TVSquad

A year ago I was enthralled by MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. It was a concept that actually fit MTV: dancing to music which was often influenced by music videos. For episode five of the first season, Mario Lopez announced Michael Jackson week. I cringed because I knew that the crews were going to have to use things like the moonwalk and the zombie "Thriller" moves.

The contestants were celebrating the 25th anniversary release of Thriller. Luckily the crews didn't have to use the horrible remixes that were added to the rerelease. When the episode ended, I was happily surprised.

I think of Michael Jackson not as a singer or dancer, but a performer who can do anything. The contestants were children of the 80s and grew up to arguably the best decade for Michael Jackson's music. The episode showed that all of them had appreciation for the groundbreaking work and on the whole did Michael proud.

Here's the performance breakdown:
Status Quo -"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
JabbaWockeeZ - "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
Kaba Modern - "Thriller"
BreakSk8 - "Beat It"
Fysh N Chicks - "Billie Jean"

The best thing about the Michael Jackson episode was seeing a new generation of dancers who were clearly influenced by MJ reinterpret iconic Jackson moves. Watching Kaba Modern turn the sharp precise "Thriller" dance into intricate isolations, the JabbaWockeeZ use of hat and jacket in dance, and Fysh N Chicks create circular moonwalk movements were all signs that they understood the task at hand. It wasn't about doing the moves, it was making the moves work for the crew. None of the crews jumped the shark and did a full Michael Jackson recreation.

In the end I was shocked to see Fysh N Chicks get eliminated because they had a cohesive storyline and fun, flirty choreography. Their competitors BreakSt8 depended on one teammate to do tricks while the rest stood around and posed. If Status Quo was on the bottom I would have eliminated them for their underwhelming choreography.

I hope that America's Best Dance Crew gets a chance to use Michael Jackson's music in another episode because he had such a wide discography. It's just more fun to see ensemble groups perform to Michael Jackson than it is when performed as a couple. In retrospect it would have been even cooler seeing future crews like Fanny Pak, Beat Freaks, or Quest Crew take a stab at Michael Jackson's music. The full episode can be seen on the official website. How did you think the crews handled MJ? Which other crews did you want to see do an interpretation of Michael Jackson's music? Leave comments below.