NBC’s World of Dance, Season 1, Week NINE – LIVE Blog
So, does anyone reading tonight follow Nappytabs on twitter?? If you do, (even if you don’t) go read their twitter feed from today and the last few days. And last week at this time as well. Tell me what you think. All I will say is this – I was under the impression from Derek’s feed that all this (with the possible exception of the finale) was all taped quite some time ago. So what’s the deal? I’ll wait here for your thoughts….
Sorry, Nappytabs was there, but it was @NBCWorldOfDance twitter feed. I’ll be more specific. This is the tweet that had me raise an eyebrow.
We love this touching moment between Ne-Yo and @offlestwins on @NBCWorldofDance! https://t.co/eLzw228EVa
— HollywoodLife (@HollywoodLife) July 31, 2017
Okay, so we’ve heard stories on twitter and youtube about the tapings from people who were there…and NO ONE ever mentioned a Les Twins injury. That’s all I’ll say about that.
Here we go…Eva, Kinjaz and Keone/Mari, that’s who I’m rooting for, although I really like Swing Latino.
I LOVE Jenna’s dress!! So cute.
Team Division is going first. Eeep!!
Not a fan of Jennifer’s track suit. Jennifer points out that the Kinjaz can’t “out energy” Swing Latino so they need to make an impact in another way. And they’re wearing another cool jacket in the rehearsals.
Sharp white suits for the performance. Oooo…love the staging and the voice over. That’s a lot of people in perfect sync. Great song choice. Live the story of the struggle for the sword…or life.
All in all, I think I have other routines of theirs that I liked better. I sort of agree with Ne-Yo when he said there was no “Kinjaz moment” but I also agree with Derek when he says that the synchronicity is the moment.
Their score is a 92.3. Derek gave them a 95 while Jennifer and Ne-yo both gave them 91. Seems that Ne-Yo doesn’t care for the quieter routines – he’s shown that over and over. Conversely, Derek is always going to score something higher that touches his heart and it seems he related to the struggle for the sword in that dance.
I think that shows they picked good judges for this show….each have their preferences. Makes the scoring interesting at times. But since my taste runs similar to Derek’s, Ne-Yo can annoy me. 🙂
Swing Latino is just ungodly fast. It’s hard to believe. Even backstage with Jennifer. Amazing
Derek will be happy with the sparkles. 😀
Oooo..love the flags. Very patriotic. There are just so many of them but I think they’ve improved in how they present their dances…it’s not so overwhelming now.
Whoa, crazy ass trick there towards the end. Great routine. This is actually a tough call.
Hmmm…it looked pretty clean to me, Derek. :::shrug::: He’s an expert. 🙂 But I suspect they’re not going to beat the 92.3. Now they’re getting the sympathy talk from Jennifer. Aw, making me sad.
And their score is….Holy….Crap!!! Swing Latio takes it with a 94.7. Ne-Yo and Jennifer gave them a 25 and Derek gave them a 94. Okay, I’m not mad at that! Love the Kinjaz, but damn Swing Latino is awesome as well.
It also shows that the spoilers were WRONG about the final match up.
Upper Division is next – Keone and Mari versus Les Twins. Team that went first in the last round was eliminated. Boo – KM going first in this round.
Let’s kill it, K/M!! Cool costumes. OMG…I love this song. This should REALLY appeal to Derek. It looks so much like something he would do. OMG, I adore this dance. Gorgeous.
They make Derek feel good…which is what Derek’s choreo does for me and this was in his vein. Derek critiqued the lift. I might have to smack him. 🙂
Score is HOLY CRAP – Ne-Yo gave them a perfect score and he gets a head rub from Derek. And Les Twins are shocked. Derek gave a 95 and Jennifer a 90 for an average of 95.
Well, what are they going to do with Les Twins? Is the one with the cool hair going to dance by himself. Yes, I don’t know which one is Larry and which is Laurent. Sorry. 🙂
Ne-yo talking some crap about connections. I suspect we’re being set up for a Les Twins win here. Tugging heart strings.
Very cool concept though, I must say. This might be their best work this season and it came to of adversity. Not a huge fan, but that was a damn good dance.
