World of Dance, Season 4 – Week NINE Live Blog

Okay, so unless I’ve completely lost it, we’re in the second week of duels for the Junior Division. Yes? Anyway, I don’t remember what happened last week because I was having work exhaustion. All I can remember is that Derek is hot…and that’s pretty much a given. Oh and of course they picked that tiny girl because JLo. :::rolls eyes::: She was good, but dang.

So, I’m writing this while watching the last half hour of AGT and what is up with Simon Cowell? Did he dye the top of his hair black AND start using eye liner?? I’m not saying it’s a bad look, per se, but it is noticeable. Or….eye lift? Again, no shade – people should do what they want. I’m just curious as to what is different about him.

Anyway, T-minus 15 minutes.

Derek, Twitch and Ne-Yo….all extremely handsome in different ways. Something for everyone. I’m all about Derek, m’self. πŸ™‚

Baily and Kida versus James and Harris – I don’t remember the latter but definitely the former. Was Kida on SYTYCD?? He’s definitely familiar. They’re a gorgeous couple. Actually, now watching the package I do remember James and Harris.

Side bar: love JLo’s hat.

Kida and Bailey up first. Love the detail. They still seem new to each other. Not quite as perfect as long term couples. But the red shoes are effective. That seemed edited which probably doesn’t bode well for either couple.

Derek says it was sick, and the nuances were so powerful, very satisfying to watch.

Ne-Yo says he isolations was unreal. He thoroughly enjoyed it. He was in all the way.

Jennifer got goodies. A real step up from the first time. This allowed her to see the potential.

Twitch says they are architects of sound. He thinks their challenge is showing the edge of their envelope. Have to be working harder than anyone else.

Now for James and Harris… after the commercial.

Two males this style is unusual and that is welcome. They pull in a bit of hip hop into the beginning and then get more into the contemporary. I didn’t think there was that much to it, but that may be due to the poor editing.

Ne-Yo loved it. Jennifer loved it. Said there is a great dance duo here. Ne-Yo says they are strong dancers but they aren’t dancing as strong as they are. Derek interjects to disagree. Derek says he’s wrong and says it was a great routine. I hate the editing on this show. He says they were a fraction out of sync. I feel like I didn’t actually see this dance. Jennifer says she does think there is a lot more there. tWitch says that the feeling that they’re not giving everything takes them out of it. I can agree with these comments.

And the winner is:
Ne-Yo: Baily and Kida
Jennifer: James and Harris (makes no sense per what she had to say)
Derek: Baily and Kida

I think I would agree with Derek on that one; plus tWitch says he has his eyes on James and Harris (which is bad because there was more than one group from last week that deserved a look).

Derek was in a Panto? Cool, not surprised. He never got the fast food experience like Ne-Yo was talking about because he was a competitive dancer from a young age. No shade to Micky’Ds – I worked there as a kid. But it goes to show how different it is for a trained dancer.

Maddie Peti versus Kegan Katz. I don’t know if I spelled either right.

Maddy up first with her ballet/contemporary. More dancing that the typical contemporary, thank god. but still, the gymnastics. And again with the editing.

Derek is killing me with his “critique”. Jennifer says it was a good routine, and she’s a great dancer, but this seemed short of that. tWitch says her technique is incredible but she’s not inviting us into her world and not connecting with the audience. Derek says the technique is extraordinary but there were a few bobbles, but it was a good routine. Ne-Yo says when they first saw her she was all technique no heart.

Keagan Caps up next. Her start is interesting. And she is much slower, which is much harder. Very sharp. Very fierce.

Jennifer says that was so emotional and there was so much yumminess. She broke her heart. Derek says she broke his hamstring. The intensity was great, awareness of her body was great. tWitch says to take that to heart. Ne-Yo says it takes a level of maturity to know hot to milk a moment. Derek says in the future that it’s not just from move to picture, make sure there is dancing in between.

The winner is….my vote is for Kegan. We’ll see.

Derek: Keagan
Jennifer: Keagan
Ne-yo – says he was also going with Keagan. I agree with this one.

Derek has never heard the word coquettish before?? Start reading more, boyfriend.

Now tWitch is up next choosing who gets a shot at redemption. We have three groups who are similar, James/Harris and Maddy Penney. I think I vote for two of the groups just because I was not all that impressed with the others. I think Young Cast and 305.

tWitch picks James and Harris first. Weird, IMO.

Next group is…commercial…

Second pick is…The Young Cast. Are we going to the semi-finals with NO ballroom/latin dancers?

The judges be scared of tWitch’s picks. They should be. We have enough contemporary dancers although I like James and Harris better than most. Judges seem somewhat okay with the picks.

Young cast first. Love the start Very cool. Love when they change speeds so effectively. Very sharp. Yep, I loved that. Lots of speed transitions.

Jennifer says they have a bag of tricks they don’t know about. Derek says they have a slight advantage because of the pictures they can create. Ne-Yo agrees.

James and Harris up next. A tiny bit out of sync. I’m not seeing anything particularly exciting here. And they were out of sync the whole way though.

Ne-Yo says they are strong dancers, Jennifer agrees, but the commentary is half hearted. Derek is similar to that. I think that was a wasted opportunity and if they win I will wonder about the judges.

Jennifer: Duels are harder this year (and this is good). She picks the Young Cast.
Derek: Young Cast and Ne-Yo agrees with Derek.

I think that was a bad duel selection – I don’t think James/Harris even came close to The Young Cast and 305 or someone else would have been a better selection. The Judges seem to think they have to have a contemporary dancer in the semi’s…and they don’t.

