Battle of the Year

Battle of the Year, commonly referred to as BOTY, is an annual international b-boying series that began in 1990. It is a crew (as opposed to individual) competition. Regional qualifying tournaments, also known as preliminaries, are held worldwide culminating in the BOTY International, the world finals event which was held at the Volkswagenhalle in Braunschweig, Germany until 2009. In 2010 the world finals took place in Montpellier, France. Battle of the Year is widely regarded as the premier b-boying tournament in the world, frequently referred to as the "World Cup of B-Boying". Battle of the year creates "spaces for a globalization at the bottom, bringing people together across the barriers of geography, language, and race". Benson Lee filmed a documentary on the Battle of the Year called Planet B-Boy which gives a point of view on what type of people take part in the Battle of the Year. "BOTY becomes more and more international and that means more and more popular. So the capacity of the venues grows and every year there are some more key men in the BOTY-team. One of their aims is to integrate young and motivated people. And it's necessary to do it because it is getting harder and harder to fulfill all the claims". BOTY audiences increased over the years - in 1997, 4000 people watched the finals. The BOTY finals in 2000 held in Hannover, Germany had the largest audience, with 10000 people watching the finals. In 2001, "A change of direction" was added to the BOTY logo as decisions were made to change the format due to the increased popularity and to make it more manageable.

Past Battle of the Year results

Year	First place	Second place	Third place 1	Fourth place	Best show
2011	Vagabonds	Battle Born	Nine Stages B-boyz TPEC	No third-place battle held	Vagabonds
2010	Jinjo	Mortal Combat	Gamblerz La Smala	No third-place battle held	Mortal Combat
2009	Gamblerz	Top 9	All Area Phase-T	No third-place battle held	All Area
2008	Top 9	T.I.P.	Formosa Smokémon	No third-place battle held	Top 9
2007	Extreme Crew	Turn Phrase Crew	Legiteam Obstruxion Funk Fellaz	No third-place battle held	Turn Phrase Crew
2006	Vagabonds	Last For One	Drifterz B-Town Allstars	No third-place battle held	Vagabonds
2005	Last For One	Ichigeki	Gamblerz	Phase-T	Ichigeki
2004	Gamblerz	Fantastik Armada	Stuttguard	Break the Funk	Break the Funk
2003	Pockémon	Expression Crew	Gamblerz	Fire Works	Fire Works
2002	Expression Crew	Vagabonds	Deep Trip	Top 9	Vagabonds
2001	Wanted	Team Ohh	HaviKoro	Visual Shock	Visual Shock
2000	Flying Steps	Waseda Breakers	Scrambling Feet	South African Allstars	Waseda Breakers
1999	Suicidal Lifestyle	Rock Force	Bag of Trix	The Family	/ Spartanic Rockers
1998	Rock Force	The Family	Phase 2	Suicidal Lifestyle	Spartanic Japan
1997	Style Elements	South Side Rockers	Black Noise	Suicidal Lifestyle	South Side Rockers
1996	Toys in Effect	Enemy Squad	Wedding B-Boys & Flying Steps	Passo Sul Tempo	None awarded
1995	/ The Family	Enemy Squad	Out of Control	Phase-T	None awarded
1994	Vlinke Vuesse	Enemy Squad	Always Rockin Tuff	Crazy Force Crew	None awarded
1993	Always Rockin Tuff	Fresh Force	Enemy Squad	TDB	None awarded
1992	Battle Squad	Second 2 None	Enemy Squad	TDB	None awarded
1991	Battle Squad	TDB	Enemy Squad	Fresh Force	None awarded
1990	/ TDB	Crazy Force Crew	City Rockers	None awarded	None awarded

¹ Until 2006, one battle was held solely for first place and one battle was held solely for third place. Starting in 2006, 2 semifinal battles are held, with the winner of each battle advancing to the finals. The losers of both battles do not battle each other; therefore, there is no fourth-place award.

