[Bboy.DK13]

ay any no what channel is nyc on

[NiceGuy]

Lilou won BC1 against Cloud.

[CaoZtar]

I call a redo! lol Ronnie had a hard choice.

[BbOySyPhOnTeCk]

lol well it turns out that lilou won 2009 Red Bull BC One xD

sorry if i ruined it for any of you ? 0.0

[Aviate]

cloud should have won.

[lowdown]

[Bboy-Supreme]

[bnewbie]

this was final was a joke even lilou (my favorite) sucked hahaha

[BboySpeedBall]

man it was so dope going. I got to see legends and competitors all through the night. Storm is really nice.

[Atticx]

Hah, I had a feeling lilou would win. Still can't believe Ronnie gave him that win though...

[Soapy]

Stepping out of a yellow taxi in NYC, outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, the location of the 2009 Red Bull BC One. The first thing I hear is the music coming from inside the venue; “Empire State of Mind” – Jay Z feat Alicia Keys.

Something about this gives me butterflies in my stomach.

I’m here in New York City, in the USA for the first time, and about to take my seat ringside at one of the most prestigious B-boy competitions in the world. Oh, and I’m late.

I make it inside and take my seat just in time to see the competitors take to the circle for the introduction, sixteen of the worlds best, picked for their uniqueness and dedication to B-boying, and definitely deserving of the deafening applause from the crowd. It’s certainly emotional for everyone here. The sixteen competitors form a ring running around the circle; standing in the middle is our MC for the evening, a certain KRS-One. Any poets in the house would have surely noticed the deliberate metaphor here, the personification of hip hop surrounded by the latest and greatest ambassadors of B-boying, old and new, united where it all began.

Spirituality aside, we get underway. Our DJ for the evening is DP One, a New York resident and B-boy. If anyone knows the beats to spin this evening, its him. KRS-One announces the first battle, its Neguin (representing Brazil and Tsunami Allstars) against Lagaet (of Portugal and Momentum Crew). KRS directs our attention skyward for the video introduction by both B-boys, who basically say what we already know, that they are here to win and smoke the competition. Watching these short clips, and seeing the sincerity on their faces, I kind of feel bad knowing that, in a few minutes, one of these guys is out.

B-Boys to the stage. The battle commences.

Neguin wastes no time in showcasing that Brazillian power, straight in with a corkscrew combination that gets the crowd up and makes me wonder for the first of many times in the evening why Red Bull even bothered with seating. Starting with what most consider a finishing move, Neguin shows bags of confidence, and gets down to the real business of the day, impressing the judges with an all round command of tricky power, funky top rock and cleanly executed freezes. Lagaet answers well enough, entering his first round with an equally impressive round off to flash kick, landing one footed and kicking into a one handed air freeze. His power is certainly impressive, but the judges clearly feel he lacks something, perhaps the fluidity and speed of his Brazilian opponent. The battle goes to Neguin, and the crowd signals the right decision with a roar of approval. Respect and props have to go to Lagaet, who showcased some incredible moves and power, but the consensus was that the better Bboy took it.

Round two: Menno (Holland, Def Dogz, Hustle Kidz and Mighty Zulu Kingz) is up against local boy Kid Glyde (USA, Dynamic Rockers). If the first battle was power, this is going to be a style showdown!
Menno is first out and shows his originality, most of the moves he performs have no real name and are difficult to describe, but you know that you are seeing a special B-boy, watching the Dutchman dance. Perhaps his signature move is the reverse turtle, travelling backward across the floor towards Kid Glyde at considerable speed, no one does it better. Kid Glyde answers with flawless sets and flavour, getting in some clean transitions and a nice few rounds of UFO’s, but Menno takes this one. From where I was sitting, it was close.

