OFFICIAL Boston Bhangra Competition 2008 Results/Discussion

[Harleen]

My placings based on the fact that I didn't see GW and Sher's performance:


1. VCU - SICK. They had the best balance between all factors that a bhangra team should have. They were creative, had gimmicks without deviating from the concept of traditional bhangra, good formations, each dancer was amazing, every person on the team had sick expressions, and their energy level stayed consistent throughout the routine.
2. Jawani - improved a lot since the last time I've seen you girls perform. Very entertaining performance, good formations and song selection for doing what you guys do. Great expressions and energy.
3. Empire - clean, creative, and entertaining as always. Only thing that they fell short on was expressions. They've had better performances in the past but it was still good.


All the other teams did well comparative to one another, but I feel that none of the other performances I saw were as well-rounded as the three I picked.

ALso, I don't know the names of any of the people that sang on the first bus back to the hotel, but you all were SO SICK =]


-Harleen

 

[Chidiya]

Congrats to Emprie, VCU and Sher

This was a crazy weekend....finally meet half the people on BTF

BIG BIG BIG shout out to Guardian for letting my juniors borrow the props when we needed it, you guys have heart and love for the dance..madd love/respect for you guys

big shout out to jabbar, shan, pooja, manjit, sharu, bobby(glad to see you made it through last min), bruaaaa, kinnell, kush, Chirag, jasmeet, NAV (love the shirt), monti, lalli, and anyone else i chilled with, you guys def helped make this weekend what it was.....see you guys at other competitions and possible back at BBC

way to forget me asshole. i spent the most time with you!

 

[NavDheri]

oh man what a great weekend...BB committee is just full amazing people...thank you for putting up with us (well mainly me) abhi throughout the weekend...i had an amazing time. YOU BETTER LIKE THE SHIRT! haha...and guardians...it was a fun bus ride to the airport...JASMEET IS ONE SEXY GUY! haha...sorry i was a bit out of it (didn't get much sleep the night before) lol

Overall i had fun meeting everyone and spending time with all you guys. see ya'll SOON!!!

 

[Havish]

The weekend was good overall.

-The preparty was downstairs in the hotel and it was very very hot in that room.
-Competition day ran fairly smoothly
-the run throughs were pretty much on time
-they provided food for the teams throughout the weekend
-The show ran very smoothly also
-all the teams had good performances, the audience was cheering for every team.
-Venue was basically sold out.
-Afterparty was fun until the speaker blew out and then they couldn't really play the music loud

The major issue I had with Boston Bhangra committee was getting picked up from the airport. They told us that they would pick us up from the airport on Friday when we landed, but our flight got delayed and we landed about 2hrs later than expected, landing around 8pm (guessing right around when the mixer started) When we landed, we got a text message saying that they couldn't pick us up. So we called them and no one would pick up. It seemed like they couldn't come pick us up because everyone was at the mixer. So we ended up waiting at the airport for almost 2hrs trying to figure out ride situations before having to take taxis to the hotel which costs a lot of $$$.

 

[RaveenB]

Congrats to all of the teams that placed! I really enjoyed watching all of the teams last night and meeting alot of you from different teams. I have to say the Boston Committee did a really good job with everything especially taking care of the teams! It was a fun and exciting weekend!

 

[kinnell]

I just got back from freaking driving to Boston, going to BBC and driving back. There was mad snow, so I had to drive like 20-30 mph on the way back. Where to start for this competition?

First, the competition was baller as usual. Good job, BBC! I loved that the afterparty was in the teams hotel. Best thing ever. Yes, the hotel security were bitches. I loved meeting BTF people. Apparently, Meistro thought my voice should have been higher than it actually is. lol

COMPETITION REVIEW - Disclaimer: I am going to be 100% honest no matter how much I love you. I sat in the absolute front row, so I saw everything, but I cannot fully comment on formations and overall package.

Davis Di Dynasty Mad grace. Great choreo. Made bhangra look easy. There were some mistakes made (some chick fell), so it needs to be cleaned up. Mad Respect to Amit, the jolly sardar with perfect expressions. lol +1 for expressions. +1 for mad grace.

