I.aM.mE

I.aM.mE (which stands for 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 Chbeeb, Di Moon Zhang and Brandon Harrell, formed I.aM.mE after Marvelous Motion Crew disbanded. Three additional members, Chachi Gonzales, Emilio Dosal, and Džajna "jaja" Vaňková, joined later after an audition.

The new and present roster of I.aM.mE includes members of dance crews who have competed in past seasons of ''ABDC'', Tamara "Tam" Rapp (from 8 Flavahz, season 7), Jean "B-Boy Bebo" Lloret (from Phunk Phenomenon, season 6), Scarlett Nabil (from Funkdation, season 7), and sole newcomer to the show, Liza Riabinina.

Before ''ABDC''

Before coming together to form I.aM.mE, the members had all achieved considerable success by themselves. Di "Moon" Zhang posted many of hi
tutting
videos onto YouTube before he met Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb and created Marvelous Motion Crew, which also included Brandon "747" Harrell. As the main choreographers, they led the team to much success, winning first place at "The Show", a Dallas competition hosted by JabbaWockeeZ, the San Diego-based winners of ''ABDCs first season. Taking the crew to new levels, Marvelous Motion traveled to California on their first major competition, receiving third place at "World of Dance: Pomona" under the direction of Moon. However, the crew was unable to audition for the fourth and fifth seasons of ''ABDC,'' as Pacman was still under contract with the fifth season of ''So You Think You Can Dance''. After the crew disbanded in late 2010, Pacman, Moon, and 747 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.

Weekly Summaries

Week 1: Lil Wayne Challenge

I.aM.mE kicked off the season, performing to a mastermix of Lil Wayne's "Right Above It". Their performances pleased the crowd, and garnered good comments from the judges. D-Trix called them "clever" and that they "took tutting to the next level": 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 their 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

Their 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, notably at the end, when the whole crew came together to form a robot. The judges were pleased, 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, they received the Katy Perry song "Peacock" with 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 their dancing was authentic and they covered the entire stage, and JC saying 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 called 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". The crew performed with a chilling opening, featured the 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 four crews blasted the seventh week with a routine performed with Nicki Minaj's challenge, based on her alter-egos. Nicki Minaj, who delivered the challenge to the crews herself, gave I.aM.mE the challenge to incorporate childhood games based on Nicki's alter-ego, Cookie, into their dance. After working through cultural differences in childhood games, I.aM.mE 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 games, such as Limbo, Jump Rope, Whack-a-Mole, Swing Sets, Hopscotch, and Leapfrog

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