2011 season

2011 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	Battle Born		W
	Nine Stages B-boyz		L
						Battle Born		L
						Vagabonds		W
	Vagabonds		W
	TPEC		L

Best Show: Vagabonds

Crew List for 2011 World Finals

Crew	Qualification
Jinjo	Champions, BOTY International 2010
Dead Prezz	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2011
CT Group	Winner, BOTY Vienna 2011
Vagabonds	Winner, BOTY France 2011
Nine States B-Boyz	Winner, BOTY Japan 2011
TPEC	Winner, BOTY Taiwan 2011
Kosher Flava	Winner, BOTY Israel 2011
Simple System	Winner, BOTY Kazakhstan 2011
Guatemaya Crew	Winner, BOTY Central America 2011
Maximum Crew	Winner, BOTY Korea 2011
Battle Born	Winner, BRAUN BOTY USA 2011
Amazon B-Boys	Winner, BOTY Brazil 2011
Ruff'n'X	Winner, BOTY Switzerland 2011
Fusion Crew	Winner, BOTY Algeria 2011
Flavaz Army	Winner, BOTY Tunisia 2011
Reckless Bunch	Winner, BRAUN BOTY Germany 2011
OnePiece UD Town	Winner, BOTY South Asia 2011
Hoochen Crew	Winner, BRAUN BOTY Benelux 2011
De Klan	Winner, BRAUN BOTY Italy 2011
Over Boys	Winner, BRAUN BOTY Middle East 2011
BMT & Mafia 13	Winner, BOTY Russia 2011

2010 season

2010 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	Jinjo		W
	Gamblerz		L
						Jinjo		W
						Mortal Combat		L
	Mortal Combat		W
	La Smala		L

Best Show: Mortal Combat

Crew List for 2010 World Finals

Crew	Qualification
Gamblerz	Champion, BOTY International 2009
Jinjo	Winner, BOTY Korea 2010
Mortal Combat	Winner, BOTY Japan 2010
Top Coalition	Winner, BOTY Taiwan 2010
La Smala	Winner, BOTY France 2010
Big Toe	Winner, BOTY SEA 2010
De Klan	Winner, BOTY Italy 2010
2DR Squad	Winner, BOTY Switzerland 2010
Predatorz	Winner, BOTY Russia 2010
/ Team Shmetta	Winner, BOTY Benelux 2010
PRODIGY	Winner, BOTY South East Europe 2010
Bio All Stars	Winner, BOTY Brazil 2010
Simple System	Winner, BOTY Kazakhstan 2010
Dead Prezz	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2010
Flowjob	Winner, BOTY Germany 2010
Chapin Crew	Winner, BOTY Guatemala 2010
Unstopabullz	Winner, BOTY Israel 2010
Kamikaz Crew	Winner, BOTY Algeria 2010
La Halla King Zoo	Winner, BOTY Morocco 2010

2009 season

2009 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	Gamblerz		W
	Phase-T		L
						Gamblerz		W
						Top 9		L
	All Area		L
	Top 9		W

Best Show: All Area

Crew List for 2009 World Finals

Crew	Qualification
Gamblerz	2nd place, BOTY Asia 2009
Soul Mavericks	Winner, BOTY UK 2009
Phase T	Winner, BOTY France 2009
Prodigy Crew	Winner, BOTY SEE 2009
Breakers Without Fear	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2009
Belarusian B-Boys	Winner, BOTY CIS 2009
Team Shmetta	Winner, BOTY Benelux 2009
Top 9	Champion, BOTY International 2008
Formosa	3rd place, BOTY Asia 2009
All Area	Winner, BOTY Asia 2009
Myztikal	Winner, BOTY Caricom 2009
Unstopabulls	Winner, BOTY Israel 2009
Octagon	Winner, BOTY Scandinavia 2009
De Klan	Winner BOTY Italy 2009
Funk Fellaz	Winner BOTY Germany 2009
Ubuntu B Boyz	Winner BOTY Africa 2009
Knuckle Head Zoo	Invited Directly
Ghost Rockz	Winner BOTY Switzerland 2009
Amazon B Boyz	Winner BOTY Brazil 2009

2008 season

2008 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	T.I.P.		W
	Formosa		L
						T.I.P.		L
						Top 9		W
	Top 9		W
	Smokémon		L

Best Show: Top 9

Crew List for 2008 World Finals

This list is in chronological order by date qualified.

