sulmoney
smd, bitch
- Messages
- 532
so saleem asked me to write a pao bhangra 7 review, but that would have turned into a long winded essay about how the cornell bhangra royally screwed up by not accepting us, and then screwed up again by not asking us to perform when west virginia dropped out earlier in the week before the show. the girls are 45 minutes away, its not that big of a deal for us to come and do it. whatever the reasons, were all quite bitter over the snub. there, got it off my chest in a public manner, and now i can move on (all videos except for mad bhangra group from pao can be found on sobTV, www.orangebhangra.com, after Saturday). ok, bhangra blowout 15! unfortunately, i can not make it this year and will not be able to provide videos and an uber detailed review, but having seen the routines (or very recent ones) of pretty much every team competing there, i thought i would write a preview. lets get it on.
first things first, the lineup. i agree with the move towards 8 teams, especially since they will all be coed traditional teams, no one wants to see 10 of those in a row. it will make for a tighter and more competitive show, and the show will not drag, especially when you consider that there will be performances by ks makhan and gw bhangra at the show as well. the main controversies about the lineup were the "snubs" of certain teams, aka nyu and duke. nyu was shocked because they were defending champions, and duke was pissed because they had been winning all these competitions in north carolina. blowout this year wanted to go all traditional, to stay with the trend towards traditionality in bhangra that is sweeping the circuit. the right decision was made in not selecting these two teams. personally, i was shocked that nyu was not accepted, but after seeing them at royale, it was the right decision. they have been doing basically the same routine since they won blowout...in 2005. this is hopefully the wakeup call a talented nyu team needs to start totally fresh. as for duke, i have my own issues with them, but the long and short of it is that they are more of a fusion team than a bhangra team, and that simply put, unc and nc state are better bhangra teams from north carolina, and more deserving of a blowout spot. which brings me to my personal snub, nc state. having seen a vid of northwestern from the fall, i felt like they will be the worst team in the lineup. they are not the same three rivers influence team from alst year, and are traditional now, but nothing really stood out so much. watching nc state at queen city dhamaal was a revelation; they were the surprise team of the the night, and for me, surprise team of the season. expect bigger things out of them, and i thought they were a blowout lock for sure, but alas, it was not to be. ok, on to the previews!
side note slash preface. these are based on either first hand views of the teams that are somewhat recent, or on videos that are somewhat recent, or on things that ive heard from people close to the teams, so of course, there is great potential to seeing something totally different this weekend, and me eating my words. and again, these are my personal views, not the views of my team.
wont place
8) northwestern: like i said earlier, better than last year, but still nothing too exciting out of them. i like their new uniforms, but the dance is pretty standard. nothing too exciting stands out. i think they will be weakest team here and the only team i had objection with being at the show.
7) cornell: just saw them this past weekend at pao, and was not terribly impressed with the routine. i like how everyone is on stage the whole time now, but there was a lot of recycled choreography, and it looked very very sloppy. cornell choreo has gotten a bit stale now, and def need a kick in the engine to get fresh again. ive know they will have a new live section at blowout, so im excited to hear how that goes over.
6) drexel: in my royale review, i had them at 2nd. so why so low here? it comes down to one man: ricky from aan punjab di, and his inability to dance with them at blowout due to the strict roster rules. at royale, he was the star of the team and carried the rest of the team during the performance. with him, this is a team that would have placing capability. losing him will be a gigantic blow to the team, and will make them look relatively average.
5) unc: very traditional team, with some nice elements, but overall, they are very bland in my estimation. watching their recent routines, nothing really stands out while watching them. they placed 3rd at qc dhamaal, but i could not remember anything about their routine. i actually felt nc state was the better team that night.
final four
i feel these are the top 4 teams at this show, and three of them should place.
4 and 2nd) yale and columbia: i feel one of these two will get 2nd, while the other will be left out of the placings. yale first; they are a high risk, high reward team that i could see placing 2nd, or just blowing up and not be in the equation at all. the guys carry the routine, and it could be enough. they will be the surprise team of the night, and are the shoe-in for most improved team award. now to columbia; after watching their vibc routine, i was reminded why i loved this team so much last year; their high and infectious energy, great mix, and insane formations will win the hearts of the dc audience. they are more traditional than last year, but keep their unique columbia style.
