Preface:
The thing with Elite 8 is that every team goes to DC not just wanting to win, but thinking that they will as well. Every team has an ace up their sleeve and while everyone is still chill with everyone, there's still a serious undertone to everything that is said.
But teams go to Elite 8 for more than just a trophy. Everyone wants to win and everyone thinks they will too, but it's obvious there's more to it as well. Teams want to compete at Elite 8 not only compete against but also compete with the best. We want to come back, trophy or no trophy, and say, "yo dawg, these teams were NASTY, it was awesome sharing the stage with them.". SGPD and NJ not being present was very unfortunate, but to repeat what has been said, their absence was not felt. And honestly, had they been present, I still feel that the results would have been the same with UNC bringing the trophy back to the United States. (Assuming another team dropped for UNC to get the bid).
Elite 8 was an unique competition for me, personally. I was just as involved with AEG in terms of set creation as before, but did not dance, so it allowed me to watch everything unfold in a different way. It definitely allowed me to see a different side of things.
Team Reviews:
Joshiley Jawan: Almost everything was on point. There were a few mistakes, but the execution and formations were amazing. There was ridiculous amount of talent on the team and it definitely showed. Nonetheless, the key players swag too much at times and need to show more control so it doesn't take away from the overall team cleanliness. To say there was no gimmicks in the set and that this is a complete folk set is not correct, but there was a ideal balance between bhangra and creativity.
Shaan Mutiyaaran Di: This was the best all-girl team performance I have seen to date. The new style is better suited for the current circuit and it's good to see you girls come back from Bruin with a strong, clean set. I'm not the biggest fan of the vardii because there's too much embroidery and some of the gimmicks were unnecessary. Overall, a strong showing from SMD and I hope the girls don't lose this momentum.
Anakh E Gabroo: The only thing I will say is that of the guys who danced at Elite 8 2010, 2 years ago, only 1 of them returned to dance this year. I am proud of the dancers who learned a set we created in 3 months.
Bhangra Knights: BK was improving competition by competition as March came closer, but this was definitely a jump in quality of choreography and cleanliness from previous ones. Was hoping to see Harman grace the stage again (I am a decent dancer only because of him and his NSDLAB dancing secret) Looking forward to seeing a 16 man set with a Ban3r gimmick - if execution is maintained, it'll be murder.
VCU Bhangra: You guys definitely surprised me with the level of cleanliness, but that was honestly it. The formations/choreography were not as creative as we are use to seeing them for VCU Bhangra but that's understandable given the context of recently competing at folk competitions DDA and VPD. However, the biggest thing that detracted was the basketball gimmick at the end. It seemed like an after-thought and was completely unnecessary.
Anakh Punjab Di: Early last week, I was telling my little brother about a old Jay Sean song I use to love called "Me Against Myself" because Jay Sean was honest with himself, knew his faults/short-comings/biggest critiques and turned it around and publicized a self-depreciating song. I loved how you guys did the same with theme and rose above it. However, the execution was unfortunately too weak and my favorite APD performance is still Elite 8 2011. The proposal at the end is something we've always joked about, but it takes real balls to do something like that and you guys made history with it.
Nachde Yaar Punjab De: NYPD was the only Canadian team in the line-up and even when a good portion of the circuit copies the Toronto swag, they set themselves up with their own identity that night. This routine was very refreshing to watch despite all the "India Got Talent"/"Youtube Hiphop" gimmicks that we've already seen here on BTF. The flow and integration of stunts is something that needs to be enhanced. It truly did feel that there was a bhangra segment with formations followed by a stunt followed by the former, then latter..etc. The 300 gimmick did not hit at all and was almost anti-climatic. (TDot was better). But your dancers executed and the mix, stage presence and hype were just murder. It's been way too long since NYPD has won a competition and with the quality of your recent performances, it's really unfortunate.
UNC Bhangra Elite: UNC going last is too deadly. Great formations and amazing execution. I seemed to be one the few people who disliked the marching band, but everything else in the set was entertaining and executed near perfectly. Everything else to say about this team has already been said, but honestly, it's crazy to think that UNC was not even in the original line-up and they came back to win the competition. A collegiate co-ed bhangra team (that built itself in a few years on their own) winning Elite 8 is a sign that the circuit is not run by independent/academy male teams with dancers of 4+ years of experience.
My Winner: Joshiley Jawan
This is my balanced winner. You have NYPD with great creativity and you have UNC with great cleanliness. JJ got both of them right in the middle. UNC set still seems a bit derivative at times and some of their gimmicks seem like they tried too hard. NYPD formations weren't always hit and their ending was too anti-climatic. Had JJ gone in the 2nd half of the show, they would have won.
Final Thoughts:
> Teams put in twice as much effort in preparing for Elite 8 than any other competition, even competitions with more prize money, bigger audiences, more difficult lineups and other incentives. Teams come into Elite 8 with something to prove.
> The audience of Elite 8 is more bhangra-teams-savvy than any other audience. The youngins have watched videos of every team countless time. It's a blessing when the last time you competed is a while back or you've never publicized your videos and it's a curse if you have competed in the last 6 months. I truly feel for both VCU and UNC who recently competed. The latter, despite winning, has been using essentially the same set since Burgh last fall and they could have won with complete full confidence from the audience (and myself as well) had it been seen first at Elite.
> There were multiple incidents/fights that occurred at Elite 8. Only 2 of them have been brought up on BTF, but as Swi mentioned earlier, these are individuals from the teams, not the entire teams. It's unfair to attribute the drunk actions of one person to the entire team, when the rest of the team was not even present or actually thinks well of the judges. That is all.
