World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 14 Live Blog!! Divisional Finals!!
Well, let’s see if I like this week more than I liked last week. Maybe Misty Copeland will even things about a bit…although she’s a notoriously tough scorer. This week is the divisional finals where we whittle it down to one team/dancer per division. Ugh. Super hard. Thanks to WoD twitter for summing up the groups in once nice tweet. 🙂
TONIGHT: 12 enter, 4 move on. ✂️
Who do you think is headed to the World Finals? #WorldofDance pic.twitter.com/yJXeBIbQcU
— World of Dance (@NBCWorldofDance) September 5, 2018
Who do I want to go through? Having a tough time with that one. I sure do love The Lab, but the Fabulous Sisters are great too. Juniors? I think Charity and Andres. Upper – Karen y Ricardo or there is no justice in this world. We don’t need another contemporary dancer. Although I do think Ashley and Zach bring something new to that style. Upper Team? I still like S-Rank although Poreotics could take it. I think the Ruggeds were a fluke last week. We’ll see!!
Here we go….
Upper Division is up first….with Karen y Ricardo. Don’t like that they’re going first. JLo is mentoring and asking if there is something different they can do other than the spins. Good advice, but does she want them to win?? Ciara telling them to accent the music.
These two are just amazing. Hot, sexy and so freakin’ fast with the perfect technique. What else is there to say.
Derek and Ne-Yo on their feet. JLo seems complimentary. Derek says he was worried, but he was wrong to be worried. Misty says every part was ready, she was very impressed. Ne-Yo says it was amazing start to finish.
Scores will be show at the end of the division. I hate that they went first. They are the best in this group, IMO.
Derek interviews Misty about the Nutcracker. Derek needs a shave – that’s all I can focus on. A clean shave would be preferable. For me. 😉
Ashley and Zack up next. Love them. Zack is a tap dancer by the way…
JLo says whoever makes us feel the most is going to win…admitting her contemporary bias. Ugh.
Zack is hot. I’ve always loved him since SYTYCD. Nice start, with her hanging. This prop is pretty effective – they are outside the contemporary box, IMO. Doing quality work, similar to what we would see on SYTYCD. JLo says they missed some of their tricks, Ne-Yo says there was too much movement. Misty agrees. Derek disagrees – he liked the contrast of the sparse music and the full movement.
JLo credits them with their emotion. COME ON, Jlo, as a mentor are you supposed to share that the routine was different than what you saw in session?? Jesus, quit stacking the deck. Question is, for who? Michael?? Are we going to be treated to another season where JLo makes it clear that her choice wins??
Michael Dameski up next…forgot he was on the show, honestly. JLo tearing up before he even dances. :::eye rolls:::
Wearing full on ninja costume. Starting off different than your standard choreo – until the gymnastics hit. He puts some nice texture in it though. I think I saw this at the olympics, honestly. Okay…it was good. But why are the judges so freaked out?? Did they edit the shit out of this or what??
Derek is raving, asking how he feels. Says he’s so solid, so artistic. Derek, you’re killing me. Ne-Yo also raving about how he partners with his own damn self…um, that’s CGI dude. Calls it perfection. Misty talks about how he has it all, uses all the space really well. JLo says the things he added took it over the top.
I thought it seemed fake. This show needs an audience vote, cuz the judges are bullshit.
Scores:
Karen y Ricardo: 95, 94, 96, 96 for an average of 95.3
Ashley and Zack: 84, 86, 87, 90 for an average of 86.8 – underscored to a ridiculous degree.
Michael Dameski: 98, 95, 98, 100 for an average of 97.8 (reverse order starting with Derek) – utter bullshit.
Michael goes through to the finale. Goodie. Just what we need, another contemporary dancer. Ugh.
I might have to quit this blog if all we’re going to see in every finale is over wrought contemporary dancers. BORING.
Derek mentoring the Junior Team Division this week…but I’m mad at him so he’s not even hot as normal.
I love these kids so much. That they’re going first doesn’t bode well. Lord knows the people edit this show do it for shit and telegraph who’s going to win half the time.
The Lab – Wow…the slo mo was awesome. Their sync is impeccable. LOVE IT…love the bit with the desks.
Ne-Yo rushing the stage. I agree. He’s more animated than I’ve ever seen him. 🙂 Derek – so smart, so competitive, so creative!! Jlo says they’re disruptive and she loves it. They’re such professionals. She’s raving to…is there hope for this show? Misty says they’re on another level, so clean and together. Ne-Yo says the question mark might get taken off the desks. Judges still raving as they leave the stage.
Next up: The Rock Company – under dogs, IMO. And a contemporary group so…..no. Sorry. The fact that they are a group does make it more palatable…
“the Fabulous sisters are very fabulous” – out of the mouths of babes. 🙂
I give Rock Company credit for doing all the standard moves in sync….but. :::sigh::: Judges are very kind but not raving. Misty saying it’s “so hard” to judge. It shouldn’t be.
