Breaking
Get the final judges' verdict on the Red Bull BC One World Final 2021
Read up on the thoughts of our acclaimed judges on all the action from the 18th Red Bull BC One World Final in Gdansk, Poland.
Part of this story
Watch the full replay of the 2021 Red Bull BC One World Final below:
Red Bull BC One World Final 2021
Enjoy the world's best B-Boys and B-Girls do battle at the Red Bull BC One World Final 2021 in Gdańsk.
01
Outstanding characters
Which competitors stood out for you?
Sarah Bee: Amir, Lee, Phil Wizard and Flea Rock for the B-Boys, as they all touched me a lot. For the B-Girls, I would say Vavi and Nadia, who was the biggest surprise for me. Logistx I was very happy for, because I saw her when she was about eight or nine-years-old at Freestyle Session and now I've seen her growing up like this. I was like, 'wow, she deserves this'."
Menno: The winners, Logistx and Amir, obviously stood out. Phil Wizard was also really on fire, while Flea Rock and Nadia really made my day. This edition of the Red Bull BC One World Finals really showed how important energy can be in dance and battling, and how much difference it can make if you know how to present yourself and use battle tactics, especially in terms of burns.
You don't see a lot of burns today, but Flea Rock came with them. They're not physically hard movements, but the way he did them you just felt it in your body with every movement. Sometimes crazy, amazing moves don't give you those goosebumps, but then Flea Rock or Nadia came with a simple jump or a slap on the floor and the intention and energy of that simple move you just felt in your whole body. Even though those two weren't the winners, to me, in a way, they also were, especially Flea after being so long in the game.
Nadia with her signature Dolphin Dive
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
Kleju: Besides the winners, Flea Rock! This guy brought some crazy energy and I was jumping around when he was battling Shigekix. Phil Wizard as well – he made it to the finals for a reason. He did some crazy rounds. I also liked Lee from the Ruggeds.
I'm very happy for Logistx, because I've taught her in workshops and saw her potential years ago. I always supported her and seeing her killing it made me so happy.
El Nino: Right now, for me as a judge, I always look at different criteria and they hold different weight, and one of the criteria that holds a lot of weigh for me is originality, because we have so many people breaking now that it’s really hard to be original.
A lot of competitors were original, but Amir specifically stood out on his movement choice, like he will go right when most people go left, just to create something different. I thought that was really dope, especially taking those risks on the stage.
For the final battle, I liked Phil Wizard's style better and the way he danced, but for me he repeated things a couple times, like the Airbaby and the head spin to the Air Chair. So, because of those two little things I had to give it to Amir. I also thought Amir ended a little stronger than Phil. I liked Phil's styled better, but Amir just had more moves left in his tank and finished off stronger in my opinion.
Zoopreme in the battle against Wild Jerry
© Little Shao
Nadia stood out for her energy and she's always so funky with it. I enjoyed watching her. Kastet stood out for her consistency, which was really impressive, Zoopreme also, and Lee is an amazing young talent in the scene right now. The moves he chooses to do are things that make me say, 'I wish I'd thought of that'. I love watching breakers that give me that feeling.
02
Tough choices
Were any decisions hard for you?
Sarah Bee: Lee against Phil Wizard. I voted for Lee and for me it was the hardest one, as they were both on point.
Menno: The first rounds are always really tough, because that's when everybody still has their full arsenal and are just blowing it up. It's also difficult if it's two different styles, like TawfiQ versus Gun. That was a very hard decision.
Tawfiq brought strength and blowups to the stage
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
El Nino: Flea Rock against Shigekix was probably battle of the night and also the hardest for me to make a decision on. I actually started with Shigekix and then I went to grab Flea Rock's card and almost changed my mind, but then I changed back to Shigekix. Flea Rock kind of crashed out of his head spin in the first round, I gave him the second round, where he pulled the guns out and went on the floor, as I thought that was freestyle – real bboy-ism. In his last round he looked kind of winded, though, and Skigekix just never gets tired. Overall I had it 2–1, but that was a difficult one to judge.
Phil Wizard and Lee was also a close one. For me, I thought Phil's overall flow was better. Lee was amazing, but he was just getting up and resetting a little bit too much to get into the next move. I appreciate flow and give it a lot of points to see how you can tell your story from beginning to end. I don't mind resetting and when Lee does it it's worth it, because then he does something crazy, but overall I think I had that 2–1 one as well.
Finalist Vavi does a Hollowback
© Romina Amato
Kastet and Vavi was also another tough one. I chose Kastet because I felt like she was just grooving a little bit more than Vavi.
Battle highlights
Which battles were highlights for you?
Sarah Bee: Flea Rock against Shigekix. I was so happy because Flea Rock was giving workshops with how he showed breaking on that stage. He has something that's missing in the game now and I'm so happy that this happened in the Red Bull BC One World Finals. I hope that this will open people's eyes and that they'll understand that there are things so much more important than big moves. I love big moves, we all do, but we need more dancers with soul and Flea Rock reminded me of that.
Flea Rock from the USA brought the original B-Boy flavour
© Gniewko Głogowski/Red Bull Content Pool
Menno: Shigekix versus Flea Rock I enjoyed, as it was such a big contrast of styles, like the old versus the new.
Kleju: Flea Rock and Shigekix was one of the craziest battles. Also, Lee versus Phil Wizard, which was a hard one to judge.
03
The judge's experience
How was the overall experience of judging this year's World Finals?
Sarah Bee: When you're judging you're looking from the outside at everything that's happening, but when you're competing it's different. Now, I have a different vision of how I want to be when I'm on stage, so for me it was a great experience and I learned a lot by watching everyone dance and giving 100 percent of who they are.
Red Bull BC One is the biggest event on the breaking scene and I had an amazing week at the whole camp. We had so many events and workshops, I think this is hip-hop and it's good to have this, to be back together again and sharing the dance floor.
Menno: It was cool judging, but at the same time it was really hard, because I know very well how these guys feel when they're on that stage and how much time they put into this. I wanted all of them to win, you know. I know their backstories and how much they sacrificed to prepare for this, so it's hard to then send somebody out in the first round, but it's your job. In the end, you judge the moment and it's all about the moment.
Kleju: The whole thing was just incredible. It's been two years because this event was supposed to happen last year and we couldn't wait until it happened. Once it happened, day-by-day it was just getting better. I was also really happy to hear Plash spinning. I've known this guy for so many years, as he's from my city, and when I discovered he was going to spin for the World Finals I was so happy – and he killed it.
El Nino: The last time I judged a World Finals was 2013 and I forgot that pressure you feel. I thought it was going to be easier, but it's cool, I enjoy judging because it's a time for me to be at an event and just enjoy it without battling. You're watching some of the best talent in the world and it doesn't get any better than that.
Part of this story
