CAST ANNOUNCENT – DWTS Season 29!!

Yep we’re having trouble with PureDWTS this mornring so here we areuntil it’s back up. Nice opening number!!

Vernon Davis
Monica Aldama (Cheer)
Jeanne Ma (??)
Nelly
Jesse Metcalf (hot)
Nev Schulman
Kaitlyn Bristow
AJ McLean
Chrishell Stauss
Skai Jackson
Anne Heche
Justina Machado
Johnny Weir (finally!!)
Charles Oakley (basketball)
Carole Baskin

That’s an interesting cast although they give the announcment short shrift these days. We have football, basketball, skaters, actors, singers….the whole nine yards. But not credit to Tyra for this…I credit COVID.

September 2, 2020 I Written By

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

World of Dance Season 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. 🙂 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. 🙂 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. 🙂

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. 🙁

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. 🙂 “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. 🙂

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. 🙂

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. 🙂

Well, we’ll discuss this tomorrow, I can assure you. 🙂

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. :-)

Julianne Hough to “Mentor” on World of Dance Season 2

….thanks to Derek. 🙂 This is interesting. I’ve had a bit of a winter vacation so I’ve not been paying enough attention, but I also heard an allusion to Jenna having an “expanded” role on the show as well. Perhaps she is also mentoring. And seeing Derek do more than judge is always welcome!! From ET:

Julianne Hough and her brother, Derek Hough, are joining forces once again.

The 29-year-old dancer stopped by ET’s Los Angeles studio on Tuesday, where she revealed she’ll be making an appearance on season two of World of Dance.

“I actually just did a mentor session with [Derek]. He asked me to come and mentor, so, yeah. I just did it the other day,” she told ET’s Katie Krause of her involvement with the NBC show, which returns Tuesday, May 29 at 10 p.m. ET. “It was so much fun and the dancers are incredible.”

March 7, 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. :-)

NBC’s World of Dance – Looking Forward to Season TWO, What Would YOU Fix?

It’s funny. I have a twitter search for World of Dance so every week I see people claiming it’s “rigged” or “fixed” or the “judges suck”.  It’s always fans of people or groups who were eliminated.  Is this what our society has come to: when things don’t go your way, it’s all fixed or rigged? I guess when you look at the White House…well, that mentality trickles down into everyone after a while, unless you keep your brain engaged and really THINK about the issues that surround the country. That mentality is VERY immature. But I’m not here to debate politics, only a silly dance show.  And the squeaky wheels on twitter are often mental midgets in any case. 😉

Is World of Dance “fixed”??  No, I don’t believe so – not in the real definition of that word in this context: meaning that when the show was cast, they already knew who the winner was going to be. THAT would be “fixed”. Is it produced and manipulated? Of course – it’s TELEVISION. If you go into watching a show like this and don’t expect some sort of manipulation then you’re just being naïve.  The editors and producers job is to make a TV show that people want to watch and for that there needs to be a bit of drama and suspense – they’ve learned that from other dance shows.  It has to be entertaining! And honestly, righteous indignation over your favorite being eliminated shows you CARED. That you’re invested. Mission accomplished.

Do the judges have favorites which may make them biased in one direction or another?? Probably. They’re human beings. That’s how human beings work. Don’t YOU have a favorite?  I have several. Otherwise, what the hell’s the point? People have favorites. Judges are people too. This is not hard to figure out.  Does one judge pick people she wants to work with in the future and score them better than others? Well, seems likely – but that’s all part of them being her “favorites”.  Is it crappy? Yep.  Of course. That’s why there are three of them.  To get your way, you have to be obvious – and take the heat. 😉 Read more..

August 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. :-)

What Dance Styles Can We Expect on “World of Dance”?

