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? πŸ™‚ 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. Β 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. Β 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, the Finale – Live Blog!!

It’s time!!!! Tonight we find out who wins the third season!! Who do you think it’s going to be??

Apparently, each finalist is going to dance twice – dancer(s) with the highest average wins. Our contestants are:

The Kings
Ellie & Ava
Briar Nolet
VPeepz

and, according to E!, the Wild Card Winner is Unity LA. We find out in just a minute. πŸ™‚

I wonder if WoD realizes that Unity LA winning wasn’t shown last week.

This opening number is really fun, I think. shows all the teams kinda working together. And it went from really fun to really cool at the end.

I met Derek (for the third or forth time) the other night and he’s just as he was shown on the show. Goofball.

Charity is also on tour with Derek, currently. She’s brilliant. Looks like we’re getting Derek, Charity, Andres and Michael’s dance first. Nice package. I think i posted the dance the other day – it’s brilliant.

Love the Ne-Yo million dollars bit, but really love the choreography bit.

So we’re going to get Ne-Yo now? Why are they front loading the show with the guests??

Eeeee!! Ian Eastwood!! I LOVE HIM. This number doesn’t compare to Derek’s number, but I guess that’s no surprise as he’s mainly a singer and he has a broken foot. Ahem, we’re going to talk to the guys but not the girl??

I guess they don’t want to interrupt the competition because now we have the LAB. And this is a super cool number. Really tight. They were my favorites from the last two years and that’s why.

Wow…Jennifer, that dress is HOT. Wow. Didn’t realize it until she stood up.

Okay, Scott just said ONE performance stands between the contestants and the prize. Hmmm…I read two, but okay.

Are Ellie & Ava going first or are we doing bits on everyone? Okay, they’re doing a bit on everyone, now talking about The Kings. I’m hoping they throw a bit of actually bollywood into their number. I love that. Now Unity LA…love me some Zack and Ashley. And you all know I’m a sucker for talented kids and those are the VPeeps…man, tough call tonight. I would be happy with anyone who wins, including Briar Nolet (and you know I’m not a contemporary fan unless it’s really different and special.

The four of them mentoring together? This should be interesting. Hope Derek gets a word in edgewise. Love the Boot(s).

Briar up first. The answer is no, Derek doesn’t really get to talk much. πŸ™‚ But they give good advice to Briar. She can’t be all tricks, she needs to feel it.

Started out great, but I don’t know if this has the impact that her last dance did. Yeah, not really feeling that dance too much. It was great, but not really finale worthy. You’ll note none of the judges stood up.

Ne-Yo calls her a superhero and says she’s so strong and has so much power. Ne-Yo talks about her journey and says she’s now on fire. Jennifer says there’s a level of danger to her routines. Derek liked the scream and said it jolted him in a good way. He says she’s defied the odds and she should be proud. Jennifer said her intention got muddier toward the end, and I agree with that. Derek says she’s an incredible athlete and he wanted the raw emotion and he felt it.

VPeepz up next. They already look sharp during mentoring! Hmmm…if this were DWTS, I’d guess the VPeepz would win because they asked that question about The Kings. And it makes me wonder if The Kings are going to win or not. And Derek didn’t talk again.

Love the colorful outfits, love the music, love the energy. Great tricks in the middle. It almost feels like it slows down a bit in the middle though, and not in the usual great way. Seems like it was shorter than others too.

Derek says it was so dope, the synchronicity, the energy was great. He clearly loved it. Jennifer says they should be proud. Jennifer talks about the mentoring and how it was dying a bit in the middle, she loves their precision but doesn’t say that they solved that and I’m not sure they did. Jennifer says it could have used more transitions near the end. Ne-Yo says it might have been too much of a good thing and Derek looks at him like he’s on crack. And Ne-Yo admits that he’s being ridiculously nit-picky. And says they should be proud.

I gotta say, I love these judges. They are so funny and so fun together.

Unity LA up next. Derek points out that they had the second highest score of the night. Once again Ne-Yo and Jennifer do ALL the talking during the mentoring…and we’re seeing them more during the judging. Come on, Derek is the only judge that has competed at several levels. Give him his due people.

I’ve not been blown away by anyone yet, let’s see if they can change that. Beautiful start. Love the music. Loved the opening picture. Love how they’re featuring multiple dancers. That was very beautiful. Very beautiful.

