World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 10 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

Dying to see Derek do a couple moves with Ruby Castro…I mean, this photo is pretty amazing!!

Sorry, everyone, I was outside drinking wine with the neighbors and time got away from me. But I am starting at the beginning thanks to my TiVo!!

Ooo…Derek’s opening sequence is hotter than it was last week!!

First up is going to be….Jaxson Willard versus Lucas Marinetto. This is likely a no-brainer since I don’t remember Lucas. And I love tappers. I’m wondering if Lucas got no air time during the qualifiers. He’s getting a package now though!!

Jaxson dancing first. He’s got such power, it’s amazing. Not much to say other than that? Of course he has artistry. And the mom tribute at the end is beautiful. Very well done.

Ne-Yo asks what the dance is about and now everyone is crying. Me too. What a sweetie. JLo is a mess. 🙂 Derek says he’s a master storyteller and we know Derek is all about that.

Up next, Lucas. Good luck following that dude. Kind of a slow start, but he’s got style. Now he’s picking it up. DAmn, they edited that dance which is annoying, but lucas didn’t stand a chance anyway.

The judges are giving him serious props though – and he was good, and clean, but the judging panel is very inclined toward contemporary and, in the case of Jaxon, that’s not surprising. It’s just easier than other styles, although still hard.

Judges Scores…

Lucas: 86, 89, 89 for an average of 88.

Jaxon: 93, 97, 98 (Derek, Ne-Yo and Jennifer) for an average of 96. And Jaxon moves on. Not shocking. I do feel that Jaxon is too much in his head such that his emotion doesn’t feel authentic…but damn the strength!!

Next up is Poreotics versus Marissa and the Heel…I mean Heartbreakers. The controversial heart breakers. Honestly, I don’t want to hear the sanctimony. The criticism should be about the lack of dancing/choreography, not about HOW they were dancing. Weren’t nothing wrong with that.

Jenna…don’t mess with cool, girl. 99% of the time you are on point.

Here we go…first up, Marissa and the Heartbreakers.

Good sync. Holy crap…that’s some crazy flexibility there. Great sync. They’ve got more choreo now than a lot of the contemporary dancers. This is actually quite good. Well. I enjoyed that.

Derek agrees and says they elevated their routine, says he loved it. Ne-Yo asks for the name of the crazy move – the spider. He likes their artistic choices. Jlo points out the stilettos, but that it was a bit wobbly and says they need to marry the moves to the music better.

Poreotics….Ah…now I see the yoga on the beach thing. Kinda weird. HA!! A bit of a riff on ballroom/contemporary. And then it gets extremely cool with them all in a line and those moves. Exceptional, IMO. Yeah, the whole section after the riffs as excellent. Edited though.

Derek calls it the centipede and how it was sick. He mentions that it took a while to get to the good parts (totally agreed). This might be a close call! Ne-Yo agrees with Derek and says this is for a million dollars. The whole routine has to be WOW!! Jennifer will be the deciding factor her and she seems to be leaning Poreotics. And what Jen says goes. Unfortunately.

Scores for Marissa: 81, 85, 85 for an average of 83.7

Scores for Poreotics: 86, 89, 88 for an average of 87.7…and by 4 points Poreotics advance to the next round.

Cute Derek and Jennifer doing the centipede. 🙂

Next up is Jonas and Ruby challenging Freshhhh. Should be interesting. I want something other than Hip Hop or contemporary routines to go through. So, go Ruby/Jonas. I don’t think there is any question about Ruby’s quality of movement. Fantastic. But so young. Wait, how is a foursome going against a duo. I thought more than three was a team….

First we have Jonas and Ruby. Wrong dress possibly…okay, the skirt came off that’s better. Great argentine tango movement from both of them. She is so sharp! Jonas is great also. Damn. And the dress changes again. Nice touch, but perhaps a bit too much. They’re sooo freakin’ fast!!

Jlo sees DRAMA and loves the quick change. Says they have the wow factor and something exciting for the audience. Derek LOVED it…and he would know, right? Calls out the international tango versus argentine tango…and he demonstrates. Ne-yo says Derek will compete next season. 🙂 And he is raving about them as well.

Now for Freshhhh….Tight. But is the complexity high enough to compete?? I don’t think so…so far. Entertaining for sure. Nice sync in the middle section. But if they win I might actually be mad because there wasn’t that much to that routine.

Jennifer is kind of raving a bit, calls it clean and better than last time. Ne-Yo says they have more personality, good texture, calls it difficult to judge. Derek likes it but thinks the music didn’t match it. Liked the hopscotch moment.

Scores for Ruby/Jonas…90, 90, 94 for an average of 91.3

Scores for Freshhhh….90, 88, 86 for an average of 88. And Ruby/Jonas go through. As they should. HOORAY for a ballroom couple going to the cut.

Derek and Ne-Yo for a selfie competition. Derek, why you so cute?? They are having fun. Ne-yo likes Derek’s better. 😀

Next…Pursuit versus The Ruggeds. Jenna is telling them to find the synchronicity. Good advice.

