Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 5 (Duels) – Power Rankings

So I really had to take some time to ruminate on Tuesday night’s episode, because it felt like the first time that I got suspicious of this show’s motives.  Don’t get me wrong – I still love the show, and I think the level of talent is unparalleled; and I am fully aware that this is a reality tv show, and a certain amount of manipulation is to be expected to create suspense and draw in viewers.  But some of the other night’s results made me feel a bit icky, because I felt like a few of the acts got a bit exploited in favor of propping up a judges’ favorite – I feel like Kyle kinda got the shortest end of the stick (pun intended, in light of his performance), with The Posse and Royal Flux also being treated a bit like redheaded stepchildren. Given that all three were given quite truncated spots in the qualifier rounds (with Royal Flux not even appearing on the show during those rounds), I think we already had an inkling that they weren’t long for this show – but it just felt like adding insult to injury sticking some of them in duels with powerhouses they didn’t have a hope and a prayer of beating, and then potentially editing out footage that might have helped them save a bit of face (won’t say any more, but if a routine seemed short to you – perhaps it’s because part of it was missing).

Which brings me to the picking of the duels – and let me state for the record that I still can’t say with certainty that the proverbial man behind the curtain might not be telling the acts who to pick. But c’mon – pitting the highest-scoring qualifier performance OF ALL against the second-lowest-scoring qualifier of all??? It just becomes glaringly obvious who was going to win the Les Twins vs. Kyle duel – if it was Les Twins that picked him, sorry, but that was a d*ck move on their part. If they’re so sure of themselves and such amazing dancers, then it would have made a lot more sense for them to pick someone like Fik-Shun, who is closer to both their particular style and skill level. You’re so big and bad? Take on someone that might actually be a challenge for you.  If it was the producers that opted to pit Les Twins against Kyle? Then I have to wonder just what kind of deals were made to get Les Twins on the show in the first place. Like Jabbawockeez (and to a lesser degree, Fik-Shun, Super Cr3w, D’Angelo & Amanda, and the Miami All-Stars), Les Twins were pretty well-known coming into the show – probably second only the Jabbawockeez in terms of how popular they were already. They were touring with Beyoncé, for pete’s sake. And modeling for Jean Paul Gautier. Also worth noting: they’ve appeared on the World of Dance tour. Did they really even NEED to do this show? I’m gonna go with “likely not”, and wonder if they were asked to do the show in order to draw in viewers, much in the same way that Jabbawockeez and some of the other names I mentioned would. In which case, I could see how it might behoove a brand-new show looking to get renewed to keep a popular contestant around for awhile. Yes, I might have my suspicion-glasses on from so many years of blogging DWTS and the rampant manipulation on that show – but I’m trying to make sense of something that seems ridiculously unbalanced.

Anywho – seems like they might be setting it up for a final three of Les Twins vs. Jabbawockeez or Kinjaz vs. Eva Igo or Diana Pombo. In which case, I’ll just be enjoying the rest of the acts leading up to that point, because it seems a bit anti-climactic.  Should be interesting to see how things go down next week, as there’s gonna be a lot of loose ends to tie up – from the looks of the preview, there’s gonna be a 3-way duel between some of the acts from the team division (Jabbawockeez, Ian Eastwood & the Young Lions, and a group of girls that doesn’t look familiar – I’ll give you one guess who probably ain’t winning that duel), and it looks like it’s gonna be Luka & Jenalyn vs. DNA, D’Angelo & Amanda vs. Mihacevich Sisters, Kinjaz vs. somebody, and who knows what else, given that there’s STILL other acts that were called out as contestants prior to the beginning of the season, but didn’t get shown during the qualifier round. Never a dull moment 🙂 Read more..

June 29, 2017 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

World Of Dance Kyle Van Newkirk Interviewed On His Dance Against Les Twins And More

Did you know Emmy winning choreographer Tessandra Chavez helped Kyle Van Newkirk with his routine this week with Les Twins. Read this take from a new interview with Kristyn Burtt of Dance Network.

Van Newkirk started from scratch again and again. He added the cane and eventually went through five versions of his dance. He sent the video of his rehearsals to his mother, Morigerato and Janas. He was worried enough about the piece that he couldn’t even sleep until watching Fred Astaire’s “Firecracker Dance” from the 1942 film Holiday Inn and Puttin’ on the Ritz that he found his inspiration.