Derek says it was a work of art – agreed. He calls it a Monet, it was so artistic. Jennifer says it was fully conceived and a gorgeous, artful piece. Derek says it’s sensational. Ne-Yo says they’re the total package, they are the icing on the cake. Jennifer says she enjoyed them from the beginning, but she was missing joy before, but tonight they came alive, there was beauty in their passion, she felt their joy.

Of the three acts we’ve seen so far, I’m leaning Unity LA. Ya’ll??

The Kings are up next and they are super raw. So, Derek is doing all the BTS video and none of the talking during the mentoring. Why? Because JLo ie executive producer, would be my guess. OOOOHHH, Derek speaks one sentence during mentoring!!

Were the Kings taking too much for granted or not realizing they were the front runner?? I suspect all this drama about them not being ready might mean they win. But then, Ellie and Ava are going last…

Anyway, time for the Kings to dance. Okay this is super cool so far. I love the dialogue in the song. This is very Game of Thrones. Along with the special effects. That was. Amazing. Super cool.

Judges raving and screaming. Derek says in the mentoring session they wanted it to feel cinematic – and that was it. Derek says they altered reality – and they kinda did. Derek says they had more dancing and he loved the culture. The tricks are amazing. Ne-Yo says their heads touched the lights. He’s without words. Jennifer says they surprised her and she didn’t think they could do that. She says it wasn’t the tricks it was the narrative. Jlo loses her wig and that pretty much sums it up.

They might have just won the show, unless Ellie and Ava do something incredible.

Here we go with Ellie and Ava. Derek speaks his second sentence during all mentoring. I hope these girls kill it.

The staging is gorgeous. The costumes are beautiful. Wow. These two are so in cynic’s it’s beautiful to watch. I loved how they seemed to silhouette each other. Gorgeous.

I still think the Kings might have this in the bag. How can a beautiful contemporary routine compete with the power of The Kings? Will contemporary ever win??

Jennifer says they are one of the most beautiful duets they’ve ever seen on the stage. She says together they are even better, it’s magical. Ne-Yo says they should be proud. Derek says that dancing with a family member is so special and they should soak it in. Money can’t buy it. Jennifer says she’s not surprised they are there. They were breath taking. Derek says he could talk about the technical, but he’s been moved all season. I forgot they are only 13 and 15 until Derek said it. If they’re that good now…

Well, I’ll be surprised if anyone other than the Kings win it. I’m not mad about it – they earned it tonight. But I do wonder if a group like Unity LA or dancers like Ellie & Ava ever have a shot to win against a high energy group like The Kings. I mean, season 1 was won by Les Twins who were cool hip hop. Season 2 was won by The Lab who I adored, but who were also young hip hoppers. The show seems designed to reward that higher energy. And I confess to not normally preferring contemporary – but when it’s done well I love it. But can it win on this show. It’d be funny if Unity LA won after all this commentary. We’ll see in a minute.

Okay, here we go!!

Scores:

Ellie & Ava: 94, 95, 96 for an average of 95

Briar Nolet: 92, 92, 94 for an average of 92.7 and she’s out with not enough points to beat Ellie & Ava. She’s very gracious in defeat.

VPeepz: 94, 91, 96 for an average of 93.7 which is not enough to beat Ellie & Ava (although Derek scored them high). And Derek gives them a great pep talk.

Now we’re down to three…the judges say nice things about the three remaining teams.

Unity LA: 95, 94, 98 for an average of 95.7 which puts them in first place. This is probably how I would have placed the first four.

The Kings are going to score big, I think.

The Kings: 100, 100, 100 and that’s that. Well deserved. I love seeing how happy they are.

Well, that was a damn good season, IMO. What say you??

May 5, 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. :-)

Who Do You Think Will Win World of Dance Season 3?? (Vote)

It about that time!!Β  Tomorrow we find out who wins season three!!

Although Unity LA is my favorite, I think The Kings are going to win it. Actually, this is always better done in two questions: Who SHOULD win (or who do you want to win)…and Who WILL Win?? Tell us what you think now, before it happens. πŸ™‚

Finally, a little treat…Derek Hough answering JLo’s challenge. πŸ™‚

May 4, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Who Won that Pesky Wild Card?? (SPOILER, plus Vote)

Well, this is a tough one. Twelve acts performed on Sunday night and only four made it through…along with one mystery act who they very cruelly left until next week. The Wild Card. Well, I had a suspicion of who it was (not that anyone reading this blog will believe this) and I was right!! If you want to know, you’ll have to scroll to the end after all of my blather. πŸ˜‰

There are a couple things to look at and points to make, as I make my case for who got it.