Score – 95 from Derek and grrrrrrr commercial. I think Les Twins are going to take it. I’ve been manipulated by reality TV before and these editors have shown they’re no better than any others. Although…why wasn’t this the last duo of the night??
Will Jennifer’s underscoring of K/M come back to haunt them??
Score – damn it. I knew it. 99, 99, 95. Agree with Derek – I feel sick too. 97.7. Thanks a lot, Jennifer. Very stingy score to K/M did them in.
Finally…the Juniors.
Derek with kids is like the best thing ever. 🙂
Diana Pombo up first with an Alice in Wonderland theme. Cute dress. Diana has been hanging out with Les Twins, eh? Pretty sharp movements there. She gets flailing there towards the middle and end. Good dance though. Not my favorite of the night for sure.
Jennifer is loving all over her as is Derek. Ne-Yo calls her fantastic and points out that she did a lot more dancing this time. He also correctly points out the angsty face in what is theoretically a happy routine.
Score: 89.3 – 90 from Ne-Yo and 89 from both Jennifer and Derek. That’s not going to be nearly enough. Even if she were to beat Eva that wouldn’t hold up against Les Twins or Swing Latino.
Where’d ya get that jacket Derek?? 😉
I’m with Derek when it comes to Eva’s faces. Hilarious. Eva has really grown on me over the last few weeks.
Is this a jungle gym out of Les Miz?? 🙂 This kid is tough. I don’t know what to make of this dance though. It was kinda weird. I liked it better than Diana and this kid gives great face. And I love the big smile at the end. But the dance was just strange.
Score: 96, 97, 97 for a 96.7 so Eva takes it handily. Expected. Both good kids. Their style of contemporary is usually not my favorite – too angsty – but I think both girls will grow into having much greater range and amazing dancers.
So, two of my three picks are out of the competition. I kinda feel like it’s being set up for Les Twins and this was the first week I feel like they deserved it. I would not be upset to see Eva or Swing Latino take it.
You?
I love Kinjaz!! Beautiful!!!
Is it me or did Jenna look like Jennifer when she first came out? lol
Hi, I’m of the same opinion about Kinjaz, it wasn’t their best routine. Also I thought their synchronicity was a bit exposed.
Swing Latino really brought it, and their synchronicity was so much improved.
I can honestly say I’m shocked. I love Kinjaz and figured they were automatically through.. Well I think this puts to rest the people who were going around claiming the Les Twins wins and Kinjaz comes in second all over the youtube comments. Now that Kinjaz is out I hope Keone and Mari or Eva pull this off.
Side by side for entertainment factor, I liked Swing Latino and all the latin dances they brought. Kinjaz seemed a little flat tonight.
I was with Derek on Swing Latino….it could have been cleaner. I think Kinjaz should have won between the two. Oh well
I love Swing Latino, but it should have been Kinjaz. They always bring something different to the dance floor. I’m sad, really. ;(
I hope the order they go in isn’t any indicator of who wins.. Because Kinjaz going first and losing does not sit well with me at all.. Because Keone and Mari are my favorite to win.
I agree the Kinjaz were a bit flat, taking nothing away from their amazing talent.
Neyo just became my favorite judge. That routine was amazing. Keone and Mari have showed so much versatility through out the competition and that dance was a culmination of all of that. Across the board I agree with Neyo that was pretty freaking close to perfect.
Keone and Mari were perfection. Great that Neo thought so too. Les Twins have to score 95 or better. Given the injury if they kill it, they will.
I will say in terms of Les Twins this was the best story telling they’ve done in a dance. Probably the only other routine of theirs I have enjoyed outside of the qualifier. But I don’t think it’s on the same level as K&M. That dance of K&M’s will probably get them an Emmy Nod, while this dance for Les Twins was good it’s not Emmy level good.
If I were to score them, I’d tie them.
And I bet you are right on Les Twins, Heidi.
Les Twins, well the concept was reminicient of Billy Bell and Ade’s Mad World piece on SYTYCD. This injury thing gave them the chance to do something different, even though it wasn’t really all that different from what they do, just at different levels. So we’ll see, so far Derek has tied the two teams.
