World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 14 Live Blog!! Divisional Finals!!

Well, let’s see if I like this week more than I liked last week. Maybe Misty Copeland will even things about a bit…although she’s a notoriously tough scorer. This week is the divisional finals where we whittle it down to one team/dancer per division. Ugh. Super hard. Thanks to WoD twitter for summing up the groups in once nice tweet. 🙂

Who do I want to go through? Having a tough time with that one. I sure do love The Lab, but the Fabulous Sisters are great too. Juniors? I think Charity and Andres. Upper – Karen y Ricardo or there is no justice in this world. We don’t need another contemporary dancer. Although I do think Ashley and Zach bring something new to that style. Upper Team? I still like S-Rank although Poreotics could take it. I think the Ruggeds were a fluke last week. We’ll see!!

Here we go….
Read more..

September 5, 2018 I Written By

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

World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 13 Live Blog!! THE CUTS, Part 2!!

Ten more minutes until the second round of THE CUT!! I already discussed my hopes for tonight – we’ll see how right (or wrong) I was.

Tonight – Upper Team and Junior Divisions! Let’s go!!

Upper Team is going first with mentors Paula Abdul and Jenna Dewan. Desi Hoppers are going first – I love them. All are starstruck by Paula.

They can’t understand her…don’t feel bad, most humans can’t. 🙂

They’re all in white with gold trim. Wow, what a formation!! Love the bollywood feel and the great formations. It makes them unique. But they don’t seem quite as tight as normal.

Ending was awesome. Elephant. 🙂

Jennifer says she loves watching them – traditional and modern at the same time. Respect for the culture. Derek loves the opening picture and all the shapes, all unique moves. Ne-Yo loves how they represent where they’re from, they’re going to be remembered. Says it had everything.

Score: 92, 90, 90 for an average of 90.7. A bit on the low side for the first act – not a great sign. We will see.

Embodiment is up next. Paula tells them there are a few things the need to work on. Queen of Clean. She thinks they bring something special.

Time to dance…another very cool opening. There are so many of them that when they are in sync it is something to behold. And this is really something, but I feel it might have been too calm, with not as much Pow. Beautiful though. Hmmmm….were they edited??

Derek says it was so beautiful and powerful, they filled out the music with their rhythms. Derek loves it. Ne-Yo loves that they’re the perfect blend of elegant and masculinity. Ne-Yo says almost tooo much movement in parts. Jennifer says they need quite moments, stick to the story. Says they danced it well and it was clean but not to over-choreograph.

Scores: 89, 91, 93 for an average of 91 – thanks to Derek they’ll take number 1, for now. Scared for my Desi Hoppers.

Lock and LOL Crew, highly edited and no package, they get an 86.7. They aren’t long for this world.

The Bradas DO get a package with mentoring. Serious critiques from Paula. Again, they are highly edited, we don’t see even most of the dance and just bits of the judging. They score a 90, 88, 89 for an average of 89, so they bump Lock and LOL Crew.

Connection up next! They explain the story of their dance to Paula and Jenna, about their country. The ladies love them.

Let’s dance…Nice heartbeat move but it’s been done a lot. It’s a pretty tight routine.Starting out a little too much like a cheerleading team for me, I think. Love that huge spring move. And the ending is very effective.

Jennifer calls it amazing, of course – didn’t think it was THAT great. She calls it their best. Derek says their name suits them, they are one, says they did really, really good. Ne-Yo says he underestimated them, cleanest they’ve seen them. Sounded like consolation scores??

Scores: 94, 91, 89, for an average of 91.3 which moves them into first place – no agreement from me on that one. Derek was on the right track.

Poreotics are up next. They’re talking about how their dance took a while to get there. They say they’re going to take his notes. No more jelly donuts – their whole dance isa bout that with donuts in the background – very cute. The whole routine is quite good, but no sign of Paula and Jenna so that makes me wonder if they’re going to make it. That was a very funny, great dance.

