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 3 (Qualifiers) – Court’s Thoughts: The Good, The Bad, & the WTF???

I apologize for the tardiness of this review – due to tornadoes in my viewing area on Tuesday night (not where I live, but in my viewing radius), my NBC affiliate preempted WOD in favor of weather coverage, so I had to wait until Wednesday to watch the show on Hulu and do both the music and this little review.  Additionally, I’m still adjusting to a migraine medication that is making me very, VERY drowsy and a tad cranky, so I apologize if this review is less than sunshine-y…then again, I found the acts in this week’s episode to be a bit lackluster on the whole, so I’m not sure I’d really be honest if I put a hugely positive spin on this week’s show.  Seems like they may have aligned some of the less-stellar acts this week with what will probably amount to a bit of a dip in ratings that shows typically experience 3-4 episodes into each season, before picking back up midway through; then again, maybe this wasn’t intentional, and the way this particular group of acts cobbled together just fit nicely with the storyline and that’s why we ended up with a preponderance of okayish acts all in one episode. Either way – I’m not sure we see the majority of these acts lasting through the duels, save for maybe one or two having a huge breakthrough…

The Lab, Lite: Rascals. Had I not been dazzled by The Lab last week (and last season), I probably would have had a lot more of a glowing review of this group – but unfortunately, up against The Lab, Rascals have the heart, but not the polish. The Rascals weren’t bad, per se; I just found myself comparing everything they did to The Lab, and Rascals paled in comparison in nearly every aspect: the cleanliness, the staging, the choreography, the execution. I’d stake money on it that they get pitted against The Lab in the duels, and just absolutely blown out of the water…which sucks, because I get the feeling Rascals are the less-privileged group just trying to keep up with the Joneses, and probably work every bit as hard as The Lab. This is the sad side of the Junior division – seeing kids get disappointed.

Charity & Andres meet Sean & Kaycee – with an edge: Josh & Taylor. Probably the only act this week that I thought was anything worth sneezing at – and I’m not even entirely sold on them being a contender, just based on other similar acts we already have in the lineup for the duels.  I thought Josh & Taylor were the best of both worlds of Charity & Andres and Sean & Kaycee – they had the polish of the former, with the edge of the latter, and the whole performance was very edgy and cool.  The only problem I have is that they may actually be too “cool”, and I could see the judges (Jennifer in particular) gravitating more towards the contemporary angst of Sean & Kaycee or the romanticism of Charity & Andres. I’m hoping Josh & Taylor have something completely different up their sleeve for the duels, because if they can prove that they’re versatile, I could see them ousting one of the other two couples I mentioned…possibly Sean & Kaycee…?

I Thought Hilty & Bosch Were Already Eliminated…?: Lock N Lol. I’ll admit, I thought this group was a ton of fun and I was thoroughly entertained – but the difficulty level just wasn’t really there, though I will commend them on being really, really clean and tight on their synchronization, and I enjoyed the creativity with the costume changes. Unfortunately, they just felt like a remix of Hilty & Bosch – just a slightly larger group, with the same token “look, we really are ‘World of Dance’ – we have dancers from all over the world!!!” explanation for why they’re there, even though they unfortunately probably don’t stand a chance in this competition.  I think they’re probably going to get their asses handed to them in the duels.

Not Really A Fair Fight: LD Dance Company. This is one of those acts that I feel a bit sorry for, because I feel like they were probably lured into trying out for this competition, so WOD can claim to be diverse, but they really never stood a chance of ever being successful on this show simply because what they do is not what WOD is looking for.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with what they do – I actually have a tremendous amount of respect for traditional Brazilian samba (my stepmother trained in it from age 6-24) because it’s deceptively easy-looking, but actually involves a huge amount of technique; but I feel like the skill of it is unfortunately lost on most Americans, as most only see the bright, sparkly costumes and booty-shaking. I will give Ne-Yo a free pass, as he is the least technically-learned judge and probably doesn’t know enough about it, but I feel like Derek & Jennifer should have known a bit better, and at least thrown in something to the extent of “I wish America knew how tough samba is, what you did is actually very difficult!!!” before dismissing it as “just not enough diversity in the steps to be competitive on this show.” If there’s one respect in which I feel this show falls short, it’s educating the masses on various styles of dance – too often I see lesser-known styles reduced to “Eh, there’s just not enough there to be competitive” rather than actually making an effort to say “Sure, they may not be the right fit for this competition, but what they do is still very valid in its own right.”