The Fabulous Sisters are up next. These girls are amazing and the horse race starts now, IMO. Derek tells them to work on their transitions. And the girls are Ciara fans. 🙂
Love the traditional outfits. Gorgeous. Nice start in the stands. The hand choreo is tough. Wow. Pretty impactful. Love the bit with the silks in the middle. Pretty amazing, but I think I give the edge to The Lab.
Fab Sisters sucking up for scores. Jlo says it’s not about winning but about how you play. Ne-Yo raves. Misty is complimentary. Derek is as well, but neither really rave over this dance. I think I hear Derek say it wasn’t as impactful as their previous dances – I would agree.
Scores:
Fabulous sisters: 93, 92, 91, 92 for an average of 92.
The Rock Company: 91, 92, 91, 92 for an average of 91.5 – so close!! Rock Company is out. I hate seeing all these little girls cry. Now…
The Lab: 100, 99, 100, 100 for an average of 99.8 – FINALLY, a win I can agree with.
JLo good at talking to the Sisters – motivating them big time. And they get it.
Upper Teams!! The Ruggeds up first. Ne-Yo is mentoring. Off to a rough start with one of their members having a torn ACL. That’s really rough.
Interesting costumes. Skeery. Nice graphics as well. The lighting is effective…question is, is it too much?? The effects are lighting, not dancing. Prop broke at the end…not sure it was a good idea to have the ACL guy come out.
Derek asks what happened, but he likes that he was on the stage. Derek can relate, having been in the same situation. Ne-Yo likes it. Misty does as well. JLo is commenting on the lighting being creative. They all like it, but none really rave.
S-Rank is up next….after the commercial. 🙂
Wearing hazmat suits? 🙂 Moon suits. Slow start. Picks up fairly quickly, love the swag. Like the rotating guy. Love it when the beat rally kicks in. Too much slo mo?? I’m not sure. Not as fabulous as usual, I don’t think.
Misty stands for them, it got her feeling everything. JLo says as long as you make it personal and real, we’ll all feel it. Derek says he’s a huge fan, but there’s a difference between a woo and a WHOOO HOOO…and the latter should be what they get at this stage. Yeah, I feel like the first two acts only got a woo.
Poreotics has a real opportunity here…
Ne-yo wants more wow…this whole division could use that advice. 🙂 Ciara is pretty complementary.
Dig the outfits. Love the robotics. Great lift! Wow…limber. great shapes. Whoa…what was that move. One dude missed a flip right in front of JLo. Oops.
Derek points it out, but says that as an all around performance he thought it was amazing. I knew he would like it. Ne-Yo was still waiting on the ‘wow’ – agreed. Misty says she didn’t see what they were fully capable of. Jennifer says they are funny and adorable.
While I agree with the comments, I think they might have been the best of the three if not for the fall.
Scores:
Poreotics: 85, 87, 87, 88 for an average of 86.8
S-Rank: 96, 93, 94, 93 for an average of 94 – S-Rank beats out Poreotics…I think the difference was too big. I wasn’t that impressed by S-Rank tonight.
The Ruggeds: 92, 90, 92, 92 for an average of 91.5 – that’s a more realistic variance and I agree with that result.
And finally….the drama division. People breaking shit, losing the ability to breathe and god knows what else. 🙂
Charity and Andres up first…these are the kids who had the first ever perfect score. But she broke her foot four days before the show. She’s apparently going to dance and switch her dominant foot. She’s got balls, I’ll give her that…
Love the costuming. This is the balletic couple…very interesting. They throw in some ballroom type moves as well, in addition to some standard contemporary tumbling…I mean dancing. Definitely more interesting than your mom’s contemporary. Last flip was a bit off time.
Derek notices the bandages of course. Derek is like “I didn’t dance when my toe was broke”. 🙂 Ne-Yo says that made the dance even better. Misty says women are the toughest (preach!!), that she is still able to do that says a lot about her strength. JLo says Andres shone in this routine and it was an amazing routine.
Jaxon is up next…and he’s strong and very talented. But if we add a second contemporary dancer (and a male one at that) to the finale, I will be disgusted.
He’s having breathing trouble…athletic induced asthma.
Powerful as always….but it looks like his other routines. And didn’t Eva use those mirrors last season? More gymnastics…worthy of the Olympics, sure. I’m neither moved nor impressed. I suspect I’m alone.
Ne-Yo wants to know what the routine is about, says the answer is great. JLo loves that he’s searching, that he understands it. Derek says he’s enough, the routine is great, but would like to see some connective tissue between the moves. Thank god, some reason.
Finally, our little hip hoppish/contemporary/whatever kids. Sean and Kaycee.
