Can A Contemporary Dancer or Group Ever Win World of Dance??

Or a ballroom dancer or tappers, for that matter. As I noted in my final live blog post for the season, hip hoppers have always won, either in pairs or groups.

Season 1 – Les Twins
Season 2 – The Lab
Season 3 – The Kings

The Kings describe themselves as Bolly Hop but there is little Bollywood and lots of hip hop in most of their dances. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE the Kings and I’m not disputing their win at all. Their routines were fantastic, they always got me excited, and so on. I might even go so far as to say that the other finalists’ routines didn’t quite live up to The Kings final routine.

Can any routine ever hope to live up to the excitement of a routine like The Kings final routine? As Hip Hop, or Bolly Hop, it’s always going to be high energy. Very high energy. Contemporary, most of the time, is NOT high energy.

Also need to say that this is not really a critique of the judging, per se. I think the judges, over all, do a great job in a very difficult situation.

So, what do you do to fix it, if it’s even broke?? I think I need to go back and watch the winner and runner up from each season. First up, Les Twins.

Coming in second to Les Twins was Eva Igo, followed very closely by Swing Latino. Side note, in Season 1, three finalists each danced twice. I’ve included (I think) their final performance.

Now, both of these routines are excellent. I actually loved Swing Latino and the final scores were VERY close. When you averaged the two dances together, Les Twins ended with a 93.8, Eva with a 93.7 and Swing Latino had a 93.2. A razor thin margin.

Season 2 was won by The Lab. I LOVE the Lab and I was rooting for them the whole way, no lie. But…who was the runner up?? Michael Dameski, another soloist doing contemporary. Now, I was not rooting for Michael. At the time I didn’t think he was all that and preferred either the Lab or Charity & Andres. But a pattern is emerging, ain’t it? ๐Ÿ™‚ Here’s the Lab’s final dance:

The Lab’s choreographer is VERY smart. They took the hip hop vibe, co-opted the contemporary emotions and came up with a dance that makes me weepy to this day. And there is no arguing with the synchronicity and the style of this dance. That’s a winner. Here’s Michael’s final routine.

Another good routine. No doubt. But does it stand up against The Lab?? And if not…why not? Of course, sometimes the final routines aren’t all equal and it comes down to contemporary versus hip hop. I would argue that Michael’s final routine didn’t deserve the win, compared to The Lab. It didn’t touch me, there didn’t seem to be anything special about it when compared to contemporary in general. That’s the way it goes sometimes and it brings up another question that I will discuss below.

Now, season three just happened, but let’s re-watch the dances with a couple days distance (and maybe clearer heads in some cases – yes, I saw ya’ll tweeting Derek telling him his scoring was crap). First, The Kings:

Now, don’t just watch the faces of the dancers and the judges – look at the faces on Zack Everhart and the other Unity LA dancers. They knew IN THE MOMENT after seeing that dance that they lost. There is no question – that dance was a work of art. Theirs was as well…but how do you compete with what the Kings did as a contemporary dancer? Here is Unity LA’s final performance:

This was a beautiful dance, a Monet like one of the judges said. What was wrong with it? Not a damn thing.

So now, essentially, you have three hip hop winners and three contemporary runners up. Coincidence? Probably not.

What are the differences between the winner and the runner(s) up? Well, there are a few things that are markedly different:

  • Many times it’s a younger dancer competing against people with more life experience to influence their dance. Dance is about emotion and your emotions are (usually) richer as you age.
  • Contemporary, as typically (way too typically) done, is slower, softer, beautiful, without the uptempo to get your heart pumping and the crazy tricks to make you hold your breath.
  • Hip Hop doesn’t have RULES; ballroom and, to a lesser extent, contemporary certainly do. One wrong step in a Tango and Derek will see it. One sickly foot in contemporary and Derek AND JLo will see it for sure. In Hip Hop, you pretty much have to fall over for it to be seen as an error.
  • Props. Lots and lots of props. Ballroom doesn’t do it. Contemporary rarely does it. Hip Hop?? All. The. Time. ย If you look at Les Twins final, or The Labs second to last dance…many props and used extremely well.
  • Jennifer likes to talk about narrative, and sometimes it seems that the emotion of contemporary is a substitute for a narrative. All three of the Hip Hop winners have a strong narrative or story going on. ย Most of the time, I watch contemporary or ballroom and can’t see the narrative. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH NOT HAVING A STORY OR A NARRATIVE…but I do find it interesting that all three winners DO. It certainly seems to help.