Diet Super Cr3w: The Ruggeds. Oof…I guess I should have known when they started the show out with this crew, that this week’s episode was going to be a tad lackluster. I need to remind myself that every competition reality show needs some cannon fodder for the first round, and they do seem to be placing more of an emphasis on getting acts from all over the world this season (without as much regard for whether or not they can actually hack it in this competition)…so for this act to be as underwhelming as it was, I suppose was to be expected.  I guess my biggest gripe was just how disorganized it seemed to be – the b-boying moves were decent (and I actually loved the guy in the center doing flares in slo-mo, and the ending move), but nobody seemed to care deeply about synchronization, and everything looked a bit sloppy. They reminded me of Super Cr3w from season 1 and ABDC – perhaps the early years, before they actually tightened and polished everything up.  Gut feeling is they get paired up against a better crew in the duels (maybe S-Rank?) and get sent packing.

Quickstyle, but with Robots: Elektro Botz. I liked this group, but I’m not sure I loved them – I think I was more impressed with how they sold the dance, showmanship-wise, rather than being blown away by anything specific they were doing dance-wise. They were creative and whimsical, but I have seen robotics done much more cleanly – namely by Poreotics, who we’re going to be seeing later on this season, and who have the potential to make Elektro Botz look like rank amateurs. Will the whimsy carry Elektro Botz? We’ll see.

Jaxon Willard in an Australian Suit: Michael Dameski. Not going to pretend, and you guys already know – I’m not a huge fan of contemporary dancers. So I wasn’t really expecting to be dazzled by Michael, before even seeing him dance, and there were upsides and downsides I saw to his dancing.  The upsides: I liked that he didn’t seem to revert to gymnastics and acrobatic tricks quite so much as some of the other contemporary dancers I’ve seen, and I will say that his ballet technique seems very well-honed. The downsides: he seemed a bit inorganic and clinical (as opposed to Jaxon’s more organic, emotional approach) in his dancing, and it seems like his shorter stature limits him from really extending quite as much as the more willowy Jaxon. Do I like one more than the other? Eh…I’m still not terribly fond of solo contemporary dancers, but I think I will give a slight edge to Jaxon for just being a bit more compelling to watch, where Michael can be a bit more…robotic. Not sure either one has the star-power to win this season, though.

So did you guys find yourselves a bit let down by this week as well? Or did you find yourselves impressed?

June 14, 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 3 (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.

“Check It Out” by Oh The Larceny (intro)

“Something In The Way You Move” by Ellie Goulding (judges intro)

“Move” by Saint Motel (The Ruggeds intro)

“Right Here, Right Now” by Fatboy Slim (The Ruggeds performance)

“Follow Your Fire” by Kodaline (The Ruggeds scoring)

“Break A Sweat” by Becky G (Josh & Taylor intro)

“Bellyache (Marian Hill Remix)” by Billie Eilish (Josh & Taylor performance)

“Stay” by Zedd & Alessia Cara (Josh & Taylor scores)

“Get Stupid” by Aston Merrygold (Lock N Lol intro)

“Let’s L.O.L.” by LOCK ‘N’ LOL CREW (Lock N Lol performance)

“All Night (Cid Remix)” by Icona Pop (Lock N Lol scores)

“The American Dream” by The Federal Empire (Michael Dameski intro)

“Mercy” by Shawn Mendes (Michael Dameski performance)

“Dreamer (Extended Mix)” by Axwell & Ingrosso (Michael Dameski scores)

“Danza Kuduro (Official Remix)” by Don Omar feat. Lucenzo & Erick Right (LD Dance Company performance)

“Begging” by Dua Lipa (LD Dance Company scores)

“Children Of A Miracle” by Don Diablo & Marnik (Rascals intro)

“Let’s Go” by Travis Barker feat. Yelawolf & Twista & Busta Rhymes & Lil Jon (Rascals performance)

“How Far I’ll Go” by Alessia Cara (Rascals scores)

“There For You” by Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan (Elektro Botz intro)

“Fireflies” by Owl City (Elektro Botz performance)

“In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes (Elektro Botz scores)

June 13, 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 Three Qualifiers – The Performance Videos

If you missed episode three of World Of Dance, here are the performances that qualified. Wow, they were all so good. Josh & Taylor and The Elecktrobotz were my favorites.

June 12, 2018 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.