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™‚