Derek loved that they burned him, says they are so creative and it made him happy. Ne-Yo says he loves the pictures, that it was humorous – darn near perfect. Jennifer says it was so creative and innovative and fun – one of their best.

Scores: 93, 91, 91 for an average of 91.7. Poor Desi Hoppers just got the boot. 🙁

Poreotics are guaranteed a spot. Next up are The Ruggeds. Paula likes the different tricks but their roll offs – off on the timing. Very short package.

Quiet start. Might be too much going on. and not clean enough. Their roll offs have improved and they do have some good tricks. It definitely tightens up towards the middle.

Derek says it was unbelievable and I have to wonder what he’s smoking. Perhaps it’s just better in person. He’s seriously raving. I do think it was very good but this level of raving I don’t quite get. Ne-Yo says the choreo was smart, says they do things others can’t do. Jennifer says this is their first full, complete routine. She’s giddy. They pushed the envelope.

Scores: 92, 92, 94 for an average of 92.7. Poor Rudy was crying even before the scores were read. 🙁 But dude, you work for both Derek and Jennifer – chin up, dude.

Now, will it be Connection or S-Rank. I called S-Rank a sure thing earlier in the week and I certainly didn’t think that the Ruggeds would knock out Embodiment.

S-Rank has been on top the whole time…are we going to get a surprise here? Paula loves them, calls them smart and clever. Says they need one more “moment”.

Time to dance! Great opening move with with the creepy girl. Dang there is a lot of them. That girl is the focus and it works. This dance is excellent, possibly the best of the night. Not sure what it is, but it has a real musicality and it’s exciting. Super clean. And that girl is dope.

Totally disagree with Jennifer, who says she likes the choreographer up front. Petty. Derek loves it – says they are a musicality clinic. This I agree with. Ne-Yo says they are the cleanest team in the competition. Says they are great. I wonder who Jennifer is pulling for and if she’ll get her way again.

Scores: 91, 93, 93 for an average of 92.3 putting them in second place, knocking out Connection. Low scores for some of these teams – don’t get it.

The Junior Division is next with Ne-Yo and Mel B – both are singers more than dancers, so I guess they go together.

First performance goes to Josh and Taylor. I remember this duo, but…not sure that I cared about them.

Some interesting moves in this dance, but it seems a bit simple. It definitely improves past the half way point. I don’t get the whole date thing. It was just all right.

Jennifer calls it a “great little routine” – not a good sign when she adds the word “little”. Comments on the LED and calls it new. She wants to know if it’s good enough for the cut. Ne-Yo says it’s quality work and that they shouldn’t relay so much on the stage, says when they were separated they lost some of the magic. Derek says he loves them, that there were a lot of cool moments, that the added drums didn’t match their choreography. But great job.

Scores: 86, 83, 87 for an average of 85.3 – very low but I agree with that. They are highly unlikely to last.

Victoria Caban up next – here is another one that I don’t know about. She is EXCELLENT, but her style is pretty narrow, which makes it hard to show something new….and I was right. She gets neither a package nor mentoring shown which is never a good sign.

She got tripped up on the skirt, but the audience loves it. She only got an 85.3 – another score unlikely to last.

Jonas and Ruby up next. Being mentored by two people who wouldn’t know ballroom from a hole in the ground. But both mentors seem to get it. Comment on Jonas’ face. Ne-yo says he forgets they’re juniors. That’s ballroom for you, especially.

The dance….Nice bicycle move. Very sharp – making ballroom pretty contemporary so it’s stands up with the other styles on excitement. Matrix move was super cool. Lifts were great. Holy crap, that was an excellent dance. Best of the night, perhaps.

Derek says they always come to play. They always attack, loved all the different styles, says they brought their A-game. Ne-Yo got the matrix inspiration. loved the concept, great job. Jennifer says they smashed it, they were perfectly in sync, really innovative. Jennifer says they stand out from the Ballroom routines – diss, they stand out from all.