That’s quite a few differences between winners and losers. The combination of them might make the difference. So, between Les Twins and Eva Igo – were the winners deserving? Well, all winners are deserving for one reason or another, but I didn’t (at the time) see Les Twins as better than Eva. Up until the finale, I had seen them as rather one-note. Eva seemed to have more range and she was many years their junior. Michael Dameski versus the Lab? Well, I thought the Lab were firing on all cylinders all season long – I think that win was clear cut. Much more clear cut than Season 1. Unity LA versus The Kings?? Again, I thought the Kings had the better finale dance…but if Unity LA had done their divisional final dance on the final would it have been closer? Probably. But they might not have won their division.

When thinking about the final routines and how it can make or break a competitor…should everything hinge on the finale night, or should there be more attention paid to the work they did across the whole season?? Did they grow and evolve? Were they fantastic on night one and then fade away? Should there be a scoring category that takes into account growth or lack thereof?? Or should the scores of the entire season be averaged?

It’s hard to ignore that hip hop has won all three seasons, and really, season 1 is the only time I take issue with that. So what can be done? What more can they do to level the playing field? Will contemporary EVER win?? For the love of god, Ballroom is the hardest and gets no love – not fair, IMO. Most of the time, I get the impression that Jennifer, at least, prefers contemporary to most other styles. And Derek is going to go tougher on his specialty while Ne-Yo and Jennifer are relatively clueless on ballroom/latin. So, what do you think? What can be done? And does the show REALLY need fixing or did it work out the right way every time??

May 8, 2019 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. :-)

The Finale of World of Dance Season 2! Live Blog!!

Just a few more minutes until we start the finale. Who do you think is going to win?? I’m no longer sure of anything. I think I would like to see the Lab win.

Love to see the judges dance on TV…remember, what was shown on TV was a short version of the full dance you can see online.

Each group or dancer dances twice – once to a song picked by their mentor and once to a song of their choice.

Love that shot from the LA museum with Charity and Andres, where all the lamp posts are. So cool. They’re up first with Derek as a mentor.

Derek picks “Ain’t No Sunshine” which is a remix of the original. Love when he gets in there and dances with them.

Love the start, with her in silhouette, and then they turn up the heat. This is very good – contempofusion style dance which I appreciate. I don’ know if it’s enough to win it all but they’re damn good.

Derek stands for them, loves the partner work, loves the silhouette. Asks the how they feel being this close, they are grateful. Ne-Yo mentions the broken toe again – the big toe which she did all those crazy spins on. Jennifer loves how the compliment each other, says it was a great routine, but there were moments where they had nerves. Read more..

September 12, 2018 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 2! WEEK 14 Live Blog!! Divisional Finals!!

Well, let’s see if I like this week more than I liked last week. Maybe Misty Copeland will even things about a bit…although she’s a notoriously tough scorer. This week is the divisional finals where we whittle it down to one team/dancer per division. Ugh. Super hard. Thanks to WoD twitter for summing up the groups in once nice tweet. ๐Ÿ™‚

Who do I want to go through? Having a tough time with that one. I sure do love The Lab, but the Fabulous Sisters are great too. Juniors? I think Charity and Andres. Upper – Karen y Ricardo or there is no justice in this world. We don’t need another contemporary dancer. Although I do think Ashley and Zach bring something new to that style. Upper Team? I still like S-Rank although Poreotics could take it. I think the Ruggeds were a fluke last week. We’ll see!!

Here we go….
Read more..

September 5, 2018 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 2! WEEK 13 Live Blog!! THE CUTS, Part 2!!

Ten more minutes until the second round of THE CUT!! I already discussed my hopes for tonight – we’ll see how right (or wrong) I was.

Tonight – Upper Team and Junior Divisions! Let’s go!!

Upper Team is going first with mentors Paula Abdul and Jenna Dewan. Desi Hoppers are going first – I love them. All are starstruck by Paula.

They can’t understand her…don’t feel bad, most humans can’t. ๐Ÿ™‚

They’re all in white with gold trim. Wow, what a formation!! Love the bollywood feel and the great formations. It makes them unique. But they don’t seem quite as tight as normal.

