I.aM.mE

I.aM.mE
Origin	Houston, Texas, USA
Genres	Hip-hop dance, popping, tutting
Years active	2010–present
Members	Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb Di "Moon" Zhang Brandon "747" Harrell Emilio "Millie" Dosal Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales Džajna "Jaja" Vaňková
Website	http://www.iammecrew.com/

I.aM.mE (Inspire, Motivate, and Energize) is an American hip hop dance crew from Houston, Texas. The group rose to prominence after being crowned champions in the sixth season of America's Best Dance Crew. The three founding members, Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb, Di "Moon" Zhang and Brandon "747" Harrell, formed I.aM.mE after the disbanding of Marvelous Motion Crew, which they were all formerly a part of. Three additional members, Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales, Emilio "Millie" Dosal, and Džajna "Jaja" Vaňková, joined later after an audition.

Before ABDC

Before coming together to form I.aM.mE, the members had all achieved considerable success by themselves Also Di "Moon" Zhang posted many of his tutting videos onto Youtube before he met Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb and created Marvelous Motion Crew, which included Brandon "747" Harrell. As the main choreographers, they led the team to much success, winning 1st place at "The Show", a Dallas competition hosted by JabbaWockeeZ. Taking the crew to new levels, Marvelous Motion traveled to California on their first major competition, and received 3rd place at "World of Dance: Pomona" under the direction of Moon. However, Marvelous Motion Crew was unable to audition for the fourth and fifth seasons of ABDC, since Pacman was still under contract with the fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance. The crew disbanded in late 2010. The trio of Pacman, Moon, and 747 then held an audition, creating a brand new crew with three new members in preparation for ABDC: Season of the Superstars.

ABDC Season 6

I.aM.mE was declared the champions of ABDC: Season of the Superstars on June 5, 2011. They became the first mixed gender crew and also the first group from the South to win, ending the Western dominance of previous ABDC seasons.

Week	Challenge	Music	Result
1: Lil Wayne Challenge	None	"Right Above It" Lil Wayne feat. Drake	Safe
3: The Black Eyed Peas Challenge	Must come together and create a machine	"Meet Me Halfway" The Black Eyed Peas
4: Katy Perry Challenge	Fan out like a peacock	"Peacock" Katy Perry
5: Rihanna Challenge	The Spiderman	"S&M" Rihanna
6: Justin Bieber Challenge	Perform Usher's famous glide	"Somebody to Love" Justin Bieber feat. Usher
7: Nicki Minaj Challenge	Incorporate childhood games in the routine	"Moment 4 Life" Nicki Minaj feat. Drake
8: Kanye West Challenge	The crews had to demonstrate their versatility by creating a routine that incorporated three different styles of dance.	Dougie: "Gold Digger" Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx Boogaloo: "Touch the Sky" Kanye West feat. Lupe Fiasco Isolations: "Love Lockdown" Kanye West	Bottom 2
	Last Chance to hook the voters using an original performance	"Ill-emental"	Safe
9: Battle of the Final Two	The judges chose which performance the crews will reproduce, but with modifications. The two crews were then pitted against each other in a three-round dance battle, with Swizz Beatz providing the music.	"S&M" Rihanna I.aM.mE vs. Iconic Boyz Swizz Beatz
10: The Finale	Partner: ICONic Boyz	"Raise Your Glass" Pink	Champions
	Perform for the last time before Winner of ABDC's Announcement	"Rocketeer" Far East Movement feat. Ryan Tedder
	Victory Dance after being announced season 6 ABDC winners	"Written in the Stars" Tinie Tempah feat. Eric Turner

Weekly Summaries

Week 1: Lil Wayne Challenge

I.aM.mE kicked off the season, performing to mastermix of Lil Wayne's Right Above It. Their performances pleased the crowds, and good comments from the judges. D-Trix called them "clever" and "took tutting to the next level" because the crew added some Rubik's-cube shapes and brought something new to ABDC. Lil Mama liked how the crew showed illusions and visual effects but mixed it with solid dance choreography. JC Chasez liked the style and was entertained, but wanted the crew to expand and dance to other parts of stage, instead of just the center.