Scores: 85, 89, 91 for an average of 88.3 which is an absolute joke. I’m sorry, who are you holding the scores down for?? Jaxon? I’m kinda pissed right now because that was the hardest routine of the night and they got fucked over for more heavy contemporary. BOO.

The next girl has serious potential, Madison Brown, but she gets heavily edited so she’s not long for the competition.

Next up is Sean and Kaycee. They’re cute and Sean is a very good choreographer for his age. The mentors spend all their time shipping but man get over it. Talking about relating to the song.

The dance: The fog machine got into over drive, but I like all the lights Kayce walks through. this is not contemporary or hip hop but a nice combination, very cute dance. They are not in sync in one part, but not sure they’re supposed to be. They step it up towards the end and it’s quite good.

Jennifer says they move her. Ne-yo says the boy is a genius. Kaycee tells what the dance is about to a big audience “awwww”. Jennifer says it is “cut worth”. Derek says they are masters at “action – reaction” – subtle but effective. Ne-Yo says his choreography has his signature.

Scores: 88, 94, 94 for an average of 92 – can’t complain about that! Victoria AND Josh/Taylor both get the boot because both were tied at the bottom.

Avery and Marcus are up next. The kids who knocked out Eva Igo. Ne-yo says they need to add power, Mel says she likes it when they’re together.

Very balletic as usual. But I think they are too..and the dance was edited I think.

Derek says this is a ballet that he would go to watch. Overall a great performance. Ne-Yo says the music is big and the dance was too pretty for the power of the music. Jennifer says the end was sooo good but it started slow.

Scores: 85, 86, 85 for an average of 85.3 which means they don’t make the Cut.

Charity and Andres up next. Another contemporary couple. Quite tired of contemporary. Why do the judges – even the ballroom expert who is trained in other areas as well – default to loving contemporary?? Are they that susceptible to the sob story??

Anyway, Ne-yo gives them some critique but Mel B loves it.

Extremely typical beginning, nothing new. Still nothing new. Okay his flip was good. they synchronized cup was lovely. That lift was rather unsteady. I liked it when it sped up more. Audience loved it but I’m a bit ambivalent.

Jennifer calls them exceptional. She then says they’re awesome, don’t let your head get in your way. Ne-Yo says get out of your head, show your greatness. Ne-Yo says it was amazing. Derek says he didn’t like it…he loved it. Dude – cheesy cliche. He proceeds to rave. He’s annoying me tonight and I love him. He does think they should follow the drums a bit more. Over all he loves them.

Scores: 89, 93, 96 for an average of 92.7 which puts them temporarily in first place. Derek’s score is on crack, I’m with Ne-yo.

Now it’s Jaxon Willard versus Jonas and Ruby and I’m already pissed off. Seriously, we’re going to have all contemporary dancers in the divisional finals?? Christ. Give me a break.

More of the same from Jaxon. Dude is a great dancer but all of his dances are very, very similar. Mel and Ne-yo are raving, trying to give him confidence. I appreciate Ne-Yo’s efforts with Jaxson, he does need the help and the confidence. This part of him touches me, but his dances all look the same. But he’s just a baby yet, so there’s that.

Side Note…what the hell is Mel wearing? Damn.

Jaxon – Okay, great opening. Not a sob story, just strength and toughness. Much better!! Extremely strong as usual. But you can see the confidence as well. He’s got some swag in this one. Not a fan of the gymnastic moves disguised as contemporary though.

Ne-Yo is on his feet. It was markedly improved in terms of personality. Ne-Yo goes to hug him, he’s so great. Jennifer says it’s beautiful thing to watch and a tremendous well of emotion. She wants the routines to mean something to him. Derek raves, says he believes him, his movements, his intentions. Says he’s a beautiful artist, beautiful dancer.