And Heidi, you indeed nailed it!
Jennifer really screwed Keone and Mari didn’t she. This is JLo’s show, and she probably wants Les Twins for her shows.
Well.. I guess I get to root for Eva if she makes it through since she’s the only other one that I like.. sigh.. Can’t believe Les Twins got through over K&M.. I mean I can but.. I had hoped I would be wrong and they would beat out Les Twins..
The cynic in me thinks the injury was minor, but it was played up for effect so he could use a wheelchair.
Sorry – not agreeing with the first two results of this show. I think swing Latino was sloppy and Les Twins did the same moves they’ve done all along. Keone & Mari are so creative and unique. I’m bummed.
Casanoza, I agree on Jennifer….she does seem like she’s trying to control what SHE wants/wanted to happen.
I think JLo finally scored Diana appropriately.
Yeah, Voguerista agreed. I think Diana was brought along because of Jennifer, but she is clearly not supposed to be in the divisional finals, imho. She finally conceded when she got her way with Les Twins and probably Swing Latino, who she has worked with previously.
@Kandy
Same here. I’m not thrilled tonight. At all. I thought Swing Latino was pretty sloppy and again I didn’t know where to watch with all that was going on. Kinjaz wasn’t as impactful as they have been in past weeks but they were in sync and powerful.
Keone and Mari got robbed. They were the most well rounded on the show. Had been rooting for them since week one. I think Jlo’s 90 and her giving Les Twins the 99 is what screw them over.
I think next week I’ll just follow what happens here on the live blog instead of tuning in live on TV. Don’t really want to see Les Twins win. Especially since they did the same thing every dance. Only difference this week is they told a story which was a nice change. Only took them 4 dances to do that while other acts cough Keone and Mari cough have been doing that since their first dance.
Omg Eva Igo! The Brilliance. Best of the night imo! Wowwww!
I absolutely loved Eva’s distopian routine. Wow, it was excellent, great choreography. She’s a beast.
Well I hope Eva wins the whole thing. She definitely is the class of the field now. And if the show is true to themselves they should give it to an up and comer.
Jennifer gave Les Twins NINE points more than she gave Keone and Mari – I don’t think there is ANY justification for that at all. None. Every single week K/M gave us something different, with different emotions and different themes. Far superior dancers and choreographers.
Ne-Yo is full of shit. I agree w/what you said about him & slower routines, he just doesn’t seem to understand emotional routines… Swing Latino, as much as I adore them & I connect to them bc I’m latina as well, they were VERY messy. There were a lot of sync issues, they weren’t as clean as usual. It was an ambitious routine like Jennifer said, I liked the concept, but the judges were too impressed by the energy… The Kinjaz were flawless. I’m happy for Swing Latino bc I imagine how hard it was for them to get there, but I’m sad for Kinjaz bc, once again, they deserved that & were voted off…
Agreed, Casanova. He could have just used one, but that wouldn’t have had the same (manipulative) emotional impact.
yeah, I think I’m going to have to go with Eva as well – never thought I would say that at the beginning of the show.
I will say Eva’s dance was the second strongest of the night (behind K&M in my opinion). She’s definitely shown growth over the 4 dances. The promo for next week from what I could garner I think her final dance will be pretty good. She’s now my pick to win. Les Twins look to being the same old same from the promo (and Laurent’s injury must not have been too serious since hes no longer in the wheelchair).. I honestly will not be enthused if they win it all. Honestly will kinda turn me off. I’ll probably still watch next season especially if other acts come back like The Lab, K&M, Fik Shun, The Posse, Kinjaz, etc. but definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I get that JLo is a producer and that allows her a lot of control but it’s kinda crappy to have this level of manipulation, especially the fact that Swing Latino have worked with her previously and now they are suddenly in the finals. I’m honestly surprised that Diana didn’t get in over Eva because of JLo’s favoritism towards Diana. I’ve come to expect this manipulation from DWTS over the years (thank god we sort of broke the mold on that with Rashad pulling out the win) but with a new show like this I didn’t expect it. Guess I should have. Curse my eternal optimism.