Guardians of Bhangra One of the things (as I told Kush) I loved about you guys was the fact that choreo looked uniquely like yours. Sure, the dragon thing came off like Sher Foundation's tiger thing, but Sher doesn't really have a monopoly on animals. Choreo was good and you guys have a lot of promise. Paghs need to be tied tighter because there were 3 casualties and the two person on one dude tower was cool. +1 for uniqueness

Jawani HOT Shit. You guys maintained traditional and your stunts were hot. I told some of the girls on this team that like others, you girls deserved to place for sure. +1 for stunts. +1 for ballerness.

BMW I loved a lot of things about this team. Great choreo, great directions and great vibe. One word came out strong while watching this dance: BADASS. A lot of cool stunts were attempted - not all succeeded. Some dudes had great expressions, others lacked them all-together. Your khunda shit was hott, unfortunately, they were FAKE which means they were significantly lighter which means you don't get respect for that. Also, huge chaadre malfunction on a dude in the front. Not something I wanted to see from a team that oozes experience. Respect to Abhijeet for being amazingly fun to watch. +1 for uniqueness. +1 for badass. +1 for khunda segment. -1 for fake khunda.

VCU Bhangra Always a step ahead of the rest of the circuit. Continuing to push the boundaries of bhangra while maintaining a sense of traditional bhangra. Respect to Arjun whom I thought I saw dancing. Mad awkward when I complemented him on it and he informed me that he did not. +1 uniqueness. +1 expressions. +1 formations.

GW Bhangra While I loved to watch Waleed dance, nothing really stood out too much. You guys had good choreo and good execution, but nothing stood out compared to the other teams. Respect to Waleed.

Sher Foundation I have been promised a Sher Bitch T-shit. I loved the routine, but I was hoping something different from Bruin and thus had higher expectations. However, when I went back and looked at your dance, it was an amazing performance. As usual, there was personality on stage and it showed like no other. Like BMW, some people had great smiling nakhra expressions, others seemed Sher angry. Regardless, I loved drinking/eating/chilling with you guys afterwards. Respect to all Shers for being ballers in person as well. +1 for uniqueness. +1 for choreo. +1 for entertainment. -1 for fake khundas.

RU Bhangra A great performance and props for going live. The girl singer was amazing. However, nothing really stood out too much.

BU Bhangra I know a lot of people on this team. The new costumes look... good but lack the extra oomph. I'm not a big fan on how you guys used Esha/Rahul/Prithvi (the dudes in the old costumes) as essentially as gimmicks. You guys seemed to try to go more traditional, but your expressions... holy shit - were scary. I know Boston Bhangra (BB and BU Bhangra seem to share dancers) is big on lip singing the songs but your expressions where you bulge your eyes out (surprised look) and open/close your mouth as big as you can needs to go away for ever. 1 pagri malfunction. The expressions honestly really killed a pretty entertaining routine.

Northeastern Bhangra A great routine as usual and very entertaining to watch. Akshay told me that the mix was made by Abhi, so mad props for a great fucking mix! Definitely some good choreo and great execution, but unlike a lot of people, I wasn't a big on the Hindi filmi gimmick - It was way too long. Respect to my boy Sabi. +1 for entertainment. +1 for mix. +1 for intro video.

MIT Bhangra The MC called NU bhangra a multi-cultural event because Danny on NU Bhangra is black. There was nothing said about MIT Bhangra? Most diverse team of the night as well as most mercenaries. (Ya'll know who you are). Mad entertaining and a lot of cool things were attempted. Sometimes there was too much going on, but there was definitely a great unique vibe from this team. Very gimmicky and the Christmas lights (the two dancers who jumped in with glow in the dark lights on their costumes) need to never be done again. Respect to Kapil for vision. +1 for uniqueness. +1 for entertainment. -1 for too gimmicky.

Bhangra Empire The RAAS team of the bhangra circuit. Mad emphasis on formations and even a typical raas stunt (flipping girls). Definitely very entertaining, but there was very little traditional bhangra feel. HOTTEST girls of the night - Front row, remember? The same thing you'll hear from a lot of people - change up your choreo. It seems you guys just seem to add new songs and new things to previous year choreo - it's time to retire certain gimmicky formations. +1 for formations. +1 for entertainment.

