World of Dance Season 3, Week 10 – Who Won that Pesky Wild Card?? (SPOILER, plus Vote)

Well, this is a tough one. Twelve acts performed on Sunday night and only four made it through…along with one mystery act who they very cruelly left until next week. The Wild Card. Well, I had a suspicion of who it was (not that anyone reading this blog will believe this) and I was right!! If you want to know, you’ll have to scroll to the end after all of my blather. πŸ˜‰

There are a couple things to look at and points to make, as I make my case for who got it.

  • None of the junior division dancers got it because the dances seemed very edited.
  • Only two teams scored 100s in their final dance and one is already in the finale…the other isn’t.
  • The composition of the finale – they already have a contemporary duo, a bolly hop team, a hip hop team and a contemporary single.
  • Last season a Junior Hip Hop Team won (The Lab) and in season 1 a hip hop duo won (Les Twins – thanks JLo, bad call IMO).

Let’s recap the possible contenders for the Wild Card slot. From the Junior Division we have:

Julian & Charlize (95.7)
Kayla Mak (95.3)

You can re-watch their dances in a previous post…both beautiful routines. But…I don’t think they’re the Wild Card because we already have two hip hop teams in there and we already have a contemporary single. Also, their scores aren’t as high as I would like for a finalist.

From the Junior Team Division, we have:

Dancetown Divas (95.7)
The Crazy 8’s (93)

You can watch their routines in a previous post as well. The little nuggets (Crazy 8s) won’t be the wild card mainly because their limitations are starting to show. Only natural since they are so young. Amazing, but no. Dancetown Divas?? For whatever reason, latin/ballroom don’t seem to get a fair shake on this show – even from Derek half the time. I don’t think they’re going to make it, although they should.

Next, the Upper Division:

Poppin’ John (95)
Derion & Madison (92)

Check out their routines at the link. So why not Poppin’ John?? Well, I think he’s shown us all he has and is not dynamic enough for the finale. As for Derion and Madison? Low Score plus lots of hip hop already.

And finally, the Upper Team Division – which I’m pretty sure contains the Wild Card winner. πŸ™‚

Unity LA (98.7)
The Heima (93.3)

Now, it’s not going to be the Heima because there are already two hip hop teams in the finale, not to mention that they seemed to run out of gas a bit in their last routine. Their scores are trending downward. Unity LA on the other hand got 100s from Derek and Ne-Yo and they keep getting better every week. They had the highest score of ANYONE not already going to the finale, plus a higher score than EVERYONE in the finale except the Kings. Plus a contemporary group is rather unusual – lots of contemporary singles and duos, but a group of this size?? That’s usually reserved for hip hop. So, that’s why I thought they would be the Wild Card.

If E! is to be believed, they did get the wild card. Funny, I posted the video of Derek dancing yesterday and didn’t notice that they spoiled who won the wild card. πŸ™‚

Five acts remain in the competition heading into the world final this weekend: Briar Nolet (Upper division), The Kings (Upper Team), Ellie and Ava (Junior division), VPeepz (Junior Team), and Unity LA (Wildcard).

Those acts will each dance twice, and whoever comes out with the higher average score will be named the season three world champion.

So, is Unity LA a good choice for you? Or do you want someone else to win the Wild Card?? Vote below!

—–

May 3, 2019 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 3, Week 10 – Did the Right Team Win the Upper Team Division?? (Vote)

The Heima. The Kings. Unity LA. Without question – to me – the strongest division right now. All three acts are top notch, there’s not an obvious lesser team in the group. Which is why I think one of them won the Wild Card – but we’ll talk more about that later. πŸ™‚ Here’s a reminder of how they scored in their division final.

The Heima – 93.3
Unity LA – 98.7
The Kings – 99.7

And their dances…The Heima first.

I didn’t feel like this one was up to their usual standard and their score went down from the previous week as a result. Great team though. Maybe just peaked at the wrong time.