Is it lyrical hip hop? Is it hard-edged contemporary?? I don’t know but I dig it. Are they on a deserted island? Dang, their dances are so different…so synced up. Dancing in the rain….been done before, eh, Derek? But it’s no less cool by these kids. I don’t think it was their best but I think I liked it best of this division.
JLo liked the water, for her it was a really strong routine. Ne-Yo liked the lift, it threw him. One of their best performances. Misty was blown away, they compliment each other very well. I think Jaxon should be out of it and it should be between the other two.
Scores:
Charity and Andres: 93, 93, 92, 94 for an average of 93.
Jaxon: 87, 89, 87, 88 for an average of 87.8 – Jaxon is out, as he should be. He needs to grow a bit. He should slay next year.
Sean and Kaycee: 91, 92, 95, 91 for an average of 92.3 – just BARELY beat by Charity and Andres. I can’t be too mad about that, although I think it should be reversed.
So next week is the finale. Dancing for a Million dollars is:
Charity and Andres
The Lab
S-Rank
Michael Dameski
Hmmmm….based on how they danced tonight, The Lab should take this EASILY. What do you think??
I love Ashley & Zack, but I’m not sure anyone can beat the powerhouse of Karen y Ricardo. They started the season on fire and continued to amaze every time.
Charity and Andres had some unique moves in their dances.
I like the Fabulous Sisters and I’m growing tired of the hip hop groups. For me, those are performances and not dances. They all start to look alike. But the Poreotics had some humor in their performances which I found fun to watch.
Yeah, well, so much for that theory, Linz.
I’m really starting to get bored with this show. Those hip hop groups are at least more difficult performances that the standard contemporary dances.
Some of the acts, I do wonder if who they’re using as their choreographer actually makes a difference. Not all the acts do their own choreo, and I’m always curious if that affects how the judges view certain things if they’re not as polished.
We’ve read that Nappytabs has a big hand in a lot of the choreo – I would say that’s a detriment, at least for me. It could be why a lot of the contemporary looks the same. I’m a fan of theirs, but there stuff is starting to look a bit stale to me.
I’ve heard a couple names of the outside choreographers that have worked with some of the acts. I just think that in some cases, it does change the visual a lot.
I just think that WOD is going through the growing pains that early SYTYCD went through where the emotion and performance of contemporary is favoured just because it’s less rigid as a discipline and it’s easier to understand a story over pure movement.
Also, Sean posts behind the scenes videos on YouTube for all of their routines, and it’s interesting watching his process.
I’m not sure there’s a classification for Sean’s style because it’s kind of the by-product of how dance techniques are sort of fusing together. For instance, he’s using lyrical mood and emotion, but he choreographs all the movements to the beats. It’s an interesting way to look at things.
I don’t think he could have picked another partner and done this well. Kaycee is pretty much a dancing blank canvas.
I can’t get over Michael D beating Karen and Ricardo. Honestly, even if they did not win next week they have been flawless. I agree 100% with the comments regarding contemporary. Not that I dont like it but shows like this make me so mad. What some of the other people are doing is so much more complicated!!! Right now I just hope the Lab takes this. They have been impeccable this season.
Also, I feel that some great acts were cut in the imitial rounds very unfairly. Maybe the way to pick against who you dance in the second round should be revised…
Though I do feel it’s The Lab’s time, both Charity and Andres as well as Michael are the real deal too and I think either can definitely give The LAb a run for the money!! Afterall, Charity & Andres are the ONLY ones to score a perfect 100 this season.
Love this show. This was a tough episode esp. with the kids tears. I agree about the contemporary soloists being boring, flayly, and I’ll add like watching a rhythmic gymnast. I personally think most solos no matter the style are boring. Nappytabs doing choro? I haven’t heard that, I thought they were producing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw in their 2cents here and there. Charity and Andres are my favorites but if the lab wins that’s ok too. The quality of dancing on this show is amazing even though I think there’s far too much electronic production.
Thanks for the review!
I was davastated that Karen Y Ricardo got eliminated. I was so grumpy about it I took to looking online for people and seeing if anyone else is equally as annoyed as I am that these judges seem to be suckers for anything “emotional” or otherwise contemporary like. Glad I found purewofd! I didn’t realize another pure was set up for WOD but yay!
So happy to see that you are also feeling like there’s been too many contemporaries advancing in this competition. I’ve gotten quite tired tbh. And also, I would like to point out that the diversity as the competition advances seem to take a dive. I am NOT saying there’s any form of bias going on here, but it just seems like this is WORLD of dance for early stages, and then somehow, it starts appearing like it is USA dance instead. I’m not sure if it’s really that the other countries aren’t as good at competing, or if judges are just used to their US culture of dance, or whatever the reason, but it’s just something I noticed. Currently in the finals, only Michael is non-american? Thoughts on this Heidi?