When the show ended, I suddenly felt like rooting for Swing Latino, LOL! Sigh! The dancers that I wanted to be in the finals were outscored, courtesy of JLo. Can’t believe she gave Keone & Mari 90 for an Emmy-worthy routine! Ugghh! I do hope Keone & Mari win an Emmy next year. The other dancers I wanted to see in the finals were Kinjaz. How they make those little moves look big at the same time amazes me each time. The next season ought to be better. Hope they read this blog for insights.
There’s no such thing as a reality show that is free of manipulation. None. Producers and editors are making a TV show, and they can’t resist tinkering. At least on this show they aren’t manipulating at the level that DWTS does.
@Princess Hedi
Yeah I know but I’m an eternal optimist that always likes to hope that things go differently. It would be nice to have one dance show that doesn’t rely on manipulation and tinkering and just lets things play out as they may but I don’t see that happening ever. At least I get to walk away tonight knowing that K&M are this shows best shot at getting Emmy recognition one small victory after several defeats.
I hope Eva doesn’t win because I don’t consider her a dancer, she’s a gymnast. I saw about 2 seconds of dance in that routine. She’s good but she does the same moves in every single performance. I’d give it to the Latino’s at this point.
Keone and Mari are INCREDIBLE, but I thought their previous pieces were more impactful than this one. They chose a fun one, full of character and it was great, but Les Twins’s piece really moved me. To me it looked like they were representing the same man, two different possible destinies… I don’t know if I would have scored it the same as the judges for either duo, but…
I don’t care about the show getting an Emmy nomination, KEONE & MARI should get an Emmy nomination. I can totally see Derek wanting to collaborate with them & they choreographing for a lot more people now… Sad to see them & Kinjaz go…:(
So, based on the scores Les Twins are going into the finale in first place, Eva in second and Swing Latino in 3rd. My guess is Swing Latino blew their wad in the semis and won’t win, if Les Twins win it will be a letdown, since I think there has been a lot of production gymnastics to keep them in contention.
Eva has been consistent throughout and good choreography has allowed us to see a real growth in her performance level. Some of the earlier rounds felt like competition level choreo for her, last week and now feels professional. This kid moves me. The only dances I cared to re-watch was Keone and Mari and hers. I have to disagree with Derek, I thought K/M’s lift was fine. If K/M can’t win, then I put my hope in Eva.
Not gonna watch next week…I’m ticked off. No way should K and M be eliminated. They take creative expression to a new level. I can’ t stand Swing Latino or the Twins. The injured Twin is a very bad actor, and IF he had an injury it was minor. Hoping Eva wins, I guess.
It was an exciting show for the most part but at the end of the night, I was very disappointed. Only one contestant I ageeed with going through was Eva Igo-She killed it. Respect to Les Twins for going out there and performing -a more creative piece than anything they’ve done all season but NO WAY did it beat out Keone & Mari~ Art is art but I don’t think the average middle aged person will get or appreciate Les Twins style of dance and they will probably win a million dollars too. To the judges they can do no wrong, even when they aren’t dancing. In that fact I’m disappointed.
True art transcends to all generations, I don’t see them doing that.. -JMO
This manipulation on this show is even more blatant than dwts. Only difference is the judges are more respectful. Very disappointed in Jlo.. No use rooting for anyone, the Les Twins have already won.????
So I re-watched Kinjaz and the thing I think that made it a bit flat tonight was the transitions were very pedantic, they did a few turns into place for each team movement. I still think Swing Latino did fairly well on their synchronicity and came a long way from where they started, I thought they tried to make the transitions interesting and filled the spaces. I can’t imagine how tough it is to do latin dancing that isn’t linear movement like hip hop in complete synchronicity.
But of course the King and Queen of clean movement -I loved Keone and Mari so much, every movement was with a purpose, they win synchronicity hands down of any team in this competition. Big or small movement, and transitions to the next dance vignette are always interesting and compelling.
I am so disappointed that K&M are out! I couldn’t believe my eyes when the scores came up. What a farce! I predicted that Les Twins had already won when I saw the promo for the show talking about his injury. Pure DWTS’ drama, as in BS!