MY PLACINGS
1. VCU
2. Empire
3. Jawani/Sher Foundation

ACTUAL PLACINGS
1. Empire
2. VCU
3. Sher Foundation

Thoughts: Empire had stunts whereas VCU really did not. It seemed that the modern team won out over the more traditional one, but I don't think the placings were too off. VCU looked really really sad when they announced that they won second. Yeah, I was front row and I let some of y'all know that you guys deserved 1st, but is it possible to seem a bit more happy to place?

NOW. I MUST SLEEP. Because from Friday till now (3 AM on Sunday), I got a total of 5 hours of sleep and have drank over 10 energy drinks.

 

[Meistro]

What a great weekend. Gotta love the city of Boston. It was nice meeting all the BTF heads. Very honoured to have met and had lunch with the Master of this website, Saleem!!!!!! And yes, the man of the hour, Abhi (lun face hahahah), great guy. VCU boys, always a pleasure. I wont make a list of everyone I met, you all know who u are, but it was cool just hanging out with everyone and mingling. Preparty was ok, Afterparty was popping. My sher foundation shirt was my free ticket in! haha.

The Show:
- I love how BBC didnt waste of bunch of time between performances with BS from the MC's. They were straight to the point. MC's came out after every 2nd performance. So after one act, you would have the intro video of the next time and they would perform. Good system. Got through 12 teams in a matter of 2 and a half hrs. Good timing and well organized. We sat right behind where the judges were sitting. Had a good view of formations and what not, as well as facial expressions. It was nice...............oh yeah and ALaap was HILARIOUS hahaha............HAI HAIIIII, HOI HOIIIII, great showman.

My two cents on the teams:

- Jawani Girls: This definitely isn't the same team I watched at Bhangra Bash, which was the last time I saw these girls perform. Not only did they put the WOW factor in their routine, but they also worked on the finer points as far as details in their dancing style. Not only were they traditional, but they were entertaining at the same time. Its been discussed that teams should have a good balance of elements in their set. Be it grace, energy, entertainment, expressions, etc. Jawani did a very good job at maintaining this balance. Also, there has always been the debate about what is acceptable with girls and bhangra. These girls have defined how girls bhangra should be performed. They deserved Second place in my opinion.

- 3D: Sucks that they had to go first in the lineup. Choreography was very good, loved the song selection. However, I feel that davis lacks energy. Some teams have too much energy and no grace. Some teams have too much grace and no energy. I felt that davis needed to up the energy level. What kept me interested was how well the choreography went with the music. There were definitely some new faces on this squad, so there was also a lack of chemistry on stage among members. This should have been a good experience for the new members. Hope to see these guys again. It was nice seeing Ajit, Vaneet, Jaspreet, and Harleen perform. Great performers.

- Rutgers: This is a team that I feel is quite fundamentally sound in terms of execution of moves and a good balance of energy, grace, nakhra, all 12 dancers were strong; girls and guys alike, but I felt that they lacked the entertainment factor. When there is no entertainment factor in your routine, it can be VERY risky to go all live as a co-ed team. What I did like was the girl who was singing boliyan towards the end. She had an amazing voice, and she did bring the WOW factor. But thats the thing, this WOW factor needs to be consecutive throughout the performance. I did enjoy the performance though as you did keep it folk and traditional.

- GW: First time seeing the famous bhangra heads (waleed, ricky, harsh, jasmeet, kamal). I enjoyed watching this veteran co-ed team. Great dancers. It was a standard traditional co-ed performance. What kept me entertained was the skill level of the dancers and how much fun they were having. The set was very simple. Vardiyaan were very simple. What happened to kaintey and phuman? Overall enjoyable bhangra performance.

