Asian Battleground Top 12 crews have been selected！

In the latest episode of Asian Battleground - The Judgement Challenge - 17 dance crews from across the Asian region were pushed to their breaking points as they pull out all the stops to be the top 12 finalists of Asian Battleground.

Judges C.Hsiang, Firebac, and Mari Koda invited the renowned Korean professional choreographer, Coo Jerri, and the Japanese masters of locking, Hilty & Bosch, to evaluate each crew's ability, creativity, adaptability and their mastery in showcasing their respective cultural identities via street dance - a true East-meets-West extravaganza.

Desi Hoppers (India)
Introduced as the dark horse of the competition, the award-winning Desi Hoppers absolutely blew the judges away from the beginning till the end with their psychedelic performance and choreography. The Hoppers blended street dance with a beautiful visual feast of Indian elements and acrobatic yoga moves. Moving in-sync to the mixture of traditional and modern beats with flawless precision, Desi Hopper attained the highest score from the judges; earning them their ticket to the final showdown in Malaysia!







Nocturnal Dance Company (The Philippines)
Drawing inspiration from their harsh environments in Mindanao, Luzon and Visayas, the members of Nocturnal Dance Company put on straw hats to pay homage to their agricultural roots. The hip-hop unit combined numerous styles and high-octane energy with great use of props to put on a fantastic display that demonstrated what the Filipino culture has to offer. After winning raucous applause and high praise from the judges, Nocturnal is now through and on track to better their achievement in 2015.





ZEROBACK, ArtGee and The Bips (S.Korea)
Widely regarded as the most promising group of young talents; ZEROBACK's all-male South Korean squad lived up to the expectation of the audience and judges with their representation of traditional percussionists. ZEROBACK’s commanding technique and energetic movement to the beat of the drums brought out the charm of the Korean culture with a whole lotta swag thrown in.





ArtGee, the masters of choreography delivered an intriguing piece that captured the legendary Korean tale of 'The Goblin', who serves as the protector of souls. ArtGee stunned the judges by taking them through a rollercoaster of emotions with their immaculate storytelling skills using hypnotic motion and haunting beeping sounds. ArtGee's creative take earned themselves the ticket to Malaysia to prove their worth in the Final Round.

Being the largest crew in the competition, The Bips had to send only 8 of their members to represent Korea in Asian Battleground. Diving deep into history, The Bips recounted the tragic story of Empress Myeongseong while showing off the elegant empress in full Hanbok attire surrounded by swordsmen. The Bips incorporated elements of martial arts into their choreography to bring to life the complex storyline. Judge Coo Jerri - who had high expectations for The Bips - loved the routine, but felt that the story was too difficult for the audience to grasp. Fortunately, it did not dent The Bips’ hope of making it through to the next round, joining the likes of ArtGee and ZEROBACK in representing South Korea.

Zero Four Dance Crew and Taiwan Waackers (Taiwan)
The B-boy crew of Zero Four put a different spin on breakdancing, linking the dancing style to popular Taiwanese games played by school children. Zero Four Dance Crew surprised Teacher C.Hsiang with a major throwback with their depiction of Taiwan but had mixed reviews from the judges due to the polarizing nature of B-boys being cool and tough. Meanwhile, Taiwan Waackers brought Broadway to the dancefloor by embellishing their jazzy funk routine with Broadway elegance. However, Mari Koda told the Waackers that it lacked Broadway's sensual touch. Both Taiwanese teams were then put 'On Hold', but were eventually given the green light by the judges after a long evaluation process.






Scrach MarcS (Singapore)
The duo, Rachel and Marcus, delivered a stunning portrayal of Singapore's busy city life in the iconic flight attendant uniform of Singapore Airlines. The couples' expressive take on Singapore was elevated by the beautiful sceneries and it charmed the renowned Japanese pop-lock judges, Hilty and Bosch. Through their simple but creative usage of props, Scrach MarcS' impressive performance booked them their flight to Kuala Lumpur to compete in the Finals.



ECX and Eagle Ace(Malaysia)
Crowned champions in a previous instalment of Astro Battleground, ECX returned with great confidence in the 'One Malaysia' concept; making their members' diverse ethnic backgrounds their strength. While ECX’s sharp synchronized routines aspired to bring out the best in Malaysian culture, Eagle Ace went down a different route. They were all about highlighting the beauty of East Malaysia by complementing street dance with the Iban-Kadazan culture. Eagle Ace was also put on hold by the judges but was allowed safe passage to the Finals alongside ECX.



MBS Crew (Japan)
Despite having some of the best soloists from Japan in the team, MSB fell short of expectations when their extraordinary techniques failed to fully highlight the Japanese culture. Their massive potential, however, was enough to persuade the judges to hold out an olive branch to them. Can they redeem themselves in the following round?





Last Minute Street Crew (Indonesia)
Last Minute Street Crew went all-out to deliver a distinctive Indonesian flava; incorporating Javanese dance styles into locking and hip-hop. But it wasn’t without difficulties; the crew had to work around cultural restrictions for the choreography in order to distinguish between cultural and modern movements. They were initially held by the judges for evaluation, but managed to squeeze into the top 12.



The top 12 crews of Asian Battleground bring their A-game to battle it out in an epic live showdown filled with explosive skills and choreography, happening LIVE at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara Kuala Lumpur on 2nd December 2017.

Save the date to support your favourite crew and find out who will emerge as the new champions of Asian Battleground 2017. See you at the Finale, be there or be square!