I’ve never cared for Swing Latino. I just find them a little too messy and there’s too much going on in their performance. It also ticks me off that they have already worked with Jennifer. How convenient!
I really liked Eva’s performance last night! She is a powerhouse, but I don’t think it is worthy of a million dollars. K&M are the only ones that I think deserve it. I do hope being on the show brings them a whole new level of opportunity.
Yes, Vogue, I thought Jenna was JLo for a minute there too! 🙂
Keone and Mari’s routine last night felt very much like something Derek would do. I would not be surprised to see them working together in the future.
I don’t think that it was even “production gymnastics” last night, Casanova. It was very clearly Jennifer that did it. Derek tied K/M and Les Twins if I recall. Ne-Yo gave K/M ONE point higher to K/M than he did Les Twins. Jennifer, on the other hand, gave K/M a full NINE points LESS than she did Les Twins. Something smells funny there. When ONE judge essentially picks the winner, you have to wonder what her goal is? She have business with Les Twins? She totally low balled K/M, IMO. No question.
Have to remember that production only impacts how the viewers see the show in this case. Unlike DWTS, production doesn’t actually affect the outcome – only the judges can do that. Production on this show is used to create suspense and drama – but that’s it. I think they made all the dancers likable, didn’t tear anyone down (although Les Twins true colors showed at one point), and they create suspense and drama. Everything else is on the judges. DWTS, on the other hand, has a combination of (very bad) judges scores and viewer votes. The massive manipulation that DWTS goes through is absolutely designed to affect the way people vote. And the judges are following a production script (or their own script) half the time. That is more insidious, IMO. As a human being, judges can’t help but have favorites – but Jennifer seems to have a stronger ulterior motive.
At least the scoring is based on *something* on this show, unlike on DWTS.
Well, you’re wrong, Dee. The manipulation doesn’t affect the outcome – it’s not even close to touching DWTS level of manipulation which impacts viewer votes. Or have you forgotten the faux romances constructed to get votes, the spy cam spying on couples, the badgering of Nastia Luikin after a 12 hour day so she would be snappy?? Do I need to list more blatant instances of manipulation designed to make you vote for one couple and not for another?? How about the fact that a certain pro gets trained dancers under the age of 35 every single season while most other people get complete novices?
There are HUGE differences between the two shows. WoD certainly has it’s problems that I have issues with – but it will have to go a long way to touch DWTS when it comes to manipulation.
It’s all Eva now for me too!! “A Beast” indeed Cas!!
The one thing I’ve noticed on FB about the show is that up until this week everyone appeared to be rooting for Kinajz/Les Twins, but now they’re all saying how Keone and Mari should’ve made it and how Eva should win (very heavy on the latter part of that).
I would have loved to see Keone and Mari win, but since that’s not an option I hope Eva wins!
Also, Jimmy Fallon mentioned when he interviewed Jenna that Derek would be on his show next Tuesday and would be dancing with the winner. I can’t see him performing with Swing Latino (they wouldn’t even fit in the studio!) and I can’t see him with Les Twins, so I’m going to guess that Eva is indeed the winner.
Seems like it has been rigged for less twins from day one.
I guess your right Heidi about the manipulation on dwts vs. WOD. I just really don’t like the idea of the judges being the only ones to have a say on who wins or not. At least you get that option with DWTS no matter what the judges say. .. I just don’t understand why Jlo feels the need to push the Les Twins so much more than other contestants.
You could tell Derek was genuinely disappointed in seeing Keone & Mari leave. Wish he would have just scored Les Twins less -whether they won or not. It would have spoke volumes-imo
I was just a bit angry Heidi-You know I’m familiar with the blatant favoritism and pimoage of certain pros-Don’t get me started on that☺️
I find it so fascinating that Eva is so giggly and slightly (adorably) awkward in person, for instance when Derek was mentoring her, but when she hits the stage she digs deep down inside and unleashes this powerful, mesmerizing BEAST. I’ve been watching dance for over twenty five years and I’ve never seen anything like it.
While I’d prefer a non Contemporary winner, I feel like what Eva does is so extraordinary that I’d be totally okay with her winning the whole thing.
