This is the second season of World of Dance, a competition with acts of all ages and dance genres. Each week I’ll bring you the highlights of the show until we get down to the final contestants.
As a reminder the ju,dges for this World of Dance competition are Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough and Ne-Yo.
The divisions of the World of Dance competition include junior, upper, upper team and now a new category, junior team. If the competitors advance they go against another competitor in a battle. Here are this week’s highlights:
Up first to kick off the World of Dance season is Desi Hoppers from Mumbai, India, a six-man hip-hop troupe. They won a hip-hop competition in India. They like to fuse hip-hop and Bollywood. I love the fusion and then they pick up the pace and really rock it out. Awesome. I already want to see these guys again. Judges: Jennifer says her favorite part was the fusion too, it was unexpected. Ne-Yo: “It was just fun.” Their score: (they need 80 or above to make it to the duels.) 98, 94 and 96 — easy advancement.
This next duo — Sean and Kaycee — is daring — they performed a blindfolded dance. (Reread that last sentence — I wrote ‘blindfolded.’) Great dance and I love Kaycee’s facial emotions. They made J-Lo cry. Derek: You guys are standing out. Ne-Yo: This is either going to be really good or really bad. He loved it. Score: 95, 96, 97. They are cute. I like them.
See the @KayceeRice and @seanlew1125 performance that made @JLo cry!
It’s going down May 29 on #WorldofDance. 💃🌏 pic.twitter.com/ROimTHDWdN
— World of Dance (@NBCWorldofDance) May 18, 2018
The next group is S-Rank, an upper team group. Lots of popping and locking. Their scores: 92, 91, 90. They are advancing.
Jaxon Willard, 16, is a contemporary junior solo dancer, the first solo dancer of the night. His face shows a lot of emotion and his dancing is really clean. Judges (who all stood for him): Ne-Yo: I’m so proud of you. Derek: Jaxon, you’re beautiful. You embody what it means to be a dancer and a storyteller. Scores: 95, 96, 91. He’s through.
Next up is Flip, an 8-girl junior team. I don’t like them as much as I’ve liked the other groups. Ne-Yo: I don’t know competitive it is, but I enjoyed it. J-Lo: You could incorporate some other dance moves. Scores: 81m 83, 84 for an 82.7 — they made it through by the skin of their teeth J Lo said.
Hilty & Bosch from Osaka, Japan are up next, an upper locking group. The other contestants come up and are fans of their work. I wasn’t impressed.
We LOVE these legends, @hiltyofficial! They’re dancing to @Pitbull! #WorldofDance https://t.co/3pynIyluDo
— World of Dance (@NBCWorldofDance) May 30, 2018
They’ve been dancing together for 20 years. J-Lo wants it to be more interesting. Derek said it was enjoyable, but will hold up? Ne-Yo: Entertaining, but not sure if it’s competitive. Scores: 79, 78, 78: 78.3 — they didn’t get through. Wow.
Almost perfection!
Karen Y Ricardo, an upper duo, performs salsa. That was one of the best salsa dances I’ve ever seen. J-Lo: That was what you call setting the stage on fire! That was on another level. Ne-Yo: this was a million dollar World of Dance performance! Scores: 100, 100, 99 for a 99.1. Unreal.
Watching Karen y Ricardo #settingthestageonfire with two 100s and a 99 for their #highenergy and #creative #salsa that sent @derekhough jumping up on the judge’s table @NBCWorldofDance was fantastic!!!#bestmomentever #worldofdance
— Della Crews (@DellaCrews12) May 31, 2018