3rd and 1st) rutgers and vcu: one of these teams will win, while the other will get 3rd. rutgers is the best live coed team in the country, 3d be damned, and thats basically what it comes down to; they are very very traditional, and put together a great routine, but can be low in energy. that was the main criticism with their routine from last year, and could potentially hold them back from the win this year as well. vcu, however, has been the overall best coed team in the nation, duniya be damned. i love pure bhangra, and with vcu, thats what you will get. they have insane energy, great formations, and are very traditional, but can get sloppy at parts especially when the energy gets really high, and is their only potential drawback. they are long overdue for a 1st place, but i feel the streak will come to an end on saturday.
the final placings will be determined by who goes last in the show, as blowout as always favored teams that go late in the order. hopefully, the best teams will place this year. best of luck to all those competing!
first things first, the lineup. i agree with the move towards 8 teams, especially since they will all be coed traditional teams, no one wants to see 10 of those in a row. it will make for a tighter and more competitive show, and the show will not drag, especially when you consider that there will be performances by ks makhan and gw bhangra at the show as well. the main controversies about the lineup were the "snubs" of certain teams, aka nyu and duke. nyu was shocked because they were defending champions, and duke was pissed because they had been winning all these competitions in north carolina. blowout this year wanted to go all traditional, to stay with the trend towards traditionality in bhangra that is sweeping the circuit. the right decision was made in not selecting these two teams. personally, i was shocked that nyu was not accepted, but after seeing them at royale, it was the right decision. they have been doing basically the same routine since they won blowout...in 2005. this is hopefully the wakeup call a talented nyu team needs to start totally fresh. as for duke, i have my own issues with them, but the long and short of it is that they are more of a fusion team than a bhangra team, and that simply put, unc and nc state are better bhangra teams from north carolina, and more deserving of a blowout spot. which brings me to my personal snub, nc state. having seen a vid of northwestern from the fall, i felt like they will be the worst team in the lineup. they are not the same three rivers influence team from alst year, and are traditional now, but nothing really stood out so much. watching nc state at queen city dhamaal was a revelation; they were the surprise team of the the night, and for me, surprise team of the season. expect bigger things out of them, and i thought they were a blowout lock for sure, but alas, it was not to be. ok, on to the previews!
side note slash preface. these are based on either first hand views of the teams that are somewhat recent, or on videos that are somewhat recent, or on things that ive heard from people close to the teams, so of course, there is great potential to seeing something totally different this weekend, and me eating my words. and again, these are my personal views, not the views of my team.
wont place
8) northwestern: like i said earlier, better than last year, but still nothing too exciting out of them. i like their new uniforms, but the dance is pretty standard. nothing too exciting stands out. i think they will be weakest team here and the only team i had objection with being at the show.
7) cornell: just saw them this past weekend at pao, and was not terribly impressed with the routine. i like how everyone is on stage the whole time now, but there was a lot of recycled choreography, and it looked very very sloppy. cornell choreo has gotten a bit stale now, and def need a kick in the engine to get fresh again. ive know they will have a new live section at blowout, so im excited to hear how that goes over.
6) drexel: in my royale review, i had them at 2nd. so why so low here? it comes down to one man: ricky from aan punjab di, and his inability to dance with them at blowout due to the strict roster rules. at royale, he was the star of the team and carried the rest of the team during the performance. with him, this is a team that would have placing capability. losing him will be a gigantic blow to the team, and will make them look relatively average.
5) unc: very traditional team, with some nice elements, but overall, they are very bland in my estimation. watching their recent routines, nothing really stands out while watching them. they placed 3rd at qc dhamaal, but i could not remember anything about their routine. i actually felt nc state was the better team that night.
final four
i feel these are the top 4 teams at this show, and three of them should place.
4 and 2nd) yale and columbia: i feel one of these two will get 2nd, while the other will be left out of the placings. yale first; they are a high risk, high reward team that i could see placing 2nd, or just blowing up and not be in the equation at all. the guys carry the routine, and it could be enough. they will be the surprise team of the night, and are the shoe-in for most improved team award. now to columbia; after watching their vibc routine, i was reminded why i loved this team so much last year; their high and infectious energy, great mix, and insane formations will win the hearts of the dc audience. they are more traditional than last year, but keep their unique columbia style.
3rd and 1st) rutgers and vcu: one of these teams will win, while the other will get 3rd. rutgers is the best live coed team in the country, 3d be damned, and thats basically what it comes down to; they are very very traditional, and put together a great routine, but can be low in energy. that was the main criticism with their routine from last year, and could potentially hold them back from the win this year as well. vcu, however, has been the overall best coed team in the nation, duniya be damned. i love pure bhangra, and with vcu, thats what you will get. they have insane energy, great formations, and are very traditional, but can get sloppy at parts especially when the energy gets really high, and is their only potential drawback. they are long overdue for a 1st place, but i feel the streak will come to an end on saturday.
the final placings will be determined by who goes last in the show, as blowout as always favored teams that go late in the order. hopefully, the best teams will place this year. best of luck to all those competing!