  • None of the junior division dancers got it because the dances seemed very edited.
  • Only two teams scored 100s in their final dance and one is already in the finale…the other isn’t.
  • The composition of the finale – they already have a contemporary duo, a bolly hop team, a hip hop team and a contemporary single.
  • Last season a Junior Hip Hop Team won (The Lab) and in season 1 a hip hop duo won (Les Twins – thanks JLo, bad call IMO).

Let’s recap the possible contenders for the Wild Card slot. From the Junior Division we have:

Julian & Charlize (95.7)
Kayla Mak (95.3)

You can re-watch their dances in a previous post…both beautiful routines. But…I don’t think they’re the Wild Card because we already have two hip hop teams in there and we already have a contemporary single. Also, their scores aren’t as high as I would like for a finalist.

From the Junior Team Division, we have:

Dancetown Divas (95.7)
The Crazy 8’s (93)

You can watch their routines in a previous post as well. The little nuggets (Crazy 8s) won’t be the wild card mainly because their limitations are starting to show. Only natural since they are so young. Amazing, but no. Dancetown Divas?? For whatever reason, latin/ballroom don’t seem to get a fair shake on this show – even from Derek half the time. I don’t think they’re going to make it, although they should.

Next, the Upper Division:

Poppin’ John (95)
Derion & Madison (92)

Check out their routines at the link. So why not Poppin’ John?? Well, I think he’s shown us all he has and is not dynamic enough for the finale. As for Derion and Madison? Low Score plus lots of hip hop already.

And finally, the Upper Team Division – which I’m pretty sure contains the Wild Card winner. πŸ™‚

Unity LA (98.7)
The Heima (93.3)

Now, it’s not going to be the Heima because there are already two hip hop teams in the finale, not to mention that they seemed to run out of gas a bit in their last routine. Their scores are trending downward. Unity LA on the other hand got 100s from Derek and Ne-Yo and they keep getting better every week. They had the highest score of ANYONE not already going to the finale, plus a higher score than EVERYONE in the finale except the Kings. Plus a contemporary group is rather unusual – lots of contemporary singles and duos, but a group of this size?? That’s usually reserved for hip hop. So, that’s why I thought they would be the Wild Card.

If E! is to be believed, they did get the wild card. Funny, I posted the video of Derek dancing yesterday and didn’t notice that they spoiled who won the wild card. πŸ™‚

Five acts remain in the competition heading into the world final this weekend: Briar Nolet (Upper division), The Kings (Upper Team), Ellie and Ava (Junior division), VPeepz (Junior Team), and Unity LA (Wildcard).

Those acts will each dance twice, and whoever comes out with the higher average score will be named the season three world champion.

So, is Unity LA a good choice for you? Or do you want someone else to win the Wild Card?? Vote below!

—–

May 3, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Did the Right Team Win the Upper Team Division?? (Vote)

The Heima. The Kings. Unity LA. Without question – to me – the strongest division right now. All three acts are top notch, there’s not an obvious lesser team in the group. Which is why I think one of them won the Wild Card – but we’ll talk more about that later. πŸ™‚ Here’s a reminder of how they scored in their division final.

The Heima – 93.3
Unity LA – 98.7
The Kings – 99.7

And their dances…The Heima first.

I didn’t feel like this one was up to their usual standard and their score went down from the previous week as a result. Great team though. Maybe just peaked at the wrong time.

Unity LA, on the other hand, peaked at just the right time…it just wasn’t peak-y enough. πŸ™‚

This was a fantastic routine…trying to remember if Tessandra Chavez, their choreographer, also did a door piece on So You Think You Can Dance…which is where Zack is from originally (as a TAPPER??). Crazy. But I feel like there’s been many routines with doors on that show. This one is at another level – stellar.

Finally, The Kings muscling through an injury, big time.

Holy crap. Watching that again, I see it even clearer. The Kings were determined to win. They wanted it REALLY badly and you could tell in the fierce way they danced. Just fantastic. The tricks were mind blowing. Well deserved win, IMO.

So, what do you think??

