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

We’re seeing some of my ultimate favorites tonight!! Ian Eastwood, Keone and Mari, The Kinjaz…I can’t wait!! Very excited. I have one wish…that Les Twins don’t go through. Bound to not get my wish. I want Kinjaz and K&M. Doubt I get what I want.

I’m scared for tonight. Not afraid to admit it.

First up tonight – The Kinjaz. Damn. I hope that’s not a bad sign.

FYI – I can name several sexy Asian Americans. Just sayin’. 🙂 Read more..

July 25, 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 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. :-)

Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 7 (Cuts) – Power Rankings

Well, it was bound to happen at some point – the judges got it wrong. For the most part, I’ve generally agreed with them on most scoring – but they really screwed the pooch last night when they scored Diana, because they kinda backed themselves into a corner scoring her so high that they had to go even higher with Eva, thereby bumping out The Lab…who I think deserve a spot in the final two far more than Diana. And now we’re stuck with two angsty, flailing contemporary girls, representing (or rather, MISrepresenting) the entire talent pool of the junior division.  We lost a fantastic tapper, a fantastic ballroom couple, and a fantastic hip-hop group for this???

The only saving grace for that FUBAR was Misty, who thankfully called out Diana in particular for some technique issues with her feet – I feel like some of the judges (particularly Jennifer) allow themselves to get so carried away in the emotion of a routine that they tend not to notice when the choreo or execution is a bit lacking…so I’m glad Misty didn’t seem to have rose-colored glasses on when she basically told Diana “Girl, work on your footwork.”

So because last night was a bit odd in terms of format (we got through the 5 acts in the junior division, and then only 2/5 team acts…three more to be shown next week), and because I’m absolutely exhausted from work and I feel a migraine brewing, I’m gonna keep it simple and just gonna rank the acts we saw last night purely in terms of my own enjoyment. This is irrespective of whether or not they advanced to the next round or how they scored – this is just how much I personally liked them (or disliked them). I’m hoping they get granted a 2-hour time slot next season, so they have a bit more time to work in all of these acts and don’t have to do some questionable scheduling to make everything fit 🙂

Predictions headed into next week? I think Swing Latino stands a good shot of making it through the cuts to the next round, but I think Super Cr3w is probably screwed, along with Ian Eastwood and the Young Lions and Chapkis Dance Family; Kinjaz seem to stand a good chance of making it through, barring any major snafus. I’m not even sure I want to think about the upper division – I’m guessing one of the spots is has already been reserved for Les Merde Twins, and the other seems like a toss-up between Fik-Shun and Keone & Mari; my ideal scenario would be Les Twins getting shut out completely in favor of Fik-Shun and Luka & Jenalyn advancing, just to add some variety to the next round… Read more..

July 19, 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 7 (Cuts) – 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.

“Ballroom Blitz” by Sweet (opening montage) 

“Rockabye” by Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie (explanation of cuts)

“Rise Up” by Andra Day (Diana Pombo intro & performance)

“Look At Me Now” by Chris Brown feat. Busta Rhyme & Lil Wayne (Immabeast performance)

“Stand By Me (The Voice Performance)” by Darby Walker (Mihacevich Sisters intro)

“Beautiful Thing” by Grace Vanderwaal (Mihacevich Sisters performance)

“Hold My Hand” by Jess Glynne (Mihacevich Sisters scoring)

“Music Please” by Gary McFarland (The Lab intro)

“Stay” by Zedd feat. Alessia Cara (The Lab intro)

“Disco Inferno” by 50 Cent (The Lab performance)

“Children of a Miracle” by Don Diablo & Marnik (The Lab scoring)

“River of Tears” by Alessia Cara (Eva Igo intro)

“Creep” by Ember Island (Eva Igo performance)

“Anything’s Possible” by Lea Michele (Eva Igo scoring)

“Magdelana, Mi Amor (Quimbara)” by DLG (Dark Latin Groove) (Swing Latino intro)

“Welcome To The Party” by Har-You Percussion Group (Swing Latino performance)

“Hey Mamama (Extended Mix)” by Tritonal (Swing Latino scoring)

“Supermarket Flowers” by Ed Sheeran (Super Cr3w intro)

“Let It Go” by James Bay (Super Cr3w performance)

“Hard Love” by NEEDTOBREATHE (Super Cr3w scoring)

July 18, 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

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

Hopefully, all of our site issues are fixed and we won’t have the problems we had last week. Fingers crossed!!

And here we go!!

We’re at the Cut.  Two spots in each division. How will they do it??  Well, the judges are mentoring. And Misty Copeland is here – love her.

Two weeks of cuts. Starting now.

Love Jenna’s dress.

Each division gets a leaderboard of judges scores. Top two acts go through. Jennifer mentoring the junior division.

Diana Pombo is up first.  And Jennifer is going to be a mess by the time this show is over. 🙂

Derek looks stunning in that suit. Got a bit distracted. 😉

Anyway, I love Diana but this is so standard contemporary. Angsty and flaily. She did it very well, but…

Great critique from Misty about the feet. The judges as a whole didn’t really seem to rave.

Diana gets a 92 from the judges. Very high, IMO. Not sure I agree with that, considering who is yet to come.

Immabeast gets an 84.2 – not long for the show since that is the first we’ve really seen of them and they were heavily edited. Loved the costumes, loved the attitude.