Up next is Cloud (USA, Skill Methodz) and Kaku (Japan, Mortal Combat, Cube). We’ve had power, we’ve had style, now its both. Cloud hasn’t entered a major solo competition since he was a teenager, can he hold his own against one of the worlds best powermovers?
Kaku goes in first, lightning quick windmill and headspin combinations which have made him famous; he is definitely a true gravity defying bboy. Worth a mention are his amazing 2000s, which he goes into straight from headspins, in one of the smoothest transitions I have ever seen. The crowd goes mad, but Cloud isn’t phased. Strolling into the centre of the circle he removes a pair of earplugs, it’s a clear signal of his intentions, Cloud is all about the music. He comes back at Kaku with a unique style, rapidly accelerating and stalling, back and forth, up and down. Maybe not for everyone, but it certainly impresses the judges, Cloud goes through.

By now the crowd is in a frenzy. The new limit of two rounds per Bboy is meaning that each competitor is packing a huge number of moves into each round, and the shorter battles mean the crowd has even less time to believe their eyes and take a breath. I’m just starting to wonder if it is possible for the atmosphere to get any more intense when the next battle begins. It’s Differ (Korea, T.I.P, Seven Commandoz) against Flying Buddah (Russia, Top 9, Mighty Zulu Kingz) and DP One thinks it would be a neat idea to start the battle with B-boys War by DJ Pablo. At this point, judge Cico looks like there is nothing he would like more than to be allowed to go down to the circle, no prizes for guessing what his favourite tune is!
Back to the battle, Flying Buddah begins, with flawless flare and air flare transitions, it’s obvious why this Eurasian b-boy is one of the best assets to his crew, Top 9. His first round is a truly great showcase of clean power. Differ responds in a way similar to Cloud, stepping into the middle of the circle and pausing to get the crowd on his side, which he does. I can’t help but feel that the level of applause Differ received when he entered on his first round was partly due to the truly terrifying stare he gave us all. Minus the moustache, he looked like a super villain. Anyway Differ gets down to being different and throws down some speedy top rock and floor work routines, before doing his signature move, which I am reliably informed by a B-boy sitting behind me is called “that thing he does where he rolls backwards, kicks himself up and grabs his ankles, then lands on his back”, you know the one.
Clearly the Judges are torn, as we go to our first tie breaker of the evening. Thanks to KRS One for this, he listens to our chants of “ONE MORE ROUND” and decides that mob rule is best. Well, there are a lot more of us…

We go to the tie breaker and Flying Buddah surprises me. I had him down for a power mover, but the style he shows in this round is evidence of his dancing ability. Too often you see power moving B-boys who cannot throw down style in any great way, Flying Buddah shows his game here, but a bad freeze at the end of his set might cost him, it’s the last thing the judges will remember.
Differ is too experienced a B-boy not to notice this, and gets straight in with the taunts and some big moves. He does enough, winning unanimously, but maybe too much? The BC One is about strategy and self control as well as winning individual battles, and I worry that Differ has gone all out too early and compromised his later rounds. I guess that’s the risk you take with a tie break.


I risk a dash from my seat for a drink and jump back just in time, it’s Venezuela’s Lil G (Speedy Angels) up against USA’s Morris (Flexible Flav). Lil G is back in the BC One for the second consecutive time, and Morris is coming here straight off the back of winning the UK B-boys championships (in an intense six round final against fellow BC One competitor Menno).
“This is gunna be a dope battle” says the B-boy next to me. He’s not wrong. I said above that Flying Buddah showed some truly great power in his first round, I stand by that, but Lil G absolutely killed it with his first round. You’ll be hard pressed to find a cleaner power set , Lil G also wins my award for “best use of air chair in a set”, if you were there, you know the reception he got for that. Morris, on the other hand, comes out with his serious face on, throwing down some confident footwork and aerial combinations, as well showing his musical education by anticipating, and comfortably killing, the beat. The judges surprise me with a four to one decision in favour of Morris, I thought it would be closer than that.