As many of you may know, we at PureWoD also run PureDWTS. Well, one of our followers at PureDWTS expressed some concern to the Co-executive producers, Nappytabs, that we would only see Hip Hop on “World of Dance” and, while that is fine, many of us like a lot more than just HipHop. Here was Nappytabs response to that question/comment:

Hip Hop and Contemporary MAY be more popular in the US – but it’s DWTS that’s going on Season 24 these days – not So You Think You Can Dance. Many of the DWTS pros are NOT cross trained and the Hip Hop/Contemporary on that show is…uninspired…much of the time. As a result, I’ve begun to feel that most contemporary is just redundant. Derek and Julianne Hough, Mark Ballas and Lindsay Arnold are the only DWTS pros whose choreography continues to stand out, verging on spectacular much of the time. With Mandy Moore occasionally contributing something noteworthy – especially this past season. IF World of Dance can reignite my love for Contemporary and Hip Hop, in addition to providing numerous examples of those other styles, I’ll be a happy girl. BUT, if I see 20 contemporary routines to every non-contemporary style-dance, I will be disappointed. I am hopeful that the inclusion of Derek Hough on the judging panel is a nod to variety of styles – he is CERTAINLY cross trained in numerous styles and has gotten Emmy nominations for both Ballroom and Contemporary styles.

January 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. :-)

Pure World Of Dance: What We Know About the Show So Far, Volume I

Greetings dance fans! For those joining us from PureDWTS & PureDerekHough, glad to have you on this journey with us, and thank you for your continued patronage 🙂 For those new to our little corner of the internet, welcome and thanks for dropping in! Heidi, Vogue, John, & myself were all very interested when we heard about World of Dance, and hopefully we can make lightening strike for a 3rd time and provide you guys with the same comprehensive coverage that we do at PDWTS & PDH, and have a good time while we’re at it!

Since the show is completely new and we don’t have a super-clear picture of how it’s going to work yet, please bear with us as we work through the best way for us to bring you coverage – and by all means, let us know if there’s something you would like to see, or an idea for a post that you might have.  We’re kinda making this up as we go along, and feedback would be appreciated 🙂

In light of our knowledge of the show so far being rather limited, I thought it best to start off with what we DO know – here is a list of facts/tidbits that we have so far, as well as some of our thoughts on it.  I will copy this and add to it for subsequent updates, as more information comes to light.

1.) Jennifer Lopez will serve as Executive Producer, and her production company, Nuyorican, is at the helm. Dance Lifestyle brand World of Dance is also involved. And this isn’t the first time Jennifer has been in charge of a dance-ceAntered reality/competition show – she produced & starred in 2007’s DanceLife on MTV (which gave us a glimpse of a pre-Footloose Kenny Wormald) and 2012’s ÂĄQ’Viva! The Chosen on FOX (which was a loose Latin American version of America’s Got Talent, where she & Marc Anthony searched Latin America for dancers, acrobats, and musicians for a Vegas show). World of Dance (or WOD) has become an international, urban-themed dance competition since its founding in 2008 – more at the WOD website.

2.) Jennifer will be joined at the judges’ table by Derek Hough & Ne-Yo.  Profiles of the three judges and their dance backgrounds coming later on in the week…stay tuned! And if you haven’t already, check out Derek’s interview on Access Hollywood Live where he talks about WOD.

3.) Contestants will be competing in one of three divisions: Junior, Upper, & Team.  Per the World of Dance Casting website, the criterion for each division are as follows: Junior – anywhere from solo up to 20 performers, all between the ages of 8-16; Upper – solo up to four members, ages 17 and over; Team – anywhere from five to 20 performers, all over the age of 17.