May 2, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Did the Right Dancers Win the Junior Division?? (Vote)

Yeah, I don’t think this Division turned out how I expected, but I think I was surprisingly okay with that. πŸ™‚ Perhaps because Jennifer tried really hard to get her way, but I think that Derek and Ne-Yo prevailed for a change. I’m down with that.

Nothing at all against Kayla – very beautiful dancer. I just like the unusual and I think that Ellie and Ava are that in spades. But I get ahead of myself. Here’s how is stacked up at the end of the night:

Ellie and Ava – 96
Julian and Charlize – 95.7
Kayla Mak – 95.3

Dang, it was close wasn’t it?? Let’s take another look at the dances. First, Kayla Mak.

Beautiful. Next, Julian and Charlize.

It’s all coming back to me now. I had the feeling at the time (last Sunday) that this whole division was edited down for time and it did them a huge disservice. I think it’s really noticeable in this routine. Very good routine, loved the styling and colors and the dancing was first rate…but it seemed short. That bugs me. I feel like they got short changed, these two in particular.

This routine from Ellie and Ava doesn’t appear edited and it is gorgeous. It’s my opinion that the right dancers won this particular division – at least on this night. πŸ™‚ What do you think??

May 1, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Did the Right Dancers Win the Upper Division?? (Vote)

IMO, the Upper Division is a tricky one. Not a lot of repetitive acts, everyone seems extremely talented, I liked all the dances. I don’t envy the judges on this show!! As a reminder, your competitors are Poppin’ John, Briar Nolet and Derion and Madison.

:::sigh::: I really loved Derion and Madison. A lot. But Briar, IMO, just killed it last night. And then I saw a bunch of people on twitter screaming about how Briar just does gymnastics and Poppin’ John should have won. That sounds like John’s fanbase, because what about Derion and Madison?? And I would be the first one to call out a gymnastics only routine – and I don’t think Briar was it. There is such a thing as acro and she was amazing! Remember, I’m the harshest contemporary critic around and I think she nailed it. Let’s watch the dances again.

Derion and Madison took third place with the following routine…

Seriously, this routine was brilliant right up until the last ten seconds or so. Still totally bummed out for them. Poppin’ John next…

As I said, I saw a few people complaining on twitter about how Briar didn’t dance and Poppin’ John was so much better. Er, dancing is in the eye of the beholder. I thought Poppin’ John did a great job, but if I were judging based on my preferred style, John didn’t dance at all and shouldn’t even have been there. I mean, hello?? Latin and ballroom is far more dancing in my opinion. But WoD (along with SYTYCD before it) has made me appreciate all the different style of DANCE out there. In this case, I think that Briar and Derion/Madison both outdanced Poppin’ John. That’s just my opinion.

A lot of dancing is the pictures you make, and no one tops the pictures that Briar makes in this routine. The box lighting, the costume, the DANCING, were all first rate. Did she have some gymnastic type moves? Sure. But Poppin’ John’s dance wasn’t as technically difficult and Derion and Madison had that tragic mistake at the end. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Anyone know the choreographer on this one?

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Was Briar the winner or did one of the other dancers get hosed?? Based just on last night’s routines, did the right person go through??

April 30, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Did the Right Team Win the Junior Team Division?? (Vote)

Okay, so the battle was between the VPeepz, the Crazy 8s and the Dancetown Divas and the VPeepz came out on top. So, did the right team win the Division?? Refresh your memory on the dances, and then vote, below.

First up, the Crazy 8s. I always talk about all the teams/dancers during the live blog, but these posts are about me re-watching and determining if my opinion has changed after sleeping on it. In the case of the Crazy 8s, my opinion really hasn’t. I love the little nuggets, but to be truly great contemporary dancers, there needs to be some life experience – for that they hung a lot on Naya, but that was necessary. I get that. But these little ones are amazing dancers and I think in three years or so they will be unstoppable.

Next up, Dancetown Divas. This was an excellent routine. Truly stellar. I love a big group of girls doing ballroom because “we don’t need boys to do ballroom.” Amen, sister. Unfortunately there were a couple of tiny mistakes which looked a bit glaring because of the size of the group. If one girl is off, it’s noticeable. But I loved everything about this routine, from start to finish.

Finally, VPeepz. I loved this routine. It was so clean and sharp and it was entertaining!!