So far we have had some pretty tough pairings, but hold on for the next battle. It’s Wing (Korea, Jinjo, seven commandoz) versus Punisher (France, Alliance, Silent Trix). These two should have come on to the theme tune from The Odd Couple, so different are their styles. We are all up on our feet showing love to the reigning champion and the incredible French power mover, but at the back of my mind I am beginning to feel really sorry for the judges. In the battle, Punisher comes out with some amazing one armed air flares, he is arguably the best in the world at these, but his power sets are short and one or two sloppy transitions may cost him. Wing doesn’t go all out by any means, but includes some intricate floor routines and ends on a nice suicide, the judge’s vote in his favour three to two.

Next up, two of the youngest competitors for the evening, USA’s Thesis (Knuckleheads, THEMTEAM, F2D) and Germany’s Lil Ceng (Flying Steps, Style Crax), both eighteen years old. Lil Ceng is no stranger to the BC One, having competed in Paris in 2008, and Thesis is a B-boy who has the capacity to cause a major drama for some of the more experienced competitors here tonight. If you thought these two might show some nerves under the spotlight, think again. As soon as the music starts up, Thesis wastes no time in dealing out some funky top rock and complicated thread combo’s. He bounces and slides across the floor, and seems to be really enjoying his moment in the circle. A brief glimpse of some of the power he has stored away, we see a couple of flares and nice blow up moves. Its hard to spot, but the judges are pro’s and will have noticed Thesis’s command of the music and floor. Lil Ceng is a more explosive B-boy, entering with a nice round off to side flip, even throwing in a kick while inverted. He plays the crowd well with some salsa steps and a cheeky grin, then gets down to business. His style is perhaps more conventional that that of Thesis, footwork to flare and windmill combinations, as well as some nice roll back to pike blow ups.
“Lil Ceng hasn’t done enough” I hear a member of the crowd sitting nearby. The judges seem to agree, the win goes to Thesis.
Perhaps it’s harder for a B-boy returning to the BC One to make an impression on the judges. The exposure the BC One gets throughout the world and the attention it focuses on each individual B-boy means that it is easy to see improvement and scrutinise mistakes based on previous performances. Coming back to the BC One, a B-Boy needs to show obvious levels of improvement. Lil Ceng showed skill and power, but Thesis won on originality.

The final battle of the first round arrives. People have been coming and going in the seats around me, but now, everyone looks to the circle. It’s Kolobok (Ukraine, East Side B-boys) up against Lilou (France, Pokemon). It’s obvious that Lilou is a favourite for the title this year, but no one is underestimating Kolobok, and maybe the final battle of the first round will hold one of the biggest upsets of the evening. Lilou is controversial as ever, coming out in his “I’m Muslim, Don’t Panic” T-Shirt. Kolobok is first in, and his sets feature some very nice threading, but this proves to be the wrong strategy. Kolobok gives it his all, but is made to look worn out by Lilou, whose casual attitude, comical routines and superior threading ability mean that he takes this hands down.


We get a short interval now, just as well. Between the battles we have all been having brief debates on each B-boy, but every conversation is cut short by the start of the next battle. Now everyone gets a chance to talk, but not, I notice, to criticise. This feels different to any other arena or stadium event I’ve been to, because while I hear arguments on why a B-boy should have won, I can’t hear any arguments about why a B-boy should have lost. Yes, we are witnessing 1 on 1 battle, but the B-boys are being judged, it seems, based on their individual performances, as if the opponent is only there to give the B-boy a break to catch his breath. I think back to the slogan on the back of Cloud’s sweatshirt; “The only person you battle in life, is yourself”. True words.

There is a performance by the National Double Dutch League, who show yet another evolutionary side to Hip Hop by performing a battle featuring variations of B-boy techniques with the added difficulty of a jump rope, followed by a showcase from the Rock Steady Crew. Rock Steady are B-boy royalty, and it’s poignant that they are showcasing here, yet another example of the old and the new. There is something magical about being in the Hammerstien Ballroom tonight, KRS One and Rock Steady representing days gone by, not that their time has come, and the B-boys and we in the crowd making up the present day and future of hip hop. It’s all here, folks. Rock Steady are met with a huge cheer from the crowd, and show that age is no boundary to a B-boy, or a B-Girl. Performance over, it’s back to the main event, and the quarter finals.