4.) The judging criterion, developed by WOD, takes into account Routine, Execution, Presentation, & Crowd Appeal.  Per the NBC World of Dance website, each act will be scored on those four categories – which makes me wonder if each judge is going to give four scores, and then the three judges’ scores from each category will get averaged together, and then somehow the averaged scores from each of the 4 categories will get cobbled together to get a total score…? I’m not sure and I’m totally guessing, but I actually really like this format – it addresses the struggle Heidi & I often have with DWTS, where a couple might get a perfect score for a routine that isn’t all that impressive in terms of choreographic difficulty.  It also separates out crowd appeal as a separate score, so unlike the DWTS judges (who seem easily swayed by an emotional or crowd-pleasing routine that might not actually be all that good, technically-speaking – or even the SYTYCD judges, who don’t even give scores but also seem more likely to get “caught up” in an emotional routine), the WOD judges are more likely to be realistic about how good a routine really is – a dance could potentially get high marks in presentation & crowd appeal, but ultimately fall short in total score because a routine was poorly executed or choreographed.  This may actually be one of the better thought-out scoring systems we’ve seen among dance-centered reality tv shows in recent years…

ETA: Here is a little bit more on the scoring from Bustle.com:

The scoring system is also more specific than what’s used on similar TV shows. For every routine, the judges get 20 points each to assign in each of these five categories: performance, technique, choreography, creativity, and presentation. In order to move to the next round, a dancer or team must average 80 points between their three scores. And, the scores are determined solely by the judges — there’s no audience input.

5.) The grand prize is a cool $1 million.  And the reason the scoring system is so detailed may have something to do with the prize being unusually large – aside from America’s Got Talent (who only offered the $1 million prize from season 3 onward, and has a much larger contestant pool from multiple disciplines), I don’t think any of the dance-centric reality competition shows have offered a prize even close to this one – the DWTS prize has been estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of a few hundred-thousand, and I think the SYTYCD purse topped out at $250K.  The prize for Paula Abdul’s short-lived 2011 dance reality show Live to Dance was allegedly $500K, and I think the America’s Best Dance Crew prize was a relatively paltry $100K.  So given that there’s an unusually large prize at stake, I think the judges are going to be quite a bit pickier and more critical than we might be used to – but the upside is that we’re only going to be seeing really, really good dancing.  Higher prize = more entrants = more need for scrutiny = better overall quality of dance.

6.) The show is set to premiere sometime in January or February, and will be 10 episodes long.  According to the casting website, the deadline for the video submissions was August 26, and those who were lucky enough to get a callback audition in NY, LA, Chicago, or Atlanta were to expect their callback to happen sometime in September.  Thanks to our buddy Kristyn Burtt, we also know that those who made it through the callback were told to expect to tape the live shows in January or February. While we don’t have a set premiere date yet, I would guess it would be more likely to be in late January, when most of the regular-season shows are still on winter hiatus and won’t pose as much of a threat to a new show looking to get its sea legs and establish a following.  By the time the regular season shows start back up in mid-February, WOD will hopefully have an established viewership that will stick with them for the remainder of the season.

7.) Acts will face-off in duels against other acts in their division, until only one act from each of the three categories remains to compete for the grand prize. Kinda self-explanatory, and from the casting website.

Other random thoughts? I think this show has the potential to be really, really good – J. Lo’s no slouch, and doesn’t slap her brand on just anything.  If she’s involved, it’s going to be a high-quality production – and I think grabbing Derek as a judge was a very, very shrewd move, not only because he’s at the top of his game in the dance world right now, but because bogarting the prize stallion of a popular dance show on another network is bound to draw viewers from DWTS…in much the same way the DWTS hired former SYTYCD contestants as pros.  I also feel like the timing is right for a show like this – with DWTS becoming increasingly more manipulated, and SYTYCD’s ratings continuing to plummet, and AGT tending to favor singers & novelty acts over dancers, I think there’s a definite niche that needs to be filled for a dance competition show for dancers of all ages and a high degree of talent.  Needless to say – I’m pumped about this one 🙂

So what are your initial thoughts about the show? Do you think it will do well? What are you hoping to see? Let’s get this party started!!! 😎

December 5, 2016 I Written By

Medical device sales by day, reality TV blogger by night. Makeup artist, baker, hair model, and wannabe DIY-er when time permits, and a potty-mouth 24/7. Read more of me at puredwts.com, and follow me on Twitter & Instagram: @putuincespence