So, I know ya’ll voted for your favorite in each division last week. But, honestly, did the right team win the division?? Or was someone robbed?? Forget about last week for a minute and tell me, based on last night – did the right team win?? Personally, as much as I love Crazy 8s and Dancetown Divas, I think the right team won.

April 29, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, WEEK 10 – The Division Finals!! LIVE BLOG

Well, who’s going to win each Division and go head to head at the finals?? We find out starting soon!!

Here we go – who you rooting for??

Wait, what?? A Twist?? I can’t take this kind of stress. πŸ™‚

JUDGES SAVE!!!! OMG. Can only be used once. Any Division could get it (I fully expect both the Heima and the Kings to make it through.

Derion and Madison are going first – I hope we do each division at a time and don’t skip around.

Ohhh, marching onto the stage. Hard core. Starting out extremely cool. Love the slow mo, love the black and white transition to color. Oh damn, they blew the final move. Shit, that totally sucks. The routine was amazing right until the very end.

Ne-Yo being very comforting. Derek says they did so much that was so good. Jennifer loved the concept, thought it was great. Ne-yo commenting on all the things that I loved about the routine. So bummed out.

Oh I forgot that we don’t get to see the scores until the end.

Poppin’ John being a real class act, meeting them as they come off stage. Damn. I’m bummed out. That routine was excellent.

And Poppin’ John is up next. Ne-Yo telling him he can’t keep bringing the same thing – agreed.

Doin’ some magic! What he does is really cool, but he needs to step it up a bit. That was really really good, but he didn’t take the risks that Derion and Madison did. It was a great routine but…

Derek says it was his best routine, that it was great. Jennifer says he takes her back to her childhood, and he does it at a high level. Ne-Yo talks about how he told him you can’t be a one trick pony and he did add stuff (??). I dunno about that – I really like John but I don’t know that I saw something different.

This division is very varied, Derion and Madison, Poppin’ John and now Briar Nolet. Very interesting. Ne-yo mentions that she’s from a gymnastics background and it shows. Hope she doesn’t take that too far.

Cool start, very visual and appealing. The leap off the box was killer. Love the outfit. Okay, this is…rad. That’s the word that springs to mind. The ending was just KILLER. Damn that was good. It wasn’t cliche contemporary. Just amazing

Ne-yo says she’s grown. Jennifer says she thrives in this environment (true). Ne-Yo says he’s impressed as hell. Jennifer is raving. Derek says the wow factor is high. Seamless and effortless. Jennifer comments on the gymnastics. Derek says way to lay it on the floor.

IMO, Briar won the Division. By a lot.

Scores:

Derion and Madison – 92, 91, 93 for an average of 92

Poppin’ John – 95, 94, 96 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 95 – and Derion and Madison are out. πŸ™

Briar – 96, 93, 97 for an average of 95.3 and Briar moves on to the final!! Well deserved.

Jennifer tells Poppin’ John he has a good shot for the wild card (but not really).

Junior Team Division are up next and the Crazy 8s are going first. Derek says that this is a hard division and he’s right!!

OMG…this little girl wishes that Naya would speak to her. And the dance is about that. Naya has spoken to everyone else. I think they might rely on this too much but they are such little girls that they need to be about something and this is something tangible they can be about. I get it.

These little munchkins are like amazingly good. Can they compete against adults, I’m not sure. But damn they are amazing when they are so small!!

Derek says…oh I just got misty. Little girls. Derek’s going to cry. Jennifer says they executed beautifully. Ne-Yo says they are little powerhouses. Jennifer says she got tears in her eyes. Derek says they make him excited for the future of dance.

I love these BTS things, and the out takes.

VPeepz are up next. They don’t get as much of a package as others which is disturbing.

Sharp, clean, cool. I love when they have the bridge and someone is sitting on with and they go into slow motion. Good use of the guy in the different outfit. Why do I feel this dance was too short?? And we’re only ten minutes into the second half hour. What the heck.

Judges are raving like crazy though, so I don’t know what’s going on. Yeah, the leg breaking thing was cool. Derek is also very impressed.

I dunno, I feel like they got short shrift.

Next up: Dancetown Divas – love them. πŸ™‚ “We don’t need boys to do ballroom” – amen, sister!!

These outfits are perfect for girl power. Come on, girls!!!

Strong start. Grat Sync, great cha cha moves. Very powerful. Tiny bit messy in the middle. Great routine but I don’t know if it had enough wow moments in it. Very powerful, pretty clean.