“I had taken apart that piece about a year before, so I was able to utilize some of the cane work because I knew I could have fluid movement in the dance,” he shares. “I thought it would be a great addition.”

He was able to work with supervising choreographer Tessandra Chavez, who made some suggestions and Van Newkirk went back to rehearse and finalize the movement.

“I knew if I was going up against Les Twins, I had to give 200%,” he says. “When it happened, I was nervous, but as excited as can be. I was completely in the zone.”

To read more, see Dance Network.

June 28, 2017 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.

Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 5 (Duels) – Music from Tonight’s Show

Here it is – the music from tonight’s episode, in chronological order. I’ve included a description of when in the episode it played in parentheses. If you’re looking for music from previous episodes, all music lists can be found here.

“The Little Things” by The Big Gigantic feat. Angela McCluskey (opening montage)

“Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara (The Posse qualifier recap)

“Bird Set Free” by Sia (Diana Pombo qualifier recap)

“Wild Things” by Alessia Cara (Diana Pombo vs. The Posse intro)

“In The Name of Love” by Martin Garrix feat. Bebe Rexha (The Posse performance)

“Rise” by Katy Perry (Diana Pombo performance)

“Final Song” by MØ (Diana Pombo vs. The Posse scoring)

“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay (Super Cr3W qualifier recap)

“Holy War” by Alicia Keys (Royal Flux qualifier recap)

“Believer” by Imagine Dragons (Super Cr3w vs. Royal Flux intro)

“Pretty Young Thing To Working Day And Night, Part 2” by DJ K-More (Super Cr3w performance)

“Brother” by Matt Corby (Royal Flux performance)

“Beautiful Ones” by Hurts (Super Cr3w vs. Royal Flux scoring)

“Bad Boy For Life” by P. Diddy feat. Black Rob & Mark Curry (The Lab qualifier recap)

“Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai (Boys of Temecula qualifier recap)

“Boom Clap” by Charli XCX (The Lab vs. Boys of Temecula intro)

“All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled (The Lab performance)

“Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON (Boys of Temecula performance)

“Kids” by OneRepublic (The Lab vs. Boys of Temecula scoring)

“Free” by 6LACK (Les Twins qualifier recap)

“Don’t Wanna Know” by Maroon 5 (Kyle Van Newkirk qualifier recap)

“Good Feeling” by Spectral Sun (Les Twins vs. Kyle Van Newkirk intro)

“Classic Man” by Jidenna feat. Roman GianArthur (Kyle Van Newkirk performance)

“Deep In The Bottom (Of Africa)” by Monique Bingham (Les Twins performance)

“I” by Kendrick Lamarr (Les Twins vs. Kyle Van Newkirk scoring)

June 27, 2017 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

‘World Of Dance’ Season 1, Week Five – The Performance Videos

Below are the performance videos for World Of Dance Week Four courtesy of @Idolxfactor1 and WOD Official You Tube! We’re posting them as soon as we can, so, keep checking back….

You tubes…. Read more..

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.

NBC’s World of Dance, Season 1, Week FIVE – LIVE Blog

Well, tonight we finally get to see if all the promo is true or if it’s misleading as hell. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m referring to all the promo that seems to imply that Kyle Van Newkirk beats Les Twins in their duel. I’m skeptical…but then I’m skeptical about all reality shows, no matter how cool the concept is or how cool the judges are. Mainly because once the judges and the contestants walk away, it’s left in the hands of producers to edit it how they see fit. And producers are producers no matter what reality show you look at. Granted, these producers haven’t yet plumbed the depths of, say, the Bachelor producers…but how long will they restrain themselves? 🙂

Damn you, AGT. You got me again.

Okay, who’s up first?

Diana Pombo picks The Posse. Man, I don’t know who to root for. Normally I would be for the Posse, but the previews have Diana looking pretty kick ass too.

Once again, I feel obliged to mention how much I love Jenna Dewan Tatum in her role on this show.

The Posse going first. Did that seem short or was it just me. This number was less impactful than their first number, but still very good. I certainly like the group contemporary more than the single, over wrought routine. I suspect they will get blown out by Diana, sadly.

Diana pretty much killed that number. I am not a contemporary fan, but that was tough and not flailing and angsty. I dug it. I might actually now like her better than Eva Igo and it was reversed in the first round.