Scores: 90, 90, 92 for an average of 90.7, beating Jonas and Ruby.

You know, Jaxon did a great job, but the judges ridiculously underscored Jonas and Ruby. Now the Juniors division is uniformly contemporary with a bit of hip hop thrown in by Sean and Kaycee. This is the first time I’ve called bullshit on this show. I’m annoyed. Most difficult style routinely getting the shaft even from Derek. Come on, dude.

August 29, 2018 I Written By

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

World of Dance Season 2 – What’s Coming Up on Week 2 of the CUT

Paula’s getting feisty, that’s what. 🙂 And the commercial makes it appear that she’s getting feisty with Rudy Abreu and his troupe.

Last week we got the Upper Division and the Junior Team Division. The dancers moving to the Division Finals are:

Upper Division
Karen y Ricardo
Michael Dameski
Ashley and Zach

Junior Team Division
Fabulous Sisters
The Lab
The Rock Company

I think that it’s Karen y Ricardo’s to lose in the Upper Division, but the Junior Team Division is mind boggling. I love all three groups with a special fondness for the first two. I would like to see both the Fabulous Sisters and The Lab win for different reasons. That’s going to be the hardest division, for me.

As for the next dancers to face The CUT?? Read more..

August 26, 2018 I Written By

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

Pure World of Dance, Season 2, Week 4 (Qualifiers) – Court’s Thoughts: The Good, The Bad, & the WTF???

So I know you already heard my thoughts this week in the live blog, but in the interest of consistency (and me rewatching the show and perhaps changing my opinion on an act or two), I thought I would stick with my weekly recap 🙂 I apologize for any redundancy – gonna try and keep this as fresh as I can!

I was thankful that last night was an improvement upon last week’s rather low-energy episode, but if there’s one thing it got me really thinking about, it was this: WE DO NOT NEED TO SEE EVA IGO AGAIN.  Yes, she is a great dancer; but she already made it to the division final last season, and ended up as runner-up in the whole thing; I do not think she has grown much as a dancer since last year, and really – are they gonna send Eva home early this year? How will that look? Last season’s runner-up ousted before the finale? Not a good look.  But also not a good look? Her winning the whole damn thing, as a consolation for last season.  I guess I’m just of the opinion now that, if you made it to the finale on WOD, YOU SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO COME BACK (unless you’re part of a different act in a different division – although I even have some reservations about that, too).  If you make it to the live shows on SYTYCD and don’t win, you don’t get to come back again; same rule for AGT – you wanna come back after making the live shows one season? Figure out a way to retool your act, a la Manny Castro and the many ways he managed to get his kids coming back to AGT season after season (Miami All-Stars, The Untouchables, D’Angelo & Amanda, Ruby & Jonas, etc.) Sorry Eva fans – I think I’m gonna have a tough time with her this season.

Sibling Rivalry Has an Upside: Jonas & Ruby. Probably the one act I was really looking forward to seeing, given that I was such a big fan of D’Angelo & Amanda, and I think Ruby has eclipsed her brother in terms of talent. I also think Jonas is a stronger partner to Ruby than Amanda was to D’Angelo (apparently they aren’t even dancing together anymore), and I’m gonna guess that Manny has probably honed in a bit more on the formula for successful choreography on WOD (The Untouchables are also on WOD this season, and apparently D’Angelo is in it – we’ll see if they can make it further than the duels this time). I will say that I wish Manny would tone down the flexibility displays a bit (one bendy leg trick per dance is plenty) and they probably need to pare down their costumes somewhat, but I do think there’s a lot of talent to work with here – Ruby’s a little firecracker, and if I can’t have her as a pro on DWTSJ, I’m fine having her here.

I Dunno What a Brada Is But It’s Good Sh*t: The Bradas. Probably the most impressed I’ve been with a hip-hop crew since S-Rank – just clean, unique, athletic, and with a ton of showmanship.  Loved that they had a bit of a storyline to their dance, and kept finding interesting ways to incorporate the bag into it.  Not much else to add, other than “Watch out, Ruggeds & Connection!”

