• Bhangra discussion is still going strong. Join us in our Facebook group!

    New user registration has been closed (as it was entirely spam). We encourage you to post in our Facebook group, even if it's a followup to an existing thread. BTF will continue to be archived and hosted here - Saleem

OFFICIAL Bhangra Blowout 16 Results

dheerja

Member
Messages
607
Just got back and need to post before I forget everything!

This was my fourth year in a row going to Blowout, the past 3 years I competed with Columbia and this was my first year as an audience member (resigned to alum status). I'm not sure why I'm writing a review on the organization itself, since the past few years have proved that the Blowout committee refuses to listen to or change anything according to constructive advice, but here goes...

One of the biggest issues with Blowout has always been the order of the show. It's significantly harder for teams in the first half to place, since all competing teams are coed collegiate, making it much harder to stick out. The team mixer the night before is always tense around order picking time, yet somehow the Blowout committee manages to make the entire process 10 times more complicated than it needs to be. According to people on teams, the committee wrote the numbers on popsicle sticks and stuck them in cupcakes. Each team picked a popsicle stick, and that order is the order in which the teams CHOSE their spots. Apparently some of the numbers got smudged because, you know, they were in CUPCAKES, causing a ton of confusion. They ended up re-picking the entire thing, obviously pissing teams off, and rightly so. Somehow there's always some sort of confusion about this process and I just don't understand why it's necessary to make things so complicated. Seriously just write numbers 1-8 on a piece of paper and stick them in a hat. The other smaller issue I have is giving teams the option to pick their spot in the show. It's a minor detail, but it does allow teams to strategically place themselves around teams that have already selected. It's a big deal when you have to go right after the favorite or the team with the most crowd support. It just seems like the fairest (and easiest) way is to just randomly pick the order.

So the show itself...I enjoyed about one hour of the show (the 8 team performances), while the rest of it was pretty painful. I don't understand why having Juggy D there was necessary at all. He inserted about 45 minutes of crap, which split the first and second half performances that much farther apart. Every year Blowout sticks some not as important artist in the middle of the show, which again perpetuates the problems I talked about above with the order of the show. The team performances just seem like a side thought. The emcee was much better than previous years, mostly because she kept her act short. I'll let the fact that she couldn't pronounce "Baljit" slide, since she's from the UK and all. I also thought the mobile voting worked out well, it was easy to vote and it seemed like there were enough votes for it to actually be important to people.


Team reviews:

1) Northwestern - This team is the perfect example of getting shafted by the order. The auditorium was half empty when they went on stage, but it didn't seem to get to them at all. I was pleasantly surprised by this team. They were one of the most creative teams of the night and I loved their routine. It was a great example of keeping things traditional yet exciting...without copying a VCU or India routine. There are too many coed teams out there that take the easy way out with a traditional routine, and don't even attempt to be creative. The guys were great dancers, especially the main guy in purple/yellow. Some of the girls were lacking in technique but the two main girls were awesome. They maintained ridiculous energy throughout the routine, despite the lack of audience. I LOVED the formation where they rotated and dropped off/picked up pairs, that was excellent. I didn't like the Queen section, I didn't think it was executed well. I'm all for throwing in a unique segment to English music (see: SMD and Metallica), but it really has to be exciting. It was a little too long and the first 16 beats or so were just boring. Plus, I'm pretty sure "We Will Rock You" has been done in the past. Anyway, other than that I loved this team and I'm sorry that going first affected you so much.

2) Drexel - I had pretty high expectations for Drexel, mainly because of the post-AVAP hype surrounding them. I liked the ideas that they had, but I didn't think it was executed well enough to bring those ideas out. There were parts of the routine that I could tell would look awesome, but it just didn't hit it for me. I can tell that they're all great dancers, but they didn't seem to be dancing as a team. They weren't as coordinated as a lot of the other teams, and there was a lot of energy disparity between the dancers. With the graceful choreo they have, that kind of coordination is absolutely necessary in execution. I actually liked their Blowout performance last year a lot better. This one just didn't stand out to me among the other routines, and that was the vibe I got from other audience members as well. I do want to see their AVAP video, since I heard that performance was great and placing-worthy.