Ending was awesome. Elephant. ๐Ÿ™‚

Jennifer says she loves watching them – traditional and modern at the same time. Respect for the culture. Derek loves the opening picture and all the shapes, all unique moves. Ne-Yo loves how they represent where they’re from, they’re going to be remembered. Says it had everything.

Score: 92, 90, 90 for an average of 90.7. A bit on the low side for the first act – not a great sign. We will see.

Embodiment is up next. Paula tells them there are a few things the need to work on. Queen of Clean. She thinks they bring something special.

Time to dance…another very cool opening. There are so many of them that when they are in sync it is something to behold. And this is really something, but I feel it might have been too calm, with not as much Pow. Beautiful though. Hmmmm….were they edited??

Derek says it was so beautiful and powerful, they filled out the music with their rhythms. Derek loves it. Ne-Yo loves that they’re the perfect blend of elegant and masculinity. Ne-Yo says almost tooo much movement in parts. Jennifer says they need quite moments, stick to the story. Says they danced it well and it was clean but not to over-choreograph.

Scores: 89, 91, 93 for an average of 91 – thanks to Derek they’ll take number 1, for now. Scared for my Desi Hoppers.

Lock and LOL Crew, highly edited and no package, they get an 86.7. They aren’t long for this world.

The Bradas DO get a package with mentoring. Serious critiques from Paula. Again, they are highly edited, we don’t see even most of the dance and just bits of the judging. They score a 90, 88, 89 for an average of 89, so they bump Lock and LOL Crew.

Connection up next! They explain the story of their dance to Paula and Jenna, about their country. The ladies love them.

Let’s dance…Nice heartbeat move but it’s been done a lot. It’s a pretty tight routine.Starting out a little too much like a cheerleading team for me, I think. Love that huge spring move. And the ending is very effective.

Jennifer calls it amazing, of course – didn’t think it was THAT great. She calls it their best. Derek says their name suits them, they are one, says they did really, really good. Ne-Yo says he underestimated them, cleanest they’ve seen them. Sounded like consolation scores??

Scores: 94, 91, 89, for an average of 91.3 which moves them into first place – no agreement from me on that one. Derek was on the right track.

Poreotics are up next. They’re talking about how their dance took a while to get there. They say they’re going to take his notes. No more jelly donuts – their whole dance isa bout that with donuts in the background – very cute. The whole routine is quite good, but no sign of Paula and Jenna so that makes me wonder if they’re going to make it. That was a very funny, great dance.

Derek loved that they burned him, says they are so creative and it made him happy. Ne-Yo says he loves the pictures, that it was humorous – darn near perfect. Jennifer says it was so creative and innovative and fun – one of their best.

Scores: 93, 91, 91 for an average of 91.7. Poor Desi Hoppers just got the boot. ๐Ÿ™

Poreotics are guaranteed a spot. Next up are The Ruggeds. Paula likes the different tricks but their roll offs – off on the timing. Very short package.

Quiet start. Might be too much going on. and not clean enough. Their roll offs have improved and they do have some good tricks. It definitely tightens up towards the middle.

Derek says it was unbelievable and I have to wonder what he’s smoking. Perhaps it’s just better in person. He’s seriously raving. I do think it was very good but this level of raving I don’t quite get. Ne-Yo says the choreo was smart, says they do things others can’t do. Jennifer says this is their first full, complete routine. She’s giddy. They pushed the envelope.

Scores: 92, 92, 94 for an average of 92.7. Poor Rudy was crying even before the scores were read. ๐Ÿ™ But dude, you work for both Derek and Jennifer – chin up, dude.

Now, will it be Connection or S-Rank. I called S-Rank a sure thing earlier in the week and I certainly didnโ€™t think that the Ruggeds would knock out Embodiment.

S-Rank has been on top the whole time…are we going to get a surprise here? Paula loves them, calls them smart and clever. Says they need one more “moment”.

Time to dance! Great opening move with with the creepy girl. Dang there is a lot of them. That girl is the focus and it works. This dance is excellent, possibly the best of the night. Not sure what it is, but it has a real musicality and it’s exciting. Super clean. And that girl is dope.