And the winner is….Diana with a 91.3. That’s pretty much on target. Makes me a bit sad for the Posse.

Next up: Super Cr3w versus Royal Flux. Since Royal Flux wasn’t shown during the qualifiers, I’m going to go out on a limb and say they don’t make it. And it’s another contemporary group which is just not my thing. 🙂

First in the duel is…Super Cr3w. Small sync issue. Loved the assembly line thingy. Loved the shapes they made. Their formation got a bit off toward the end. That was pretty damn good, but I’ve seen groups I liked better on this show.

I knew this was right up Derek’s alley, as he’s all about clean formations. I don’t disagree.

Now for Royal Flux. Dang. Commercial.

That first lift was pretty genius. Nice sync. Seems over all rather simple compared to their competitors. Julianne used a similar harness for MOVE Beyond.

Derek throwing out his inspirational messages. Judges being kind – I really liked the routine, but I feel like Super Crew blew them away.

And the winner is…Super Crew with a score of 89. So it was pretty close! Good for Royal Flux. Maybe next year.

So, who’s next? Another dang commercial. 🙂

The Lab versus Boys of Temecula! Go LAB!! Yes that was me being biased. The Lab should take it since they were featured more in the Qualifiers. We’ll see.

Up first – The Lab. Strong start. Kinda weird theme that ended up working. Great trick in the middle. Like seeing all the judges dancing. Not sure if that was as strong as their first number, which I totally adored.

Derek booing Ne-Yo is a favorite moment of the night so far. 🙂 Oh Derek. Bad pun. 😉

Now, The Boys of Temecula. Oh crap. I loved that. I loved their sync. I loved how their costumes played into the dance. This is going to be a close one.

Ne-Yo. Chorus Line ran on Broadway for so many years it ain’t funny. Don’t be Simon Cowell.

And the winner is…the Lab with 89.7. Okay, I’m down with that and I think I agree. But I did enjoy the Boys.

Okay Ne-Yo, I forgive you – that was a great pep talk. That was in Derek territory for inspirational.

And finally, the big dogs – Les Twins versus Kyle Van Newkirk. Les Twins showing some real respect (deserved) to Kyle.

Up first – Kyle Van Newkirk. Looking’ sharp. Like the stick. He’s going full out for sure. The spin on the stick is super hard without falling. Don’t see how he beats Les Twins though. We’ll see.

Les Twins will be up after yet another commercial.

Here we go. Starting out dark. Oh man, super cool. Don’t even know what to call some of these moves. And a twin was killed in the end. Pretty amazing indeed, JLo, but the two routines and styles are so extremely different it’s hard to judge.

Ne-Yo asks the questions I’ve been wondering all week – why pick Kyle. They had a decent answer that I’m not sure I buy.

The winner is….Les Twins with a 92. And World of Dance enters the race for highly misleading promo rivaling The Bachelor.

P.S. Agree with Derek about the confidence almost being off putting – although I would take out the “almost”. That kind of attitude makes me want to see someone take them down.

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 Kyle Van Newkirk Inteviewed On How He’s Approaching The Duel Round Against Les Twins

Kyle Van Newkirk knew that he really had to step up his game for the duel round with Les Twins On World Of Dance. Go to This Is WOD for a new interview and how he decided to approach the dance. Here’s a little take….

Kyle implemented feedback from the celebrity judges as well as his fellow competitors. During the qualifying round, the judges suggested he project more and simplify his steps, which he took to heart and included in his new choreography. Look for his unique take on a more classical style as he further establishes his personality. In his Fred Astaire–style performance, he tells a story, bringing the audience and judges along on his choreographed narrative.

Understandably, backstage at a TV dance competition with a $1 million prize is going to have an extremely competitive atmosphere. But backstage at World of Dance also has a unique element of camaraderie and friendliness, “We are here to progress each others art form’s forward,” Kyle shared. Kyle got feedback and advice from Fik-Shun as well as talked with Les Twins heading into this round of the competition.

Watch the 2nd night of the duels tomorrow night at 10/9 central as Kyle steps onto the stage for what he calls his make or break moment. “I am excited to be able to do this,” he says, “especially going up against Les Twins. Its one of my greatest moments, going onto the stage.”

