Hey WOD fans…
This is it for the duels. Tonight, the upper teams division compete for the final remaining spots in the cut. Once again, the higher scoring act advances while the eliminated act must wait to see if their score earns them a shot at redemption at the end of the show.
We begin tonight with Fuego Dance Crew, who challenge Siudy Flamenco
Fuego wants to be the only crew representing Latin America. Siudy knows they need to use more footwork. Fuego meanwhile are as confident as ever and arrogant. They say the ladies are not built to compete on a platform like the duels.
Fuego Dance Crew
Good routine. Fun to watch and exuding charisma. However, for as cocky as these dudes come off in the rehearsal package, I was expecting a little more. Some of those moves, while nice to look at, are quite pedestrian. It almost verges on boy band making a music video. But they were definitely in-sync and know how to bring the audience in with a show.
Derek feels the song remained in one pocket and didn’t go anywhere. Ne-Yo notes the choreography made up for that. Ne-Yo feels the confidence is valid. Jennifer thinks they are a strong crew despite not having tricks. She feels they are clean though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA4xxOAzdxo
Siudy Flamenco
YES. Fabulous. They really took that note about footwork. This was a stellar routine that was slow in the beginning, perked up in the middle, and then sizzled toward the end. It had some great moments and all the ladies worked really hard up there. I’d give it to them but we shall see how the judges react.
Derek thanks them for doing more footwork. Ne-Yo loves that it was just enough- the prop amplified the performance. Jennifer says the costume they are wearing is proper for a duel. She loves the flamenco work but the regular choreography is too basic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg_KaxnEPog
Fuego Dance Crew
Ne-Yo- 93
Derek- 89
Jennifer- 91
Score- 91
Siudy Flamenco
Ne-Yo- 90
Derek- 90
Jennifer- 89
Score- 89.7
Winner: Fuego Dance Crew
Meh. That was the wrong choice. And with only an 89.7, I doubt Siudy will remain in the running for redemption. A shame really. They brought something unique to this and I don’t think Fuego really matched their confidence to the dancing tonight.
Moving on, Unity LA challenges Style & Grace
Unity admits they went with a lower scoring team that will be easy to beat. Style wants to redeem themselves and feel Unity took a cheap shot by picking them due to their score. Unity has ten pieces ready to perform. Style wants to forget the little mishap in the qualifying round and they will not be doing any tricks tonight.
Unity LA
Well, damn. That was one ferocious contemporary piece. So hard hitting. It was non-stop movement with so much going on. But never too much where you didn’t know where to look. It was controlled chaos. And so clean too. These guys did not come to play.
Ne-Yo calls it frantic in the best way possible. He says he doesn’t get goosies but if he did, he would get them from what he just saw. Jennifer thought it was an amazing routine. She feels everyone in the group is amazing. She didn’t enjoy the music though. Derek calls them a force to be reckoned with. He felt one lift looked a little labored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySv4GU1-u1M
Style & Grace
Yeah, that’s not going to cut it. First, my eyes noticed way too many out of sync moments. If you are going to do a hard hitting hip hop routine, everyone has to be hitting those moves at the same time. No one can look like they are just a wee bit behind or ahead. It was a typical dance with nothing that stands out or surprises. I don’t think they did anything here to give Unity a reason to worry.
Ne-Yo calls it fun and it had energy. He didn’t see them giving it their full bite. Jennifer disagrees and thought the intensity in movement was strong. Where she struggled is that everything she saw, she has seen before. Derek feels like they lived in the formations for too long. He feels they did redeem themselves from qualifying though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IICcV7WRppc
Unity LA
Ne-Yo- 96
Derek- 98
Jennifer- 97
Score- 97
Style & Grace
Ne-Yo- 88
Derek- 88
Jennifer- 88
Score- 88
Winner: Unity LA
Yeah, probably the most lopsided duel we have seen this season. Unity just crushed them. Jennifer tells Unity to watch for their concepts and songs in the next round because you need more than just great dancing.
Tonight’s third duel is between The Heima and Exiles
The Heima have added technical tricks this time and to be clean. Exiles remembers how Jennifer told them to control their energy, which they hope to do.
Exiles
Very entertaining. Quite a few cool tricks in there that made me chuckle. They definitely controlled that crazy energy they had the last time we saw them. However, is this competitive enough to beat another team that might be technically better? I don’t know. But it was a crowd pleasing number for sure.
Ne-Yo was afraid for them- but he isn’t after that. Jennifer loved the fight. She found it clean and felt each one stepped up to the challenge. Derek believes this is a much better performance than the qualifying one. He enjoys that they have character. Ne-Yo calls it super tight and super clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v1r2OoUKYg
The Heima
That was unreal and stunning. It was captivating from the very beginning. They picked the perfect song to duel with as well- started quiet and just grew exponentially as it went along. And the dancing did as well. So impressive that they did all of that while remaining so clean and technical.
Ne-Yo is pleasantly confused by what he just saw. He can’t believe how they did all of that with the masks. He calls them contemporary breakers. He calls it almost a perfect performance. Jennifer feels like they are breaking the mold of what B-boys are. She was marveling at so many moments. Derek loved the opening. The judges are all praise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKY6xUdypTA
The Heima
Ne-Yo- 99
Derek- 96
Jennifer- 95
Score- 96.7
Exiles
Ne-Yo- 95
Derek- 91
Jennifer- 93
Score- 93
Winner: The Heima
Strong scores by both and a really solid duel. Style & Grace have now been eliminated and Exiles have taken their spot in redemption.
