World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 9

Well, only one more week of this season of World of Dance and our finalists are Eva Igo, Les Twins and Swing Latino.  I had a few problems with this episode as you may have gathered if you read my post on what could be fixed for next season of World of Dance. 🙂  Specifically, Jennifer’s score disparity between Les Twins and Keone and Mari, not to mention her comments to Ne-Yo when he gave Keone and Mari a 100.  I find that exchange to be both telling and disturbing.

In any case, let’s take a look at how the scoring broke down.

Read more..

August 6, 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 8

Well, the last of the cuts tonight and then it gets even harder.  I’m quite sure, at this point, that my favorite won’t win, but I’m going to try to not let that spoil the show. 🙂

As always, you’ll have to bear with me as my view of the show usually changes over the course of the week and rewatching….

But that didn’t happen with the Kinjaz – they are freakin’ amazing!! I love them. And I want a jacket too. 😉 But I have to say it broke my heart to see the looks on SuperCr3w’s  faces as Kinjaz got their scores. Very sad. Anyway, The Kinjaz end up with a 93.2 with two great scores from Derek and Misty (95 and 96, respectively) and kinda ridiculously low scores from Ne-Yo and Jennifer. I’ll be curious to look closer at the scoring of all four once the season ends.

Chapkis Dance Family has been doomed from the start, unfortunately, due to the need for time. Their routine looks pretty cool up until that last big turn at the end. Of course we don’t actually know if it was at the end because it was so shortened. For that matter, we don’t really know if it made sense because of the editing- there could have been a really strong story there. Read more..

July 30, 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 8 (Cuts) – Power Rankings

Well, I said last week that I thought the judges were bound to get it wrong at some point – and unfortunately, I think that trend extended into this week, with some strange disparity amongst the judges’ scores, disparity between scores and critiques, and general quality of performance and the responses each routine got.  When things feel as wonky as they did on last night’s show, it does give one pause and makes one wonder what exactly is going on…

…which brings me to my next point: it’s important to remember that, while this is a reality show, it is still very, very produced, and there’s little things that go on behind the scenes that may help “shape” the show in a certain way.  Heidi, Vogue, and I had a pretty enlightening email conversation earlier today about some things we had read in various interviews that made us really question the validity of some of what we had seen on the show – particularly how the editing has been rather poor and left the show feeling a bit disjointed.  Something to keep in mind that I think escapes a lot of viewers: when you’ve got a show that is completely pre-taped like WOD, it’s entirely possible (and it’s entirely legal) for the show to edit portions of footage that do not effect the overall outcome of the competition.  This may mean we only see short snippets of acts that are probably going to get eliminated fairly quickly, anyway, or maybe the judges’ comments get edited together in such a way that they appear to be more positive or negative in tone than the complete critique they gave an act. It may even be that they may cut to a judge making a facial expression during a dance, and that particular clip is from another performance altogether, but contextually fits with the “story” of this particular dance better (this sneaky clip poaching is a technique oft-employed on Rupaul’s Drag Race, where several queens have claimed that critiques from the judges have often been shuffled around to make it seem like they’re talking to one queen, when they’re really talking to another). As I’ve said many a time over at PureDWTS – you guys should watch UNReal.  Very eye-opening about the world of reality television and how it’s often not all that…real.

But I digress.  What does all that have to do with the price of tea in China? I think the reason that last night’s show maybe felt so strange and incongruous was some editing – albeit poor editing.  Some of the acts got fairly positive critiques, but only lukewarm scores; other acts seemed to get nitpicked quite a bit more, but ended up with fairly decent scores in the end. And some cuts from the judges to the contestants and back seemed kind of jerky and abrupt, as if whole sections of dialogue had been cut.  I’m hoping that, with hopefully a live format and a longer time slot next season, a lot of these awkward bits of editing disappear. And as for the scoring disparities – I find myself wondering if this might be one of the caveats of the judges scoring on multiple metrics, and not seeing how their fellow judges are scoring.  The only analogy I could come up with takes me back to my sorority days, during formal recruitment.  There were multiple rounds, and each potential candidate was interviewed by a different sister during each round, and then we’d score each candidate and come up with an average that helped to determine if the candidate was going to be offered a bid. Each year, there always seemed to be a candidate that was either rude/distant/uninterested/generally unpleasant that somehow managed to score high enough to get into bid territory, despite all of the sisters who interviewed her being generally unimpressed. We figured out that, because we were scoring independently, most of us tended to pad our scores a bit, just so we didn’t seem douche-y, figuring that the girl wouldn’t make it through, anyway. And when we all did it – it actually had unexpected side effects.  Part of me wonders if something similar is happening with the judges scores – the fact that they aren’t colluding is leading to unexpected disparities, since they can’t really bounce ideas off one another.  Or I’m just trying to make sense of nonsense 😛 Read more..