Unity LA, on the other hand, peaked at just the right time…it just wasn’t peak-y enough. πŸ™‚

This was a fantastic routine…trying to remember if Tessandra Chavez, their choreographer, also did a door piece on So You Think You Can Dance…which is where Zack is from originally (as a TAPPER??). Crazy. But I feel like there’s been many routines with doors on that show. This one is at another level – stellar.

Finally, The Kings muscling through an injury, big time.

Holy crap. Watching that again, I see it even clearer. The Kings were determined to win. They wanted it REALLY badly and you could tell in the fierce way they danced. Just fantastic. The tricks were mind blowing. Well deserved win, IMO.

So, what do you think??

May 2, 2019 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 3, WEEK 10 – The Division Finals!! LIVE BLOG

Well, who’s going to win each Division and go head to head at the finals?? We find out starting soon!!

Here we go – who you rooting for??

Wait, what?? A Twist?? I can’t take this kind of stress. πŸ™‚

JUDGES SAVE!!!! OMG. Can only be used once. Any Division could get it (I fully expect both the Heima and the Kings to make it through.

Derion and Madison are going first – I hope we do each division at a time and don’t skip around.

Ohhh, marching onto the stage. Hard core. Starting out extremely cool. Love the slow mo, love the black and white transition to color. Oh damn, they blew the final move. Shit, that totally sucks. The routine was amazing right until the very end.

Ne-Yo being very comforting. Derek says they did so much that was so good. Jennifer loved the concept, thought it was great. Ne-yo commenting on all the things that I loved about the routine. So bummed out.

Oh I forgot that we don’t get to see the scores until the end.

Poppin’ John being a real class act, meeting them as they come off stage. Damn. I’m bummed out. That routine was excellent.

And Poppin’ John is up next. Ne-Yo telling him he can’t keep bringing the same thing – agreed.

Doin’ some magic! What he does is really cool, but he needs to step it up a bit. That was really really good, but he didn’t take the risks that Derion and Madison did. It was a great routine but…

Derek says it was his best routine, that it was great. Jennifer says he takes her back to her childhood, and he does it at a high level. Ne-Yo talks about how he told him you can’t be a one trick pony and he did add stuff (??). I dunno about that – I really like John but I don’t know that I saw something different.

This division is very varied, Derion and Madison, Poppin’ John and now Briar Nolet. Very interesting. Ne-yo mentions that she’s from a gymnastics background and it shows. Hope she doesn’t take that too far.

Cool start, very visual and appealing. The leap off the box was killer. Love the outfit. Okay, this is…rad. That’s the word that springs to mind. The ending was just KILLER. Damn that was good. It wasn’t cliche contemporary. Just amazing

Ne-yo says she’s grown. Jennifer says she thrives in this environment (true). Ne-Yo says he’s impressed as hell. Jennifer is raving. Derek says the wow factor is high. Seamless and effortless. Jennifer comments on the gymnastics. Derek says way to lay it on the floor.

IMO, Briar won the Division. By a lot.

Scores:

Derion and Madison – 92, 91, 93 for an average of 92

Poppin’ John – 95, 94, 96 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 95 – and Derion and Madison are out. πŸ™

Briar – 96, 93, 97 for an average of 95.3 and Briar moves on to the final!! Well deserved.

Jennifer tells Poppin’ John he has a good shot for the wild card (but not really).

Junior Team Division are up next and the Crazy 8s are going first. Derek says that this is a hard division and he’s right!!

OMG…this little girl wishes that Naya would speak to her. And the dance is about that. Naya has spoken to everyone else. I think they might rely on this too much but they are such little girls that they need to be about something and this is something tangible they can be about. I get it.

These little munchkins are like amazingly good. Can they compete against adults, I’m not sure. But damn they are amazing when they are so small!!

Derek says…oh I just got misty. Little girls. Derek’s going to cry. Jennifer says they executed beautifully. Ne-Yo says they are little powerhouses. Jennifer says she got tears in her eyes. Derek says they make him excited for the future of dance.

I love these BTS things, and the out takes.

VPeepz are up next. They don’t get as much of a package as others which is disturbing.

Sharp, clean, cool. I love when they have the bridge and someone is sitting on with and they go into slow motion. Good use of the guy in the different outfit. Why do I feel this dance was too short?? And we’re only ten minutes into the second half hour. What the heck.

