WoD Season 3 Contestant Profiles – VPeepz

The VPeepz actually debuted on WoD last night and made quite the impression! I loved them for many reasons, not the least of which was the excellent dancing and great story. Totally agreed with JLo and her comments regarding kids like them and the future. Their local media reported on their accomplishment last night:

The Philippines’ VPeepz junior dance crew showcased their amazing moves on NBC’s World of Dance (WOD) stage in the second part of the competition’s season premiere on March 3, Sunday (March 4 Manila Time).

The 13-member hip hop group from Manila went into the Qualifiers needing a score of 85 to get through to the next round of Duels. VPeepz received the following judge votes: 89 from NeYo, 89 from Jennifer Lopez, and 93 from Derek Hough.

With an average score of 90.3, VPeepz earned a spot to proceed to the next round of the competition.

To Derek Hough’s question as to why the team traveled all the way from the Philippines to America to join WOD, VPeepz said “I guess we just want to show the world that even though we’re all different, I can say that there’s really unity and diversity.

This same outlet, Good News Pilipinas, did some of the profiling work for me a while ago, when they wrote about their kids appearing on the show:

VPeepz achievements include:

-defended Regional and National title at the Hip-Hop International Philippines two times since 2016
-awarded the Philippines’ state recognition for the prestigious Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) for three straight years
-becoming a household name in the Philippines dance community
-setting the standards for excellence for junior teams in the country

VPeepz Profile:

Hometown: Manila, Philippines
Members: 13
Ages: 12-17
Style: Hip-Hop
Division: Junior Team
Social: @vpeepzofficial / @charles.leppard / @darloemman / @jaye.felicity / @gerardnicolas / @heartuy88.official / @jeloamorin / @julian_ville / @mendoza_liam / @coolmicolitz / @penelope.reeve / @og_sean26 / @sophiaamercado_

Here is there excellent routine from last night!

I think this might be more awesome than what they did last night…

March 4, 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 – Lauren Yakima

Lauren is a contemporary dancer in the Junior Division – she gave a stellar performance last night and I suspect she’ll go a ways in this competition. She’s also SYTYCD winner Amy Yakima’s sister, per Justin.

She’s an interesting dancer, for sure. More interesting than some previous contemporary juniors. I think a few years age difference makes a big deal.

Lauren Yakima Twitter

Lauren Yakima Instagram

Lauren’s home town paper, the Detroit Free Press, did a nice write up on her before the show got started. Click the link to read the whole thing – an excerpt is below.

If Yakima’s name sounds familiar, maybe it’s because she’s the youngest sister of Amy Yakima, who won Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” back in 2013. The Free Press spoke this week to the latest Yakima to step up as a network TV contestant.

How she got into dancing

“It just kind of just like fell in to my lap,” says Lauren, whose older sisters Amy and Emma also grew up immersed in local competitive dancing. “It ended up being a passion for all of us and something we were good at. It snowballed from when we were kids.” Lauren’s mother, Mary Beth, and father, Daniel, are both proud dance parents who’ve spent more than a decade supporting their daughters’ ambitions and supplying the necessary money and chauffeuring for lessons, weekend dance competitions, national conventions, summer workshops and costumes.

February 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. :-)

Who is Set to Compete on World of Dance Season 3??

I’m sure many of you have seen the new promo for World of Dance Season 3 that came out a few days before Christmas (when I was on vacay). Between that video and twitter, we have a few ideas as to who some of the competitors are – I am NOT good at naming dance teams from this video, but there are other eagle eyes out there who are. Here’s the promo:

Not the face, JLo, not the face… 🙂 Anyway, can you pick out any of the dancers in the promo?? They look amazing. Here are a couple that have been named thus far:

So, Kings United (India), All Ready (Korea) and Jorge Valcárcel/Jonathan Troncoso (Peru) are three of our competitors this upcoming season. Kings United are a male hip hop team from India – World Hip Hop Dance Champions in fact! Since there are several of them, they are likely in the “Upper Team” category. I think, provided they don’t change the categories again.

Kings United Wiki
Kings United Instagram
Kings United Facebook
Kings United YouTube

All Ready appears to be a female duo from Korea. I don’t see a stated style on their facebook page, but they definitely have a very strong ballroom/latin vibe and they have a Salsa competition post.. Derek is going to love this duo – fantastic dancing, from what I’ve seen.

All Ready Instagram
All Ready Facebook

The third tweet says, when translated, that two Peruvian dancers “captivated” JLo while competing on the upcoming season. It links to an article about the dancers, specifically Jorge Valcárcel, which says:

Jorge Valcárcel is a prominent Peruvian dancer, was crowned as world champion of dance competitions in different genres such as salsa , danced in El Gran Show by Gisela Valcárcel and is currently in full preparation for the competition in Los Angeles, United States, along with Jonathan Troncoso.

These two are pretty amazing Salsa dancers!! Unfortunately, I’m not sure which social media belongs to them.

December 30, 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. :-)

Update on New World of Dance Host Scott Evans

Previously, when I posted that Derek Hough had told us who the new host was, I linked to the wrong Scott Evans. Which is why it didn’t make sense that he was the host of a dance competition. World of Dance tweeted the correct Scott Evans…

And I’m still not sure why he’s the host. 🙂 He is an Access Hollywood correspondent, so he’s a more natural fit than the other Scott Evans when it comes to hosting….but does he have any actual dance experience in the way that Jenna does?? No idea. Jenna was such a great host because she had a very nurturing personality. Perhaps Scott will as well.

December 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. :-)

“Special” Premiere Date Set for World of Dance Season 3!

According to their twitter feed, it all starts February 27th!

December 18, 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 – Are You Ready for Season 3??

Because Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough and Ne-Yo sure are!! That’s right, filming has started. 🙂

Judge Derek has me curious with this little clip of dancing with last season’s contestant Daniella…..

October 7, 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 Renewed for Season 3??

Sure seems like it might be. 😉 Want to audition or just check out the gorgeous photo on the website?? Click that
there link. 🙂

April 25, 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. :-)