World of Dance Season 4, Week 4 PART 2 – The Duels

Part 2!! Saw lots of outrage on twitter last night, so I’m anxious to see what that’s all about and if I’m in agreement or not with said outrage. I left off when we were a little more than one hour into last night’s show…

The next duel is contemporary dancers Derion and Madison, who were picked by Derek Piquette. Clearly, since he’s third on the leader board, this isn’t playing out in order it was taped…which means he’s not totally aware of how all other pickers were eliminated by the pick-ees. 🙂

I like the respect the two competitors show each other. That’s what I would like to see all the time. Wow…Derion and Madison are off to a crazy good start. And I love an upbeat contemporary…rough transition there in the middle. Perfectly in sync though.

Jennifer says it looked even more difficult and asked who picked who. Jennifer says she’s never seen some of their stuff before, which is high praise – I agree. Derek says he saw the preparation for that one big move – agree with that as well. That’s what I called the rough transition. Ne-Yo liked the tribal grit and, as a nod to last week, said it didn’t need a narrative. Jennifer’s nit pick (her words) was that they need to remember that a routine has to go somewhere.

Derek is doing your typical angsty contemporary, with all the standard moves – although done with exceptional artistry and flexibility. He’s incredibly strong and flexible – that’s what I notice more than any faux emotion.

Jennifer thought it was really strong with good emotion (bah). Derek Hough says that in a duel in that situation he commends him for it. Derek H. says the emotional part wasn’t there for him (agreed). Derek H. also gets annoyed with Ne-yo for his comments about copying the move.

A word about that before the scores: IF Ne-Yo had made the comment that it was “copying” the way I saw many people portray it on twitter, I would have said he was full of crap and that Derek was right…and I think Derek H. thought that was where Ne-Yo was going which is why he objected. Fact is, you can’t copyright a “move” – there are only so many available moves in dance and I commend someone when I see something new (like Derion and Madison). There is no copying – there is more to dance than just moves: it’s how you put the moves together with other moves and how you attach them to the music, how you perform them etc. BUT, that’s not what Ne-Yo was saying – he was saying that Michael Dameski did the same move….and performed it better. That’s a whole different story – if, for example, two different dancers do a jive you’re going to see many of the same moves from each couple. There is a syllabus after all. You can’t yell at one couple for copying the moves – because there’s a syllabus. 🙂 But you CAN say that one couple performed the moves better than the other. Anyway…

Derek Piquette: 89.3
Derion & Madison: 90 – they move on to the Cut.

Derek and Jennifer reassure Derek P. not to give up, there is still redemption.

DD Flection gets the bump, due to Derek’s score. Shocking.

Last two performances left are All Ready and Briar Nolet, both of whom had scores in the upper 80’s.

This is a tough one – I really liked both in the Qualifier round. I’m leaning toward All Ready due to their ballroom background.

All Ready is up first. They’re calling out Briar. Awesome start, definitely going the hip hop route this time…and just as I say that they go into a latin ballroom section which is excellent. Derek seems excited by it. 🙂

Derek loves them. Jennifer says she really enjoyed the routine, calls them cheeky and great performers. Derek loves their charisma, and it brings joy to the room. Jennifer says they’re funny and strong. Derek’s nit pick is on the latin elements (he would know) and tells them not to do pivots next time. 🙂 Ne-Yo doesn’t like the song choice, but their routine made the song better.

Briar Nolet is up. And instantly I understand the gymnastics comments I saw on twitter. I don’t consider it a compliment. While Briar was very good, I vastly preferred All Ready.

Derek calls it an Olympic floor routine, very strong. Jennifer says it was super impressive and asks about the story…and then gets all emotional. Jennifer, come on. Derek is the same, he felt it. He felt the power of her intension. Ne-Yo says it was incredible, win, lose or draw – he says it wasn’t a duel piece, but a show piece. Agreed.

Briar Nolet: 90.3
All Ready: 92.3

All Ready moves to The Cut, and Briar Nolet knocks Derek Piquette out of the Redemption Round. I feel bad for Derek, I do…but I think the right people are in the Redemption round. Maybe. 🙂

Redemption Round is Briar Nolet versus Denise & Josh. Derek the competitor is nervous. 🙂 He’s been there. Denise & Josh go first. Pretty good routine. Now with the same music, Briar is up. I suspect Briar won that one and I wouldn’t disagree with that…even though I originally preferred Denise & Josh.

Denise & Josh or Briar Nolet??? Judges do a simple majority vote to decide that Briar Nolet wins the redemption round. Yeah, I think that was the stronger performance.