Judges are raving like crazy though, so I don’t know what’s going on. Yeah, the leg breaking thing was cool. Derek is also very impressed.

I dunno, I feel like they got short shrift.

Next up: Dancetown Divas – love them. πŸ™‚ “We don’t need boys to do ballroom” – amen, sister!!

These outfits are perfect for girl power. Come on, girls!!!

Strong start. Grat Sync, great cha cha moves. Very powerful. Tiny bit messy in the middle. Great routine but I don’t know if it had enough wow moments in it. Very powerful, pretty clean.

Derek says it’s amazing to see what they’ve done. Ne-yo says they epitomize girl power. Jennifer says she’s so proud of young girls. Nice to see them growing empowered, and understanding their worth. Aaaand now everyone is crying. Me included. Now Derek is being very heartfelt towards JLo. All very sweet.

Scores:

Crazy 8s – 94, 92, 93 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 93

VPeepz – 96, 95, 97…for an average of 96, and that eliminates the Crazy 8s. I love them but that’s fair.

Dancetown Divas – 96, 96, 95 for an average of 95.7, which means that the VPeepz are going to the final.

Love the shots of the judges backstage consoling the kids that didn’t make it through.

Okay, so far our final consists of VPeepz and Briar Nolet. Of the two, based just on tonight’s performance, I’m liking Briar Nolet.

Next up, the Junior Division. Jennifer bustin’ on Derek about having babies. πŸ™‚

Ellie and Ava up first. There’s a bit of panting over Derek – I’ve met him, I understand. Much better looking in person and very sweet. What he’s telling the girls right now is a technique he’s used with his partners on DWTS to great success. Kellie Pickler is one that it really helped.

This is gorgeous. So powerful. So clean. That was beautiful. I felt that one and that’s saying something.

Jennifer raves about it. She says it’s perfect and she couldn’t believe how perfect it was. Derek says every move was finished, he’s raving, he’s in shock. Ne-Yo says they were graceful and flawless. Jennifer says it was a beautiful thing to watch.

Julian and Charlize up next. Derek tells them to bring it down a tiny bit, if they hit every beat it won’t be special.

Awesome start. That seemed VERY short, which is very upsetting. What the hell?

Jennifer says it’s great, the choreography is top notch. Ne-Yo loves the back bend and it makes his back hurt. Derek says there are hard hits and then slower parts, so good.

Kayla Mak up next and I suspect she won’t be edited. And no, she’s getting a very long package.

Beautiful outfit. Opening picture is beautiful. Girl has double jointed arms. Seeing more contemporary and less ballet util the middle which is effective. She’s ver dramatic, but I don’t know if I saw anything special in that. It was great, but….

Derek says every move is stunning. Ne-Yo and Jennifer both rave. Derek says magical. Why are they giving this division the shaft??

Scores:

Julian and Charlize – 96, 95, 96 (Derek, Ne-Yo, Jennifer) for an average of 95.7

Ellie and Ava – 94, 99, 95 (Ne-yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 96 and that means that Julian and Charlize are out.

Kayla: 97, 94, 95 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 95.3 and Kayla is out. Jennifer tried really hard to get Kayla in there with her 97, but she failed. I think maybe Derek and Ne-Yo are wise to her. πŸ™‚

I felt like the Juniors got the shaft, but maybe that’s my imagination. I just feel like they were over too fast.

Upper Teams are next with mentoring by Twitch. Heima up first. Twitch is a good choice in mentors. Their stories are heart wrenching. They’re all crying which makes me cry. Heima = Home.

Now these outfits are cool – yellow masks, mesh shirts. Wow, the shirt off move was cool, more tricky that I’ve seen them in the past. Very cool, love the swaying at the end.

Derek says they are world class and beyond athletic. Jennifer says most of their amazing things are upside down. Derek says stopping on a dime is amazing. Ne-Yo says their pictures – there weren’t as many in this performance. Derek doesn’t know if it was their best. I would agree. But it was still great.