- VCU: Ummmm can you say, Greatest Co-ed team ever? This was hands down VCU's greatest set and performance EVER. Not only that, I believe this is the greatest Co-ed performance I've ever seen. Bold statement? I think not. This team never fails to amaze me. They perform bhangra the way its meant to be performed. They really care about details in their routine. Guys execute bhangra the way guys do best. The girls executed the way girls are supposed to. Everyone was having a good time. Perfect balance of grace, energy, nakhrey, execution of moves. Formations were great. As it was mentioned earlier, the fact that they had jodis AND they have nutty formations tops anything that anybody has ever done. Usually when you have great formations, its teams who only have one color for girls and one color for guys. Anybody can do that. Song selection was great (Arjun, can you PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE send me that song now? You know what it is...) THe chemistry of this team is always superb. These guys deserved first place.

- Northeastern Bhangra: I had the pleasure of attending two practices of these guys a few days before the show. Lots of new, less experienced dancers on this squad who've excelled in other artforms, but bhangra being fairly new to some of them. I was very surprised at what they brought to the stage at the actual show as they needed that extra boost before that time. Considering all this, they were very entertaining to watch, and I believe they would have deserved a third place.
Big ups to Akshay, you have improved soo much as a dancer its ridiculous. And the big time Jatt, Danny Singh Cadet.

- MIT Bhangra: This team's performance was literally a circus. There was so much going on. The stunts were random and insane. One think I'd like to point out is how much energy this team brought. They were VERY energetic. There are other really good teams who could use this kind of energy (obviously with the "balance of elements" system haha, we'll call it that now). It was very entertaining though, seeing that so many different cultures have come together on this team to perform bhangra. It was nice to watch.

- Guardians of Bhangra: Being a new team, it was a good first performance. It was messy, and too energetic. Theres definitely some raw talent on the team. Just need to find a comfortable medium, establish a style and perfect it. And Jasmeet Singh Kapoor, great meeting you and chit chatting!!!

- BU: I felt like I was watching bhangra from 2004 haha. Its all good though. Just didn't like how they had people coming in and out of the routine. I thought we were past that people! Also, I didn't understand the kid with the sword who came on at one point. Colours of the jodis were mixed and yeah. Somebody got confused while drawing formations in their notebook! hahaha, they had fun though. Also, i think it was either this team or MIT, but in the mela scene, the guy was SITTING on a girl who was in an all four's position. NOT ACCEPTABLE.

- BMW: Standard all guys performance. A few of the dancers were fun to watch. Stunts didnt go up. The dude took a nice little fall. Props for getting back up and dancing. Looked like it hurt!

- Empire: It was clean, but not empire clean. The fact that they were last in the show worked well for them, and I guess it left a pretty good impression on the judges before they tallied up the scores. Had some crowd pleasing gimmicks. They need to come up with some new choreography as Kinnell mentioned. If you can come up with crazy formations like that, then I think new choreography (and a little more complex) should be simple. Their placing heavily relied on formations and gimmicks. Deserved third place.

- SHer: Great mix as always. Landed their stunts. Choreo was complex and had sher written all over it. First half of the routine was VERY entertaining. Second half I felt the WOW factor died down and I wasnt really feeling it. I felt the singing wasn't using his pipes effectively, I think that might have been a factor in things dying down a bit. These guys got third place. But seeing my critique, 3rd was up for grabs. And these guys were strong contenders for it.

my placings:
1) VCU
2) Jawani
3) NU/Sher/Empire


P.S. PLEASE LEARN TO PIN YOUR CHADHREY BOYS. I saw WAYYYYYYYYYYY too much leg last night.
P.P.S. Also, i think it was either BU or MIT, but in the mela scene, the guy was SITTING on a girl who was on her hands and knees. He was SITTING on her back as if riding a bicycle!!!! NOT ACCEPTABLE. It was actually VERY offensive. Learn some respect, you're performing in a FAMILY atmosphere.
P.P.P.S. Sorethighs I think you're dead wrong on people running off stage to set their pugh down as a result of "respect" for the dance. 1) because one of the above mentioned teams (BU or MIT) did not have the respect or common sense to know that a guy shouldnt be sitting on a girl the way he did and 2) if Im wrong, it must be a huge coincidence that at the first major competition since the pugh discussion took place, you see this many teams "respecting" the dance and running off stage when a) their pugh was falling off or b) when they felt their pugh was going to fall off.