Totally disagree with Jennifer, who says she likes the choreographer up front. Petty. Derek loves it – says they are a musicality clinic. This I agree with. Ne-Yo says they are the cleanest team in the competition. Says they are great. I wonder who Jennifer is pulling for and if she’ll get her way again.

Scores: 91, 93, 93 for an average of 92.3 putting them in second place, knocking out Connection. Low scores for some of these teams – don’t get it.

The Junior Division is next with Ne-Yo and Mel B – both are singers more than dancers, so I guess they go together.

First performance goes to Josh and Taylor. I remember this duo, but…not sure that I cared about them.

Some interesting moves in this dance, but it seems a bit simple. It definitely improves past the half way point. I don’t get the whole date thing. It was just all right.

Jennifer calls it a “great little routine” – not a good sign when she adds the word “little”. Comments on the LED and calls it new. She wants to know if it’s good enough for the cut. Ne-Yo says it’s quality work and that they shouldn’t relay so much on the stage, says when they were separated they lost some of the magic. Derek says he loves them, that there were a lot of cool moments, that the added drums didn’t match their choreography. But great job.

Scores: 86, 83, 87 for an average of 85.3 – very low but I agree with that. They are highly unlikely to last.

Victoria Caban up next – here is another one that I don’t know about. She is EXCELLENT, but her style is pretty narrow, which makes it hard to show something new….and I was right. She gets neither a package nor mentoring shown which is never a good sign.

She got tripped up on the skirt, but the audience loves it. She only got an 85.3 – another score unlikely to last.

Jonas and Ruby up next. Being mentored by two people who wouldn’t know ballroom from a hole in the ground. But both mentors seem to get it. Comment on Jonas’ face. Ne-yo says he forgets they’re juniors. That’s ballroom for you, especially.

The dance….Nice bicycle move. Very sharp – making ballroom pretty contemporary so it’s stands up with the other styles on excitement. Matrix move was super cool. Lifts were great. Holy crap, that was an excellent dance. Best of the night, perhaps.

Derek says they always come to play. They always attack, loved all the different styles, says they brought their A-game. Ne-Yo got the matrix inspiration. loved the concept, great job. Jennifer says they smashed it, they were perfectly in sync, really innovative. Jennifer says they stand out from the Ballroom routines – diss, they stand out from all.

Scores: 85, 89, 91 for an average of 88.3 which is an absolute joke. I’m sorry, who are you holding the scores down for?? Jaxon? I’m kinda pissed right now because that was the hardest routine of the night and they got fucked over for more heavy contemporary. BOO.

The next girl has serious potential, Madison Brown, but she gets heavily edited so she’s not long for the competition.

Next up is Sean and Kaycee. They’re cute and Sean is a very good choreographer for his age. The mentors spend all their time shipping but man get over it. Talking about relating to the song.

The dance: The fog machine got into over drive, but I like all the lights Kayce walks through. this is not contemporary or hip hop but a nice combination, very cute dance. They are not in sync in one part, but not sure they’re supposed to be. They step it up towards the end and it’s quite good.

Jennifer says they move her. Ne-yo says the boy is a genius. Kaycee tells what the dance is about to a big audience “awwww”. Jennifer says it is “cut worth”. Derek says they are masters at “action – reaction” – subtle but effective. Ne-Yo says his choreography has his signature.

Scores: 88, 94, 94 for an average of 92 – can’t complain about that! Victoria AND Josh/Taylor both get the boot because both were tied at the bottom.

Avery and Marcus are up next. The kids who knocked out Eva Igo. Ne-yo says they need to add power, Mel says she likes it when they’re together.

Very balletic as usual. But I think they are too..and the dance was edited I think.

Derek says this is a ballet that he would go to watch. Overall a great performance. Ne-Yo says the music is big and the dance was too pretty for the power of the music. Jennifer says the end was sooo good but it started slow.

Scores: 85, 86, 85 for an average of 85.3 which means they don’t make the Cut.

Charity and Andres up next. Another contemporary couple. Quite tired of contemporary. Why do the judges – even the ballroom expert who is trained in other areas as well – default to loving contemporary?? Are they that susceptible to the sob story??

Anyway, Ne-yo gives them some critique but Mel B loves it.

Extremely typical beginning, nothing new. Still nothing new. Okay his flip was good. they synchronized cup was lovely. That lift was rather unsteady. I liked it when it sped up more. Audience loved it but I’m a bit ambivalent.