First up…the Ruggeds. Odd outfit choice. Their sync could be a bit better. But the actual dancing is quite entertaining. Love the formations. That was a good routine. 🙂

Ne-Yo says this is the first time someone has given birth to another dancer on the WOD stage. 🙂 He likes that they took the notes. Jennifer loves the tricks and they did take the notes but that the dancing needs to be stronger. Derek says they are a fanny pack away from Dwane Johnson. HA! He agrees with Jennifer though – lack of impact in the dancing parts.

Now for Pursuit. There is something compelling about them. I don’t know that the difficulty is higher, but they’re more interesting. Pretty pictures. Hmmmm…this dance was edited. We’ll see.

Judges…Ne-Yo asks why the Ruggeds. Jennifer says they’re amazing dancers, but they should stick to their strength which is contemporary. Doesn’t think either group brought it all the way. Ne-Yo loved the song, but perhaps loved the song more than them. They missed the powerful moment. Derek says he got the memo on the jacket. He loves their style but he agrees that he loved the song and loved the routine individually. Weird.

Judges score for Pursuit – 80, 84, 83 for an average of 82.3

Judges score for Ruggeds, 85, 84, 85 for an average of 84.7….and the Ruggeds advance.

Next up is a three way duel between Cubcakes, Dem Raider Boyz and Flip. Not sure if this is fair…do two get eliminated? Flip is living on the edge with part of their routine not choreographed. Dem Raider Boyz are steppers and Jenna is giving some good advice. Jenna also giving some good advice to the kids on CubCakes.

And someone gets hurt….one of the CubCakes. This is hard for a team so young to handle…girl with blue hair asks if they can go without her and they do. Tough.

First team to dance is Flip. Love the outfits. Great formations. Good musicality. Wow.

Jennifer is really surprised that they did it different, that it was intricate…and liked the line. Good routine. Derek says it’s refreshing, the music was great with the locking, clean, laser sharp. Called it a redemption dance. Ne-yo says they proved why the are here right now.

Dem Raider Boys are next. Great sync. Formations look like something Derek has done in the past. The stepping is solid. Sans music. He’s digging it. I dug it. 🙂 Jennifer loved when the music dropped out, good routine overall. Derek says he thought they were going to break the floor, says this performance was better than the first. Ne-yo likes the song they started with. Rave reviews all around.

CubCakes. I thought before they tried too hard to be the Lab. Exaggerated faces, IMO. But their sync is really good. A bit of out step in the center of the dance. And perhaps a bit too much going on. When they’re all together in the circle it’s all good, but they do lose the step a bit at the end.

Little girl sobbing about her team mate getting hurt right before dancing. and they all run and hug her and I’m crying too. Jennifer is raving, telling them they’re doing good. Says they are beautiful. Derek says they’re so sassy it’s ridiculous…and another Derek gif is born. 🙂 Says he couldn’t tell a teammate got hurt. Ne-Yo says they came to play. they should be proud.

Scores for Dem Raider Boyz: 86, 84, 86 or an average of 85.3

Scores for CubCakes: 88, 88, 88 for an average of 88 – so they beat Dem Raider Boyz. But can they beat Flip?

Scores for Flip: 90, 88, 93 for an average of 90.3…and they advance. And the cute little girls are crying. Derek gives them great words of encouragement. They are hanging tough.

Derek Hough might be the sweetest man ever.

Next up is Connection versus Funkywunks both from the upper team division.

First is Funkywunks. LOL…love the song choice. It’s retro and they’re cool. Excellent! Such a team dance. Love the walking on the hands trick. And they’re dancing to the theme of the music. Great formation there towards the end.

Judges seem to love it. Jennifer asks how they feel about their competition. She thought the routine was innovative. Loves the carousel formation (artichoke Derek?). Says they upped their game. Ne-Yo says the running man takes confidence. He loved it. Derek says previous throwbacks may not have worked but says theirs did, but there was a moment that didn’t quite work but they covered it well.

Connection….They are a tiny bit retro also. And they are also dancing very well to the music. Another excellent routine, but I think I might have liked the Funkywunks a bit better. But the dance was edited yet again.

Jennifer not sure about the music choice. Derek says their dancing elevated the song, says the choreography was effective. Ne-yo liked that he could hear them yelling, says there was enough personality to pull off the song choice. Derek asked why they picked Funkywunks and they say they wanted a fight. Derek says it’s a tough duel.

Scores for Connection: 85, 86, 85 for an average of 85.3 – Derek didn’t want to watch

FunkyWunks 84, 85, 86 for an average of 85. And it’s connection by 0.3 points. Toooooo close. Soooo close.

Derek says what it came down to is that they won by their mistake…good point. Step it up, men.

Next week is the last week of the duels and the show is moving to 9/8central – quit it NBC. You screw up the ratings if you keep moving it. That said, I think a lot gets missed in the 8 pm hour during the summer. It’s still light outside. Look at me, tonight. Outside drinking with my friends missing the first bit of the show, if not for TiVo. 🙂