Week 3: Black Eyed Peas Challenge

I.aM.mE's challenge in the third week was to create a futuristic machine, while performing to a mastermix of the Black Eyed Peas' song Meet Me Halfway. They achieved this three times in their routine, but most notably at the end, when the whole crew came together to form a robot. The judges were pleased with the crew's performance, but JC still was not satisfied with how they used the stage, and asked them to spread out more. Lil Mama however, said that they were the most improved and D-Trix said they executed their challenge "greatly".

Week 4: Katy Perry Challenge

In the fourth week, I.aM.mE. received the Katy Perry song Peacock and the challenge to fan out like a peacock onstage. Although some of the members had never seen a peacock, and they had difficulty using the whole stage, the crew performed admirably, crafting a routine which satisfied all three of the judges, D-Trix stating how they had authentic dancing and they covered the entire stage, and JC said he was satisfied with their use of the entire stage.

Week 5: Rihanna Challenge

In the fifth week all the crews were given the challenge of incorporating the dance style known as Dance Hall, while performing to songs by the artist Rihanna. I.aM.mE. received the Rihanna song "S&M", and the dance move known as "The Spiderman". The crew performed a routine which met the challenge and highlighted member Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales as a major character. The judges responded by calling the routine "exceptional" and "absolutely brilliant".

Week 6: Justin Bieber Challenge

In week 6, all five remaining crews were given a challenge by Justin Bieber, based from his documentary movie, Never Say Never. I.aM.mE was given a challenge to perform Usher's famous glide in the routine to the mastermix of "Somebody to Love" featuring Usher. The crew performed with a chilling opening, featured moonwalk, and ended with Brandon "747" Harrell jumping down after gliding and giving a rose to Lil Mama while the rest of the crew made a big heart with their arms. Lil Mama was still surprised, but she liked how the routine worked. D-Trix said that he loved the performance, just like the last week and told the crew that they were brilliant entertainers. JC still commented on "How I.aM.mE worked the routine on the middle, again", but he liked how I.aM.mE made the opening cold and chilling.

Week 7: Nicki Minaj Challenge

All top 4 crews blasted the seventh week with a routine performed with Nicki Minaj's challenge, based from her alter-egos. Nicki Minaj, who delivered the challenge to top 4 crews herself, gave a challenge that I.aM.mE had to incorporate childhood games based on Nicki's alter-ego, Cookie. After encountering cultural differences on childhood games, I.aM.mE finally decided to incorporate similar games that many people would know. Backstage, Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb said that he was having dehydration before, during, and after the performance because of the hard-training routine and fatigue.

The performance featured many different childhood games, such as Limbo, Jump Rope, Whack-a-Mole, Swing Sets, Hopscotch, and Leapfrog. The routine ended as 747, Pacman, and Millie created a Swing Set, with Chachi as a girl on a swing and held by Moon and Jaja before she jumped off. They received a wild reaction from the crowd. The judges also gave positive reactions. JC told the crew that they performed a risky routine, but cleanly finished it, although he disliked it when he saw I.aM.mE look around the stage and check positions with others. D-Trix claimed that he couldn't find any bad moments on the routine, and loved how much childhood games were involved in the routine. Lil Mama liked how the crew stepped up and loved how I.aM.mE had their own moments and identity in the competition.

Backstage after the performance, Jaja, Chachi, 747, and Millie talked about their success that they made it to top three. Jaja's father never expected that they could have made it to top five, but the crew proved that he was wrong.

Week 8: Kanye West Challenge and Last Chance Challenge

As three crews were still standing for the championships, I.aM.mE faced their first time in the bottom two and had to face off against Phunk Phenomenon for a spot in the finals, as ICONic Boyz had proceeded to the finale already. The crews were given a task to perform with Kanye West's mastermixes and show their own versatility to perform three different classic dance styles. The challenge was handed out by fifth season's winner, Poreotix.

Before the performance videos, I.aM.mE revealed that they had no problems performing two out of the three different styles (Boogaloo and Isolations) and only had problems performing the Dougie. Moon said that he really wanted to have a good performance the eighth week because he wanted his parents to come to the finale and watch him perform live for the first time. He also said that he loved the crew that he created and danced with, and he stated that he believed they could make it to the finale.

The crowd gave them a standing ovation and chanted, "I.aM.mE, I.aM.mE!", leaving the judges with no criticism. JC said that the crowd's response weren't wrong and they deserved the crowd's chants. He also told the crew that they were very intelligent and unique and that they created new pictures that were unexpected and exciting. D-Trix was left speechless and said that the crew had brainbanged him. He complimented the crew on performing as themselves and that the crew had just murdered the "Isos (Isolation)" part. Lil Mama agreed with both judges that I.aM.mE were inspiring as dancers with unique styles. She noted that whatever happened, they would be a champion for somebody.