Crew	Qualification
Extreme Crew	Champion, BOTY International 2007
Bad Taste Cru	Winner, BOTY UK 2008
Groove Kingz	Winner, BOTY Benelux 2008
Smokemon	Winner, BOTY France 2008
Dead Prezz	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2008
Crazy Twisting Tribal Team	Winner, BOTY South East Europe 2008
Top 9	Winner, BOTY Russia 2008
La Halla King Zoo	Winner, BOTY West Africa 2008
T.I.P.	Winner, BOTY Asia 2008
Formosa	2nd place, BOTY Asia 2008
Kaiten Ninja	3rd place, BOTY Asia 2008
Now or Never	Winner, BOTY Canada 2008
Unstopabulls	Winner, BOTY Israel 2008
Ghost Rockz	Winner, BOTY Switzerland 2008
Tsunami Allstars	Winner, BOTY Brazil 2008
TNT Crew	Winner, BOTY Germany 2008
Octagon	Winner, BOTY Scandinavia 2008
Fallen Angels Crew	Winner, BOTY Iberica 2008
Furious Soldiers	Winner, BOTY USA 2008

2007 season

2007 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	Legiteam Obstruktion		L
	Extreme Crew		W
						Extreme Crew		W
						Turn Phrase Crew		L
	Turn Phrase Crew		W
	Funk Fellaz		L

Best Show: Turn Phrase Crew

Crew List for 2007 World Finals

This list is in chronological order by date qualified. Preliminaries that have not occurred yet have a colored background.

Crew	Qualification
Hoochen	Winner, BOTY Benelux 2007
Sick 7	Winner, BOTY South East Europe 2007
Plastic Def Squad	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2007
Legiteam Obstruktion	Winner, BOTY France 2007
Rapid Soul Moves	Winner, BOTY Italy 2007
Fallen Angels Crew	Winner, BOTY Iberica 2007
Extreme (Obo Wang) Crew	Winner, BOTY Asia 2007
Turn Phrase Crew	2nd place, BOTY Asia 2007
Ground Scatter Crew	3rd place, BOTY Asia 2007
Breakerholics	Winner, BOTY Israel 2007
Ultimate Desperados	Winner, BOTY Scandinavia 2007
Funk Fellaz	Winner, BOTY Germany 2007
Ruff'n'X Crew	Winner, BOTY Switzerland 2007
DF Zulu Breakers	Winner, BOTY Brazil 2007
Vagabonds (withdrew)	Champion, BOTY International 2006
Last Minute Crew (withdrew)	Winner, BOTY South Africa 2007

2006 season

2006 World Finals results

	Semifinals					Finals
	Vagabonds		W
	Drifterz		L
						Vagabonds		W
						Last For One		L
	Last For One		W
	B-Town Allstars		L

Best Show: Vagabonds

Crew List for 2006 World Finals

Crew	Qualification
Last For One	Champion, BOTY International 2005
Vagabonds	Winner, BOTY France 2006
Electric Force Crew	Winner, BOTY Balkans 2006
Octagon	Winner, BOTY Scandinavia 2006
Top 9	Winner, BOTY Russia 2006
Moving Shadows	Winner, BOTY South East Europe 2006
Ormus Force	Winner, BOTY Italy 2006
Camelot	Winner, BOTY North East Europe 2006
Mortal Combat	Winner, BOTY Japan 2006
Fallen Angels	Winner, BOTY Iberica 2006
Lions of Zion	Winner, BOTY Israel 2006
STO	Winner, BOTY China 2006
Knuckle Head Zoo	Winner, BOTY USA 2006
Ground Scatter Crew	Winner, BOTY South East Asia 2006
Ubuntu	Winner, BOTY South Africa 2006
HRC	Winner, BOTY Taiwan 2006
B-Town Allstars	Winner, BOTY Germany 2006
Ruff'n'X Crew	Winner, BOTY Switzerland 2006
Drifterz Crew	Winner, BOTY Korea 2006
Floor Burning	Winner, BOTY Benelux 2006

Series Format

World Finals Format

The format comprises firstly a showcase round in which all crews perform a routine of no more than six minutes in length demonstrating their ability in the different styles of breakdance. Judges rank all competing crews by evaluating certain criteria based on the shows.