Unity LA is up ext….saving all the Kings drama for the end. Twitch says he has nothing for them choregraphically, except they need a deeper emotional connection.

Unity LA was hosed last week, hope they make up for it. Some odd camera work. The illusion of the door is very cool. Like where are they all coming from?

Damn, that was perfect. Awesome. Stellar. Beautiful. Derek is in tears. Jennifer seems to be as well. Derek says he is grateful to be a part of this show because it creates moments like that. It was pure art. He’s very into it…says it was very real. Jennifer says all the white coats were perfectly in sync and beautifully in sync. Props use was stellar – their best piece yet. Ne-Yo says he’s gotten his first goosies. And that earns a hug from Derek. Ne-Yo says it was perfect. Agreed. Their best work. And the funniest thing?? Zack was a tapper on SYTYCD.

The Kings are next/last. Love these guys. Twitch is nervous about the tricks and is worried they are spending too much time on the tricks and not the transitions. And they have an injury during practice. They’re all emotional about the injury, they can’t afford to go back home.

Great start, very powerful, very aggressive. Great trick at the beginning. Pretty amazing stuff. Overall a crazy routine. Very athletic.

Jennifer says that was out of this world. Savage. They pushed the tricks to another level. Mind-blowing. Derek says there were amazing moments and the visuals were amazing. Ne-Yo says they have such an identity, they won’t ever be forgotten. Jennifer says they are the full package. One of their guys is in a wheelchair, but Great dance! Slight sarcasm there – feel bad for them, for sure.

Scores:

Heima: 92, 93, 95 for an average of 93.3

Unity LA: 96, 100, 100 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 98.7 Which means Heima are out.

The Kings: 99, 100, 100 (Jennifer, Ne-Yo, Derek) for an average of 99.7…man that sucks. Unity LA is out with the most amazing dance. The Kings are also amazing.

Now, who’s going to win the wild card??

Here we go. Who will the judges pick?? They should pick Unity LA.

AND THAT’S IT??? THEY’RE GOING TO THE FINAL WITHOUT TELLING US WHO IT IS?? Bastards. πŸ™‚

Well, we’ll discuss this tomorrow, I can assure you. πŸ™‚

April 28, 2019 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 3, WEEK 9 – Who Got ROBBED?? (Vote)

Well, I see it on Twitter – someone ALWAYS yellin’ at Derek or Jennifer or Ne-Yo for their votes on such and such dancer, saying it’s their fault they didn’t make it to the next round. This week I saw LOTS of yelling at Derek for his scoring of…I think it was Funkanometry. Well, now’s your chance to make your voices heard. πŸ™‚

As you may recall, the Junior Division Duel Winners competing in the Cut were:

Moving 4ward (90.3)
Funkanometry (91.3)
Lauren Yakima (91.7)
Julian & Charlize (93)
Kayla Mak (93.7)
Ellie & Ava (95.3)

The top three scorers will be advancing to the Junior Division Finals (you can vote for your favorite at this link), but the bottom three were eliminated. Let’s take another look at the eliminee’s dances.

Totally bummed about these guys – loved them. This dance just wasn’t strong enough, plus they had that slip on the table.

Next, Funkanometry…I love these guys too. Cute and funny dudes. I think they have some growing to do before they make it farther in the competition though.

Finally, Lauren Yakima…

I think Lauren is an exceptional dancer. Is she better than Moving 4ward or Kayla or Ellie & Ava?? Maybe. But the problem for me is that this dance was so cliched contemporary. It had all the stuff it was supposed to have. There was nothing new or different or exciting about it. And I think it’s because the emotion doesn’t feel authentic, in addition to the moves being quite standard.

ALL that being said, I am very surprised that she didn’t get a shot at the final. At the end of the day, she was out danced by Kayla Mak, not to mention Ellie & Ava, the other contemporary dancers in the division. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a very good dancer. I’m not sure she was robbed. I don’t think any of them were at the end of the day. What do you say??

As for the Upper Team Division…I need a reminder of who all was dancing in the Cut.