3) NYU - This was my favorite NYU performance in years. They finally adapted their style to something less choppy/poppy and more graceful. Both the choreo and dancing style reflected this, but they still had the same crazy NYU energy. I really really like this change, and I definitely think they're headed in the right direction. I think the next step is to develop more intricate choreo. The majority of the choreo was the basic steps you see in any routine, and now that you've developed a more graceful style, you can get more creative on the actual steps. Always love the girls segments, but I think the giddha bolis need to be a little crazier with the acting and energy. Nice work overall, and I'm SMD-biased of course but Divya was awesome on stage, smallest girl at the competition but stood out no matter where she was.

4) VCU - Not sure I need to say anything. I knew what to expect after watching videos this year, but I was still mesmerized. I love watching this team. It's definitely changed since last year's set, but as opposed to some of the comments on the video, I think in a good way. Every single dancer on VCU is incredible to watch individually, and I think the slower and simpler style really showcases that. Obviously the VCU guys are a force (ha Star Wars shoutout), they each have their own style yet still dance perfectly as a team. I also want to mention how great the VCU girls are. They've come a long long way from formations that hid girls, and they execute everything perfectly. They don't just "keep up" with the guys, they are on par with them on all levels.

5) DRP - I've seen DRP perform live twice in the past and they became my favorite bhangra team the instant they stepped on stage that first time. I've always loved DRP's creativity, flawless execution, and insane energy. There have been a lot of haters on their modern style, but I always had them at the top of the bhangra circuit. This performance wasn't like the previous performances I've seen, live or video. I definitely feel like something on the team has changed. I used to love their creative more intricate choreo, and this year's choreo just seems basic. They still have the formations and cleanliness, but the choreo itself is lacking. Obviously the domino jumps were awesome, but that was the only thing that stuck out in the routine. In previous years I could pick out segments that I enjoyed after watching it once. I also felt like the dancing caliber wasn't up to the usual DRP standards, I'm not sure if not having a home crowd or opening the second half had anything to do with it. Overall it was definitely a solid performance and in the top half of the night, but it wasn't the same DRP for me.

6) Cornell - Best Cornell (coed) routine I've seen since Blowout 2006. Basically it seems like you guys worked harder this year to put together a creative Blowout routine and focused on your coed team. In the past it always seemed like the focus was on the mundey and kuriyan teams, putting you at a coed disadvantage when you're competing against teams that have danced together since September. This routine was very very creative, I loved all the ideas. Cornell also had the best audience reaction of the night, which says a lot considering they probably had minimal numbers in an audience filled with VCU, NYU, and Drexel fans. The crowd went crazy for the gimmick. I honestly thought something like that would never work on stage, but it was awesome. I really liked the routine, but the execution was very sloppy. At a competition like Blowout where every team there is collegiate and practices together multiple times a week throughout the year, you have to be perfect. So, while Cornell was the most creative team, it was also the sloppiest. At times arms were kind of all over the place and compared to the other teams it just wasn't executed to the caliber it needed to be.

7) Columbia - I'm not going to say a lot since I'm obviously biased to my old team, and I know their routine well. I think their routine was executed almost perfectly, they were very clean with formations and moves, and maintained energy throughout. I'm proud of them for not only executing so well, but also maintaining the modern Columbia style while still adapting to the changing bhangra scene. I think the issue is bringing a routine this modern to any competition, since there's no way of knowing how judges will react. The style is unique and it's a crowd pleaser, but a lot of judges will have their own opinions on the larger traditional picture.

8 ) UNC - Nothing really stuck out for me in this routine, while in previous years I've always remembered UNC routines well. They need to get more creative instead of focusing on fitting the mold of a coed traditional team. I also wasn't a fan of the costumes, they were a little too much and not eye-pleasing. Going last in a long show is also tough because the audience is tired, especially an audience filled with uncles/aunties.



