props to all teams that placed : )

That's not needed especially if the team didn't give consent for their routine to be released.

As terabaap pointed out, that is bullshit. Whether you release what a team does at a competition is ONLY between you and the team. It should not be modded nor should it be looked down. If a team asks you not to reveal anything, you may choose to listen to their request or you may choose to laugh at the sillyness of such a request.

The so-called "Kinnell Shah aka K Review" will be coming soon.
Spoiler Alert: Placings were pretty legit

:sigh: and once again we arrive at the simple conclusion of common courtesy.

A performance is a performance....people are gonna talk about it. You think no one in the audience texted/called anyone else to describe what some of the stunts were? What some of the song selections were?

Vick and co. are right that people should post w/e they want....but people should want to keep some details to themselves so as to not ruin the performance for other people (which also leads to the point that no one is asking you to read the thread, but I leave that out for brevity).

What do you mean bhangra is a game, or like anyother sport? In sports plays or "routines" are quick and easily changable, but bud, where talking about a bhangra routine !!! if the team doesn't want their routine revealed so be it.

Okay, reading comprehension.
I was not saying Bhangra is a sport, but the fact that there are people here that are getting annoyed at people releasing "details" is a bit out of hand. I only related it to sports teams in the manner that sports teams develop "plays" and "calls" that they would also like to keep secret. A routine is similar in the sense that a team develops a routine with specific choreo in mind(a new take on jhummer, stunts, etc). It is a part of the game(of competitive Bhangra) that other people will see it and other teams will come to know about. It is up to the TEAM, to develop a new routine, or keep one, with small changes IF it actually affects the outcome of the competition(how it does, I still have no clue, besides teams stealing other teams ideas). Take a second to reread what I said. A TEAM PERFORMS A ROUTINE FOR AN AUDIENCE. HOW THE HELL IS THAT A SECRET? If that's you're idea of a secret, please do not seek employment in government.

Boston Bhangra was definitely an excellent competition this year. Orginization of the whole competition for the most part was great. The show started fairly on time in comparison to most other competition that start over an hour later. There were very few technical difficulties. The intro videos for the comp were ill! Hotel was better than last years for the most part. They werent too anal about all the teams going crazy (minus 17th floor, that shit sucked). When it got too rowdy security guards began to patrol the hallways lol but it was all good. After party was ok. Lines to get in took too long, and the party itself was rly short. The place was PACKED, there was hardly any room to dance. But the committee made up for this by throwing a teams only after-after party lol. Lots of bhangra, water provided for all the teams, everyone had a blast there. Party went until 6 am, definitely one of the best ideas ive seen come out of a competition!

The placings at the competition were pretty accurate. Here's my reviews for the teams -

MIT - started the show off with a bang! had great crowd support and also got everyone super pumped! The theme idea wasnt as cool as the ones from last year, it made less sense with the music and what not. Dancers had great energy. ou guys have one of the most modern routines ive seen, and theres some great ideas in it. Bring up all you dancers to the same energy level and form and clean up your set and your guys should def place at comps with more of a modern edge

AEG - In comparison to their performance at Albany, these guys really cleaned their stuff up. There were very few mistakes that were noticeable. One thing I will say is that you guys really should take advantage of lighting cues. It helps emphasize your routine, and also gets the crowd pumped up a lot more. APD used it to their advantage and it made their set even crazier. Definitely the most creative team of the night. Jhoomer was too sick, everyone nailed it. Mela, the creativity is crazy. And you guys nailed the ending stunts as long as u keep that up, keep it in our routine!

Rutgers - Good energy, good execution of the movies. I really liked you set, and you mix was pretty hot too. Purple jodi, you are freekin amazing. The guy had such good nakhra and grace, and the shorter girl in the purple jodi was crazy. The phumanniya was great, clean up the routine with formations

Cornell - I didnt get to watch you guys at All Stars, but you guys looked amazing on stage at boston. You guys have definitely improved a lot over the past year. I love the vardiyaan too. Clean up your formations and build more energy. You guys are definitely a collegiate team to watch out for

DRP - Its amazing to sixteen people on stage. You guys make your formations so well that the stage never looks too small. Clean performance, good energy, i think the execution of the stunts help you back from placing. Most of the routine seemed a repeat of last seasons, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing something new out of this team. You guys have some sick dancers and a lot of potential!