July 26, 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 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. :-)

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.

July 18, 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. :-)

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.

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

So has anyone else been paying attention to the promo on twitter for tonight’s show? I think/hope/pray we might be in for a surprise. 😉

And hey, I’ve only cried twice at AGT so far. I still have 10 minutes, I guess…

…and they hit me with the big one. Geez. A contestant was killed in a car accident and they’re airing his audition at the request of his family. So young. :::sob::: Unbelievably talented. He made it to the next round. :::sob:::

First up on World of Dance is Stroll Groove versus The Kinjaz….we never saw Stroll Groove in the Qualifiers, so I think we have a good idea who’s going to win. They barely got through with an 80.3. Again, Goliath picks David to dance against. I have to say I have little respect for that.

Kinjaz up first. Love the screens. The visuals are amazing. I can hear Derek yelling. 🙂

That was freaking amazing – like magic at the end. So clean, so perfect. And Derek reads my mind with the “masters of illusion”. 🙂 Agree – a million dollar routine.

Stroll Groove obviously edited down but great routine also. I liked the way this crew entered the stage – rewind if you missed it.

Ne-Yo points out that their stepping after the routine was more dynamic. I don’t know about that – it was DIFFERENT.

Kinjaz win it with 91.3 over 81.3. Ten whole points. Yeah, agreed. But I have to ask again – the great dancers aren’t afraid to take on the best. I’ll have to go look and see what pick they had.

Next up is Luka and Jenalyn versus DNA…hmmm, tough call on this one. I think I prefer DNA, but at least this one is a fair fight.

Luka and Jenalyn don’t really appeal to me for some reason but I can see how extraordinarily difficult that routine is – quite amazing actually.

Derek loved it, as did Ne-Yo and Jennifer. I do think they stepped it up from their last routine. I really appreciate Jennifer’s point that they aren’t acrobats but dancers and they shouldn’t forget that. I agree.

DNA blows a relatively simple move. Bad news. After their qualifier they are unlikely to make it. Now they feel too rushed. Much better when they slowed it down.

Luka pumping the audience – good sport. They went to the Derek school of not admitting a mistake. Derek very kind because he knows the absurd difficulty of that routine.

Winner is Luka and Jenalyn with 88.7 versus 80.3.

We then proceed to blow through several routines.

Immabeast and

Kings Unite versus Pasion – Pasion wins

Rhythmatic versus Chapkis Dance Family and the Chapkis wins it.

Oh boy…The M sisters versus D’Angelo and Amanda.

This is what sucks about DWTS – Ballroom versus Contemporary.

D’Angelo and Amanda – with a boo boo in the spins.

The M Sisters seemed pretty good, but their routine was also very chopped up. I sure hope that they get two hours next season because both routines were severely shortened. Anyway, Jennifer finally says what I always say about contemporary – the same thing over and over if you’re not careful.

The M Sisters win it by a hair.

Now the big one: Rouge versus Jabbawockeez versus Ian Eastwood. We already know who isn’t winning – the ones who didn’t get seen during the Qualifiers.

Come on, Ian!! 😉

First up, Rouge. Great start!! Okay, started great but started to look like a college dance team after that. Agree with Jennifer on the choreography. Also agree with Derek on the sloppiness.

Next…Jabbawockeez. It was great but….the Kinjaz were better, IMO. The slo-mo part was good, but really nothing special there. Especially compared to Kinjaz.

First two routines were also obviously edited, which is disappointing.

Now, Ian Eastwood. Loved this routine – not as much as I loved his first one, but it was awesome. Very fresh.

And Ian squeaks out a win by one point – well deserved IMO. I’ve always loved the Jabbawockeez, but I’ve not been impressed by their routines on this show. Someone on twitter said, “Jabbawockeez have nothing to prove, they’ve set the bar.” Absolutely right. And no shame in getting beaten by a point by a new young crew. There was much argument when the show started if Jabbawockeez should even be on, considering their extensive professional career. Well, as long as it’s not Les Twins, someone newer has a shot. I’m betting on Keone/Mari or Kinjaz.

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. :-)