Jennifer calls them exceptional. She then says they’re awesome, don’t let your head get in your way. Ne-Yo says get out of your head, show your greatness. Ne-Yo says it was amazing. Derek says he didn’t like it…he loved it. Dude – cheesy cliche. He proceeds to rave. He’s annoying me tonight and I love him. He does think they should follow the drums a bit more. Over all he loves them.

Scores: 89, 93, 96 for an average of 92.7 which puts them temporarily in first place. Derek’s score is on crack, I’m with Ne-yo.

Now it’s Jaxon Willard versus Jonas and Ruby and I’m already pissed off. Seriously, we’re going to have all contemporary dancers in the divisional finals?? Christ. Give me a break.

More of the same from Jaxon. Dude is a great dancer but all of his dances are very, very similar. Mel and Ne-yo are raving, trying to give him confidence. I appreciate Ne-Yo’s efforts with Jaxson, he does need the help and the confidence. This part of him touches me, but his dances all look the same. But he’s just a baby yet, so there’s that.

Side Note…what the hell is Mel wearing? Damn.

Jaxon – Okay, great opening. Not a sob story, just strength and toughness. Much better!! Extremely strong as usual. But you can see the confidence as well. He’s got some swag in this one. Not a fan of the gymnastic moves disguised as contemporary though.

Ne-Yo is on his feet. It was markedly improved in terms of personality. Ne-Yo goes to hug him, he’s so great. Jennifer says it’s beautiful thing to watch and a tremendous well of emotion. She wants the routines to mean something to him. Derek raves, says he believes him, his movements, his intentions. Says he’s a beautiful artist, beautiful dancer.

Scores: 90, 90, 92 for an average of 90.7, beating Jonas and Ruby.

You know, Jaxon did a great job, but the judges ridiculously underscored Jonas and Ruby. Now the Juniors division is uniformly contemporary with a bit of hip hop thrown in by Sean and Kaycee. This is the first time I’ve called bullshit on this show. I’m annoyed. Most difficult style routinely getting the shaft even from Derek. Come on, dude.

August 29, 2018 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 2 – What’s Coming Up on Week 2 of the CUT

Paula’s getting feisty, that’s what. ๐Ÿ™‚ And the commercial makes it appear that she’s getting feisty with Rudy Abreu and his troupe.

Last week we got the Upper Division and the Junior Team Division. The dancers moving to the Division Finals are:

Upper Division
Karen y Ricardo
Michael Dameski
Ashley and Zach

Junior Team Division
Fabulous Sisters
The Lab
The Rock Company

I think that it’s Karen y Ricardo’s to lose in the Upper Division, but the Junior Team Division is mind boggling. I love all three groups with a special fondness for the first two. I would like to see both the Fabulous Sisters and The Lab win for different reasons. That’s going to be the hardest division, for me.

As for the next dancers to face The CUT?? Read more..

August 26, 2018 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 2! WEEK 12 Live Blog!! THE CUTS!!

You may or may not have notices our absence last week – I was on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and my cohorts didn’t get my message to cover for me until it was too late!! Anyway, I’m back in my house with a glass of wine and I’m ready to see who makes the cut! According to Derek’s insta story, we’re going to see his sister Julianne tonight as well!! As a redhead! She’s since gone back to blonde, as I recall.

Just a few more minutes!!

Okay here we go…

30 remaining acts are fighting for three spots in each division. Eeep!!

Each judge and Jenna are mentoring. We have Savion Glover for Jennifer and Julianne Hough with Derek.

Two divisions tonight…and they are Junior teams with Jennifer and Savion and Derek with….

Up first is Flip. There are 7 dancers in each division fighting for three spots. Each dance is 90 seconds, per Jennifer.

Red gloves are a very good, effective touch. Derek is grooving, Ne-Yo is loving it. This group is pretty stellar. Very clean. Like it or not, everyone in the same outfit with those red gloves is very effective. Excellent routine!!

Derek is pointing out everything I just did. ๐Ÿ™‚ Ne-Yo loves the energy. Jennifer says they’ve come up 100% since she saw it.

Scores: 87, 88, 90 (in order) for an average of 88.3 – seems too low to me. We’ll see. I don’t remember them from the earlier rounds. If we didn’t see them or if they were edited, it doesn’t bode well for them.

