It was hot in the Sugar Factory in Moscow on May 26 in 2007—and not just because of the weather. The atmosphere was highly charged, 16 of the best B-Boys from Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus had come to battle it out and determine who was the coolest and could stand the heat.
Famous in Hip Hop shuffle, solo MC of the R’n’B group Band’eros, DMC B, was invited to host the event and did a great job. The experienced battle host was full of emotions and stirred up the already energetic audience at the Sugar Factory.
Judging a breaking event is a sensitive thing. To avoid any suspicion the judges might be prejudiced, international breaking experts were invited to judge the qualifier of the Red Bull BC One in Russia—Extremo from Spain, Free from the USA, and Lamine from France. They are familiar with the Russian B-Boy scene and its local peculiarities. Responsible for the beats was DJ Renegade from London, UK, a well-known battle DJ. He fired up the B-Boys as well as the audience.
Everything about the Sugar Factory brought out the exceptionality of the project. The location was carefully picked—the stockroom of the Sugar Factory, where the spectators comfortably placed themselves on sugar sacks, in between graffiti painted walls and gates. Representatives of B-Boy culture and the Hip Hop scene were invited as guests of the event. A special surprise was the fact that some of the B-Boys who didn’t battle at the event had come to watch the battle and to try out the dance floor. The peak of the show was a performance of a little B-Boy of about 6 years of age, who performed moves and tricks that could even make experienced B-Boys go green with envy! The audience went bananas!
The Red Bull BC One Qualifier was a one-on-one competition with 3 rounds for each dancer in every battle. B-Boy Mark Beard, who had been chosen by the online judges on the basis of the user profile he had uploaded to the Red Bull BC One website, met with the Red Bull BC One 2006 participant, B-Boy Bootuz, from the Caucasian town Baksan, in his first round. Bootuz won and went on to the quarter-finals.
The Representative of Belarus, B-Boy Kienya, who won at Minsk Red Bull NRG, May 19, lost to B-Boy Yan from Moscow. B-Boy Kolobok from the Ukraine came out victorious from the battle with Samara’s B-Boy Klyk. In the quarter-finals, he defeated B-Boy Yan, who had won the battle with Belarusian B-Boy Kienya. In the semi-finals, Kolobok, from the Ukrainian town Artemovsk, outgunned B-Boy Artem.
The intermission show before the finals, was a big surprise and a very exclusive gig—the beatbox crew Microphone Check performed with well-known local street drummer Gordey. It was their first time performing together. Ivan Traore and Vakhtang Kalandadze did a stunning beatbox show accompanied by drumbeats performed on three paint buckets. They heated up the audience, who now was prepared for the hottest fight of the night, the battle between Bootuz and Kolobok—Russia and Ukraine!
The Ukrainian B-Boy Kolobok’s technique is full of fascinating and extraordinary tricks—extremely eye-catching. As for Russian Bootuz, he is the experienced one—highly qualified, clean, artistic, and charming. The atmosphere during the final battle was tense. The B-Boys were dancing like real warriors, expressing their feelings and their personalities. By unanimous decision of the judges Bootuz was victorious. He will represent Russia at the Red Bull BC One in South Africa in September for the second time.
That was supposed to be the end of the event, but when the guests started to leave, about 40 B-Boys, including participants and judges of the Red Bull BC One Qualifier, started their own party. They started dancing on the stage, showing each other their tricks and new moves—so the evening ended in the spirit of true Hip Hop.
Peace out!