 

[Kapil]

P.P.S. Also, i think it was either BU or MIT, but in the mela scene, the guy was SITTING on a girl who was on her hands and knees. He was SITTING on her back as if riding a bicycle!!!! NOT ACCEPTABLE. It was actually VERY offensive. Learn some respect, you're performing in a FAMILY atmosphere.
P.P.P.S. Sorethighs I think you're dead wrong on people running off stage to set their pugh down as a result of "respect" for the dance. 1) because one of the above mentioned teams (BU or MIT) did not have the respect or common sense to know that a guy shouldnt be sitting on a girl the way he did and

Meistro,

Although I respect your review and have heard much about you, I disagree with your stance on the motorbike stunt. It's clear we are approaching or are already in an era in which girls are treated and judged just on the same level as their counterpart males. The time where you put the guys in the front more often than the girls, the time where females should stick to what "they are supposed to do", the time were only MEN are bases is more than over. Would you consider the stunt attempted when a guy tried a stand on a girl disrespectful?

When you take a step back from our stunt, it's a bike and nothing else. You don't look at who or what makes it... you should notice there are handlebars, a seat, a motor, and riders representing part of our story. I absolutely respect traditionality and customs, but I look down comments like yours with a condescending tone of "learn some respect." If you'd like to PM me and elaborate on your concerns I'd love to hear it (such as, does it look sexual or degrading to women by having a male sit on a girl who happens to be representing part of a bike?)

Kapil

 

[faizan]

My thoughts...

First, thanks to MIT for letting me chimta for ya'll! You guys did a great job and I enjoyed your company, very cool kids...my thoughts on the guy sitting on the girl stunt...for BBC, it's ok, for a traditional competition, don't even think about it...but you guys are a modern team, and I understand where both meistro and kapil are coming from...meistro, could have been more diplomatic though.

PARK PLAZA HOTEL SECURITY=FURR LO...this hotel was o.d. on the security...we got kicked out of our room both nights, and ended up having to sneak back in...they were kicking teams out for no reason...like if one room was loud on the floor, they would just come into other rooms and start searching for shit...in the future, pick a chiller hotel boston bhangra!

the show was great, ran great...the after party was also awesome...not used to parties ending at 2 though, lol...

my placings would have been

1. vcu
2. jawani
3. sher/empire

vcu was undoubtably the best team of the night, as usual...but they won 1st at burgh, so I think they were straight...

it was good to see all my old friends and make news ones...see you all at the next competition everyone!

 

[Meistro]

Ok my bad I shoulda been more diplomatic...........But what im getting at is, Bhangra is definitely a dance thats evolving no doubt, but its still an artform that derives from festivities and celebrations of past generations. We must uphold respect with that regard. We would never see girls doing Morh's on guys, or something like the bicycle in India, nor would they have done it years and years ago. Girls are at the same level as guys now, I agree, but there are still boundaries that are not meant to be crossed even though you are a modern team. We live in a very conservative culture and we must construct out routines with that in mind. Kapil, I know it was a bicycle, theres no doubt in my mind thats what your intentions were, but Id like to know what was going through the mind of the sold out crowd with uncles, aunties, elders. I for one was very offended. Of course you didn't mean for it to look sexual. Who does? The time when girls stick to "what they are supposed to do" will not and should not come to an end, with regard to bhangra. What more will there be left of the dance if we keep on breaking barriers and stepping over boundaries? I dunno, but then again, its just my opinion. Im sure I wasnt the only one in the crowd who felt uncomfortable seeing that.

 

[Bharathi]

On behalf of Jawani Bhangra I just want to thank the organizers for doing an amazing job! Priya and Sayjal you went out of your way to make us comfortable from the "welcome Jawani" sign at the airport (in our team colors) to special packages and food throughout the whole weekend, and drinks after performing while watching the rest of the show.

It was amazing to watch and meet all the other teams. Congrats to all the teams that placed!!!!!!!!!