Based on the preview, Derek is mentoring the Upper division. I wonder if the fact that JLo is mentoring junior teams is indicative of who’s going to win the whole thing. We’ll revisit that in a few weeks, I’m sure. ๐Ÿ™‚

Expressionz are up next…these girls I remember. Read more..

August 22, 2018 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 2! WEEK 10 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

Dying to see Derek do a couple moves with Ruby Castro…I mean, this photo is pretty amazing!!

Sorry, everyone, I was outside drinking wine with the neighbors and time got away from me. But I am starting at the beginning thanks to my TiVo!!

Ooo…Derek’s opening sequence is hotter than it was last week!! Read more..

August 8, 2018 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 2! WEEK 9 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

Looking forward to what tonight’s duels will bring. They sure are bragging on it on the internets. ๐Ÿ™‚

Read more..

August 1, 2018 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 2! WEEK 8 PART 2 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

OMG….just got home in time for THE DUELS!!! I haven’t even had wine yet!!

Derek lookin’ fine in his different outfit…that crazy people on the internet have been harping about for WEEKS now. ๐Ÿ™‚

You know how this goes – people go head to head, highest score moves to the next round. Highest scoring act picks first.

Karen y Ricardo pick Luka and Jenalyn. This is going to be brutal. I don’t even know who to root for!

Karen/Ricardo got a 99.7 in the first round, but do Luka and Jenalyn have a leg up due to familiarity?? They only got an 87 in the first routine.

First up is Karen/Ricardo. Wow, crazy lift trick, very crisp and sharp. lots of actual dancing in between the tricks Derek’s face – LOL. Tough act to follow. Great spin, but perhaps too long? Hard to say what will work in this round. Last lift was a bit messy, just a bit. Judges are amazed and impressed, safe to say.

JLo says they were very solid but scary to watch. And incredible. Derek says it shows that they are competition dancers. Ne-Yo loves it too. Luka/Jenalyn may be in trouble cuz the judges are he others, but I don’t know if it his as tight. The judges are raving.

Next up: Luka and Jenalyn. In a straight jacket for Jenalyn. Very intricate moves, but the first one is a bit sloppy. Off comes the jacket – this has a paso feel to it and is more aggressive but I don’t know if it’s as strong.

Judges say this is the best they’ve seen them and they’ve stepped it up. Derek loves the concept.

Scores for Luka/Jenalyn: 90, 92, 95 for an average of 92.3.

Scores for Karen/Rickardo: 97, 99, 99 for an average of 98.3. Karen y Ricardo are moving on to the next round. I can’t be mad about that at all.

Commercial break…time for wine. ๐Ÿ™‚

Next up are the Expressions (contemporary, 87) versus the Untouchables (samba – 87.7). Close contest. Untouchables features a very familiar face for ballroom fans. But they’re going against contemporary, who have an automatic leg up. Pardon the expression. ๐Ÿ™‚ Expressions got criticized for their…expressions. ๐Ÿ™‚ Sort of.

Sorry – mom called. I’m a bit behind.

I’m always going to lean towards the ballroom kids and I think they’re the better group. But ya never know what will happen in the duels. The Expressions have a suicide theme, which is very lovely – and they need to make it personal to get past Derek’s previous critique.

First up? The untouchables. Interesting start looking contemporary. Cool visual with the sheet and how everyone appears from behind it. Love this song. This group is Sooo tight. Excellent. This also looks like a Paso, to me, but Court is the ballroom expert. Okay that bit looked like Argentine tango. Very VERY well done. Excellent.

Jennifer calls them gladiators. Ne-yo says they held it and all styles had a time to shine. Derek loves the concept, the production – and calls out all the styles I saw – but then calls it a bit simple. JLo says it doesn’t have to be difficult but I say she should not talk to Derek about Ballroom.

The Expressions are next – all girls in pink/red and dancing to a very over used song. Derek and Julianne used it I think. But they are doing a great job in sync. Great turns. And a lot of them. Excellent routine, felt more genuine this time.

Jen has goosies – still hate that word. Jennifer says they were perfectly in sync and just raves about it. Derek says the quality of movement were second to none and were perfectly in sync. He applauds them. Ne-Yo says it was like there was one person up there.

