World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 9

Well, only one more week of this season of World of Dance and our finalists are Eva Igo, Les Twins and Swing Latino.  I had a few problems with this episode as you may have gathered if you read my post on what could be fixed for next season of World of Dance. 🙂  Specifically, Jennifer’s score disparity between Les Twins and Keone and Mari, not to mention her comments to Ne-Yo when he gave Keone and Mari a 100.  I find that exchange to be both telling and disturbing.

In any case, let’s take a look at how the scoring broke down.

Read more..

August 6, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 8

Well, the last of the cuts tonight and then it gets even harder.  I’m quite sure, at this point, that my favorite won’t win, but I’m going to try to not let that spoil the show. 🙂

As always, you’ll have to bear with me as my view of the show usually changes over the course of the week and rewatching….

But that didn’t happen with the Kinjaz – they are freakin’ amazing!! I love them. And I want a jacket too. 😉 But I have to say it broke my heart to see the looks on SuperCr3w’s  faces as Kinjaz got their scores. Very sad. Anyway, The Kinjaz end up with a 93.2 with two great scores from Derek and Misty (95 and 96, respectively) and kinda ridiculously low scores from Ne-Yo and Jennifer. I’ll be curious to look closer at the scoring of all four once the season ends.

Chapkis Dance Family has been doomed from the start, unfortunately, due to the need for time. Their routine looks pretty cool up until that last big turn at the end. Of course we don’t actually know if it was at the end because it was so shortened. For that matter, we don’t really know if it made sense because of the editing- there could have been a really strong story there. Read more..

July 30, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 7

Before we get started on the Cuts, let me point out to the still whining Jabbawockeez fans that the ratings didn’t crater in the least as you were predicting. They’re holding pretty steady and are, in fact, damn good ratings for a summer show. Guess you all don’t have the impact that you thought. I should point out that many of you whining on twitter whined about it so far after the fact that it was clear you didn’t watch the show as it aired or even within the following 24-48 hours. Why does this matter? Well, it means YOU DON’T COUNT in the ratings, dearies. If you can’t be bothered to watch the show for your favorite as it airs or shortly thereafter, you are not a significant part of the audience because you don’t impact the ratings. Sorry. 🙂

Anyway, welcome to the Cuts. The first week that the judges actually got it wrong at least once. It was bound to happen. We lost my beloved Lab and we have TWO contemporary dancers at the top of the junior division. This is a crime, IMO. Eva is great…so is Diana…but man. Come on. Eva at least changed up her routine. But young girls doing contemporary doesn’t move me. It doesn’t excite me. And RARELY is it compelling anymore – they all tend toward the same ticks and moves.

Diana is the first out of the gate of the Junior Division and does a perfectly nice dance, but it feels like I’ve seen it before – and her score (92) is ridiculously high and is the kiss of death.  I think it was Courtney (and others) who said that maybe the other divisions are too heavy in Hip Hop and I say that’s probably what they were trying to avoid….but I say so what if it is heavy in hip hop?? The Lab are amazing. Part of me wonders if the judges are just too susceptible to the youngsters being all heart wrenching. Read more..

July 24, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 6

Can I just say that I am SO sick and tired of the whining from the Jabbawockeez fans?? Look, I was a fan. I am a fan. But to claim they were cheated out of a win, or it was a “mistake” or that the show is “over” because they lost?? Get real. GROW UP! They are not the only great dancers in the competition. And they just weren’t bringing it – not for me, not for lots of people.  And, as you will see from the numbers below, they were NOT on track to win the show. Not even close. Neither is Ian Eastwood, who I much preferred. But I skip ahead…

Below is a table showing all of the dancers/teams who made it past the qualifiers and their qualifying scores. To recap, the highest scoring dancers from each category pick first who to duel against. Then the next highest and so on. Read more..

July 17, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 5

No World of Dance this week due to the Fourth of July – Happy Independence Day everyone!! Despite there not being a show this week I figured I would post this now and give people time to think about it.

Another incredible week last week on World of Dance. Still a great show. But I have to make a comment on some complaints I’ve seen on social media.

Complaint number 1: “Derek, shut up, confidence is all part of Les Twins style, it’s part of battling, yadda yadda yadda” combined with some version of “you don’t know what you’re talking about” or “you’re just racist”.