Derek says it’s amazing to see what they’ve done. Ne-yo says they epitomize girl power. Jennifer says she’s so proud of young girls. Nice to see them growing empowered, and understanding their worth. Aaaand now everyone is crying. Me included. Now Derek is being very heartfelt towards JLo. All very sweet.

Scores:

Crazy 8s – 94, 92, 93 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 93

VPeepz – 96, 95, 97…for an average of 96, and that eliminates the Crazy 8s. I love them but that’s fair.

Dancetown Divas – 96, 96, 95 for an average of 95.7, which means that the VPeepz are going to the final.

Love the shots of the judges backstage consoling the kids that didn’t make it through.

Okay, so far our final consists of VPeepz and Briar Nolet. Of the two, based just on tonight’s performance, I’m liking Briar Nolet.

Next up, the Junior Division. Jennifer bustin’ on Derek about having babies. πŸ™‚

Ellie and Ava up first. There’s a bit of panting over Derek – I’ve met him, I understand. Much better looking in person and very sweet. What he’s telling the girls right now is a technique he’s used with his partners on DWTS to great success. Kellie Pickler is one that it really helped.

This is gorgeous. So powerful. So clean. That was beautiful. I felt that one and that’s saying something.

Jennifer raves about it. She says it’s perfect and she couldn’t believe how perfect it was. Derek says every move was finished, he’s raving, he’s in shock. Ne-Yo says they were graceful and flawless. Jennifer says it was a beautiful thing to watch.

Julian and Charlize up next. Derek tells them to bring it down a tiny bit, if they hit every beat it won’t be special.

Awesome start. That seemed VERY short, which is very upsetting. What the hell?

Jennifer says it’s great, the choreography is top notch. Ne-Yo loves the back bend and it makes his back hurt. Derek says there are hard hits and then slower parts, so good.

Kayla Mak up next and I suspect she won’t be edited. And no, she’s getting a very long package.

Beautiful outfit. Opening picture is beautiful. Girl has double jointed arms. Seeing more contemporary and less ballet util the middle which is effective. She’s ver dramatic, but I don’t know if I saw anything special in that. It was great, but….

Derek says every move is stunning. Ne-Yo and Jennifer both rave. Derek says magical. Why are they giving this division the shaft??

Scores:

Julian and Charlize – 96, 95, 96 (Derek, Ne-Yo, Jennifer) for an average of 95.7

Ellie and Ava – 94, 99, 95 (Ne-yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 96 and that means that Julian and Charlize are out.

Kayla: 97, 94, 95 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 95.3 and Kayla is out. Jennifer tried really hard to get Kayla in there with her 97, but she failed. I think maybe Derek and Ne-Yo are wise to her. πŸ™‚

I felt like the Juniors got the shaft, but maybe that’s my imagination. I just feel like they were over too fast.

Upper Teams are next with mentoring by Twitch. Heima up first. Twitch is a good choice in mentors. Their stories are heart wrenching. They’re all crying which makes me cry. Heima = Home.

Now these outfits are cool – yellow masks, mesh shirts. Wow, the shirt off move was cool, more tricky that I’ve seen them in the past. Very cool, love the swaying at the end.

Derek says they are world class and beyond athletic. Jennifer says most of their amazing things are upside down. Derek says stopping on a dime is amazing. Ne-Yo says their pictures – there weren’t as many in this performance. Derek doesn’t know if it was their best. I would agree. But it was still great.

Unity LA is up ext….saving all the Kings drama for the end. Twitch says he has nothing for them choregraphically, except they need a deeper emotional connection.

Unity LA was hosed last week, hope they make up for it. Some odd camera work. The illusion of the door is very cool. Like where are they all coming from?

Damn, that was perfect. Awesome. Stellar. Beautiful. Derek is in tears. Jennifer seems to be as well. Derek says he is grateful to be a part of this show because it creates moments like that. It was pure art. He’s very into it…says it was very real. Jennifer says all the white coats were perfectly in sync and beautifully in sync. Props use was stellar – their best piece yet. Ne-Yo says he’s gotten his first goosies. And that earns a hug from Derek. Ne-Yo says it was perfect. Agreed. Their best work. And the funniest thing?? Zack was a tapper on SYTYCD.