Scores for Untouchables: commercial….

Scores for Untouchables: 89, 89, 90 for an average of 89.3

Scores for Expressions: 93, 95, 94 for an average of 94 – they move on to the next round. Just what we need – more contemporary dancers. :::eye roll:::

Next up it’s ballroom versus Krumping – B’dash and koncrete versus Daniella and Pasha. Derek is serving as the a VT commentator. ๐Ÿ™‚

B’Dash and KonKrete have a story about fear in their dance. They got a 94.3

Pasha and Daniella did a rock and roll ballroom in jeans in the first round. And got a 86.3. Kind of an unfair fight on this one.

B’Dash has a balloon. I think Steven King.

Pasha and Daniella up first – Still as sexy as ever. Tight and sharp.Tough lift. Good mix of soft and hard. She gives good face too. Wow…hot at the end. I think she was targeting Derek with the stare.

He calls her a tiger/gazelle then talks about the lifts and tricks and how they aren’t usually in ballroom but he likes them. Ne-Yo is still hard on them and thinks it isn’t enough. Jennifer also says she was waiting for something more to happen. Doesn’t bode well.

B’Dash and Konkrete – and commercial. Derek: “I don’t like clowns”. LOL Very creepy. Starts slow, relative to the other dance, but it’s pretty excellent. Okay, that was just evil looking. ๐Ÿ™‚ Wow. Excellent. Very well done.

Derek again says he hates clowns and he’s going to have nightmares. ๐Ÿ™‚ He loved the narrative. Jennifer was nervous for them going up against the ballroom. She also likes the story and it was effective. Ne-Yo also loved the creativity.

I feel like ballroom is doomed on this show because everyone talks creativity about other dances.

Scores Daniella and Pasha: 85, 89, 91 for an average of 88.3

Scores for B’Dash and K – 95, 94, 94 for an average of 94. They move on to the next round.

Come on, Nappytabs – are you really editing this show so the second dance wins? I swear the first three have been that way. Predictable.

Next is 94.7 (Fabulous Sister) against 84.7 (The Rascals) – I’m totally with the Fabulous Sisters on this one. They were unbelievable in the first round. Incredible. Rascals were great, but they tried a bit hard to be very similar to the other kid groups with faces.

Jenna seems to be giving some good advice, but I don’t know what I would change at this stage…

The Sisters mean business…but so do the Rascals! First up is The Rascals. Very strong and clean, with the boy in the lead really telegraphing the music. They’ve got Derek enthused. Even the Sisters love it. I just think that the Sisters do tougher routines.

Jennifer says they have in grit and they make it up in grit and grime. Neyo says they are clean and in sync. Derek says their grooves are great and love the knee drop.

The Sisters are up next…love their outfits. And another damn commercial. Anyway….Excellent start. Very detailed, very cool. Holy crap, this is amazing Imma be pissed if hey don’t win. Just so intricate and difficult. Those formations should really appeal to Derek. And that little girl at the end can give every bit as good a face as the others.

Ne-Yo says it was art in motions. Jennifer says she loves being teased by the quiet and she loves the face the little girl did at the end. She’s raving. Derek starts raving, talking about their power, and their obvious work effort. Crystal clean, sharp, etc.

Scores for The Rascals: 97, 94, 92 for an average of 94.3.

Sisters: 95, 96, 96 for an average of 95.7!! And the Sisters move forward. Awww..both teams are crying. I feel bad for all the little girls.

That was quite the excellent duel.

Next up is Michael Damesky (94.7) versus Angyl. Classical versus classical with a hip hop edge. Michael says he’s going out of his comfort zone. He says he chose Angyl because she’s the only other soloist. Did we get to see Angyl in the Qualifiers?? Or did she get glossed over last night. No time to go check.

Come on, Angyl!! Michael is up first. Typical contemporary moves, although very strong. Like the speed, for sure. And the jump/spins. He’s obviously excellent – I’m just not that into contemporary.

Ne-Yo calls him a superhero. Jennifer says she was on an emotional rollercoaster the whole time. Derek comments on the dancers who can choreograph – magic. He would know. :-)that is sooo cool.

Angyl is up! Very cool. love the had. She’s amazing. Crap, that is sooo cool. Popping and locking or hip hop or just urban greatness – excellent. I root for her!!