Heidi’s answer: Oh grow up. When the “confidence” is against an opponent of a similar style and who was as successful in the first round as you were (like, say FIK-SHUN – you scared, Les Twins??)…and it occurs ONLY during the dance, then you might have a point. But I don’t think there is any question that the self-proclaimed “best dancers in the world” chose a dude at the bottom of the leader board doing a style they have little respect for and absolutely nothing in common with INSTEAD of a guy who’s style is very similar to theirs and who was also close to the top of the leader board. Les Twins had first pick and they went to the bottom of the leader board and proceeded to be arrogant as hell which was a complete turn off.  Even Ne-Yo questioned their choice – it’s an obvious question to ask, especially combined with the “confidence” that Les Twins was showing (that WAS off putting).  How do “confident” men pick a tapper at the bottom of the leaderboard? What were they afraid of?? The confident “best dancers in the world” would have picked Fik-shun. But they didn’t, which begs the questions. Read more..

July 4, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 4

I have to say, I really like the duels concept. I also appreciate that the high scoring duelers get to pick their competition in their category. And that means that for this upcoming week, Les Twins – the high scorers in the upper division – picked Kyle Van Newkirk who is the LOW scorer. That seems….unsporting, to say the least.

Of course, this is a reality show. Do we really believe that, A) Les Twins are actual competitors and not ringers brought in to bring eyes to the show (like the Jabbawockeez), and B) that the contestants REALLY picked their competition with no outside influence?? Ordinarily, I would give it more of a chance – for one thing, it needs to get as much attention as possible in order to continue to exist. And for another thing this show BENEFITS anyone who appears on it, regardless of how far they go. For that reason, I appreciate it. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that it IS a reality show. So I can’t give Les Twins too hard of a time. Yet. 🙂 Also…the matchup of Les Twins with Kyle seems tailor made to get a ton of PR, which is exactly how they’re promoting it. It seems so…set up. Contrived. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it goes down. And if Kyle REALLY wins. Despite these questions, I still LOVE the show…the dancing is first rate.

Anyway, let’s look back and the Qualifying scores in each Division:

So, if they go in order, Les Twins had the first pick in that Division and picked the low scorer, Kyle. By the same token, Eva Igo picked Kyntay…but if they really went in order, Eva had last pick and could only pick the last remaining dancer(s) in that Division – Kyntay. She would have had no choice. Swing Latino would have had second pick and they picked the last place team in their division (correction, second to last) – a somewhat logical choice in this instance, but still it seemed like David versus Goliath. It actually ended up being close.

Another duel was a heartbreaker – Keone and Mari versus Quick Style. Again, they likely had no choice. Neither team was in the top five, so they were likely the last two groups standing in that division. But in looking at the tables, I realize that the Upper and Team Divisions currently have odd numbers. It makes me wonder if some of the 45 dancers not shown so far are going to make an appearance in the duels as cannon fodder. Kinda hard to have duels with odd numbers. Based on what we know so far, Pasion has to pick either Luka/Jennalyn or DNA – and whoever is left doesn’t have a dueling partner. Hmmmm…..sure enough, watching the show again reveals that there are indeed people on the roster that we didn’t see in the qualifiers.

I also take back what I said earlier. Eva didn’t have last pick but second to last.

Anyway, let’s look at the Duel scores.

Fik-Shun was high scorer so he picked and went first. Swing Latino was higher than Miami All Stars and they also went first. Then they switched it up and had Kyntay and Keoni/Mari both go first in their duels despite being the lower scorers. Of course, we don’t know if that is the true order…it could have changed in editing.

Basically, I think the right picks were made and the right people went through. Love Quick Style and I’m bummed out that they went against Keone and Mari, who are one of my absolute favorites. That one was too close. Scores I disagree with while agreeing with the winner was Eva versus Kyntay – there was NOT that much of a difference score-wise between them, although I do think Eva won.

Some people improved on their qualifying scores and some didn’t – no idea yet if that is going to mean anything in the long run. I suspect not. Some of the difference between qualifiers and duels were very minor, like Fik-shun versus Nick Daniels. Others were quite massive – Miami All Stars gained 7 whole points while Swing Latino lost a couple points. Unfortunately for Miami All Stars it wasn’t quite enough. Kyntay also gained a few points while Eva lost one – not enough, once again. Keone and Mari gained 6 points also, while Quickstyle lost a couple.

I’m not seeing any patterns here, yet. You?

June 26, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 3

So…why are the Jabbawockeez allowed to be mellow and Ian Eastwood isn’t? Just asking. They didn’t get a significantly higher score than Ian did, but the commentary was very, very different. I think that even these judges are susceptible to star power – and make no mistake, the Jabbawockeez are already stars. Well established stars who had their own Vegas show, am I right?