Fuego Dance Crew (89.3)
Exiles (90.3)
Radiance (92.7)
Unity LA (93.3)
The Heima (97.3)
The Kings (97.7)

The Top 3 Teams from the Upper Team Division will be dancing tomorrow night in the Division Final (click the link to vote for your favorite and rewatch their dances), but the bottom three were eliminated. Re-watching their dances…first, Fuego Dance Crew:

They overestimate their own sex appeal. I seem to recall in the earlier rounds them chatting up all the ladies. Perhaps some focus is in order. Sad to say, I didn’t remember who these guys were until I saw them dancing and remembered the (foolish?) advice they got to sex it up a bit. As if.

The Exiles:

I said it during the live blog, and I’ll say it again. The one guy wearing a white hat?? Why?? Why? For one little trick?? The trick was good, but it wasn’t enough for that distracting hat!! The guy wasn’t even the main focal point for half the dance. I love these guys though…love them. They are entertaining, but they need more polish.

Why do I like contemporary so much better when it’s done in a large group?? Love Radiance… they did have a few tiny mistakes though.

So, what do you all think?? As much as I love Radiance, I don’t think anyone was robbed. Remember, if someone was robbed, you have to deprive another team of their spot – and who is that going to be?? Noooobody, IMO.

April 27, 2019 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 3, Week 9 – Who is the Winner of the Upper Team Division?? (VOTE!!)

Well, what do you think? I think, based on the way the show was cut the other night, that there is at least one group that has no shot in the divisional final – and that makes me sad. This seems like a clear cut race between the top two groups, unless WOD is playing some games. Let’s review the dances and then you can pick who you think is going to win the division.

The Heima – 97.7 and the top spot of the night. Rightfully so, although I love all three teams quite a bit. I think this routine was genius, using their hands as masks instead of the usual masks, showing that they’re going to reveal themselves to the audience…and some of the moves!! That rocker move? The transition to slow motion in the middle?? Genius.

The Kings, also with a 97.7. Seriously, a transformer?? That was KILLER. I saw a few people on twitter saying this routine wasn’t really dance (and that it would have been better on AGT) – dance is highly subjective, and if a world class dancer like Derek says it’s dance, it’s dance. πŸ™‚ And it was amazing.

Unity LA – 93.3. The video below is the entire dance uncut – which makes a HUGE difference. I was almost at the point of thinking that Radiance should have gotten through over them, in spite of Unity LA being one of my favorites since day one. No more, upon seeing the full dance! I’ve been talking about this issue for three seasons now (and I notice that others are *finally* on the same band wagon), and I have to give WoD props for getting a two hour show which allowed them to greatly reduce the number of dances they cut for time. They do a huge disservice to a group like Unity, who have been nothing short of fantastic all season long. Hell, they do a disservice to everyone who makes the show – after all, the vast majority are fantastic going in. This particular cut is a mystery to me. Typically, they cut dances where the dancer/team of dancers don’t make it through to the next round. That’s somewhat fair (although unlikely to garner any Emmy nominations for the show from an academy where dancers and choreographers are doing the voting). But this one I don’t understand. Are they implying that Unity just doesn’t stand a chance against the other two teams and therefore just cut them?? Why not cut one of the eliminated teams? This is nonsensical – it’s like they’re giving away the ending ahead of time. I guess we’ll see from the voting if that matters or not. Maybe The Heima and The Kings are just that far ahead.

So, what do you think?? Who had the best Dance of Week 9?

Who should win the division based on their body of work??

Also, what do you think of the decision to edit down Unity LA’s performance?? Was it total crap?? And what does it mean??

April 22, 2019 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 3, WEEK 9 – The CUT Not-so-Live BLOG

Hi all! Sorry I didn’t blog yesterday – it was Easter and I was in a sugar coma. πŸ™‚ But I am going to watch the show now and blog as I go. Hope you all enjoyed it last night. It was all about the Upper Teams division and the Junior Division. Here we go…And I haven’t been spoiled.

Derek looks fineeee in a turtleneck. Love Derek singing to Ne-yo through the wall. Love Jennifer’s very strange outfit.