Ne-yo loves it all but says she doesn’t give the moves time to breathe. He’s full of shit. Jennifer says it’s a great routine but says it’s tough – they’re both great in their genre. Derek says the first 30 sec was fire, but agrees with Ne-yo on needing to breathe. She says it’s all freestyle. Ne-Yo and Derek both full of shit. Like we need another contemporary dancer in this competition.

Scores for Michael: 95, 94, 95 for an average of 94.7.

Scores for Angyil: 90, 87, 88 – utter bullshit, IMO. Michael moves on and I’m annoyed. Finally, nappytabs changes the routine, lousy timing.

The Bradas choose the Jam Project for the next duel. Let me predict ahead of time – the tap group will lose because you have to be contemporary or hip hop to get ahead on this show.

Bradas up first. Sharp outfits. Great sync for sure.Are they actually hip hop? I’m losing track. The jump rope might be too much, but that flying twist they did was excellent. Magic canes!! cool trick, but they lost a bit of sync there.

Derek says the props can be dangerous but it paid off for them. He loved it. Ne-Yo says kudos on adding more dancing. Jennifer raves, says it was amazing.

The Jam Project is next…and commercial. Anyway. Big tap group with great sync work and I feel they took notes well too. Classic and perfect, IMO. The bridge was awesome. That was awesome.

Derek – crisp, clean, together, great impact. Incredible. Ne-Yo says issue is you can’t completely hear it, but that’s not the case with them at all. Says he was worried for them, but not anymore. Jennifer says it’s a great, dynamic routine, and sound was crystal clear. Performance 100 times better than last time. Says tap can compete.

Scores for the Bradas: 90, 90, 89 for an average of 89.7

Scores for The Jam Project: 86, 88, 91 for an average of 88.3. The Bradas go through as I predicted. Another bullshit score. This show is pissing me off big time.

Eh, the Bradas were great, but we’re going to have a Cut round that has no one outside contemporary or urban genres at the rate they’re going and I don’t think that a lot of these styles really can go head to head.

Eva Igo up next against Avery and Marcus – I predict they kiss her (Eva’s) ass. I feel like she tried too hard in the qualifiers. Avery and Marcus are rock and roll contemporary en pointe. They are different and I love them. We’ll see.

Jenna is really doing a good job at mentoring here, IMO.

Eva up first. More standard contemporary. Amazing flexibility. I feel like I’ve seen this from her before. Of course she’s amazing, but….

Of course the judges rave. Derek is critiquing that emotion and how the dance relies on it – he would like more structure to the routine. Valid. Ne-Yo calls her a powerhouse and Jennifer weighs in with a beast. Ne-Yo says he feels he’s seen it before too. Thank you, Ne-Yo. Jennifer says she’s amazing and fearless. She’s raving. Glad that Derek and Ne-Yo are keeping it real.

Avery and Marcus have much more texture right at the start. I like their quite moments which Eva doesn’t have. And that was a crazy flexible move. Holy crap. These two have Eva’s flexibility beat, IMO. And fancy tricks. HOLY CRAP that ending pose!! All the judges were stunned by that one. And JLo realizes that her baby Eva might just have gotten beat.

Derek is raving, loved the fusion of ballet, contemporary etc. He’s going crazy over their performance. Ne-Yo says they made him cross eyed. Loved how they both shined at points. Jennifer says this is one of the hardest duels, both dynamic and beautiful. Jennifer finds a way to critique. Hmmmmm….

Scores for Eva: 94, 91, 91 for an average of 92.

Scores for Avery and Marcus. 92, 93, 95 for an average of 93.3….and Eva gets beaten. I’m sad for her, and Jennifer is devastated of course. But Avery and Marcus killed her. The judges all hug Eva. Awww….

And the internet melts down in 5…4…3…

July 25, 2018 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. :-)

โ€˜World Of Danceโ€™ Season 2, Week Eight โ€“ The Performance Videos

If you missed World Of Dance tonight, below are the performances. I think I liked L&J and Morning Of Owl the most. Just magnificent! What a great night!!

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July 24, 2018 I Written By

Just a music and dancing fan here ....and a lover of life, nature, animals, and spending as much time as possible camping all over in our travel trailer. Favorite Quote at the moment: "Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth." ~ William Purkey. Follow me at: Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.