So that begs the question that I’ve seen floating around the internet: is it fair to have well established dance stars compete against complete unknowns? It’s hardly the same as DWTS, where the public votes and therefore it gives the a leg up in terms of fanbase. And, unlike some other sites, I do draw a pretty hard line between Jabbawockeez and someone like Fik-shun. I don’t think Fik-shun is either well established nor a millionaire so I don’t have a problem with him competing at all. But having the Jabbawockeez compete is almost like having Derek himself compete – he’s famous and probably no longer needs the money, although it’s always nice. 🙂 So…is it “fair”? Read more..

June 20, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 2

Well, week 2 was every bit as spectacular as week 1 was on World of Dance. As a veteran DWTS blogger, I must say it’s a breath of fresh air to see judges give constructive comments and criticisms when it’s needed. And you can tell that all three of them are seriously into dance and not just all about themselves, unlike a couple other dance shows that shall remain nameless. 😉

I will say that most of the dancers I liked MORE on re-watching – which is typical for me with these shows. I tend to be hypercritical when watching live. When I go back, the dances tend to have a bigger impact than they did on the original viewing. I certainly had a greater appreciation for The Lab (loved them from the start), Fik-Shun (was only so-so when live) and Quick Style (appreciated the song choice the first time around, loved it all this time).

On the other hand, Luka and Jenalyn did not really increase my positive view. They were alright and the tricks looked cleaner on the second viewing. I still don’t get how Miami All Stars made it through on that performance – not one of my favorites. I also found myself agreeing with Courtney’s assessment of Nick Daniels on a second viewing.

As I said last week, there’s not much work for me to do for this show, when it comes to the numbers – at least not yet. More like presenting the standings before the next show happens and see if we can spot any trends, etc. So here’s this weeks standings along with last weeks for comparison:

As I said in my live blog last week, I certainly hope this show doesn’t devolve into having the very same problem as So You Think You Can Dance – the fawning over ANY contemporary performer, regardless. The favoritism towards contemporary dance is evident…yet the contemporary is the one genre that easily all begins to look the same after a while. We’re not there yet with this show, but the fact that they closed this show two weeks in a row with contemporary dancers is NOT a good sign. Love Diana, but only so-so on Nick. The Lab, Fik-Shun and Quick Style were all equally good choices as closer. We’ll see. But I’ll be disappointed.

That said, Nick didn’t score as high as some of my favorites so maybe I’m worried for nothing. Ne-Yo continues to be the tough scorer while JLo is more of a light touch. Derek is somewhere in the middle. He tends to go harder (at least verbally) on the ballroom or ballroom adjacent folks, which should be no surprise.

So, what did you all think? Anything on the show surprise you? See a trend that I don’t?

June 12, 2017 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, By the Numbers – Week 1

For those of you used to seeing this sort of feature on PureDWTS, recognize there is no work for me to do here, just more of a tabulation and keeping track of how the various dancers are doing with the judges. After a few weeks, perhaps we will see some patterns to the scoring, or by the end of the season we will recognize that one dancer, one team or one Junior is always standing above the rest when it comes to average score.

Here’s how the scores looked for Week 1.

Points of interest to me – I liked The Kinjaz best of the night but they were not top of the leaderboard, not that it matters since the point was to qualify. They aren’t dancing against each other just yet.  My second favorite of the night? Keone and Mari. They have a real charm about them that I loved and I loved the style. There was no one that I didn’t like at all, just those two were my favorites.

Kinda hard to make the argument that Derek is the “nice judge” in looking at the scores since Jennifer gives the high mark as often as he does…and Derek was the low grader on D’Angelo and Amanda. I suspect that he will grade anything ballroom a bit tougher – afterall, he knows what he’s looking at. But I think Jennifer was right – it’s not that he’s “nice” it’s that he’s a “sweetie”.

NeYo, on the other hand, IS the tough one. He was the low score on five of the seven groups that performed. But he’s never mean or condescending, which I loved. He just doesn’t grade on a curve. 🙂

I will be curious to see what other dancers don’t make the cut. Nxt Lvl were pretty damn good. What was missing was the charm of Keone and Mari, the cool of Les Twins, or the out and out amazingness of Kinjaz or Diana Pombo.

What did you all think…and are you ready for week 2?

June 5, 2017 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. :-)