Okay you guys, since the major competition season is winding down (no disrespect to the summer comps, or VIBC), I think it's time for some end of season awards/hat tips/etc. Let's discuss the highs and lows of this year's bhangra circuit. There may be some overlap between these categories
Best Coed Team
Best All Guys Team
Best All Girls Team
Best US Team
Best Canadian Team
Most Improved
Best Competition to perform in
Best Competition to watch
Best Set
Best Gimmick
MVD (Most Valuable Dancer)
Best Team
Weirdest Gimmick
Lowlight of the year
Craziest Story
I'll kick it off.
Best Coed Team: This is a tough one. A lot of the coed collegiate teams really stepped their games up this year, with teams like Cal and UNC joining the more established group of elite collegiate teams (VCU, DRP, Cornell and the rest). Based purely on results, though, it's a close fight between Cal and UNC, with the surprise inclusion of Bhangra Empire (a 1st at Bruin, a 2nd at Boston and strong showings worldwide are nothing to scoff at). In the end, I have to give the nod to Cal, because of their meteoric rise, even though parts of their set stayed relatively constant all year.
Best All Guys Team: This is a close one too. The canadian teams all stepped up this year, and NYPD came to elite and put on an extremely entertaining set. Out west, BK had a big year in the spotlight, and was very unlucky not to win or place at Bruin, while ABC also came up big this year. And back east, the guys on JJ and AEG both had great years and showed that they deserved to be at elite. However, for the consistency of their results, I'd give this one to AEG. 1st at Boston, a 2nd at Bruin and a strong showing at Elite means that they end the year as the all-guys team to beat.
Best All Girls Team: There was a good amount of competition here between SMD, TAG and the dark horse teams of MSU and BAR-B. I have to give the nod to SMD, though. Great dancers, very clean and a lot of fun to watch. But BAR-B's coming up quickly, so watch out.
Best US Team: The three teams above have competed against each other once. AEG was the winner that time, tying for second at Bruin. They also scored a bit higher than SMD at Elite. The fact that there were so many teams, even aside from these three, that could be considered speaks strongly to the strength of the US bhangra scene.
Best Canadian Team: The T-Dot scene has always produced strong teams, and this year was no exception. NYPD almost won Elite, NJ won Jashan fairly convincingly and SGPD was SGPD. Out west, BCC and PCBCA both had strong years, too. In the end, though, it's subjective and I really liked NJ's Jashan set so I'll go with them.
Most Improved: This is a toss-up between a few teams. Cal came almost out of nowhere and won almost everything they could get their hands on this year, including snagging a surprise win at Blowout. UNC also rose from relative obscurity and snagged VPD and Elite in a two week span. And then there's FAUJ, who've also shown up in a big way in the last year. Once again, though, it's gotta be Cal. Literally out of nowhere. I can't wait to see what you guys do.
Best Competition to watch: Elite was fun but add some Cali sun, bottomless mimosas, a sweet hotel and an even stronger lineup and Bruin has to take the cake.
Best Set: Really hard to nail down. Either AEG at Boston or BK at Bruin. As much as I liked watching the Elite sets, some of them fall a bit flat in retrospect.
Best Gimmick: Navi Sandhu. The Boston gimmick was un-freaking-believable, and it was such a shock that people who weren't on BTF were still bugging out about it at Elite. I mean, hell, I was still bugging out about it at Elite.
Best Team: This is tough, but it's AEG for me.
Weirdest Gimmick: probably the Avengers bit at Bruin by TAG/SGPD. It just didn't really fit with the routine. I wasn't huge on the NYPD 300 thing, but it stuck throughout the routine.
Lowlight of the year: The nonsense that happened in Seattle. That ended up screwing BAR-B over hard
Your turn.
Best Coed Team
Best All Guys Team
Best All Girls Team
Best US Team
Best Canadian Team
Most Improved
Best Competition to perform in
Best Competition to watch
Best Set
Best Gimmick
MVD (Most Valuable Dancer)
Best Team
Weirdest Gimmick
Lowlight of the year
Craziest Story
I'll kick it off.
Best Coed Team: This is a tough one. A lot of the coed collegiate teams really stepped their games up this year, with teams like Cal and UNC joining the more established group of elite collegiate teams (VCU, DRP, Cornell and the rest). Based purely on results, though, it's a close fight between Cal and UNC, with the surprise inclusion of Bhangra Empire (a 1st at Bruin, a 2nd at Boston and strong showings worldwide are nothing to scoff at). In the end, I have to give the nod to Cal, because of their meteoric rise, even though parts of their set stayed relatively constant all year.
Best All Guys Team: This is a close one too. The canadian teams all stepped up this year, and NYPD came to elite and put on an extremely entertaining set. Out west, BK had a big year in the spotlight, and was very unlucky not to win or place at Bruin, while ABC also came up big this year. And back east, the guys on JJ and AEG both had great years and showed that they deserved to be at elite. However, for the consistency of their results, I'd give this one to AEG. 1st at Boston, a 2nd at Bruin and a strong showing at Elite means that they end the year as the all-guys team to beat.
Best All Girls Team: There was a good amount of competition here between SMD, TAG and the dark horse teams of MSU and BAR-B. I have to give the nod to SMD, though. Great dancers, very clean and a lot of fun to watch. But BAR-B's coming up quickly, so watch out.
Best US Team: The three teams above have competed against each other once. AEG was the winner that time, tying for second at Bruin. They also scored a bit higher than SMD at Elite. The fact that there were so many teams, even aside from these three, that could be considered speaks strongly to the strength of the US bhangra scene.
Best Canadian Team: The T-Dot scene has always produced strong teams, and this year was no exception. NYPD almost won Elite, NJ won Jashan fairly convincingly and SGPD was SGPD. Out west, BCC and PCBCA both had strong years, too. In the end, though, it's subjective and I really liked NJ's Jashan set so I'll go with them.
Most Improved: This is a toss-up between a few teams. Cal came almost out of nowhere and won almost everything they could get their hands on this year, including snagging a surprise win at Blowout. UNC also rose from relative obscurity and snagged VPD and Elite in a two week span. And then there's FAUJ, who've also shown up in a big way in the last year. Once again, though, it's gotta be Cal. Literally out of nowhere. I can't wait to see what you guys do.
Best Competition to watch: Elite was fun but add some Cali sun, bottomless mimosas, a sweet hotel and an even stronger lineup and Bruin has to take the cake.
Best Set: Really hard to nail down. Either AEG at Boston or BK at Bruin. As much as I liked watching the Elite sets, some of them fall a bit flat in retrospect.
Best Gimmick: Navi Sandhu. The Boston gimmick was un-freaking-believable, and it was such a shock that people who weren't on BTF were still bugging out about it at Elite. I mean, hell, I was still bugging out about it at Elite.
Best Team: This is tough, but it's AEG for me.
Weirdest Gimmick: probably the Avengers bit at Bruin by TAG/SGPD. It just didn't really fit with the routine. I wasn't huge on the NYPD 300 thing, but it stuck throughout the routine.
Lowlight of the year: The nonsense that happened in Seattle. That ended up screwing BAR-B over hard
Your turn.