‘America’s Best Dance Crew 2’: Sass x7 eliminated, hair tossers bounce back to Jersey

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How Sass x7 failed to get the boot from ‘America’s Best Dance Crew 2’ and hang in through the first two episodes can only be explained as some kind of New Jersey juju.

They hung on despite audience outrage after their victory over Shhh! on the live casting special. Then the cheerleaders escaped last week’s distorted bottom two battle between Distorted X and Fanny Pak. Last night the axe finally fell and the spirit team’s spell was broken. New Jersey’s finest didn’t go into this week’s competition thinking this was the end, though.

Here’s a breakdown:

Super Cr3w: The video: Chris Brown - ‘Run It.’ The challenge: Krumping. The Result: A standing ovation. They can do no wrong (right now). The b-boys took on a tough one, but they ‘ran it,’ surprising judge Shane Sparks who thought it’d be tougher for them because they’re breakers. Pfft.

Fanny Pak: The video: Gwen Stefani - ‘Wind It Up.’ The challenge: Tricks (windmill). The results: Cuteness. Doing knee floats in knee pads, the crew struggled with some of the trick elements, but standout member Glenda’s athleticism with a backflip and ‘assisted’ head spin helped pull them out.

Supreme Soul: The video: Omarion - ‘Touch.’ The challnge: Gliding. The result: Pulled it off. Raul can’t glide, but he and the group pulled off a smooth routine that showcased their flare. JC was glad they ‘showed up,’ and Lil Mama commented on the fashion, saying a crew member’s jacket was ‘fire!’

Phresh Select: The video: Chris Brown - ‘Gimme That.’ The challenge: Truthfully, just standing out. The result: One of the night’s best. Using Big boy in the front and Lil-O as a shoe shine kid, Lil Mama said the suited crew turned it up with swag and smoothosity, despite Supreme Soul’s logo intrusion during Phresh’s interview with Layla.

ASIID: The video: Ciara - ‘Like a Boy.’ The challenge: Following last week. The result: A bit much. JC said ‘You made a slow song feel energetic,’ but we have a criticism: ASIID’s turn last week was sexy because it was suggestive. Taking their tops off is too blatant. This ties into Lil Mama’s point about going a little less hard, being less obvious. And we’re not sure how we feel about Joey’s cornrows.

So Real Cru: The video: Usher - ‘Love in da Club.’ The challenge: Well, it’s Usher. The result: A clinic. JC called the group the ‘sharpest, cleanest group on the show.’ Shane said they ‘did Usher proud.’ Despite the hype, Lil Mama said they should ‘learn how to bounce.’

Xtreme Dance Force: The video: Mario - ‘Let Me Love You.’ The challenge: Umm, don’t be you. The result: Judges liked their looseness. JC: ‘Stuck very literally to video calculated every step.’ Lil Mama said Mario was trying to get a girl in his song, but that vibe was absent from the routine. Shane, who called them wack last week, clapped and said, ‘I respect y’all. Y’all sold it this time.’

OK, now while at the show awaiting the performances of the last two crews, we noticed a bit of a chill from the Boogie Bots towards Sass x7. Not saying that the groups weren’t cordial, but the air of competition was kind of thick up in there. The audience was chanting ‘Boogie! Boogie! Boogie!’ Yet no love between the crews. Come on, Bots! The girls were almost leaning over to shake and bond, but y’all were a bit ... mechanical. There definitely didn’t seem to be any beef, but still ... on to the last two.

Boogie Bots: The video: B2K - ‘Bump Bump Bump.’ The challenge: Getting the female part in. The result: Fun and precise. Finally, the Bots arise. Their humorous display of ‘bumps’ and ‘humps’ was great and showed personality, as Lil Mama and JC commented on. The crew kept their group movement together, but went out and finally took the stage.

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Sass x7: The video: Britney Spears - ‘Slave 4 U.’ The challenge: Not getting eliminated or loosing the cutlets (shown above). The result: Not so good. The judges were happy with the performance, with Shane telling the group to ‘be sexy women; that’s all you need to do. That dance put you back on the map.’ But that map didn’t lead to safety, and the Rutgers crew was sent back to school (or off to find a dance career for the graduates). The style of this show never seemed suited for the spirit squad Sassers, but they went out on a successful note with what was probably their best performance.

We end with a few ‘punny’ notes from host Mario Lopez who wondered if the bottom 2 crews would ‘rise from the ashes or bite the dust.’ Asked ‘did America pull the plug’ on the Boogie Bots. And pondered whether Sass x7 would be ‘breathing a sigh of relief, or gasping for air.’

-- Sheigh and Jevon