There’s Still a Place For Pretty Dances (And Leg Weights) In This Competition: Expressenz. First of all, big ups to the first act from my home state on WOD 🙂 We may not be cranking out champions like Utah, California, or New York, but we still have some talent in the Hoosier state! I’ll admit – this routine was a tad pageant-y/recital-y.  The girls’ makeup was flawless, they had those perfectly tailored & bedazzled leotards, flesh-colored tights…the works.  And they were dancing to a country song, which I generally find a tad cringe-y.  But FWIW, they more than made up for it with their technique – never have I seen turn sequences done in such perfect synchronicity.  Even experienced teams usually have their girls a bit staggered on their turns after 1 or 2 – but this group? I can only imagine the precision & focus that got drilled into them to stay completely in sync on those turns. I think they have the potential to be very competitive – IF they can up their choreography to something more edgy and unique.  Right now my gut is telling me they’ll end up in a duel with the Fabulous Sisters.

Please Don’t Let This Be Les Twins, Part Deux: Eva Igo. Obviously not in the physical sense (Eva’s a 15-year-old white girl from Minnesota; Les Twins are 20-something men of color from France), but more in the “I hope they haven’t predetermined this to be ‘Eva’s season’ to make up for her being runner-up last year” sense. The thing I disliked most about last season is that that Les Twins appeared to have it in the bag from week 1 – and they basically just slightly tweaked the same routine each week, to rave reviews from the judges.  There was never a point where I didn’t think they would win. And while I certainly preferred Eva to Les Twins last season, I’m afraid this season, it just feels like more of the same from Eva (gymnastics, flailing, displays of flexibility) – and the judges are eating it up, and giving me that same sinking feeling I had whenever I saw the judges gushing about Les Twins: that this season’s winner had already been determined. However, I did get a few small glimmers of hope: one, the judges did seem to allude to her “being so good that it might get hard to top what she’s already done” and “the competition being a lot tougher this season”; two, she did only end up with an average score of 95, which has been bested by four other qualifying acts thus far – two of which are in her division (Charity & Andres and Sean & Kaycee). I guess time will tell if this season has been earmarked for her or not…

Maybe 8 Years Doesn’t Age You Like Fine Wine: Poreotics. This was one of the acts that I liked upon first viewing, then kinda went “ok, some of the weaknesses are showing” upon a second viewing.  I remember absolutely LOVING the Poreotics that ended up winning ABDC back in 2010 – all of their routines were so sharp, yet humorous and unique.  Just so FUN to watch – and while they still are fun, I feel like they’ve maybe lost a little bit of that energy that made them so appealing 8 years ago. Granted, they did mention that some of them had “left the group and gotten ‘real’ jobs” and they only decided to reunite after seeing Jabbawockeez on WOD last season; if it’s anything like other crews that have “gotten the band back together” to do WOD, the result often seems like a shadow of their former success (Miami All-Stars comes to mind – we’ll see if Manny can get The Untouchables further this season). They did have some fun moments that nodded to the stuff that originally made them popular – the card trick, the glasses, the fact that they were amalgamating several different styles (robotics, popping, vogueing, waaking, some b-boying); but there did seem to be some slow sections that made me disengage a bit.  Like Pasha & Daniela, they might need to work on giving more content.  I’m already predicting a 3-way duel between Poreotics, Elektro Botz, & Dragon House.