When they announced the placings only the team captain was allowed to go on stage and accept the trophy, which really took away from the excitement of placings in the past. It's always awesome to watch the teams rush down and onto the stage, celebrating/taking pictures. I'm sure there's a reason why, probably venue concerns, but it made the whole thing kind of anti-climactic.

Here are my placings

1) VCU
2) Northwestern
3) Cornell/DRP/Columbia
 

bigbossbhangra

New Member
Messages
2
Team reviews:

Northwestern - This is the one team I don't remember too much of. Not too much sticks out, though I do remember not being a huge fan of the "we will rock you" part--didn't really flow too well with the rest of the set. I think going first definitely hurt them. Also, for some reason I think they came off as a team trying too hard to be traditional. Maybe it's because there wasn't a lot of flow to the overall routine, so that by the end it seemed like some sections were simply inserted without smooth transition.

Drexel - These guys ripped it. I think they set the bar in terms of energy and I really enjoyed watching their routine, it flowed well. The red jodi was really fun to watch and the guy in the yellow had the best dhamaal of the night as his knees were up to his chest and he was as close to being horizontal as you can get without tipping over. They rightfully stuck him front center during the dhamaal section. I wasn't a huge fan of the 'electric slide' type section at the end but from the videos I've seen they just added this in for blowout, so I guess they were catering to the blowout 'entertainment' crowd. Overall I really liked the flow of their routine.

NYU - These guys were unfortunately sandwiched in between what ended up being the two best teams of the night which definitely put them in a tough position. I'm not a huge fan of their popping bhangra dance style, and in the end the routine seemed like something out of '05 or '06 in terms of bhangra style. They should consider investing in new turlas at least, it's hard to tell whether the ones they currently have are the fake paghs or what. I do remember them being relatively clean though. I liked their energy but I think if they can evolve their choreo a little bit more to incorporate the swing of bhangra towards what is now a more traditional movement, they can do really well. This doesn't necessarily mean they need to change their style, but just try to add a new dimension to what they've already got.

VCU - Definitely the cleanest team of the night. I thought Benny completely ripped it and put this team at another level. I think they had the loudest crowd support of all the teams tonight. Compared to their other performances though, looking just at the routine without gimmicks and such, I didn't enjoy this one as much as the Burgh one because it was considerably slower overall. Nonetheless, this was probably the strongest group of dancers on stage and it definitely showed--it's amazing how they don't have to try and go out of their way to show energy and grace. They seem to like movie themes haha, first Star Wars and now Batman.

DRP - I thought these guys were awesome and had a solid shot at placing. Definitely not as strong as last year's BOB winning team, but they had a sick mela scene in the middle where they had two two-man towers who hung a swing from their shoulders and had one of the girls swinging off of it. The kabaddi bit was pretty tight too. They have their own style and they cleaned up between DDA and now, and also made quite a few changes to music as well as choreo (for the better, I thought). For a team with the least crowd support, they ended up getting the most cheering at the end, interesting because when they were introduced they had a few woots here and there. Definitely got the crowd riled up, especially after that protracted Juggy D performance.

Cornell - I liked their routine, but I don't think it was very well executed. Unfortunately, they had the most mess ups of any team at this competition and both were glaring--twice a girl (I think it was the same one?) fell and stayed down for 4-6 beats. Once was during mirza, and I think she was even shocked for a bit it happened and didn't get up for a while, so it made recovery seem poor. The other time was towards the end. Other than that, I noticed a lot of the people on this team tend not to finish their moves--they seem kind of lazily executed which makes things seem messy. The guy in the yellow stood out most of doing this, but I think as a whole if they could work on this it would benefit them in the long run. Routine-wise though, I thought it was well put together. Considering the mistakes that occurred though, not too sure how these guys placed over some other teams that executed really well on good routines as well.