VCU - New vardiyaan are pretty nice, but I liked your older ones a lot better. The color combinations just looked so hot. I like the new routine, but your gimmicks were too forced. The Michael Jackson gimmick was definitely too forced. You old joker one was a lot more smooth and creative. The execution was pretty much on point and clean. There were a few mistakes here and there, but definitely a well deserved 3rd place. I know you guys have a fresh team, but you had big shoes to fill and you guys have made a good start on it.

Northeastern Bhangra - Good performance but very messy. Dancers lacked energy, the routine was too fast in the beginning for you guys to look good and in sync. Slow things down, take it one step at a time, and take out some of your spins if you guys cant nail them together. As always, NU has a lot of potential, clean it up and work on energy guys!

APD - This team really wanted it, and their dancing showed. All the dancers had wonderful energy, grace, and nakhra. I would call this routine a KJ tribute. There were a lot of reptitions from KJ, with the added APD spice lol. Loved the dance off! And the Kanye gimmick, haha sweet stuff, (Jazzy B killed it) You guys had great energy, and the lgihting cues definitely added on to your performance. The stunts were all ON POINT and executed with a lot of cleanliness. That definitely drove the crowd wild! A well deserved first place, but I would love to see some APD originals in the upcoming comps!

Boston - The beginning gimmick didnt work cause of technical defficulties, but def a good idea! You guys need a lot more energy and work on your form. Formations were sloppy, and dancers were off on hitting their points. Break down your choreo and work on it one step at a time, make all your dancers on the same level.

Texas- You guys have some good ideas in you routine, but bad execution. Formations were sloppy, and dancers were getting tired easily. I see a lot of potential in this team, defintely keep workin at it, hope to see you guys at more comps.

Empire - A lot of new people on this team, but theyre sticking to their roots. Great execution, choreo was similar to Bruin. The intro moves by the guys, reminded me of Wanted Ashiqz, felt like it was too fusion. Love the MJ gimmick, you guys played that out really well, it was a smooth transition. New kids on this team really stepped it up, keep up the good work!

Sher - You guys have some of the wildest ideas for stunts and most creative choreo ive seen. But your execution was off. You dancers seem to have built different styles. It was good to see you guys back in action, but BBC 08 was a lot better. Hopefully you guys will pull together with ur dancers and start competing around again!


It was definitely a great comp, and it was great meeting all the teams at the after party. Dance offs were too sickk. Hope to see you all soon

thanks for bringing the thread back ojala lol

Just got back from boston! What a comp!!!!
PRob the best comp iv been to! They take care of you soo much!
This comp had a pre pre party, pre party, after party, and after after party!

Shout out to AEG!!! Coolest Cats. loved kickin it with you guys! Thanks for lettin us use your saaps!

Peace, love and respect! =)

loved seeing the old school vcu team after so long i love you guys. vcu alumni its never over

Posting from the cockpit is a major FAA violation...

I had fun at boston...just think they need to let us talk to the judges atleast lol but thas boston.....it was a pleasure meetin all the team......and to everyone on the 17th floor and u got shitted on by security i feel for u guys...they were straight up assholes.

Preface:

First of all, FML. Yes, fuck my life. This was my fourth Boston Bhangra Competition and I will add it to the list of amazing competitions I didn't get a chance to compete at. Nonetheless, kicking it with Sher is always an amazing (and something hazardous) time and I'm glad that I spent the weekend with you guys this year as well!

Second, it amuses me that people will immediately look down on placing results without having seen performances. Different competitions have different rubrics and teams change from year to year. Watch the performances first before shooting down the results as bad judging. Even though I didn't 100% completely agree with the placings, I thought that the judges did a great job with the judging rubric that they were given.

Here's the kicker for the traditional junkies: Every single team at this competition did a variation of phumania, dhamaal, jhoomer as well as some other traditional segments. I give the modern teams mad respect for covering their asses and getting their points for traditionality. It may not have been folk execution or the teams may not have followed the traditional template, but this is Boston Bhangra Competition and I like turtles.

Competition Review:

For those who did not attend and have no clue what events went down in what order, I have created a guide.

Thursday: Pre-Pre-Party
Friday: Mixer > Pre-Party
Saturday: Competition > Afterparty > After-After-Party

Boston Bhangra, Inc., as expected, knew exactly how to run a competition and keep the teams happy, safe and entertained. Nonetheless, here are my usual critique - good and bad:

> Pre-Party was 21+ and required proper dress shoes. Perhaps get a similar deal as the afterparty for the pre-party?

> Mixer had a jeopardy game to determine which team gets to pick their spot in the show. Was definitely fun and a fair way, but I think mixing people up and playing a game (for another prize) would have been mad fun too?