Next up this evening, in a default duel, Main Guys will face Radiance
Main Guys want to go hard this time with added tricks that are risky. They are pushing themselves. Radiance is planning on bringing a story and go all in. They want to show everyone how strong a group of women can be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJz1Msf713o
Radiance
Perfect song choice and they definitely had a story and clear narrative there. I loved the girl exploding in air over the others. That move was sick. It started a little slow and basic but picked up nicely as it went on. I think the strength they have here is that they showed they could actually put together smart choreography to compliment the dancing. It wasn’t an amazing routine but it served them well.
Jennifer feels there was so many great things about it. She had goosies all throughout. Ne-Yo loved the theme of woman power. Derek enjoyed that it was like beast contemporary. He loves the strength. Jennifer says the tricks blew her away. Derek also marvels about the costume.
Main Guys
You can tell these guys have battled before in situations like this. They come with a dog eat dog energy and their dances match that. But overall, this lacked a cohesiveness that Radiance had. They also didn’t bring as much originality as I had anticipated, though the final trick with the leash was cool and will earn them some points. I wasn’t jumping out of my seat for Radiance but they clearly had the stronger duel performance.
Derek loves that they took an older song and made it new and made you feel like dancing. Ne-Yo says it felt like a class he would love to take. He says they have interesting move choices. Jennifer feels it took a minute to get clean and it wasn’t as clean as the qualifying performance. It got better as it went on she notes.
Main Guys
Ne-Yo- 90
Derek- 90
Jennifer- 88
Score- 89.3
Radiance
Ne-Yo- 93
Derek- 93
Jennifer- 95
Score- 93.7
Winner: Radiance
And with that score by Main Guys, it is not enough for them to stick around for redemption. So Exiles is automatically in the redemption round with one duel left to go.
In tonight’s final duel before redemption, The Kings picked Motiv Crew
The Kings had the highest score in the division. They know they need to come up with something new to meet the expectations. Motiv just got by with their score, so they know full well they need to surpass what they did before. They don’t want it to be an easy win for The Kings.
Motiv Crew
That was cool to watch. Very down and dirty. It was something one would expect from a battle out of a hip hop crew. I appreciate the musicality here and the clever choreography. These guys needed to bring it because they are facing beasts and they did but I’m not sure if it will be enough.
Jennifer feels like they were in the zone. She feels it was super clean and professional. She loved the swag and attitude. Derek hopes the energy translates to us watching at home. He says they danced like they got picked by a super crew. Ne-Yo feels they rose to the challenge. He does say that he wanted space to breath a bit in the choreography.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWnzcmPuFek
The Kings
DAMN. WHAT? That was seriously crazy. I am amazed at how well Bollywood dancing lends itself to hip hop. Or at the very least, how well these guys mash up the styles to work. Just like their qualifying routine, they just do amazing things one after the other after the other. Flying around, rolling around, etc… You name it, they do it. So memorable. They got this duel easily despite Motiv bringing it the best they could when it was their shot.
Jennifer calls it insane. She says it was like a five course meal. She didn’t want to blink. Derek can’t believe the acrobatics. He loves the cultural integration. Ne-Yo applauds that they had more dancing. He wants them to change their name to the fireworks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IICcV7WRppc
The Kings
Ne-Yo- 100 (Yikes)
Derek- 99
Jennifer- 99
Score- 99.3
Motiv Crew
Ne-Yo- 90
Derek- 89
Jennifer- 91
Score- 90
Winner: The Kings
WOW. Outstanding score for The Kings. And Motiv Crew are definitely in redemption because that score knows out Siudy Flamenco. Redemption will be between Motiv Crew and Exiles.
-REDEMPTION-
Exiles is excited they have one more shot to prove everything. Motiv Crew says winning would be life changing. Exiles knows it is a battle. Jennifer heads backstage to talk to the two teams and give a bit of a pep talk. She tells both groups they deserve it so both need to just bring it.
Motiv Crew
Solid. Nice use of the music. I love how emotional it was for them. A little sloppy in the beginning but more cohesive in the middle to the end. Perfect song choice for them too (though I know they didn’t pick it). You gotta love the fight for your life attitude.
Exiles
Well, that was solid too. Again, nice emotion brought to it. It was almost like a similar piece as Motiv with just a few differences in tricks. This is tough. I would look back at their original duel performance to help me pick a winner. I don’t envy the judges here as I didn’t see any clear winner who out-danced the other.
The judges decided by majority vote that the winner of redemption is Exiles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i4vT-dgOOc
So the SIX acts that move on from the upper teams are-
The Kings
Unity LA
The Heima
Radiance
Fuego Dance Crew
and Exiles
The duels are completed. Next week, the cut beings. The mentoring begins and only half the acts will make it through. I hope you guys enjoyed watching tonight and enjoyed the duels overall, which was very nicely edited as compared to seasons past. We got to see every duel and the redemption round was a good choice. See y’all next week. :D