Columbia - These guys had a cleanliness in their routine that rivaled that of VCU's. I think one of the the reasons they didn't place though is that very little has changed between this routine and last years, or even the year when they won blowout. If you add in the lawnmower gimmick to what they had Saturday night, then you might as well have been back to 2006 Blowout. If they work on incorporating a new dimension to their present style--something to change it up--then I'm sure they'll come back strong next year. If you go with you've got every year, then you can only get so much variation until everything begins to look the same and repetitive. Unfortunately, this is what ended up happening for this team--didn't really bring anything new to the table.

UNC - Good performance on an overall simple routine. Going up especially against VCU, Drexel, and DRP, it made it difficult for them to place (looking at just choreo and routine). Some of the dancers were a bit messy and had so much energy to the point where they were kind of bouncing and flailing around. Trying to find a balance between high energy and finesse is something that's indeed difficult, but something that can go a long way. Wish these guys good luck for next year!

GW - They were an exhibition performance. I actually thought they were really good. If they performed as a competitive team, with the energy and cleanliness, then they would've placed. The guy in the green was really good and had awesome nakhre..no idea who he is though. One of the better dancers I'd seen all night in fact. There were some guys dancing without some saaps though so they should probably invest in getting enough.. Also there was a boy-girl jodi that was girl-girl, which was unfortunate because it threw things off a bit in terms of balance. Overall, I really enjoyed these guys though.

My Placings:

1) VCU/Drexel
2) VCU/Drexel
3) DRP

I think Drexel's established themselves as one of the top college co-ed teams this year. I actually thought they stood a chance of taking 1st away from VCU. Matching VCU's cleanliness, grace, and, of course, hype, is tough, but they actually gave VCU a run for the title. Also, I think Blowout is definitely DRP's type of competition and they had a solid performance that could've placed. Had Cornell executed flawlessly, then I'd stick with the judge's call on the actual placings, but with the errors considered, I think DRP should've had 3rd. Nonetheless, congrats to all the placing teams and to all of those who competed.
 

C

Member
Messages
37
yay drexel!!!

Malwa got played. Only got to perform two songs, was literally cut off by the stage director in the middle of the third song. didn't even sing punjabna.
 

Saleem

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
1,928
dheerja said:
6) Cornell - Best Cornell (coed) routine I've seen since Blowout 2005.
I'm going to assume you meant Blowout 2006. haha ;) actually I'm crying right now.

Good review Dheerja and I agree with a good amount of it.

My placings (i had a side view so I wouldnt treat these as gospel)
1st VCU
2nd and 3rd were pretty close since i wasnt going off a specific rubric: DRP/Drexel/NWU/Cornell
NWU had good ideas/creativity but not-perfect execution; Drexel was cleaner but I didnt enjoy the dance as much; DRP had a balanced and clean dance but as Dheerja said not much POPPED out; Cornell was the opposite it had great crowd-pleasers and a lot stood out but it wasnt cleanly executed.

Juggy D should have been shorter (hah pun intended) and Baljit Malwa was lipsyncing the latter half which sucked
 

Saleem

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
1,928
dheerja said:
Ah yes 2006, sorry the years get jumbled when you're this old. :)
Haha it's okay. I had to think really hard (and consult Google to confirm) that Cornell didnt go to Blowout in 2005. Shit I'm old
 

Jeeti

New Member
Messages
974
Quick thoughts on blowout...

Mixer- Great venue as usual solely due to the balcony outside, but getting DJ Kayper, in my opinion, was probably not the greatest idea. She played mainly UK bhangra and wasn't really in touch with what teams nowadays like to dance to (See Back to Folk 2). Don't get me wrong, she is a talented dj...but teams wanna go straight buck crazy and not to old punjabi songs with a hip hop beat. Other than that, it was ok...food was decent...it had a different feel from AVAP not sure what it was...felt like there was more tension between teams...