 

[Nikhil]

To the BBC Committee:
On behalf of VCU, I'd like to say that while other teams felt you provided a great amount of attention and care for them, you failed to do so for us. Sending a text message and not even calling to let us know that you could not pick us up, was unbelievably disappointing. Could you not find the time to actually dial a number and speak to someone? I don't care if you didn't have reception, find a phone and call the number to speak with someone. If you had done this for any other team, I would expect their team members to say something on this forumboard. I'm speaking as a team member, not a moderator in this message.

I help organize a competition too, and nothing is more important than making sure your competitors actually get to the damn show. Not to be boastful, but my colleagues and I drove 2 hours from Richmond to Dulles International Airport to pick up MSU girls for AVAP, because it was obviously necessary. To say that you cannot pick up people at the airport, yet turning around to have nice welcome signs decorated for Jawani Girls makes no sense. Jawani, please don't take offense to this.

Feeding teams is a necessity, and you provided an amazing amount of food. But it was cold, and you did not provide any refreshments when requested. To have dancers dehydrated is a serious issue, especially when you have crates of water available and you have people asking you for water before they go on. Were you trying to prevent the incidences of cramps??

Just because you can run a huge event and have it televised doesn't mean you can forget about ALL the people making your show. I really don't care if I'm the only person saying this because it needs to be shared.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

And this is my own personal opinion:

I thought you had a bias for several teams in terms of how far they flew out to your show.

 

[Boston Bhangra]

We hope everyone did enjoy the competition and the events that we had this past weekend. We appreciate everyone's support and comments.

Also, Nikhil, and others of VCU, who feel that we may have mistreated you, please take into account the following:
1) Rohit had talked to Manu about what happend with the flight issues. He had told her to take the cabs to the hotel and that we'd take care of it. I love how people seem to forget about that part. If you chose to stay there for 2 hours, that was your perogative, but we had told Manu that we would take care of the money matters, and we just wanted you guys to get to the hotel.
2) We have limited staff to do all the work that we do. If a team comes during our mixer, there is not much that we can do except ask that you take cabs to the hotel. I wish we had hundreds of volunteers, but we don't.
3) We don't bias towards any teams. That was an absolutely absurd statement! We treat all teams exactly the same, and take great pride in taking care of teams. However, if certain teams choose to want more than other teams, then we will push back. We try to treat all teams equally, and we stick to that statement. This competition was made by a team for the teams, and we treat all of them the same.
4) We also had food at almost every turn. I'm not sure what you are referring to Nikhil when you were asking for refreshments, and the only food that might have been cold for you guys was the pizza on Friday night because your flight got delayed by 2 hours.

It's very easy to put things out of perspective. We have always treated teams well over our 5 years of hosting this competition.

This statement "Just because you can run a huge event and have it televised doesn't mean you can forget about ALL the people making your show." - ABSURD statement! Boston Bhangra has competed at your competition as well, but we don't go around making crazy comments like this one my friend.

We respect VCU as a Bhangra team, and think you're a fantastic team. However, put things in perspective and try to understand from an organizers view point why certain things happened a certain way. It's very easy to rip an organization for a glitch that was neither your fault nor ours. However, yelling at our staff for not being there or stating that "texting that we can't pick you up" is simply not true as Rohit personally had talked to Manu. Teams have to learn to respect the organizers, just as the organizers respect the teams. That relationship is a two way relationship Nikhil. We work very hard every year to provide all that we can for our teams. Thus, please don't make statements that aren't true or are being taken out of context.

Sincerely,
Boston Bhangra

Moderator's Note: It's been requested that a third party's name be removed. Thanks. Unmoderater's note: Disregard.

 

[Havish]

Boston Bhangra,

Please understand that when you talk to Nikhil or myself, you are talking to a team member and a Competition Organizer. We both run AVAP and understand what it means to be both part of a team and part of the organization.

We aren't trying to make any statements that aren't true. We are just saying that we expected to be picked up from the airport and when we found out that we couldn't be because there was no one to pick us up, we just thought that was kinda messed up because if you have someone listed to pick us up, then they should be there for us even though our flight is delayed. I understand there isn't a 1000 volunteers but just something we think is important when it comes to a competition.