Juniors going first, mentored by Jennifer. Haha…Funkenometry going first…little spacemen. They are all 12 year old boys in front of Jennifer. And she’s wearing some amazing shoes.

Here we go with their dance. This is actually pretty cute. Don’t know if cute will be enough, but it is cute. Fun little lean trick. Highly entertaining – not super difficult, but highly entertaining.

Ne-Yo wearing a helmet is hilarious. Jennifer says they added her suggestions, that it really came together and that it was fun and innovative. Ne-Yo says they’re becoming a favorite. It’s entertaining and they earned the funny and danced well. Derek says the concept and costumes were better than the routine, the choreography was elementary (agreed). Ne-Yo says he would still pay money to see it.

Scores: 93, 93, 88 for an average of 91.3. Wonder if there is discussion between the judges so that Jennifer doesn’t score her mentees low, and Derek goes low to offset her – because you know that is not going to end up being the best act in the division, yet 93 is a high score.

Sorry, this Derek-Ne-Yo thing is just hilarious.

Next is the probable winner of the Junior Division, Lauren Yakima.

Come on, Lauren, kill it. Dress is beautiful, lighting is beautiful, fairly standard contemporary choreography so far. It was very beautiful, but I don’t think it was as special as her last dance. It takes a lot to move me, and that didn’t really do it. Which disappoints me.

The judges loved it, saying the emotion was general, Derek points out the wobbly moments (I caught those – I guess they all did, based on the comments while they were scoring). It seems like they don’t have much else to say.

Scores: 91, 91, 93 for an average of 91.7 – a much lower score than I expected from her, actually.

Next up is Moving 4ward and they are edited straight out of the gate, you can tell by the way the dance gets started. And they had a slip on the table. Which is a shame because I actually prefer them to either Lauren or Kayla.

Derek says he lost excitement in the middle. Jennifer agrees. The whole thing is VERY truncated.

Scores; 90, 91, 90 for an average of 90.3 which is currently third place. The shortness of the routine means they don’t make it.

Julian and Charlize are up next. Jennifer likes the cat and mouse game, but says they have to go all the way there, but they don’t yet.

This is off to an excellent start. Really good, interesting, sharp moves. I LOVED that!! It told a whole story, it was lovely.

Derek starts off and he’s a bit on crack saying he saw the choreography more than he saw the dance. Well, I don’t agree with that. πŸ™‚ Great musicality there. Their hits are effective thought. But then he says he really liked it. Jennifer says it was an amazing routine, narrative was great, dancing was great, it was beautiful. Ne-Yo says there was so much beat manipulation, but it was danced exquisitely.

Scores: 94, 91, 94 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 93…and the top of the leaderboard. Well deserved. And they are guaranteed a spot in the divisional final, I believe. Moving 4ward is out.

Kayla Mak is up next. Dig the outfit. Seeing a bit more ballerina this time. The walking and her lines. Derek is right, she is exquisite. In the end, I feel like that was better than Lauren’s routine but…

Derek says exquisite again and says ballet can compete on this show. Jennifer talks about their discussion and that she really tapped into it. Derek talks about her transitions – how great they are. Jennifer says she’s so delicate but strong and courageous. Ne-Yo says there’s a edge to her that sets her apart.

Scores: 93, 94, 94 for an average of 93.7 which puts her slightly ahead of Julian and Charlize – only 0.7 points. Funkenometry is out, but gets props from the judges.

Ellie and Ava are up next. Sounds like they might be taking a risk. Jennifer going hard core on them, saying she doesn’t get it. She actually gives them pretty good advice, but man, big changes are risky.

They do move very well together even when not in sync. Great flip at the end. All in all, very powerful routine. I think I liked it better than Lauren’s.

Ne-Yo says the power was real. Now everybody is crying including me. Ne-Yo says it was very powerful. Jennifer says it was sooo badass. The tone was perfect. Derek says they embodied it all. Jennifer says the change was worth it.

Scores: 95, 95, 96 for an average o f95.3 and the top spot on the leaderboard, knocking out Lauren Yakima. Just goes to show, you never know what’s going to happen and you have to bring it every time.