Shy Kid By Day, Monster On The Stage: Lucas Marinetto. So we basically have this season’s answer to Kyle Van Newkirk – and I will say that I think he may actually be a bit better than Kyle 🙂 Something about the way this kid goes from somewhat shy and awkward when he’s not onstage, to absolute beast mode when he’s dancing is appealing – you can tell that dancing is where he truly feels like he can be himself, and it’s joyous.  I appreciated that he has great musicality – he did not waste a single beat of that music, although I do agree with Derek a little bit that it would have been nice to have a section of him dancing without music so we could really appreciate what he was doing. I just hope they don’t pit this poor, smol bebe up against someone like Eva Igo in the duels, a la Kyle vs. Les Twins last season – that was just painful.

Thoughts?

June 20, 2018 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 2, Week 4 (Qualifiers) – 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.

“Born Ready” by Zayde Wolf (intro)
“The Middle” by Maren Morris (judges intro)
“The Devil You Know” by X Ambassadors (Jonas & Ruby intro)
“Legend” by The Score (Jonas & Ruby performance)
“Brand New” by Ben Rector (Jonas & Ruby scores)
“Roots” by Imagine Dragons (The Bradas intro)
“I Mean It (Remix)” by G-Eazy feat. Rick Ross & Remo (The Bradas performance)
“Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton (The Bradas scores)
“Believer” by American Authors (Lucas Marinetto intro)
“Stand In The Light” by Jordan Smith (Lucas Marinetto intro)
“Levels (Alex Ghenea Extended Remix)” by Nick Jonas (Lucas Marinetto performance)
“Hold Back The River” by James Bay (Lucas Marinetto scores)
“Something In The Water” by Carrie Underwood (Expressenz performance & scores)
“Where Are Ü Now” by Skrillex & Diplo with Justin Bieber (Poreotics intro)
“Trndsttr (Lucian Remix)” by Black Coast feat. M. Maggie (Poreotics performance)
“Five More Hours” by Chris Brown & Deorro (Poreotics scores)
“Burn” by Ellie Goulding (Eva Igo intro)
“I Ran (So Far Away; Epic Trailer Version)” by Hidden Citizens (Eva Igo performance)
“Stargazing” by Kygo feat. Justin Jesso (Eva Igo scores)

June 19, 2018 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 2, Week Four Qualifiers – The Performance Videos

If you missed episode four of World Of Dance, here are the performances that qualified. Eva Igo was my fave of the night! I just love her expressions and how we can feel her heart and soul in every move.

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 Season 2! WEEK 4 Live Blog!!

Heidi’s currently eating gumbo in New Orleans, so you guys get me (Court) tonight.  Bear with me as I blog, I’m used to being able to move a bit slow and just focus on the music on first viewing – so I might be a bit behind the live broadcast.  And I reserve the right to change my mind upon a 2nd viewing of these acts – there’s already been acts that I wasn’t wild about at first, but warmed up to later (Desi Hoppers) and acts I like initially but didn’t stand up to the test of time (Hilty & Bosch).

Pre-show thoughts: I’m excited to see Jonas & Ruby, who are apparently in this qualifier.  In a lot of ways, I think Ruby’s star shines a bit brighter than big brother D’Angelo’s anymore – sometimes, I think being a younger sibling that lives in the shadow of a popular older sibling can motivate kids to really push hard. I’m less enthused that Eva Igo is back – aside from my aforementioned disdain for flaily contemporary, I’m going to be pretty bored if she makes the finals again, unless she’s really taken this past year as an opportunity to grow and expand her repertoire.

First up is Jonas & Ruby.  Yasssssss 🙂

Jonas looks so much like my ex. And his name is nearly identical.

My god Ruby is such a little firecracker.   And Jonas has really come into his own.  Both of them have GREAT feet.

I kinda see what Derek is talking about with the costumes – especially the cloth on Ruby’s costume.  Kept waiting for Jonas to rip & off and do something big with it and…nothing. Chekov’s gun of dancing – don’t show me an extraneous skirt at the beginning of the dance if you aren’t going to use it by the end.

