World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 7

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

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

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

July 24, 2017 I Written By

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

World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 6

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

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

July 17, 2017 I Written By

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

World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 5

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

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

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

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

July 4, 2017 I Written By

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

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.

June 27, 2017 I Written By

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

World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s look at the Duel scores.

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

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

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

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

June 26, 2017 I Written By

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

Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 4 (Duels) – Power Rankings

NOTE: Once again, apologize for the lateness – although I’m afraid this might become a regular thing for the time being.  With one team member at work on maternity leave, and the other more inclined to whittle fidget spinners out of wood (true story) than actually help me with the work load, my days at the office are…hectic.

So the first round of duels was both interesting and a bit refreshing. While I will reserve judgment on how much the contestants may have been influenced by the powers that be when picking their duel opponents, I felt like the pairings were fair for the most part, and I commend all of the competitors for being really good sports and having a lot of respect for their opponents. I also found myself agreeing with the outcome of each of these duels – I don’t think the judges got any of it wrong. Will that continue to be the pattern? Guess we’ll see.

The love affair with contemporary dancers continues, but the fact that they didn’t seem to have qualms letting Nick go (while gushing over Eva) makes me wonder if the judges might be realizing that “there can be only one” in the finals and it’s probably gonna be Eva. I actually really liked how Jenna got more heavily featured in the duel rounds – we actually got to see her in her element as a dancer, actually working with the contestants a bit, rather than just providing moral support (albeit very adorable emotional support 🙂 ) to their families backstage, like she did in the qualifier round.

So what’s on the agenda next week? Looks like the featured “duel” is Kyle Van Newkirk vs. Les Twins – a pairing that I don’t necessarily think is fair on paper, but given that they seem to be touting some “big shock” and a “David & Goliath” storyline…my guess is that Kyle ends up beating them 🙂 I feel like I saw a promo that showed more of the duel pairings, but for the life of me I cannot recall where – but it looks like D’Angelo & Amanda, Super Cr3w, The Posse, Diana Pombo, & Pasion are on the roster. I’m rooting for D’Angelo & Amanda to make it through, but it looks like they’re either gonna have to beat Diana or The Posse – both contemporary darlings much adored by the judges. Then again, I don’t know that there’s really another decent ballroom act in the junior division, so I wonder if the judges might be inclined to keep them for variety’s sake… Read more..

June 21, 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

Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 4 (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.

“Get Down Tonight” by KC & the Sunshine Band (opening intro)

“This Girl” by Kungs & Cookin’ On 3 Burners (judges intro)

“Unsteady” by X Ambassadors (Fik-Shun qualifier recap)

“Secrets” by OneRepublic (Nick Daniels qualifier recap)

“Human” by Rag ‘n’ Bone Man (Fikshun vs. Nick Daniels intro)

“Fragile” by Tech N9ne feat. Kendrick Lamar & ¡Mayday! & Kendall Morgan (Fik-Shun performance)

“Wicked Games” by RAIGN (Nick Daniels performance)

“The Days” by Avicii (Fik-Shun vs. Nick scoring and results)

“Bemba Colora” by Celia Cruz (Swing Latino qualifier recap)

“Dance Again” by Jennifer Lopez (Miami All-Stars qualifier recap)

“Light it Up (Remix)” by Major Lazer feat. Nyla & Fuse ODG (Swing Latino vs. Miami All-Stars intro)

“Lo Que Trajo El Barco 10 (Siempre Pa Lante/Hagan Silencio)” by D. En D, La Cali Salsa Big Band (Swing Latino performance)

“Jumpin’ Jack” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Miami All-Stars performance)

“River” by Bishop Briggs (Eva Igo qualifier recap)

“Panda” by Desiigner (Kyntay qualifier recap)

“Just Like Fire” by P!nk (Eva Igo vs. Kyntay intro)

“Bang Bang” by Jessie J & Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj (Kyntay performance)

“It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World (The Voice Performance)” by Juliet Simms (Eva Igo performance)

“Alive” by Sia (Eva Igo vs. Kyntay scoring & results)

“Happy” by C2C feat. Derek Martin (Keone & Mari qualifier recap)

“Jolene” by Dolly Parton (Quickstyle qualifier recap)

“Paris” by The Chainsmokers (Quickstyle vs. Keone & Mari intro)

“Like Real People Do” by Hozier (Keone & Mari performance)

“Guidance” by Travis Scott (Quickstyle performance)

June 20, 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 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..

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. :-)