Now if Keone and Mari had advanced I’d be in a terrible quandary about who should win. I’m really sad to see them passed over, but I have a feeling that this exposure will open doors for them. They’re prodigiously talented and artistic and have a real instinct for creating dances that expand both the mind and the heart.
I want to be an honorary Kinjaz. What the hell, I’d like to be an honorary Swing Latino too.
I find that thing NeYo does with his head when he’s excited or encouraging to the dancers is rather cute. He shakes his head up and down repeatedly while pursing his lips and looking intense. Plus, he gave K&M a 100. Dude is all right.
I did notice the more theatrical staging and cohesive choreography from almost all the dancers last night. It seems like production had a stronger hand in the crafting of the routines. For instance Diana’s seemed less posing and leg flinging in the air than normal. She actually danced STEPS.
I believe that Kyle Hanagami (who does WOD choreo), used to partner with Mari before they moved to LOs Angeles. They were cute together in their old youtube videos. Didn’t Kyle do the choreo for Derek and Julianne’s recent DWTS performance too? My point is that Derek & Keone/Mari already have a connection with Kyle before the show.
Kyle is my favorite choreographer right now. Check out his Ed Sheeran Shape of You video which is the most watched dance video. It’s so good. Just love him so much!!
I’m not happy that the Kinjaz didn’t make it. I loved them way more than the other group.
It looks like Les Twins really did win. They are pretty amazing. I like them better than the other two.
I know what you mean, Dee. I don’t like it that we don’t get to vote or have some say in it. I also don’t like how Jennifer is too controlling of who she wants to see win. Derek obviously knows more than her and Ne-yo on how to judge dancing. That look she has given him at times really gets to me.
Anyway, this show needs a lot of work….they either need to make it two hours or don’t have so many contestants so we can get to know them more and see more dancing from them. I hated the rushed feeling, all the shady manipulation and cut outs of some of the dancing, and so many other things.
Nooooo!!! kinjaz! I LOVE THEM )):
Thought swing was good, so fun and happy and really brought the Latino vibe to us, but honestly, Kinjaz should have made it through. This one cut me deep.
I was so sad to see K&M leave too! what’s wrong with them!?! I just don’t get it! what is so amazing about the twins?? Their dance never connected with me, they always seem to be vibrating about on the spot, or constantly look like they’re getting electrocuted. I mean, i just dont. get. it. But this dance they did well, I will admit, I finally liked something of theirs, until I realized hey. JLo is one obvious manipulator man. 9 points above K&M??? HOW IS SHE A JUDGE SERIOUSLY. It’s clear she’s always supported them, fine, I think everyone is human, you’re of course inclined to feelings and connections that you might have made with certain acts, sure. But to give a 9 point difference is really just too crazy. They were NOT 9 points better than K&M. I think the outrage on social media is telling enough. I am kinda disappointed in Jlo is a judge now. I get this is her show, but man, i feel she is nowhere near as experienced as derek to be judging. Her scores tend to be super flakey and inconsistent.
But eva! I watched her dance 6 times over. It was soooo good I think i’ll watch it again later. She truly surprised me. Never thought I’d say that I want her to win. But now i do.
Is it me, or does it seem super obvious that Derek loves her? Maybe it’s because i watched her dance 6 times and saw her package 6 times as well, derek seemed elated when he met her, but when i compared it to diana’s, he wasn’t anywhere near as excited. in eva’s package, he was constantly beaming, or in awe, or shouting something to the likes of “this is incredible!!”. Before the dance as well, he said “let’s go eva”, and when the results were out, he ended off telling her “you have what it takes to win this entire thing”. Just something i noticed. I love her too Derek 😛
Thanks for posting so much on WOD mods, can’t wait for more people to join this site, and comment more. (:
Hi @PH I guess I was trying to be diplomatic about “production gymnastics” because she as executive producer is definitely putting her thumb on the scale in favor of her favorites. Somehow that does not seem kosher to me. If those arrogant Frenchmen win all the Benjamins it is because Jennifer and not necessarily anyone else want this for the show.I agree with you, the 9 point difference was an obvious power move that doesn’t pass the smell test.