World of Dance Season 3, Week 2 – LIVE BLOG!!

Week 2, coming up!! Just a few more minutes.

Qualifiers part 2, right now!!

Kayla Mak, contemporary ballet is up first tonight. Thank god – something other than hip hop or contemporary.

The start was much more contemporary, but she transitioned into ballet. Beautiful dance. Gorgeous.

Derek loves it, as does Ne-yo. Derek says it felt fresh. JLo raves but says she needs a bit more musicality.

Scores: 87, 92, 92 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 90.3 – on to the duels for her.

Fuego Dance crew is up next, but first they will flirt with all the girl groups. 🙂 They do look like a boy band. I think this is an Upper Team, judging by their look. Lots of screaming in the audience.

That was pretty damn good. Very tight, very in sync. Derek loves them, says they were very clear and clean. Ne-Yo digging it as well. Jennifer says that is so hard to do, and it was very arrogant. Ne-Yo says the arrogance worked.

Scores: 92, 94, 95 (NeYo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 93.7 and they’re going to the duels. Not sure how they’ll hold up against teams with bigger tricks, but they were so clean.

By the way, Derek’s jacket is rather cool. Has some interesting detail. And he’s intuitive. 😉

I see ballroom people!! Yay!! But first, Motiv Crew preforms and judging by the editing they aren’t long for this world. Of dance. 🙂 They make it through this round with an 85.7 but I don’t think they will make it through the does. JDC – same story. Big group of girls heavily edited. 87.3, so they all so make it. but not for long. Ballroom kids Ethan and anastasia – same thing. Except they don’t make it through. They are very young though.

That whole segment seemed to be about Aydin Eyikn’s reaction to them. He’s 15 and he either has a great story or is a great dancer because this whole segment is really about him. He’s very contemporary. He’s very good, but I don’t know what different he brings, except perhaps he’s dancing like someone ten years older. Great pirouette.

Derek says his technical foundation is supreme. Jlo agrees and says he has an x factor. Derek talking about his musicality, match the crescendo to the moves. Ne-Yo says he is an amazing dancer regardless of age.

Scores: 89, 87, 89 for an average of 88.3 – and on to the duels.

Female duo “All Ready” from South Korea up next, doing a latin and street dance fusion. I’m guessing they’re upper, since one of them is a mom, but I could be wrong. Love their outfits!

I profiled these ladies a week or two ago, they are actually amazing latin dancers. This definitely shows a more playful side to their dancing. I’m loving it.

Jennifer think there’s something cool about their fusion. Ne-Yo obsessed with the wardrobe, but points out they don’t want to be jack of all trades, master of none. I’ve seen their videos, and they are solid latin dancers. Derek is loving them. I love these girls.

Scores: 85, 89, 90 for an average of 88 – has anyone else noticed that Derek is a bit tougher on anyone close to his speciality? I guess that makes sense.

The Exiles are up next, a hip hop crew from Coolidge Arizona. A Christian team – Upper team I think. But first we see another crew heavily edited team, Guest of Honor – who don’t make it. This is relevant because Exiles were bonding with them prior to their dancing. Exiles are setting up a studio to keep kids off the street – multipurpose studio, not just dance. They want the million for their studio.

Okay, I thought that was excellent. Clean, tight, sharp – might not have had some complicated moves, but it was cool. Telling Jennifer what they would do with the million – the want to finish their studio. Derek says they were shot out of a canon. Jennifer likes it also. Jennifer tells the lead guy to hold the center – Ne-Yo agrees, but says they had a conscious choreography. Derek liked it, but tells them to bring the wardrobe up a bit. He talks about making it the whole package, presentation.

Scores: 87, 88, 89 for an average of 88 – and they make it through!!

Briar Nolet is a contemporary dancer in the upper division – she’s up next. Her story is that she had a severe seizure – was having them every time she danced. She’s taking a risk. Epilepsy was the diagnosis and she’s figured out how to work through it.

She’s pretty amazing, but she comes close to gymnastics at times. Really amazing though. And he fact that she’s older I think helps her. Excellent job.

Jennifer says she has a real sensual quality that she loves, felt she fell short in the musicality a bit. Derek says she’s got stunning quality of movement, and he loves the construction of the routine, it was so good. Ne-yo likes that it was sensual without going over the top.

Scores: 88, 86, 88 for an average of 87.3!! Good for her. I thought she was better than that, but then I liked her better than I like most contemporary. She seemed different.

VPeepz up next from the Philippines! Love their outfits. Crap, we’re all crying. Okay, cool start!! I think they needed to be a bit more dynamic, but Derek clearly loved it. All in all, very good dance, but I hope they can hold up through the competition. Jennifer is getting all teary, about how kids like this are going to take care of our world, talking about unity and diversity. Jennifer wasn’t thinking that at her age (neither was I). Ne-Yo loves it as well and Jennifer can’t say enough. Seriously, she can’t say enough. 🙂

Scores: 89, 89, 93 for an average of 90.3 and they’re all crying. Me too. I loved them. They have heart.

Dancers are athletes, of course. How can anyone not see this??

Derion and Madison are up next. Derion says if you can name the move they can’t put it in their piece. I dig that. First though, we see that Movement Society just misses making it through. Derion and Madison are in the upper division and I guess it’s contemporary or hip hop. It’s very different. Very cool. It has a lot of personality. Very difficult moves. Excellent.

Ne-Yo says they are the epitome of Artistic Athlete. He’s seen a lot in them. Jennifer found it very interesting, very different. Derek talks improvisation directing their choreography.

Dang, Derek – I know you could do it!!

Scores: 89, 90, 92 for an average of 90.3 – very good but should have been higher.

Dancetown Divas up next – latin ballroom Junior team. And a whole bunch of dance moms. 🙂 In a new thing for this season, they start with Dancetown and then cut in another group who make it, but are heavily edit. Why?? This is some crap editing. Sorry, not sorry. Now back to Dancetown Divas. Oh wait, first Femp3 has to dance with no package. :::rolls eyes::: They don’t quite make it.

Dancetown Divas finally dance. Fast, tight, clean – loved them. Kinda like a latin ballroom Rockettes. Derek loves fringe pants. He says it was so fun and so much energy. I disagree with him about the cleanliness – but Jennifer agrees with Derek. Ne-Yo always says he gets so involved that he forgets to judge. It’s his thing.

Scores: 87, 87, 88 for an average of 87.3 and they’re on to the next round. The dance moms rejoice. 🙂

Tobias and the Eztwinz are next profiled and they’ve done a LOT of backing dancing for people like Arianna Grande. they’re upper Division and their costumes are cool. These guys are awesome, so clean, so cool. They had what looked like out of sync moments, but I don’t think they were, I think they were cool choices. Very good.

Ne-Yo loved it, says it was crystal clean. Jennifer says it was it’s own distinct style. Agree with Jennifer when she says that they were unique. Derek says the choreography was thoughtful and pleasing to the eye. Agreed. I don’t know if I can put it in words really.

Scores: 94, 92, 92 for an average of 92.7 – well done.

The Trilogy is up next – a contemporary trio. This poor kid lost both his sister and his father to this horrible sounding illness. Unbearable. They are dancing for him tonight. So sad.

That was some beautiful dancing, so many cool moves and tricks. Excellent.

Ne-Yo likes a trio because it has interesting transitions. His only critique is don’t show effort on your faces. Jennifer liked the configuration, some transitions were bumpy, she felt the emotion of it. She’s interested to see how much more they have. Derek says it was really creative, compelling. He talks about making it more polished.

Scores: 85, 87, 87 for an average of 86.3, so they make it through!!