Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew premiered its third season tonight. Again, casting has brought out the most skilled and talented teams. In addition, we saw several different styles new to the show. Several groups stand out as fan favorites who raised the bar, while others have fallen flat.

Representing Florida AM University, Strikers All Stars was the first crew up. They performed to T.I. - Swing Your Ride combining fraternity stomping with hip hop. While judges Shane Sparks and Rainen Paguio (from season one’s winning crew Jabbawockeez) had kind words, I don’t have any. Their lackluster performance wasn’t very original at all, and I can chalk up their sloppiness to nerves.

Next was Hollywood’s Beat Freaks performing to Din Dada – The Club Anthem. It was obvious that these girls would do much better than most teams because they have professional choreographers on their team. The judges also agreed, saying that this team set the tone for the season. Also, Shane said it’s very possible that the winner of this season will be a female crew.

All the way from Puerto Rico is G.O.P. DANCE. Performing to Daddy Yankee – Rompe, they – strangely – came out in monk robes, and sloppily pushed salsa into their choreography. While I favor them over Strikers, they were unfortunately sent to elimination.

L.A.’s Quest advanced the bar when they performed to Naz - Hero. The team’s creativeness and precise unison had the audience captivated. Rainen and Shane both agreed this team stomped the competition, saying that it was the illest performance and that they truly represented.

Next was Miami Heat’s all girl crew Fly Khicks performing to Kelis - Milkshake. There is not much I can say about these girls except that they can’t dance, but can shake that ass. They aren’t unique or set themselves apart from other cheerleaders. I guess sex sells. However, even in elimination, they were boring again.

Coming from Brooklyn is Ring Masters who set themselves apart from everyone else by introducing a new style of dance called flexing. They performed to Young Jeezy - Welcome Back, and their dance was a cross between a freak sideshow and “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” I will say the performance had me glued to the TV. However, even though I enjoyed the performance it didn’t touch me as much as it touched Lil’Mama, who began to cry over Brooklyn pride.

The underdogs of San Diego, Boxcuttahz, performed to Chromeo - Bonefide Lovin. The crew seemed to take to the stage with confidence, but began to loose their courage during their performance. The character play of their first initial performance reminded me of Kaba Modern, while their style reminded me of Fanny Pak. Their bland unoriginality brought them to the elimination round.

Alabama’s Dynamic Edition was the next unconventional group. This clogging crew is champion in their field and has decided to incorporate hip hop to their repertoire. Their performance to Black Eyed Peas - My Humps was impressive, but while the judges praised them for being different, they also criticized them for not mastering hip hop like they did clogging.

Last and not least was L.A.’s Team Millennia. Back again for another season, this crew came back with a rocker style performing to Head Automatica – Beating Heart Baby. Although they were very trendy, I felt this performance was lost. This may very well be a case of a team trying to hard, but the judges were content with them.

Now, finished with sorting through the trash, crews G.O.P Dance, Fly Khicks and Boxcuttahz were sent to the elimination round. Here they were given 30 seconds to redeem themselves. I really thought Boxcuttahz and G.O.P. would have made it to the next show; however, the judges picked the talentless Fly Khicks over G.O.P.

While I was disappointed with the end result, it was a good first episode, and I can’t wait to see what happens next week.