First up is Menno and Neguin. Now I wonder what it is about competitions that make Brazilians rise to the occasion, but Neguin is on a mission here. He throws down some super speedy power moves and tight, clean footwork, before exploding in his second set with a huge round off to double full twisting back somersault. There’s some debate about the over use of acrobatics in B-boying, but everyone in the crowd roars approval, this was by far the best aerial move of the night. Menno responds, but has little to offer in the way of new moves. His style is smooth, original, but slow, meaning that you get a chance to register in your mind the moves he is doing. This might not seem like a bad thing, but it means that you can relate a number of his moves to what he had done in the previous round, taking away the “wow” factor. Neguin takes this, and moves on to the semi’s.

KRS One announces the next battle, its Cloud against Differ. Another tough one for the judges, both B-boys have a style that is similar, the “can’t-quite-explain-what-I’m-seeing” style. Cloud is first in, and seems to be going for the Kung Fu approach; he uses his top rock to slowly wind up, then unleashes a furious assault of spins and rolls. There are some more conventional moves in his sets, such as an elbow freeze and nice corkscrew, which he landed straight into footwork. With other B-boys, you might think that such a landing was a bail, but watching Cloud, you kind of know he meant to do it. Differ attacks with his trademark roll back technique and some nice freeze combinations, but his second round lacks anything truly amazing. Cloud goes through unanimously.

Now it’s the turn of Wing and Morris. Last years champion against one of my favourites for the title this year, I wonder if I am going to be watching the final right here! At this point, strategy is starting to play a bigger part, and neither B-boy wants to go first, going second gives you the biggest advantage when responding to your opponent, plus I like to think that judges tend to remember the last thing they saw in a battle, and this can lead to a crucial point. Morris is up first though, showing that aggression that US B-boys are famous for. He throws down some great power in both his sets, and still manages to kill a few beats, I’m pretty sure I even saw him singing along to the music at one point, the sign of a B-boy who is well aware of his dance. Wing gives as good as he gets, matching Morris with beat killing ability and performing an incredible windmill variation, crunching his body into a baby windmill and grabbing hold of both feet, somehow still managing to generate the momentum for rotation. One of the best battles of the evening, no doubt, but it produces one of the most controversial decisions from the judges, three tie’s and two in favour of Morris. If you count the cards held up, Morris wins. But the spirit of democracy wins again, and KRS goes with the crowds decision for one more round. I’m not sure how I feel about this, the battle was tight, but based on Judges decisions, Morris has won. We go to a third round, which produces one of the best moments of the night. Morris enters his set with a round off followed by two consecutive whipped back somersaults, finishing with a one armed freeze, dropping to his forearm. Wing did his homework though, and mirrors Morris exactly on the one arm drop. Morris has his back to Wing, and thinks the crowds screaming is all for him. This seems to send him into overdrive, and he goes all out in his final set. Morris takes the tie break, and maybe if he had known at the time the crowd was roaring approval at Wing, things would have been different. For that reason, this was my favourite battle of the night.

The last quarter final is Thesis and Lilou. I’ll put my cards on the table, I’m rooting for Thesis. He might seem like an underdog, but this kid has the look of a giant killer about him. Showing serious courage, Thesis goes first. His funky top rock style goes great against his incredible power, with some brilliant flare transitions. Thesis represents a new generation of B-boys who have been exposed to B-boying through a huge resource of films, competition DVD’s and online videos. While most loose originality because of this, Thesis has been able to take obvious and remarkably different elements of style and power, and incorporate them into his own unique method of dancing, without appearing to be a straight up “biter”. It’s a rare talent.
Sadly, my support of Thesis turned out to be the kiss of death. Lilou advances to the semis with two immaculate sets and a great deal of entertainment. Lilou looks almost schizophrenic on the dance floor, moving from a smiling, joking dancer to a determined and powerful B-boy with lightning speed. He gives the impression of always thinking one step ahead, always responding to his opponent’s moves, a master at reading the battle.