Now the M Sisters – hopefully they get away from the angsty failing contemporary that I’m so tired of. Love their dresses.

Okay, that was happy flailing. 🙂 It was good. But I have yet to be amazed. Or moved.

Okay, now someone will be eliminated depending on how they score…

And the M Sisters make it to the top 2 thanks in large part to Derek.  They would have made it if he had only scored an 84.

And now for one of my very favorites – The Lab.

Don’t meddle with my Lab, Jennifer. Wonder who their choreographer is.

I love these kids. And that dance was INCREDIBLE!! Those faces. Go Derek! Go Derek!

Their energy is just amazing. If they aren’t in the final it might be a crime.

They better be number 1…

Okay, that’s a damn crime. An 86? Are they setting it up so that Eva and Diana both go through? That’s just wrong.

If Eva bumps The Lab, I will be Jabbawockeez Fan Level pissed….although I won’t hold on to it forever like they are. 🙂

Eva is not quite as flailing – and I like her edge. Derek emotional is not a good sign for my Lab.  I might be mad at him for a few minutes.

I feel like the Lab (and other non-contemporary) are hindered by the non-tear jerking nature of their routines.

I’m officially pissed.  Seriously?? Two contemporary dancers at the top of the division?? Over The Lab.  SUCKS. They should be in the running to win the whole thing.

Now for the Teams being mentored by Ne-Yo.

Swing Latino is up first. And their first discussion is costumes? Okay.

I would be shocked if they make it through, just based on who else is in the Division.

When they’re not all in unison there is too much going on. But when they are it’s quite amazing. Although there were a few glitches I think.

LOL Derek.  I think they’ve made a name for themselves, regardless.

Swing Latino gets a massive 92.5. Wow….that’s shocking but it makes me happy.  Who are they trying to knock out?

SuperCr3w is up next.  And they’re going “risky” for a B-boy.

That was very different. I was mesmerized the whole time. Maybe they saw that they have to beat the little contemporary girls.

Misty and Ne-Yo competing to see who can be the toughest. And they get an 88.5 thanks in large part to Derek. The key to Derek is his heart. Something his fans have known forever, but it’s really clear here.

So, it’s over already?? The sign of a good show is that it is over before you blink.

What did you all think?? I’m still miffed about the Lab but I’ll get over it. I doubt very much that’s the last we’ll see of them where as contemporary is kind of a dime a dozen.

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. :-)

Pure World of Dance Season 1, Week 6 (Duels) – Power Rankings

So in what’s seemingly becoming a pattern – I apologize for the extreme tardiness of these rankings 😛 At least this time, I have a legitimate excuse – we were experiencing some pretty hefty technical difficulties this week, which have only recently gotten remedied. Thank god for bosses who know how to fix this stuff…thanks John!

This round of the power rankings is brought to you by this face, my favorite gif of the moment 😛 :

So this week wrapped up the duel round, and I gotta say – why the hell have they turned the last episode of each round into such a slapdash, gotta-fit-it-all-in-despite-taking-our-time-the-first-two-episodes pace? We’ve only got 4 episodes of this show left in the season, and there’s acts that we still know next to nothing about and have only seen tiny glimpses of, and the pacing of each of these third episodes of a round just leaves my head spinning.  Really hoping this was just a result of this being the rookie season of this show, and everything next season will be a lot better thought-out and more organized.

Another thing I’m hoping not to see next season? A bunch of previously-established acts with super-rabid fanbases that have a sense of entitlement about their faves. I’ve said it before, but I get the impression that certain acts may have been invited to do the show for the simple purpose of bringing along their previously-existing fanbases and hopefully boosting ratings for the show – I get that.  But at the same time, watching Jabbawockeez fans have an absolute MELTDOWN on Twitter and Ne-Yo (naively) trying to reason with them just gives me apoplexy. Oofdah. So let’s just leave it at “I get it, you needed to get viewers for the show.  Well now that you’ve got them and are guaranteed another season, maybe try turning your attention to fresh, new, undiscovered acts?”

So fifteen acts remain – five in each of the three divisions, and apparently that’s gonna get cut down by half in the next round…how? No idea 😛 But at this point, I think Kinjaz are the most likely to win the team division, now that Jabba is gone; The Lab, Diana Pombo, and Eva Igo will probably be duking it out for the junior division; and I’m not so sure now that Les Twins is gonna coast through and win the upper division spot in the finals – their appeal seems to be fading in the eyes of at least two judges, and I’m seeing more and more fans complaining online about how “overrated” they are. I’m not sure that it’s necessarily in the best interests of the show for these guys to win…but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.  I’m thinking Mihacevich Sisters, Immabeast, Pasion, Chapkis, Super Cr3W, and Swing Latino are probably goners in this next round – I just don’t think they can hang. The rest is up in the air. Read more..

July 15, 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 Six – The Performance Videos

We’re posting the performance videos for World Of Dance Week Six courtesy of @Idolxfactor1 and WOD Official You Tube as soon as we can in the space below! Keep checking back….

ETA: Below are more of the performances. Sorry for the delay! We had some site issues last night.

The videos above work internationally! Below are you tubes from the official site…. Read more..

July 11, 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.

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. :-)

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. :-)