Show- Everything was organized decently and ran on time...Kayper was actually a good MC (cute as hell too..holler)... Juggy D went on way too long...Baljit Malwa surprised the hell out of me...I did not expect him to sound EXACTLY like he does on his album, but he does...He ran out of stamina and began to lip sync towards the end, but that probably has something to do with being new to the scene, he will get better...This blowout was a testament to how quickly bhangra is growing...This was by far the most competitive blowout I have seen or been apart of. Every team brought their A game, there wasn't a single team, in my opinion, that was ever out of the running, which has happened in the past. I am a bit disappointed that there are teams on the circuit that still refuse to change their style even one bit to traditional...get with the times guys...It is unfortunate that DRP didn't place but blowout has always been a bit of a fan of crowd support..hope they had fun on the east coast despite that...

Afterparty- We decided to go to Hard Rock, where we ran into a huge crowd of people mostly performers...who were not being allowed in and if they were allowed in, were being charged 20 bucks for entry. After waiting outside for what had to be at least a half hour, I left...I understand that the blowout board is not affiliated with the afterparty...but is there anyway to fix this? Maybe have a preferred afterparty or something...or someway to ENSURE teams get in...It is incredibly frustrating to be wired to go out after placing or winning and then have your team not be able to get in, get split up, or go back to the hotel. Maybe try doing it like AVAP...Initially, I had bitched about AVAP's party being in the hotel, but going to blowout's afterparty gave me great perspective on how much better it is to have the party in a hotel...you can control the crowd, music, drinks...

All in all, a great weekend...congrats to all the other placing teams...

Thank you blowout board for your hospitality.
 

lavesh

Member
Messages
421
shoutout to ricky on drexel! nice meeting you at avap and CONGRADS! its about freakin time drexel placed...

also, shoutout to my unc crew! im sure everyone ripped it and i cant wait to see the vid...wish i could have been there wit u guys

special shoutout to amit bhatti...this guy really changed the face of unc and made them into the competitive coed team that you see now...one of the most graceful dancers i have seen in person, i think this was his last collegiate performance, so big ups to him...def had an influence on my bhangra...im sure he killed it :)
 

BaldeepK

I love my MUCHAAA!!!
Messages
14
bigbossbhangra said:
GW - They were an exhibition performance. I actually thought they were really good. If they performed as a competitive team, with the energy and cleanliness, then they would've placed. The guy in the green was really good and had awesome nakhre..no idea who he is though. One of the better dancers I'd seen all night in fact. There were some guys dancing without some saaps though so they should probably invest in getting enough.. Also there was a boy-girl jodi that was girl-girl, which was unfortunate because it threw things off a bit in terms of balance. Overall, I really enjoyed these guys though.
Thank you!!! One of our guys was out, since guys are hard to find in dc, and put her in his place which is y it looked akward. A Saap also was broken on stage and was put down at a point where it was unnoticeable MALHI SICK!!!! Shout out to Harsh Malhi for letting me dance with GW again, it was fun Performing with Baljit Malwa, it was way better then KS Makhan last year. GW broad gave way too much time to JUGGY D and not enough to Malwa, lovely guy btw.
IF ANYONE HAS tHE VIDEO FOR GW I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT!!!! Thank you
 

sherpunjabiputh

New Member
Messages
56
whats going on with drp? i love watching these guys but all of a sudden they havent been placing anymore =/ the only time i saw them live was at socal and i thought they were pretty good but not the usual drp as from the past!!! but who knows lets see what happens at bruin!!!
 

skinem

New Member
Messages
2
hey dheerja...no offense but your review is completely off. i understand blowout made the order picking complicated and it was unfair but as you can see from the results....the order obviously didnt effect the teams. becaue the 7th and 8th teams to preform didnt place. The first place winner, VCU, was 4th to dance! before intermission! and second place winners were the second team to dance! so idk what you are talking about. i agree northwest and nyu were significantly better but not placing worthy.