The Kings are next/last. Love these guys. Twitch is nervous about the tricks and is worried they are spending too much time on the tricks and not the transitions. And they have an injury during practice. They’re all emotional about the injury, they can’t afford to go back home.

Great start, very powerful, very aggressive. Great trick at the beginning. Pretty amazing stuff. Overall a crazy routine. Very athletic.

Jennifer says that was out of this world. Savage. They pushed the tricks to another level. Mind-blowing. Derek says there were amazing moments and the visuals were amazing. Ne-Yo says they have such an identity, they won’t ever be forgotten. Jennifer says they are the full package. One of their guys is in a wheelchair, but Great dance! Slight sarcasm there – feel bad for them, for sure.

Scores:

Heima: 92, 93, 95 for an average of 93.3

Unity LA: 96, 100, 100 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 98.7 Which means Heima are out.

The Kings: 99, 100, 100 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 99.7…man that sucks. Unity LA is out with the most amazing dance. The Kings are also amazing.

Now, who’s going to win the wild card??

Here we go. Who will the judges pick?? They should pick Unity LA.

AND THAT’S IT??? THEY’RE GOING TO THE FINAL WITHOUT TELLING US WHO IT IS?? Bastards. πŸ™‚

Well, we’ll discuss this tomorrow, I can assure you. πŸ™‚

April 28, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, WEEK 9 – Who Got ROBBED?? (Vote)

Well, I see it on Twitter – someone ALWAYS yellin’ at Derek or Jennifer or Ne-Yo for their votes on such and such dancer, saying it’s their fault they didn’t make it to the next round. This week I saw LOTS of yelling at Derek for his scoring of…I think it was Funkanometry. Well, now’s your chance to make your voices heard. πŸ™‚

As you may recall, the Junior Division Duel Winners competing in the Cut were:

Moving 4ward (90.3)
Funkanometry (91.3)
Lauren Yakima (91.7)
Julian & Charlize (93)
Kayla Mak (93.7)
Ellie & Ava (95.3)

The top three scorers will be advancing to the Junior Division Finals (you can vote for your favorite at this link), but the bottom three were eliminated. Let’s take another look at the eliminee’s dances.

Totally bummed about these guys – loved them. This dance just wasn’t strong enough, plus they had that slip on the table.

Next, Funkanometry…I love these guys too. Cute and funny dudes. I think they have some growing to do before they make it farther in the competition though.

Finally, Lauren Yakima…

I think Lauren is an exceptional dancer. Is she better than Moving 4ward or Kayla or Ellie & Ava?? Maybe. But the problem for me is that this dance was so cliched contemporary. It had all the stuff it was supposed to have. There was nothing new or different or exciting about it. And I think it’s because the emotion doesn’t feel authentic, in addition to the moves being quite standard.

ALL that being said, I am very surprised that she didn’t get a shot at the final. At the end of the day, she was out danced by Kayla Mak, not to mention Ellie & Ava, the other contemporary dancers in the division. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a very good dancer. I’m not sure she was robbed. I don’t think any of them were at the end of the day. What do you say??

As for the Upper Team Division…I need a reminder of who all was dancing in the Cut.

Fuego Dance Crew (89.3)
Exiles (90.3)
Radiance (92.7)
Unity LA (93.3)
The Heima (97.3)
The Kings (97.7)

The Top 3 Teams from the Upper Team Division will be dancing tomorrow night in the Division Final (click the link to vote for your favorite and rewatch their dances), but the bottom three were eliminated. Re-watching their dances…first, Fuego Dance Crew:

They overestimate their own sex appeal. I seem to recall in the earlier rounds them chatting up all the ladies. Perhaps some focus is in order. Sad to say, I didn’t remember who these guys were until I saw them dancing and remembered the (foolish?) advice they got to sex it up a bit. As if.

The Exiles:

I said it during the live blog, and I’ll say it again. The one guy wearing a white hat?? Why?? Why? For one little trick?? The trick was good, but it wasn’t enough for that distracting hat!! The guy wasn’t even the main focal point for half the dance. I love these guys though…love them. They are entertaining, but they need more polish.

Why do I like contemporary so much better when it’s done in a large group?? Love Radiance… they did have a few tiny mistakes though.

So, what do you all think?? As much as I love Radiance, I don’t think anyone was robbed. Remember, if someone was robbed, you have to deprive another team of their spot – and who is that going to be?? Noooobody, IMO.

April 27, 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. :-)