Hey WOD fans…
This is it! We have arrived at the season finale or as this show calls it, the world final. Tonight, the last remaining act from each division, along with a wild card, will compete for the million dollar prize. The Kings, Vpeepz, Ellie & Ava, and Briar Nolet have all made it, outlasting every other member of their respective divisions. Now, they have one last shot to nail their routines and convince the judges that they deserve to be champion.
We will also be entertained tonight by some returning favorites from last season. Even judges Derek Hough and Ne-Yo will get in on the dancing action. Will another hip hop routine win the show or will we see another genre take the prize? And who will grab that coveted wild card spot and could they shock us all by actually winning? All our answers are ahead as we begin this two hour grand finale on World Of Dance.
Unity LA has been picked as the judges wild card. No real shock there considering their routine last week. They deserve a shot and they have a great chance at the win.
Aww. This is cool. All the finalists get a moment to shine together in a huge group routine. Very nice to watch. We have around thirty or so people on the floor. Nice choreography too. They danced to High Hopes by Panic At The Disco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5gkdmo4wMI
The show is now CASTING for next season. If you are interested, feel free to visit www.worldofdancecating.com for details.
Charity & Andres are back. They were junior division champions last season. Michael Dameski is also back. He is the runner-up from season two. Tonight, all three are dancing with Derek Hough. UGH. SO GOOD. BEASTS. All of them. How did Michael not win last year? Damn. Derek was fire up there as well. What an entertainingly sophisticated and dynamic routine. Watch that in its entirety if you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wURJeveeWg
If you want to see Derek Hough on his first solo tour, visit derekhough.com for details. He will have some amazing dancers performing with him and the tour will be visiting sixty cities!
Sean & Kaycee (from season two) and Ian Eastwood (from season one) are joining judge Ne-Yo for a routine. Ne-Yo is singing of course while the others perform. It is like an awards show performance with the star and his backup dancers. But when you are being backed up by dancers like this, it is unmissable. Some really great choreography there. I wonder if Sean or Ian put that together. Perhaps they collaborated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqKe075aGg
In case you were wondering, we still have another guest performance to go and the actual competition of this season’s final five have yet to begin competing.
Last season’s winners, The Lab are here to perform a routine dedicated to Jennifer Lopez. Nice. The Lab doing what they do best- skilled choreography, in-sync dancing, some humor, slick presentation, and wonderful musicality. I’m sure Jennifer was thrilled to have her tunes danced by such wonderful performers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaQi0tAVhDA
Jennifer Lopez is also having a tour. It is across North America and you can head to livenation.com if you want details and/or tickets.
Looks as though it is finally time to get to the competition. Only five acts to go before we find out who wins the grand prize.
All five acts get the chance to talk about how important it is for them to be in this competition and what they bring to the table personally and professionally. This is pretty much a huge recap of what we have seen so far. We are almost at the one-hour mark and we still haven’t seen a single routine from this year’s finalists. Not that the show hasn’t been enjoyable but they should have sparkled some of the guest routines throughout the night for flow. But what do I know? :P
Briar Nolet
Jennifer counsels her to work on the connection to the song. Derek thinks the song is great but he wants Briar to make Jennifer feel something. Briar notes she needs to find meaning in the lyrics. Really good job here. She absolutely paired the dancing with emotion. This is tough for Briar because she is the only soloist left in the competition. But that can also be a blessing as all the attention is on her and if she nails it, she gets the credit full on. I thought she was fierce and powerful and brought that level of intensity that is necessary. But it didn’t feel like a million dollar routine. It was exciting but not just a notch below expectations considering her competition.
Ne-Yo calls her a superhero. He says she is so strong with so much power with the piece. He mentions how she came from winning redemption to this. Jennifer says there is danger to Briar’s performance. Derek enjoyed Briar’s scream during the routine. He felt the reckless abandonment. He says she has really defied the odds. Jennifer feels the intention got a bit muddled during the dance. Derek calls her an incredible athlete. He felt it. Jennifer didn’t feel it completely conceptually. But they all call her amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yezntfwby0
Vpeepz
During mentoring, Jennifer tells them not to lose intensity half way through the routine. They need to go to another level. One of the dancers ask if they could possibly beat The Kings? Ne-Yo tells them that they are asking the wrong people. Don’t ask the judges, ask themselves if they believe that they can beat The Kings. Great execution here. The cleanliness of this routine is amazing. Vpeepz have always done well with being together but they took it up a notch here. So much going on at once yet everyone was doing the exact same thing like a fine oiled machine. Again, like Briar, I don’t quite know if what we saw was deserving of a grand prize win but they excelled at doing what they do best. I wish it was just a little different from how they performed before so I could feel like this was THE best they could do.
