Boys vs. Girls on 'Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew'

We're down to the final four on Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew and, for the first time in its short history, it's a battle of the sexes. With two all-male and two all-female crews left, which will make it one step closer to the title?

The show kicks off with a group number featuring all the crews and choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon (who did all those lyrical Hip Hop numbers on So You Think You Can Dance last season) and Rosario ICouldn'tCatchHerLastNameThanksMario. The theme was the guys were in the club alone at first and then the ladies made their entrance. Overall it was a great number - each crew got spotlight moments and got to team up with another group.

After the number, the crew changed into their costumes and came onstage for the results. Host Mario Lopez puts Quest Crew and Fly Khicks on the spot first and it only surprises Quest when they are saved.

Layla Kayleigh begins the challenge introduction by emphasizing that it's the first time two all-female crews have made it to the top four. She mentioned that there have been some amazing all-chick groups in the past. And by some I modify it to mean just Fysh N Chicks. The others were good but not on their level. Anyhoo, each team will be given a male or female video to emulate in their performance.

1. Quest Crew
Song/Video: "Forever" by Chris Brown
After some rough comments last week, Quest is determined to win the judges *coughJCcough* back. They choose to work in the smooth footwork featured in the video into their number. Everyone but Dominic is dressed in similar outfits. Dom is playing the slightly nerdy outcast to the group of cool dudes. The smooth foot/floor work was definitely there and they end by making a human pyramid which Dom somersaults through.
Judges: Shane loved the number and slo-moes Dom's air flairs, which were dope. Lil Mama said they looked like they were having fun and that made her have fun. She also complimented the character work. JC explains he got after them about their transitions last week because, well, they had to and he commends them for picking it up. He dug the number and liked that they played to the audience.

Beat Freaks and Strikers All-Stars now step up to meet their fates. After the customary recap of last week's judges' comments, Mario reveals that...Beat Freaks are definitely moving on leaving the Strikers to battle it out in the bottom two.

2. Beat Freaks
Song/Video: "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry
The Freaks decide to use this part of the video where the dancers use bats as inspiration. They're determined to bring it tonight. They're wearing short black wigs, puffy silver vests, white pants, and quasi-futuristic sunglasses. They use the bats for practically the whole middle section of the routine and did some risky tricks with them. They start out with some robot maneuvers before using Michael Jackson hip-rocks to transition to the fast bat parts. It's not the cleanest I've ever seen but it was enjoyable. Plus Shorty did like a two minute headspin at the end, even putting her sunglasses back on at the beginning of the sequence. Bonus.
Judges: Lil Mama loved it and slo-moed the intro to the Michael Jackson "Beat It" part, giving them a standing ovation. JC thinks they should be called "The Propmasters" because they handle them so well all the time. He slo-moes Shorty's "half-hour" headspin and calls her a baller. instead of the Propmasters, Shane thinks they should be called America's Best Dance Crew.

Bottom Two
The performance order, as always, was determined by a coin flip backstage.

Strikers All-Stars
Song/Video: "Pose" by Daddy Yankee
The Jabbawockeez were in the video which is probably why they picked this song that I've never heard before. Even the Strikers didn't recognize the song at first. They're determined to bring more stepping into the number this week so they'll be mixing it with b-boying. I think they did a good job mixing the two together, not an easy thing to do at all. If they got a song that was both more familiar or a little more hype, I think they would've been able to elevate the number to a higher level. But big-ups on all the b-boy tricks they did. They weren't perfect but impressive for people who don't breakdance as a focus.
Judges: JC slo-moes a Jabba-like moving formation. He didn't say much about the performance other than Mike was kinda lost at the beginning and Tallie was working his butt off. Shane twists that "don't mess up" knife and didn't care for the performance so much. Ouch. Lil Mama echoes that it wasn't their best number and again picks on Mike a little. But she says they picked it up by the middle and still believes in them.

Fly Khicks
Song/Video: "Pon de Replay" by Rihanna
They're focusing on the Island flavor and incorporating a lot of Whining in the number. I'll give it to the Khicks, they came out with a lot of energy. The choreography was good this week, though the beginning seemed a little slow to develop (it might've been the editing). They pulled out a lot of good tricks, going so far as to form a human bicycle. Nice. Good showing for the girls this week.
Judges: Shane says he'd be able to choreograph for them and dug the number. He slo-moes this inventive kick-line/whine combo, which was cool looking, but advises to be more intricate with the choreography. Lil Mama thought they were in their comfort zone tonight. Her slight beef is that they need to step up their attention to detail. JC loves their fighting spirit but the beginning wa a little "hair show" for him (he demonstrates by flipping his imaginary hair around).

So, after Mario's unnecessary lengthy recaps of stuff we've just heard from the judges, he announces that...the Fly Khicks have been saved for the third time in a row. They're about as shocked as everyone else is, one girl dropping into a cross-legged position on the floor in tears. They hug SAS (and each other) and make their way off-stage

All of Strikers are disappointed but none more upset than Mike who's surely blaming himself. Poor thing. Tallie speaks for them and is nothing less than gracious before we see their farewell package (which is dope by the way). As their banner falls, they step it out for an appreciative audience.

Assorted Bits & Pieces

• Both performances were equally solid - I'm sure it was a tough decision. I'm a little surprised they kept Fly Khicks but they have been fighting hard the last three weeks. That might've been the decision maker. Call them the "Teflon Dawns."
• I must say again that I feel so bad for Mike because you can tell he's blaming himself. But, honestly, even if he didn't mess up I don't know if the decision would have changed much because the song wasn't great. Not only was it unfamiliar, it wasn't their vibe at all and you can only remix a song so much. It just didn't click. So Mike, it wasn't your fault dude. Still love you guys.
• Next week is going to be interesting - the challenge is the "Hip Hop Decathlon" were the crew will have to do perform several difficult dance moves. It'll probably be the same set of moves for all the groups so it'll be a good opportunity to compare and contrast.

Are you shocked that the Strikers All-Stars were eliminated? Which was your favorite number? Have a prediction for who'll be in the finals? Any other thoughts?