Justice Crew
Justice Crew |
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Justice Crew are an all-male hip-hop dance and musical group from Sydney, Australia, who were the winners of Australia's Got Talent in 2010.[1] The group consists of, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Samson Smith, Omar Kamara, Len and John Pearce, Anastasios Repousis, Lukas Bellesini, Paulie Merciadez and Solo Tohi. They cover all types of dancing from, Krumping to B-Boy, Hip-Hop and Breaking. Justice Crew made their musical debut in August 2010 with the single "And Then We Dance".
Early life and career beginnings
Two of the members of Justice Crew, Samson Smith and Solo Tohi, originally came from New Zealand and both moved to Sydney to pursue a career in dancing. Twin brothers, Len and John Pearce are of Filipino and Australian descent[2] Emmanuel Rodriguez entered the second series of So You Think You Can Dance Australia in 2009, making it into the top 24. Members in Justice Crew have previously been in other dance crews such as, "Athelites", "Barbie Boys", "Gigabeatz", "Hybrid Formz", "Pussy cat ballz" and many more.[3] They have also been giving free dance classes to disadvantaged children in Sydney.
In 2009, Justice Crew entered the World Hip Hop Dance Championships, held in Las Vegas, representing Australia and competing with dance crews from 30 nations. The event began on July 29 and ended on August 2. They placed 14th in the competition.[4][5][6]
Australia's Got Talent
In 2010, Justice Crew won the fourth series of Australia's Got Talent. They were inspired to enter the competition after seeing Britains Got Talent winners of 2009, Diversity.[7] After receiving three Yes votes from all three judges in their audition, the group went on to compete in the second semi-finals, where they received a standing ovation, both from the audiences and the judges. In the end, they won the public vote and went on to compete in the grand finale. The first round of the grand final began on 8 June 2010, where Justice Crew performed their final routine. Judge Brian McFadden was so impressed with the performance, he stood on his seat and applauded. Even an often hard-to win over Kyle Sandilands was full of praise for the group's performance.[8] Emmanuel Rodriguez of Justice Crew, said the group scheduling as the second last act to perform added to the pressure to perform well. "They gave us more time to be nervous. But as soon as the music started, we knew we were going to nail it". On the grand final held on, 15 June 2010, it was announced that Justice Crew were the winners and were awarded a prize of $250,000, with singer-guitarist, Cameron Henderson becoming the runner up.[4][9][10][11]
The group divided the prize money so each member got, $28,000 and invested the money into the group, planning to become a fully professional act.[12] Weeks after the competition ended, the group revealed to New Idea magazine that dancing saved their lives. The group stated that they would be struggling if they had not taken up dancing as a hobby. Rodriguez told New Idea magazine, "Getting paid is a big thing. But so is being able to achieve a dream. Winning a TV show is huge!" while other members such as Bellesini said: "If I didn't have dancing I guarantee I'd have been in a much worse position. Dancing pushes you further away from other stuff. It keeps you healthy and out of trouble". Tohi of Justice Crew said, "I can guarantee you, without dancing, I'd be in jail".[13]
Career
After Australia's Got Talent ended, Justice Crew helped promote the second season of The X Factor Australia, appearing in one of the television advertisements for the show.[14] On July 18 2010, Justice Crew performed at the Lil' Justice Hip-Hop Crew fundraiser event, to help support the hip-hop crew consisting of ten year olds, who won the right to represent Australia at the 2010 "World Hip-Hop Dance Competition" held in Las Vegas[15] The group, Lil' Justice were named after them.[16]
In August, it was announced the group had signed to Sony Music Australia for their hidden vocal talents, which fans didn't get to see during their time on Australia's Got Talent.[17] "Sony asked if any of us could sing and we showed them what we could do. A week later, we were in the recording studio".[18] In August 2010, they released their debut single, "And Then We Dance", which debuted at No. 46 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart[19] and No. 1 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart.
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart position AUS |
Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "And Then We Dance" | 46[19] | — | TBA |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "And Then We Dance" | Marc Furmie[20] |
References
- ^ Justice Crew wins Australia's Got Talent Retrieved 18 June 2010
- ^ Justice Crew members biography Retrieved 18 June 2010
- ^ About Justice Crew Retrieved 18 June 2010
- ^ a b DanceLounge: Justice Dance Crew Retrieved 10 June 2010
- ^ World Hip-Hop Championships 2009 Retrieved 18 June 2010
- ^ Australian Hip Hop Dancers: World Hip-Hop Dance Competition 2009 Retrieved 18 June 2010
- ^ Justice Crew Wins Season 4 Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Crew rips into talent final Local News - News - General - Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Justice Crew wins Australia's Got Talent Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Justice prevails on Australia's Got Talent Herald Sun - Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Justice Crew the winners The Daily Telegraph - Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Will cash cruel the cool Justice Crew? Retrieved 19 June 2010
- ^ Justice Crew: 'Dancing Saved Us' Retrieved 4 July 2010
- ^ 'The X-Factor' Promo: Justice Crew TV Central| Blog. Retrieved 23 July 2010
- ^ Lil' Justice Hip-Hop Crew - Event Fundraiser Streetcorner.com.au - Retrieved 23 July 2010
- ^ Little Justice hip hop to compete in Vegas Retrieved 23 July 2010
- ^ Sony Music takes on Justice Crew TV.com - Retrieved 17 August 2010
- ^ Kathy McCabe (2010-08-17) Justice Crew hoping to hip hop charts www.news.com.au - Retrieved 2010-09-14.
- ^ a b australian-charts.com - Justice Crew - And Then We Dance. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
- ^ Music Videos - GODSPEED Pictures www.godspeedpictures.com - Retrieved 2010-09-14.