--

by the time northwestern went up the hall was NOT half empty. ---

you guys need to realize blowout wasnt as bad as you make it seem. this year was actually run alot better. -- Look at drexel with the exception of a bhangra in the burgh and hungama, drexel hasnt placed. If you realize, they havent complained or come up on some forum liked this and start accusing the competitions. I mean they tore it up at AVAP, dont get me wrong they were probably upsett for not placing but tthey havent gone around saying AVAP was horrible. Instead they gained from not placing at such competitions and simply became a better team ---. And hey. i just remembered one thing.... you said that members of the audience aggreed with you that drexel wasnt too good, well clearly that was false because nyu won the viewers choice by default. Drexel had 4000 + votes when i texted dxl to 62407 for the viewers choice award and when the viewers choice award was announced, NYU supposedly won with only 3800 votes. after the show supposedly a bb16 coordinator explained that it was unfair to win both the viewers choice award and to be placed so by default drexel was not the viewers choice winner. --

also...VCU was sick .... cornell was surprisingly reallly good!
as for the others...

the only other teams that seemed like they had any sort of shot were northwestern and nyu....


Moderator's note: Please keep respect on this forum. Some of your message has been moderated.
 

skinem

New Member
Messages
2
hahah im calm .... i just hate columbias attitude especiallly when they lose....they cant handle it
 

dheerja

Member
Messages
607
skinem said:
hey dheerja...no offense but your review is completely off. i understand blowout made the order picking complicated and it was unfair but as you can see from the results....the order obviously didnt effect the teams. becaue the 7th and 8th teams to preform didnt place. The first place winner, VCU, was 4th to dance! before intermission! and second place winners were the second team to dance! so idk what you are talking about. i agree northwest and nyu were significantly better but not placing worthy.

--

by the time northwestern went up the hall was NOT half empty. ---

you guys need to realize blowout wasnt as bad as you make it seem. this year was actually run alot better. -- Look at drexel with the exception of a bhangra in the burgh and hungama, drexel hasnt placed. If you realize, they havent complained or come up on some forum liked this and start accusing the competitions. I mean they tore it up at AVAP, dont get me wrong they were probably upsett for not placing but tthey havent gone around saying AVAP was horrible. Instead they gained from not placing at such competitions and simply became a better team ---. And hey. i just remembered one thing.... you said that members of the audience aggreed with you that drexel wasnt too good, well clearly that was false because nyu won the viewers choice by default. Drexel had 4000 + votes when i texted dxl to 62407 for the viewers choice award and when the viewers choice award was announced, NYU supposedly won with only 3800 votes. after the show supposedly a bb16 coordinator explained that it was unfair to win both the viewers choice award and to be placed so by default drexel was not the viewers choice winner. --

also...VCU was sick .... cornell was surprisingly reallly good!
as for the others...

the only other teams that seemed like they had any sort of shot were northwestern and nyu....


Moderator's note: Please keep respect on this forum. Some of your message has been moderated.

Alright I'm not going to even get into this with you because I've seen how these kinds of arguments turn out on BTF. My qualms about the entire order picking process are shared by a lot of the teams, both this year and over the past few years. I tried to be as unbiased as possible in my team reviews, which I stated, and they had nothing to do with my previous affiliation with Columbia Bhangra. I have friends on a majority of the teams that performed, including Drexel. Honestly, going back and reading my review I don't know where you got the idea that I'm bitter that Columbia didn't place. As a first-time audience member of Blowout my goal was to write a full and honest review of the entire show. I'm not even going to bother going through your comments and picking out the attacking parts that were simply wrong, just not worth my time.
 

sapg21

New Member
Messages
98
yikes...lets just all be happy and friendly. everyone is entitled to their own opinion and i dont think anyone should ever take it personal.

just relax everyone...no one is ever 100% happy with placings. anyone who has a legit review, post it...otherwise keep these kind of diatribes to yourself. it makes people ACTUALLY on the team look bad when random people come up here posting things like that.


thanks

edit: by relax everyone i mean relax skinem
 

ban3rg

Active Member
Messages
1,492
http://gopunjabi.com/CelebrationTV.aspx


quality is pretty good. at this moment in time GW is dancing!
 
Top