They get 85, 87, & 82 (Ne-Yo, J-Lo, Derek) for an average of 84.7 and we’ll see them in the duels.  Derek of course mentions “a ballroom couple we had last year that came out strong in the qualifier but kinda fell flat in the duels” and of course he’s referring to D’Angelo & Amanda, which Ruby points out.  Luckily, at this point, I think she’s so used to being compared to him that she shakes it off and promises to come back stronger. And I think they likely will fare better than her brother & Amanda 😉

Next up is Bradas – a hip-hop crew from New Zealand. “Brada” is kiwi slang for “brother”.  Hopefully they’re more organized than the crew from last week from the Netherlands…Ragged?

Holy crap these guys are good – so many moving parts to this routine.  They’re flipping, they’re sliding, and they’ve got this cool bank robber narrative going. They were everything that crew from last week wanted to be, but fell short on. Contender alert!

They get 85, 92, 86 for average of 87.7 and they’re headed to the duels.  I could see them getting pitted against The Ruggeds (they’ll probably spin it as an international battle) and just SLAYING.

Now we’ve got Lucas Marinetto, who is a 14-year-old tap dancer from New Orleans. (I think…I don’t know how Heidi does this, so many details to remember!) Lucas’ dad apparently didn’t always approve off his dancing, which created a rift between them that looks like it only recently healed.  Awwww.

Errr, oops – he’s from Leesburg, VA.  My bad. And he’s incredibly charismatic and dancing his ass off.  Great musicality.  He might be a bit better than Kyle from last season, even.

J-Lo is right – he really is a showman.  Poor kid seems so reserved & shy when he’s just talking, but he comes ALIVE onstage.

He gets 82, 84, & 82, for an average of 82.7.  Ne-Yo says “You’re going to the duels, you know what a duel is, right? SOMEBODY IS TRYING TO TAKE YOUR MONEY!” Lucas: “So just like school, then.” I like this kid 😉

Next up is contemporary group Expressenz from my hometown of Indianapolis. They train with weights on their legs.  HARD CORE.

Those were quite possibly the most synchronized turning sections I’ve ever seen.  It was like watching 8 clones dancing, that in-sync.

I can see what Ne-Yo & Derek are saying – the routine did feel a bit “studio recital-y”, but I agree with J-Lo that there is still room for those feel-good, pretty dances in this competition.

84, 90, 87 – they’re headed through.  I hope their choreographer can pull out something edgy – I have a gut feeling we’ll see them pitted against the Fabulous Sisters.

Now we’ve got Poreotics, who won ABDC several years ago.  And some of them stop dancing and got “real jobs”, but saw Jabbawockeez dancing last season so they decided to get the band back together again to try out.

They are doing their usual robotics, and it’s humorous and very animated – then they threw in a vogueing and waacking section and I fell in love.

Derek & Ne-Yo are kinda going in a bit hard on them –  I actually found the whole thing was pretty inventive and detailed, but Derek & Ne-Yo seemed a tad bored by it.  Luckily J-Lo is on my side with this one and loved it.

87, 90, 87 – Derek & Ne-Yo kind of sharing a brain tonight. I could see Poreotics ending up in a 3-way duel with Elektro Botz & Dragon House (another group of animators that we haven’t seen yet).

I see that they’ve saved Eva Igo for last…*sigh* *shaking head*

She’s wearing a shredded dress perfect for angsty contemporary, and doing a bunch of flexibility tricks backstage.  I’m not optimistic.

She’s flipping.  She’s pulling her leg over her head.  She’s flailing.  There she goes pulling her leg up again.  Angsty face.  Angsty face. Another acrobatic trick. Sorry….really not feeling this.  It’s nothing new or different.

But the judges are gushing and I have a feeling we may see the first perfect 100 average of WOD.  God I hope they aren’t setting this up to be “Eva’s season”.

96, 95, 94 – average of 95.  She isn’t able to best Karen y Ricardo’s score, but it’s close. Ugh.

Oh boy – they’re billing next week as “a very special episode”.  Dare I ask…?

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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