About the cabs, yes after a while we did get in contact with Boston Bhangra, and we were told to take cabs to the hotel, but we didn't have a lot of cash on us and so we looked into other options before coming back to taking cabs. Then the second time we asked if we would be paid back for the cabs rides and they said yes, that they would pay us the next day (Sat), and that was when we decided to take the cabs. We provided the committee with receipts for the cabs and are still waiting for the money.

We just expected to be picked up and when we were told to we couldn't be, just were kinda in shock about it. Because the way it came off to us, was that "we can't pick you up because the mixer has started and everyone is there" and that was why we were shocked about it. That's all.

We are just posting what we liked and didn't like about the weekend, and this was the one thing we didn't like, and the reason for posting our view point is for the future of your competition and all competitions. Since this issue came up we are just addressing it so that it won't happen again, to any other team or committee.

The committee did do a good job of taking care of the teams, as I posted earlier. Hope all of this is behind of us now.

 

[Saleem]

BBC ran smoothly as far as I could tell and there were volunteers handing out water/snacks etc so that's nice

Just a note on the hotel:
I'm not too familiar with the theater district and how Park Plaza compares to other hotels, but I think some serious thought should be given to which hotel is selected next year. The Taj which is on the website as the official hotel (maybe it was last year?) is billed as the "crown jewel" of Boston hotels. Problem is, no one wants that. Teams are often collegiate-funded or short on funds, and the top-of-the-line hotels come with extra stringent security, as faizan pointed out. I think everyone chillin at the Doubletree would be fine-- teams want a decent and affortable hotel where they CAN enjoy and have fun with their friends. I know FG got kicked out a couple times, Sher got kicked out and let back in, it wasn't the best for the teams. The announcement of how everyone needs to make sure after 11pm to be super quiet is kind of impossible, as teams only got back to the hotel at 11 as i remember.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. Competition went well. Congrats to the placing teams.

 

[Kapil]

I'm going to agree on the hotel to some degree. It was great to have a nice hotel, but there were major problems.

1) security had a stick in their ass. First off, when we arrived at 2:30pm on Saturday, an employee in the elevator randomly told us "you know, this is a hotel. People come here to sleep. You guys should be quiet". we're like what the F**K we didn't do SHIT and you're preemptively being an asshole cuz we're brown and carrying katows? also, when we finally got our second room, we had a noise complaint the second when we got back from the show. not possible since we were just taking showers and hanging up our costumes, talking at indoor voices or lower. they kept threatening us with warnings..we hadn't even started drinking nor was there any music. whack.

2) we got two rooms, and our second room "wasn't available" until after 5pm. RIDICULOUS..there were open rooms across the hallway, etc some bullshit. in addition to stuff above, I felt like we were being treated as second rate. Half the team was getting ready in the hallway and we explicity told them beforehand we needed it at 3pm


A middle ground would be good. The HoJo last year was the shittiest hotel ever in the history of competitions, but I'm sure theres a way to get a hotel like that at Fusion, where it's mad nice but security isn't THAT anal and teams can chill out together.



**I also have a comment about the mixer: I thought it was messed up that teams were lying about questions, and I don't think the mixer was designed well regarding it's goal: to MIX. Teams lied, not even in jest, and it just made me sick (I'm sure some of the guys on Guardians agree). The point of the mixer was to meet other members and form a stronger bond with other teams. I think the model two years ago at Felt in which teams were grouped with members of other teams worked much better, and endorsed friendly mixing.
Also, for prize, the 5 mins extra stage time would be great, but I don't agree with the prize being associated with the competition. Why don't you make the prize like we'll pay for one night of one of your hotel rooms or something? Give the teams a chance to interact in a more chill environment.

 

[Boston Bhangra]

Now this is becoming more constructive. We have no problem getting criticism as long as it's phrased that way and isn't seen as an attack.