> Competition was really well run and I honestly cannot think of anything that could have been improved. MCs were brief, quick the point, could pump up the crowd, were great speakers and did not tell stupid jokes. Everything was honestly on point.

> For People's Choice, you should have it displayed on the screen for voting and stuff. Voting should also begin only after the last act to ensure fairness and get a proper indication of people's choice.

> Afterparty needed a new venue. This year's afterparty does NOT live up to last year's. The venue was small.

> The after-afterparty was brilliant. I felt like I was back in highschool with an afterprom party so that no one gets drunk/drive and gets into trouble. It had a great amount of people, plenty of water as well as bhangra music. The after-afterparty was teams-only. After a stunt mishap, the security would actually step up and stop any towers in the forming. Funny for sure. The afterparty was also open past 5 AM which was clutch.


Team Reviews:

1. MIT: I missed this performance, which makes me insanely sad. Shoutouts to my Truskool boys as well as Kapil for putting together, what I heard, was an insane routine!

2. AEG: AEG WHAT. The creativity in this routine is crazy. I can't begin to descibe how many describe-worthy things were in this routine, because every 15 seconds, they were doing something badass and new and the crowd was eating it up. From the sitting jhoomer to the shirts to the tambourines, so many great things that not only stayed true to 3T (the traditional template), but was gimmicky enough to garner a great crowd response. Unfortunately, mistakes were still made and it wasn't as clean enough for a clear-cut placing. Much better than Albany and the mix, as expected, was phenomenal. It became really obvious how far Anakh-E-Gabroo really has come and how their style has developed by the end of the routine.

3. DRP: DRP is back! Same style but great choreo and great ideas. The beginning banner entrance was mad creative and well done. One thing I loved about this performance is that no one on this stage looked like they were thinking about where to go or what the next step was. The dancers looked like they were 100% confident and that they were having fun with this. A well-executed clean routine. The mix was good, not phenomenal. The beginning banner stunt wasn't executed (The D guy didn't get up). Nonetheless, the swing stunt was not only creative but well done. Also, the jump on tower was refreshing. Definitely one of the top routines of the competition and I'm glad DRP is making their comeback.

4. Texas Bhangra: This routine was much better than Texas Showdown, but a bit more messier. This was definitely your type of competition (as oppose to Showdown with traditional judging rubric). I still do believe that your traditional segments need more folk execution. Mistakes were made and the routine does need to be more cleaner. The Boston gimmicks were good and I love how you guys play to the crowd. For the prop segments, definitely coordinate those to a greater degree (ie: figure out where to hold the khundey, some dancers held it in the middle, others near the bottom). The tower during saap segment to panga was sick. I do believe your modern style was definitely much more appreciated here and the four towers at the end were well-executed.

5. Rutgers Bhangra: A well-executed routine. Crowd went wild during the "Down" segment and the mix was great. I'm glad the routine was not live (as much as I love live). Some of the segments were really creative and execution was there. (the squatting circle segment in the beginning) There were other segments that could have been a bit cleaner like the khundey segment in terms of keeping the khundeys straight and coordinated in terms of orientation. Jaggi was amazing in terms of grace, expression and stage presence. Watching Jaggi dance made me realize how much I still need to improve to become a decent dancer and I'm glad he's back in the bhangra circuit after his hiatus. Great stuff for sure. Rutgers definitely has a lot of talent (all the dancers were amazing and there was not a single weak dancer) and a lot of potential.

6. VCU Bhangra: The new fits are essentially PANJ Boys for co-ed. Not a fan, way too much of one color. The routine was MAD clean and execution was great. Nonetheless, not as creative as previous years. The Michael Jackson routine, in my opinion, flopped. It was executed fine, but the concept itself wasn't that great. The new dancers blend in really well and the team is far from crippled from losing dancers. The talent is still there and with more creative choreo, can bring VCU back to last year's baller level. Shahrukh was boss (I loved how he would occasionally look down at various audience members near the stage when dancing - too sexy). One of the guys in blue definitely needed to smile because he stood out against everyone else who was rocking with great expressions. Mix was great. Very clean performance, but not as creative as the VCU we saw last year.