So proud of this Guy!!

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.

World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s look at the Duel scores.

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

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

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

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

June 26, 2017 I Written By

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

‘World Of Dance’ Season 1, Week Four – The Performance Videos

Below are the performance videos for World Of Dance Week Four courtesy of @Idolxfactor1 and WOD Official You Tube! We’re posting them as soon as we can, so, keep checking back….

You tubes… Read more..

June 20, 2017 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.

NBC’s World of Dance, Season 1, Week FOUR – LIVE Blog

Okay, time for the Duels!! Very curious to see how this is going to work out.  So far, we know the following duels:

Kyntay vs. Eva Igo

Fik-Shun vs. Nick Daniels

I’m going with Eva and Fik-Shun, although I’m worried about Fik-Shun since Nick seems to be doing a media tour unlike any of the other contestants. And yes, that does kinda piss me off. Are all TV producers SO TRANSPARENT when it comes to who’s going to win, or is this just a coincidence??  I guess we’ll have to wait until week 10 to find out the answer.

Meanwhile, Derek appears to be doing press with Keone and Mari???  Perhaps a clue as to who will move forward tonight?

Okay, duel loser is eliminated. Harsh? Perhaps. I think some will be much harder than others.

Sounds like the duelers picking who they want to face off against??

So Fik-Shun picked Nick Daniels. Oh boy. Don’t agree with NeYo – I’m definitely Team Fik-Shun in this one.

Okay, I’m going this far more than Fik-Shun’s first number in the Qualifiers. Very cool. Dynamic.

Now – Nick. Yeah, not impressed with the flexibility. Bring me some dance. Seems like Nick has a lack of control when going for power and fast moves. I feel like I’ve seen this before.

I’m going to go shake all the judges. I agree with JLo, but I didn’t see the emotion. I feel like this is Fik-shun’s but this show has the same stupid contemporary bias as other shows.

Oh thank god. I was starting to get worried that this was going to be SYTYCD all over again.

I heard that Fik-shun was “second highest scorer” so he picked…where did the highest go?

Next up – Swing Latino versus the Miami All Stars. This one should be easily Swing Latino’s. Was not impressed with Miami All Stars the first time around.

I don’t know is adding tricks based on the competition is going to pay off.

Swing Latino up first. This is a cohesive group, which is something Miami didn’t have last time. And so freakin’ fast. I dug it. Feel like it needs to be a bit cleaner in a few spots.

Miami All Stars have some work to do. They keep making the mistake of having too much stuff going on. It’s hard to watch just one thing. Okay, that got seriously better in the middle of the dance. The whole last half was pretty cool. This one is a tough call. I think I would still go with Swing Latino, but I dunno.

Oh really, a commercial break?? Cute with the eye covering Derek. I feel ya. 🙂 I’d like to feel ya too. 😉

And as I anticipated, Swing Latino takes it. Classy winners and losers so far. Nice.

Next up Eva Igo versus Kyntay. Okay, they’re showing these out of order so we can’t be sure if they picked each other for a reason or because no one else was left.

Anyway, my money is on Eva Igo. She was just so cool. But Kyntay can’t be underestimated.

Kyntay up first. Okay, those girls kicked ass. That was really good. It started a bit slow for me, but it really went crazy after that.

These commercial breaks are kinda mean tonight….

Come on, Eva!! Okay, she was crazy good, but the slower tempo might have hurt her against the dynamic Kyntay. But the judges are raving, so, hard to say. I did like her first routine better.

Low score for Kyntay. Eva takes it easily. Kinda surprised by the disparity – but Eva is a beast.

Next, Quick Style against Keone and Mari by process of elimination This is going to be a heart breaker. I love both these acts, damn it.

BTW, World of Dance just advertised for auditions for a next season. 🙂

Keone and Mari are up first. I absolutely loved that routine. So clever, so different. Very sweet and lovely.

Quick Style up next. They were very good, but I have to go with Keone and Mari – that’s just more my style. I liked Quickstyle’s first routine better. This is a tough one though.

Wow, Keone and Mari took it, but not by a huge margin. NeYo is upset, but I think they all were.

And can I say that I’m impressed that WoD resisted the urge to do a cliff hanger until next week? 🙂

So what did everyone else think?

I Written By

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

World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 3

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

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

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. :-)