Nikhil & the VCU team, TRUST ME, we want nothing better than to pick up every team on time at the airport, however, we have limited constraints in terms of volunteers being able to do these runs. You were promised pick up based on the original time of arrival. With a 2 hour delay, all the pick up staff that we had got fully constrained with other duties that they had to commit to. We like to personally meet and greet the teams that take their time coming to Boston, however, due to constraints of staff, we couldn't do that. As for numbers of volunteers, yes, we have our organization and it's staff/team members, but realize that we wouldn't have any of the our juniors team members picking teams up, nor just anybody, as we're very particular how we meet and greet teams. We only want the staff that we feel can trully manage the teams well to be meeting the teams. Ideally, it would be the team reps, which it normally is, but like I said, due to other contraints of their time they can't get everybody. We try to do what we can, but when we can't, teams should be flexible enough to work with us to make things happen. And as for the payment, Boston Bhangra will definitely pay you once we've processed all the expenses and such that we've had. We have no business in keeping money that is not ours any longer.

As for the mixer, thank you for those comments. We will keep that in mind in the future.

As for the hotel, teams wanted a nicer hotel, and we got that. Was this hotel extremely anal, yes they were. After we receive feedback from all the teams, we will make decisions accordingly. We want the best situations for our teams for the whole weekend. Obviously, all we can do is book the best hotel on behalf of the teams. The problem is that teams "having fun" after parties, or just being loud is what creates a MAJOR problem in any hotel. ANY competition holder will know this from experience, and teams have made our getting hotels in the Boston area very difficult as our reputation is getting lower and lower year by year in the community. We know of at least $4000 of damage to the hotel already, and that number will probably grow as we find out more. Stuff like that is why our name drops and hotels are getting more and more strict with our teams coming to the hotels. The rudeness of the staff is based on past history of our competition teams. If the competition teams complied to the hotels wishes, we wouldn't have this problem, but "having fun" and making noise are both associated to one another and that is where the problem is. However, we will make decisions based on what feedback we receive from our teams.

Again, we do hope everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to working with everyone again next year!

Sincerely,
Boston Bhangra

 

[HarmanSingh]

I have no idea what happened at the official Boston hotel, but speaking from experience...teams are usually the root of the problem when it comes to hotel security. Teams are usually unbelievably loud, belligerent, trashed, high and generally disruptive. I know of competitions where teams were told multiple times to clear the lobby, keep it down and respect the other people in the hotel but they did not comply and it resulted in every team suffering from their ignorance. At AVAP numerous people were arrested after causing problems in the lobby and as a result, a lot of people were kicked out and their fun was ruined.

So whether the official hotel is really nice or not, until teams get their act together...keep expecting to get kicked out and ruining our peoples' reputations along the way.

 

[Vick]

Here's something I don't get...

1) People telling Bhangra Empire to change their routine.. That defies all logic... When you are winning, why change shit? If I was Bhangra Empire I would use the same damn routine at every competition until I stop winning.. If it aint broke, dont fix it... Yea it sucks for BTF heads wanting to watch unique videos, but from a teams perspective, if your routine is guarenteed first at every damn competition and puts money in your bank account, why the f*ck would you make any major changes to it?

2) All the people crying about hotel security need to shutup... It's you dumbasses that cause the problems, and then turn around and blame hotel security... It's not the f*ckin color of your skin or what the f*ck you are carrying, its your "boys" that cause it... Stop whining about it and grow up a little...

3) It sucks that you guys sat at the airport for 2 hours... But seriously, saying that you didn't have enough "cash" is a pretty weak excuse... One member of the team or a group of people could have easily walked up to an ATM and withdrew some cash and dealt with getting the money back later... Worst come to worse, everyone on the team would have reimbursed those who pulled cash...

 

[SunnySidhu]

vick dude, chill out. Teams don't usually cause problems for hotels, that's usually left to the idiots who come to the Pre party, aren't staying at the hotel, but feel like they can party inthe lobby until sunrise. Teams unfortunately have to pay the consequences, like with 3d who was kicked out for playing antaksri of all things in their room.

Honestly tho, after six years of dancing, I have to say Boston bhangra is one of my favorite competitions. We weren't coralled like cattle; we were held to responsibility like adults, and the teams responded accordingly (for the most part lol).