And the duels are done? Wait…aren’t we missing a category? Man, I lose track so fast. It sucks having a real job. πŸ™‚

July 28, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Can Derek Hough “Out Bling” Jennifer Lopez?? (Video)

This was too cute not to post. I personally think that, in the height of his ballroom days, Derek and his various partners could absolutely out bling her. πŸ™‚ And that shirt he puts on does look very reminicent of one he wore when dancing with…Lil Kim, I believe.

Well, the closest I could find on short notice was Brooke Burke… πŸ™‚ Wow, this was a long time ago.

July 18, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance, Season 4 – Week Seven Live Blog

The Duels Continue!! The previews look exciting, but how is it possible that tonight is the last of the duels? What are we missing? Did all the levels have duels?

T-minus 20 minutes!

So, when are they going back to their legit scoring system – the system that DWTS should have been doing for years?

Here we go.

Good advice from tWitch. Love JLo complimenting Derek’s outfit after he has insecurity about his shoe game.

Okay, they are wrapping up the UPPER division duels. Perhaps the ad was unclear. I was starting to wonder.

I don’t think they’ve been more difficult than previous seasons – I’m still not sure this season is up to par with previous.

First up: Jake/Chau versus Josh/Erica. Ten bucks says JLo picks the couple because she’s a sap. Contemporary – you’re going to have to be amazing to impress me.

Jake/Chau up first. Interesting start – different which I like. Very good. This is actually a stellar routine that is not relying on fake emotion/angst. Okay that was really good.

Derek says incredible – interesting and innovative. Liked the transitions and lifts. Twitch would like more side by side, Jennifer agrees. I think they’re wrong – the side by side in contemporary is over done. Ne-Yo says he wants to speak on the small margin for error – he saw a little off time. He has to judge it.

Josh/Erica are next. They’re hooking themselves together, which is slightly terrifying to everyone in the room. Wow. Sharp. I like that both pairs are not falling back on contemporary cliche. AKA fake angst. This is a marionette act, very cool. That was quite good. This one will be a tough call.

Ne-Yo says it’s very interesting. He stills thinks she’s too soft. Derek disagrees. A lot. πŸ™‚ Derek says it was so creative and so interesting. His butt was clenched. πŸ™‚ Yeah, this dance was right up his alley. Jennifer says it was risky and that it forces them into a box, but she thinks they pulled it off amazingly. She’s not sure they did all they could do to win the dule. Twitch says they have to think about thinking about things that will pop. Great Job.

Derek: Josh/Erica
Jennifer: Jake/Chau (I was right)
Ne-Yo: Jake/Chau

Not sure I agree with that one. I think I’m on Derek’s side on this one.

Love the BTS thing about TikTok – Derek is hilarious. Yes, I probably would kill him.

Oxygen Versus Geometrie Variable is the next duel. Right now I vote Oxygen. Although, I really like Geometrie Variable as well, but it might be too subtle for TV.

They’re all giving face, of course. Geometrie Variable up first.Off to a great start, not quite so rigid and much more flow than their first routing. Still Very intriguing. Liked the chin/shotgun move. Wow. That was quite good.

Ne-Yo has to go out and high five them all. Loves the Chinography. Ne-Yo has zero critiques. Jennifer had wondered how often they could see that but they did a hundred new things. She says it was surprising and really great. Derek says they’ve never had that before as an entire routine. They proved that it could hold up over the course of the show.

Oxygen…commercial. Okay here we go. High energy, tight. I would have given more thought to the shirt colors and who was going to be where. And then they did on the train moves. They’re in rainbow formation. Love the slow down portion. That was really good, but I don’t know if it was up to DV. They went away from what made them unique last time and Ne-Yo points that out. Jennifer seems to agree with Ne-Yo. Derek says they took out the special sauce. I agree. I agree with all that. tWitch thinks it was dope – it was, but was it dope enough? This is right up his alley.

Jennifer: GV
Derek: GV
Ne-Yo: GV

I agree with that pick, sadly. I really loved Oxygen’s first round so much, but they just didn’t bring it as hard this time.

Twitch now has to decide who from the Upper Division is going to compete again for a final spot in the competition.

Redemption Round!! Twitch goes back stage to pick who will get another shot. Your competitors are:

Luca and Alessandra
The Rise
Styles and Emma
Josh and Erica
Oxygen

Damn, this is a tough call. I think he’ll pick The Rise and Luca/Alessandra. Of course, those are my favorites, so…

tWitch picks….Styles and Emma. And…Oxygen. Wow. I got that totally wrong. Very happy for Styles and Emma, but I think Oxygen was probably the wrong pick. I’m miss my white haired guy. πŸ™

I think Derek agrees with me. πŸ™‚ Rooting for Style and Emma at this point. We’ll see. Yep, Derek was with me.

Style and Emma first. tThe splits are unbelievable. Much more balletic this time. They are killing it. His pirouette was excellent. Yeah, that was really good.

Next up, Oxygen. They are dressed in a way that makes me hopeful. Okay, that opening was stellar. The outfits are totally part of the dance. That was brilliant. Just amazing. Sheet.

All judges wondering why they didn’t do that the first time. Derek’s kinda mad because they’re going to have to lose one now. Agreed. Jennifer says you only have here and now and you can’t take it for granted. You have to attack every time.

This is unfortunately a no brainer, IMO. It should be Oxygen, although I want it to be Styles and Emma because of their style being so rare. Love that shot of Derek scanning the room.

The winner of redemption:
It’s unanimous. Oxygen. Use, that one was sadly obvious.

Next week, the Juniors duel. Hopefully they’re not as infuriating. But I suppose they will be. πŸ™‚

July 14, 2020 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)