Following the showcase round, the top four crews are selected to take part in a crew-vs-crew battle playoff. In the semifinals, the top-ranked crew battles the 4th-ranked crew and the 2nd-ranked crew battles the 3rd-ranked crew. The winner of each semifinal then battle each other for the championship.

An award, "Best Show", is also given to the crew that had the best-scoring showcase.

Scoring Criteria

Judges evaluate the showcase round on two main elements, artistry and technicality, each of which includes several criteria. The artistry element includes theme, music, synchronicity, and choreography, among others. The technicality element includes toprock, uprock, footwork, and power moves, among others.

Qualification and Preliminaries

The champion of the world finals is always invited directly to the following year's world finals to defend their title. All other crews qualify via preliminary tournaments, although historically there have been a few instances of directly-invited crews (usually when there is no preliminary in that crew's region).

Qualification is moving towards a two-step system consisting of individual country preliminaries followed by regional preliminaries. Historically, each country had an individual preliminary and sent one crew to the world finals; however, countries have become more and more regionalized over the years. For example, starting in 2007, there is a new BOTY Asia regional preliminary that will send the top 3 finishers to the world finals; in 2006 and years prior, Asia region countries such as South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan had their own preliminaries and sent one crew each to the world finals.

The following is a chart showing the regions and countries in the region, as well as number of crews sent to the world finals, for the 2007 season.

Region	Crews Sent	Member Countries
BOTY Asia	3	China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam,India*
BOTY Balkans	1	Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
BOTY Benelux	1	Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands
BOTY Iberica	1	Portugal, Spain
BOTY North East Europe*	0	Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
BOTY Scandinavia	1	Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden; also, BOTY North East Europe member countries are invited to participate*
BOTY South East Europe	1	Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia

* Winner of BOTY India will participate in BOTY asia from 2011
* BOTY North East Europe regional preliminary was canceled. On July 10, 2007, it was announced that BOTY North East Europe member countries would be allowed to enter BOTY Scandinavia.
** On September 7, 2007, the BOTY USA 2007 qualifier was announced; however, it was canceled less than one month later.

World Finals Format History

Prior to 2006, the current championship playoff system was not used. Instead, there were only two battles: two crews would compete for first place, while two other crews would compete for third place. While a "Best Show" award was still granted based on showcase performance, the judges would also rank the crews as to who they thought should participate in the championship battle. This resulted in frequently-occurring situations where the crew that received the "Best Show" award was not even able to compete for the championship, as they were picked for the third place battle instead of the championship battle. Examples include three "Best Show" winners in the final five years under the old format: Break the Funk (2004), Fire Works (2003), and Visual Shock (2001). The change to the playoff system also brought the world finals format into line with some of the qualifier formats, such as the BOTY Korea Preliminary, which has been using the four-crew playoff system for years.

Starting in 2004, a strict 6-minute time limit per crew on the showcase was enforced for the world finals, with scoring penalties assessed for going over time. This was enacted so that the world finals event would finish in a shorter time period. The 6-minute limit was quickly adopted at preliminaries.

In 1990, when the event was known as the International Breakdance Cup, there were only shows and no battles. From 1991-1996, there were battles resulting in a crowned champion, but no "Best Show" award was given.

Media

An official DVD documenting the event is usually released a few months after the tournament. It is a perennial best seller on breaking and hip-hop media retail web sites.

Several documentaries have been produced based on the competition, including the 2007 feature-length documentary Planet B-Boy. The film premiered at the 2007 TriBeCa Film Festival and was released on DVD on November 11, 2008.

On occasion with the annual competition, a CD/LP titled "The Official Battle Of The Year Motion Soundtrack" is released. It features some of the leading B-Boy Funk artists such as DJ Nas'D, Def Cut, Cutmaster GB, and DJ Phantom.

External links

• Battle of the Year official website
• Battle of the Year TV special at MixeryRawDeluxe.TV