That means the top three acts for the Junior Division are:
Ellie and Ava
Kayla Mak
Julian and Charlize

Unexpected, but I love it!!

Now for the Upper Team Division. Exiles are up first. These are the dads doing hip hop thing…they’re fun though. Good enough to win redemption. Ne-Yo says they are in an unfinished place. He tries to pump them to get them to believe in themselves. Hope it works.

Like their outfits. Only one guy with a hat??Seems like it worked. The hat guy seems to be the focal point but he’s not except sometimes. This is a pretty strong routine, but I don’t know.

Ne-Yo says they were feeling uncertain but they found the confidence. Jennifer says they were trying to tell them something with the song. Jennifer felt it. She says they nailed it. Derek loved the windmill trick. Jennifer says some of the spacing was off. Derek says some of the dancing in between dropped the energy.

Scores: 90, 90, 91 for an average of 90.3. I tend to think that won’t last but we’ll see.

The Kings are up next. Love these guys – hope they do well. Ne-yo seems to tell them to streamline it a bit, but I dunno.

Their outfits are really effective with a team that large. I’m at loss for words actually. That transformer move was super cool, and everything after that point was just amazing. Fantastic.

Jennifer is all like OMG. She says it was a very different routine. Ne-Yo said it had just enough comedy. Derek – at the beginning it was too much but when it got going it was fantastic. Derek and Jennifer both say insane. The judges are essentially raving.

Scores: 96, 98, 99 (Ne-yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 97.7. Well deserved.

Up next, Unity LA – my favorites (with Kings a close second). Zack talking about how their careers have an expiration date.

Oh boy, they’re in trouble. They were edited to the point that the audience wouldn’t get the point of the dance, and it was still a bit messy and not as compelling as some of their earlier routines.

Derek says “interesting” which is not a good sign. Jennifer says it was super creative, but it can’t get too abstract so that they don’t get it. Yeah, even the judges comments are heavily edited. They’re not long for the show even with what will probably be decent scores

Scores: 93, 93, 94 for an average of 93.3. That puts them temporarily in second place.

Fuego Dance Crew is up next. Ne-Yo tells them to turn up the sexy.

Off to a pretty strong start. I’m not seeing the sexy but the moves in the middle are cool until they almost blew the roll. It was interesting, ,I don’ know if it was that great.

Derek says they improved their wave. Ne-yo says they brought the latin fire. Jennifer says they have improved and they are the most fun and would be great to hang out with. She thinks it’s a little elementary. Derek says it needed ore gasoline and it was a little elementary. Derek liked the pictures, but he doesn’t think it was strong enough for this stage of the competition. I would agree.

Scores: 90, 89, 89 for an average of 89.3, which puts them out of the competition.

This is going to be tight. Radiance up next. They were so fantastic last week, I hope they can hold it up. If they can bring the emotion they have back stage to the stage, they should be good.

I think they did it. I think it was beautiful. Derek asks what it was about. Derek got it I think. He says they did a great job with the narrative. From a competitive standpoint there were a few moments that weren’t together, Ne-Yo agrees. Jennifer loves when dancers convey what they’re feeling. She thinks the piece itself could have been stronger, she didn’t understand that it was about shootings.

Scores: 94, 92 92 for an average of 92.7 which moves them into third place, knocking out Exiles. This means that Unity LA and Kings are guaranteed a spot in the Divisional Final. So why did Unity get so edited??

The Heima are our last group of the night. No Mask tonight…This could help or hurt them, as they explain in their package. The Mask mask their insecurities.

I like their hands as masks. Off to a great start. Love that swing they created. The slow mo part was also awesome. Hell, the whole thing was awesome. Excellent.

Derek is up…and he hasn’t been for a while. Jennifer says they are explosive and exciting. They know who they are, all their athletic talent. Derek says they defy physics. Ne-Yo says they took amazing risks, he loves seeing their faces, loves the smiles, they brought personality on top of being technically sound. Quality work.

Scores: 98, 95, 100 for an average of 97.7 – which knocks out Radiance. Hooray for the Heima but boo for Radiance. I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow in my recap post.