We are now waiting for the semi finals, and I’ve got a seriously mad train of thoughts running through my head. The atmosphere is electric, and trying to reflect on what I have seen so far, all I can remember is a blur of jumping to my feet, sitting back down, jumping back up again, screaming “ohhhhh!” at the circle, spinning left and right to engage with my neighbours in brief discussions on each battle and certain little details which sparkle like gold in my mind. Cloud’s facial expressions, Punisher’s one handed air flares, Lilou removing his glasses as part of his set, Lil Ceng’s grin, Wing mirroring Morris and Neguin’s double full twist. I could end it right here and go home, I feel like I’ve seen enough. Of course I’m going nowhere.

It’s the semis, and up first is Cloud and Neguin. Neguin has been one of the surprises of the night, making it to the semi finals, but he has won the respect and admiration of the crowd, and deserves to be here. Early on, both B-boys seem to be trying to imitate each other, with Neguin showcasing some nice footwork and floor routines and Cloud throwing down some acrobatics and power moves. To make the final, you have to show you can get out of your comfort zone, and I get the feeling that both Cloud and Neguin are throwing down moves and routines that they are less than comfortable doing. Both soon go back to doing what they do best, with Neguin showing halo’s and windmills in his power routines, and Cloud mixing it up with intricate hand work while on the floor. It’s getting harder and harder for me to predict the outcome, and I’m miles off with my call on this battle. I go for a tie, the judges unanimously vote in favour of Cloud, who has made it into the final. All I can think of is that the battle came down to character, when Cloud steps into the spotlight, he focuses the attention of everyone onto him in a way no other B-boy, save a certain Algerian about to battle, does. Neguin is a dope B-boy, but he can be predicted, and with prediction comes a lapse in concentration. No one knows what Cloud is about to do, so everyone watches him intently.

Second of the semis is up. Lilou against Morris. We get the now familiar waiting game as both B-boys try to wait each other out. It looks like Lilou breaks first, and goes in. His first set is as smooth as glass, the by now familiar comedy top rock showing his mental state. As I said, it looked like Lilou broke first, by allowing Lilou the first entry, Morris lost the element of surprise, and allowed the wily Frenchman to build his defence. Morris countered well enough, his sets were clean and his dancing was on beat to perfection, but Lilou returned with everything that Morris gave and more, matching him on delivery, execution and difficulty. In the end, it seemed to be a repeat of the previous semi final, I predicted a close run affair with the winner perhaps being decided on the little details, but it was a unanimous decision in favour of Lilou, and, in retrospect, Lilou took it for the same reasons as Cloud. Like Cloud, you watch Lilou because he is unpredictable, but what Lilou does is almost the opposite of Cloud. Cloud is so captivating because he seems so distant, Lilou because he is so approachable. He plays the audience with his comedy routines and acting style, drawing us all in with baited breath before exploding in a whirlwind of threading, air chairs and lightning fast footwork routines. Cloud acts for the most part like his opponent isn’t there, he wins on his own merit. Lilou makes a point of telling you that he has seen what his opponent has done, isn’t bothered by it, and is fully capable of going better.

We have our finalists. Lilou and Cloud. Unstoppable force and immovable object. By now I’m too nervous to leave my seat, in case something happens and I can’t make it back in time. We have a break though, and all around the ball room, every second and third word I can hear “Lilou” or “Cloud”. You’d need to be as skilled as a Las Vegas card counter to call the odds on this one.

A microphone descends slowly from the ceiling.

KRS One announces the final.

The BC One championship belt is paraded around the circle.

The challengers enter.

Lilou, 25, of Algeria and France, representing Pokemon Crew.

Cloud, 26, of the USA, representing Skill Methodz Crew.

“USA! USA! USA!” goes the chant from all around me. Lilou smiles.

DP One starts the track. Hold on tight, it’s about to go off.