Although Phunk Phenomenon was spirited and had wowed the judges, I.aM.mE rose to the top two and battled against ICONic Boyz for the title of America's Best Dance Crew. After the mid-show elimination, I.aM.mE then had to perform their Last Chance Challenge to ask voters to keep voting them to be winner of ABDC. For their final performance before voting lines opened, the crew worked with District 78 to create their own performance. The crew created their own original songs, wardrobe, and performance, resulting in the "Ill-Emental" Performance. The performance showed all of the members' skills and talents one by one, as represented by their own elements: Emilio as Earth, Chachi as Fire, Jaja as Electricity, 747 as Wind, Moon as Machine, and Pacman as Water. The performance ended with I-M-E letters that the crew created with their bodies. I.aM.mE received a standing ovation from the audience and the judges.

Week 9: Battle of Final Two/The Ultimate Battle

The top two crews at the ninth week, I.aM.mE and ICONic Boyz, were given the task to extend the choreography from one of their previous performances picked by judges and to perform it, just before the ultimate battle that consisted of three-round dance battle.

The crew performed to an extended performance of "S&M". The crew was praised by judges. JC noted again that they were very unique. Lil Mama was excited as Chachi turned back into Spider-Girl and showed new way to knock her enemies. D-Trix said that the crew was getting better and better. At the end, both crews faced off and battled against each others in a three round dance battle with music provided by Swizz Beatz. At the end both crews showed their own original sign: ICONic Boyz with the thumb and I.aM.mE with the letters "I" "M" "E".

Week 10: The Finale

The finale opened with I.aM.mE and ICONic Boyz performing in a dance collaboration to "Raise Your Glass" by Pink. After the performance, America's Best Dance Crew champions JabbaWockeeZ (season 1), Super Cr3w (season 2), Quest Crew (season 3), We Are Heroes (season 4), and Poreotix (season 5) returned to the stage to perform for the season finale.

Later that same night, I.aM.mE performed a routine to "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement for one moment before the announcement. The performance featured some flips and few choreography that shown on past episodes, but most of parts of performance is popping. The performance ended with Emilio performing a backflip and he puts his head down, Moon and 747 shows their thumb, while the music ends with the audio says "One small step for I.aM.mE, one giant leap for ABDC."

After 50 million votes were casted, I.aM.mE was declared as the winner of America's Best Dance Crew (season 6). The crew performed their victory dance to "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah.

Appearances

Television

• Chachi was one of the backup dancers for the Tribute to Britney Spears in the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
• Emilio and 747 performed as backup dancers for LMFAO's performance of "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It" on the American Music Awards 2011.
• I.aM.mE performed at MTV's NYE in NYC 2012. The crew danced to "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO, "We Found Love" by Rihanna, "Beautiful People" by Chris Brown, "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull, and "Till The World Ends" by Britney Spears.
• I.aM.mE performed in a Shake It Up episode on June 3, 2012.

Miscellaneous Events

• The crew taught workshops at the Urban Dance Camp 2011 and performed at the Urban Dance Showcase 2011.
• The crew performed at the International Secret Agents 2011 in Seattle, San Francisco, and at the Los Angeles Festival. Jaja did not perform with the crew in Seattle. Chachi and Moon did not perform with the crew in San Francisco. Pacman did not perform with the crew in Los Angeles.
• The crew performed at the Kinematix I.aM. PHUNK'tion event at Northeastern University on November 4, 2011.

Movies

• Pacman will make an appearance in the upcoming film Step Up 4.
• Chachi will take the lead role in the film The Legend of Darkhorse County directed by Shawn Welling, creator of the AXI series on YouTube which I.aM.mE regularly stars in.

Youtube

• Pacman and Moon made a cameo for Nigahiga, a popular video maker on YouTube.
• Each member of the crew stars in Shawn S. Welling's AXI (Avengers of Extreme Illusions).
• Moon made an appearance in LMFAO's video for "Sorry for Party Rocking".

Other

• The crew made a guest appearance on the 9th episode of The LXD: Rise of the Drifts.

External links

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