7. Northeastern Bhangra: -Biased Point of View-

8. APD: It came out of nowhere. The KJ three man tower (with board), near the beginning of the routine, was set up in like 20 seconds. It came out of nowhere and it was fucking awesome. The routine was clean, the choreography was great and the expressions were orgasmic. Often times, it's difficult to watch the team as a whole, because you get caught in just watching one of the dancers with expression. Any dancer because they all had great expressions. The new routine is hott but it can be a bit cleaner. The Kanye gimmick was nicely done and the KJ tribute parts of the routine hit hard. However, as a team trying to be called their own and not KJ Juniors, the performance was a step back from creating/maintaining that impression. APD has their own style -  more expressive and more graceful than KJ. The routine with the KJ/Kanye Gimmick simply reminded everyone how similar the team truly is to KJ. At time, the dancing did seem filler for the gimmicks and stunts, but the new routine has more dancing and definitely more creativity. Hands down top two performances.

9. Cornell Bhangra: This routine was 5x better than last weekend's routine. If this routine and this execution transpired in Albany last week, then Cornell would have placed in top 5 for sure. They took last weekend's routine and took things to the next level. The stunts were a good return for the boston crowd and the amped-up gimmicks were awesome! Choreography and execution were both there and Cornell definitely proved themselves with this perfomance. There were a few mistakes including an unfortunate fall. I felt that the other pink jodi's pagh (not Arjun) was tied really high on his head (a lot of his forehead was showing) and it was a bit distracting. The blue jodis were amazing and the girls in this team really shined at parts of the routine. (which was a great change from last year where I felt the guys were in the front most of the time). A lot of the dancers on this team have great folk nakhre (sometimes the eyebrow action is overdone though) but props to Arjun for training his dancers well. See you mofos next weekend.

10. Bhangra Empire: A great routine with so many surprises! Execution was flawless. The intro was a bit fusion-like. Stunts were great. As I said before, we saw much more traditional segments in choreo but they were still executed with the Bhangra Empire style. The Michael Jackson routine was AMAZINGLY well executed and there is no way any team can top it. (If any team is thinking about doing a MJ gimmick, think against it - You will not be able to top a professional MJ impersonator). I honestly believed that Empire had revived MJ from the dead - he looked, danced and behaved like MJ. Hell yeah! The routine had surprises every song and the performance was insanely entertaining. I could not tell that Empire had new dancers coz they definitely hit hard.  

11. BU Bhangra: I feel that you guys went backwards by going from having more colors to less colors. (I think you guys had a color for every 2 guys and 2 girls and now have 1 color for all guys and 1 color for all girls). I say this because often times teams become more rangla as oppose to less. The fits were pretty dull and reminded me of fits from back in 2002. (Last year's fits were better). Even with the home crowd, I feel that the BU Choo-Choo gimmicks didn't hit well with the audience. The choreography and execution do need work, especially for a competition of this calibre. BU did two jhoomer segments which was unfortunate because their dancers definitely need to work on being more graceful with the segment. Chaadres do need to be properly tied. The chimta player was showing off his nice black shorts during the entire routine. Some dancers had great expressions, others were still had bulging eyes and I wish they would just smile. Nonetheless, props for more traditional choreo and the MJ gimmick would have been okay only if Empire didn't bring MJ back from the dead.

12. Sher Foundation: -Biased Point of View-

Placings:

APD and Empire had hands down the top two performances for a competition with a more overall appearance judging criteria. While both were modern teams with their own distinct modern styles, they both had traditional elements. In the comparison of the two, APD had executed two 3 man towers and great crowd-pleasing gimmicks. Empire had gimmicks that were more incorporated in their routine. For example, APD would stop, do their thang and bust out again, while Empire would pull a surprise out while dancing. Empire, as usual, had sick stunts (girls flipped, spinning on shoulders) but APD hit harder with their mix and their expressions. Honestly, a close match-up according to me, but APD came out on first in my opinion.

My third place would be a showdown between VCU and AEG. AEG was creative and had more unique choreography while VCU was cleaner and executed flawlessly. AEG did have some mistakes, which is why I think they didn't place, even though they had their own AEG stunts and their gimmicky choreo was a hit with the audience. Personally, I think AEG should have placed over VCU even though VCU was amazing. I hope to see VCU go crazier with the choreo in later sets (as well as do a different gimmick).

1. Anakh Punjab Di
2. Bhangra Empire
3. Anakh-E-Gabroo

If I was allowed to place 5 spots,

4. VCU
5. DRP

Shoutouts:

> BBC for being a role model to other competitions

> Everyone I met, talked to, danced with, drank with and did crazy shit with. Too many to list them all. All I can say is that I better see you guys next year at BBC 2010. Hells YEAH!

> Michael Jackson, for being such quality gimmick material.

> Michael Jackson Impersonator. hahahaha