End of the show leaves us with (for the Upper Team Division):
The Heima
The Kings
Unity LA

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. :-)

Coming on Week 9 of World of Dance Season 3 – The CUT Continues…

This ought to be good!!

Come on, Unity LA!!

April 19, 2019 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. :-)

WoD Season 3 Contestant Profiles – The Heima

The Heima are a stand out group in the Upper Team Division. Breaking fusion is their style and they’ve won international competitions. They are from Seoul, South Korea and range in age from 21 to 28 years old. Let’s look at some of their WoD performances. Here’s their performance from the Qualifiers.

What I love about these guys is they are so smooth and melodic – graceful. I really appreciate that flow that they have to their routine. All that and some great B-boy moves. And seriously…the ending of this routine is just killer. Love the masks too. Next is their duel…

This was another beautiful routine. And some of their tricks were just amazing. Who were the Heima before WoD?? Here’s a routine from 2017 at a competition…I can’t believe they only got third place!! Beautiful.

And this is just cool as hell. πŸ™‚

If you want to know more about The Heima, you can hit up their facebook page or any of their social media that I’ve listed below. You know, that’s one of the great things about World of Dance…it introduces many of us to groups and performers that we might never have seen otherwise.

The Heima Facebook
The Heima Instagram
The Heima YouTube Page

You can also hit up World of Dance Magazine to get the Instagram pages of individual dancers. Why not? They’re an attractive bunch. πŸ™‚

April 13, 2019 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. :-)

WoD Week 7 Recap and VOTE – Who Should Win the Upper Team Division?? (Poll)

Whew!! Busy week. I haven’t had a chance to think about the winners of this past week. I thought about those who lost and if any of them got robbed. πŸ™‚ Since it’s been several days, let’s take a look at who won their duels:

Now, just looking at that table, I have to say my favorite are Unity LA…followed by The Kings. Personally, I think the only reason that Unity LA are lower than the Kings is because JLo had some weird beef with their song selection. That was just…weird. Anyway, let’s take another look at the dances. First up, the redemption winner,Β  Exiles – first their duel performance, followed by the redemption round.

Exiles come in at 0.56

Going from lowest score to highest, next we have Fuego Dance Crew. Love how this one started out with the very cool, gravity defying move.

Radiance…they’re the shared video of the week meaning that their video is paired with their competition, Main Guys. I loved this routine for its prowling, stalking feel. Excellent.

Up next, the Heima – B-boys who seem to have it going on, but they’re not actually in my top three for this group, I don’t think.

Okay, changed my mind. I think I actually like them better than the Kings. Kinda funny what happens when you rewatch the dances after the first time.

Next up…my favorites, Unity LA.

It’s funny, because they’re listed as contemporary, but they’re so much more interesting than your average contemporary dancer these days. So much, going on, so layered and complicated – I love it. And how much do I love Zack Everheart?? Very, very much. Have I mentioned he started out as a tapper on SYTYCD??? πŸ˜‰

And the dance of the night (for the judges anyway)….The Kings. I totally get the complaint that some had about it seeming like an elite cheerleading squat…but we call professional cheerleaders who show up on DWTS ringers for a reason. πŸ™‚ These guys are quite awesome.

So, you have a pretty good idea of my top three….who are your top three. Vote below.

I ended up going with Radiance, Unity LA and the Heima, with Kings nearly tied with them. Who did you vote for??

April 12, 2019 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 3, WEEK 7 – The Duels LIVE BLOG

The final night of the duels is upon us. Tonight it’s the Upper Team Division!! I’m about five minutes behind show time so it will be a few before I catch up. Nice weather = me drinking wine outside. πŸ™‚

First, Judges looking fiiinnnneee. πŸ™‚

Next, Fuego Dance Crew chooses Siudy Flamenco – hard to say who all they had to choose from since they were the number for team and presumable, three other teams chose before them.

Rooting for Flamenco. I don’t like extreme arrogance.

Fuego going first. First move is excellent. But their sync isn’t as impressive as some of the junior teams. Not a particularly difficult routine, kinda simple, IMO. But well danced. Read more..

April 7, 2019 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. :-)