Lilou is first in with a round off to whipped back somersault. He first set is a combination of funky top rock, confident footwork, a crazy bit of beat killing while in a baby freeze and flares that come seemingly out of nowhere, all topped off with a stylish blow up. It’s a text book first round. Cloud gets his turn, and we all watch intently to see what he’s going to do. A slower start than Lilou, Cloud gets his dancing shoes on first and hits some great beats with his unpredictable top rock style. He equals Lilou’s power with flares that came from very little set up, and finishes with a swift knee spin, but did this last move go wrong? As I’ve said before, with Cloud it’s hard to tell.
Lilou sticks to the explosive entrances, his second round entrance being a variation of a lay out gainer (that’s a back somersault with forward momentum). Lilou brings in the acting style with the descriptive top rock again, it’s strange how well he conveys what he is saying through this, and then follows it up with a series of baby freeze and head stand combination, blow ups and air chair added as if they were an afterthought. The man oozes confidence.
Cloud’s second round seems reserved. The style is there, but maybe he went all out in an earlier round, I’m starting to notice repetition, and maybe even some fatigue in his movement. Given the nature of his style, fatigue is the last thing Cloud needs. Nevertheless, he battles on, and pulls out some hidden gems, performing a diving forward roll which finished in an aerial spin and gets a deserved “woah” from the crowd. His finishing freeze might cost him though, it didn’t look too well held.
Lilou seems to think the same, mocking Cloud’s fatigue with his third round entry. In typical Lilou fashion, after all he’s been through tonight, he shows that he still has the stamina, and his third round is a blur of flare and hand hop combinations, threaded foot work and a beautiful headspin variation as a finisher. Cloud needs to pull something special out now.
He does his best to do so, running, spinning, twirling and sliding his way across every inch of the circle. Cloud demonstrated his all round skills well in previous rounds, we saw him match other B-boys with style, technique and power. In his final round at the BC One, I feel he lost some of that all roundedness that lent those moments of magic to his previous battles. Having said that, as a dancer and B-boy, Cloud is first rate, his command of the music and interpretation of the moment is fantastic, and his appeal to the judges is in no doubt. Maybe, just maybe….

The final battle of the Red Bull BC One 2009, both B-boys show the love and respect they have for one another with a smile and hug.

All of our eyes are on the judges.

Salah goes for Lilou. I’d have thought he would have gone for Cloud.

Cico goes for Cloud. I’d have thought he’d have gone for Lilou.

Float picks Lilou.

Katsu, Cloud.

It’s down to Ronnie now, the 2007 BC One champion grimaces, he knows what he is about to do to one of the two exhausted B-boys staring up at him.

Ronnie holds up a board, it’s the Algerian flag, and it’s Lilou.

We all go NUTS!

Lilou, winner of the Red Bull BC One in 2005, has just made history by being the first B-boy to reclaim the title for a second time, in 2009. I was there, it was dope, and the rest, as they say…

Leaving the Hammerstien Ballroom, jumping in a cab and heading back to my hotel, I get some time to reflect. There’s an after party starting up somewhere in town, but I’m 20, and therefore too young to get in. It doesn’t matter, I doubt I could take any more B-boying in one night. What I’ve recounted for you here is what I hope to be a comprehensive account of what went down at the 2009 BC One, from my perspective. The great thing about B-boying is the interpretation, not everyone will agree with the decisions made at the BC One, debates on battles and styles are on going, and forever will be. But everyone who was in that room on that night gets to keep a moment of history. We will all remember different parts of the night, and for different reasons, but that is what makes it such a special competition. Reflecting on the taxi ride home, I realised how alert I was while watching the competition, my emotions rose and fell with those guys in the circle. I roared my approval, moaned my disbelief and united with hundreds of other people from hundreds of different backgrounds for a love and respect of B-boying and hip hop. At the end of the day, the winner was decided, and deserved the honour, but as cheesy as it sounds, maybe everyone, competitors, spectators, judges, DJ’s, MC’s and hip hop as a community won something new that night. I certainly did.


Peace, I hope to see you all next year in Tokyo, it’s going to be something.

Bboy Soapy.

[woofer]

damn it ， they are so stronger！