win this thing.

whoa, hold up there, grasshopper

Which crew received a pardon just in time and which crew will never see this stage again? The crew that will be back next week and still has a chance to be America's Best Dance Crew is .... Street Kingdom!

And rightly so. Again, can't believe I'm saying this. Best performance of the night.

bye noodles!

This doesn't bode well for next week though. I aM Me is hugely popular and thus I totally expect them to be safe when the votes are in. And the same really goes for Iconic Boyz. That would leave Phunk Phenomenon and Street Kingdom in the bottom two. Which makes me worry that Phunk may be going home. I'm getting ahead of things. Let's just wait until next week's episode.

Til then, lovely people! Hopefully with more Cranky. I'm scaring myself here ;-)