Derek calls it dope. He loved the stepping and locking. He notes how many steps these guys have in their routines. Ne-Yo says the V in their name stands for very fast moving… Jennifer feels the energy was off the charts. She says they could have had a few more transitions. Ne-Yo thinks it may have been too much of a good thing. He wanted them to slow down a bit and let the dance breathe. He admits he is nit picking. He calls it an amazing finale performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGlHsnaselg
Unity LA
Jennifer doesn’t feel this routine is as strong as the door piece from last week. Ne-Yo worries they are doing too much. The group is worried about their competition, which is why they are putting so much in the routine. Derek thinks they have to tap into something that moves them. They leave the mentoring session and plan to change things to make sure they routine brings the emotion. Now that was REALLY good. Finally tonight, an act brought something to a finale worthy of a win. This was emotional yet not in the way the routine was last week with the obvious message of the father leaving his family. This was more a passion filled routine with lovely lines and fluidity. So much great work being done by these dancers individually here and together. They totally nailed the dancing mixed with emotion concept and so much of that was just beautiful to watch. I actually clapped when it was over. So far, my favorite competitive routine of the night.
Derek calls it a work of art. He says it was beautiful. Jennifer says it looked like a museum. Derek calls it sensational. Ne-Yo calls them the total package. He says they are the icing on the cake. Jennifer says she was missing joy from them throughout the season- until tonight. She finally saw joy from them. Ne-Yo thanks them for his first goosies last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNnKfBhqlY
The Kings
They only prepared thirty seconds for the mentoring session. Derek is worried they peaked too soon by only coming in with such little to show them. Jennifer doesn’t want to see the same old thing from them. She wants to see something that looks and feels like a finale. They note they need to plan smart this time if they want to win. WOW. WOW. You know how the Summer and Winter Olympics have amazing performances for the opening and closing ceremonies? This would fit in there. They even choreographed slow motion action sequences in that like a motion picture. And it looked sick. In the best possible. way. Again, something new brought to the table just like they have done each time they needed to perform. Incredible dancing, incredible pictures, incredible strength and maturity of movement. Just blown away.
Derek says it felt cinematic. Ne-Yo feels like he saw the greatest action film ever. Jennifer can’t believe the slow motion. Derek says they had more dancing in this routine and he loves the culture. Ne-Yo marvels at the height they got in the tricks. Jennifer says they surprised her which she didn’t think they could do to her again. She loved the story. Jennifer says they took her shoe in the first performance and her wig now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweyQrGMEAk
Ellie & Ava
Jennifer wants the musicality to get going. It has to build and build and they need to not hold back. Ne-Yo agrees. Ellie & Ava note that they need to make themselves proud and have one last amazing dance. They feel to win the show, it would be amazing and crazy. So very pretty to watch. Elegant is definitely the word. They ended their run on the show perfectly. A piece that showed them off technically with some beautiful steps and emotionally via the right song and clever choreography. I especially loved how many times they were there for one another through that. It made it a really special piece when you consider they are sisters. Is it enough to defeat The Kings or Unity LA? I don’t think so but they are ahead of the first two performances tonight for me.
Ne-Yo feels the family bond shows when they dance. Jennifer says they do beautiful duets. She feels that together they are even better. She says magic happens. Ne-Yo wants them to proud. Derek talks about how he dances with family and he wants them to soak it in. He calls what they did elegant and classy. Jennifer is not surprised they made it to the finale. Derek was moved by them throughout the season. Ne-Yo feels pride watching them dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59N7SEieYLA
FINAL SCORES
Ellie & Ava
Ne-Yo- 94
Derek- 96
Jennifer- 95
Score- 95
Briar Nolet
Ne-Yo- 92
Derek- 94
Jennifer- 92
Score- 92.7
Vpeepz
Ne-Yo- 94
Derek- 96
Jennifer- 91
Score- 93.7
Unity LA
Ne-Yo- 95
Derek- 98
Jennifer- 94
Score- 95.7
The Kings
Ne-Yo- 100
Derek- 100
Jennifer- 100
Score- 100
The winner of World Of Dance season three is… The Kings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7t2FDSmhAQ
A well deserved win though of course, easily predictable. The Kings were the absolute standouts from the first time they hit the stage. They showcased something we have never seen before and considering this show is now three seasons old, that is an accomplishment.
Once again, hip hop reigns supreme. That’s three consecutive seasons. And as we stand right now, a winner has come from each division except the juniors. We had the upper teams, the junior teams, and the uppers in season one. Maybe next year?
This was a solid season. The show did a much better job with the editing of the competition rounds. I am impressed by that. What was a bit underwhelming was the quality of dance from both junior divisions. Perhaps we got spoiled the last two seasons but they didn’t really bring it this year. This season began and ended with The Kings.
I hope you all enjoyed season three as much as I have enjoyed blogging about it and reading your comments. I look forward to a season four. Thanks again to MJ for allowing me the chance and for all of you for taking the ride with me. :D
